There is nothing quite like a personal experience with the spiritual world. From my own experience, I know that these kinds of events happen quite spontaneously, and not necessarily when it is convenient. It is often these events that convince us of an afterlife, or, that there is something between heaven and earth. I therefore see it as a faith experience, not a belief! Many people have spontaneous experiences with deceased loved ones, but mostly these attempts at contact do not find a response. By the very nature that it often cannot be explained, it goes against the recipient's life or religious beliefs.
Faith experiences offer comfort
It is a pity that because of this, many experiences are not shared. As it turned out the other day on Facebook, my post got very nice responses from various people asking whether they had ever experienced a ‘ghost-story’. Such experiences, however diverse they may be, should be celebrated precisely as a special token from our loved ones. This does not mean that every feather on the ground is a message, but rather those experiences that you really cannot explain. Like the following story that was shared:
“I went to my uncle's grave and didn't know in which grave the urn was interred. I thought I would just walk around hoping to find the grave. Suddenly there was a bunny there which I then followed. Suddenly the bunny was gone and I was practically standing next to the grave.”
Ratio and conviction do not follow a rabbit, it is instead a feeling, a chance, a possibility that there is something more between heaven and earth that makes you follow the rabbit. This creates an experience of faith that quite possibly convinces you to look at life just a little differently. To be more open to those little magical moments that are inexplicable but offer so much comfort.
3 characteristics of a ‘ghost-story’
It is precisely the beliefs that may be critically examined. And ‘the joke’ is that such spontaneous experiences are quickly attacked by the sceptics who are convinced they are right. A belief is a belief! Anything slightly different from it is labelled nonsense and non-sense. The point, however, is, it does not detract from the experience. And again, not every feather on the ground is a signal from above. If you delve somewhat into the ‘ghost-stories’, you will usually see three characteristics;
- it is inexplicable
- it happens at an unexpected moment
- it is intelligent
And it is always loving, although some experiences can scare you because of their unexpected nature.
An extraordinary experience is not yet hard evidence
Skeptics and scientists, of course, do have a point when they claim it cannot be proven. In this sense, spiritual experience and science may never meet. Science wants reproduction, the spiritual world spontaneity. The dilemma is precisely that a faith experience is inexplicable and unexpected because it is not a trick but an expression of love. But perhaps more importantly; it is personal! The experience where, for example, a loved one stands at your bedside in the middle of the night is personal, it will make the deceased a nonsense whether a scientist believes it or not. Or hearing a voice, this too is quickly dismissed as a medical condition and not a spiritual experience. Yet then it is often the context in which it happens that gives it value; or the intelligence behind it. When something like this happens, you will become convinced that reason cannot understand everything and you will usually become more open to such experiences that make you believe in an afterlife, for instance.
A spiritual helper introduces herself
There is also no point in repeating a spontaneous experience. I will never forget 1 of my first conscious experiences when I was visiting a friend. She is a trance medium and had received some signals about who her guide might be. She related it to a location in England, but it later turned out to be his surname. She told me she would go into a trance, ask the guide to come closer and I just had to give this guide a hard time; who it was and all the hows and whys.
I was fairly new to the ‘spiritual’ landscape of mediumship so I really had no idea what she was all about. But she closed her eyes and truly; at one point I saw a man appear. I just saw the man with my eyes open and it was as if he appeared behind her. With great surprise, I asked him in my mind his name, year of birth and a few more things. I don't know why I thought this would work, but it worked and he answered nicely.
We had a name; George. It might be lame, but for the sake of privacy I can't give a surname. We went straight to the internet and typed in his first and last name but found nothing. Suddenly, I heard another word whispered in my ear; “sophisticated”. But I didn't trust my own ears and left it at that. Attempt failed!
The spiritual world knows Google
Or not.... the next day at work, it kept running through my mind and so I opened the browser and searched on his first and last name and this time also the word ‘sophisticated’, I spontaneously clicked on Google images and I was completely shocked... I was looking straight into the face of the man I had seen the day before. The image led to a family tree and the best man I had seen was the father of the guide in question. ALL the information matched what he had told me the day before.
If only you could capture such an event scientifically. It will probably never succeed! But for me it was an experience I will never forget and many different experiences have come after that. I truly believe that if we are open to it, the spiritual world lets us know they are there. This is not faith but trust in the power of experience itself.
