If a spirit decides to linger, they will often “hang out” in their home, or where they died, or around loved ones. This can result in a haunting, which sounds worse than it is, because most spirits are benign. Occasionally you’ll get a nasty spirit who wants to harm you or scare you, but most often they’re just lingering, hoping for connection, or hoping to stay out of hell (can’t blame them for that, although there is no real hell so it’s a real shame they feel the need to hover).

So what can you do? Is there a way to help a spirit cross over into the light, into the warm loving embrace of Source, where they will merge back with Love? Yes there is.

Untimely Death
Someone who dies unexpectedly often can’t let go right away. Perhaps they have unfinished business. Perhaps they feel they need to get a message to a loved one before they cross over, believing that once they cross over they won’t be able to make contact.

If this is the type of lingering spirit you’ve got, then your best bet is to give them their say. If you know how to communicate with the dead, tune in and let them tell you what they need to tell you. I’ve had spirits tell me where their will is, what their computer password is for their family, and the name of their murderer. If you are not skilled in this, contact a good medium and see if he or she can channel a message for you. If you want to communicate on your own, develop your intuitive modalities, learn to lucid dream, or raise your vibration and meditate your way into a conversation with them.

Once they feel they’ve been heard, they will cross over.

Death by Suicide
When people take their own life, often they feel regret, guilt, or shame once it’s done. Some don’t feel they deserve to be in “heaven” so they keep themselves here. Some carry with them such a strong feeling of remorse, that they just can’t go on. They stick around, beseeching their loved ones for understanding and forgiveness, and sometimes there is unfinished business as well.

If this is the type of spirit lingering around you, send them forgiveness and understanding as best you can. Maybe that can’t happen right away, but the spirit needs to know it’s okay to move on and that you forgive them. Use the same methods described above to connect with them.

Once they feel forgiven they often cross over.

Murderers
One of the most common spirits that linger are those that fear they are going to hell. They know they’ve done wrong and can’t imagine being forgiven. Unfortunately, when they linger it’s usually not a good thing. Their fear, anger, and guilt can cause them to become mean and nasty while in limbo. Their energy is often dark, low and negative. This may manifest in ways that scare you or can even harm you. You want to get them unattached from you or your location as soon as possible.

For this type of spirit, I don’t really recommend talking to them if you don’t have experience with psychic self-defense or mediumship. It can turn ugly on you real fast. Contact a paranormal investigation team, or a medium experienced with these types of spirits and leave it to them. Otherwise you risk losing a lot of your energy as they siphon it away from you, or of anchoring them to your location, or attaching them to your person. It’s no good any way you slice it.

If you are a medium
If you are a medium and are called in to help cross over a spirit, the first thing you want to do is make contact with them. It’s helpful if you have a member of their family present who can help you verify what the spirit is telling you.

Once you’ve established communication, pass along any messages from them to their family and vice versa. Sometimes a conversation is all they need to release their hold on this life. If no family is present, then reassure the spirit that you will pass along the messages if you can, or if there is no family you can connect with, then simply listen and reassure them that they no longer need to worry about what’s going on here, and that they can safely and comfortably release and cross over.

Most often a spirit will be happy to let go and move on. If you connect with a spirit who stubbornly refuses to cross over, especially one that is bothering a family or person or location, then you’ll have to call in the big guns. Ask archangel Michael to assist you by either escorting the spirit across the threshold or by offering a shield to the family or location so that the spirit can’t bother them anymore. Be sure you advise the family how to prevent themselves from unwittingly inviting the spirit back.

Bottom Line
You can talk to anyone who has crossed over and they will hear you. You can talk to them out loud or telepathically, as long as you’re thinking about them hard and directing your energy at them, they will receive the message. You may not always hear them back if you don’t know how to tune in to energy from the other side, but at the very least you can rest assured knowing they DO hear you. Send reassurance, love, forgiveness, and compassion to those who linger. It’s in everyone’s best interest for those that have died to cross over fully.

Who are they? Why are they there? And is there any way to know when one is around?

I’m talking about an array of beings on the other side, connected to you with bonds of love and emotion that are strong, caring and supportive. Angels. Spirit guides. Deceased loved ones. They’re all there.

I see angels around people who are going through a particularly rough time physically or emotionally. During readings if I see an angel around my client I know they have gone through a devastation or are even suicidal. Often the client has lost a child or a loved one recently. The angels are there to hold you when you feel like falling and giving up. You may not see or feel them, but they are there. They are the most powerful beings I see around people and they radiate pure love. It’s beautiful.

Your spirit guides are always with you. They are there guiding, nudging, and supporting you in life. While not as powerful as angels, your guides never leave your side, whereas I tend to only see angels when my client is going through devastation.

Your guides are broadcasting wisdom, support, insights, and directions to help you navigate the maze of your life. If you can get to the point where you can communicate with them, you will be able to receive their wisdom all the time.

When you are going through a rough time, your guides kick into high gear to try to bring solace, comfort, and change to your life. So where an angel is holding your energy to keep you from falling off the ledge, the guides are out there trying to find you the softest place to land.

Now what about your deceased loved ones who have crossed over? The people who loved you in life often stick around and hover a bit, especially when you’re going through a tough time. Not all spirits do this, but some do stay connected to those they left behind, offering a supportive thought, a virtual hug, and sometimes warnings and advice.

I had an interesting experience with this recently myself. I received some bad news and was feeling very sad. That night my deceased friend, Pam, who died in 2011, came to me in a dream. I’ve only seen her in my dreams maybe half a dozen times since she died, but there she was. In the dream we talked about the news I’d received, but then she showed me every time over the past year that she had been by my side. It was awesome. It was one scene after another where she showed me how she was holding me, comforting me, and trying to tell me everything would be okay. Although I have felt her energy around me many times in the past year, I’m not sure I noticed each and every time she came to me with supportive energy.

The next time you’re going through an emotional crisis or suffering physically, open your senses and try to detect the energies offering you comfort. They are right there, standing next to you, arms open, ready to catch you, hold you, and comfort you. You’re never truly alone. Even when you can’t see them, there are helpers nearby offering you support.

Let their love comfort you when you need it. Let it fill you with hope. Let it guide you to a more positive outcome. Thank these helpers for being with you, and feel their energy. Send them gratitude and their energy will expand. Work together when you can, and let them completely support you when you’ve got nothing left. You’re in good hands.

Answer:  When I was a teenager a lot of scary beings used to visit me.  I was able to take control of the situation and open up a can of astral whoop ass on them, but I don’t recommend that approach for most people.

In my twenties I shut down my psychic abilities as best I could so I could get away from that life.  That worked pretty well for a while.  When I met Steve, though, he encouraged me to reopen that part of myself and continue exploring.  I found that when I opened up to the psychic realm as an adult, it wasn’t scary anymore.  This was due in large part to the fact that my vibration had changed.  I was no longer susceptible to fear.  I was vibrating a lot closer to love, so those darker entities just didn’t bother me.  We were not on the same channel anymore.

But like you, I was always afraid that ghosts or spirits would try to get my attention by appearing in my bedroom at night, in the dark, and scare me.  I could easily see having a heart attack if that happened!  When I started to see I had an ability that could help others, though, I knew I had to somehow get over my fear.

That’s when the tv show, Ghost Whisperer, came to my rescue.  In this show the main character, Melinda Gordon, is a medium who regularly sees and talks to spirits.  When they appear to her, they almost always startle her, but she is never afraid of them.  That’s when I realized that being startled is different than being afraid.  I decided that if I had to, I could live with being startled.  So I made a deal with my guides, telling them I would open myself back up to these psychic abilities I’d had practically my whole life, as long as they knew I didn’t want to see dead people in my room in the middle of the night.  And I told them if seeing the spirits in my room at night was the only way to help them, I would learn to deal with it.

As it turns out, I needn’t have worried.  I have a conduit guide named Bob that prevents spirits from presenting to me unless I’m working.  Only three times in the last three years have I had a spirit present to me when I wasn’t officially working.  All three came in very gently with me though, and all three came at night.  When you think about it, why would they want to scare me?  If I’m scared, I’m not going to be able to help them.

I did do a reading once where a spirit appeared to me in my White Room (the mental construct I go to when I do readings) and she nearly gave me a heart attack.  She had shot herself in the face and showed me the whole image.  And she was standing right over me.  It took me a moment to collect myself and I was quite startled.  She wasn’t trying to frighten me, she was just in an intense situation and probably didn’t know that I would react so strongly to her grisly visage. 

So my advice is to get a clear connection with your guides and tell them what you are and are not willing to tolerate.  Also, make sure you vibrate at a reasonably high frequency normally.  If you’re depressed, angry, sad, ashamed, or guilty you might attract lower vibrational beings when you open yourself up.  And lastly, decide in advance that if a spirit does show up, you’ll only be startled and not afraid.  They aren’t there to hurt you.   They’re there to reach out for your help.  If you have this gift, think of all the good you can do with it.  Don’t let a little fear stop you.