There are energies all around us but we are unaware of them. We think that we are alone. Because we have blocked off everything non-physical we think it does not exist.

Would you believe them if you saw them?

Sometimes they can show up on film. Especially digital cameras with their greater low light range can pick up spirits and energies in photos. What do spirits look like? Most of us expect to see ghostly forms as shown in movies, but they don't show like that.

The most common form they take is round balls of light called orbs. These are round and bright globes that you can find everywhere. When you tune in and begin to take spirit photos, orbs become so common that many people discount them. Others think they are dust or weather phenomena.

I do not subscribe to the dust theory because I have occasionally seen orbs with my eyes and they look just the way they appear on film except that they are extremely fast moving. Sometimes you can see them shooting past from the corner of your eyes. Many psychics see them and communicate with them quite readily. In my experience whenever I have asked for the energies to show themselves the orbs increase hugely, showing me that they are really quite capable of listening and communicating.

Orbs also show up in significant places like around the head or face during meditations. Those who are psychic enough can see them clearly. I have seen a few on occasion and know psychics who could tell me where to take my pictures because they could see the orbs. They pointed out the direction and I took the picture and got something in it every time.

Energies also show themselves as mists, vortexes or shooting orbs. Very rarely can you get an actual human form on camera. Spirits have no physical form and it takes a lot of energy to materialize one, so forms are rare. Orbs remain the most common.

Anyone can learn to tune in and get energy photos. You do not need a special camera. Any camera will do. I use a digital camera and they seem to be more sensitive than the film ones, however any camera will work. I have been taking spirit pictures for a couple of years now and have all kinds of strange and amazing energies on film. Now I get orbs on almost every picture, and a whole lot of other interesting varieties as well. Here are a few.

What are Orbs ?
Orbs can be spirits of people who have passed on, guides or higher entities. The old texts speak of three kinds of spirit entities - the Gandharvas, the Pitris and the Devas. These are just the three who show up frequently on film.

The blue ones are usually seen outdoors and are usually elemental or nature spirits, the Gandharvas. They are usually around trees, or in the sky or out in nature. Here are a couple of blue orbs for you to look at:

White orbs can be deceased relatives or guides who are around to help us. They are the Pitris, the spirits who have gone before us. They are often found around people, hovering around the head or shoulders. They seem to be attracted by strong emotion, or excitement. When a group is excited about what they are doing I get plenty of these orbs above and around them.

In one of the first pictures of orbs, I had taken a dowsing group out into the compound of my building so that they could practice divining for water using dowsing rods. The group was really excited and the result is the sky above their heads was just full of orbs. Some of the orbs must have come to help, some to check out what the excitement is all about. In the ancient texts, such as the Purans and the epics, there are many stories of the skies filling with celestial beings when something momentous is happening on earth, such as the Mahabharat war. It seems that even more mundane things can attract an other worldly audience.

Many historic places are full of these orbs, people who lived and died there and who somehow still linger. Especially in a place like a fort with a history of war.

White head orb above Subhash Thakker. This is a guide.

Gold orbs are higher energies, high guides, deities or spiritual beings. The Devas. They do not often show up around people, but are often around sacred places. Most temples will not allow photos, but they are usually around the shrine. In the photos I took of the Elephanta caves there were often gold orbs around the Shivlings. In this picture a gold orb lingers near a pillar at Elephanta caves.

What really happens in meditation ?
One evening when a group was meditating, I sat in the back and took plenty of pictures. When I loaded them on my computer that night the results were really far more than even I expected.

I thought I would get the usual orbs but I got far more. The group was doing meditation and they were concentrating so deeply that the energy came out clearly on film as mists which covered the room from one end to the other. The mists are not usual and when they do come there is the very strong presence of spirit energies. The deep meditation had attracted an amazing amount of energy in this picture. Have a look at what happens when you meditate deeply.

There is an amusing end to this story. The next time the group met I showed them the pictures. It is one thing to be told that you attract energy when meditating and quite another to actually see it on film. They were excited and eager when I told them I wanted to take some more pictures. I sat in the back as they meditated and took more than twenty pictures.

I expected orbs and mists and who knows what else. I thought the excitement of the pictures and the meditation would get me some really interesting photos. What did I get? Nothing. Nothing at all. Everyone was too conscious and probably thinking of the pictures rather than meditating. The result was one faint and solitary orb in all those twenty odd pictures.

When you call, the energies answer.
Every religion in the world tells you that if you call on higher powers to help you they will. Of course we don't really believe it in the modern world.

One night I decided to see if I could get pictures to show it to me on camera. I stood in the darkness on my verandah. There is a large Phanas tree just outside my room and I have often got very interesting pictures of energy on and around it. That night I took pictures and then paused to meditate and try and connect with higher energies. I wanted to connect with the beings of sky and air.

After that I took a series of pictures. The first one taken of open sky shows the energies gathering. I had to brighten up this picture to see the energies. A few orbs are visible and a lot of gathering mist.

The second picture was startling. It showed three long rays of light pouring down from the sky. The blue energy is so bright you can barely see the tree. I received as clear an answer as I could possibly get. That wonderful picture is now the wallpaper on my computer screen to remind me that when you call for higher help, wether you know it or not, you really do get it.

Animals and orbs
Quite often I see dogs and cats intently watching something that is not there. I once watched a cat gazing at something that was one inch high and walking across the garden. Of course there was nothing that I could see but the cat was following it very closely. Animals see a lot more of the other world than we do.

One day I was watching TV and my dog Trixie was dozing, stretched out on the floor beside me. He raised his head and stared fixedly at empty space. He was clearly watching something so I went and got the camera. I took a picture in the direction he was looking. Then I could also see what he was watching. An orb, a white orb.

After a few minutes he looked in the direction of the passage as if watching movement. Then he rose and went into the passage and turned his head as if he was walking with someone. I took another picture and sure enough there was a small and very low orb sailing along right next to him. Obviously a friend!

I have several other pictures of animals with orbs. Here is another one of Trixie with his non-physical but constant companion.

These two pictures show orbs around a cat and playing dogs. This picture show a lot of orbs around playing dogs. Maybe they are part of the game too.

This cat Troy, lost a leg in an accident but recuperated fine and became the boss in his area bullying other bullies and protecting kittens. Not surprisingly, I often find orbs around him and in this picture he seems very comfortable with his little round friend.

Energy around the city
Any city has a lot of energy and in a city as populous as Mumbai there is more than you can imagine. One night, returning home late after a dinner, I took some pictures from the car window, shooting at random, not expecting to get very much. The city surprised me, there was so much energy everywhere, and lots of shooting orbs speeding alongside as if trying to slow down enough to keep pace with the car. I got thirty or more fascinating pictures full of orbs and shooting energies and all kinds of things. Here are a couple of photos from that night.

This picture was taken outside a hotel on Marine Drive late at night. Energy is shooting around and a clear orb shoots upwards from the bottom left. Just above it the pale blue is a swirl of energy as if it is swinging around on itself. This is a very unusual form.

This picture was taken near the gymkhanas that line Marine Drive. The bright blue energy is shooting across the picture and into the skies. The picture was brightened to see the energies clearly.

So would you believe it when you see it ? Energies are everywhere and around us all the time. Guides are around us too and higher energies do hear us and come down when we call. We have more help than we know.

It's a fascinating and spectacular universe just on the other side of the camera lens.

- Rohini Gupta
Rohini Gupta writes articles on new age subjects and fiction as well. She has been conducting workshops for the last ten years, in subjects ranging from tarot to past lives, mantras, psychic powers, meditation, inner guides, belief work, mandala art and journal writing amid other things. She is a professional psychic and tarot reader.