Post by Graveyardbride on Oct 17, 2014 4:34:51 GMT -5
Dealing with Ghosts
Ghosts come in many forms. It all depends on their type and especially on why they might want to haunt you. Some may be confused. An unexpected death, for example, may give rise to spirits who don’t quite realize yet they have passed into the other world.
If you suspect your house is haunted, look for phenomena like the mysterious disappearance of objects, the occurrence of cold patches in the air and the powerful sense of being watched by the dead. As a guideline for hauntedness, the White Crow Society defines a paranormal episode as a seemingly inexplicable event that disrupts the day-to-day life of an individual. Because this is a fairly broad definition and could be used to describe anything from a bad day at the office to a disastrous hair day, most services offer phone consultations to help the hauntee sort things out.
Traditional signs of a prankster spirit include the sounds of footsteps where no one can be seen, doors opening and closing, moving objects, strange odors, or disembodied voices. Generally speaking, such ghosts are simply having fun, acting out against the living. many researchers believe that poltergeist activity is, in fact, created by the mind of someone in the house, usually an adolescent girl, applying her psychic powers to rattle her elders. Proof positive of a poltergeist is when teacups and saucers begin to fly spontaneously from shelves, or various objects – sometimes even children – levitate. Such unambiguous signs of haunting require urgent professional help.
In determining whether you are haunted or merely stricken with the jitters, exhaust all natural explanations before calling in the experts. Is that high-pitched keening a ghost or an animal? Has a wild thing trapped itself in the basement, or has a cat had kittens there? Are the claws scraping at the windows actually unpruned trees? And keep in mind that ghosts, like realtors, tend to chant: location, location, location. If you home is old and stands near such ghostly water holes as cemeteries, churches, prisons, hospitals and battlefields, your chances of being haunted increase. A house without a history is usually not a home to restless spirits.
Who You Gonna Call? Playing host to a ghost is not necessarily a bad thing. Ghosts seldom present any physical threat to the living, after all, and they tend to be self-absorbed, more concerned with their own problems than causing trouble for anybody else. Resident spirits can even be comforting, provided they belong to benevolent ancestors or departed friends, or even to a charmingly sorrowful soul who is just looking for company.
Viewed with a coldly commercial eye, a haunting can even have practical value. Harmless but interesting haunts add a certain romantic cachet to a house – especially in cities such as Savannah or New Orleans that take pride in their past – and that cachet can enhance property values. Similarly, the odd phantom footstep or spectral sigh, assuming there is an eerie story attached, can make the difference between a mediocre bed-and-breakfast and a booming destination hotel.
All this having been said, however, most of us would probably prefer to confine our households to the living, simply because ghosts are scary. Faced with the chilling certainty that some stranger is invisibly among us, its nature unknowable and its motives and intentions unknown, our first reflex is to scream. But to whom?
To a priest, is one answer. In times past – and sometimes even today – spirit infestation was deemed a religious problem, best solved by religious means. there has never been a society, primitive or modern, pagan or Judeo-Christian, that lacked the necessary technicians, whether with doctors or shamans or clergy. Tibetan Buddhists still use a rite called shedur that involves summoning a protective goddess to oust an offending spirit. And, of course, the Roman Catholic Church still occasionally employs the ancient rite of exorcism. Some purists argue that exorcisms to oust demons, not ghosts. But other experts dismiss this distinction as mere semantics, contending that a ghost, broadly defined, is any alien spirit that impinges on the world of the living, not just spirits of the dead. Demons qualify, therefore, and demonic possession is the invasion of a soul by some foreign entity rather than the invasion of a dwelling. Indeed, the most ancient human problem with spirits has not been so much with the haunting of property as the haunting of souls, and these spirits, by definition, were evil.
The Catholic Church perfected its rite of exorcism early in the 4th century and it has changed little since. Originally, the rite was built into baptism and could be applied both to the faithful and those outside the Church as necessary. but not all ecclesiastics could be exorcists; a certain charismatic quality was needed. Some priests, for example, showed such power they could drive out evil spirits by the force of their prayers alone, or by the laying on of hands.
As Christianity spread, however, paganism waned, demonic possession became rare. “it is only Catholic missionaries laboring in pagan lands,” according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, “who are likely to meet with fairly frequent cases of possession.” Still, all reports of possession must be taken seriously and closely investigated, but only by those who have led brave and blameless lives and prepared themselves through prayer and fasting – clergy who have immunized themselves against demonic invasion.
Soothing the Sorrowful. A priest need have no special qualifications, however, to bless a dwelling that may be troubled by restless spirits. He may visit a home and offer prayers for those who live there. Sprinkling of holy water and filling various rooms with incense also may be useful. Malicious spirits sometimes can be persuaded by these techniques to move on. If they resist, however, it’s possible that they’re not malicious at all. Most ghosts, it is said, cling to Earth because they’re troubled souls, not evil ones. Some experts believe ghosts respond to exorcists not because the spirit is afraid of the talismans of belief, but because clergy tend to be good listeners, with an aura of emotional tranquility. In fact, the negative energy of a full-blown exorcism may only enrage the ghost, especially if it is already angry.
Most ghosts are not mad, merely sorrowful. It isn’t that they don’t want to leave; their sadness holds them where they are. More than any other kind of haunter, sorrowful ghosts reflect the living; all they lack is a body. Because they are so close to us, it is often easier to live with them as they endlessly relieve the moments that define their grief. Let them brood. And should they become too much, they generally will depart if asked politely.
Unresolved Issues. The ghost hunters now summoned by the haunted tend to be less interested in driving away spirits than understanding them, helping them work through the inner conflicts that keep them forever restive. There is little room for troupes of bungling, khaki-clad “ghostbusters” and their high-tech ectoplasm collectors in the real world of paranormal investigations. The idea is not to bust ghosts, but to counsel and comprehend them, to offer a compassionate solution to their emotional problems. Like their living counterparts, ghosts have issues of abandonment, self-esteem, loneliness and anger to resolve. The language of ghost-hunting has altered to reflect this understanding and uses the vocabulary of holistic therapy, not that of confrontation and spectral war. Today’s professionals must be there for them.
They also must be there for hosts whose kinder, gentler approach hasn’t budged the spirit. These intransigent ghosts are the plague-rats among haunters, ghosts in whom the touching melancholy of other apparitions seems to have curdled into terrible rage. They aren’t working through anything familiar to the living, nor do they search for lost love; they want only to entwine themselves as destructively as possible with the lives of their hosts. Some of these are downright messy, besides. Being haunted quickly loses its appeal when decapitated ghosts drip blood on a white carpet, even when the stain vanishes a moment later. Slime is devilishly difficult to get out of suede. A house haunted by such negative spirits is a miserably unhappy home. (cont.)
Store the China. And then there are the poltergeists (German for “noisy spirits”). These demonic whirlwinds of the spirit world seem always to need attention from the living and are willing to go to any extreme to get it. Some modern ghost hunters say poltergeists are not real ghosts and the mischief usually attributed to them is actually caused by psychic energy emanating from a troubled member of the household, especially young people. Whatever the source, however, paranormally flying crockery and slamming cabinets can be problems that need immediate solutions.
Once a poltergeist is sensed, the first step might be to store the family china and other breakables outside the home. These prankster spirits often seem to have a sense of fun that can make them lively company as long as they are treated well. They are like pet raccoons, marvelous to watch, often funny and wondrously destructive. If you don’t find them amusing, however, the most important tactic for getting rid of them may be to look inward. Most investigators now believe that ghosts, including poltergeists, are drawn to the projections of the human unconscious. Thus, before trying to expel an angry ghost or rowdy poltergeist, a certain amount of introspection is in order. Haunted hosts are often just people under a lot of stress or jangled by a recent emotional ordeal, so they radiate a powerful negativity, a dark flame that draws spectral moths. Before calling anyone, one must change that aura and deprive the ghost of its negative beacon.
Calling in the Ghost Hunters. If the dark beacon attracting the ghost is external instead of internal – something to do with the property rather than the host – a trip to the library might reveal what happened there that would leave a ghost-drawing psychic imprint. A murder? A suicide? A memorable injustice or failed romance? Old houses virtually glow with forgotten violence.
To help erase this psychic residue, you may need to call in the professionals. Their tactics will vary according to the nature of the ghost and the nature of the hunter. Some excel at tracking, some are eager for discovery. Among professional services, the White Crow Society offers expert help to those whose homes or souls are haunted by demons, spirits or poltergeists. The society’s name was taken from famed Harvard psychologist and psychic investigator William James, who, on finding one medium he believed to be genuine, remarked that it takes only one white crow to prove that not all crows are black.
Even if you have good professional help, “laying the ghost” – the unfortunate, but traditional, term for getting rid of one – can be a long and complicated process. Eventually, you may have to decide whether your spectral guest is more welcome than the hunters pursing it.
Intuition and Patience. Because ghosts generally require patience and understanding more than the shock of an all-out exorcism, a good ghost hunter must be intuitive to a fault, a person whose own psychic abilities allow contact with the spirit on an emotional plane. No one wants an angry banishment that could result in more ghost trouble down the line. But the client’s instincts are also central here. Generally, anyone sensitive enough to have a paranormal problem reads underlying psychic vibes well enough to find the right ghost hunter for the job at hand.
Once a professional has been called in, the investigation unfolds step by step in a logical fashion. First, an interview e examines the hauntee’s report, with the experienced hunter wielding skepticism like a machete. Few reputable practitioners would undertake an investigation before ruling out every possible natural scenario, turning to the paranormal only as a last resort. Then photographs are taken of the site and perhaps drawings are made. If the haunt has a discernible pattern, the investigators may want to stay on site for a while to map it. Given the intrusive nature of the inquiry, you should never embark on a paranormal investigation lightly, or with investigators who are not sympathetic companions. Hunters who are too ready to believe, or too skeptical to accept what their senses tell them, should be replaced immediately: Ghosts sneer at their psychic inferiors.
Whatever the type spectral presence, its removal should be undertaken with compassion and understanding, or at worst, with tough love. Despite their restless, worrisome ways, ghosts are more like us – more like the living – than not. They have beliefs, hopes, fears, concerns and expectations that must be respected. And they have vast experience. Many ghosts are believed to have been roaming the world for centuries. Sometimes they may be gentled into a tolerable domesticity. But now and then, they are so dark, so angry, so destructive that they have to be forced to leave. Time is on their side, however, and they know it. Having one’s ghosts removed, even with today’s conciliatory methods, may take a good long time. Patience is the key. Patience is what we should be thinking when we finally decide to seek professional help.
Tips for the Living. For the patient ghost-host, who feels more sympathy than fear for a restless, haunting spirit, there is always the option of coming to terms with the ghost. But if the haunter must be ejected from the premises, here are a few simple suggestions:
• Plants can heal more than earthly ills. A hedge of lavender or lilac will make the house more pleasant for you and more uncomfortable for the disembodied. Burning sage or incense also cleans the air. If you can wield a shovel, planting rowan, elder or willow trees can be a strong external deterrent to the negative energy of ghosts. A word of caution, however: Once planted, the trees cannot be cut without incurring the risk of a matching paranormal disturbance.
• Environmental change – and not on a global scale – can render ghosts unhappy enough to flee. Simply changing your physical surroundings can make spirits crazy, especially of the changes bear some subtle psychic touch. For example, burning white or blue candles will help clear a room of specters, as will the addition of objects invested with religious power, such as crosses and Bibles.
• Something new may force a gentle exorcism for ghosts gather like a squadron of bats in the drawers and shelves and crevices of antique furniture and books. These objects can preserve the psychic fingerprints of previous owners for years. If there is a strongly negative experiment attached to something, chances are good that a ghost is there, too. If you think one of your antiques is haunted, find out the history of the piece. Don’t hesitate to get rid of it if it has a ghost that is unwilling to leave. If you cannot bear to get rid of the antique, clean and use it This generally does the trick.
• Benign neglect may fill your attic with ghosts, for nothing hatches them like idle things and unvisited places. Check your attic or basement for things that can be cleaned up and used or thrown away. If the ghost doesn’t take the cue, perhaps it can be accommodated: Okay, you can stay, but only in the third drawer of the attic bureau. Ghosts are as ready as the next nonperson to deal.
• Your psychic state is the key to confrontations with a ghost. It is important to remember that spirits can sense your emotional pitch as keenly as horses scent fear. try to keep a positive attitude when confronting one. Reassure it, tell it that you understand and want to help; then ask it to leave. Even with the help of professionals, your best defense against ghosts is to keep your own negative energies well banked. The merest flicker of your dark side can bring them flapping back into your life.
Source: Carl A. Posey, Discovery Travel.