“Things that go bump in the night”. Part III. Handling other spirits.

(© 2006 AE McDougall)

We’ve already looked at nature spirits, otherworldly creatures who need help and ghosts.  Now we’ll finish up by looking at what we can do in cases of spirit attachment, possession or problems on location.  If you are interested in exorcism proper, I suggest that you study with Dr. Bill Baldwin, the hypnotherapist who created “spirit releasement” or another expert.   A few years ago, I wrote an in-depth book on cleansings, blessing and handling entities, but I did not cover much about exorcism.  Do not attempt things yourself if you feel in over your head. Also, please, don’t assume you must “bust” every being you encounter, there are many ways of resolving a situation. Don’t be embarrassed to ask others for their opinions on what you may be encountering.  I’ve found that we have different gifts; thus a variety of information may give you a more complete picture of what is going on.

Machig Labron,  a much beloved Tibetan Buddhist Yogini, made the comment that as we want things, we create our own demons.  But, when good things come to us, we create the gods and goddesses. Our own anger creates male entities; our excessive desire and attachment creates female ones.  Thus some entities are of our own creation.  Lest you think this is only an eastern viewpoint, it is also found in the west.  Some fragments, in the back of Mathers GREATER KEY OF SOLOMON, a ceremonial magic grimoire, says that we create our own demons and angels depending on our energies and needs.  Regardless, if there is a possession, haunting or problem in a place, there is always some form of agreement or contract between the involved parties.   There must be some form of consent before an attachment can manifest.

Attachments or “haunting” can be ghosts, but they can also be elementals of low intelligence, thought-forms, mischievous or malicious entities, nature spirits and some say extra-terrestrials.  My personal experience is that beings can manifest on different energetic levels.  I’ve never seen a physical “E.T.” but I have seen energetic versions while training with my Reiki teacher.  I’ve seen, with the “inner eye”:  various daunting forms of nature spirits (at night, in Georgia, on a former civil war battle ground), dealt with phantom cats and “angels” sent by fundamentalists xtians, tried to release (unsuccessfully, the human she was attached to, wanted protection) a ghost that was possessed herself by many other spirits and wanted revenge on all men, and various portals between dimensions (but not on the physical plane).  I’ve seen and talked with a being that could fragment off, form a humanoid shape and haunt an old building in Baltimore.  Ironically acupuncture and complementary healing centers appear to attract many energetic predators; so do martial arts schools.   The predators vibrate at a level that many of the healers don’t sense.

First, do is a general cleansing and blessing as that may be all that is needed  If there is a person with an attachment, see if you can energetically remove it, using smudge, feathers and Reiki.  If a building is having problems, carefully ask around and note such things like what happens, when, what results occur and see if you can learn any history.  Use a pendulum and a map to get an idea of portals, tears in the energetic structures, voids, entity hide-outs etc.   Find out if there are any guardian spirits that are assigned here or if there are ghosts that have become the equivalent of a familiar to the people in the building.

You can use Reiki to gain intuitive information, an oracle (I like the Celtic Ogham Fews and the Tarot), remote viewing or, as a last resort, a medium or hypnotherapist.    Since the tarot is a very common tool, here is a possible way to determine entities using the tarot.    First are the Immanent or Minor arcana.
Pentacles (earth): various nature & earth spirits, earth elementals and energies.
Cups (water): etheric beings, ghosts, vortexes, Angels, water elementals and lunar energies.
Wands (fire): Astral beings, fire elementals, fiery solar energies, Archangels.
Swords (air): various thought-forms (accidental, created but lost control of or deliberately created such as guardians of sacred sites), air elementals and energies.
Court cards tend to reflect human involvement in the element, thus you could have an artificial elemental involved, possibly the appropriate elemental fragment from a human and even deliberate humans in the spirit realm (who chose to stay here rather than those who got lost).   These can indicate entities involved in magical operations.
Major Arcana/Transcendent cards indicate higher level beings such as deities, demons, overwhelming earth energies and so on.  These may be out of your range.

If there is an attachment on a person, these are the stages that are usually followed:  the actual point and moment of attachment, the point when the person starts making major wrong choices in important matters, a voluntary yielding of control and finally integration or possession.  You’ll have to find out what keeps the entity there, what does it want and need from the host and then, help resolve the issues and problems.  Make sure the host wants to be free or you will go around in circles.

Tibetan Dharma has three ways of resolving situations:
Peaceful/Purification: the removal of obstacles through peaceful means  such as using a mantra or confession.  (“talk therapy”)
Powerful/Subduing:  Energetic practices that bring various forces under ones’ control.
Violent/Destructive/Wrathful: Special methods that employ seemingly violent means to overcome major obstacles to bring about a peaceful environment.

A Buddhist lama once gave me the following advise on dealing with unexpected or unwanted energetic beings. He recommended using a peaceful means first, save the wrathful as a last resort.  Clean up the area.  Make offerings of pleasant items of interest to the being, having empowered it with the Emotional, then the Power symbol (and the Master symbol if you know it).  Use Green Taras’ mantra (Om Tare Tutare Ture Soha) and Chenrizigs’ (Om Mani Padme Hung), if you like.  See if they are trapped, lost or angry about something.  Talk with them and see if you can help resolve what the problem is.  Call upon your Reiki Guides and Tara to help the being move to its next level of evolution.  Mention that if there is not a resolution, that forceful methods will be employed. You may want to create a ritual of appeasement.

There may be some physical link such as bones that keep the spirit trapped here or on the prowl.  If you can find and have present the link, then chant the Distance, the Emotional and finally the power symbols, 108 times over the items, with the intention of releasing the being so it may move on.  You can also perform a round of Green Taras mantra.  I’ve mentioned some other techniques in my article on ghosts.

These are just some ideas to get started.   May you be able to help all beings.  Om Tare!

Any positive aspects in this essay belong to the various authors and teachers;   any mistakes are my own due to ignorance.    Any merit raised here, I offer to my guru and to benefit sentient beings.