The Ghosts Among Us
Halloween is around the corner, and yes, we annually think about ghosts at this time of year. But this is not a Halloween centered blog post. I truly wish I could write something witty and fun about Halloween, which is a typically ghoulish, playful event; It’s a holiday that invites us to laugh with death and at the inner and outer demons on our planet and in our collective consciousness.
But in the midst of these horrendous wars, the environmental disasters, the political in-fighting and overwhelm, while I value playfulness, this particular moment in time feels anything but playful to me; I have close, dear relatives in Israel, and I am dwelling in near-constant prayer for their safety and for peace. Nevertheless, it’s the season to contemplate ghosts, and not only ghosts in haunted houses and on battlefields, but also in our personal psyches and experiences.
Seeing Ghosts
Once, as a teenager, I awoke in the middle of the night to find an unknown, elderly woman sitting close to me on my bed. I ducked under the covers in terror, but had a strong knowing that she was one of my ancestors who was coming to protect and guide me. At several other times, in younger years, I’ve felt an uncomfortable, ghostly presence very strongly in my bedroom at night.
One of those times, I later found out that a shamanic friend of mine had prayed that their recently deceased relative (who had committed suicide) would visit me and “help” me. When I found out, I was furious with my friend for this prayer; Just because someone has died, it doesn’t mean their soul is evolved enough to “help” someone. In fact, as a shamanic practitioner, I have seen that some souls who have died go for a while to other-dimensional “rehab” to work through deep personality challenges of their previous lifetime.
Seeing through the eyes of Spirit
To be honest, I made a strong request to Spirit, years ago, that I don’t want to see ghosts with my physical, human eyes - that’s too scary for me! The Universe has honored my request. But I am extremely willing to see disembodied spirits in my shamanic visions and meditations. In fact, part of what I offer as a shamanic practitioner, is precisely to see, with the eyes of Spirit, exactly what is generally unseen by human eyes. A shamanic practitioner sees authentic love and spiritual empowerment, as well as pain and stuckness. We see the Light of the Highest Self, as well as the denser energy of suffering, and disembodied soul parts.
Escorting disembodied souls to the Light
In my shamanic work, one of the traditional practices done by my Spirit Guides (who use me as a communication channel-I don’t do the work) is to escort stuck soul parts of the deceased to the Light. This is called Shamanic Psychopomp, and has been done by indigenous shamans for centuries. Psychopomp is necessary when a part of a soul is trapped and stuck on the earth plane due to trauma, attachment to people still living, or to unfinished business. My Spirit Guides do this work often with clients when soul parts of their ancestors and deceased loved ones need to be escorted to the Light.
When stuck soul aspects of deceased beings (including ghosts) are escorted to the Light, then all people who are connected to these souls benefit. This becomes especially clear when helping someone who has difficulty integrating the death of a loved one. Furthermore, having the souls of ancestors escorted to the Light, helps to raise our own vibration, since we are connected to ancestors through our DNA, as well as in many energetic ways to deceased loved ones. So I view Psychopomp as a crucial practice to help not only living individuals, and the many, many stuck, disembodied souls, but also to raise the collective vibration of this challenged world,
What to do with grief, fear, suffering and violence
In this extremely tragic time of war and killing in Israel, Ukraine, and in so many parts of the world, including the hate crimes, mass shootings, and violence occurring in the U.S., we may palpably feel the collective grief, fear and misery when we tune in.
So many people now are praying, meditating, and doing spiritual ceremony and practice to call in peace for the living and for those who have tragically died. I, too, am spending much time now, as so many in the world are, praying that peace, love, truth and beauty be restored and preserved. But there is also, and always will be, a huge invitation to look within, to do our own spiritual work, and seek peace, harmony, unity and Light within to liberate the inner, mental ghosts of fear, illusion, delusion, conditioned self-judgement, and judgement of others.
Living as your Highest Self
We need to be the ones doing the self-restorative work of meditation, prayer, and intention-setting now. Let’s transform those inner ghosts and demons. So much of who we think we are, and the choices we make daily, are directed by the ghosts within us. The best way to deal with our self-sabotaging ghosts is to consciously align with hope, love, gratitude, and faith — in other words, to align with the gifts of spiritual connection and the energetic experience of love. We can do this at home by ourselves, in supportive groups, and/or we can also do this with a guiding practitioner.
Certainly you may be feeling overwhelmed and helpless, but please take a stand not to get stuck in it. Move beyond the jail of self-absorption in one’s own suffering, and reach out to people you know who may be directly affected by the violence and fear now. You can connect through the heart - that’s our super-power right now! Be brave enough to show someone that you are here, watching, listening, loving, deeply caring; Really showing up. Instead of looking at your cell phone, look at someone on the street when you pass them, and see them with an open heart.
Be Awake to What you are Creating
