Why Do Hauntings Occur?

Everyone makes mistakes.  And we are all haunted by the consequences of our mistakes.  Mistakes from the past often eclipse the eventualities of the present.  Even if someone does not believe in the paranormal, they will usually admit to being haunted by past mistakes.  We would all do well to listen to the voice in our minds that urges us to stay on the straight and narrow.  But, most often, the drive to give in to our baser selves wins out.

We know when we are endangering ourselves with being haunted by regret.  There is always a moment before you open your mouth and say something truly stupid.  The kind of thing that is impossible to take back.  You know you should have held your tongue, but the damage is done.  The worst mistake may be trusting someone you have been warned is not worthy of your trust.  Only when the rubble of betrayal is beginning to settle do you see why you should have listened.  

 

On a given day, how much time do we spend dealing with the shades of the past rather than expediting plans for the future? How much more are we defined by our wounds rather than our accomplishments? Who among us can actually claim to be free of guilt, trauma, or regret? These are the haunting entities whose existence is not questioned by anyone.  'Unresolved pain made manifest' may be as good a defintion as any for a haunting entity.  

We are all mortal.  Each day the gap between life and death becomes smaller.  Parts of our bodies are always dying.  Some regenerate, some don't.  We embody both life and death.  What is there to fear besides death? All of our negative emotions spring from this fear.  Anger, shame, and regret are all facets of this basic fear.  The more of a foothold these emotions gain over our minds, the more dead we feel.  

There are many people who are more dead than alive.  Haunting entities are drawn to these people like flies to a rotting carcass.  I have stated before that hoarders are prime targets for a haunting.  Hoarders bury themselves alive.  Their lives are dominated by trauma, fear, and static motion.  They do not disengage from the past to pursue the future.  They hold death close while pushing life away.  

People are most susceptible to hauntings when they are:

In mourning

Stressed

Weak

Injured

Traumatized

Mentally unstable

Addicted to drugs or alcohol

Haunting entities are a manifestation of death.  Death is like a lion culling weak or injured antelope from the herd.  In many ways, we are like the antelope.  In terms of hauntings, there is safety in numbers.  The more life is present in a home, the less likely a haunting will get out of control.  People, pets, and plants are good deterrents. 

We are also safer in light than darkness.  Haunting entities cling to the shadows.  The more sunlight and fresh air you can allow into your home, the better off you will be.  On the plains, the antelope cannot always see the lion, but they can sense his presence.  When you start seeing ghosts, there is a problem.  

Haunting entities feed on our fear.  Fear is the open door through which they enter.  Once they enter, it is not easy to get them to leave.  Fear will distract you and cause you to make bad decisions.  As things become worse in your life, a haunting will manifest in increasingly frightening ways.  You will feel hunted and terrified in your own home.  When your home feels unsafe, there is no place to hide, rest, and recover.  Dealing with a haunting is like being lost in a dark, forbidding forest.

Fear and regret reinforce each other.  Regret is the haunting entity that we consciously generate.  Fear traps us.  It keeps us locked in a losing battle for control.  Ghosts are just old regrets looking for a new home.  We may not create ghosts, but they will be drawn to us nonetheless.  Death is always with us.  It exists within and around us.  

It is hard to maintain the strength and resilience necessary to defeat what haunts us.  Dealing with a haunting is the process of embracing life and facing our fears.  Empowering yourself to forgive and be more positive is a good first step to defeating whatever haunts you.  

There are ways to overcome a haunting.  Proper cleansing and maintenance can dispel haunting entities from our lives.  But to do so, we must conquer our fear of the unknown.  We must make peace with our own mortality.  We must let the sunshine in.  We must not become a denizen of the shadows.  In this way, we make ourselves invulnerable to those entities who would feed on our fears like an all-you-can-eat buffet.

A Haunting, Interrupted

Recently, I stayed at a friend's house while she was out of town.  Previously, a warm and welcoming space, the past few months have wrought a distinct change in the environment.  Sickness, worry, and stress are now the dominant themes in her life.  I had previously sensed the development of a haunting, but it has definitely jumped a grade or two.

Some people can read emerging trends in the stock market.  Others can read the weather.  I can read the subtle cues in an environment that betray a haunting.  

Well, big whoop, it does no good when people will not allow you to help.  The very subject is verboten.  Unlike other talents, this is one people will go out of their way to not use to their advantage.  Life must be so much easier for people who know how to drop a beneficial stock tip into the lap of someone they care about.  I could help my friend, but there is no way she would accept what I have to say.  So, I watch from the periphery as a haunting slowly drains the joy from her life.

Hauntings strike the most unlikely of victims.  My friend has a beautiful home.  She is active in the community, well known and respected.  Her home is filled with expensive knick knacks and antiques.  Actually, it is a little too full.  This should have tipped me off earlier, but like everyone else, I was dazzled by her well-organized collections.  That is, until the first time I stayed there.  

Then, I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of things she possessed.  It's one thing to admire someone's things over a casual evening, it is quite another when you have to trip over them on a daily basis.  Finding the simplest things was a major chore.  Nothing is easy to do in that house.  Too many items are competing for every available square inch.

Hoarders and hauntings go together like whiskey and coke.  I had no idea my friend was a hoarder until I saw the garage.  It is huge and half of it is unusable.  The space verily screamed for a garage sale.  

But even that did not prepare me for what I found in the basement.  It was not my place to go down there.  I had asked before and been denied.  But, curiousity got the better of me.  The basement is huge and crammed to the rafters with stuff.  It holds twenty years worth of unresolved energy.  And it took my breath away.  

Every single one of those items is a memory.  Everything anyone possesses takes energy to acquire, to store, to maintain.  Respecting this dynamic means that each item must be acknowledged before being released.  This can be overwhelming, so it is best to go slow.  Prior to releasing items, it helps to take the time to organize similar items into categories.  Regret over hurriedly disposing of possessions will lead to the acquisition of more things in a vain attempt to fill the void.  Truly, "the things you own end up owning you (Fight Club)."

The only positive is that the basement gets a lot of sunlight.  It helps prevent all that energy from going too dark.  But, the basement gets no fresh air.  Therefore, all that energy churns with no place to go.  It feels like a seething vortex.  All that energy had no focal point until recently.  A couple years ago, my friend experienced a devastating tragedy.  She lost someone in a terrible car accident.

And guess what happened to his ashes? They were placed in an engraved box.  The box rests on a cabinet amongst poems and candles.  The house has an open floor plan, so the makeshift shrine sits not five feet from the kitchen.  The kitchen is the beating heart of a home.  It is where friends and family gather to be nourished, both physically and emotionally.  Keeping a death shrine so near the kitchen sends a powerful subconscious message.

The last time I stayed there the refridgerator and both stoves inexplicably went out.  Maybe I shouldn't have gone into the basement, after all.  I certainly paid the price in take out meals. 

When she returned, the appliances were fixed, but the house continually experiences electrical problems.  Lights randomly stop working, then come back.  The loss of power strikes me as a physical metaphor for her emotional state.  She is surrendering to despair.  And it is going to manifest, one way or the other.  

At best, the kitchen barely functions.  The floodlights outside flicker on and off, leaving the impression of vulnerability.  The atmosphere has become heavy, oppressive, joyless.  One room in particular is a focal point.  It had special meaning for the deceased.  The door would open every time I closed it.  Finally, I just left it alone and it stayed put.  There are ways to seal a door, but it is not my home.  

I cannot fight someone else's ghosts.  I wish I could make suggestions, but they would not be heard.  All I could do was make a small gift.  I left my friend a holiday present.  A silver necklace.  In my mind, silver is more valuable than gold.  Given the current price of gold, that probably sounds crazy.  Gold may make you feel good, but silver is spiritually protective.  Silver is to gold as cats are to dogs. 

Speaking of cats and dogs, my friend owns two dogs.  They are big dogs.  Generally, they are quiet and laid back.  One night, I broke one of my own rules.  Well, it's more of a guideline than a rule.  Once again, I ventured into the basement after dark.  I wanted a better gauge for how this haunting is developing.  And I got it.  Usually, I do not disturb the active areas of a home after dark.  That night, the dogs were on edge and barked into the wee hours.  I didn't get much sleep.

Dogs and cats are both attuned to manifestations of spiritual energy.  Dogs may be great at protecting a home from intruders, but they can do nothing about spirits.  The opposite is true of cats. 

I was happy when my time there came to an end.  It gave me more perspective on my own haunting.  After spending a week in a place where an unchecked haunting is developing, I was grateful for my own ghosts.  I had been so busy keeping a lid on my haunting, I did not appreciate how much progress I had made.  The air is lighter.  The house is brighter.  The kitchen functions.  And doors stay closed.