Because I can only watch so much news (and I work at a newspaper so I've been getting inundated at work with everything that's going on) I've been watching cartoons and real ghost shows when I'm at home.
When I say real ghost shows, what I mean is that these shows recount what are supposedly true stories of peoples' encounters with ghosts (or demons in some cases).
And I've come to a couple of conclusions from watching these shows:
1) Never buy a house with the words 'Leave' or 'Die' or any variation thereon anywhere on the premises when you come to check it out.
2) If the house gives you creepy vibes in *any* of the rooms, don't buy it.
3) If the neighbors won't walk on the sidewalk in front of your house, there's a problem.
4) Strange artwork, religious markings, etc. should be a sign that there might be something going on.
5) If your animals are freaking out, pay attention.
6) If you hear voices or other noises, don't just dismiss them.
7) If things move around your house on their own, or doors open, you're not just imagining things.
8) The first time you hear a voice tell you to 'Get out', get out.
9) If the sellers are willing to sell for *way* less than what the house is worth, that's a red flag. As is them leaving all of their things there and not wanting to step foot in the house to get them.
Aside from all these, I have realized that every time I see activity on these shows that starts getting to the negative side, part of my brain is yelling 'Get a priest! Get a priest!' at the people on screen. Because, no lie, my first move on moving into a new house would be to get a priest to come bless the place. And if stuff started getting creepy? Holy water all over the place.
Which led me to thinking, what would you guys do if you moved into a house and ghostly things started to happen? Do you believe in ghosts? What do you think they are? If things got really scary, would you turn to your pastors or call a paranormal group to come investigate or what?
*hunh*
ReplyDeleteNot something I'd thought of before.
If it were too annoying to ignore (and, believe me, I have a high tolerance), I'd probably get someone to give me and/or the house a blessing. If minor stuff continued to happen, I'd probably find a way to reason it away. If major stuff was happening, I'd call the police to come investigate and look into relocating.
See, I'm here to help. These are scenarios that I think we should think through! :) Plan for all the scenarios!
DeleteI think ignoring the minor stuff can be a mistake because then it just escalates. On the other hand, sometimes paying attention to the minor stuff just gives the ghost more energy. Can't win for trying.
And what would the police do? It's a ghost. The police can't do anything about ghosts!
Relocating is a good idea, but a lot of these people couldn't do that for financial reasons. So they're stuck in these houses with things getting worse and worse. Crazy stuff.
Which is why I've decided on having every place I live blessed. Not my current house because if we had a ghost I think we'd know it by now. But future houses.
Ooh, good topic. And I love those shows. Before I answer the questions, I'm going to add something to your list: You do not need an excuse not to buy a place. I know some people might feel really self-conscious and want to dismiss all these things because it's not enough, ghosts aren't real, etc. My partner is very skeptical and just gives me these eyeroll-type looks when I mention anything supernatural, and many of these (possibly even all of them together) would not be enough for him. In that case, I wouldn't bother with "I think this place is haunted!" because that wouldn't mean anything to him. Instead I would simply say "I don't feel comfortable here, I think we should look somewhere else." There's no need to be convinced ghosts are real, if you don't feel safe or comfortable in a house and are not going to want to use parts of it because it's creepy, it's not a good place for you.
ReplyDeleteYes, I believe in ghosts! I don't think they're one thing, though, I think the word has come to be used to mean a lot of different entities, from house spirits to the more traditional dead people to demons and other powerful spirits. A "ghost" being in a house is not necessarily a reason to leave, in my mind. In fact, I'm fairly certain there has been some kind of spirit everywhere I've ever lived. Since becoming a pagan I tend to assume there are at the very least house spirits around and will make offerings to them. I also make offerings to ancestors, so I wouldn't be surprised if my aunt started hanging around the house (if I could ever get in the habit of maintaining a daily practice, at least).
If I notice something moving around a lot like it's trying to get my attention, I will make an offering and do some divination with a pendulum to try to get a feel for what it is and what it wants. Whenever possible, I try to see spirits as benevolent and treat them as guests. We can share the space and not have a problem. If there was malevolent activity and I didn't feel safe anymore, I would perform some blessings of my own and ask certain gods and spirits for help. The house spirits and ancestors are actually considered by some to guard the house from malevolent spirits, so building a relationship with them might also help protect the home and I would try to do that if I had been lax in making regular offerings. If that didn't work, I know some people from the pagan group in the area who have performed exorcisms and I might ask them to come check it out. Honestly hearing their stories before made me skeptical and I have trouble taking them seriously, but if I felt desperate I would give it a shot. If that didn't work, I'd think about moving.
There's no need to be convinced ghosts are real, if you don't feel safe or comfortable in a house and are not going to want to use parts of it because it's creepy, it's not a good place for you.
DeleteThis. You have instincts for a reason and even if you can't put it into words, if you're uncomfortable in a place or a situation, you should get out or avoid it.
No, I agree that just having a ghost isn't a reason to leave. I've lived in what I think of as 'gently' haunted houses once or twice and nothing terrible ever happened. My worry is one day encountering a not so gentle haunting. And by my thinking if a ghost is friendly or harmless or just an impression rather than something with conscious thought then a blessing won't hurt it. But if it's bad then the blessing will help protect me.
Story time! Back when I first set up my altars in the basement, I felt a little creeped out by the room I was using for it. I think I might have written something about that on my blog, but can't remember for sure. Anyway. Besides the altars, there was also a cheap dresser-like thing from college that still had all these silly toys I had collected back then. Every time I went down there, I'd find a little pink basketball in the middle of the floor. And I do not remember ever taking it out of the drawer in the first place.
DeleteAt first I would move it to the side or to a table, but every time I came back to the room I could swear it moved. I never took pictures to be sure, it's possible I simply didn't remember where I'd placed it. But it felt different, you know? So finally I gave up moving it, swallowed down my creepy feelings, and brought some oatmeal (for an offering) and a pendulum (to ask questions) down to the room with me.
I didn't wind up learning a lot of details from that, but I did get that he (at least I'm pretty sure) wanted to play and didn't mean any harm. He answered yes to the question of whether we could share the space and I could continue to do my religious work there if I also included him in my offerings on a fairly regular basis. I left the pink ball this time so he could play and never had another problem. The room has never seemed creepy to me since, even when I've gotten out of the habit of leaving offerings and such.
I'm glad you and the spirit worked things out. :)
DeleteI have to admit that, as a Floridian, basements in and of themselves are creepy to me. I have never been comfortable in basements. I think it's because we just don't have them down here and I'm not used to them. You don't dig yourself a giant hole in the ground down in Florida!
that just made the hairs on my arms stand on end. Wow
DeleteI like Sanil's approach!
ReplyDeleteI would totally have my house blessed. And Saged. I feel like you need to sage everything nowadays. Last thing I was to do is deal with an angry spirit. Not ok. Btw these shows creep me out!
LOL
DeleteSage does seem to be all the rage lately. I guess it couldn't hurt, you know? :)
Honestly the shows creep me out too. But I'm obviously a glutton for punishment.
I cant watch things like that. I never saw anything in my parents old house, but my sister, brother and mum did. We were all blessed and the house.
ReplyDeleteand my friend in the house opposite, if they put something on the mantel piece in the snug, it appeared in the dining room. I never saw this either. but everyone was super freaked out, and the way they acted something was going on. My old street was blown up in a stray bomb in WW2. And the houses were very large old Victorian ones, attics for servants etc.
I now live in an inter war house, and lately we have done some renovations. there have been shadows. it could be the light is now different as we have knock a wall down. but we will see
I love watching things like this! Though I will admit, flat out, that I *have* freaked myself out watching them before.
DeleteThere was one time when I was watching the Paranormal Activity movies and I was home by myself when I started to hear these strange scraping noises from out in the house. I looked and couldn't see anything moving, so I went back to watching the movie and playing on my computer. Then it came again and again and I was getting freaked out, wondering what the heck was going on out there. I rolled my chair back *really slowly* so that I could see out my open bedroom door (while wondering if I could slam it shut fast enough if I saw something scary...) and there was my cat, rubbing on a bowl of peaches and pushing it slowly over the counter.
Cats. They'll be the death of me.
I won't tell you any of my actual encounters with ghosts. :)
My worry about running into a dangerous ghost is always in conflict with my love of old houses. I would *love* to live in an old house, something with some history, but my chances of running into a ghost go up if I do.
Hopefully you're just adjusting to the new lighting in your house. :)