What are ghosts and what are spirits? Ghosts are defined in Webster's Dictionary as: the disembodied spirit of a dead person, 2) the spirit or soul. Spirit is defined as: the animating principle of life and energy in man and animals 2) the soul. So, basically, ghosts and spirits are the same thing, the soul of a departed person.

Ghosts, however, over the centuries has come to take on a different meaning than a person's soul. The word ghost has come to mean something terrible, something frightening. This can be at times, but most of the time, ghosts are not threatening to any living person. In fact, ghosts or spirits (I prefer to use the word spirit) are around us all the time; we just can't see them.

Spirits live in the spirit world where their bodies vibrate at a much higher rate than our physical bodies do. This is why we can't see them. For instance, say you are looking at a fan with blades and the spaces between the blades. While the fan isn't running, you can see the blades and the spaces fine. Turn the fan on and the blades seem to disappear a little bit. Turn the fan on to the highest setting and you can see right through the blades as if they weren't there. This is because now the blades are vibrating at a higher rate than when they were on low or off.

Everything vibrates on it's own level. Physical matter vibrates on a low frequency rate. Spirit bodies vibrates on a much higher rate. This is why spirits can go through physical walls. Our physical bodies house our souls. When the soul decides to leave the body permanently, it takes on a spirit body in order to live in the spirit world.

Whenever someone sees a ghost or spirit, this means that either the spirit is vibrating at a lower than normal rate for them or that the person seeing the spirit has raised their vibrational rate. Most of the time it is the spirit lowering their rate in order to be seen or heard by a living person. They do this for many reasons. Sometimes spirits come back in order to warn a loved one of impending danger. Sometimes they come back to say goodbye or to let their loved ones know that they are still living and are all right. Sometimes it is for unfinished business or to let someone know what happened to them.

For instance, take this story of a young woman who was murdered: This girl, I will call her Lisa, was murdered in her apartment. No one knew who the killer was and the police had little clues to work from. One night not long afterwards, a friend of Lisa's woke up during the night to see Lisa standing at the foot of her bed. She knew Lisa was trying to tell her something and asked her to tell her what she wanted. Lisa at time entered her friends body (her friend had given her permission) and used her friends body to let her friend's husband know who had killed her and where her killer could be found. The next day Lisa's friend went to the police with this new information and the police were able to find Lisa's killer and bring him to justice. This is just one of many, many true ghost (spirit) stories in the world.

Sometime what people think is a ghost isn't. Sometimes especially at haunted sites, what appears to be a ghost walking around really is just a projection of a past event which has been imprinted on the area. Sort of like a videotape that just keeps getting played back time after time. If a spirit talks to you or communicates telepathically (which they almost always do when communicating) then this is a true spirit. If the same action such as walking from one room to the next keeps happening over and over again and this so-called ghost doesn't communicate to anyone this then is probably an image and not a consciousness.

Buildings and lands will sometimes soak up the energy vibrations of people and events and play them back over and over again. Strong emotions, whether love, hate, anger or happiness will always leave an impression on the ether (the space in which everything exists).

Ghosts have been known to appear more around certain energy sources such as power lines and transformers. If there is ghostly activity at your house, you might want to investigate whether there are a lot of power lines near your house. Ghosts need a lot of energy in order to appear to us when we are not on their same vibratory level.

One reason for haunted houses could be the electrical energy of a young person in the house. There have been many incidences where a poltergeist (an active spirit) has been triggered by the presence of a teenager in the house. It seems that with all teenagers go through with becoming adults, that the energy they transmit can affect the ether around the house thereby stimulating the ghosts' activities. However, extreme poltergeist activity is really very rare.

Many more incidences which are not so rare are when windows and widowers have seen their deceased spouses shortly after their death.

This is because their deceased loved ones are trying to tell them that they are still alive and well. The reason the widows and widowers can see their spouses is because in a great state of grief, one is in a state of altered consciousness.

If you want to be able to see spirits you will need to alter your normal state of consciousness. You can do this through meditation and prayer.

Also, if there is a certain person you would like to make contact with on the other side, you can get in a quiet place, by yourself, or with others who have the same goal in mind, and concentrate on the person you want to see. Call their name. These people are usually as close as a thought to the ones they left behind. They are not really gone at all. They are just on another plane of existence which most of us are not practiced enough to see.

Another way to do this is to:

1) Always say a prayer of protection first before trying to contact the other side.

2) Sit in a darkened room, facing a mirror that has been tilted slightly toward the floor.

3) Place a candle or soft light source behind you.

4) Stare directly into the mirror and concentrate on the person you want to contact.

Many people find this way very effective. It takes practice to achieve results, but if you do this every day, you will eventually get results.

Before trying to contact the other side, be very careful to always say a prayer of protection first and state that you only want to contact that certain person. This is not to be done lightly. It would not be a good idea to attempt this procedure if you are in a depressed mental state, as you will attract those kinds of entities to you.

I would suggest before trying to contact anyone yourself, that you consult a reputable psychic, not the ones with the 900 numbers. You can get names of psychics from the ARE or from a metaphysical bookstore.

Spirits have always been with us and will continue to be as long as there are human beings on Earth. So, accept them and don't be afraid of them. Some of them may be your best friends!