Last night, I was still in a food coma from Thanksgiving and all its leftovers, so I found myself on the couch watching a marathon of one of those ghost/haunting shows.  Things flying through the air, funky smells, noises, apparitions, lots of screaming people.  Made me happy for my quiet little un-haunted house.

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But it got me to thinking about ghosts.  As a psychic-medium, I deal with spirits.  But I have yet to encounter one of those spooky, home-wrecking ghosts (and if I did, I’d probably need a change of underwear.  I’m not ashamed to admit it.)  Anyway,  I have some thoughts on the subject.

First off, ghosts are spirits who have yet to go to the Light. They hang around for lots of reasons.  I think the biggest one is a fear of going to the Light; they’re afraid of having to face up to any bad behavior, real or exaggerated.  So they hang out between the worlds.  I mean, we’re given free will in this life, and to some extent, that includes our choices after we die.

Many ghosts will just sort of “pace” between the worlds.  They stay in an area that seems comforting and familiar, even as it changes around them. In their eyes, their home is the same as it was back in the day, even if now, there’s a freeway runnin’ through the yard (apologies to Tom Petty).

Some ghosts may get noisy, and I think its their way of letting people know they’re still around.   I mean, considering we live in an age where we update our social media every 5 minutes, can’t blame a lost soul for ratttling some plates to make their presence known.

Sometimes a ghost is actually just an energetic imprint.  Something intense happened and punched its mark into the atmosphere – like the appearance of Civil War soldiers on the battlefield.  I hate to think those poor guys are still having to relive their trauma; I think that what gets “seen” on those ghost walks is almost like a movie playing out long after the actors have left the set.

For spirits who are indeed stuck here – for whatever reason – there’s something called “Soul Rescue.”  This is a specialized form of mediumship, where the medium works with certain spirit guides to help convince the hangers-on to move on to the Light.

But I mean, when you think of how many people die in a year – and how comparitively few ghosts there are in the world, hauntings are pretty rare.

The thing they all have in common though, is to scare the bejeepers out of most anyone who encounters them.

Fear is a very powerful energy; for some disembodied spirits, it can literally feed them.  If you can dial back the fear, you can also dial down the influence – or frequency in appearance – of a ghost.  Whether they’re benign like Casper or scary like Freddie makes no difference; that initial “Holy crap!” reaction is like a shot of 5-Hour Energy to spirits.

When it comes to dealing with ghosts, anything that makes you feel more powerful and less fearful – prayer, holy medallions, lucky talismans, tequila – will help.  Archangel Michael is a great ally to call on when you’re feeling anxious (ghosts or not).  The Catholic Chuch believes he did battle with Lucifer, so he can take on your jittery nerves or garden-variety spook without breaking a sweat.

One of my bedtime rituals is to ask Michael to stand guard around my home as I sleep.  It makes for sweet dreams.

Just for fun, other cultures have some interesting other “ghostbusting” traditions:

-Put salt across the threshold of your door.  This is good for keeping any janky energies in general from entering (like your pain-in-the-ass neighbor).  My friend Joanne says that, in Greece, they put sugar under the doormat for similar reasons.

-In the Far East, priests purified and protected their temples with cinnamon sticks.  Place a bundle by your door or over the windows.

-Wind chimes began as a way to scare off negative energies.  And they sound awesome!

-Wear anything made of silver or obsidian as protection.

-Garlic over an entry way keeps anything troublesome away.

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