28 replies to this topic

[Damaris]

My grandmother died in 2003, aged 100. Or more, we think she lied about her age She was remarkable in many ways, also bad-tempered and strong-willed, particularly as she got older.

I was thinking about her recently (I am her namesake and first grandchild) in my bedroom, when suddenly I smelled Shalimar. That was her signature perfume, she wore it as long as I could remember. I don't own any.

I told my father (her oldest son) and he said, "H'mmm."

Anyone else ever get this kind of visitation?

[spooksareus]

Yep, sure do, with my gran it is always the smell of Ben Gay

[Charlotte]

It happens to me all of the time. My grandfather wore Old Spice or some Avon stuff, and I get that. Sometimes, I smell a sweet potato pie baking in the oven. That is my grandmother. In fact, about a month ago, I was in the master bedroom, hanging up clothes, and it smelled so strong I called out, "Don't let it burn, Nanu!", before I even realized it.

Blessed Be,
Charlotte

[rayzrwyre]

In the past, I was helping renovate an old cathouse, and when I was working in the Madame's room, I could ususally smell perfume! Very sweet, sometimes slightly overbearing, but considering most of her "clients" were sweaty old wildcatters, I didn't blame her one bit!

[Mark London]

yes its our loved ones and relatives just checking in on us.

I frequently smell tobacco that my grandfather used to smoke.
The perfume my girlfriend wore
And the cologne my dad wore

[spiritalk]

Check out: clairalience or clairgustience or clairofal

These are terms for smells of a spirit nature.

God bless, J

[Damaris]

LOL at the cathouse story, rayzrwyre!

My paternal grandfather always smelled of good cigars. No spirit visitations, though.

Spiritalk, thank you...I'll read up.

[GhostCat]

The scents....My grandmother always smelled of a soap she always used "Yardley of London". Always, I get a wiff of that scent when she is around. A close family friend was a pipe smoker and I smell that every now and then.

The house I grew up in was always filled with scents from spirits, not related. We would smell perfumes, smells like nice homecooked meals, many nice floral scents and for some reason a burnt toast smell, lol.

[spooksareus]

Ben Gay had been my grandma's favorite cure all for "hundreds of years" as she liked to say. She rubbed it on whatever body part ailed her every night as long as can remember.

If you happened to complain within her earshot of some ache or pain, she'd get out the Ben Gay and commence to massaging the menthal ointment into the offending joint muscle. "Here comes Dr. Joseph" she would practically sing and her whole face would light up as she worked the the magic into your feet or back.

It's been more than two years since my grandma's passed over, but sometimes I swear I still get a faint whiff of Ben Gay....

[IQuestioneverything]

I am so thrilled to find this site at this point in my life.
When I was a young child I had many supernatural and paranormal experiences, but by the age of 7 my parents, who I tried to talk to about it, took me to a psychologist and totally beat in to my head that it was all my imagination. At that point I felt totally alone and like I was a freak AND crazy. I started stealing pain pills from my mother's medicine cabinet and I was allowed to start drinking because of our cultural background...a lot of German blood.
I found that altering my state of reality with substances allowed me to block out these unworldly things. When I got older other "talents" started manifesting and I just used more substances and tried to ignore them.
My paternal grandmother was my whole world. She was my sister, my mother, my grandmother, my best friend, my soul link...everything. I was her youngest grandchild and I was her only grandchild who spent regular visits with her, every Summer I stayed there for a few weeks and throughout the Winters I got to visit regularly. When I was fully grown we were the same height, had the same shoe size, and the same size hands. When I was very young, three, we lived near her and my grandfather. One day my Mom and I passed her blue '68 VW Beetle with her in it and I yelled at my Mom, "There's Mama Jo!" Her name was Flora, people called her Flo, but I could not get that out phoneticly. From that day forward everyone in our lives called her "Mama Jo". We had such a special relationship, it's not too many kids who get to name their grandmother.
She made her transition on June 1 four years ago. She was almost 90 and had been a widow for almost 20 years and all those years she was so ready to leave here and be with her Love, my Daddy Len, my grandad. She went in her sleep while she was recovering from having a BK amputation a few days prior. All those years, well since I was a child I have had issues with being suicidal, so I totally understood her perspective on wanting to move on.
Two years ago, I finally crawled out of my self pitty at not having her with me any longer and I started meditating, started opening up, started trying to get back in touch with the being I was as a child and I stopped drinking and using drugs to escape these things.
Last Winter I was very ill for about seven months. Everyday she made me aware she was here. I knew she was trying to help me get through that illness, but it wasn't anything I could explain to people and have them understand.
June 1 came this year and I thought about her constantly for a few days. On June 5 I was just laying in bed and taking a silent moment to relax, that's when it happened. She sat down right next to me on the edge of my bed. I felt this vibration in the mattress and I was overwhelmed with her smell and the way her home smelled and it lasted for about 3-5 minutes. I had no fear. I had such peace and warmth. I knew she was spending all her energy to get through to me. Since then wonderful and amazing things have been happening around me and in me everyday. I told my father and he said to me, "Yes, that is something that Mama Jo would do for you." I told my Mom and she said, with tears in her eyes, "That is so wonderful. What a gift." Needless to say their views have changed a lot since I was a child, thank goodness.
I knew she had made that contact to tell me that I was going to be okay and that she agreed with and supported my new vocation and purpose in life. I had decided and have been working for a year on writing and art. When I was 4 I went through a "blue" period in my art. During that period I made a pastel creation on black paper with mainly blue flowers. She fell in love with it immediately and kept it hung above her mirror for 30 years, until she left us.
She never told me what I should do with my life and she let me dream of becoming something I was never able to accomplish, but she always got such joy and always gave me such great compliments whenever she witnessed me creating, whether it be art, music, or writing. I think she knew that's where my life would lead me, I wish she had told me.
I apologize that this is so long and I doubt that hardly anyone will actually read this whole thing, but I am just so glad to read these other experiences. I am so glad to not feel alone, crazy, and like a freak that has to alter her state of consciousness to appear "normal". My whole life has been changed forever and I feel blessed, grateful, and finally at peace with my "gifts".
Please have patience with this butterfly that is just now escaping her cocoon,
IQ(uestion everything)

[ravenhecate]

Hello IQ...welcome to Ghost Village...it is not so that noone is going to read your post. I read every word and am glad I did. That was a wonderful story

I hope you enjoy your time here. You will find many friends here.

Raven

[leonie]

My Grandad died a few years back and he was like the most important person in my life, I respected him more than my mum and dad and loved him to bits. When he died i was absolutely devistated specially after my dog who was a lifetime pet and bestfriend died only a coupld of months after. I was absolutely distraught and finding it hard to remember all the good times with my grandad who was aptly name Raymond Briggs

One night I woke up I was layed facing the wall and was wondering what woke me up when i felt someone stroking my head at first I thought Id magined it and looked up to see if it was my curtain and it was too far up and just incase I checked to see f my window was open and was blowing on my head when I heard a friendly chuckle from behind me. I was too nervous to turn and put my head back on the pillow I heard a voice saying "Cheer up kid, youve got a lot of living to do, now stop worrying and cheer up, Im always here." Then a warmth washed over me and I fell asleep, woke up the next morning fuzzy headed but absolutely feeling great, ive never been the same sinse.

I believe that the people who cared for you and who you cared for are always looking after you, and come to comfort you when theres no one else.

Another story of mine is that I was named after my other Grandad who died a few months before I was born he was called Leo and died of cancer. If I was born on time and not late I would have been the star sign Cancer, but i was born late and was born in the star sign of Leo. Also because he lved in a house with three women some of his last words were "Dont let that baby be a blooody girl" to my mum. I have always always been a tomboy and not a girly girl. My mum thinks that somehow my grandad Leo has had some sort of effect on when I was born and how I have initially lead my life.

Grandparents are very important people. We should always love and respect them.

Leonie
xxx

[frither]

I have to agree about grandparents being special. My paternal grandmother died the day I was born and my paternal grandfather when I was 5 but I was blessed with the presence of my maternal grandparents when I was growing up. This is an account of my last visit with them:

My maternal grandfather (who was known to most as "The McKinney") and my maternal grandmother were married for 72 years before The McKinney unexpectedly passed in his sleep. Grandmum had always said that if The McKinney tried to pull a stunt like leaving this world without her, she would hike up her skirts, chase right after him and kick his tail clean past the pearly gates (little 4'10" redheaded spitfire that she was, we always took that threat as factual).

After The McKinney's funeral, I drove home and even though it was barely sunset, just made it to my bedroom before toppling, coat, dress, shoes into the kind of deep sleep that only someone in deep grief can manage. At exactly 3:07 am (I'm absolutely sure of the time), I abruptly woke up, sat straight up and looked at the end of my bed to find The McKinney and Grandmum standing there. I grabbed my glasses and as I was shoving them on my face, they came around to either side of the bed and reached for my hands. Grandmum told me that The McKinney had come back for her so she wouldn't have to wear her short little legs off chasing him up to heaven and said that they wanted to tell me goodbye and that they loved me. She bent down, gave me a hug and kissed my cheek then The McKinney gave me a hug and kissed my forehead. After that, they stepped back, went back to the end of my bed, joined hands then in disappeared into thin air. Not 10 seconds later, my telephone started ringing (and this was the era before caller ID) and on the second ring, I picked it up and said "Hello Mum. Yes, they were just here. Let me grab some stuff and I'll be there as soon as I can".

At Grandmum's funeral, the family took a poll and from the eldest to the youngest child who was old enough to be able to provide an account, each and every one of us had the identical experience at the identical time. Of course, this was a family that accepted such occurances as natural and normal so rather than thinking such erroneous thoughts as "grief hysteria" or "hallucinations" or "dreams", we all accepted that what had happened was just exactly what DID happen.

The doctor officially ruled Grandmum's death as 'sudden cardio-pulmonary failure' but off-the-record stated that he knew what actually happened. He said that he knew that her soul was so intertwined with his that when his left, hers naturally went with it, leaving just enough life force her her body to make it through the funeral. Yep, I believe it.

Edited by frither, 14 June 2007 - 01:04 AM.

[frither]

Oh and spirit odors are quite a common occurance around here I always know when The McKinney is about because of the sweet cherrywood scent that came from his favorite pipe tobacco (neither one of us smokes a pipe and don't have anything else around with that smell), Grandmum always brings the scent of Avon's Raining Violets with her, Da always sends "British Sterling" ahead of him, Aunt Fleeda favors Ombre Rose, Aunt Mabel uses a rather hefty dose of "Paloma Picasso"...............(every time we sense an impending visitation, MH says "probably one of your kinfolks" ~I'll sniff the air and say something like "welllll........yeah" ) Only one who hasn't come around since passing has been Mum.........guess she's too busy reorganizing the afterlife and issuing orders to the Almighty If I ever get a whiff of "Pavlova" though, I'll know exactly who it is. Until then, I'm grateful that the kinfolks who come to visit make their presence known with such nice smells

[Mark London]

I think I have answered something similar to this before, but I often get the smell of my Grandfathers tobacco he died in 1991.

Also I get my dad's smell of aftershave when im feeling a bit down he died in 2004.

So take heart when you get these aroma's, its just a way of letting you know someone is close by