Life After Death: The Difference Between Spirits and Ghosts
Written By Brandi Fleck
Exploring the difference between ghosts and spirits, how loved ones may communicate after death, and how to navigate the unseen world with intuition and discernment.
Editor's Note (2026): This article, originally published in 2021, has been substantially revised and expanded to provide greater clarity around the differences between ghosts, spirits, and Earth-bound spirits, as well as spirit communication, intuition, and spiritual discernment.
“I am still here.”
What powerful words.
A message.
It can have many different meanings depending on your perspective, but the absolute first one that comes to mind is that the energy of those who have passed is still here. This is the first thing I think of because when I was intentionally trying to connect with my passed-over grandma, that's what she told me. It's a direct quote.
Even if our loved ones and ancestors aren’t in the physical world in physical bodies, their energy is still here.
It’s eternal.
Personally, as a human who’s struggled with abandonment earlier in life, and I’m sure even for people who haven’t, the thought of a passed on loved one still being here is comforting, warm, and gives hope.
My youngest son asked me the other day if I believe in ghosts. I’m not going to lie, because every conversation can be a teaching moment if it needs to be, so I said yes. I’m not afraid of his potential fear and questions.
But he wasn’t afraid.
He then asked me, “are ghosts and spirits the same thing?”
No, they’re not really, even though they have similarities. I told him that.
He asked how they’re different.
Here’s the idea of what I said, and what I believe…
The Real Difference Between Spirits and Ghosts
In simple terms, ghosts are unconscious energetic impressions left behind in space and time, while spirits are conscious beings capable of awareness, communication, and interaction.
We oftentimes use the words spirits and ghosts interchangeably. I’ve always leaned toward thinking a loving, kind motive is associated with spirits while any malevolent or haunting motives are associated with ghosts.
However, if we get technical about it, that’s not really the case.
Humans are manifestations of spiritual energy while ghosts are manifestations of human energy. Ghosts are impressions in space and time. They’re an image that is unlikely to interact with you while spirits are the souls of humans and other sentient beings, like animals, who have passed on. Spirits can interact with you and the physical environment if they choose to do so.
Ghosts are oftentimes unaware of what they are, while spirits are aware and active.
So, I’d argue that ghosts don’t have consciousness while spirits do.
That’s the main difference.
Because of this, ghosts are stuck while spirits are free, but the ghost does not suffer.
However, there is a common misconception that an Earth-bound spirit, those who are responsible for most hauntings, is actually a ghost.
Earth-Bound Spirits Aren’t Actually Ghosts
An Earth-bound spirit is a conscious spirit that has not yet moved on from the physical plane and is often mistaken for a ghost.
It is an essence of someone who was not ready to leave this plane and is often referred to as a ghost in popular culture. Perhaps they were taken from life so quickly with so much unfinished business that they don’t even realize they’re dead and they do not want to go into the light.
Much like a living human who chooses to avoid seeing the light in order to heal - they choose to stay in the dark and not acknowledge truths that could set them free - an Earth bound spirit does the same thing. They still have free will. They can leave this plane whenever they choose. But they first must acknowledge what they are, who they are, and that they can.
Oftentimes, if you come across an Earth-bound spirit, you will feel goose bumps and cold temperatures. You may even see them and they’ll look like a ghost.
The difference is, if it’s a ghost, it will not interact with you. It will only replay like a movie, if you’re lucky enough to see it more than once. If it’s an Earth-bound spirit, it may get angry, have human emotions, try to interact, move things, and communicate. A ghost can’t communicate.
I like to make this distinction, because oftentimes, if we interact with Earth-bound spirits with compassion, it’s a much more pleasant experience for all involved. Treating an Earth-bound spirit like a ghost can invite harm to one or all parties.
Some Earth-bound spirits are kind while others are agitated and territorial. When you come across one of these and would like to remove it, it’s best to work with an experienced medium to do as little harm as possible to the spirit. A medium will also be able to help you discern if you are indeed dealing with an Earth-bound spirit versus another form of entity that isn’t human at all. More on that in a bit.
Expanding Our Understanding with Different Perspectives
Because I can’t possibly know all the possibilities, here is another explanation I found on the web that resonates with me. You might like to read it too:
Explaining the difference between ghosts and spirits, an other paranormal jargon by Rick Hinton in The Southside Times, a news source in Indianapolis, IN.
Additionally, spirits tend to appear and be seen (for people who can see them) in a variety of ways.
Here’s a fantastic description of how their energy can sometimes appear:
Types of Ghosts and Spirits by Ghosts and Gravestones, a tour company that runs haunted tours in haunted cities across the United States.
Why Ghosts and Spirits Are Often Confused
Spirits and ghosts can look similar in appearance, if you can even see them — as in they can both appear as an unexpected or startling apparition. But that’s the end of it.
I don’t believe I’ve ever actually seen a real ghost or an apparition of energy replaying through time, even though I have friends who have. However, I do believe that I’ve expended massive amounts of energy in moments of initial grief and heartache that absolutely left an imprint in space and time. I believe this can happen with anyone, alive or dead. Even if you can’t see the imprint in space and time, you can often feel the intensity of a location in your body, and that can easily be confused for spirit when it is actually human-created energy.
I do believe I’m in the presence of spirits regularly. When I am, the energy feels light, tingly, and loving, although I typically can’t see them. When I do, it looks like extremely faint misty light in an ambiguous shape that slightly resembles a person — only a transparent silhouette that is so faint, I think my eyes are playing tricks on me. This is rare though.
Other people report sightings of orbs (which I’ve seen in photos I’ve taken) and more formed figures than what I’ve personally seen. This is similar to how some people have the ability to see colors in auras or the energetic fields of others while when I work with energy fields of the living, I see a similar white, misty, transparent silhouette. The experience varies per person.
If I do see a fully formed figure, it’s typically a fleeting glance of an ascended master (a highly evolved spiritual teacher who’s lived as a human but risen the ranks due to their mastery of life and raising their energy) in my mind’s eye and not in the physical plane.
Spirit Communication Comes in Many Forms
Spirits may communicate through symbols, dreams, intuition, telepathy, synchronicities, and physical signs in the environment.
On the other hand, you may hear something a ghost says, but again, it’s not communicating to you. You're seeing a moment in time where human communication happened.
With a spirit, you might think it’s your imagination playing tricks on you, but you may hear, see, feel, or simply just know what they’re trying to communicate, whether it’s in waking life or in your dreams. They can manipulate things in your physical environment to get your attention typically only if they have enough energy or strength. Personally, I’ve had loved ones able to do this when they’ve first passed as their connection with the Earth plane is still strong, and the longer they’ve been on the other side, the less they communicate in the physical environment and the more abstract communication becomes.
I have personally heard spirits knock on walls, knock over dolls, say my name, and play through my head while falling asleep like I’m flipping through radio stations with some static in between.
Most prominently, instead of hearing, I “just know” if I’ve received a message because it’s information I know or have an impression of knowing, but don’t know exactly how I know. And I don’t always believe it until it happens. Then I look back and always say, “I knew that was going to happen. How did I know that?”
Whether or not you can perceive a spirit with your physical senses, spirits communicate through symbols more often than not.
Sometimes, spirits send you song lyrics at a poignant time, they’ll send feathers, butterflies, animals, or coins. The timing is important to indicate it’s a sign of communication.
I have felt deep full body chills and a breeze under my covers while lying in bed that goes from my toes to the top of my head when a loved one stops in to say hi. I have felt tingling on my head, arms, and legs. And I have seen beautiful pink and gold orbs floating above my head with sparks and light. I have seen one perfectly functioning light flicker at family gatherings and especially on the Christmas Eve after my grandma died.
When my son was (not yet a year old) right after my grandma died, his rocking horse that had a speaker that would play trotting and neighing kept going off on its own, but stopped after I acknowledged who it was. And I have felt warmth and unconditional love, seen butterflies at weird times, found feathers in weird places, and I get goose bumps when I need to follow a train of thought or direction.
Most recently, my passed over cat sends me feathers pretty regularly.
Getting good at knowing how to read symbols, or even coming up with your own symbol library so you can notice the signs and know what they mean, is a good way to communicate with spirits.
A professional medium is typically really good at reading symbols or can plainly hear or see messages and translate that information to you.
I’ve hired professional mediums, attended many group readings, and regularly tap into this type of communication myself. As long as you use discernment and know how to create boundaries, it’s safe to try.
How to Know the Difference Between Good and Bad Spirits
Many people have had negative and positive experiences with spirits. That experience doesn’t necessarily indicate if the spirit is good or bad. For example, a trickster spirit can seem positive while a harmless Earth-bound spirit can be scary. A trickster spirit may even try to convince you they’re a spirit guide when they’re not.
If a spirit is a soul of a human, it stands to reason that the soul can carry characteristics of a human's life or lives and personality. Conversely, humans also carry characteristics of their spirit. We all have the chance to make better choices.
Therefore, just as we can choose here in our physical world, a soul can choose love or it can choose fear. A soul or spirit can choose manipulation, low density emotions and actions, and can embrace or reject God or fall on a spectrum somewhere in between rejecting or embracing God, the Universe. This is all part of the grand design so we can experience the entire spectrum of separateness from God and when we return to God, give him the gift of those experiences.
Because of this larger design, I prefer to actually not use the terms “good” and “bad” when referring to spirits. They simply are, without judgement, learning lessons on a soul path, just as we are. Each path has a role to play in the larger collective web of interaction and experience, all of which we’re here to do.
In the past, I refused to interact with “bad” spirits. They know when they are rejected here for the safety and well-being of my family and myself.
However, I’m at a point in my practice that I feel confident in my boundaries and ability to discern between something that wishes me well, something that is neutral, and something that wishes to harm.
Before I knew the difference or even knew much of spirit, I did live in a house with my mom and sisters that we believe was haunted by mean, mad, or malevolent spirits. We would all get uneasy feelings while sitting on the couch in the living room just watching TV together. We would all get an uneasy feeling when walking down the hallway. That’s the best way I can describe being in the presence of a negative spirit — a general feeling of unease that has nothing to do with ego or fear or diagnosed anxiety even. It’s different than generalized anxiety, but hard to explain.
There is no unease at all when in the presence of a good spirit. There is nothing but warmth and unconditional love.
Additionally, if you are effectively communicating with a spirit and they are benevolent, the message will be based in love and won’t try to convince you to do anything against your free will. (Remember, you always have the final say in what you do.)
And while using a feeling of unease as a marker is valid if you can trust your nervous system and are fairly regulated, it’s also important to point out that some people may have other experiences.
Just because a spirit feels activating (you may become triggered or experience anxiety or panic), doesn’t mean it’s bad. Sometimes, excitement feels exactly like nervousness in your body and new experiences can cause both.
So, if you can’t trust your nervous system, what do you trust instead? Your intuition.
Using Your Intuition
You can tell the difference between fear and panic and your intuition with this clue:
Your intuition is subtle. Even if it’s delivering a message about getting to safety, it will not be in fear, but will be in love.
Panic and triggers are a distortion of your intuition — part pattern recognition that adapted to keep you safe, but may overreact in even safe situations if you’ve had a particularly traumatic past.
Creating Boundaries with Spirits
However, seeking balance and being aware of the duality of nature and the grand design, even appreciating its purpose and the bigger picture, doesn’t mean you have to welcome all that’s “bad” into your life.
To the contrary, you can set boundaries so you don’t have to constantly engage with stressors, such as dangerous entities or “bad” spirits.
If you’re ever uncomfortable around a certain energy, such as a “bad” spirit — one that intends to do you harm or becomes manipulative and dangerous, you can simply create a boundary.
Some people do this with intentions in their mind while others use crystals and salts.
You Might Also Like: Dealing with Death in the Home
You can say “go away.” And you can say, “stop,” and you literally have the power to not allow that energy near you or in your life.
If you feel too weak to enforce your boundary, you can find and enlist the help of credible paranormal professionals who know what to do.
Many of us have unknowingly created boundaries for the “good” spirits too. We ignore and deny our gifts, abilities, and connection to spirit because we're afraid.
How Ghosts and Spirits are Connected to Our Humanity
We don’t have to be afraid. We all come from the same energy. We’re all connected through being energy, having energy, the nature of energy, and energy combined with consciousness.
Let’s break it down.
Shared Energy Through Existence
We, as humans, are spirits in physical form, living out an existence to learn lessons and further our growth as beings, entities, souls. We have energy, we expend and receive energy. Energy can neither be created nor destroyed — merely transferred to different objects. Energy can also change form.
So, based on these facts, it’s safe to think that when we leave the human body, our energy disperses. It may be in many places at once or focused in one place. It’s no longer physical.
Instead of thinking about labeling ghosts, spirits, and humans, we can try thinking of it all as simply energy.
What makes that energy loving or malevolent is its consciousness and what it decides to do with its free will through that consciousness.
Shared Existence Through Consciousness
When we break existence down as simply energy, it’s honestly really weird to think about energy having consciousness.
But if energy does have consciousness, that means consciousness doesn’t come from being in the body. The body receives consciousness from being animated by spirit. This is undoubtedly why animals have consciousness too.
When I look up the definition of consciousness, three definitions consistently appear:
The state of being awake and aware of one’s surroundings.
The awareness or perception of something by a person.
The fact of awareness by the mind of itself and the world.
All three of these definitions have the word “awareness” in common.
It seems, the more aware we are, the freer we are.
Consciousness is what gives the ability to choose.
Other Entities Besides Spirits and Ghosts
There are most certainly other entities in existence that are not human but are also not spirits or ghosts in terms of how we’ve defined them here today.
These other entities include elementals such as fairies, extraterrestrials, astral entities such as thought forms and parasites, demons, angels, and more, many of which come from our same Creator and also many of which are manifestations of the human psyche.
That’s out of scope for this article, but more on that to come!
Final Thoughts on Ghosts and Spirits
Ultimately, my own experiences have convinced me there's more to reality than we can currently explain.
It’s taken decades of interactions for me to be able to discern the difference between spirits and ghosts and those who wish me well versus wish me harm — just like navigating human relationships, it’s a journey.
I’m still learning to this day, but it’s becoming easier and more accessible each time I delve into the supernatural and the world that we forget as we are born here on Earth.
But it exists and it’s communicating with us all the time.
We just have to tune in.
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Hi, I’m the founder of Human Amplified. I’m Brandi Fleck, a recognized communications and interviewing expert, a writer, an artist, and a private practice, certified trauma-informed life coach and Reiki Master Teacher. No matter how you interact with me, I help you tell and change your story so you can feel more like yourself. So welcome!
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