I grew up watching Casper the Friendly Ghost and he was pretty adorable. But do ghosts really look like they are wearing white sheets? No, they don’t. I can’t even imagine where that idea came from but there’s probably some lore on that and I will leave that to someone else to look up.
If you can see a ghost at all, which is very difficult with our corporeal eyes, they actually come in all kinds of shapes and sizes.
Here is a list of what you might see with your physical eyes:
The Mist
Sometimes a deceased person or a non-corporeal being will appear as a white mist. If you see a white mist roaming around your house or on old battlegrounds, that’s probably a ghost. First you need to rule out fog, smoke, and other corporeal clues of course. The mist is usually somewhat large, about half the size of a person, but really it can come in any shape or size. The mist is usually on the move too, not just bobbling in your hallway. Most people are shocked when they see mists, but they don’t cause much fear. Follow the mist and see where it goes.
The Shimmer
Another way you might see something non-corporeal is as a shimmer in the air. It will look like there is an invisible energy shimmering in mid-air. It’s like a distortion of what you’re normally seeing. So unlike a mist, it has no color. But it’s about the same size. It will look like a portal is opening up in your bedroom. If you can keep your eye on the shimmer, it too will likely move around.
Energy
The dearly departed may also appear as energy. Often people see a green swatch of energy moving through the room at fairly high speed. It’s not just going to sit there and bobble while you hurry to get your camera working. It’s going to zip around the room, possibly zooming in multiple directions like a firefly trying to get out of a jar.
An Apparition
Sometimes you may see a full body or partial body apparition. This is very rare, but there are definitely sightings. When a non-corporeal being goes to the trouble of appearing as human, they usually have an important message to share or they might even be a bit stuck on the earth plane, trying to maintain their corporeal identity. If you can speak to them you may be able to help them cross over or get over a traumatic event. If you continue to see it, call in a professional medium who can communicate for you.
The Orb
A lot of people see orbs now, either on photos or with their eyeballs. Most orbs are just dust reflecting off the lens of your camera, so don’t get too excited. You can even catch flying orbs with your camera too (also just dust, bugs or reflections). But upon occasion, a ghost will appear as an orb of light or a ball of energy. If it hovers in the air and you can see if for a long time, it’s probably a ghost or spirit. If it moves purposefully around a room, it’s probably a ghost as well.
A Dark Shadow
A lot of people report seeing shadow people, or dark fleeting shadows moving in their peripheral vision. Sometimes your peripheral vision plays some nasty tricks on you so not every shadow you see is a dark figure of doom. Sometimes it’s just your eyes or mind playing tricks on you. However, it is also true that some beings, usually lower vibrational entities, will appear to you as dark shadows. If you see one in your periphery take that with a grain of salt. But if you can see it standing there while you’re looking straight at it and it doesn’t move or flinch, you’ve got yourself a bona fide dark shadowy entity on your hands. Don’t try to engage with one of these. Get some light on it and it will likely dispel. Not every entity is worth chatting with.
Not all ghosts are visible on our plane. Sometimes there is a spirit present that you can’t see or hear. When I do mediumship readings, where I am attempting to reach a deceased loved one on the other side, I will usually see them in my mind’s eye.
They show up looking the way they looked while they were alive so that I can accurately describe them to my client. But they are just energy and don’t really look that way any longer.
One time I was reading for a gal and she wanted me to contact her deceased husband. When I called out to him I saw his entire body but I could not see his face or head. It just wasn’t there. I waited for it to coalesce but it never did. I finally just told my client, “I see him, but he has no head.” She said, “That’s probably because he was decapitated in a car accident.” Oh. Yeah that’s probably why. I didn’t realize it at the time that he was showing up the way she would know it was him.
Sometimes I don’t see a spirit but can hear them. And sometimes I just feel their presence physically, or they make my body feel what they felt when they died which is not the most comfortable sensation I can tell you!
You can also see ghosts in your dreams. A lot of deceased loved ones will show up in your dreams because it’s the one place you can probably see or hear them. So look for communication to show up there as well.
A spirit who can physically manifest itself in a way that we can see it with our physical eyes, is doing an extraordinary job. Those are the spirits who are usually coming with an important message or who have some unfinished business, and they usually desire communication. If you see one repeatedly, try talking to it. If it is something negative or scary, get a paranormal investigation team in there to help you remove it or ask a medium to come by and see if they can cross it over.
If you see a ghost in a white sheet, it’s probably Halloween. Or Casper.
