Friday October 31, 2008, 3:03 pm
I had a malevolent spirit - you could feel the harmful energy - in my bedroom at my parent's house for awhile when I was in high school. It would turn the doorknob, cause my reading light to go out, and generally raise the hair on the back of my neck when it was present, even it did nothing else.

Friday October 31, 2008, 3:09 pm
Oh my good goddess....the link is WRONG - I copied the link from the NY Times and instead it leads to a Jacquie Lawson Halloween Care! I think SOMEBODY was playing a prank...here, ghostie ghostie ghostie...here's the REAL deal: De-Ghosting Your House Hmmmm...

Friday October 31, 2008, 3:15 pm
De-Ghosting Your House....peeking out from between my fingers to see what's garbling up this entire post.....

Friday October 31, 2008, 3:19 pm
It's a fun card, Cate, thank you!

Friday October 31, 2008, 3:24 pm
I've always used SAGE to "smudge" myself/my home to get rid of negative "energy" It's a very old NATIVE AMERICAN practise.

The article from the NYTimes, says:

Megan Hoolihan, 28, manager of Marie Laveau’s House of Voodoo, has studied the occult for 18 years and seems to take her calling seriously. She says many people in the South believe sage has cleansing properties.

“I recommend making a mixture of powdered sage, holy water and cedar oil, some water from a church or that has been blessed by someone.”

What if you’re an atheist?

There may be something to this occult stuff, because suddenly the reporter feels a deep chill.

“Cedar oil has cleansing properties,” Ms. Hoolihan continued, ignoring the question. “You can also use lavender oil or violet oil. The smells are soothing; it’s a comfort.”

A bunch of sage costs about $9 at Marie Laveau’s. Couldn’t you use the stuff from the supermarket instead?

“You can use it; I don’t recommend it. It’s the same family, but not the same plant. The sage we carry is white sage or gray sage, and is grown organically.”

Friday October 31, 2008, 3:34 pm
I love this Cate! This is darling and I love the article!!! Noted with terror!!!!!

Friday October 31, 2008, 3:37 pm
noted thank you

Friday October 31, 2008, 3:39 pm
i use sage ,too ever house i lived in here had a person pass away the one place she was buried in graveyarg bhind my house .well i she her ghost in house often no harm ever done she just hadn't moved on. ok back too bed so tired today

Friday October 31, 2008, 3:43 pm
Ghosts don't scare me. Politics does...

Friday October 31, 2008, 3:44 pm
Of course I do have my sage circle...

Friday October 31, 2008, 3:47 pm
I will share a true Haunted House ghost story:

It was 40 years ago now, but back then my family moved into a brand new home just built, and should have had no ghosts whatsoever.

But it indeed did, and as soon as we moved in there were odd occurences throughout the house; especially in the upstairs in and close to the attic!

Footsteps, lights turning on and off, chairs moving, items moving, sounds, but only a very few visual incidence.

For two and a half years in that house, we thought it was my dead grandfather, because my grandmother was living with us.

It was not until we moved out, that the Century 21 realtor admitted that there had been an untimely death by accident in that house, and before we had moved in!

An electrician was hurrying on a Friday night, and he decided to stay alone to finish the job, but while wiring the upstairs attic he fell through to the garage floor below, landing in the locked garage, breaking both legs.

He bled to death knowing his family was expecting him home soon, but he never came.

He was reported missing, and not discovered until that Monday mourning -- deceased!

We will never know, whether he was the ghost, or whether the electrician had been startled off-balance from something he witnessed while wiring the attic???

This is a true story!!!


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Friday October 31, 2008, 4:30 pm
LOVE IT!!

Friday October 31, 2008, 4:39 pm
This is so ghostly and delightful. Great Halloween story. Thanks Cate.

Friday October 31, 2008, 4:56 pm
its so nice to be brought into the spirit of things Thanks Cate x

Friday October 31, 2008, 5:40 pm
noted, good story, Cate. Happy Trick/Treating everyone!

Friday October 31, 2008, 5:46 pm
A question ... before you inhabit any dwelling ... do you "smudge" it?

Just wondering ...

Friday October 31, 2008, 5:57 pm
Not many people know this...more will now I suppose but many years ago in the seventies when I was in training to be a Church of England Priest I was also trained as an exorcist...which was training outside the church's normal training course, led by the then Bishop of Coventry...

Anyhow I cannot go into a lot of detail here but the training I received then taught me several things about the whole subject of the Spirit World and gave me great respect for those that try to 'cleanse' people or places. I also learnt that there are such things as portals between the worlds through which we can travel or the inhabitants can travel into our time continuum.

I also learnt that meddling with the Spirit World even in fun is dangerous and the cause of much anxiety, mental harm and illness within the world. Since leaving the church I have not been a practising exorcist nor would I recomend it to anyone unless they have a strong sence of spiritual power from the sourse of the Divine Being they worship.

While we all can have a bit of silly fun with the kids on 31st October I always am glad to see 1st November which I celebrate as All Saint's Day. I prefer to call today 'All Hallow's Eve' which is an old fashioned title.

I say this not to spoil anyone's fun but as a cautionary tale not to get too sucked into the world of the Occult which is a bad place to be without proper guidance. Be safe out there tonight...and may the Divine watch over you.

Friday October 31, 2008, 6:41 pm
Ombretta, you little devil! Thanks for the card and the ghost story.

Ditto on the sage. I had an American Eskimo that at times would stand in the archway and growl into the dinning room. She'd be looking at a spot about 4 to 5 foot in the air in the center of the walkway. She would not for anything walk into that room at these times. Sometimes it sounded like someone walking from the kitchen to the front room through the dinning room. I didn't mind it, and occasionally, my grandmother (deceased) would stop by. She would sit on the corner of the foot of the bed, or walk up and put her hands on the back of my desk chair, like she was looking over my shoulder. I'd talk to her and them. Grandma still stops by occasionally, but the rest are gone since the smudging.

Friday October 31, 2008, 9:49 pm
Very nice ghost story. I become delighted.

Saturday November 1, 2008, 1:39 am
I HAVE FELT THERE IS A NICE BUT SOMETIMES GROUCHY PERSONS SPIRIT IN MY HOUSE IT WAS BUILT BEFORE THE WAR LIKE IN 30'S AND IS ACTUALLY 2 HUGE OLD HOUSES PUT INTO ONE. EARLY IN AM LIKE NOW ITS 3 30 AM I CAN FELL ALMOST TALK TO THIS MAN I THINK HE OWNED THIS HOUSE AND WENTTO WW2 AND WAS KILLED.I FIND THINGS MOVED AND REARRANGED ECT IN THE HOUSE . LOTS OF NIGHTS I HEAR SOMEONE IN THE HALL WHICH USED TO BE THE BOTTOMOF THE TOP FLOOR OF THE 2 OLD HOUSES WE COMPLETELY REMODELED THE HOME IN 87 AND YOU WOULD NOT BELEIVE THE THINGS WE FOUND I FOUND AN OLD TIN BOX WITH INSURANCE POLICIES IN IT OLD COINS FROM 1700'S AND EARLY 1800'S AND OTHER PERSONNAL EFFECTS IN AN EVE OF THE ATTIC WHEN THEY BLEW THE INSULATION IN SPOOOOKY CHRIS

Saturday November 1, 2008, 7:51 am
Thank you for sharing this!!! It's very much appreciated indeed.

Saturday November 1, 2008, 8:19 am
Great story Thanx!

Saturday November 1, 2008, 9:47 am
Ombretta, you are a trip...loved the detailed card and thought it was your Halloween prank on us...then enjoyed the real ghost story. My house was built in the 50's, and as far as I know noone ever died here, but I have things happen here, places I work, and places I go just the same. Back in 1991 I almost died from a renal infection, temperature went up to 106 in ER, and I think somehow that high fever changed my brain chemistry to make it easier to receive spirits. It's almost like I'm a different person; not sure quite how to describe it. I've never felt the need to cleanse them, but I've never felt any evil. Do agree with David, especially Ouijie Boards; do not invite unknown into your dwelling and do not think it's a game. Thanks, Ombretta.

Saturday November 1, 2008, 10:51 am

I lived with my grandparents for much of my childhood.
Their house had been a mortuary before it was purchased
by my family. Before it was a mortuary, it had been the
town's first hospital. As a child, I spent many hours with
my cousin imagining any number of ghosts about the
place. As I got older, I began to feel it as a warm and
comforting home. In time my grandmother passed
away in the home and then after becoming my father's
home for many years, he too died in the house. I realized
that while I am not sure that it is "haunted", I do feel that
it carries remnants of their energy and possibly that of a
number of other family members that did not die there
but for whom it had been home.

It was sold some years ago after having been home to some
five different generations of my family, and interestingly, all
who have since lived in it, did not stay long.

The only time I have felt that there was a sure presence
in any home I was in, was the year following the death
of my little brother. I had been his guardian when he
was young and again the last couple of years of his life
so that it wasn't odd to me that he would come back to
our home for "visits". He would turn lights off an on and
we got to a point where we could say O.K., enough, we know
you're here. Leave the lights alone, and he would stop. One
night he had turned on and off the lamps in the living room and
I was tired and said , O.K., have at it. He flashed those lights
like a strobe for about 15 or 20 minutes. My kids were in awe.
(For those that may think we had electrical problems, no! We
had the house rewired a couple of years earlier and the electrician
came up and spent some time checking and came up with nothing.
(Of course there were no light shows while he was there!)

Thank you Cate.

Saturday November 1, 2008, 10:52 am
Love it!

Saturday November 1, 2008, 2:33 pm
Great tales, Louise and Marian.

I have a few more of my own, and one of the scariest is when my high school friend Marion and I were visiting at her folks' house on a college break. Marion's twin Valerie was out waitressing that night and her parents had gone out.

We, in the ignorance of youth, dragged out a ouija board and sitting at the coffee table in front of the fireplace, lit a candle. Soon enough the planchet was flying around the ouija board, answering our questions. We began to think it was all nonsense so I asked, "If you are really here with us, make the candle flame grow."

Slowly but surely, we noticed that the flame on the candle was rising, and rising, and rising...we sat there totally paralyzed in fear until that flame reached about 8" tall, at which point we both jumped up, Marion blew out the candle and we raced out into the rainy, foggy night and ran all the way down to the restaurant where Val was working. We had a couple of ice cream sundaes and didn't go back to the house 'til the parents were home. I then had to drive back home alone - just a few miles on well-lit roads, but I was scared out of my skin.

Saturday November 1, 2008, 3:52 pm
Spirits are with us all the time !They are not boogie men and woman ! Just because you might not see them doesn't mean they don't exist !
Native people know they exist and we accept them like a neighbor,,by that I mean its nothing strange to us and noting to be feared if you give them the respect they deserve .They by no means need exorcizing either !
Sometimes I can see my ancestors just outside my periphial vision after I have lit my sage and played my flute in an offering to my ancestors in the cerimonial circle .

Saturday November 1, 2008, 3:58 pm
Marian's story about electricity reminded me of a funny occurance! I had a contracting crew in my house, wiring in a fixture where my garage had previously been. I warned the foreman to be careful because my dad had been a trickster in life and liked to fool around. Returning from work, I noticed they were a man short, and the foreman explained one man had gone home for the day after being shocked...AFTER they had turned off the MAIN breaker!!!! I fussed at dad after they left...and laughed.

Saturday November 1, 2008, 3:59 pm
I think its kind of funny the way people fear things they don't understand ,lol.
Blue sweet grass and cedar are also used in ceremonies ,sage is used a lot ,I use it in my home but not to rid it from spirits ,that is silly ,,I give them their due respect and space and they give me mine its that simple and they enjoy the scent of sage too ;)

Saturday November 1, 2008, 4:58 pm
THERE IS AN OLD TB HOSPITAL WHERE I LIVE, IT IS NOTED AS BEING ONE OF THE MOST HAUNTED PLACES IN THE WORLD. THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE DIED THERE AND IT WAS SO DEPRESSING TO THE DOCTORS AND NURSES THERE THAT THEY KILLED THEMSELVES THERE. THEY HAD A BODY SHOOT THAT THEY PUT THE BODIES IN THAT TOOK THEM FROM THE HOSPITAL DOWN TO A TRAIN THAT CARRIED THEM OFF. IT IS SPOOKY EVEN IN THE DAY TIME. ONE YEAR THEY DECIDED TO MAKE A HAUNTED HOUSE OUT OF IT, THEY DIDN'T NEED TO MAKE IT UP THEY TOOK US ON A TOUR OF IT AND SHOWED US WHERE THE PATIENTS WERE KEPT AND THE NURSES AND DOCTORS KILLED THEMSELVES. YOU COULD ACTUALLY SEE THE SPIRITS IN THERE, YOU COULD FEEL THEIR PRESENCE IT WAS SO SCARY AND THEN THEY TOOK US DOWN THE BODY SHOOT. PEOPLE WERE DIEING SO QUICK THEY COULDN'T DO ANY THING ELSE THEY HAD TO GET RID OF THE BODIES THAT WAY. TO WALK THROUGH THERE AND KNOW THESE PEOPLE WERE THERE YOU COULD ALMOST HEAR THEM SCREAM AND SEE THEM LIEING IN THERE BEDS. IT HAS BEEN ON TV BEFORE AS BEING ONE OF THE MOST HAUNTED PLACES AROUND AND AFTER GOING THROUGH THERE I BELIEVE. THE NAME OF THE PLACE IS WAVERLY HILLS, AND SOMEONE HAS BOUGHT IT AND THE LAST I HEARD THEY ARE GOING TO MAKE A HOTEL OUT OF IT. IT WILL BE ONE THAT NO DOUBT YOU WILL ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Saturday November 1, 2008, 8:52 pm
What a fun story for Hollows. We use sage and cedar for cleansing and purifying. We get together in an afternoon and make smudge sticks. the use of sweet grass, lavender, mug wort and many other things create fine smudge sticks. This has very little to do with Cate's ghost story. Thanks again Cate.

Sunday November 2, 2008, 1:29 am
lol

Sunday November 2, 2008, 7:24 am
I'm thinking it dosen't matter what you believe in, it matters what the ghost believes in. So if you're an atheist, try holy water anyway, because the ghost may believe in it.

Monday November 3, 2008, 10:02 am
Noted! Thanks!
I not only have seen "ghost" in many places I've lived but my animals that have pasted still visit me .. often!
There were many ghost in an old army baracks that was turn into an apartment house. And at my farmhouse where the former owner/builder had passed away in the livingroom just after completing the house.

Robin M I just saw a show where people went to Waverly Hills and saw were a ball was moving around them. They believed it was a child playing.

Wednesday March 4, 2009, 7:34 pm
I've traveled in different places. 2 times I was tired and prayed for safety and awareness. One time I was going from London (Eng.) to Wales in a bus very early in the morning. I was sleepy and prayed to not miss any interesting things while going down the road. Then, in my mind, came a male voice saying he was a former coach driver who traveled that way many time in olden days and would tell me about the things coming up. He did. He would wake me and say things like. "On the right is a castle in ruins", then tell it's history. Next thing I knew the bus driver said the same thing. When we approached the border with Wales, the voice said to get ready to exit the bus for a stop for photos, snacks. etc. Soon, the bus driver said the same thing. I thanked the spirit for it's help. It said it liked to accompany people who were receptive and wanted to learn about his part of the country. He was not going on into Wales, he would go back to London.
The other time I prayed for the driver and I to know which was the best way to go at night from Salt Lake City to Nevada. A lower route to Carson City or a Northern route. A voice in my mind said to use the lower route, but stop in a certain town. There would be a motel on the right, with a vacancy, and a hotel on the left with a good coffee shop. As we went the voice said he was a stage coach driver in the silver boom days. He said to slow down at a certain curve in the road, there was an old tavern where he used to stop. Soon, there it was. Later he said we would go by a cemetery where he was buried. There were 2 parts, on each side of the road, the lower part on the right. He liked to sit up on the upper part and watch vehicles go by. He said the road was clear, and he would not go along any further. I thanked him for his help. He said he liked to ride along with receptive people. I would tell the driver as the spirit would talk to me, but the driver was not receptive. We did find the motel as the spirit said. The driver went across the street to the hotel next morning got breakfast and brought some back to me. As we continued on our journey west, we discovered why we had been told not to continue at night. The twisty, winding road was being repaired, it was dangerous even in the daylight!
I believe in the power of prayer to cleanse houses. I have some stories about that subject too. But now I wanted to say that there are good spirits who are there to help, if we ask. We don't need to fear the dead, some have things to say they learned in passing. My dad's spirit told me things he couldn't say when alive. I forgave him for past hurts. I'm glad he was able to still grow in spirit and communicate.