It seems that some have grown up to believe, with the help of melodramatic ghost hunting TV shows and the tales we tell around campfires, that ghosts are scary monsters that make the door creek and the lights flicker. Spirit is a hard thing for people to understand, when simply, spirit is merely meant to provide, “healing, guidance and love,” according to Rachel Perry, who has been a professional psychic medium for 10 years.

Perry, now a resident of Mashpee, grew up in Falmouth and said that she first had the feeling of a special intuitiveness when she was a child but could never pinpoint what it was. She first wrote it off as just frequent deja vu, but as she grew into her early twenties, the feelings became stronger and she realized that something bigger was going on.

“Everyone has it — the gift of communicating [with spirit],” Perry said. She explained that we’re all born with it, we’re just not taught what it is and how to channel it. She explained that it’s like when you have that gut feeling that something’s about to happen, and miraculously it does. That’s not a coincidence, it’s your psychic intuition, Perry said.

In addition to studying at the Arthur Findlay College of Psychic Science in England, Perry has also mentored with many different mediums in the United States as well as in England.

Perry recently hosted a group reading session at the Barnstable High School Knight Auditorium to help raise money for the BHS 2014 After-Prom Celebration. She was accompanied by the Red Hawk Singers, Mashpee Wampanoag tribal drummers and singers, and Paul Good and Lisa Leduc for music.

Cheryl Corbett, who is the co-chair of the celebration committee, said that last year the event raised $2,500.

Corbett said that the committee got the idea from a mom of one of the seniors who worked with Perry at Centerville Yoga.

“The event last year was amazing… There were tears shed, happy tears, that people could sense their loved ones are always with them and having Rachel confirm that for them gave them peace,” Corbett said.

Perry describes this ability of communicating with spirit like a special skill she has. “It’s like a talent; some people can play the piano, some people can’t.” She described her communication as something that doesn’t stay open 24/7; she’s able to shut spirit out. “Your grandmother doesn’t sit around bothering me,” Perry said. She describes her communication through her senses. When channeling, she tastes, smells, and feels spirit in order to convey their message.

She said that spirit is always guiding us, however they don’t make decisions for us. Everyone is responsible for their own actions, Perry explained.

“I respect spirit to the fullest,” Perry said, and she hopes that her clients take healing and guidance from spirit. “The healing that comes through is really amazing.”

To find out more about how this evening of spirit communication went, go onto our Facebook, BHS Insight.