Orbs

Last week I had the opportunity to speak with the Lake Carroll Women’s Club and tell some ghost stories. I had a great time, they were a wonderful audience. Afterwards, one of the women came up to me and asked me what I thought about orbs. She mentioned a friend who has taken photos of orbs in her home, and I got the feeling that she was a little suspect of the orbs being ghosts. But then, she mentioned that she had visited an old graveyard in Europe and when she developed her photos, there were dozens of orbs in them.

As my readers know, Mary generally has ghosts appear/manifest themselves to her as they were when they died. No orbs, just see-through bodies. But, since I’ve personally had experiences with orbs, I told her that I thought they could be either.  Especially since an orb appeared on one of the covers of a Mary O’Reilly Book.

Orbs generally show themselves in photos and on video, and, surprising to me, they are very controversial in the paranormal community.  There is an ongoing debate as to whether orbs actually exist. Some believe they are only natural occurrences, like dust, pollen, or moisture that show up on your camera lens and then look like something spooky.  Others not only believe then to be paranormal, but have classified them by color:

Clear Orbs – a sign that an entity is trying to communicate with you.

White or Silver Orbs – are an indication that a spirit is trapped on this plane or they are a protective orb.

Black or Brown Orbs – are associated with lower spiritual vibrations or heavy energy and can be considered either evil or that the area they inhabit is unsafe or negative.

Red or Orange Orbs – is a sign that an entity has assumed the role of a protector or caretaker.

Green Orbs – may represent love or oneness with nature.

Blue Orbs – are associated with spiritual guidance.

So, who knew, right?

So – the story about my book cover: Several years ago, I was out driving down country roads looking for trees. (Now, most people might find that odd. But those of you who read my books will understand completely.) I came across a tiny graveyard that was located next to the intersection of two narrow gravel roads. It was early spring, so there was still fairly deep snow in the ditches, but when I saw a tree growing up out of an ancient tombstone, I knew I had found the perfect image for my book cover.  I trudged through the snow and climbed up to the elevated area of the graveyard.

Whenever I take pictures in a graveyard, I always do so with respect to those whose remains are lying beneath the ground. I am reverent and quiet as I walk among the markers. I walked slowly around the area, taking photos from a number of positions. But I mainly focused on the gravestone and the tree.  I spent about twenty minutes taking photos and then went back to my house to see if my photos were going to work.

Normally, when I’m creating my covers I use a smudge stick in Photoshop to blur out small areas to give the cover visual mystery. I was surprised to see that my photos of the tree were pre-blurred. Right in the middle of the branches was a grapefruit sized ball of blur. Thinking I had just had a spot of my lens, I looked at the other photos from different angles.  The blur was there, in the same place, no matter what angle I shot from. Cool!

When my husband got home from work, I convinced him to drive back to the graveyard with me. I was actually wondering if I had captured an old giant spider web nesting in the branches of the trees. (We grow spider webs pretty big in the country.) We got to the cemetery at dusk and examined the tree. There was nothing physically laying on those branches. So, then I started to take some photos and even in the dim light of day, I could see the orbs appear.  Testing to be sure it wasn’t the camera, dust particles or any other natural phenomena, I turned my camera and took pictures away from the gravestone.  Those photos were clear, no orbs.My takeaway from this experience. Things can show up on your camera like dust particles and pollen and look like orbs. But, sometimes, especially in a cemetery at twilight on a dark country road, you can have some paranormal company that isn’t camera shy.

Happy Friday!

Like what you read?  Find more stories by Terri Reid here.