Skip to main content

Ghost Whisperer


Recently a student of mine shared a story about a friend of hers who often uses her shoulders to cry on. CH described this person as the typical individual who goes out to party, meets the perfect man and falls instantly in love only to uncover soon after that the man is married. Still many of these women believe they can change their man: Help him, and maybe HEAL him. Of course, more often than not, three to four months down the line these individuals come knocking at the door in tears, heart broken and completely oblivious to what went wrong. I’ve had people come to me asking for psychic cleansing or soul retrieval because they reasoned out that their repetitive, dysfunctional behaviours or obsessions with older often married men were due to past life karmas, evil spirits or a some kind of jinx.

It’s difficult to talk reason with these women because there’s something in their experience that seems to support the thought “that they can make a difference” and that “they are destined to save a man.” Often these ladies will speak about their mothers and grand-mothers surviving similar stories. At times it feels like these women are carrying the burdens of the women in their past.

When speaking about the topic of Ghost Whispering lots of people imagine the kind of scenarios we see on television. They imagine Ghost Whisperers as people who can see the dead and communicate to them. More often than not people who are curious or interested in the topic of death and ghosts come from a perspective of fear:

· What happens when I die?

· Can I become a ghost? What makes a ghost? And how can I help my loved ones pass over?

· Or – are these ghosts haunting me and how much of their unresolved realities in impacting my life, my choices, and reality?

· Or - is there such a thing as heaven? Can it be possible that we are all doomed to wander after life?

I’ve come to understand the role of the Ghost Whisperer as more of a relationship expert than an expert on death. There’s no doubt that the GW can see or hear ghosts and communicate with them; but their work is mostly done in guiding each person involved in the story of unresolved. A GW gives direction, finds and shares the missing details within the story, and brings forth new perspective. A GW helps people dead and alive to come together with presence and awareness. In other words, a GH helps people transcend time and space. It’s not about death or life – it’s about realizing that it’s never too late to learn, to listen, to understand, and to let go. Where some people imagine heaven as a place somewhere out there far from the Earth, I like to experience it through short moments when all is clear and all has meaning.

Dealing with ghosts doesn’t only mean dealing with the decease who’s struggling to cross over. If you are harbouring unresolved towards old spouses, parents or an ex-boss – you are dealing with ghosts. Your thoughts and attitudes can create ghosts that are as real and as haunting as any human ghost out there. If you are carrying secrets or memories that are impacting your life in a negative way – these too are ghosts. If you are living your life according to the expectations of others or because of the stories of others – these too are ghosts.

Some Ghost Whisperers can even interact with ghosts that are attached to lockets, old records, and as shadows to humans etc... Even though these ghosts are not humans who never made it to the after life, they are still memories or thoughts that are floating around us asking to be resolved. We are impacted by what exists in our environment and in the air we breath. Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide does float in the air we inhale. Positive and negative ions are part of us and part of everything alive. A good GW is not meant to resolve the story of every ghost out there; but also to show and to teach those who come for help – that they are in part responsible for the ghosts that are haunting them and that they can make a difference.

I think it’s a great idea to sit down with the people who come to us for help and show them that they can make a difference just by changing an attitude, or making new choices, or letting go of harmful behaviours. Believe it or not in this conversation we are ghost whispering. I think it all starts by becoming aware of our personal ghosts and resolving them. Once we’ve taken responsibility for what is ours and worked with it – we can start looking towards helping others.

P.S. This picture was taken this summer. I was actually able to capture 3 ghosts on this picture. See if you can see them.

Comments

MaryRose said…
Wow, There is so much truth and wisdom in this post about ghosts... it makes so much sense. I think about how we use words... like ghost and demons to express that we are haunted by our thoughts, fears and unresolved issues or those of our family or people or things around us. "Dealing with my Demons" is such an expression. We tend to see these as just expressions on an intellectual or symbolic level.. yet you show us that words have more to them, that these things concrete and real.

It makes me want to deal with my own demons, personal and ancestral, because I get tired of feeling "haunted" by them
Michelle said…
Your post came up after a long lunch with the CEO of my region we talked about the past present and future of the organization of children services we had a little smorg of food from egypt and some of her homemade hamburger soup as we talked about the government and its policies and it's westernized anglo saxon view of the picket fence house that every child in care needs to have a bedroom etc etc. our Region fights for children to be connected culturally, and community wise to their families or home communities it is a tough fight in an evironment of ghosts of Bureaucrats who believed that aboriginal families didnt know how to parent or keep children safe...I smile because we came away from our lunch nourished and strong believeing in what we are doing in facing up to the ghosts every day knowing what is right for a child and helping to make it a reality. i think we fight for the ghost's of the ancestors who have gone on also because they are saying it's time for change....

I see one in the left and one in the lower right is there one in the centre just off the staircase more of its face view?
I think that in reality we are
Lisa F. Tardiff said…
Yes Pixie -- You saw the ghosts. Great stuff!!!
It sounds like your luncheon brings hope to the children of 2010. Great work.
LISA
Michelle said…
you must be typing a post to pixie too :) or I should connect with her about Ghosts I am happy i saw the ghosts in the picture i have a few of those pictures also and people have said why dont you throw them out but I never do because I felt they wanted to be photographed. even though others feel its a recked picture.
Anonymous said…
Thank you Okwahao for shedding the Truth on this topic. So true that much of the Ghosts delt with are those in the person in physical form, in unresolve and nightmares. Sometimes it is about the one who has crossed and then both.

Mountain Peak Woman

Popular posts from this blog

Drums and Rattles.

Lately I’ve received a few e-mails and letters from people asking questions about drums and rattles. I don’t think I’ve written a blog on this topic yet. JB wrote in his e-mail: “I often read that Drums are connected to Shamanism and often the tool of choice for Shamans. How do Shamans use drums differently than anyone else who’s in Shamanism?” I thought it was a great question. For starters, one of the reasons why a drum is an interesting tool in Shamanism is because it can mimic a heartbeat and induce a state of trance. A rapid heartbeat can trigger nervousness, excitement and even aggression. A very slow heartbeat can help in relaxation, sleep and dreaming. Every rhythm can inspire an emotion and can bring about the memory of a past experience or a parallel reality. In Shamanic circles the drum can be instrumental in healing, teaching, ceremony or ritual, expansion of consciousness as well as dreaming and journeying. Almost a decade ago I participated in a Mohawk namin

Authentic Shamanism

I brought up the topic of “authentic Shamanism” at one of my classes / circles this week. I’ve noticed especially in the last three to four years that when people speak to me about Shamanism, they often make a distinction between what they are doing and what “is out there.”  These days if you are not into Ayahuasca you are not authentically into Shamanism.  So what is “Shamanism” if it changes its appearance every decade?  Is it about altered states of consciousness through hallucinogens? Is it about ceremonies and rituals; or about soul retrieval, dreaming and healing?  Since Shamanism isn’t a Religion and doesn’t have set doctrines, then how can you anyone be clear on what makes it “authentic?” When I brought up the question this week, I received a few interesting comments.   Many of the individuals in our circles have struggled with addictions and it’s because of the Medicine Wheel teachings that their lives are full and healthy again.   The idea of defining Shamanism as a j

The Seven Clans

Wow! I can’t believe that in the last three years, I haven’t written a single blog on the topic of “the seven clans” of the Medicine Wheel. For the last two months our Montreal circle has been exploring the subject. I think it’s the first time in fifteen years that I ask my students to go out into the World and experience the clans first hand. “Look at people and see which clan they can belong to; or look at behaviors and attitudes and try to connect them to one of the Clans.” We often speak of the clans as the seven faces of Creator. In Christianity or Judaism God can be angry, impatient, judgmental and destructive; but he can also be merciful, compassionate, forgiving and loving. The Medicine Wheel may not personalize Creator in the same way many Religions do, yet in many ways it accomplishes the same end result where we can see ourselves as children of divinity. Often in non-traditional circles the seven clans are understood as archetypes. Each clan holds particular att