Connecting with Loved Ones After Death

As a Wiccan, there is no specific doctrine in my religion about life after death. However, there is a general consensus among us that there is a spirit, and it does go on after we shuffle off this mortal coil. People's experiences with those who've passed on have always fascinated me-- especially my own.

I know scientists say there's no evidence of life after death, and to the rational part of my brain, I understand that. But I still just can't help having this gut feeling that something more is going on here.

My dad and I were always very close, but after retiring he moved across the country. We kept in touch with letters on a weekly basis. One week I was having a Memorial Day barbecue, and a beautiful rainbow appeared in the sky across from my house. It's very rare that I ever see a rainbow; perhaps geography has something to do with it, but I think it was like the third one I'd seen in my whole life up to that point.

I wrote my father telling him about the rainbow and sent him a picture I snapped. My father sent me a letter back, saying he also saw a rainbow and that it connected us for that day.

In 1997, my father passed away. But I feel as though he's been with me ever since. I've had so many experiences that led me to feel as though he was around; too many to call coincidence. In particular I feel like he uses rainbows to send me a message.

My dad has occasionally appeared to me in dreams, and a rainbow always seems to be behind him. Sometimes when I think of him, I find rainbows from little prisms shining somewhere in the area-- a crystal, a sprinkler, etc.

I remember when I was sick in the hospital and they thought I had lung cancer. I spent the day in a hospital bed in in utter despair, waiting for surgery, badly in need of comfort. There was a wall-to-wall picture window next to my bed, and I turned over to see the biggest, brightest, most amazing double-rainbow I'd ever seen in my life. It was incredible-- I wish I had a camera to show others, but the image is burned into my memory. A sense of calm washed over me and I knew it would be alright. I felt my dad there with me.

After surgery and biopsies, it turned out I did not have cancer; I had a treatable autoimmune disease.

Now, just a couple of weeks ago, I was 'talking to my dad' in my head. I wished he could give me guidance in a decision I had made. I was wondering if I was choosing the right path. The next day, I was driving and I ran into this:

Some might chalk it up to coincidence, and I admit even I consider that is a possibility. I wondered if maybe it was all just a stroke of chance. After all, it's the rainy season in summer-- if you're going to see a rainbow, this was the time.

Then I get a message out of the blue on Facebook. A friend of mine who lives in my own home town sent me a picture of the building where my dad used to work. He told me he'd just passed it and it made him think of me. It felt like my dad confirming for me, "No, this was no coincidence, it's a message."

Maybe some non-believers would consider me a gullible, naive fool, but I have to go with my heart and my gut on this one-- my dad is still around helping me out when I need it.

If it were just me, I might think I was crazy. But I've had so many experiences like this, and so have so many other people I know. I've also heard some amazing stories from complete strangers online, on television shows, in books and magazines-- is it all just mass hallucinations and wishful thinking? I guess the debate rages on, but there are those of us who have had experience s that make it hard not to believe.

I had a very interesting experience once. I witnessed what I believe was my brother-in-law sending my husband a message. My BIL had just passed away a few months ago. It was the night before my husband's birthday, and he had some birthday balloons they gave him at work tied up to a weight in our bedroom behind the television set.

He and I were in the living room. He was on the computer, facing away from the hallway. I was on the sofa to the side. At midnight, the big balloon that said 'Happy Birthday' apparently came loose from the pack (they were all tied together, so that was odd). It managed to get out of our bedroom and floated down the hall. I watched bobbing through the living room in midair, heading right for my husband. When it got to him, it went around him, stopped in front of him, and sank a couple of feet. It landed right between his face and the computer screen, with the big 'Happy Birthday' message facing him.

I believe it was his brother wishing him a happy birthday. I can't imagine how that one balloon that was written on would get loose and travel all the twists and turns it would need to travel, and that the helium would allow to just sink a couple of feet to be at level height with his head.

Sure, helium balloons get weak and start to sink. But when hubby thanked his brother and moved the balloon, it floated back up and flattened itself against the ceiling. Do helium balloons get a second wind?

If you are adamantly convinced that there is no such thing as life after death, or that all spirits are evil, etc., I'm not going to try and convince you otherwise. However, if you are open to the possibility of life after death and that the spirits of the dead may occasionally visit us, then consider that you can connect with them again.

Here are some tips for connecting to a lost loved one:

• Be open to it. Sometimes, half the battle is just being willing to communicate. If your mind is shut off, you put up mental blocks that will prevent any messages from getting through.
• Be aware. We can easily miss the signs, but take notice of those little coincidences.
• Ask them for a message. Often they're eager to oblige, especially if they're someone that loved you very much.
• Pay attention to your dreams. In your dreams, you're in the perfect state to receive messages from beyond. Our loved ones often take the opportunity to talk with us in dreams for that reason.
• Hone your psychic skills. Learning to meditate and improve your 'receiver' may help you communicate easier with those who have passed.
• Don't overdo it. If you're trying to make this person part of your life again as though nothing has changed, you may send them away for a long time. It's not healthy for you to cling to those who have passed. While your loved ones do want to get in touch with you, they don't want you to obsess over it. You'll see them again soon enough; right now, you have a life to live.

Is it real? Is it not real? What's going on here? Well, that's up to you to decide. If you keep an open mind, though, you might be amazed at what you experience.