Karina Machado is a journalist, host of the Spirit Sisters podcast and the author of Spirit Sisters, Where Spirits Dwell and Love Never Dies, a non-fiction series exploring the extraordinary experiences of ordinary people. Now, on The Ghost Files podcast each week, Karina will introduce a guest who’ll share their personal encounter with the spirit world.
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COMFORTING PRESENCE
For as long as I can remember, Mum told us her stories about her encounters with spirits,” says Vanessa, who shared that when her mum was pregnant with her, she was lying awake one night, feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of having another child. Then, “she looked in the doorway and saw a man with long hair leaning there with his arms against the door frame”, says Vanessa. “He gave her a feeling of, ‘It’s OK, everything’s OK’.”
Vanessa was only five and recovering from a horrifying assault when she had her own encounter.
“I started having these terrible recurring nightmares every night, but when I woke up, I would see my dad sitting at the end of the bed having a cup of tea. This gave me a feeling of warmth and safety and I could go back to sleep.
“It only occurred to me when I was older that it couldn’t have been my dad,” recounts Vanessa. “The man had long hair and Dad had short hair.”
It wasn’t until she was 18 that Vanessa remembered the childhood trauma. That’s also the age when she learnt about her mum’s experience with the comforting presence.
“I like this story because the spirit doesn’t actually say anything to me or Mum, but we both got a feeling off him that felt like, ‘It’s OK’,” says Vanessa, whose mum passed away in 2018. “It makes me so happy to have had this beautiful experience – I cherish it.”
I agree that it’s a powerful story, not only because it points to the ways in which the spirit world supports us, but also because it contains an important lesson: just being there for a friend who’s going through a hard time can be a profound act of love they will remember forever. No words necessary.
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