Spirits & Ghosts
This is a series of stories I wrote for the Russian newspaper “Vancouver Express” a few years ago. All the stories are real, having happened with me and my patients. They are about those phenomena that are always around us but which we can’t see because they are not material. I decided to leave really scary stories about black magic for later. Here we will talk about something more pleasant and harmless: ghosts and spirits.
You might disagree that they are harmless, but it’s true nonetheless. With very, very few exceptions both ghosts and natural spirits are not dangerous at all.
While living in Russia, I never uncounted any ghosts. Strangely enough, I managed to do this only after I had moved to Canada. Once I went to visit my boyfriend in a small town in the Canadian North. He complained of ghosts in the building where he lived. That place was a two-story building which used to be a convent but then was converted into a hostel. The boyfriend told me that he felt very uncomfortable when there was nobody in the house except him. There was still a feeling of somebody’s presence, like rustling and noise which moved. He even tried chasing them. They were moving along the hallway and he was following. He turned a corner, and there was …nobody…but the rustle was already behind his back. At night in his room he felt that somebody was there, looking at him. Well, is that not unpleasant?..
I noticed the first apparition immediately upon entering the house. It was greatly surprised that I could feel it. Frankly speaking, I can not see them, but I can sense them. I am aware of their size but not their looks. For me this is only a kind of energy substance.
Next day I could feel in full what I was told about. I entered the building knowing that there were no humans there. However, opening the door I could clearly hear voices and whispers. Even if you know what it is, it still doesn’t feel right. Altogether I counted four ghosts. I don’t know why they got stuck there; maybe they were killed. I didn’t go deeper, just figured out that there were both men and women. In fact, they were not going to do any harm to people; they just lived there and were very curious (maybe because there was nothing else to do).
I decided to help the boyfriend a bit and do the energy cleansing and closing of his room. I never even had a thought about cleansing the entire ex-convent. Why drive the poor spirits away from their old haunt? And plus, where am I going to put them? I performed the necessary ritual, however, I experienced a big surprise when I entered the room next time: the flock of apparitions cheerfully burst into the room after me. I realized my mistake at once. Usually when I put protection on a premise, I also include a formula: something like “I close this room from anyone who is entering with bad intentions, thoughts etc…” I should’ve added “and ghosts”. Apparitions could enter the room because they didn’t have bad intentions. When the formula was changed, they couldn’t get into the room any more.
After I left, my boyfriend called me and told an amusing story. He and his co-workers finally met their janitor, who was supposed to come every day but went missing for three weeks. Imagine, this woman cleaned all the rooms except his?! She couldn’t enter his room. I wonder: why? Was that woman evil? So his room stayed unclean but ghosts never bothered him any more.
Now let’s talk about natural spirits. They are ones who are always around us. Every element has its representatives: spirits of Fire, Water, Air and Earth. There are also forest spirits and home spirits. All of them have their own characters. I was surprised to discover that spirits of the woods in the Moscow region and British Columbia forest are absolutely different. Russian forest spirits seem nicer to me. Entering a forest in Russia, I always greeted them and could hear answers from many places. There are a lot of spirits in Moscow area forests, and they usually have a “light” temper. I remember one funny case when I came to the edge of a wood with embroidery. A funny thing: a heap of our neighbors from a parallel world crowded behind my back and literally were looking over my shoulder trying to figure out what I was doing. They’d never seen anything like that.
In the beginning it was difficult for me to adapt to BC forests. Everything was different. There was an alien energy – much stronger and very heavy. Frankly speaking, I don’t like the art of local native people: it seems to me heavy, pushy and aggressive. After analyzing the energy of the local woods I understood that their art couldn’t be different: it had to contain the same energy as the energy of the local mountain nature.
The first time I tried to make contact with local forest spirits was while taking a walk around the lake in the Belcarra area. Only one spirit was found. As I understand, everything is different in the BC Pacific forest spirit’s world: there is only one forest spirit within a certain territory but it is larger in size than their Russian “colleagues”. That spirit was very surprised by my interest in his persona and followed us for a long time – even if I didn’t pay attention to him anymore.
Next time I “socialized” with a forest spirit in the mountains of Squamish. When he realized that I could “see” him, he grew up to a gigantic size, probably trying to scare me. But after I told him: “Come on, stop it”(we can talk to them, aloud or not), he downsized. As a result, it looked like he accepted me. After a while I began feeling absolutely comfortable in the Pacific forest.
And, finally, we address home spirits. In Russian fairy tails we have a popular personage called domovoy, or a home spirit. The funny thing is that they really exist. Maybe one of them lives in your house. Or maybe not. There could be just one home spirit for an apartment building or a townhouse complex, who sometimes might visit you with “an inspection”. Home spirits are not house protectors, they just live there. They require respect. Cats can always feel spirits. If your cat sits narrowly staring at the empty corner, it means that the corner isn’t empty. Each domovoy has its own unique personality. There is a superstition that it is good to leave a saucer with milk for a house spirit. One of my acquaintances poured a shot of vodka for him. Her home spirit was mature and tough, and preferred something more serious than milk. In fact, what they really need is our attention, and nothing else. I had evidence of this from my own experience.
Of course, there is a domovoy in my home. He is like a family member. He changed five locations with me. This isn’t a typical case: usually home spirits are attached to the house, not people. The important thing in my case was that I found him in my country cottage when he was still very young. It looks like I was the first human that noticed him. As a result, he became so attached to me that he moved to my Moscow apartment when I sold the cottage. Well, I also invited him… My domovoy didn’t feel well in Moscow because there was another home spirit in the apartment and they didn’t become friends. Because of this my little home spirit was very quiet.
Then we moved to another condo where my little one was the only spirit, he felt much better. Usually he doesn’t show himself. He was a bit naughty only with my daughter but in an innocent way. For example, he threw books from the table or jumped on her bed, but these happened rarely. I can’t see him but I always know where he is and how he feels. Unfortunately, I don’t pay as much attention to him as he needs.
When we were leaving for Canada, I told my home spirit: “This is a long, difficult relocation. Maybe it is better for you to stay?” He still decided to go with us. Such a tough cookie! I don’t give him milk or anything else. The only thing he needs is our attention and care.
All the spirits I have mentioned are neither bad nor good, neither white nor black. One psychic I knew called them “grey beings”. I don’t like the name but it reflects the point. Natural spirits don’t give a dime for humans’ games and their imperfections. They just live in this world and don’t interfere in people’s lives, generally, but only at the point when humans start destroying our mutual planet.