When Ghosts Speak: A Primer on Earthbound Spirits
Author - Mary Ann Winkowski
Review by Sandy Amazeen
Dec 5, 2007
As consultant to the CBS series Ghost Whisper, fifty-something Winkowski is anything but your average soccer mom. From earliest childhood, Winkowski has seen and spoken to ghosts that she claims are earthbound spirits, usually with some unfinished business to attend to before moving on. Recounting her experiences growing up with this unusual ability that was nurtured by her grandmother, Winkowski tells of regularly attending funerals as a four year old to aid the departing spirits, how she convinces spirits to move into the white light, the effects murder and suicides has on the spirit and more. Believing that some practices just invite unwanted spirits into one’s life, Winkowski is particularly adamant against the use of Ouija boards, tarot cards, spell casting, séances and the like. She explains how ghosts become attached to inanimate objects like furniture and jewelry, their attraction to theaters, hospitals, airports, sports arenas and other high energy places as well as what to do in the event a spirit follows you home. Whether you believe in ghosts or are a confirmed skeptic, this is an entertaining, smoothly written and arguably informative look at the earthbound spirits that supposedly share the world with us. As one of the skeptical, it is tempting to simply debunk this as total hogwash yet, as Winkowski points out, if your home or family seem to be abnormally accident or illness prone, following the cleansing rituals won’t do any harm so what have you got to lose except for an unwanted spirit or two.
Review by Leroy Hommerding - Library Journal
Those familiar with the CBS television series Ghost Whispererwill recognize Winkowski as the show's paranormal investigator and consultant whose stories have provided much of the framework for the series. Winkowski claims she has been seeing and talking to ghosts for more than 50 years, and she views her life work as helping earthbound spirits cross over into the light. Here, she offers insights in prodigious detail into what it's like to communicate with earthbound spirits. Via a compelling combination of journal, insightful wit, and honest soul search, she clarifies the very notion of ghosts and enables readers to explore this subject without the oversimplification or sensationalism often attributed to ghosts in movies. Libraries seeking a variety of titles on the subject of the paranormal can consider adding this resource. Those seeking to recommend a work blending both an understanding of ghosts and real-life encounters-in the vein of Jeff Belanger's Our Haunted Lives: True Life Ghost Encountersand Leslie Rule's Ghosts Among Us: True Stories of Spirit Encounters-will find this a kindred title.