7 Signs a Spirit is Trying to Warn You

Different types of spirits may try to contact you for many reasons. Departed loved ones might contact you to let you know they’re OK, or your spirit guides may try to warn you because they’re worried about your wellbeing. Spirits in haunted locations may try to warn you too, but for their own reasons — they want you to leave. You can learn to understand important messages from the spiritual world, and this post helps you recognize the signs that a spirit is trying to warn you.

1. Intuition guides you

Gut feelings or hunches can let you know that something “feels off” — that you aren’t on the right path and might want to change course. Your intuition, often identified as a sixth sense, can help you make quick decisions without the need for analytical thinking. This “nonconscious emotional information” might warn you against turning down a dark alley or giving your phone number to someone who seems suspicious. Spirit guides or departed loved ones can help you access these gut feelings and use them to warn you away from danger. 

2. You hear voices

Sometimes, you may hear voices in your head that warn you to protect yourself. Perhaps you were driving too fast when a voice cautioned you to slow down. A moment later, a deer bounded out onto the road in front of you — if you hadn’t listened, you would have hit it. Voices like this are likely not coincidences or intuition. You may “hear” these clairaudient messages in your head, but they originate apart from your own thoughts and at times may even be audible. They can be messages from a deceased person or some other being in the spirit realm.

3. You get chills or negative feelings

Feelings of anxiety or impending doom can act as spiritual signs meant to alert you that something’s not right. These feelings may manifest as physical sensations such as chills, hot flashes, shaking, shortness of breath, or sudden sweats. Spirit guides may use these common signs to warn you against dangerous situations or places, like a meeting with a stranger or a dark forest, much as intuition does. They can also alert you to seek medical attention by warning you of an imminent emergency, such as a heart attack or stroke.

4. Your electronics fail

Spirits can manipulate electronics to warn you by draining battery-powered devices. They may also interrupt electrical currents or create surges, causing lights to flicker or turning televisions on and off. Ghost hunting equipment can help detect surges in electricity that may indicate the presence of spirits, but power failures and fluctuations can also be warning signs from the spirit world. For example, if you’ve set up a date with someone you met online and find your car’s battery is dead, a spirit may be telling you to avoid that person.

5. You feel a touch

Spirits have been known to touch human beings, or create a tactile sensation, to get their attention. Some ghosts do this to alert people that they’re in the ghost’s space. However, such touches can also serve as warnings. You may feel a tap on your shoulder to direct your attention toward a source of danger, or what feels like the touch of a hand can help you stay alert if you’re in danger of falling asleep at the wheel.

6. You have premonitions or recurring dreams

Spirits may empower you to face danger or difficulties through dreams and premonitions. Details in your dreams may signal you to be on the lookout for situations where you might need to exercise caution, such as a business meeting or a social event. Recurring dreams or repeating themes may indicate a spirit thinks you missed an important message the first time around. Premonitions, which occur when you’re awake, can contain similar warnings. If you envision a child walking out in front of your car, for example, you may decide to be more careful when you’re driving in school zones.

7. You hear unexplainable sounds or sensations in a haunted location

Sounds and sensations you can’t explain may indicate a spirit’s presence in a haunted location. Sightings of orbs or specs of light that appear on photos, knocking sounds, lightbulbs turning on and off, unpleasant smells, the room temperature dropping, or glimpses of movement out of the corner of your eye are some of the signs you may not be alone. You may want to contact the other side, but the spirits may want to be left alone. In fact, they are warning you to leave if you don’t want them to give you a difficult time. Ghosts in haunted locations aren’t the same as spirit guides: They’re out to protect their turf and have no concern for your safety. 

Ways to recognize and interpret the signs 

Spirits can use tools like intuition, dreams, voices, and fragrances to get your attention and warn you. Knowing what to look for can help you pick up on these signs. Your spirit guides may want to warn you of an imminent danger, such as a boulder in the road up ahead, or something in the more distant future, like a meeting with someone you might be better off avoiding.

Once you recognize the signs, use these tips to interpret the message and better connect with your spirit guide:

• Reflect on the message you received. How the message was received (in a dream, through chills, in a voice) can help you interpret what it means and how urgent it is. Messages that are repeated may indicate the spirit doesn’t think you’ve understood what they’re trying to say. 
• Begin to interpret the message. Go over the details of the message in your mind. Ask yourself whether the message refers to any specific event, person, or situation you are likely to encounter and how the spirit might want you to react.
• Think of who would have sent that message. Knowing your spirit guides can give you a good idea who might be communicating with you. A deceased loved one might get your attention using a song, fragrance, or symbol that was meaningful to them in life.

Moving forward

The more you know what to look for and how to interpret it, the better you’ll be able to decipher warnings from spirits that are trying to communicate with you. Knowing how to contact the dead can familiarize you with their method of communication. Then, if and when they attempt to contact you, you will be better attuned to what they’re saying — which is especially important if they’re trying to keep you out of danger.