There are a lot of people looking into ghosts and hauntings whether it be individuals or groups, but what are they looking for? What is the sole purpose that so many spend time looking for? Does it exist? What exactly is it?
These are obviously very general questions but we have so much to narrow down! So many list their reason for exploring hauntings and stories of ghostly apparitions into, "I want to know that life goes on after death, that there is an other side to this all."
Great, but what is on the other side?
Does it exist like we think it to? Is there such a thing as heaven and hell? Is it a paradise where we don't feel pain and can go any where?
In my recent reading of our featured book of January 2008, Real Ghosts, Restless Spirits and Haunted Places by Brad Steiger, he spent a whole chapter to stories of visitors from this "other side" that many of us are searching for.
I wanted to share some of these stories with you as I found them to be rather interesting.
HEAVEN
In 1968, Steiger began a survey called The Steiger Questionnaire of Psychic and Mystical Experiences. People who took the questionnaire sent some interesting answers back when it pertained to their visions of heaven. Here are some of those entries:
Bridget C. writes; "From what the spirit of my husband Sam has told me Heaven seems to be the summation of perfect harmony and love. He says that it is a person's inner life that makes for the righteousnes and happiness."
"It seems as though the spirits in the next world are always learning and continually engaged in meaningful pursuits and recreations," says Ann H.
Marion Palmer shares, "In Heaven, love is the great guiding star. Love fills teh spirit entities with the highest joy. The spirit of my sister Jackie has told me that the souls of all those in Heaven are filled with [unimaginable] happiness. She said that the divine energy of living, being, and becoming permeate their essences with an intensity [of] which we on Earth can have no conception."
HELL
Hell, as described in Steiger's book, would be a summation of all things negative where instead of being a place is more of a condition. Such negative energies as greed, lust, hate, and jealousy are directed to this place.
PARADISE
According to the book, souls that travel to the light that do not believe in a vision of hell or heaven, they often find themselves in what is commonly referred to as "Paradise."
Douglas J., a man who had met with his wife post-mortem and had communication with her spirit says, "Georgia said that it is a kind of gathering place for all newly arrived spirits. She said that the place has nothing to do with whether or not you lived a good life or a bad life. Everyone goes there, regardless. It is something like a kind of resting place before the spirit moves on."
Douglas did do some research after receiving this message and found that the word "paradise" is a Persian word for "park" or "garden."
"From what I can ascertain, it is after the spirit entity has been deceased for a while that it all depends upon the individual entity and the personal circumstances of his or her passing, but it seems that the spirits must be willing to set aside their material interests before they are ready to progress more completely into the light of higher awareness," reported Douglas.
MEETING FAMILIAR FACES
It appears to be a general rule that when a spirit passes over into the light, they are greeted by familiar faces of which many times are friends and family. When this person is greeted, the familiar spirit becomes some what of a tour guide to them. This does make sense because if you think of when you were in a new situation such as a school or a job even, who usually showed you around? The people who became your friends or who you were already familiar with.
This furthers the motto of our group that "ghosts were people, too!"
The reason why many think that new spirits are given a tour with familiar faces is because without this principle, the spirit would become confused, lonely, and lost easily. This of course is a major cause of most ghosts that remain earthbound.
"My wife Ramona told me that she was met by her grandparents and by her best friend Carmen, who hhad been killed in a car accident. I had been so sad, so frightened, until the spirit form of my wife told me that she was not alone on the other side. It brought me great peace, just knowing that she had someone with her," recalls Joaquin S.
WHAT ABOUT MY POSSESSIONS?
Many ghost stories seem to revolve around earthly possessions as those who own great objects of wealth never seem to want to leave them. It is that psychosis of pride into a project such as a home or great love for an object like a car that trips up a lot of spirits.
However, it should be stated that in many cases of communications with the other side, earthly possessions seem to have their own duplicates on the other plane of existence.
Edward B. states that his deceased wife, Donna, had explained to him that the other side has its own beautiful nature and objects in it. "We have our spirit duplicates of everything that you can see around you," Edward recalls his wife saying. " We have trees, flowers, animals, mountains, rivers, and seas. We have clouds, rainy days, storms and lightning. We have the 1,001 forms that make mother nature so beautiful. We have houses and books and clothes. Everything on Earth has its mental duplicate or counterpart in the spirit world."
ROLE REVERSAL
For those that have seen the 2001 movie, The Others, the shock ending of the film, it is revealed that the living who try to contact the dead are the actual ghosts and the characters in the film are actually what we call ghosts. This theory has been discussed heavily and Kathy B. recalls a time when her sister Barbara communicated with her from beyond the grave.
"Although you think of us over here as ghosts, to us it is the other way around. We look upon you as spooks and shadowy beings, because you are transparent to our mental vision. From our perspective, it is we who are the real thing. We appear to one another as perfectly solid."
And why shouldn't this be? If you look at a sheet hanging, the side you are on appears clear but whatever you view through it appears the same from both sides.
SO WHAT IS ON THE OTHER SIDE?
So what is on the other side? No one has ever fully returned with concrete evidence. It remains a mystery until we ourselves cross the threshold of this plane to the next. It is only through experiences and others stories do we find clues and hints as to what lies on the other side of existence.
If you have any stories that you would like to share as far as loved ones coming back to communicate with you about the other side, feel free to e-mail them to us and we will feature them in the second part of this story.