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`You’re in a room alone and feel a strange, eerie presence. The lights flick off. Chances are, this freak happening is not just your imagination.’ Unusual presences inhabiting a dwelling is a growing phenomenon among New Zealanders, as many who work in the area will testify. An energy, or entity, may make itself felt in numerous ways: as unusual cold spots in a house, lights that mysteriously flick on and off, strange noises with no apparent source, and even physical objects that move by themselves. For Anne Hartman, the first indication she had of an unusual presence in her country home was when her three-year-old son began repeatedly waking during the night, mumbling about `a funny man’ being in his room. Several weeks later Anne, and then her husband, awoke after feeling a strange prickly sensation move over their bodies. But it wasn’t until Anne and her mother actually saw a female apparition or ghost walk across her room that she could no longer put the strange happenings down to imagination. With the help of Maori women from the local marae, Anne learned they were being contacted by a guardian of the land who had been in the area long before she and her husband had built their new home there. “We discovered that he was frustrated at being unable to make contact with us. The women explained that his guardian wanted us to build him a garden to keep him busy.” Now the garden has been planted and is flourishing at an extraordinary rate, the incidents inside the home have ceased. “We feel lucky to have him,” says Anne. “He’s a protective spirit or ghost and only brings us good things.” Auckland clairvoyant counselor Sandra Singleton talks about spirits becoming landlocked. “It’s where a spirit is not able to leave or doesn’t understand it can leave the earth plane and travel to the spirit world. It is not able to progress and in a sense is holding back their own evolution. “You only need to ask around to find more and more people are becoming aware, more sensitive and are experiencing such things. Often these spirits or ghosts are frustrated, they’ve been landlocked for a very long time, caught in a limbo state.” In the course of her work, Sandra has been called to clear many homes. She remembers one particular case when a blended family were being bothered by a spirit entity. “The adults were drinking a lot and smoking marijuana and the spirit in the house was angry, feeling the parents were not looking after the children properly. “The spirit shut doors, even stopped people being able to get out of certain rooms. Lights would switch on and off and the family dog became quite disturbed,” Sandra recalls. She eventually cleared the house by invoking spiritual help and performing cleansing rituals in every room. Sandra says people may become aware of spiritual entities after a traumatic experience. “They become psychically sensitive and open to the ethereal energies that are always around us.” Sandra has even worked with animal spirits. She was once called in to help a woman who was unable to sell her house. “It turned out that prior to her putting the house on the market, her dog had died suddenly. When it was alive the woman would go out to work each day and the dog would protect the house. After it died, it remained attached to the house as a silent protector.” After helping release the animal, the house quickly sold. In another part of the city, Helen is one of a group of three highly experienced mediums who have been working together clearing homes and people of disturbing energies and ghosts. She has been working in this area for more than 10 years, and has a full-time job in a corporate environment. “We get many calls, everything from entities appearing, children being disturbed, strange things happening, noises, voices, or a feeling of something uncomfortable being in the house. We find out what is happening and then we help move the entity on. “We don’t work like a priest to drive the energy out. We realize the entity has a problem and we help it.” She says: “It’s very common for people to be aware of something in a house, but only a small proportion of people are disturbed by it. A lot of people may feel something around, but know that it is not unpleasant. They may catch a glimpse of something, but not let it worry them. “We are all trained mediums and are able to contact and find to who and what it is and why they are there. We communicate with it and tell it there is somewhere else for it to go, and show it how to get there.” Helen says spiritual guides help the wayward spirit or ghost to move on. Sometimes the spirit may be a deceased relative, or an entity who lived hundreds of years before and has become `stuck’ in the environment. “Some have had a traumatic passing and can get bogged down in the trauma of the way their life ended.” Entities an also be attracted to particular families or children; people who are very sensitive, or families that have a very warm and loving situation. “Spirits are attracted to that love and warmth. They are not a nuisance, they want to enjoy the love and comfort of the family.” One family Helen worked with had experienced a succession of such spirits. Another way spirits get trapped is through the belief system the person held prior to death. “Some people with strong religious beliefs do not think they have died until the see the trumpet and pearly gates. Or you may find an atheist who thinks death is the end of everything and will not accept they have died, so carry on living where they’ve always lived. “Others can be held back by the grief of those left behind. Some people are quite intent to spend the rest of their lives holding on to a departed soul, not leaving it free to go.” But eventually all spirits will move on, says Helen. Psychic astrologer and clairvoyant Neil Giles has worked in the spiritual arena for seven years. He believes people being bothered by entities or energies is a powerful learning opportunity. “It’s about how to control and work with fear. A haunting doesn’t just happen by accident. It’s a situation to learn from and often heralds a spiritual awakening and personal transformation.” Neil doesn’t subscribe to the notion of evil, but rather, says: “The person involved needs to realise they can release a spirit from its trap of malice. The word demon comes from the Greek daemon, which means to guide or tutor energy from beyond the threshold of death.” Neil says such energies feed off fear and other strong emotions, much like leeches. To deal effectively with such a situation, it is important to stay calm, centered and in control. “I have worked in a lot of prisons and have seen the degree to which such energies can become a powerful influence,” says Neil. Such situations can plunge individuals into a crisis about previous disbeliefs in other realms. “There has always been an unseen world, but many people never really know what their basic belief about it is, until they are confronted with such a situation.” Says Neil: “The prime way to deal with the situation is to bring up the fear, name what you are afraid of, and have the honesty to work with yourself.” Take positive steps. Invoke, or call on powerful protective energies than have been used since time began – the protective energies that ancient people, indigenous people, and even the crusaders knew about. “The situation can be turned into a powerful lesson,” says Neil. How to clear your home The importance of finding a cleansing ritual that fits in with your own belief structures is emphasized by all those working in the field. Sandra Singleton: “You can use crystals in any area of your home to help balance the energy. Particularly good ones to use are amethyst, rose quartz and blue lace agate. Obsidian is a powerful protective stone. Sandra strongly suggests calling on professional help to clear spirit energies, unless you’ve got a very good understanding of the situation. “There are so many different ways of doing things”. Your local spiritual church is a perfect place to ask for help. Sandra also suggests checking out the story of the land if you are intending to build on it. Neil Giles stresses the opportunity of turning a haunting by a troublesome entity or ghost into a powerful lesson. “Cleansing is generally a process of invoking a potent form of protection to do sacred work in a safe environment. Using a cross and holy water is simple, but it’s really a process of creating an act or ritual as a statement for yourself. “Name what you are afraid of. Seek wise council from a spiritual church, or if Christian persuasion, from a Christian church. Find someone who is prepared to listen to what you think about the situation rather than them tell you. “Take control. Get help and guidance, call on a greater power – we always have spiritual help with us – don’t try and do it all on your own.” Neil
recommends using crystals, such as amethyst, black tourmaline and
smoky quartz. |
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GHOSTLY ENCOUNTERS  |