The Witches' Book of the Dead (9 page)

The restless and unquiet dead can cause a host of unpleasant phenomena, such as apparitions, cold spots, unexplained sounds, shadowy figures, movement and misplacement of objects, breaking and throwing of objects, mental disturbances, nightmares, and interferences with anything electrical.

The ancients respected and feared the dead, recognized the dangers of working with them, and had ways of heading trouble off at the pass. Some cultures even performed entire festivals to exorcise the dead, such as the Roman Lemuria or the Anthesteria of Greece (see
chapter 13
). If you maintain your boundaries and keep your psychic shields up, you are not likely to have many difficulties. However, exceptions may arise; let's look at ways both supernatural and scientific to send unwanted spirits packing.

Eliminating Natural Causes

Sometimes what you think is a spirit presence is not one at all. When your attention is focused on the unseen, it is tempting to interpret every creaking floorboard and chill breeze as paranormal. If you are experiencing phenomena, first eliminate all possible natural causes. Changes in climate can make a house creak, especially during certain times of the year as ground contracts and swells, and humidity levels change. Poorly fitting doors and windows can cause strange breezes and abrupt closings. Odd smells can sometimes seep into a house from outside sources. What might seem like the fetid stench of malevolent spirits could just be a dead rat in your central heating system.

You also must honestly ask yourself if your own imagination is involved. It's easy to unwittingly fill in blanks when it comes to the supernatural world. We all want to believe. And sometimes it's just plain tempting to dine out on embellished, creepy ghost stories and be the center of attention; but, as I mentioned in
chapter 2
, the occult should not become a crutch for the needy. You impede your own development if you mire yourself in delusion.

Spirit of Place Residue versus Hauntings

Not all supernatural phenomena that you might experience are the products of an active spirit. In fact, most of what we call hauntings are actually the residual energy called “spirit of place.” That is, they are the psychic “vibes,” both good and bad, left behind by the living, much like the photos, videos, and audio recordings of ourselves that we leave behind after we are gone. Witches believe strongly in the spirit of place, and the energy of all those who have been in a place, whether they are dead or still living. Psychic residues cling to places, seeping into the very fabric of the land, homes, and objects in the area. They are neither conscious nor intelligent, and they can often fade away over time, though this might take centuries.

Sometimes, psychic residues lie below our threshold of awareness until we begin our psychic or magical workings, both of which increase our subtle
senses. Trafficking with the dead may increase your sensitivity to spirit of place residues already in existence. However, if your home was free of supernatural activity until you started working with the dead, then you are probably not dealing with residues, but rather with active presences that have entered through the spiritual doorway you opened. Active presences react to you and your thoughts and actions, and can impose themselves on you and your environment when their intentions are impure.

A number of years ago, the
Boston Herald
asked me to perform an exorcism at the site of the infamous Danvers State Mental Hospital, which had at that time recently been converted to apartments. Apparently fires were breaking out in the new construction and some were saying that this was the result of ghosts. Having investigated the location in the past, I did not believe that it was haunted. In fact, I told the reporters that the energies present at the former asylum were in fact the residual energies of the spirit of place. I believe that the ghosts there have largely moved on but that the suffering is still contained in every particle of the building. The cure, I told them, was for the people living there to live the best lives they could and create good energy where it once was bad. For all of you who get “bad vibes” in your home or another place, remember that you have the power to make those energies transform. We are shapeshifters. We bend and turn energies to our advantage.

Spirit Attachments to Objects

Occasionally, spirits can attach themselves to physical objects. No matter how emphatically you tell the spirits to go, they won't budge as long as they have their “house.” This is similar to the residual energy in objects that the practice of psychometry helps us to detect, but in this case, it's actually a spirit. As part of a paranormal investigation hosted by The Biography Channel's
Dead Famous
, Shawn and I encountered a haunted chair in one of the rooms of the old Salem Witch House, the only existing home with ties to the trials of 1692, as it was the home of Witch Trials Judge Jonathan Corwin. Psychic medium
Chris Fleming, cohost of the show, picked up a lot of spirit energy around this chair, and it became clear to all of us that this was just such an attachment.

Spirits can attach to literally anything. Spirits sometimes ride in on objects, especially those that are acquired secondhand. Something you buy for your altar of the dead—including the furniture itself—may have some invisible residents that come in through the back door, so to speak. In particular, spirits may be able to attach to objects on your altar, especially if they have a strong personal connection to an item. It is not necessarily a terrible thing that spirits want to be attached to objects, but if the spirits are harmful or bear ill will, this can cause problems. Such attached objects require cleansings (see below) or, in severe cases, proper disposal.

In some cases, spirit-attached objects can assist us in our magical work. You will sometimes want a bit of a soul's energy in a ring or other spiritually energized object that once belonged to a powerful Witch or someone you loved and respected. Sometimes, objects can become portals of communication to the spirit world. My friend Ken Glover has a puppet named Myrna, formed from clay over three days to look like a skeletal reaper. He made it with a friend who later died of complications from AIDS, and the now-deceased friend's old t-shirt went to make Myrna's clothes. Over the years, Ken has used this puppet to communicate to people when and how they are to die or if serious illnesses are on the way. Myrna's accuracy has been rather astounding. When my late friend Shawn Poirier asked Myrna when he would die, the puppet predicted a near-fatal carbon monoxide leak that, while it didn't kill Shawn, preceded his actual death by only three days. Personally, I don't speak to Myrna. I don't want to know.

Spirit Attachments to People

The most dangerous unwanted spirits are those that attach to people. Once they have invaded your energy field, they can psychically infect your entire being, wreaking havoc on your thoughts, mood, behavior, and even health. The level of intrusion can range from mischievous tricks as it follows you around;
to oppression, in which your thoughts and mental stability are constantly affected; to full-blown physical possession. We usually associate possession with nonhuman spirits, but the dead can take possession as well. You are unlikely to find your head spinning or spitting up pea soup like Linda Blair in
The Exorcist
, but you can become “not you.” If you have reason to think that a spirit has latched on to you or anyone you know, take immediate action (see below).

Simple Solutions for Ridding Yourself of Unwanted Spirits

The following simple remedies are all effective ways of taking control of the situation, but not necessarily against all spirits, or in all cases. You may have to try more than one before you succeed, and if the simple solutions don't work, a full-blown exorcism may be necessary.

Assert Yourself

Turn up the attitude. This may sound simple, but asking or telling an unwanted spirit to leave works in most cases. Be polite yet firm, and let invasive spirits know that you are the master of your space. The physical world belongs to the living, and you have the upper hand.

Put 'Em to Work!

When I have unwanted spirits around, I give them tasks to do. While you should always prefer to work with spirits you have an amicable relationship with, if you've got annoying ghosts around, find something for them to do. Go to your altar of the dead, give these meddlesome spirits some offerings, and build a relationship with them so that they, too, can exercise your will.

Cleanse and Purify Your Space

Changing the psychic vibration in a space can make it difficult for unwanted spirits to remain. There are a number of simple rituals you can do to cleanse and purify a space.

Ritual: Cleansing

The following are rituals you can use to purify your space of un-wanted spirits.

• Take a lighted white candle and go from room to room, walking the perimeter of each. Then crisscross each room from corner to corner, forming the equilateral cross in the form of an “X.” Command all unwanted presences to immediately depart. Seal each room by visualizing white light around it in a visionary state. Give a blessing of protection, asking that only the invited may enter:
  Spirits of an impure heart, I now command you to depart!
  
• Place a bowl of water near your front door with four camphor cubes in the bowl. Change the water daily and the cubes as needed. Clean-smelling and repugnant to harmful energies, camphor cubes can be found at most botanicas.
  
• Using red thread, hang iron scissors or a cross of iron coffin nails near every entrance to your home.
  
• Place crystals in rooms. Hematite and obsidian are considered protective stones, so those are fantastic to use. Avoid black onyx entirely, as it absorbs and amplifies malefic energies. Clear quartz helps to keep spiritual energies clean.
  

• • •

Cleanse Objects

In a visionary state, sense the energy of objects that may be causing trouble—including furniture and the tools of your altar—and cleanse them, if necessary, with a mixture of spring water and kosher salt (adding a small amount of extra-virgin olive oil if it's wood). You can leave an item buried in kosher salt during a waning moon. After this, place the item outside in the sunlight to energize it anew. Objects that are truly “cursed,” or that are at least beyond your ability to manage, may require more serious help, or even disposal of the object. Before disposing, bury in kosher salt for three days during a waning moon and then bury it at a desolate place where it can do no more harm.

Keep Yourself Clean!

Far too many people these days don't shower as much as they should. Remember, your body is a temple, not a garbage scow. For the sake of everyone around you, including the spirits, bathe regularly! And, for the record, patchouli does not equal soap. To add a magical element to your daily rites of hygiene, take a palm full of kosher salt and add it to your bath. Or, sprinkle it in the bottom of the shower and swish your feet in it. It's also a good idea to bathe at night before you go to bed. This can help rid yourself of any psychic ooze that has affixed itself to you during the day.

Invoke Spiritual Help

Ask the gods, angels, spiritual teachers, or those spirits you have good relationships with to intercede on your behalf. Your faith can be a powerful way to rid yourself of bad spirits.

Ritual: The Roman Ritual of the Beans

This spell was done on the final night of the seven-day festival of Lemuria, on May 15th, by the head of the household so that he might exorcise unwanted spirits. We invite you to try this ritual when the unquiet dead are simply not leaving you or your family alone.

In the middle of the night, wash your hands three times and place three black beans—an important food of the dead—in your mouth. Walk barefoot through your house, tossing more black beans over your shoulder and calling out:
With these beans I do redeem me and mine
.