Building a Vocabulary of Signs
Recently, I met with a family of five who were hoping to connect with their deceased son/brother/husband, “Barry.” I’ve been working with this particular family for eight years and at every annual visit, Barry crosses over from the Other Side to make his voice heard, loud and clear. Over the years, he’s offered an explanation for why he died at the young age of 38 and how he’s now working as a silent partner and spirit guide from the Other Side. How does he do this? This spirit provides his living loved ones with irrefutable validations and “signs” that he is still very present—watching and listening as they move through their daily lives.
Some spirits choose to keep one foot in this world to help guide their living loved ones by providing them with inspirational “signs” and universal truths to stay the course. When a spirit stays close to the living, their presence can feel near.
At the conclusion of our most reading, Barry’s mom asked if his “sign” is still the ladybug, which all the family members see frequently and have come to associate with Barry’s presence.
“Let me ask him,” I said. I closed my eyes and checked in with Barry; he flooded my mind with a variety of signs and I interpreted: “He’s giving me the impression that he sends the family many different signs, so keep your eyes, ears and hearts open. If you only look for ladybugs, you will miss all the other miracles coming your way.”
Barry’s family looked confused, so I unpacked it a bit more: “Our minds tend to limit what we see,” I said. We can easily get fixated on one way, one sign. But spirits are unlimited and want us to open our minds to all the possibilities of spirit communication.”
I asked Barry to give me a specific example. “I got one,” I said. “He’s showing me a license plate with his name on it.”
“Oh my God,” Barry’s sister exclaimed and then shared with the group that Barry’s cousin and best friend had sent her a text—just yesterday—with a picture of a license plate that said BARRY!
“Sometimes Spirit will use other people to act as messengers,” I explained as Barry popped another image into my head. “Now, he’s showing me a tropical island and sharks. Ring any bells?”
This time, Barry’s widow reacted with surprise. She recounted a recent trip to Hawaii to celebrate their daughter’s birthday. “I was drawn to a stuffed shark in the airport gift shop and bought it for our daughter. At the time, I had no idea why I felt compelled to buy it.”
“It was Barry, nudging you from the Other Side,” I said. “You may look up the spiritual meaning of the shark and perhaps this will shed some light on why he chose this animal to make contact with you. Going forward, keep your eyes open to this new sign.”
I shared with Barry’s family that my father started dropping nails into my path after he died. (Literally, I would trip over them.) “Over time, he added dimes, the Hawkeyes mascot and the song ‘How to Save A Life’ by the Fray into his sign language. Because these particular signs would repeatedly show up when I thought about Dad or asked him a direct question, I eventually connected the dots and intuitively knew that he was using nails, dimes, songs, etcetera to communicate with me.”
I reminded Barry’s family to keep an open mind to the endless number of ways spirits try to communicate with the living (for an extensive list of signs, check out my book Spirited). Some signs stick for a long time, but our departed loved ones will also add on to the list, using a variety of methods to let you know they are near. If you find yourself second-guessing the process or overthinking what is real or make-believe, tune in to your feelings. They are your most reliable gauge. Does the sign in question invoke strong feelings? Did it appear out of the blue, but at just the right time, when you needed it most? Trust how you feel. As you acknowledge Spirit and trust the guidance available to you, the signs will multiply!
Do you have a story to share about your sign language with Spirit? How do you know when your departed loved ones are communicating with you?
If you want to connect with your departed loved ones through a small group reading, there are still seats available in February and March! I hope to see you there!