Ghosts

[Azazen]

What are they? Do people that were incarnated really stick around just to play tricks on the living? That doesn't make much sense but I guess there could be some reason for it. I know there are supposed to be a few different kinds of "hauntings" so what are omni's experience with ghosts and if there were some will based technique that you would use to get rid of them what would it be? Of course if you wanted to show me the tech version I wouldn't oppose either.

[LordArt]

Ghosts can be a lot of things, and I'm only going to go over what I've experienced. I know many other Omnis had their "Ghost Hunting" days before Omni and even since, but it hasn't been something that I've done much. (I usually just play cleanup if someone is being bothered, so I don't need to seek out ghosts, and I very rarely need to do these things these days).

To me, ghosts are just spirits. Most of the time, disincarnated humans that their inner's aren't ready to re-absorb the lowers. Most of the time because the lower is bat-shit crazy, and need to work out whatever they need to work out (or even they want to keep an eye on someone that is important to them). As as example, one time there was a haunting in a friend of mine's house. Some old lady that liked the attic a lot (or rather, retreated to the attic when my friend showed up there). He talked with it to make sure it knew not to screw with him. However, he liked the people living in the house so eventually something was done about it. In this case, we talked with the inner of the disincarnated person, and figuired out the deal. We then tracked down the relatives and freinds of the individual who were disincarnated as well, and ask them to help their friend get over her issues. That took up so much of the ghost's time that it didn't bother the incarnates anymore and eventually moved on, as it should have.

Other times, it can be "punished" spirits that get too much power (from extended time in building it up) to escape their localized imprisonment. Normally they can't go too far, since it takes lot of effort to leave their "cell". But while they are out, they'll screw with people because they are just that bored. In their case, a good bitch-slapping does wonders. It removes the excess power they've built up so they are back to square one again. I wouldn't recommend freeing these things, or even altering the punishment. Normally something MUCH bigger put them there, and they had their reasons. Best not to get caught up in it, and deal with interfering with their plans. Mind you this situation is VERY rare. Any of your normal magic combat techniques would count for this.

Also on the really rare side are "wondering spirits". But wondering spirits are usually just passing through and don't cause trouble. Mind you, you may find places away from everyone that they decided to make their home, but then it's squater's rights kind of thing. They just want to live their lives like anyone else, and normally one doesn't have to do anything unless they are going out of their way to bother people, but that is rare. However, people might bother THEM first by trespassing. So YMMV as far as what is needed to be done, but normally nothing violent, just talk to them like anyone else, and most are reasonable. In more classic folklore it was more common to leave offerings to the spirits of the woods for safe travel, etc. It's not unlike some stranger deciding to bunk at your house. You'll be much happier at them if they offer some gift in exchange rather than being rude and barging in.

Sometimes certain spell types can be perceived as ghosts depending on how one picks up such things, but again, that is very rare. But can be more common with raw will spells of someone rather emotional. Even non-pracitioners can manifest things via raw will and emotion sometimes, and sometimes that takes a form that is considered a "ghost". Simple energy cleansing stuff will work in this case.

Anyone want to add with their experiences?

[Azazen]

Thanks for the answers, I do have a small ghost problem but mentally projecting well enough for communication has been one of my weakest points. I wouldn't want to go in trying to talk to something crazy and bored or blasting at something I don't know enough about so would you have any advice on honing those skills? I'm really interested in hearing others experiences too, if they're willing to share.

[StormSeeker]

Hey Az.

Would you like to give us some more details on your small ghost problem?

The only way that I know of that you're likely to hone your communication skills with discarnates, is to communicate with discarnates. ^_^

(Yes, it's time for that over-used word, "practice".)

Do keep in mind that by starting a conversation with a spirit, you're basically affirming to it, "Yes, I can see/sense you." Whilst that might seem like a benign thing, also keep in mind that most people don't notice spirits, or indeed haven't noticed that particular spirit, and then imagine the sheer "joy" that spirit might well experience the moment it realizes someone - you - are paying attention to it, for what might be the first in a very long time.

In other words, whilst I believe that speaking with a spirit that's giving issues is usually the best course of action, I also have to caution that it can be like opening a can of worms. Your spirit may become rather limpet-like and not leave you alone.

At least as far as my ghost experiences go, if they're making a scene or making it known that they're present, they're often trying to get yours, or someone's, attention.

Please do not randomly blast the spirit either. :3 Information is a very powerful and useful thing in most situations. By going in with all guns blazing straight away, you can be doing yourself out of potential knowledge about the spirit and it's intentions and reasons for being present, and possibly ruining any chances of negotiating a way for it to leave peacefully (if that's the solution you'd prefer.) And if the spirit is more powerful than you, or has bigger friends, you might also get smooshed in the process. Avoiding smooshing is usually the best course of action.

Also, going off of personal experience, spirits can get "lost" or "confused" just like us. I have worked with a couple of people who told me that they died suddenly and violently, and returned to the place where their strongest memories were of, because they didn't know where else to go and didn't feel safe anywhere else.

Blasting randomly at someone in that position just scares them even more, and they might retaliate in return. That doesn't really do you or the spirit any good.

Some spirits just need to be told what's going on, and helped to accept that they are dead, and that there isn't any 'coming back to this life'. One whom I worked with actually told me he knew he was dead, and truly seemed to accept this, but couldn't figure out why he kept coming back to this one place. It wasn't the usual suspects (where he died, where he was born, where a family member or friend was, where he lived etc. It seemed quite random.)

I don't remember the reason we eventually discovered, but once we had figured it out, he was able to let go of his tie to the house and he, very gratefully, moved on.

It's also been my experience that, providing you successfully communicate, you'll likely know fairly quickly if you're speaking with someone who is having some issues with resolving emotional stuff, and you'll likely know pretty quickly if the spirit in question has malicious intentions too.

One way to help allay some of those fears is, if you are friends with or know someone who practices energy work, magic, or mediumship, to ask them to be present and give you some outside confirmation whilst you attempt to chat with the being.

There are people around out there who have years of experience in this sort of thing. Keep in mind that if you feel something is out of your league, you're likely to be able to find someone who may be able to and willing to help. Just be sure that person is "for real", and knows what they're doing too. Always use good judgement, when you're dealing with spirits and when you're dealing with people.

[Obsidian]

Practice *shudders* =P

I haven't really had much experience with 'ghosts' (being defined in my handibook as the returned spirit of an ex-human) but I have had a bit with unidentified spirits.

They could've been ex-humans. I really didn't feel like finding out. The main one that springs to mind was a pervy bastard. He hung around my house a bit and would stare at me at all the time. He started watching my girlfriend in the shower once too.. I sorta explained that wasn't a good idea and he took the hint..

Storm-face: What you said regarding paying attention reminds me of something. Energy flows where the thoughts go, right? Hence paying attention to them effectively gives them a small amount of energy. That could cause a few different problems, that I can see. Comments?

[Syntax]

Obsidian: Eh, I wouldn't think that anything significant would be gained from something paying attention to you. Same would go for an entity I would imagine. Do some experiments and see where it gets you. I could always be wrong.

[Azazen]

My sister's house has been haunted since she moved there a few years ago, it never really bothered her but she had it blessed a few times. Things would calm down for 3 months or so and then it starts again. Until recently it was just things like doors closing, voices in back rooms when no one else was home, random loud thuds like footsteps, I've heard glass shatter once when I spent the night, lights turning on or off and random creepy feelings like someones watching or touching her.

The only reason I've decided to really look into it is because they just got a dog, it's a pretty cool dog, always nice and plays with her kids but it's kind of big and weighs more than my niece who's four. I think it's only been twice but the dog was freaked out by something on the ceiling and from what I was told it was in the same spot. It started growling and cowering, staring at the ceiling. When she tried to walk up to it it started growling at her and then went to it's bed and wouldn't come out when my sister tried to talk to her, it just kept growling and cowering obviously really scared, for about six hours.

Of course she got a little upset when it happened but she's more worried about the dog getting scared and biting the kids, so she said she's getting the house blessed again. I just thought something a little more permanent would be better, I haven't run it by her yet since I wasn't even sure how to go about doing anything like this but I did try to dull the dogs senses a little the last time I was there (It was the first time trying that too so I'm not sure how well it worked) to try and keep it from happening again at least until she had time to have a priest out.

On that note, what does having a priest bless an area really do? I only have theories about how the gods that main religions believe in came into existence and why calling on them can have magical effects.

Also she thinks there's more than one, she's heard a little girl's voice, a mother singing and the creepy one feels like a guy. Another reason I asked for some advice on projecting and communicating is that I wanted to make sure I could tell them apart if there is more than one. As long as the dog doesn't freak out again it's not really urgent so I'm looking forward to getting some experience out of the situation.

[StormSeeker]

Well....Dogs who are rescue dogs or who come into a new home, especially with children or other family pets, can often exhibit behavior that they didn't before. Sometimes it just needs the right stimulus, or inadequate handling by the new owner, to bring those behaviors to the surface.

Typically those sorts of new owner issues greatly benefit from professional advice and help with, (and yes, they can exhibit "new" behaviors in their new home that they didn't in their previous, or at the shelter. In fact, this is all too common.) If her dog is a rescue, shelter, or humane society rescue dog, contacting those people and asking if they have a trainer or behaviorist on staff or that they can recommend, should yield some quick help.

Especially with the dog being larger and heavier than the child, I'd say her best bet is to speak with a professional - either an animal/dog behaviorist or positive reinforcement based dog trainer, who can help pinpoint the reasons behind her dog's reactions, and help retrain the behavior to prevent it from escalating.

Even if there is a ghost present, I still recommend this as it can be dangerous to allow a dog who's exhibiting unpredictable behavior, to be around children. And I don't think there's any way to be 100% sure that her new dog's behavior is due to being scared by a spirit, and not due to unknown issues that her dog had prior to her owning him.

If nothing else, the trainer can teach her how to handle her dog when he behaves like that, and things she can do/not do to help the situation, and show her how to act when her dog exhibits fear or any sort of extreme emotion.

And...I've never seen a priest in action, so I don't know what kind of effects their blessings can or do have. Maybe someone else has here?

[Azazen]

Aha that didn't cross my mind. She is a rescue dog, my sister got her from friends of hers that happened to take care of rescue dogs while they heal. She immediately liked my sister and her kids but didn't really like other new people at first, she seems to have grown out of it and for the last few months hasn't shown any strange characteristics. I keep forgetting that she's a rescue dog since she's always so well mannered and playful with the kids, all the rescue dogs I've met have acted very strange compared to other dogs so I guess that's why I didn't consider that being the reason for her behavior. I think those particular friends are going to be over there tomorrow so I'll be sure to mention that she should ask them about it. That's just like I remember storm, always pointing out the more natural reasons for things first , since I know her house is haunted and I keep forgetting the dog was a rescue dog blaming it on spirits seemed like the most likely answer.