49 pages • 1-hour read
Signs: The Secret Language of the Universe
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Part 4Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 4: “Staying in the Light”
Part 4, Chapter 30 Summary: “How to Shine Brightly”
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes references to and themes of death, loss, and grief.
Jackson lists the physical materials a chair can be made of. She explains that these materials are matter, which is made up of atoms. Atoms can move and thus have energy. Jackson goes on to say that souls and bodies carry energy, too. This is why we can sense others’ presences and experience different emotions in different people’s company—be it negative or positive. To “elevate our lives” we must elevate our energy and embrace positivity (250).
Jackson reflects on her reasons for writing Signs and the book’s overarching purpose. She believes that it is a form of art that exemplifies the existence of the Other Side. Experiencing art, she holds, can open us to different forms of energy. She argues that art is evidence of the spiritual world, citing music, literature, and visual art as examples. She references the mysterious way that J. K. Rowling got the idea for the Harry Potter series and the wide-reaching popularity of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton musical. Art is a gift that everyone can participate in if they are open.
Jackson argues that being grateful can shift our energy. She references the Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s gratitude practice by way of example and encourages readers to start a gratitude journal listing everything they’re grateful for to change their outlook. Another way to change one’s energy, she asserts, is to talk back to the negative voices in one’s mind. Jackson suggests that her readers try to practice each of these energy-shifting techniques in their own lives.
Jackson turns her attention to manifesting, insisting she could “write a whole book” on the subject (255). She believes that if we regard our desires as inevitable we can make things happen for ourselves. She encourages her reader to try this in her own life by opening herself to the universe’s plans for her future. One example is to try writing letters to the universe. Jackson shares the story of her own manifesting experience. She attended a manifesting workshop with a friend where they had to create vision boards. One of the things Jackson included on her board was her dream of being a New York Times bestselling author. She forgot about the board but not long later, her dream came true. This is just one example of how manifesting can work, as it’s possible in familial, romantic, and financial realms, too.
Jackson holds that traveling, smudging, exposing ourselves to negative ions, exercising regularly, sleeping properly, praying, meditating, and eating healthfully are also ways for us to open ourselves to the universe. These are habits and experiences that Jackson encourages her reader to implement. She describes different sorts of prayer, movement, and meditation, and offers relevant resources.
Meditation has been especially life-changing for Jackson. She insists that you don’t have to practice meditation in any particular way. Meditating simply means finding quiet time to be with oneself and attune oneself to the universe. Her favorite meditation experience was with Deepak Chopra, a spiritual leader. She shares the practice with her reader, arguing that its simplicity is a perfect foray into meditative thought.
Jackson reflects on the concepts she’s explored in the chapter, reiterating the importance of letting the universe be our teacher and guide.
Part 4, Chapter 31 Summary: “Shine On”
Jackson holds that her thesis for Signs is that everyone is connected. She reiterates the importance of forming relationships with others and staying open to new forms of connection. She shares an example of when Jimmy Fallon lost his mother and Taylor Swift played him a song that featured one of Jimmy’s memories with his mom. Jackson holds that this wasn’t a coincidence, but evidence of the interconnectivity we all share.
Jackson shares another story about her sister, Christine, and her neighbor, Kathleen. After Kathleen’s mother died, she asked her to send her a sign in the form of Irish soda bread, although it wasn’t St. Patrick’s Day. Shortly thereafter, she encountered Christine’s Facebook photo of the soda bread she’d made. Kathleen remarked on the post and Christine promised to give her a slice. Kathleen was thrilled by this sign from her mom. The next day, she found a slice of the bread from Christine in her mailbox.
Jackson shares the story of her friends Paul and Pam as another example. Twenty years after their son Griffin died, the couple began seeing praying mantises in strange places. They knew the insects were Griffin. Jackson is thrilled that Paul and Pam shared this story with her. She was just as excited when Ashley’s nurse, Kelly, told her about the sign she’d recently encountered. She was grieving her mom, Ann (whose husband was named Andy), and wanted a sign. Shortly thereafter, her coworker told her about a neighbor whose parents were also Ann and Andy and playfully went by Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy—the same was true of Kelly’s parents; she saw this as a sign from her mom.
Jackson also explains that she finds signs in books. She found them in both Amy Tan’s book and in Dr. Neil Spector’s Gone in a Heartbeat: A Physician’s Search for True Healing. Although a scientist, Spector told the story of becoming open to the spiritual world.
Jackson recounts Thomas Edison’s and Steve Job’s final moments before death. Both men had an encounter with the Other Side that they remarked upon in their last words. She sees these stories as signs that the Other Side is always transmitting messages. We need only be open to them.
Jackson shares one final anecdote in conclusion. One night, her son, Hayden, insisted on wearing red sneakers and no tie to his school concert. Jackson reluctantly gave in. During the concert, she was struck by Hayden and his classmates’ performance. She saw their playing as evidence that we’re all working together but all have a unique role in this universal connection.
Part 4 Analysis
In the final section of Signs, Jackson uses the first-person direct address and the first-person plural points of view to give readers practical instruction for how to cultivate their own practice communicating with their Teams of Light. She lays out specific exercises designed to empower her readers, giving them tools to connect with the Other Side, interpret the meaning of signs they encounters, and pursue spiritual growth via the Transformative Power of Engaging with the Unseen.
Part 4 assumes the tone, tenor, and mood of a self-help guide, emphasizing Jackson’s credentials as a psychic medium, speaker, teacher, and influencer. Her conclusion includes a call to action that centers key techniques from her practice including gratitude, manifesting, and meditating, exercising, eating healthfully, and sleeping well—core practices from mental health discourse that Jackson suggests form a healthy foundation for receiving signs from the Other Side. For example, she instructs readers to keep a gratitude journal to establish a more positive personal energy:
So give it a try. Make a gratitude list. Start with one thing a day. Then keep going. Write down something new every day. Remember the twenty-one-day rule, which will help you make it a habit. By the twenty-second day, you should wake up automatically looking for things to be grateful for, instead of hunting for things to feel bad about (254).
Jackson employs an imperative tone to offer clear guidance without admonishing the reader, emphasizing the value of the tangible, actionable practices in cultivating an understanding of the Other Side. For example, Jackson’s subsequent lessons on “be[ing] mindful of the negative voice” in one’s head, “remember[ing] to talk over it,” and “be[ing] aware of how your energy shifts” utilizes this same imperative tone. She notes that “experiments have shown that people who write down goals are much more likely to achieve them than people who don’t,” without citing or providing additional context for the experiments referenced (255). Jackson also explains a writing exercise readers can use to alter their outlook on the future (257). In this way, Jackson pairs her metaphysical arguments about elevating consciousness or deepening spiritual energy with practical, actionable steps to do so.
The final chapter details additional anecdotal accounts to reify Jackson’s concluding statements and closing arguments. In these final pages, she shares “examples of signs sent to us by the Other Side to convey this message of love and connectedness” (269). Her stories about everyone from Jimmy Fallon, Taylor Swift, and J. K. Rowling, to her sister Christine and her neighbor Kathleen reiterate the Personal and Universal Meaning of Signs. These stories underscore Jackson’s overarching notion that no one is exempt from the universe’s power and reach, and that everyone can experience the Other Side.
Jackson emphasizes the interconnection between human beings as evidence of the Interconnection Between Life and the Afterlife. She notes: “We all belong to the same beautiful tapestry of existence, and our lives are all woven together to create the magical experience of life” (269). Jackson’s use of diction like “beautiful” and “magical” casts the spiritual world as a mysterious, yet transformative realm. Her use of the tapestry and weaving metaphors enacts her notion that every single person is a part of this collective spiritual community. By closing with yet another anecdote from her personal family life, Jackson positions herself as just one thread amid this larger story. The images of her son playing with his middle school band evoke notions of unity, communion, and beauty. While listening to her son play, Jackson hears a message from the Other Side telling her that “We are all distinct instruments, playing our separate beautiful notes, and it is our job to play them as best we can—but when we all play together, we produce a magnificent symphony that lifts us all and makes sense of our individual roles” (282). This musical metaphor underscores Jackson’s argument about the opportunity to participate in a larger universal story.
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