Now that "Ghost Whisperer" has become a hit on CBS on Friday nights, it has become easier to talk about "ghostbusting." The show was inspired by a 57-year-old Mary Ann Winkowski, who works as a ghost-buster in Ohio. She has the gift of being able to see and speak with earth-bound spirits. James Pragh, the famous psychic medium, contacted her when he was helping a woman whose house had spirits, but they weren't the kind that had crossed over. He could only contact the kind that had gone into the light, so he needed help with the earth-bound kind. He then put Winkowski in touch with CBS.

I began talking to spirits when I was 8 years old, when my grandfather visited me. I never met him in the flesh because he died in a concentration camp in Poland. I didn't "see" him, but I did hear him, as if he was speaking inside my head. He described the house that my mother grew up in, and I shared this with her and she confirmed that all he told me was true. She also had unusual gifts, so she treated my experience as if it were quite ordinary.

Later I discovered that I could also communicate with "ghosts." I don't see either kind of spirit, but I can hear both kinds. I've cleared many houses since then, so you could call me a ghost-buster. This is one of the skills that I teach in Part 4 of my Vibrational Healing Program.

The first time I worked with an earthbound spirit, a client (I'll call her Linda) complained of feeling a hostile presence in her home, particularly in the living room and kitchen. Linda was planning to move, because she felt so uncomfortable, but she wondered if I might be of help. Though I had never experienced a 'ghost', I felt open to the possibility. I was told by American Indian friends that spirits usually came after sundown. Linda concurred that these disturbing encounters did happen after sundown.

I prepared to go to her home in the evening. First I surrounded myself with protective white light and called in all my Guides. Sure enough, when I walked into her house I did feel a hostile presence in the living room. I went into the bedroom and didn't feel anything unusual. I asked Linda to leave me alone in the house for an hour.

When she left, I lit three white candles and put them in front of me for protection. I found that I was able to communicate with this presence through a kind of telepathy. Eventually it opened up, and I received various pictures which led me to understand that this was the spirit of an elderly woman who had lived in this location for many years. She and her husband had built the house together, and she had birthed and raised their children there. Eventually her husband died, and she never recovered from his death. The home was her main connection with him, and she resented having to share it with another woman, especially the kitchen and living room.

In my mind's eye, I spoke to this woman about the Light. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross told us so many stories about near-death experiences and about the tunnel and the Light that it felt very real to me. "I can feel how unhappy you are," I told her. "I know that you've seen the Light. Your husband is waiting for you in the Light. When you go into the Light, you will have a young body again. You and your husband will be healthy and whole again." Then I opened the window and asked her to leave the house, to go toward the Light and find happiness with her husband. I could feel the heaviness lifting from the room, and I knew that she had gone. It was a good, uplifting feeling. Then I opened all the doors and windows and lit a bundle of sage and wafted it in every corner of every room, as I learned from the Pueblo Indians, purifying the air and inviting in only positive energies.

When Linda returned, she could feel the change. She was no longer bothered by ghosts, and she remained in the same house. I have since cleared many homes. Children are often sensitive to these energies, and I encourage adults to pay attention when children speak about ghosts that they perceive, particularly if the children seem to be genuinely concerned.

Releasing earthbound spirits is just a matter of locating the spirit and doing a form of Death and Loss Counseling for him or her. It is not helpful to be afraid or resentful, since most of these spirits are just lost souls who need a little Tender Loving Care so they can overcome their fear about going into the Light. I tell several of these stories in my booklet, Body/Mind Journeys. It's true that occasionally one encounters hostile spirits, and they can be dangerous if you don't know how to protect yourself. But this is true in all walks of life.

If you'd like help with this problem, you can contact me for a Private Appointment.