Readers, I recalled another story from my experience, but it was so long ago I’d forgot all about it. See what you think:
When I was in graduate school, I visited a midcentury modern home. It belonged to an art professor. It was quite beautiful, full of paintings and sculpture. A friend was house sitting, which is how I came to visit occasionally.
The thing with this house was, whilst no one ever saw anything, one would after a short time inside, start to feel a slight sense of unease. This increased incrementally until it became scary and unbearable: one simply had to leave. I felt it more than once and the only time the house felt neutral was during a party with lots of other people present.
There was this cognitive dissonance: the lovely interior vs the sense of darkness.
I later asked the house sitting friend how he could stand it. He said he was quite terrified during nights and even took the homeowner’s dog into his room at bedtime – and he was not a dog person.
There was menacing energy at that place. I was always struck by the contrast between the beauty of the house and decor and the miasma of dread one felt.
Have you ever been to a place like this, or experienced this kind of creeping fear in a house? Please discuss/share in comments if you like – it was a terribly strange and unsettling experience.
For more ghosts, please see About Ghosts: A Useful Handbook, and more, at https://www.amazon.com/Jan-Olandese/e/B071FK9L75
Yes, I have been to house where you just know something dark is residing. The kind of place where you want to shake it off and light some sage.
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I know exactly what you mean!
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Can you give us a theological take on that?
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Hi Lee, forgive the long reply: thanks for asking. I’m not sure I have a theological take on this, since I can’t say precisely what it was. It may have been leftover energy from something bad that happened in the house, or, an imprint left by past homeowners with difficult emotional issues. It may be just nature, but not nature we can readily explain. I once read something about this: that paranormal events may not be supernatural but “supranatural” -or, there’s a natural explanation but we don’t yet know it. For me anyway, there’s room in the cosmos for not-knowing.
Christian theology, particularly evangelical theology, is adamant that souls do not remain here but move on, and per the Bible, to communicate with the dead is verboten: i.e., Saul and the Witch of Endor. (To be fair, the latter story isn’t about ghosts per se, but about Saul not obeying God). This story and others does put it out that meddling with spirits can be dangerous (and as paranormal researchers will tell you, sometimes evil entities mask themselves as innocuous at first, so drawing people in. It’s best not to go there at all). Happening upon a place with spirits is different than pursuing them for purposes of divination or personal power: that’s clearly against the rules.
In Christian apologist C S Lewis’ excellent novel That Hideous Strength, a fine good/evil allegorical tale, he addresses what happens when good people encounter supernatural types of evil. With God’s help, good prevails; but it can be quite dangerous to flirt with evil powers/spirits/entities.
Does this help?
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Not that I needed any encouragement to leave such things alone… Thanks, Jano.
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did you ever research the history of that house you stayed in? just curious if there was anything of note recorded
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Not that I know of. At the time, the house wasn’t terribly old and there was nothing special known about it.
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You might throw the address into the local newspaper search engine. Archives don’t actually go that far back relatively speaking but you never know. Headlines may prove interesting. Just a thought
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Thanks, will do.
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If the house was neutral during parties, I guess the ghost wasn’t a party animal!
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Evidently not. 🙂
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Yes! This happened to me several years ago when I was looking for a place to rent. The estate agent was extolling the virtues of the place. It looked ok from the outside. She went in first and was going on about it. As soon as I stepped inside I was enveloped in a very dark, sinister energy. I could not get out of there fast enough! I’ve had other experiences like that but nothing as strong as that particular time.
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Thank you for stopping by and for sharing your story – good for you for tuning into your feeling and acknowledging it!
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Many thanks for following redflagflying, which is much appreciated.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Reblogged this on Ancien Hippie.
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Thanks much for following my blog! I love yours–good reading!
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Likewise! 🙂
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