Weird question about cleansings/hauntings

[OneGrassRoot]

While I recognize that darkness/negativity and even what some may label as evil exists, it's not part of my reality. Hard to explain without sounding like a complete ass. lol

But I just don't give it any energy, I suppose that's how to best describe my position about this subject.

My latest guilty pleasure is watching the Discovery Channel's "A Haunting" series. I can be completely absorbed and NOT THINK for 40 minutes (commercials, ya know). I love the mindless activity it provides. It doesn't scare me or make me nervous or anything like that. I wouldn't buy an old house without knowing the history of it though...lol.

Here's my question: I've watched enough of them to see that they tend to always use the Bible or Christian symbols when doing a cleansing that is intense. One time sage was used with a Native American slant to the story, but I don't recall seeing any other sacred text used as the Bible is. Granted, all of these are about hauntings in the States, though one was in Ireland.

Do you guys know how other cultures cleanse, those who are not Christian or Pagan?

I'm simply curious. :)

Sunday morning :grouphug:

[Celebration]

1. not sure if it is used in this context

But the star of David is a really good cleansing symbol. It is the basis for all the Pennsylvania Dutch barn symbols.

If you ever go to Coral Castle (I totally recommend this place) you will see lots of six pointed stars. It confuses the Americans (thinking he might have been Jewish) but the Eastern Europeans totally "get it".

[OneGrassRoot]

2. Totally cool....

I'd love to visit that place one day:

http://coralcastle.com/


:)

[hermetic]

5. I'm surprised I'd never

heard of that place before, Coral Castle. I thought I'd seen all the sights in Florida.

If you go, OGR, you take lots of pictures.

And oooh, I wanna be a Wild Woman of Wongo. :rofl:

[NJCher]

4. oh, I read about why those stars are there

It has to do with energy that it puts off.

The coral castle guy knew how to tune to the energy of the stone. That is how he could move them--he produced the tone and the rock would dematerialize and rematerialize where he wanted it.


Cher

[winyanstaz]

3. feng shui is the art of moving, directing and cleansing energies...

and the chinese use it to cleans and purify areas as well as balance the energy.
Yogas use the kindilini energy to cleanse and also learn to direct prana/chi to areas that need energy work. This can be an area as well as a persons body.
It is a matter of energy vibration rates.

[Kind of Blue]

6. Long post. I've just watched an episode of Ghostly Encounters

I'd taped over the weekend and this one was all about religion. But the second segment was really fascinating about a young Hindi woman, now living in Canada, who recounted her experience in India as a child living in a mansion that housed about 10-15 families living communally, and her new home in Canada.

She seemed about 10-11 at the time when she woke up to a severe slap across the cheek and there was no one in her room and she started praying to her gods and fell asleep. The next morning there was a definite red slap mark across her face. This was followed by waking up by a shadowy entity holding her down and she can't struggle free and she can't scream. But before it can get any further, it always pulled back.

She had lots of other kids to play with in the building but one day she went searching for someone to play and the whole building was unusually empty. During her search, Lord Krishna appeared in a hallway, standing there in his blue glory with a golden jeweled flute and with his consort (Rada?). Rada motioned to her to come toward them and Krishna offered her his flute but she was too stunned to accept it, even though he said you don't have to be afraid. Then Rada said, Krishna, we have to go. And the girl finally asked them to stay but they turned around, walked away and disappeared.

Then she went running around the house looking for them and everybody was back and she asked them where had they all gone? Lord Krishna was here! Her friends said, Are you crazy? Where did you go?

This entity thing followed her to Canada, continuing it's haunting but while she is awake and as usual, it would stop. During one of these happenings, Lord Krishna and Rada appeared again watching her and the shadow entity events completely stopped and she believes to this day that Krishna saved her from the spirit trying to hurt her.

The other segment was about the haunting of a very religious Jewish family who had rented a formerly Christian home back in the '50s-'60s, I mean there were lots of paintings of saints still on the wall that her parents quickly took down. The haunting stopped after the anti-Semitic ghost, of a man who they all saw and had frightening experiences, disrupted their first Seder dinner there by levitating a knife and crashing it through a precious family plate. But she was more frightened by her dad's reaction when he shouted in Yiddish/Hebrew, "Satan is in this house!" I guess the Christian ghost didn't like being called Satan.

But the woman and the brother went back to the empty house years after they moved and had another encounter. They found out the house never stayed rented for long, people quickly moved in and out.

Now, how's that, OGR, for non-Christian hauntings and symbolism! But like you said, neither was in the States but it is fascinating that we all use our own beliefs, not just Christianity, to cleanse the darkness :hug:

on edit: forgot a statement

[OneGrassRoot]

7. That's fascinating!

Thanks so much for sharing that, Kind of Blue. :)

I suppose it's a vibrational thing. Whatever one believes in and has "faith" in (?) is the tool used as it will carry a higher vibration into the confrontation.

A devout Christian uses Christian symbols and other faiths use their symbols. I guess there isn't a universal symbol or tool; the tools used are reflected by the various paths.

That makes perfect sense.

I suppose a fashion diva would take Cosmo into an excorcism, as that would be her bible of sorts! :rofl:

Hmmmm....I don't have such a thing really. I'd like something though....not for protection but simply to have something to focus on during meditation, something tangible.

I've been longing for a set of prayer beads since writing of them in the last novel. I haven't seen any as were in our imagination (my co-writer); they need to be created.

That's another project: create my own sacred prayer beads. I just talked myself into it.

:)

[Kind of Blue]

8. Well, good! Prayer beads are nice.

:) and nice to have something tangible with you or on you relating to the intangible, especially when you feel the need to get in touch.

As young girls, my mom always had us wearing 5-10 thin gold bracelets and we still wear them. When my sisters and I asked long ago why the bracelets? She said that in the Yoruba tradition, the tinkling of the bracelets is like the sound of water flowing in a stream and all living things are connected to vital forces - in this case, water is the force and necessary for cleansing and the bracelets connects us to nature.

My mother used to make beaded bracelets for us (until crippling arthritis) and it was important that she Made them, taking great care in considering the colors she used that all had special meanings but all really meaning enclosing and protecting togetherness/oneness. I know doing this was meditation for her even though she claimed, "I just can't meditate." :rofl:

[OneGrassRoot]

9. I do so love that about the "tinkling" of the bracelets....

The novel in question involved Yoruba at its core, and how many regard that as the first organized religion and thus a foundation for many paths, morphing into various forms as the peoples were carried (often against their will) to other parts of the world, "blending" with Catholicism much further down the road as one example.

I forgot we have this in common. I may ask your opinion about things as the sequel goes along, if you don't mind.

I can't meditate in a traditional way either; so this bead making is right up my alley. ;)

:hug:

[Kind of Blue]

10. Wow, OGR! I had no idea.

I'd love it if you did. It gives me a chance to explore as well. My mom's shaman is a Yoruba priestess in her neighborhood who is of Northern European ancestry - I mean blond and blue! This world is an amazing place :hug: :hug: :hug:

on edit: spelling

[OneGrassRoot]

11. Oh, I am going to PM you.....

this is too good. :)

[Kind of Blue]

13. Just got back. Got it and replied! n/t

[winyanstaz]

14. Your post reminds me of another thing many cultures use...

Many put bells on their loved ones and livestock as the high tinkling sounds are repellent to negative spirits and forces. It is their way of protecting the important things.

[Cleita]

12. I think all cultures and religions have some kind of cleansing rituals going

back to the dawn of history. Early mythologies are full of references to ritual cleansing or purification ceremonies like baths, particularly if one person had killed another, sort of common back then. They had to petition another person of authority to preside at a ritual bath or other kinds of ablution ceremony to keep them from being haunted by the shades of their victims not to mention their own guilty consciences usually personified by the Furies.

[conscious evolution]

15. Many Chinese use firecrackers

The loud bangs scare the spirits away.
Be sure to open windows and doors so they have an escape route.
And under no circumstances stand in the doorways or in front of windows when doing this cleansing.

[OneGrassRoot]

16. I'm not feeling a need to cleanse my home beyond periodic sage....

to cleanse the emotional energies we experience in the course of "normal" daily life. :)

But this reminds me how years ago my daughter was nervous, and in the process of respecting her discomfort, I promised to do a few things so she felt safe from invisible things.

I used a few elements of feng shui -- placing little mirrors on the doors, facing outward (glued to door...they're still there...lol), and putting certain gemstones at the very top of the door (also still there).

The mere act of doing something comforted her. Just watching this Discovery Channel series, however, has tweaked my curiosity as to how other cultures "cleanse" their homes of energies.

Last night I watched an episode that involved "shamballah" -- I Googled very briefly and it seems to be a form of Reiki? Working with the energetic vibrations to balance them. Fascinating.

I believe in energy. I'm never able to elaborate on that as far as a belief system, so I simply say I believe in energy, and that it takes different forms and various levels of vibration.

:hug: