Image: Marian D’Angouleme

“Be hole, be dust, be dream, be wind

Be night, be dark, be wish, be mind,

Now slip, now slide, now move unseen,

Above, beneath, betwixt, between.”

Neil Gaiman

Besides being asked about what Luciferianism is, and basic defensive/protection Magick, the number one question I am asked is my take on ghosts, Soul Wounds, hauntings, and other such phenomena. I think people’s fascination with death and the supernatural are inherently human, and usually stems from a place of childlike curiosity, unknown Magickal talent or something as big as an existential crisis.

I mean what else would make you question yourself, your inner world and the collective world at large to such a degree other than an encounter with a ghost, or Spirit?

Answer: Not much.

I have had Second Sight since I was a child, and it first manifested in the ability to see the dead; this was an ability that I wanted nothing to do with, and at such a young age I was often paralyzed with fear at the Spirits whom would enter my room at night. By the age of 7 I was able to see Spirits at all times, it did not matter if I was asleep or awake; that summer in particular I had a very hard time distinguishing between the living and the dead, as if the veil between the worlds didn’t exist. My sight grew, morphed and changed as I did and I am now able to See so much more. I know that some question my Seership abilities, and others like myself, that’s fine because I do not seek approval, nor do I care about opinions.

When push comes to shove my experience and talent speaks for itself.

I do not claim to be an expert at anything in the Craft, or life in general. I honestly consider myself a novice at all things; perhaps some of this is me being too modest or refusing to give myself the credit I deserve, maybe it’s even some insecurity. All I know is that I have been gifted with knowledge about how the other side works and I want to share it with you, my readership.

I think talking about this topic will clarify a lot, and may even help some of you understand the hauntings or Spiritual activity you have dealt with in your own life. Hell, some of you may even find what I have to say to be in line with your own belief; if that’s the case, awesome, if not, that’s cool, too.

I don’t want you to think like me, I just want you to think.

Speaking of thinking, when people think of ghosts they just think that it’s a “dead person” who “hasn’t found the light” but they are so much more than that. I am going to try and break down the different types of hauntings and reasons for the Spirit being bound to this plain.

Let me get a few things out of the way first to help you understand my viewpoint: I believe in reincarnation, I believe in ascension after our Soul’s purpose has been fulfilled and our karmic debt is paid. I believe the Soul is energy, and energy never dies; it also has no gender, it is not all light, or all dark but an all-encompassing life form that is like a computer of memories and knowledge. I believe in reality that the lines between this world and the next are not really there at all, and the veil is yet another illusion.

So, what causes a ghost to stay or a haunting to occur?

I am going to answer this from a few different angles because it is such a complex answer, and question really.

There is usually a trauma or unfinished business that becomes like chains on the Soul, binding that piece (from a particular incarnation) here to this plain. Most severe traumas cause a Soul Wound which in turn causes a fragmented Soul. A fragmented Soul is just that, fragmented. The piece can return on its own, and often does when the healing is complete. You can send for a Shaman, Witch or other Healer to call the piece back through ritual, or you can do it yourself; doing it yourself is always the best option, however, most people don’t know they are a fragmented Soul; they don’t know that the addiction they have is from a missing piece, they don’t know the cycle of abuse they find themselves in is from a bleeding wound in the Soul, most people just don’t know. So, they walk around broken, bruised, and beaten until they are forced to go within and see the damage that has been done. In most cases by the time one finds out the piece is missing, they are already dead.

You can exist here in 2016, in whatever form you have chosen and have a piece of your Soul haunting, or stuck somewhere else and I think this is the biggest revelation people have when I talk about my theory. Those feelings of déjà vu, those memories of places you have never been but can describe to a tee, or the phobias that come out of nowhere are not always from past lives; some are current memories because the Soul is still living or playing that scenario out. No, I am not saying that all hauntings or ghosts are pieces of living Souls now, but some are and that is really important to point out.

The next time you have a flashback, or feel a pull to do something or go somewhere that makes no sense whatsoever, I want you to stop and really think about it because nothing is coincidental, it’s all relative.

There are three common hauntings which are: Ancestral, Residual and Poltergeist.

Ancestral hauntings are usually attached to places, people and/or objects. The most common type of Ancestral haunting is Native (Indigenous) burial grounds (how cliché, I know) and other Sacred sites. When disturbing Sacred sites there obviously is a risk of pissing off the Spirits, and in many cases they are in fact, pissed off. Sometimes it depends on if the disturbance was intentional or not.

There have been stories of bad luck, hauntings, even possessions since the raids of Temples began in places like Ancient Mesopotamia, Greece and the Pyramids of Giza; not to mention the Temples of the Mayans and Aztecs and these are just a few examples. These types of disturbances can lead to Poltergeist activity, and I will address that in more detail down below.

In many cases when an Ancestral Spirit is angry it is simply a matter of offering something to them, and striking up a bargain, for lack of a better term. I personally believe that a Healer or person from the particular tribe/lineage associated with the land/site should always be called upon to bless such places and Spirits before desecrating anything. I mean, ideally I would like us as a species to not destroy places with such meaning, but that may be asking for too much from our greedy society.

In other cases, a Spirit will become bound to a person because they feel obligated to protect them. It could be a family member they have met that passed too soon, or one that died before they were even conceived. There is rarely violence involved with this type of guardian-like connection; usually a familial Spirit is there to assist, not harm. An Ancestral Spirit (or Spirit in general) can become attached to a photo, heirloom, favorite toy, piece of jewelry or other sentimental item. Again, usually no malice is intended. If you encounter such a haunting the best suggestion is to acknowledge the Spirit, lay down your rules, and tell them they are welcome to stay or move on. You should always encourage them to move on by helping them finish whatever it is they think needs to be done, but you must remember that even in death the human Soul has free will, and we cannot force them to do anything.

The next type of haunting is Residual. These are Spirits who are reliving an event (not necessarily traumatic) or particular scenario over, and over and over again. In most cases they do not even know they are dead, and can become quite mischievous; though, they are not usually harmful. A residual haunting is usually accompanied by strange odors in the air, such as perfumes or cigar smoke and temperature fluctuations. At times full body apparitions can appear but that is normally a much stronger Spirit whose intentions become questionable because they are either out to harm or are desperate for help.

The strange odors and cool breezes usually happen when you, the living human, cross paths with the dead human. The Spirits effected by residual hauntings are almost always bound because they have unfinished business, or they feel that they were taken too soon and have chosen to stay in that particular incarnation, refusing to accept their death, even though the world and part of their Soul (potentially) has moved on.

In these types of cases you want to try and encourage the Spirit to move on just like you would with the Ancestral Spirits but this can be much trickier because these are Souls who are determined to carry on as they are, for whatever reason. The best course of action is usually to just allow the Spirit to live side by side with you and your family, as long as no harm is done. When they are prepared to move on, they usually will go on their own.

The last type of haunting is probably the most notorious and the most violent out of the three and that is Poltergeist activity. A Poltergeist is a Spirit whose primary means of telling us they are around is by knocking, clicking, tapping, or moving objects. Sounds harmless enough, right? It can quickly turn ugly when crossover marks appear, which is common among this type of activity. These are marks such as bruises or scratches that appear, usually during sleep, and allow the Spirit to feed off the target. It also allows the Spirit to manipulate their target if they choose to do so.

It takes a great amount of energy to manifest onto the physical plain and manipulate objects, or harm a physical body. In most cases a Poltergeist is a collection of Spirits either because of a mass trauma, burial site, or a portal/vortex. There are rare instances when a poltergeist is just one Spirit and this is where the game changes. In this case it is either a Daemonic energy, or a human who was an absolutely vile person and whose life and subsequent death has left a physical imprint on a particular piece of land/home/property. A good rule of thumb when dealing with hauntings is that once objects are being moved about violently, or once crossover marks appear, you are not dealing with Casper anymore.

In many cases Poltergeists will disguise themselves as mundane, benign energies when they are anything but. They also like to choose the most open individuals which usually end up being children or Sensitive people like an Empath, or budding Witch. Always be mindful of who you are inviting in and/or allowing to stay. If it doesn’t feel right, banish the energy. Period.

As complicated as life is, death is equally complex; the human Soul does not die, it merely changes form and in some cases that form is stuck living in a world within a world, side by side with us, rarely being acknowledged. Can you imagine that feeling? There are many levels, intricacies and so many questions that arise when dealing with Spirits and death that it is almost too overwhelming to think about.

I think this is a perfect time to mention that I absolutely believe there are tortured Souls who exist in a place I refer to as “The Gray” and I believe they will never find peace and they will never move on. I set intentions or prayers, if you will, that those Souls find the strength to comes to terms with their death and find the solace they so desperately need.

We are so caught up with the fear of death that we don’t realize the dead live among us, they live through us, they live beside us, just as they always have; just as they always will.

I find that to be a far more terrifyingly fascinating thought than mere death itself.