Ghosts, Shades and Spirits

In this post I will attempt to define my current understanding of the ghost, the shade and the spirit. Before I begin to do that let me say that although both Kal and I have read considerable amounts on these subjects, and though we are energetically-aware, the world of ghosts, shades and spirits has been a topic that we have stayed well away from. We both have had good reason for this, and yet, I have recently been led back into a set of tasks that will place me directly on such a path where meetings with such energies cannot be avoided. Such is the path of the druid who learns his skills without shirking his responsibilities. My aim is complete knowledge of my path, and thankfully I have been expertly guided to and through these processes by my mental and physical teachers. Without their guidance, without the dowsing, I would not be attempting this at all.

DEFINITION OF A GHOST

In my experience ghosts are known by several names and phrases, each of which is entirely synonymous and interchangeable. These are:-

1. Ghost
2. Apparition

For a plain definition of this phenomenon I turn to Linda Williamson, a plain-speaking medium, author of several books on the subject, who defines a ghost like this:

“If a person has experienced intense emotion such as pain, suffering or fear in a particular place, some fragment of their energy may linger there. It can remain for many years, even for centuries, imprinted into the very bricks and stones of a building. This fragment of energy has no consciousness and cannot interact with the living. It is just the empty shell of the person, like a suit of clothing the wearer has long since discarded. The person’s spirit, their real essence, has passed on into the spirit world.The fragment that is left behind is a ghost.” (Source: “Ghosts and Earth-Bound Spirits” by Linda Williamson)

This is a simple explanation, and has several things that need developing further, but it is a neat starting point because it introduces some concepts about these energies – they remain for a time, they are remnant energies, they have no intelligence, and they are often linked to a particular place. We will develop and explain each of these concepts momentarily.

Some questions arise out of this definition. Why are emotions imprinted? Why do some emotional imprints fade only slowly whereas others fade very quickly? How interactive are these ghosts, and how can they communicate? Why are their energies linked to a specific place? Good questions. Here is my current theory, developed largely in conjunction with Kal.

EMOTIONAL IMPRINTING
When strong emotion of any sort is given off by a living being it has the ability to merge into and be absorbed by surrounding materials. The stronger the emotion, the wider and deeper is the energetic “bow wave” or “explosion” of that emotional impulse. Usually, the earth, the air, fire and water will all diffuse and dilute these emotions transmitting them away from the source like the resonance of a shout heard on a hilltop. The more genuine emotion is involved in the outburst of energy then the stronger that energy is. If that emotional state is prolonged or strong then there is more energy flowing into the surroundings. In open land this will easily and quickly dissipate, but in enclosed spaces the energy gets reflected and absorbed by the surrounding material, like a wall would absorb dampness. Water is a very apt metaphor for this effect. If a bucket of water is thrown at a brick wall every day (symbolising a large outburst of energy regularly) then soon the wall will become damp inside as it absorbs the moisture. If a tap drips onto a wall slowly over a long period of time it may have similar effects, eventually causing the wall to crumble with the amount of moisture it has absorbed. In this way emotion seeps into static absorbent material.

THE LONGEVITY OF ENERGY
Emotional imprints will fade and dissipate if they are not fed by an energy source. If a man pours his misery into a particular room for a day then leaves that room never to return, how long will the energetic imprint last? Not long – hours only, maybe days. The factor that makes emotional imprints remain for longer is that the emotional is imprinted upon a source of earth energy. This is one of the many reasons why ancient burial structures are sited near to other megalithic structures such as stone circles. Whereas stone circles were areas for activity of the living, dolmens and mounds were the areas afforded to the energies of the dead. These structures were situated on top of earth energy centres where the earth’s own energy rises up at a point of weakness in the underlying geological strata. Whether it be a chalk aquifer, two seams of permeable and impermeable rock meeting, fractured seams, or igneous rock with a high crystal content, all of these areas of natural geology gave rise to the deliberate siting of ceremonial and burial sites.

Ancient centres or sites of megaliths are just one example. All over the world there are places created by either geology or by natural energies from rocks, trees or water that have become places of natural earth energy and power. Another commonly-used example is the siting of large houses, stately homes or halls upon ley lines. Where two ley lines cross there is a natural vortex produced that acts in exactly the same way as a natural earth energy centre in that it is a “sticky spot” where emotional energy can become fixed and empowered, ensuring a longevity that it would not otherwise have if allowed to dissipate naturally.

INTERACTIVITY OF GHOSTS
Some mediums consider that ghosts are like two-dimensional imprints and they cannot or should not be interacted with. I have found in my own personal experience that they are primarily dumb. Watching a ghost is like watching a video of a particular set of sequences from a person’s life. Some ghosts do not move much at all, whereas others follow a pattern acted out in life. ghosts should therefore not be feared because they can do nothing to harm you having no malice or intent in themselves, only the emotion that they were imprinted with.
For sensitive people, people who are aware of these ghosts, then those people can unwittingly perpetuate a ghost. Standing in the same place as a ghost will lead the sensitive person to mimic or attune to the emotion that is imprinted. If the sensitive person then gives out the same frequency of energy they can unwittingly feed the energy form, and thus perpetuate it. If you walk into a dark corner and feel fear because fear is imprinted there then the fear will take longer to dissipate because you have just fed more of the same energy into it.

SHADES or EARTH-BOUND SPIRITS

DEFINITION OF A SHADE

A shade (also called an earth-bound spirit) is a human energy form that is much more interactive than a ghost. A shade has a sentient intelligence and a range of emotions, even if the expression of those can often seem more or less refined than our own. Kal calls these forms “Energetic shrouds”, a term derived in part from the work of the mystic and priest C.W.Leadbeater.

Shades can range all the way from mischievous and disruptive spirits (sometimes labelled poltergeists) through to lost souls and other forms of confused or disorientated and trapped forms, and on up to figures of renown and importance whose veneration remains in our psyche. Some people, who refuse to believe that sentient forms can remain in existence, believe that such entities are merely thought-forms conjured upon conception. That’s a real “If a tree falls in a forest...” conundrum. Do things only exist if we give them attention?

Shades gain energy from the sun and moon, and from living human energy fields (particularly the aura). Often they will try to keep a living human talking if he has made contact with them in order to drain his energy unwittingly in order to prolong their own existence. In this sense they could be called ‘psychic vampires’.

SUSTENANCE OF SHADES

In order to remain present on the Earth shades seem to need recognition, in whatever form. This could be the adoration of a following who remember them, the esteem they have been accorded in history, or as a fond memory that is frequently remembered perhaps via a celebration or a particular date to trigger a regular remembrance. I call this requirement “renown” – shades require the energy of renown to remain. Shades are maintained, therefore, from the energy of love and gratitude in all its forms.

Another attractor is a place on the earth which has some natural or unnatural subtle energy. At sacred sites, whatever their form but particularly burial mounds, natural subtle energy is often being captures and enhanced by the positioning of sacred stone sites over geological fault lines and other areas of surface weakness. Sites that have a predominantly crystalline geology are particularly effective at generating and corralling this earth energy.

If a human has imprinted emotive energy at a place (due to a moment of high emotion) then that energy can become imprinted into the fabric of the place, absorbed into the rock or the soil of a place. How long this energy lasts is a matter of whether the place has any of the geological characteristics mentioned above, but the mere fact of an emotive imprint is often enough to attract shades, who seem to be able to make use of that energy to sustain themselves – like re-charging a battery through osmosis.

PSYCHIC VAMPIRES

Shades have one final ‘food source’ – us. We give off emotive energy quite often and the more emotionally unstable or extreme a person is the more likely they will attract the attentions of a shade. People who have psychic talents, I have noticed, are particularly prone to being preyed upon by shades, and I suspect this is because they are often unaware of the state of their aura. Controlled use of psychic energies is unpredictable to the shade, but if a psychic person has an aura that is leaking energy then this can become an habitual food source for shades, who will attach themselves to the damaged part of the aura and live off that energy, often draining the host psychically, mentally and physically.

Of course, if the host is completely drained then they fall ill and don’t generate much energy, so the relationship is usually kept at a symbiotic level where both host and shade are maintaining a constant cycle of rising and falling energy levels (the more extreme the better). I have seen a friend go through this unwittingly, and even when it was pointed out to him, he still continues to act as a host, unwilling to expunge himself of this parasitical entity because it keeps him just below the level where he has enough energy to do something about it. Of course, I have offered to help, and now intend to raise my friend’s energy levels sufficiently that he can rid himself of this pest.

SPIRITS

As mentioned in my prelude post, ‘Body, Aura and Animus’, Spirit is animated by the Animus. Spirit is the literal form of that animus energy, albeit a very diffused form.

In the true sense of the word ‘spirit’ this refers to the essence of the human being that is extant before and after his or her existence in physical form. Some forms of non-human and human spirit can make their presence known to living people, and these come to us in many forms:-

• avatars (messengers),
• spirit guides,
• ascended masters (enlightened humans)
• god forms

Some may appear as archetypes from myth of legend that have become embodiments of a collective human expression of qualities that living humans seek to attain, such as Merlin or King Arthur.

Some spirits, I have learned, regain an interest in humans if they are given a task to complete that involves us. Without the bindings of duty, or the incentive to progress, the temptations of the whole wide inhabited universe must have its appeals. This is mainly speculation, however, because apart from spirit guides I have no information about the motivations and further existences of spirit – it is a world too far removed from experience to describe with any certainty.

Gwas.