Who ya gonna call – a Ghostbuster?

There’s really no way to “bust” a ghost. It’s more like ghost counseling than busting, according to Kenny resident Echo Bodine.
Bodine was 17 when she discovered her psychic abilities. One of her brothers saw a spirit in their house and that led their mom to contact a spiritual medium in St. Paul. “We had to find out why this happened to our family,” explained Bodine. “The psychic was a wonderful woman from England who told us that all four of us kids and our mom were born with psychic abilities and that I also have the gift of healing. She said we would be well-known psychics, write several books, be on radio and TV and travel throughout the world teaching people about their gifts. She also said a teacher would be coming along soon and would teach us how to identify and develop our gifts.”
That was 1965.
“That night our lives changed forever,” recalled Bodine. “We were Christians. Went to Presbyterian and later American Baptist church, and we had never delved into anything supernatural so this was all quite a shock to us.”
But they found the medium was right, she said.
A spiritualist minister called one day and said she was to teach them how to develop their gifts. “We never met this woman. Just out of the blue, she gave us this call,” said Bodine. “I was pretty nervous about the whole thing, but my mom was always up for an adventure so off we went to our first of many classes.”
They studied for about a year and developed their psychic gifts. One day one of her mom’s friends called and asked if they could see if there was a ghost in her attic because there was a bunch of noise up there. As they drove out to Shakopee, Bodine asked her mom why they were going to Carol’s and she explained about the noises. “I asked Mom, ‘Are we looking for a ghost?’ and she said, ‘I’m not sure.’ Then I asked, ‘What do they look like?’. She said she didn’t know.” Her last question was, “What are we going to do if we find one?” Her mom responded, “I don’t know.”
They had no idea what they were getting into, recalled Bodine. Once in Carol’s attic, Bodine began looking for a little white blobby being like Casper the Friendly Ghost, as her experience of ghosts up to that point had been formed by the television show.
That’s not what they found. They noticed a man, woman, son and daughter who were see through – transparent – standing over in the corner. Bodine asked her mother if she knew why those people were there and she said no.
“At this point, we did not know that a ghost was the soul of someone who was stuck here on Earth. Both mom and I kept waiting for Casper to appear and he never did, so we left. That’s how it all got started.”
Bodine has since written about it in two books, “My Little Book of True Ghost Stories” and “How To Live a Happily Ever After Life.”
It was at least a year before Bodine tried anything else. For her second experience, she brought along her psychic brother Michael. “I was still afraid of spirits, but Michael had seen them since he was a little boy and wasn’t afraid,” Bodine stated.
There was a house in St. Paul that had been on the market for over a year. A woman called them saying she had done everything to make her house sell-able but no one would buy it. “Off we went, and what a job that was,” said Bodine. “There were so many ghosts in that house, no wonder it wouldn’t sell. Every room we walked into we got so creeped out, but by this time in our psychic development we had learned to communicate with spirit helpers called guides. They were with us and taught us how to properly get rid of these folks.”
Bodine acknowledges that many people have watched shows like “Ghostbusters” and “Ghost Whisperer.” She said that some of the episodes in “Ghost Whisperer” are valid, but “Ghostbusters” is pretty silly.
“A ghost looks just like us. Human beings. They are a soul. When their physical body dies, they remain earthbound,” Bodine explained. “Ghosts are definitely real. They aren’t evil, demonic, beings. They are simply the soul of someone who has died and they don’t want to move on.”
There are six main reasons why a soul chooses to remain earthbound, according to Bodine, and she covers that in her book, “How To Live a Happily Ever After Life.”
When she is brought to a home where there are ghosts, she walks through looking for transparent people. When she find ones, she asks: What is your name and why are you here?
“Our job is to convince them to move on into the light,” remarked Bodine. “Some yell, scream at us and cry. They have a lot of fear about going to heaven. The number one reason we hear often is that they are afraid if they go to heaven, God will send them to hell. Most ghosts have a strong belief in hell. Some don’t want to run into someone on the other side. Some stick around because they have an addiction problem, and they hang out with alcoholics/addicts here. Some don’t believe there is anything after life and so they don’t know what to do when they find out their soul lives on.”
Once all the ghosts are cleared from a home, Bodine burns sage to clear the house of all the fear created by the ghosts. “People create a lot of fear and anger when dealing with ghosts,” she observed. “The sage does not get rid of a ghost, contrary to what a lot of people believe. It’s simply to clear negative energy. The Native Americans say to leave a window open when burning sage to get rid of the negative energy. When we are completely done, people say their homes feel so much better.”
Bodine has learned to caution people about talking to their ghosts and inadvertently calling them back. “Some people miss their ghosts, and we suggest they get a pet instead!” she said.
Bodine has reopened her Center for Spiritual/Intuitive Development in the Hub in Richfield where she offers classes and holds events.
“Our challenges are God’s opportunity to show us the magic of life and how much we are loved,” according to Bodine, who signs her emails with that reminder.