KARINA MACHADO

Karina Machado is a journalist, host of the podcasts Spirit Sisters and The Ghost Files, and the author of Spirit Sisters, Where Spirits Dwell and Love Never Dies, a series of non-fiction books exploring the extraordinary experiences of ordinary people.

SACRED STORIES

Iwas a toddler the first time my mother placed a Little Golden Book in my hands. I’ve always treasured stories, and wholeheartedly believe that those books helped heal the sadness of leaving behind so many family members when my parents emigrated to Australia when I was 2.

I learnt early on that stories are life-sustaining and sacred. Later, when I began to awaken to the abiding presence of the spirit world, I understood how sharing a story about a ghostly encounter is also a way of honouring a late loved one. Now the story is a doubly sacred gift.

As an author and podcast host, there have been moments where an interviewee has shared a story that strikes me as a kind of living memorial for someone who’s crossed over; words carried on warm breath, to be passed from heart to heart.

Last year I spoke to Kerri, who told me about a home scheduled for knockdown that was full of the belongings

– and the presence – of its previous owner, Esther. As Kerri spoke, I realised that thousands of listeners had now had a glimpse of Esther, who otherwise might have been lost to history.

This, more than the ghostly communication, was the true value of the story.

A similar thing happened when I was writing Spirit Sisters.

When she was a child in 1945, Rhonda’s baby sister, Laurel, perished in a fire. The trauma almost destroyed Rhonda, who went on to see angels, ghosts and have a near-death experience across the span of an astonishing and tragic life, but it was goldenhaired Laurel, who didn’t see her second birthday, who stole my imagination – and my heart.

Yet she lives on in her sister’s story and in the pages of my book, and I’m so honoured. Do you have a sacred story to share?