By:Michelle McKay (founder of ColdSpot.org)
Originally written: Dec 18, 2014
Some of you may already know I began investigating the paranormal when I was a young girl. In fact, I was just ten years old.
Most assume it was my great-uncle, pioneer UFO investigator Henry McKay, who encouraged me to get into investigating. At the time, I knew he was interested in UFOs but I wasn’t aware he was an investigator, let alone the very first director of MUFON Canada. Mind you, back when I was 10, I didn’t even know what MUFON was.
My family was a little ‘different’ (read this). But, believe it or not, my family background wasn’t what influenced me to become a paranormal investigator — not directly anyway.
Which brings me to this: I get asked all the time how I got into ghost investigating. Here is my story…
The house I lived in at the time in Toronto was active. Doors would open and close on their own, footsteps were heard walking up and down the stairs when nobody was there, voices heard throughout the house, etc…
My grandmother and mother also witnessed the strange occurrences.
Grandma, a staunch Catholic, had the priest over many times to conduct exorcisms and blessings on the house. [Later, when I was 22, the Catholic Church put me through an exorcism which I will write about in my next blog post.]
I will never forget watching the priest as he stood in our living room while thinking to myself how ‘weird’ it was to see him inside our house instead of the church.
After a brief conversation with my mom and grandma, he headed up the stairs, the rest of us following close behind. Into my room he went, flinging holy water from his fingertips at every turn. He went through every room in the house administering the same treatment.
Every so often I would come home to find a priest in the house, repeating the process with my grandmother in tow. But nobody ever had any sufficient answers that appealed to me, so off to the library I went, to study ghosts.
Back then, all the books on the paranormal were kept in the library’s basement — hidden away in a far corner, unlike today.
I remember coming across scary entries in encyclopedias about demons, so I quickly passed over ‘those’ pages.
One of the books mentioned the term EVP, but it didn’t really explain it so I searched the rest of the books looking for more information. The idea of recording voices of the dead sounded brilliant — and handy.
I kept searching until I found detailed instructions on how to record EVP. I took notes and tried to remember all I could because my library card had maxed out and I couldn’t take the book home with me that day.
The second I got back home I begged my grandmother to let me borrow her cassette tape recorder and she finally gave in.
I kept the tape recorder in my room, waiting until I had the chance to be home alone before using it because I didn’t want her to know what I was up to or she would call another priest in again.
My mother and grandmother finally left the house. Now was my chance. I went down into the basement and before I knew it I was EVP-ing…
I pressed record on the tape recorder and said something to the effect of, “Can you hear me?”
Then, just like my notes from the book said to do, I waited a few moments, stopped the recording and quickly pressed rewind. Oh god, what if they said something back?
It took me a bit, but I finally worked up the nerve to press play.
To my shock and delightment, I heard voices talking on the playback. It worked!
I would be hooked forever.
For the life of me, I can’t remember what the voices said. And I can’t tell you how much I wish I had kept those recordings.
After that, I continued with the EVP sessions every few days or so and kept getting a woman and man answering my questions on playback. Sometimes they would even talk to each other, which I found amusing.
To me, at just ten years old, it was normal to get ghosts on your tape recorder. After all, the book said you could get them on your tapes so every house must have them.
About a month later I eventually got BORED of all the talking ghosts, imagine that. So I just started singing on the tapes instead and gave up recording EVPs in my basement! And besides, I had gotten a new microphone and one day I was going to be a great singer… Uggg!!!!
But, I did end up spending almost every day that first summer in the library reading everything and anything about the paranormal (hello automatic writing and Ouija board).
The study of ghosts gradually became more important to me than riding my banana-seat bike. Eventually, I even worked up my nerve to read those scary encyclopedia sections I previously skipped over.
My friends were mad at me for not bike riding with them, all I wanted to do was “play with those ghosts” they would say. They didn’t understand, I had discovered an entirely new world.
That’s me in the middle wearing the silly hat, hanging with my gang. Sorry, no bike riding today.
However, a few weeks later one of them called me on the phone saying she had a friend who needed me to come over right away because they thought a ghost might be in their house. I was finally being taken seriously by all the other kids. So off I went, with my cassette tape recorder and newly-found ghost ‘expertise’.
After that, another friend-of-a-friend wanted me to check their house. And so on and so on.
And to this day, I still get people asking me to come to their house to check for ghosts, it just never stopped. Word gets out quickly…
Michelle McKay is a Canadian paranormal investigator of 30+ years. Former TV host: Destination America, Discovery, A&E. Founder of ColdSpot.org. Her great-uncle, Henry McKay, was a pioneer UFO investigator and the first director of MUFON Canada.
True Canadian Ghost Stories & Michelle McKay’s Blog posts sent to your email: click here
By: Michelle McKay | UPDATED April 28, 2019 (originally published Oct 4, 2014)
I also did a timeline of ghost hunting in the 1800s located here. The Spiritualist Movement, which was a paranormal craze similar to what we are seeing today, is generally agreed to have begun in the 1840s and began winding down in the 1920s.
Ghost Hunting Timeline of the 1900s
1901
Queen Victoria dies on January 22, 1901, hence the Victorian era starts to wind down (the Victorian era is generally agreed to have begun in 1837) and the Edwardian era begins.
Some say O’Donnell was the first ghost hunter, but this certainly is not true (see my article on ghost hunting in the 1800s). Furthermore, some attribute O’Donnell as the one who coined the term “ghost hunter” citing his 1916 book titled “Twenty Years Experience as a Ghost Hunter” as the evidence. However, this too is incorrect. After much research, I have traced the term ‘ghost hunter’ back to 1809 where it is mentioned in a fictional romance book titled Osrick: Or, Modern Horrors by Richard Sickelmore on page 75 (see my article on ghost hunting in the 1800s). Some of O’Donnell’s books can be read online here.
1912
On April 15, 1912 the Titanic collided with an iceberg. It’s demise was predicted, albeit unknowingly (see 1891 and 1898).
1914
The Edwardian era ends. The First World War (aka. the Great War) begins on July 28, 1914.
1918
On Nov 11, 1918, the First World War ends. The “Interwar” period begins.
1920
The Spiritualist Movement begins to wind down. Harry Price becomes a member of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR). Harry Price is 39 years old this year.
In the early 1920s, magician Harry Houdini began exposing fake psychics.
The infamous Mitchel-Hedges “Crystal Skull” was discovered in the 1920s in Belize.
1922
Harry Price officially begins his paranormal investigations. Harry Price debunks the spirit photographer William Hope. Harry Price’s publication titled Revelations of a Spirit Medium was released this year. Harry Price becomes a member of the Magic Circle.
1925
Harry Price is appointed Foreign Research Officer of the American Society for Psychical Research.
1926
Harry Price founded The National Laboratory of Psychical Research.
1927
Harry investigated the Joanna Southcott box “in a blaze of publicity”. Harry Price joins the Ghost Club, and remains there until it temporarily shuts down in 1936.
1929
Harry Price visits the Borley Rectory for the first time.
1931
Harry Price becomes Vice-President of the Magician’s Club. Harry Price begins investigating Helen Duncan (psychic medium, declared guilty by British Witchcraft Act). The American Society for Psychical Research ends Harry Price’s appointment of Foreign Research Officer.
1932
Harry Price conducted the Brocken Experiment in the Harz Mountains, this is the case that made him internationally renowned. Harry Price is 51 years old this year.
1934 The University of London Council for Psychical Investigation replaced The National Laboratory of Psychical Research.
1935
Harry Price investigated the infamous “Talking Mongoose” (a type of weasel) on the Isle of Man (U.K) with Richard S. Lambert (a biographer and broadcaster) this year. Also this year Harry Price produces a talking film called Psychical Research for Movietone News Theatre.
1936
Harry Price had two books published this year, one titled “Confessions of a Ghost Hunter”, and the other was titled “The Haunting of Cashen’s Gap”. On March 10, 1936, Harry Price broadcasted live on BBC Radio from a reportedly haunted manor house near Meopham, Kent. The program was the first broadcast ever to be made from a haunted house. The purpose of the broadcast was “to give listeners a perfect picture of the technique employed in investigating an alleged haunted house”, wrote Harry Price in his book titled “Fifty Years of Psychical Research”. In 1936, Harry Price’s library was transferred to the University of London, followed shortly by his laboratory and investigative equipment.
1937
Harry Price rented the infamous Borley Rectory for one year to conduct investigations. This was also the year that Harry Price says he saw the spirit of a child named Rosalie during a séance at a house in London, England.
1938
The Orson Welles “War of the Worlds” radio broadcast aired October 30, 1938. This is also the year that Harry Price re-established the Ghost Club, making himself Chairman. And Harry also drafted a Bill for the regulation of psychic practitioners this year.
1939
The “Interwar” period ends. The Second World War begins on September 1, 1939. On Feb 27, 1939 the Borley Rectory is destroyed by fire. Also this year Harry Price produced a Draft Bill for the regulation of psychic practitioners. Harry is 58 years old this year.
1943
Harry Price excavates the ruins of the Borley Rectory cellars and discovers human remains, which he takes to Coopers Studio in London, England to be photographed.
1944
Harry Price testified and gave evidence at the Helen Duncan (psychic medium) trial. During this trial, Helen was the last person to be convicted under the British Witchcraft Act 1735. She was found guilty and served nine months in prison. The ruins of Borley Rectory is demolished.
Canadian ghost-hunter, Dr. Thomas L. Garrett, was written about in the March 5, 1944 issue of “The Milwaukee Sentinel” newspaper in regards to his investigations into a poltergeist in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
1945
The Second World War ends on May 8, 1945.
1947 Kenneth Arnold sees “flying saucers” on June 24, 1947 near Mount Rainier, Washington.
1948 Harry Priced died on March 29, 1948, at the age of 67 years old.
1963
Parapsychologist, Hans Holzer, publishes his first book Ghost Hunter, he ends up writing more than 140 books on the paranormal throughout his career. He also appeared on numerous television programs, radio shows, newspaper articles, and magazines. He also starred in a TV series titled “Ghost Hunter” which aired on Channel 2 in Boston (not related to the hit series “Ghost Hunters” which aired many years later).
1965
Elliott O’Donnell died on May 8, 1965 (see the year “1908” located above for more about him).
1977
Hans Holzer investigates the infamous Amityville house at 112 Ocean Avenue with spiritual medium, Ethel Johnson Meyers, in January 1977.
Michelle McKay is a Canadian paranormal investigator of 30+ years. Former TV host: Destination America, Discovery, A&E. Founder of ColdSpot.org. Her great-uncle, Henry McKay, was a pioneer UFO investigator and the first director of MUFON Canada.
H. Addington Bruce – Early Psychical Researcher
By: Michelle McKay (founder of ColdSpot.org)
September 10, 2014.
I recently wrote an article titled “Harry Price – Was Harry Price The First Ghost Hunter?”. In that article, I posed the question: “did the term ‘ghost hunter’ appear anywhere before the publication of Harry’s book in 1936?“.
I was then informed by John E.L. Tenney that a fellow by the name of ‘H. Addington Bruce’ was using the term “ghost hunters” in the early 1900’s. So, I then went ahead and did a wee bit of research on H. Addington Bruce. This is what I discovered…
Henry Addington Bayley Bruce wrote a book titled “Historic Ghosts and Ghost Hunters“, which was published in 1908. This was twenty-eight years before Harry Price published his book “Confessions of a Ghost Hunter”. Therefore, Harry Price was definitely not the first person to use the term “ghost hunter”, neither was he the first ghost hunter. [As a side note, Tim Prasil later informed me that he did some digging and came across a fictional book titled, “The Ghost-Hunter and His Family”, published in 1833.]
Henry Addington Bruce was born 1874, and died 1959. He was an American journalist, author and psychologist. Although he lived in the USA, he was born in Toronto, Canada. He wrote books about American history, psychology and parapsychology.
According to the Department of Psychology at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania, he is also credited with contributing to the history of psychology. Whereas it is said he “foreshadowed psychology’s shift in the 1920s towards a greater emphasis on the environment and interest in the unconscious”.
Bruce said on page 216 of “Historic Ghosts and Ghost Hunters” that psychical research is “an effort to determine by strictly scientific methods the nature and significance of apparitions, hauntings, spiritistic phenomena, and those other weird occurrences that would seem to confirm the idea that the spirits of the dead can and do communicate with the living”.
Harry Price – Was Harry Price the First Ghost Hunter?
By: Michelle McKay (founder of ColdSpot.org)
September 5, 2014.
Update: something peculiar happened to me after I released this article click here.
Harry Price was a psychical researcher from the 1920s-1940s. He hails the title for the first ‘celebrity’ ghost hunter, some say Elliott O’Donnell holds that title but I disagree (see here).
Some go so far as to say that Price was the very first ghost hunter. This is not true.
The Ghost Club was the oldest ghost research organization in the world and was formed in 1862 — almost twenty years before Price was even born!
Furthermore, Price wasn’t even the first person to use the term ‘ghost hunter’.
As far as I’ve researched, psychical researcher, H. Addington Bruce, was the first to use the term ‘ghost hunter’ in 1908. However, Tim Prasil did some digging and contacted me regarding a fictional book he came across titled, “The Ghost-Hunter and His Family”, published in 1833.
I think we can safely establish that Price certainly was not the first ghost hunter and wasn’t even the first to use that term. However, going from the plethora of newspaper archives during his days, I still maintain that he was the first ‘celebrity’ ghost hunter.
It has also been said that Price “contributed greatly in encouraging public interest in the psychic field”. I cannot say that I fully agree with that statement.
Price came into the picture during the end days of the Spiritualist Movement craze. So, he appeared on the scene years after everybody was already obsessed with the psychic field.
Perhaps there is more evidence to say he contributed greatly in encouraging the end of the craze, albeit unintentionally or intentionally.
If anything, all Price did was “ride” the wave that was already well in motion.
However, one thing that cannot be argued is that the name “Harry Price” still remains popular today in the ghost research community.
It is also said he was the first to use equipment at a ghost investigation. This too can be a slippery slope because that would be discrediting earlier ceremonial magicians who used ritual objects to summon spirits — John Dee, for example. (Price’s ghost hunting kit is outlined in his 1940 book “The Most Haunted House in England” on pages 31 and 32.)
I think it would be safer to say Price was the first modern-day investigator to use equipment at a ghost investigation.
Also noteworthy, in 1938-1939 Price drafted a Bill for the regulation of psychic practitioners.
All in all, Price was definitely compelling — and that can never be taken from him. I don’t know about you, but I find him absolutely fascinating and would have certainly loved to have met him.
As a side note, I’m still curious as to how he was able to afford to investigate full time and travel to his investigations. I haven’t come across any documentation of Price having a day job or an inheritance to rely on. Who, or what funded him?
Photo of Harry Price by William Hope 1922
Harry Price was born on January 17, 1881, and died March 29, 1948. Born towards the end of the Victorian era, he also lived through the Edwardian era, the First World War, and the Second World War eras.
Although he had his first ghostly experience sometime before turning 15 years old (a poltergeist in Shropshire County, England) and he joined the Society for Psychical Research at the age of 39 (in 1920), he didn’t officially start investigating until 1922 when he was about 41 years old — which was also during the last few years of the end of the Spiritualist Movement.
Price had a library of around 13,000 books on magic and the occult which today can be found at the Senate House, located at the University of London in England. He was also a member of the Magic Circle.
It has also been said that although Price started out as a believer, he eventually switched gears and became a debunker and skeptic.
This is said due to the manner in which he wrote his book, “The Most Haunted House inEngland”, in 1940 which apparently shows he was a believer. Versus his 1946 book, “The End of Borley Rectory”, which apparently shows he switched gears and became a debunker and skeptic.
I put together a timeline, seen below, which will likely give you way more info on Price then you care to know. However, for all my fellow ghost geeks reading this, here are the Harry Price deets:
HARRY PRICE TIMELINE:
1881
Harry Price was born on January 17, 1881
1920
Harry becomes a member of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR). Harry is 39 years old this year.
1922
Harry officially begins his paranormal investigations. He debunks the spirit photographer William Hope. He also went to Germany with Eric Dingwall (anthropologist and psychical researcher) to investigate Willi Schneider (psychic medium). Harry’s publication titled “Revelations of a Spirit Medium” was released this year. Harry became a member of the Magic Circle. The craze of the Spiritualist Movement begins to dwindle out.
1923
Harry starts investigating Stella Cranshaw.
1925
Harry was appointed Foreign Research Officer of the American Society for Psychical Research. This was also the year Harry met Rudi Schneider (Willi Schneider’s brother). Harry investigates Frau Maria Silbert in Austria.
1926
Harry went to Vienna to investigate Eleonore Zugen (aka. the ‘Poltergeist Girl’). Harry founded The National Laboratory of Psychical Research. Harry begins investigating Rudi Schneider.
1927
Harry investigated the Joanna Southcott box “in a blaze of publicity”. Harry investigates Jeanne Laplace in Paris. Harry joins the Ghost Club and remains there until it temporarily shuts down in 1936.
1928
Harry investigated the Battersea Poltergeist in Lavender Hill, Battersea, London. He also investigated a reportedly haunted dressing room at Adelphi Theatre in London, England.
1929
Harry visits the Borley Rectory for the first time.
1930
Harry investigates Frau Lotte Plaat. Harry is 49 years old this year.
1931
Harry becomes Vice-President of the Magician’s Club. Harry begins investigating Helen Duncan. The American Society for Psychical Research ends Harry’s appointment of Foreign Research Officer. Harry investigates Pasquale Erto.
1932
Harry conducted the Brocken Experiment in the Harz Mountains. This is the case that made him internationally renowned. This year Harry also sleeps in a reportedly haunted bed at a museum in Chiswick (London, England).
1934 The University of London Council for Psychical Investigation replaced The National Laboratory of Psychical Research.
1935
Harry investigated Karachi’s Indian rope trick and the fire-walking abilities of Kuda Bux. Also, this was the year that Harry became the first Chairman of the National Film Library at the British Film Institute due to his interest in cinematography. Harry also investigated the infamous “Talking Mongoose” (a type of weasel) on the Isle of Man (U.K) with Richard S. Lambert (a biographer and broadcaster) this year. Also this year Harry produces a talking film called Psychical Research for Movietone News Theatre.
1936
Harry had two books published this year, one titled “Confessions of a Ghost Hunter”, and the other was titled “The Haunting of Cashen’s Gap”. On March 10, 1936, Harry broadcasted live on BBC Radio from a reportedly haunted manor house near Meopham, Kent. The program was the first broadcast ever to be made from a haunted house. The purpose of the broadcast was “to give listeners a perfect picture of the technique employed in investigating an alleged haunted house”, wrote Harry Price in his book titled “Fifty Years of Psychical Research”. In 1936, Harry Price’s library was transferred to the University of London, followed shortly by his laboratory and investigative equipment.
1937
Harry conducted experiments on Ahmed Hussain’s fire-walking abilities which appeared on television. He also rented the infamous Borley Rectory for one year to conduct investigations. This was also the year that Harry says he saw the spirit of a child named Rosalie during a séance at a house in London, England.
1938
Harry re-established the Ghost Club, making himself Chairman. As per Wikipedia, he changed the Ghost Club “from a Spiritualist association to a group of more or less open-minded sceptics that gathered to discuss paranormal topics. He was also the first to admit women to the club.” He also conducted experiments on Rahman Bey who was buried alive in Carshalton. And he also drafted a Bill for the regulation of psychic practitioners this year.
1939
Harry put together a national telepathic test in “John O’London’s Weekly”. On Feb 27, 1939, the Borley Rectory is destroyed by fire. Also this year Harry produced a Draft Bill for the regulation of psychic practitioners. Harry is 58 years old this year.
1943
Harry excavates the ruins of the Borley Rectory cellars and discovers human remains, which he takes to Coopers Studio in London, England to be photographed.
1944
Harry testified and gave evidence at the Helen Duncan (psychic medium) trial. During this trial, she was the last person to be convicted under the British Witchcraft Act 1735. She was found guilty and served nine months in prison. The ruins of Borley Rectory is demolished.
1945
It is said that Price made the word ‘poltergeist’ popular in 1945 with the release of his 423-page book “Poltergeist Over England: Three Centuries of Mischievous Ghosts”. I completely disagree. Not only did the Spiritualist Movement from the 1800’s already take care of that, but just run a simple search of the word ‘poltergeist’ in old newspaper archives even from 1940-1944 and you will find many.
1948
Harry Priced died on March 29, 1948, at the age of 67 years old.
1963
It is claimed that in 1963 Price “spoke” onto a tape recorder from his grave at a seance — 15 years after his death. You can listen to the audio of the seance here.
1981
A radio documentary titled “Are you there Harry Price?” about his life aired in 1981 on BBC Radio, almost 40 years after his death. Listen to it here:
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LOCATIONS HARRY INVESTIGATED:
Borley Rectory (Essex, England)
Raynham Hall (England)
private home séance (London, England)
house in Lavender Hill, Battersea, London (poltergeist)
Adelphi Theatre (London, England)
museum in Chiswick (London, England)
PEOPLE HARRY INVESTIGATED:
Helen Duncan (psychic medium, declared guilty by the British Witchcraft Act)
Ahmed Hussain (fire-walker)
Kuda Bux (fire-walker)
Karachi (Indian rope trick)
William Hope (spirit photographer)
Willi Schneider (psychic medium)
Rudi Schneider (psychic medium, Willi Schneider’s brother)
Eleonore Zugen (the ‘Poltergeist Girl’)
Frau Maria Silbert (spiritualist medium, apportation & psychokinesis)
Jean Guzik (psychic medium)
Dorothy Stella Cranshaw (psychic medium. aka. Stella C, and the “Electric Girl”)
Jeanne Laplace (clairvoyant)
Frau Lotte Plaat (psychic medium)
Pasquale Erto (light emitting psychic, aka. “the human rainbow”)
ANIMALS HARRY INVESTIGATED:
“Gef” (the talking mongoose)
BOOKS & PUBLICATIONS HARRY WROTE:
“Revelations of a Spirit Medium”by Eric.J. Dingwall and Harry Price.
327 pages, published 1922. This book was originally published in 1891
by an anonymous author named “A Medium”. Dingwall and Price reprinted
and edited it in 1922. This was also one of the books in the 1890s
that inspired Harry Houdini to take up the duty of exposing fake
psychics.
“Official Science and Psychical Research – Compiled by Harry Price”
47 pages, published 1933.
“Exhibition of Rare Works from the Research Library of the University of London Council for Psychical Investigation, from 1490 to the Present Day – Foreword by Harry Price”
48 pages, published 1934.
“Supplement to Short-Title Catalogue of Research Library From 1472 A.D. to the Present Day”
112 pages, published 1935.
“A Report on Two Experimental Fire-Walks”
15 pages, published 1936.
“Confessions of a Ghost Hunter”
396 pages, published 1936.
“The Haunting of Cashen’s Gap: A Modern Miracle Investigated – With R.S. Lambert“
211 pages, published in 1936.
“The Alleged Haunting at B——- Rectory – Instructions for Observers”
Published 1937.
Michelle McKay is a Canadian paranormal investigator of 30+ years. Former TV host: Destination America, Discovery, A&E. Founder of ColdSpot.org. Her great-uncle, Henry McKay, was a pioneer UFO investigator and the first director of MUFON Canada.
Help for the Haunted – Reclaim Your Space
By: Michelle McKay (founder of ColdSpot.org)
August 17, 2014
This article is assuming you have read my first article “Help For The Psychic Medium – How To Shield And Cleanse”. If you haven’t read it yet, then please read that first because otherwise the following methods will likely do you no good. This article is a continuation, a part two if you will, to that first article.
This article focuses on practical ways to help reclaim your haunted home and bring peace back to the home. Notice the key word here is “help”. I am not saying that these methods are guaranteed to rid a home of ghosts, but it will “help” the situation. There is no known method that guarantees to rid a home of ghosts. It all depends on the situation. Again, please be sure to read my first article for further tips on help for the haunted.
Smudge Your House
Definitely the first thing you need to do is to smudge your entire home for starters. Smudge all four corners of each room and hallway. Do this once a month (or once a week, or daily, if things are extreme for you) until things settle down. Also, always smudge whenever moving into a new home — especially if spirits seem to follow you.
Block Entrances
Also get a bucket or a large bowl of water and place salt, a few bay leaves and a couple of tablespoons of rosemary in it (all can be found at your local grocery store spice section). Let it sit for a few hours, then sprinkle water around all the door frames of all doors leading to outside, and also around all the window frames in your home. I mentioned bay leaves and rosemary in my first article on page 3.
Fear
Don’t forget to also work on any issues of fear you may have as per my first article.
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Traditional House Clearing
Do this whenever you feel it is necessary. This method is a collective from several different cultures that I have come across during my over 15 years as a paranormal investigator. Some of it may sound very odd (or even extreme) to you, but this really does work in those desperate times when you need help to take back your home again and get some peace.
First, open every window in the house/apartment and open all blinds/curtains to let the light in. Then go through each room, hallway and area of the house/apartment making lots of loud noise by banging on metal pots with metal lids and stamping with your feet while shouting “Family and guardians you may stay, all others must go away!” (feel free to change the words to suit your belief system. For example if Catholic you might say “Family and saints you may stay, all others must go away!”). By saying “family” you are referring to deceased relatives that you will allow to remain in your home. If you don’t want your deceased relatives in your home then omit the word “family”. The purpose of the loud banging with metal pots and lids is for several reasons: many cultures believe that loud noise such as this will drive spirits away. Indeed I did have one client who drove our their ghost with loud noise. Also, the loud metal noise will also put strong vibrations throughout your home and will also reinforce your intent of wanting the spirits to leave. Furthermore, it will also raise your own vibration while going through the house doing this. So there are plenty of reasons why this is a good idea. If you live in an apartment then you might not want to do this in the middle of the night of course. Also, the purpose of opening the windows is to symbolically let the spirits out. Your marching band should consist of as many people as possible (this will make the “get out” energy stronger), but if there is only you then kick up the volume! Start at the basement (if you live in a house and have a basement. If you live in an apartment then only do your apartment — you do not need to do the entire apartment building just your dwelling) and move up to each level of the house. When you get to each level begin with all the rooms and hallways on the east side of the house (many cultures start house clearings in the east due to the fact that the sun, moon, planets and stars all rise in the east and sets in the west).With west being the direction of passing, start in the east and move in a westerly direction. Don’t forget to also open any doors that lead outside (while shouting and banging) as you come across them, then slam the door shut as you leave the area.
Then put your metal pot away and go throughout your house/apartment as you just did (starting in the basement in the east and moving in a westerly direction) and sprinkle salted water (with a few bay leaves and a few tablespoons of rosemary found at grocery stores added to the water) in all four corners of each room, hallway and area (including each window and exterior door that leads to outside) using your fingertips dipped in the water to sprinkle.
Then smudge the house/apartment. Smudging means to banish using smoke. If you can’t get a hold of traditional Aboriginal or First Nations smudge sticks then put a stick of frankincense incense (found just about anywhere where incense is sold) into an incense holder, then light the incense. Carry extra frankincense sticks with you in case you run out as you go along, and go through the house/apartment again as you just did (starting in the basement in the east and moving in a westerly direction). Using a bird’s feather or the back of your hand to “fan” the smoke into all four corners of each room, hallway and area while saying words that you feel will help your situation (ie. “All negative energies must leave, only good may dwell in here”. Or you can say a prayer if you prefer). Also be sure to smudge any exterior doors that lead outside as you come across them.
Then place fresh flowers from a garden or flower shop throughout your house/apartment to bring in positive energy/aromas. This will also help raise the healing vibrations in your home. If you can, include lavender and roses if possible. Lavender and roses have been used for centuries by many cultures to help bring inner calm, stability and helps alleviate emotional stress — will help bring peace to your home. But if you can’t get lavender and roses that is ok, most flowers have some type of energy that does the same as lavender and roses.
Now sit, relax and watch your favourite movie, maybe even pop some popcorn. Enjoy your new home. You should now feel the energy in your home has “lightened” somewhat.
Repeat this as often as you feel necessary. And don’t forget to also follow the tips in my first article. I wish you all the best, I know how you feel because I have been there (as explained in my first article). Keep strong, you can do this!
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Farewell
If you believe you are dealing with a deceased person then you might want to try saying the following. Go into the room most affected and say something to the effect of:
“It is time to leave here, all is well. There is nothing here for you now. You must be gone now. Go now, go complete your passing. Go and be well, farewell.” Remove everything that belonged to the deceased, such as their photos, writings, etc.. If you feel comfortable doing so sit there and talk to them as you would with a living person. Explain to them that they must go to the light and complete their passing. Explain to them that they can no longer remain in the home and explain to them the problems they are causing and why you don’t want them there (ie. “you are scaring me and my family, my children” etc..). But don’t keep doing this over and over again (read the section “Obsession” on page 2 of my first article). Obviously, this won’t work in all situations, some spirits simply refuse to leave. The reason why I have suggested telling the spirit to go to “the light” is simply due to the high amount of people who have reported seeing a light during near death experiences (also called NDE’s, similar but yet different from OBE’s).
I have been a paranormal investigator for over 15 years. And during that time I have often been approached by clients and people who are just recently coming into their “gifts”, and need help. They sometimes ask me to help them “fine tune” their gift, to help it get stronger. Or, more often than not, they want to learn how to make it stop — or at least regain some semblance of control back into their lives.
It seems that when somebody is able to “see” or telepathically communicate with spirits then it’s like they have a beacon of sorts. And as a result they report that spirits bombard them far and wide. Psychic mediums getting bombarded by spirits is not always the case, of course, but I have found it often is.
I receive this request so often that I have decided to write an article about it. This way, I can just refer people here instead of constantly having to write it all out over and over again.
The methods listed here are not going to suit everybody’s situation of course. But, hopefully you can take from something in this article. If I can help just one person with this article, then my job is done.
In this article I will cover how to get some peace from the spirits. I will write another article at a later time about how to get your gifts to “come out”. When I say “get some peace”, I am referring to methods to shield, protect, cleanse, ward off, etc…
These methods are what I have come across over the years that I feel work the best. I have given many of these methods to my clients, and they have worked very well for them. Some work better than others, it really depends on your belief system.
I also have personal experience with this sort of thing. Besides my experience as a paranormal investigator, and my experiences at investigations, some know that when I was 21 years old the Catholic Church put me through a full-fledged exorcism (I wrote about it here). I personally don’t think I was “possessed”, and I believe that the priests over-exaggerated the situation due to their own fears. However, I was being harassed pretty badly by black-robed entities, hence the reason why I turned to the Catholic Church for help to begin with. In the end, the exorcism did very little to help my situation. I ended up having to deal with it on my own. I eventually got the entities to leave me alone, and I haven’t had any problems with any spirits or entities since. I investigate asylums and many other places that have “heavy” energies, and still no problems since. Now I know better, I know how to deal with them now and I know to take what I do very seriously.
First and foremost, I need to say that in SOME cases there is really nothing you can do to get a spirit or entity to leave you alone. Especially if it’s a “historical repeater”, or a “residual ghost”. Or, if it’s a spirit or entity that is hell-bent on making contact with you. However, with determined persistence, more often than not you CAN get them to leave — eventually! It depends on how strong your will is, versus how strong their will is. Furthermore, you must BELIEVE that what you are doing is working. If you don’t believe in the method you are using than it will be much more difficult to “get some peace”. This is why it is so important that you use a method that you feel will work for you if you try hard enough — aka. something you BELIEVE will eventually work if you keep at it! The stronger your belief, the stronger your will. Also, I have to add that even if you believe that it will work for you then you will still likely have to try the method several times before you start seeing a difference. It’s like working out a muscle, you need to keep at it then all of a sudden one day you see a difference.
Now, with that out of the way, I will list several different methods you can use. Please read through them all and take what you feel will work for you — what you BELIEVE will work for you. You might want to try all of these methods, or just a few — the choice is yours. Go with your instinct and your beliefs.
I’ve done my best to try to think of every scenario possible. If I have missed anything then please let me know in the comments below. I will first begin with a paragraph about “fear”, and then a paragraph about “obsession”. Because I feel these two are important to know. Then, I will get into the different methods…
Michelle McKay Paranormal 