When You Want to See a Sign From Your Deceased Loved One
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About After-Death Communications
So often, the clients in my grief counseling practice tell me that they desperately want to see a sign from their deceased loved ones. It would be so meaningful to them.
After-Death Communication
After-death communication (ADC) experiences have been around for a long time. In fact, in other parts of the world, they are even discussed openly with relatives and friends, without fear of being considered “crazy” or having a wild imagination, as sometimes happens in our country.
In fact, there was a study done by Bill and Judy Guggenheim that provided evidence that LIFE AND LOVE are eternal. Bill Guggenheim is the pioneer in the field of After-Death Communications, and the author of the book, Hello From Heaven!
Between 1998 and 1995, they interviewed 2,000 people who live in all 50 American states and all ten Canadian provinces. From children to elderly, they represented diverse backgrounds.
The Guggenheims estimated that at least 50 million Americans have had one or more ADC experiences, and the number could even be higher than that. They collected more than 3,300 firsthand accounts of after-death communications from people who have been contacted by a deceased family member or friend.
These are spontaneous and direct communications that may occur anytime, anywhere. In this study, no psychics, mediums, hypnotists or other kinds of intermediaries were involved.
12 Types Of ADC Experiences
According to the Guggenheims, the research concluded that there are twelve most frequent types of ADC experiences people report having with their deceased loved ones.
1. Sensing a Presence. This is the most common one. This is a distinct feeling that your loved one is nearby even though he or she can’t be seen or heard.
2. Hearing a Voice. Some people report that they hear an external voice, just as when a living person is talking to them. More people, however, hear the voice in their mind.
3. Feeling a Touch. A person might feel the affection and love of a deceased loved one by feeling them touch you or hold you for comfort.
4. Smelling a Fragrance. You may smell your loved one’s favorite perfume or after-shave lotion or even their own body scent.
5. Visual experiences. These are made up of two kinds of visual experiences. Partial visual and full visual after-death communications.
In other words, it can look like a transparent image or a solid image, or somewhere in between. Your loved one’s head and shoulder, or arms and legs as partial visions, or the entire body for a full visual.
6. Visions. This could be an image of a loved one in a two-dimensional picture and flat or one that is 3-D like a hologram. Often, visuals appear in radiant colors and can be seen either with your eyes or inside your mind.
7. Twilight experiences. These experiences come to you in the “alpha” state --- as you’re falling asleep, waking up, meditating or praying.
8. ADC (After-death communication) Experiences while asleep. Sleep-state ADCs are different from dreams, in that they are more vivid, intense, and real than most dreams are.
9. Out-of-Body ADCs. These can take place while you are asleep or in a meditative state. They seem to be dramatic experiences during which you leave your body and often visit your loved one at the place or level where they exist.
10. Telephone Calls. These ADCs may occur while you are asleep or when you are wide awake. You will usually hear a phone ringing and if you answer it, your deceased loved one will give you a brief message. Sometimes, two-way conversations exist.
11. Physical phenomena. People who are grieving often say that they receive an assortment of physical signs from their deceased relative or friend.
This could be, for example, lights blinking on and off, lights, radios, tvs being turned on, objects being moved or any number of other physical happenings similar to this.
12. Symbolic ADCs. Often, those who are grieving will ask a Higher Power, the universe, God or their deceased loved one for a sign that the loved one still exists. It might take time, but many of those people eventually do receive a sign.
They could be subtle signs or signs that could be interpreted as “coincidences” but are still seen as signs. Some common signs include butterflies, birds, animals, coins, pictures, rainbows, numbers or sounds.
Here is a link to the Guggenheim’s book on this subject: Hello from Heaven:
What to Know About After-Death Communications:
Their purpose is to comfort the bereaved and offer reassurance and hope to the deceased’s loved ones . The deceased wants those who are still living to know that the deceased is still alive, and that they will be reunited again one day when both of them have left the physical earth.
Most of these communications are joyful and positive and lift the spirits of the surviving relatives and friends. They are not to be feared, even if they come to you in a surprising way or “out of the blue.”
NOT everyone has these communications with their deceased loved ones, and that is OKAY. It never means that your loved one doesn’t love you or didn’t love you or has forgotten you.
These communications experiences are a normal and natural part of life, if they occur for you.
ADCs deserve more acceptance than they get these days. People talk about “near-death experiences” but are often embarrassed to talk about after-death communications. In reality, an ADC from a loved one is sacred and should be valued. This communicates the notion that life and love are eternal.
Some signs to look for when you’re looking for signs from the deceased.
Coins – repeatedly noticing a single coin in places you wouldn’t expect
Scents – tobacco, a flower, or cooking aromas. Any scent relating to that person.
Dreams – it has been said that “if dreams stick with you and touch your heart differently from that of a normal dream, it could be a message from the dead.”
Feathers stones, symbols, numbers – Although this is a broad range, they are considered things that make themselves known to a griever as a message from a loved one, as when a white feather, a unique number, or heart shapes start showing up all over the place.
Birds – For some reason, they always seem to get our attention, as if they arriving to send a message from a deceased person.
Songs on the radio – Sometimes songs come on the radio just at the time that you are thinking of or missing your loved one. Who knows why?
Photos – Sometimes a particular photo falls down near you or a picture frame keeps getting bent. A sign for you to notice that photo.
Electricity – Spirits are made of electromagnetic energy, so it’s natural that they would manipulate electric devices. You may find that your electronics turn off or on by themselves at times.
Messengers – A phrase that our loved one used to say may repeatedly come to you at various times to remind you of them.
Here’s a very interesting and informative article on ADC.
Stay Connected with Your Loved Ones After Death
You might feel like you’d never really be able to stay connected to your love one in a real sense after they die, but you can.
How to Stay Connected:
Write letters to them.
Share stories about them as much as you can.
Speak to them directly.
Create a ritual for a time when you are celebrating something while wishing that your loved one was celebrating with you.
Ask them for advice when you are undergoing a difficult time.
Embody their values and act as they would in certain situations or everyday living.
Wear something on your body that makes you feel connected to them.
Do something charitable to honor their memory and help others at the same time.
Acknowledge their birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays. Make and enjoy a favorite meal, or birthday cake or visit their special favorite place in their honor.
However, if you and your loved one do not engage in after-death communications, please know that this is NOT a sign that the love that you had together no longer exists.
Love always stays, and we don’t always need a sign to know that.
Let’s Do This Together
If you want help exploring this part of grief, we can do it together during grief counseling sessions.
