Into the Night

We’ve covered hauntings (residual impressions) and apparitions (curious/mischeivous spirits).  Now it’s time to move on to the dangerous presence.  And this is an area most people tend to get into trouble with.

If you’ve experienced dangerous paranormal activity that’s been investigated and determined to NOT be caused by poltergeist activity (see my post on Poltergeist, which is typically a parapsychological phenomenon and not spiritual activity), then you may be experiencing an Infestation - that is, a malicious spirit (it can be human, but in 8 out of 10 cases, it’s a non-human entity).  The common misconception is to label all such Infestations as “demonic” and to invoke the power of the Christian Church as the means of ridding the place of said spirit.  However, this typically only works in less than half of all Infestations.

There is a commonly held misconception that all things malicious must be demonic, and that all things demonic must answer to the power of Christianity.  I’ve encountered several cases in my career as a parapsychologist that turn this theory soundly on its ear. 

First off, there ARE malicious human spirits.  And, like all human beings, these spirits have free will.  They can choose to acknowledge a standard Catholic blessing.  They can choose to vacate on a typical Catholic exorcism.  Or they can choose to ignore both and continue on as they always have.  In the cases of malicious human spirits, an attempt to reason with them might work (though it’s been my experience they’re not interested in communication), but it often takes less “traditional” methods to deal with them.  Each situation involving a malicious human spirit is different, so it’s best to do as much research on the person and on the location as possible.  Typically, in these cases, the solution to getting rid of the spirit is buried in the history of either the place or the person, or both.

Secondly, there are non-human malicious spirits which do NOT answer to the power of the Church.  They will show no reaction to the invocation of the name of Jesus Christ (in fact, some will laugh at this), or to the administration of holy blessing or Christian exorcism.  Why, you ask?  Because there are as many of these entities (commonly referred to as demons) in this world as there are religions, and the demons of one religion may not recognize the holy relics, etc of another.  If you believe the entity to be of a demonic nature, you should consult with a qualified and non-religiously centered demonologist to thoroughly research the particular entity.  A Chinese demon, for example, must be dealt with very differently than an African demon.  Each culture and religion has its own way of dealing with the demons inherent to it, and there are way too many to get into here. 

Another kind of malicious spirit that few people seldom think of when suffering an Infestation, is the disposessed Nature Spirit.  Unlike either of the two listed about, these spirits are only causing trouble because they have been wronged.  Exorcism will not work.  Reasoning will not work.  Often,  their home has been destroyed in the building or clearing of land (like when you tear down that gnarly old oak tree in the back yard to build your new garage) without their choice and with no suitable alternative home presented to them.  Many people scoff at this one, and try to disregard it, but that can be dangerous.  Typically, Nature spirits who are angry because of a change you’ve made (or the fact that your new house sits right on the site of their own home), are more destructive to property than to people.  Can’t understand why your roof always leaks, even though it’s been replaced several times?  Could be you’ve angered a local Nature spirit.  Constantly doing home repairs on a brand new house?  Again, you’ve probably built right on their territory.  However, if their anger stews too long, these spirits can become dangerous to people, as well.  Dealing with them is simple.  You have to ask for their forgiveness (and be sincere… they can tell the difference), and offer a form of appeasement.  Tore up that old tree?  Plant a new one in a place aesthetically pleasing to you, and offer it to the spirit as its new home.  Depending on the type of spirit, you may have to do a little research to figure out why it’s angry.  Consulting with an expert on Nature spirits can help with this process. (If this problem describes what you’re dealing with, feel free to e-mail me at esther mitchell @ cox.net - remove spaces - and I’ll go into more detail on what you might be able to do in your specific case).

The most important thing to remember in any of the above cases is that provoking an angry or malicious spirit will only inspire more violence.  In the case of the malicious entity, they thrive on and feed off of fear, anger, and agression.  Showing these only strengthens them.   However, unless you are qualified, please do NOT attempt to get rid of a malicious entity on your own.  If they’re attached to an object, do not burn or physically destroy the object, as this only makes the problem worse.  And don’t be afraid to seek help.  There are lots of reputable organizations specialized in sorting out these problems.  They’ll listen, so don’t be afraid to speak.

Unlike the repetition of a classic haunting, apparitions are sentient beings in their own right.  These are the spirits of the deceased, most times, and sometimes the presence of something non-human, but not malicious.  An apparition will interact with its environment, and is usually quite curious about us and our lives.  Sometimes, this curiousity can be disconcerting and even disruptive.  So, how do you deal with a mischeivous or disruptive spirit?

Well, the first caution I must make is that you determine for a fact that it IS an apparition, and not something more dangerous.  Nine out of ten cases of non-haunting, non-poltergeist activity is, in fact, a benign or curious apparition, so chances are good that anything not causing physical harm falls into this category.

Once the determination’s been made that it IS an aparition, the next step is to try and communicate with it.  This is where mediums and other psychics come in extreme use.  They can ease communication with the spirit, and help figure out why it lingers.  I’ve encountered almost as many reasons for remaining behind as I’ve encountered spirits.  The most important thing to remember about most apparitions is that they are people, too.  Most of the time (about 95%), they are the spirits of the deceased, and they will act and react just like living people do.  Understanding what motivates them, and being able to communicate with them, is vitally important.

A disruptive spirit can be reasoned with, through a medium or psychic.  If they’re making the current family uncomfortable with their curiousity, often a mutual agreement can be reached.  As long as you treat them like you would any other person, most times you can confine the activity to one area of the house, or a certain time of day.  Perhaps consider giving the spirit run of the house during the day, if you work days, as long as it settles down at night so you can relax and sleep.  And just remember, if it’s a curious/mischeivous apparition, you have nothing to be afraid of.  Consider them just another part of your family, and typically the disturbances will fade into the realm of “typical” and you won’t even notice them, anymore.

However, if the entity in question is more than just mildly annoying and disruptive, or you feel threatened in your own home, you may be looking at one of the rarer infestations… the subject of my next post.

Now, I’m going to touch briefly on how to deal with some of the more common paranormal activity.  I know that I’ve only hit on a few paranormal entities and tools of the paranormal investigator.  For those looking for information on a specific kind of paranormal occurance/entity or wishing to know more about parapsychology, I am always available to answer questions and address concerns, either through this blog, or if privacy/anonymity is an issue, through e-mail at esthermitchell at cox.net (remove spaces and replace “at” with @).

Today’s occurance in question is the haunting.  Now, notice I call this one an occurance, and NOT an entity.  If you recall, when we discussed the various levels of spiritual inhabitation (see “Haunting vs. Apparition: What difference does it make?”), I explained that a haunting is a form of spiritual impression, typically of a traumatic or emotionally powerful event.  Since there’s no real spirit involved, there’s no entity.

This same issue poses a problem in getting rid of such impressions, be they visual, auditory, or sensory.  Hauntings are difficult to deal with, because there are no spirits to communicate with, no entities to influence or persuade.  By this same token, however, a haunting, while unsettling at times (depending on what it depicts), can’t hurt anyone.  So that leaves the ultimate determination of getting rid of it solely to the people who witness it on a regular basis.

There’s really only one way to rid a location of a haunting.  Much like you record over a length of tape to change what’s imprinted on it, getting rid of a haunting requires the occupants of the space to record their OWN impressions on the location.  Sometimes, this is easier said than done, as in the event of a particularly tragic or emotionally powerful death.  I recall one case I worked where every night, the family witnessed a young woman in a Victorian nightgown go down the stairs, through the kitchen, and out to the back yard, where she proceeded to hang herself from the tree there.  Even after the tree was removed, this event continued, and took on an even more eerie feeling for the family.  Investigation of the background of the home revealed that, in the 1890s, the daughter of a wealthy Victorian family hung herself from that tree after it was discovered she was pregnant out of wedlock and her father disowned her. 

This case was a classic haunting, full of very powerful emotions and a traumatic death.  To the current family living the home, I recommended that, if this event troubled them, the best course of action was to create an equally emotional, but much more pleasant, “recording” at the same time every night.  When I checked back with the family a few months later, I learned they had come to peace with the event, and learned to ignore it in favor of family time.  Knowing what causes a haunting and that it won’t harm you often makes people feel more at ease with the events they witness.  And the knowledge that, if it troubles you too much, you can simply “overwrite” it is comforting, as well.

The same isn’t true of apparitions or infestations… which we’ll discuss next…