Spirit World

In a region where people historically have feared death, reckoning, and believed that consciousness ends with leaving the physical body, there are plenty of haunted houses to prove that death doesn't mean the end of personality essence. We are living on the energetic foundations of nearly four hundred years of American culture and walking in the footprints of the Native Americans who inhabited these lands for hundreds of years prior to that.

Photo by Pandora Peoples with Annalee Peoples

Ghosts seem to have a wide range of emotions. I come to this conclusion based on my personal experiences, those of my clients and friends, and what I have gleaned from the local legends. Content, angry, waiting for an apology, wanting to be heard, feeling lost, feeling playful, or lustful, from tricksters to spirit helpers they reflect the whole spectrum of human experience. Some are faint energy fragments and some can make conscious choices. Their presence is a variable here we can't ignore, and can affect our lives in positive, negative or neutral ways.

Perhaps if we had a deep respect for death, and saw it in terms of a transition into a new phase of life/existence, it would amplify our ability to find serenity when we cross over. If our culture gave reverence to the elderly years in general, it might bestow more feelings of purpose and accomplishment in the later years of our life. Perhaps our wise elders would die knowing they had passed the torch and that their mission in life was accomplished, and that their legacy would be carried on.

The New Age philosophy that everything happens for a reason and that there is a divine and positive benefit to every tragic event, is appealing but not easy to relate to in the face of tragedy. In the work I do, I have seen many young people who have crossed over who have found purpose and meaning to there lives on the other side. It was part of their soul's evolution to experience death when they did. It also taught their friends and families valuable lessons. At times, it expands the relationship between family members and validates the unseen world. There are often more limitations in the physical world, than in the invisible one.