Today, I am basking in the glow of new hope. Kai and I stayed up late to watch the elections results, and I cried like a baby through Obama’s victory speech. It is amazing to think that in my lifetime, we have gone from the infancy of the civil rights movement to having the nation’s first African American President. Once again, I am proud to be an American. I feel like we have stepped off the ledge of insanity we were teetering on, and given ourselves some hope and some breathing room to make change. Woop!
Here in Hopedale, there were riots in the streets as joyful liberals tipped over cars and TP’ed the Town Hall. People were popping champagne and lighting up the wacky tabacky right on Main Street. Everyone was hugging and singing Kumbiya and passing around a big joint. In fact I am pretty sure the cops were handing the stuff out. Hopedale is such a hopping and edgy place to live!
Ok, I am kidding. I think someone’s car alarm went off, and I did hear a dog barking. But I definitely took the skunk rattling around in my trash can as a sign that the Natural World approves of Obama.
As promised, here is a collection of ghost stories sent in by YOU, my faithful readers, and some tips on what to do if you think you have ghost trouble.
Angie sent this one:
“I too, Lisa, have crowded showers and haunted childhood memories that were better left unsaid. It is only now my mom says … “what a haunted child you were.” My ghost story involves my Gram. She died in Iowa in the dead of winter almost three years ago and I was blessed enough to be with her when she passed. By the time we all got back to my mother’s that night it was after 3 a.m. when I got into bed. Around 4 a.m. I ran down the stairs to powder my nose (read: pee). There, above my mom’s dining room table floated my Gram’s white essence. I was SO tired that I smiled at her and said “Not right now Gram, I’m too tired, let’s talk tomorrow.” When I got back upstairs and told my Earthling husband the ghost tale – he said “Now therein lies the difference between you and I, hon. You say ‘hi ghost – not now’ and I would have been running out the front door with my hair on fire, screaming all the way GHOST, GHOST, GHOST!!!””
What do you do if you wake up in the middle of the night and feeling something or someone in your room. Most of us just panic, pull the sheets over our heads and pray the things goes away without sucking our soul of out of our nostrils. (I hates those soul sucking nostril ghouls!)
Fortunately a little bit of ghost busting basics can really help. It’s not too hard to kick some booty, spiritually speaking, if you have a little bit psychic self dense and a whole lot of attitude.
Why do they come at night?
3am really is the witching hour. This is the time of day when the veil is the thinnest and it’s easiest for Them to get through and it’s also a time when our boundaries are down, and the psychic and receptive parts of our minds are more active.
Because they often happen at night, many of these paranormal experiences are chalked up to nightmares. Interestingly enough, the word “nightmare” comes from German roots and is the name of a malicious spirit said to trouble sleepers by sitting on their chests and stealing their energy in the wee hours of the morning.
The prime time for seeing spirits is while we are falling asleep or waking up. Some of this has to do with the entity’s predilection for the dark hours, but much of it is related to our normal brain wave activity. Our brain waves move from beta wave (normal waking state) into alpha (light trance state) many times throughout the course of our sleep. During these transitions we able to “see” psychically with our eyes wide open.
So while you are waking up, still in that drowsy state of alpha, you really can see “Uncle Fred” standing at the foot of your bed. You might rub your eyes and blink, but he is still there. It’s when you reach over and turn on the light that Uncle Fred “vanishes.” This vanishing occurs because the act of turning on the light shifted your brain waves into beta. You can no longer see the spirit image, but in all likelihood Uncle Fred is still there!
Visitations are often perceived visually, but some people just sense the presence of something, or they just know it’s there. You may hear a sound, like footsteps or voices. Other times you might have a physical sensation of some thing touching you, or the feeling of someone sitting on your bed. Other times you might smell something like perfume or tobacco smoke. Spirits will use all of our senses to make their presence known.
Wendy turned in this story.
“This time of year is always interesting at our home. The thing veil between this world and the Other Side kicks up lots of energy when your home is made up of 2 psychic adults and 1 Indigo child. I have always seen ghosts, usually just as I wake up, I can see them as I would see anyone standing next to me. A month ago, I awoke to a man who looked just like my boyfriend, but older, standing over our bed. The following week, he was standing in the bedroom doorway, waving. This week, he was roaming around from the bathroom to the bedroom ( I actually thought it WAS my boyfriend, until I realized he was still asleep). Last night he showed himself to my son, who also thought it was my boyfriend, and did a double-take and told me he just saw a spirit that looked just like Robert! (My son is 7). As Halloween gets closer, I am curious what our spirit roommate will continue to do.”
Could it be a doppelganger? Let’s hope not. These famous spirits called “look alike ghosts” are not a good omen and are said to be warning that someone is going to die. I have never seen one and am not sure if Doppelgangers are real, or a myth. Another possibility is that the boyfriend is astral projecting during his sleep and they really are seeing him wandering around. Or could be a spirit that is passing through and is attracted to the boyfriend due to resonance.
What the heck is it?
The good news is that all nocturnal encounters with spirits are negative ones. Friendly and helpful spirits sometimes come to call too. Once you have sensed something. It’s pretty important to know who or what has appeared in your room. Here are some things it could be.
Helpful Spirits
- A beloved relative who is paying a visit.
- A helpful spirit guide, like an angel, power animal, or one of your other regular spirits guides.
- Helpful Fairies and earth spirits.
Neutral Spirits
- A dead person who is just passing through.
- A neutral or curious non-human spirit.
Shadow Spirits
- A dead person who needs help- A ghost!
- A non-human shadow spirit.
- An energy or emotion sucker. They eat our “negative” emotions and therefore like to generate them!
The art of being able to tell different kinds of spirits apart is called discernment, and is one of the more handy psychic gifts to posses. Even if you don’t happen to have that gift, there are still some easy ways to tell what you are dealing with. The trick is overcoming your initial fear and surprise, then tuning in to your body and your emotions. Our emotions and our body are the best spirit barometers out there!
If you feel good about the spirit, or you feel happy, reassured, calmed or supported by it’s presence, then it is from the helpful category and is some type of spirit guide. Check in with your body and see if you feel warm, open, tingly or relaxed.
If you feel neutral, blank or not much at all from the spirit it is a neutral spirit. Feel free to investigate it if you wish, or shoo it away if you need your sleep. Your body will also feel neutral here.
If you feel a sense of dread, menace or evil or if you feel terror or panic, then chances are it’s not a helpful spirit. Insist that the encounter end and the spirit move on. In the presence of a shadow spirit, your body will feel cold, shivery and contracted. You may feel goose bumps or even a flash of cold run through you, as if someone threw a bucket of cold water on you. These body sensations are very strong so they’re impossible to miss.
Here is an example of spirit that hangs around because they need help.
Kris says, “Hi Lisa, I could go on forever with ghost stories, I grew up in a cute little house in the middle of a cemetery. Not kidding, my backyard was a cemetery. I always had someone to play with. Eventually, we moved, the owners tore down the house and expanded the cemetery. But every house we lived in had someone in it. The last house had a few different people in it. The whistler, I called him that, and a little girl. There were more but those two I saw and heard often. Anyway, I have a story that has always bothered me, even to this day, it bothers me when I think about it.
I came home late one night from work. It was close to 1 a.m. when I saw a young man standing in my driveway. I thought it was odd that he there waiting for me, he looked like a real person and he seemed harmless. I pulled up and I asked him who he was. He told me his name was Ray and he wanted me to call his mother and let her know about his accident. Then I knew this wasn’t a real person and I got scared. I immediately turned and started heading to my house, I told him I couldn’t help him. He came back every night after that for about a week insisting I call his mother, who by the way, lived in Georgia. I continually refused to talk to him. After about a week or two, he stopped showing up in my driveway. I had a dream one night, Ray was there in a room with me, and I saw how he really looked after his accident. He was mangled, it was a motorcycle accident. He was very, very angry at me for not helping him. The only thing I had for protection was a piece of Plexiglas between me and him. I was holding it and he couldn’t get through it. That was a good thing, because he was more than just angry with me. I had that same dream two nights in a row, each night I woke up in a panic and crying my eyes out. I’ll never forget his face. I’ll never forget what he was saying to me. I only hope now that he crossed and he’s at peace. I also hope his mother knows. I never told anyone that, except my husband. Anyway, that’s my story. “
And that is a good reason to be glad that you don’t have the psychic curse, I mean GIFT. Yeah. Cuz seeing that stuff is always so much fun!
What do I do about it?
There are plenty of measures you can take to get an unwanted visitor to move on, even when you are half asleep. Here are some good places to start:
- Turn on the light and light some incense or sage.
- Tell them to go away. Really mean business. Feel your power in your solar plexus and state loudly and firmly that this is your space. Insist that they leave, right now, without incident and never return. Use the power of your will.
- If you are dealing with a ghost that wants to tell you a story or needs help, you can choose whether or not to assist. Or you can make an “appointment” with the spirit and ask it to come back at a better time for you.
- Remember that you are strong and they are weak in this dimension. Feel your power and claim your space.
- Say some prayers. Ask your guides to help and protect you. Archangel Michael is particularly adept at protecting people from harmful spirits. Ask your guides to come and escort your visitor to where ever it needs to go.
Here are some more permanent solutions that will make your space unappealing negative spirits.
- Make sure you open the drapes and blinds during the day to let in the light.
- Hang religious or spiritually meaningful pictures or objects on your walls. These could include a rosary and a picture of Jesus or a picture of the Dali Lama, what ever has meaning for you.
- Sprinkle a circle of salt around your bed. This is great for astral projectors and will keep you in your body while you sleep.
- Put crystals or rocks at the four corners of your bed or your room.
- Clear the energy in your room frequently with incense or sage.
- Cover any mirror in your room at night. Mirrors make great gateways!
- Create an altar in your room to hold objects that are sacred to you.
- Sleep with your pets in your room.
- Routinely call on your spirit guides and guardians to protect you while you are sleeping. Saying a prayer and invoking God or your guides before you sleep will add positive energy to your space while you sleep.
- Get a natural salt lamp. These are great night-lights for kid’s room, since they add two potent anti negative entity ingredients to a room; salt and light.
- Put in a fish tank with a bubbler or a fountain with running water. Many negative entities can’t abide running water. This is also great for a nightmare prone child’s room.
The most important thing to remember is that you are strong and spiritual beings are weak in this dimension. It’s almost impossible for them to take on physical form. You have far more power there then they do and ninety nine point nine percent of the time a spirit being can’t physically harm you in any way. The worst they can do is scare you!
