If a client inquires about spirits at home, often it is because a child or a pet has been disturbed by something strange they have felt or seen. Not all of these apparitions are ghosts or spirits, however. Sometimes what is being sensed is simply a loose thoughtform, or old energy left from something that occurred in the space.
This client's inquiry is an excellent example of how a space is affected when something really bad happens.
"My daughter had been saying she didn’t want to go to school. She had been there a few months, but she had been saying she didn’t want to go, and even got to the point of laying in the floor in the morning.
I remember telling the assistant principle my child was hypersensitive, and lately she had been saying she didn’t want to use the bathroom. She didn’t like using the bathroom at the school. I told the assistant principle that people always look at me crazy when I tell them my child is intuitive.
Well, of course, the worst goes through a parents mind. I asked my daughter if any men/big boys were at her school - she said no. But, my daughter had recently moved to a new room. The daycare had lots of little houses in a row, and she was in a new house now.
The daycare is right in back of the Catholic School. I started searching for articles on abuse in schools in my area. What I found shocked me. I wasn’t searching for my daughter’s school, but guess what??
An article popped up after a google search about my daughter’s school.
Ten years ago, the church was sued for one million dollars, because children were abused in the daycare.
The school has a new director now, and there are no men that work there, but I truly believe that my daughter was feeling some bad feelings from a shady past." Tina
Dear Tina: You are very correct, places can and do hold residual energy. Places that have held great tragedy will hold the memory or energy from the past. Sometimes this is also confused with a haunting as well because some do see the energy of the people that went through this time. (Like the Gettysburg ghosts) The feeling or sense of this trauma needs to be cleansed for the energy to be removed. If you can explain this to her and even have her explain to you what she feels and sees in this area, you may be able to help her to relax.
Added Note: you might find it useful to do a little ritual with your daughter one day, ask to go with her before school to the places that bother her. Put some flowers there and say some simple prayers with her. If you are a church-going person, take her to light some candles and pray for the people who were hurt in that space. This will help your daughter to see that she can do something positive with her anxiety and inner knowings. And that she can conquer her fear through understanding. Congratulations to you for being determined to get to the bottom of her fear!
Tina’s story reminds me of the first time I was really shown how our environment interacts with us. I was working with a large group involved in channeling. One of the ladies had been away visiting family in Texas and this was her first night back. I had connected with my guide Isaiah, was deep in a meditative state when she placed a small bundle of sticks in my arms with this question. (BTW, this was in the late 80’s, when I lived in Lexington, Mass.)
“If it is true that we are all One, even with nature, and that our environments hold memories, as we do, then these twigs hold a memory of something terrible that happened years ago and you should be able to tell me what it was.”
I had an immediate sensation, recall feeling very anxious at that moment and asking my friend if she would wait to the end of the session for her answer. (The truth was that I didn’t believe what I had seen could be true, because I didn’t think my friend had gone to Dallas.)
The time finally came when I had to address her question. The bundle of twigs was placed back in my arms, and I again immediately had an image of Caroline Kennedy as a small child holding hands with her father who was clearly in spirit at this point (she was in colour, he appeared as a dark shadow..). They appeared to be walking on a grassy knoll… but instead of speaking of the image, I heard myself speak in a very deep voice:
“The memory of these twigs is as of grandchild being told the story of some terrible event that her grandfather had witnessed as a young man.”
At that point, I was so stunned I broke the channel. My eyes flew open as I blurted out in my own voice “these twigs are from the grassy knoll near where JFK was shot.” And then I was even more shocked to see 30 faces with their mouths on the floor. No one really expected that I could tune in to know where the twigs came from, or even more interesting, that dead twigs could tell me where they came from.. they were not so dead, afterall.
From that day on, I became very aware and sensitive to the energy in spaces. For example, I won’t let anyone in my kitchen if they are angry, and I won’t cook until I have worked off any anger in me.
Native American traditions recognize the power, both negative and positive, that can be left in spaces which is why they designate some spaces as Sacred. They will often smudge a sacred space, or smudge a circle to create a sacred space.
Smudging (making smoke with sacred herbs like sweet grass and sage) is a powerful way of clearing a space after there has been some trauma.
Prayer is another wonderful way to lighten a space… bringing flowers, laughter and joy into the space helps to lift the energy and keep it clear. I have been happy to see so many respond to accident sites by bringing flowers and gifts to the place where it happened… this ritual not only honours those who have passed in that place and helps them to deal with the trauma on the other side, but it also helps the environment itself to heal. It reminds all who pass to be respectful of that space… and thus enables the space to recover its balance.
We naturally gravitate to good spaces, spaces that have contained joy and love. My garden is one of those magical places that draws you in and makes you want to laugh and feast your senses. We can easily create these spaces in our lives, environments that feed and nurture us. It just takes a little time and energy - and respect for the energy in your spaces… even at work, adding a flower or plant, a picture of someone or some place you love can serve to lighten the energy around you and make you more productive.
If you are interested in learning more about the energy of spaces, look up Feng Shui and Sacred Geometry on the web. Noticing and actively seeking to raise the vibration of the environment around you can make an enormous difference in your life… think about creating your own ’sacred spaces’ as a way of attracting health, wealth and wisdom to you.