How to Overcome a Fear of the Spirit World

Several years ago I really wanted to open up to the spirit realm and learn to connect with my spirit guides, but for months on end, fear stood in my way. I was scared of seeing/hearing ghosts, disembodied voices, evil entities and even my own spirit guides. I felt that hardly anyone could help me overcome this issue and most of those who did just said I had to ‘face the fear’, which I felt wasn’t much help because I was paralyzed by it!  Later on I had some help and reassurance from other psychics and had many breakthroughs of my own in my understanding of the spirit world, which helped me to deconstruct my fear and see it for what it was. I will share some of these breakthroughs in this post.

Before I do, I just want to highlight that a certain level of comfort with exploring the spirit realm is definitely something worth attaining. We are meant to keep a connection to our own spirit. We are meant to receive guidance from our spirit guides. Connecting with spirit makes life easier and saves us hassle and energy when we’re going down the wrong road.

Here are some of my insights on fear of the spirit realm and how to overcome it:

Where Fear Comes From

Fear can be constructive in that it alerts us to danger. If we’re about to be pushed off a cliff, we will naturally feel some fear because we’re in danger of dying. And of course this kind of fear serves us.

But sometimes it’s difficult to distinguish between when you’re perceiving a really dangerous situation and when you’re pre-empting the possibility of danger in the future. For many people, fear has become an automatic response to protect them when they’re encountering new situations. So often when we’re in unknown territory, fear comes along and rears its head. ‘Watch out! You don’t know this territory! Anything could happen!’

How helpful is this? Not very, in my view. Being in a state of fear is stressful, for the body, mind and spirit. Instead of allowing our fear to alert us to a real possibility of danger, we can be enslaved to our fear and constantly on edge, just in case something bad happens.

As fear is often unjustified, it can be helpful to challenge our fears when we’re doing something new. Fear is seldom alerting us to a genuine danger and this applies to psychic development too. What are you actually afraid of? You need to get clear on this so that you can deconstruct your fear. And deconstruct it you should, because a fear of the spirit world is usually based on lack of a consciousness.

But the Spirit World Is Frightening, Isn’t It?

When I was doing psychic development, the preempting gremlins who used to pop up and alert me to danger ahead were the people around me. Some people felt I was in putting myself in a vulnerable position by exploring the spirit world and they told me so.

In our collective consciousness there definitely exists a belief that it’s better not to mess with the spirit realm. I heard that a lot when I was starting out – some people around me felt that I was playing with fire. Luckily I understood the spirit world enough to know that wasn’t true and I continued in my intuitive development. But those sorts of attitudes are enough to put many beginners off.

This collective attitude of fear stems from a lack of understanding of the spirit realm and how it helps us. Cultures who have a tradition of understanding and working with the spirit realm have no fear of it. For the Native Americans, for example, there is nothing scary about connecting with Spirit or with deceased ancestors. The very fact that we call connecting with spirit ‘supernatural’ is telling. We make it into something that is unnatural, when spirit is who we are. We are meant to embrace the physical and spiritual worlds equally, not fear them.

Our Culture Has Made an Industry Out of the ‘Supernatural’

It’s no wonder many of us are terrified of meeting ghosts in the night when we have the film industry which makes money from arousing a fear of the spirit realm. People will pay to be scared and thrilled, so it’s more profitable to exploit people’s fears than it is to portray reality. However, while people are paying to be scared, they’re unconsciously learning that the spirit realm is weird, terrifying and dangerous. If you see these movies and know little about the spiritual realm, you may end up believing that if you develop psychic abilities, you risk having objects moving around your living room, voices coming from your walls and faces appearing on your kitchen tiles. I can assure you that the reality of it is much less eventful. I see spirits (in my mind’s eye) and I hear a voice, (my inner voice – it sounds just like my own voice, so it’s not in the least bit scary).

Thankfully, scary happenings have just not been a part of my psychic development experience. I have not seen a spirit in front of me looking like a real person since I was a small child. I have heard voices (like whisperings) upon occasion, but there is really nothing scary or intimidating about it. It was interesting more than scary. And this is the opinion of someone who two years ago was so paralyzed by fear of ghosts that I would not get up in the night to use the bathroom!

Negative Forces

And then there is the fear of evil. If we open ourselves up to Spirit, don’t we encounter good spirits and bad spirits? I was scared more than once upon hearing that negative forces exist and that they eat girls like me for breakfast.

Yes, low-vibrational spirits do exist. Low-vibrational spirits tend to be earthbound spirits who are a bit lost and stuck. These spirits may appear to be malevolent or even demonic entities, but they’re not. Before you go thinking that you are being pursued by a negative entity, have a read of this article, to see how it’s common to mistake earthbound spirits for negative entities: Encounters with Ghosts

If you really feel that you’ve come across a low-vibrational spirit, which I doubt unless you’ve been messing with ouija boards, the most important thing to know is that low-vibrational spirits may look scary if you don’t know much about them, but once you understand how they function, you realize that they are nowhere near as scary as they appear. Let me explain…

We, as beings of Light get our vital life force from Source/God/the Creator (choose your favourite word). This is the energy which animates us, which feeds us.

Low-vibrational energies on the other hand are energies who feel separated from Source or God thus they feel they have no energy source of their own. Because they think they have no energy source of their own, they draw their power from other beings (like vampires). They do this by feeding off negativity in beings of light. This is why earthbound spirits attach to us – to draw energy from us.

But we need to remember that there is no ‘source’ of darkness to contend with. There is no Devil. Source or God is the only energy that is. Negative energy exists wherever there is an absence of Source, or light energy.

When you feel fear in the presence of a low-vibrational entity, that can in some cases nourish the entity and it grows and expands. It can even get scarier and scarier in proportion to your fear. You’re the one who’s feeding it. Quite simply, they are only as powerful as you allow them to be.

The first time I stood up to what I thought was a low-vibrational spirit it was so unscary it was laughable (in hindsight, it was probably an earthbound spirit that I mistook for a negative entity.) Either way, it was a bit like a kid in a Scream mask on Halloween. Take his mask off and underneath is someone who’s just getting off on scaring people. If you don’t realize that his mask is just a mask, you may run away, screaming. You can be sure that the entity will run after you, to get more fear energy out of you. But if you turn back and face the entity and run after it and de-mask it, the entity will then go and find someone else to scare. Simple as that.

So, Some Principles to Remember When Exploring the Spirit Realm:

  • Fear is based on a lack of consciousness about what you’re up against
  • Just because other people think the spirit realm might be scary doesn’t mean it is
  • Interaction with the spirit world is natural and beneficial and many native cultures think nothing of calling on their ancestors or guides
  • Focus on your fear and it will grow.

Meet Anna

Hi, I’m Anna Sayce! My purpose here on this website is to provide practical techniques and information to help empaths to understand, and fix the root of their energetic overwhelm & also to help sensitives to embrace and develop their intuitive gifts. I believe that developing our spiritual & intuitive side is very powerful and allows us to improve our own lives, and if we wish, even make the world a better place for others. Discover more >

35 Comments

  1. Ariff

    I was just doing The Work on some limiting beliefs this morning, and got stuck on a “I’m worthless” and “I’m useless” thought. Was confused because the thought seemed to come from outside of me, and no amount of questioning could seem to dislodge it.

    Stumbling on your post then your link in Steve’s forum and finding this site was very synchronicitical (is that correct?). Just what I needed. Of course, my spirit guides had to get my attention by the post titled “sex”. LOL.

    Well written post. Now if only I’ve read this 16 years ago…

  2. Anna

    Hi Ariff – thanks!

    I have to admit I was intrigued by the same post title 🙂

    Regarding those thoughts – can you remember any past events or situations in your life which may have reinforced the thoughts ‘I’m worthless/useless’? if you can, you can use my healing method # 3 (angelic healing) on those events (https://annasayce.com/four-ways-to-heal-yourself/). It really works!

  3. Ariff

    That’s funny. It actually does work! Haha! Now I know who to put on my spiritual speed dial 😉

  4. bingz

    Hello Anna!

    that’s a wonderful article! thank for sharing all your intuitive / psychic experiences so generously on the blog. love your site! =)

  5. Anna

    Hi Bingz, thanks for your comments 🙂 Glad you like my site!

  6. Isaac Yassar

    Hi Anna. Thanks for your response. I like your post and learn new things here. I hope I will make it!

    Cheers 😀

  7. Anna

    Hi Isaac, Glad this was helpful. Good luck 🙂

  8. liv

    Fantastic post! You write so beautifully. Your assesment of fear regarding the spirit world is so thorough and defininetly rang true for me. I wish you the best of luck on your path. 🙂

  9. Neo

    Cool.

    It’s good to know some people knew about this and really believe it.
    Great site. Great article. Great everything.

    Thanks for posting.

  10. sunshine

    Thank you so much for posting this. i really am grateful!

  11. Heidi

    Thank you so much for sharing this information and your experience. As I have spiritual grown – I have notice more spirits around me – and last night I had an experience of what we could say may have been negative, however, I think the only thing negative was that I was feeding big into my fears and an overactive imagination. When I awoke this morning I was tired from crying – I was literally crying because of the fear had overwhelmed me, and caused confusion. This morning when I talked to the angels they recommended to me to take the day off – and to look up spirits. I was told by my guardian angel that they would help me find something that would ease all this tension, and it is your website I ended up on. I have chills right now as I write no not due to fear 🙂 but they are telling me I have found what I was searching for today. Now, I know it is my fear – so now I can offer that up and have that transmuted into something much more positive in God’s light – I thank you so much, and much love and light to you.

  12. Penny

    I found your site looking for an explanation to scratching sounds in the walls, doors sounding like they are being kicked, popping sounds in the tvs and the refrigerator. While surfing, I realized there are many other unexplained things going on in this place that are typical signs of spirits. My cat hears the same things I hear and he is more afraid than I am, though I am beginning to be afraid. When I first came here, I felt a presence come up behind me, I was standing at the sink. I honestly thought it was my boy-friend and I raised my neck and turned to see nothing there. I felt a tall person come up to my back and I could feel him, I assumed him, from my head down to my feet. I felt comforted and not at all afraid. Now I am hearing all kinds of strange pops, scratches, and bumps and my boyfriend says it’s the structure expanding and contracting. I’m not buying in to that for an explanation of everything here. My daughter said she felt a hand on her pillow moving back and forth, and she could hear it also. She said something is moving her bead. I have been waking up in the middle of the night, sitting straight up in the bed, and letting out a yell, like Ah!, just one Ah. I have no recolection of a dream or anything thing else that could have scared me. Then I go back to sleep. Lately I have been waking up and not knowing what is waking me up, and I can’t go back to sleep and I hear all kinds of unexplainable sounds and it’s scaring me. The night before last it was a tree scrapping the outside of the house, as if moved by the wind. There is NO tree near enough to the house to touch it. Then I heard the scratching in the space between the two floors. It sounded like mice, but there are no mice. What bothers me the most is the sounds in the doors; popping, knocking, kicking sounds. Just one at a time…not like someone knocking at your door to see if you are home. It happens all of the time and more often now than ever before. I have had psychic experiences before in my past, in the way of dreams, or just out of the clear blue; but those were when I was much younger. I read your article and I appreciate you putting it there for us to read. I have to say that your picture totally took me off guard, you look EXACTLY like my step-daughter who passed away a couple of years ago. Just coincidence I’m sure, but you do look exactly like her in your picture there. Her name is Tammy and I’m sure her spirit cannot rest as her life was one traumatic and heart-breaking event after another. I always felt sorry for her, though I didn’t realize just how fragile she was until her sudden death with a lethal combination of drugs. Ok, now I’m rambling, sorry. Can you tell me what you think are the reasons for these sounds?

  13. Joseph

    Psychic but sane
    psychic and* sane

    😉

  14. France

    Thanks so much for this article. I have been trying to figure out how to clear out my negativity that seems stuck to me without my permission. I was told by a psychic that there I had negativity and I am a positive person so it concerned me. I am beginning to think that the main problem is my fear of some things. This article came at a good time for me to read. I was going to ask you about something else but now I think I will wait and concentrate on this nugget. Thanks again.

  15. geert

    Awesome, after reading your free e-book, this is what I needed to read next. You are truely a wonderful soul. Bless you for writing all these articles and showing your fellow humans the way. Namaste

  16. Anna

    Thank you Geert for your compliment, don’t know if I am showing anyone the way but glad that people resonate with it all the same 🙂

  17. Paloma Blanca

    Hi Anna,

    This article has helped me understand alot of what been going on my life lately. Its true what you say about fear. The more you feed it, the more it grows.

    I have had psychic experience as I was younger but really didn’t development them. One because i didn’t know to use or understand and two of fear. Now, I’m at the point in life where I have my religious beliefs interfere in my decision in learning how to develop them.

    I didn’t want to believe in ghosts but some how they are getting back in my life. Some are concerned about my suffering and other concerned that I’m ignoring them even if they have no relation to me at all. I don’t to understand much but would like to know “WHY?”

    Also, if evil or negative entities are to show a person who they are, is it possible that a person maybe cursed with a negative entities and all it wants to do is to see this person lost and alone as well as never to be successful?

    Thanks

  18. Alice

    I always find that I stumble upon the right website at the right time. It was only last night that my fella told me I am more scared of spirits than I let on. Realising this I know I needed to change it, because I like them being there, I know they cant harm me, and I know that they will not reveal themselves to me (because deep down that will freak me out) I see lights, shapes, and sometimes shadows. Its the shadows that I dont like, and I will be facing them head on next time. I know that once I have faced my fear, I will be able to progress.
    Thank you, this has helped me allot!

  19. Anna

    Hi Paloma,

    Apologies for the delayed reply.

    I have to say these days I never encounter any kind of negative entity. In fact, I believe that much of the time, when people think they’re encountering negative beings, they’re actually coming across earthbound spirits who seem negative, but who are not inherently negative.

    If you’re interested in reading more about my take on this, I recently wrote an article about it: https://annasayce.com/encounters-with-ghosts/

  20. Angela W.

    Anna,
    Thank you for this post, and the rest of your blog. I so value your clarity, and your no-nonsense approach to the world of spirit.
    I’m often challenged by how energy workers so blithely (and, in my mind, incorrectly) equate darkness/blackness with negativity. After all, whiteness represents death (for many, the ultimate in negativity) in some cultures, and negative people often surround themselves, drape themselves in whiteness.
    But why aren’t people seeing how their fear of the dark is a major leak of their energy and personal power, and that the “dark” is just like the light, in that both contain all energies? Isn’t the goal to work with all energies, to see into them? To understand (if not accept) them?
    I sometimes remind people that slapping a label on something means you remain ignorant of all it contains. Instead of labelling it, why don’t you ask questions. After all, there are all kinds of darkness, all kinds of “blackness.” What kind of dark is it: is it dark purple, or a rich sable brown? Is it dense, thick? Is there something there for you to know? Just saying, “Ooh, dark!!” and running away doesn’t inform one in the least. Besides making one look like a fear-driven ninny…
    I wonder, too, how “light” workers think this equation makes dark people feel, to constantly be linked to/equated with negativity, and baseness? (Do not get me started on the opposite message…)
    And my White friends always say, “Oh, it’s different; it’s not about race.” That would be easier to believe if so many White people (in the States, anyway) weren’t afraid (in some cases, terrified) of Black people, of darkness. Example, our own President was lauded by his VP as a “good” Black person because he was “light” and “clean.” Photos of black stars are often “lightened”, while images of criminals are usually darkened.
    So we bring all of this in our thinking, in our fears, in our language. I’d love to see the day when “light” workers are more than “white” workers.

  21. Raven

    Hi Anna, we all have our own opinions about the “dark” side of life. In my experience, I don’t see darkness as separate from the source of all life. Even the nice example you give from “Conversations with God” shows that darkness, and light are from the same Source…

    “… the big bang was effectively a shattering of God energy into small particles (souls), so that God could experience itself as many polar opposites, including positive and negative, hot and cold, male and female, light and dark.”

    The Source of life is both shadow, and light. I feel it’s a shame that for centuries, established religions have known this, but, teach the laity only about the goodness of light, and that darkness is nothing but evil. We have bought into it at the cost of the stunting of our own spiritual growth. It has been used against us to keep us tame, and fearful.
    However, as the human spirit evolves, we will (and are!)begin to see the untruths of such teachings, and how they were used to chain us to the dogmas of the popular religions. As we break free and learn the truth that we come from a Source made up of both shadow, and light (thus, we are both shadow and light!), we will learn to embrace the different facets of ourselves in a healthier way, and grow beyond the spiritual constraints, and religious lies of the past.

    Raven

  22. Chad

    Thank you for this post! I was just researching my own fear similar to what you address in your post!

  23. Jan

    Anna help!! I know of a friend who told me of her life with her parents in their haunted house!! I feel empathetic and compassionate for her, because she has been so negative and dejected lately! I want to do something to help her, but I just don’t want to barge in her house and have a “feel for it.” Should I do your trick of sending an angel gift box to my friend? I really want her to be safe, happy, and content with life as I am. Please answer me back either here or by email, because this is like my only way of talking to you!

  24. james

    Today was the first time I strted meditation to develop psychic abilities. I know now things take time and that we need to pay attention to details in our experriences. While meditating today I began to feel as I was starting to tune into something but I only had a flash of something it was fast then it dissapeared. The flash was of a friends face that is the only thing I saw was her face and she did not look well. I have not seen rhis person in years and I have only kept in touch through facebook. Well just a bit ago after my experrience, rhis friend sent me a message that she was not well and she was ill and was in the hospital. At that moment I understood that my vision was not by accident. I am a former depty sheriff and I am sometimes skeptical until today. What ability would you call this. And how do I keep the tuning of rhis channel open for a longer period of time. Thank you.

  25. tha

    hello anna,
    Thank you for this very good artikele.
    I have never experienced anything with spirits but I lately have been getting really scared to get an interaction with them. I was wondering if that will attract them? It’s on my mind allot and this fear that I will attract them by being scared for them. It gets big when im in my bed at night. Because you mentioned you 2 years ago used to be so scared u wouldn’t dare to go to the bathroom yet u didn’t say u interacted with them in that period.
    because besides this fear(which is hard to fight since i have a mild anxiatie disorder) Im a really positive and happy person and very happy with my life.

    would really appreciate a reaction,
    thanks in advance 🙂

  26. Tommy

    I seen like um a girl in a mirror in the complete darkness. She had like… Night vision color green-blue eyes and that was the only color i seen from her. But I noticed that it looked like the ghost girl from oculus the movie, and well in kindof still scared due to my reaction to it. I didn’t even realize the next 5 seconds but I ran and I didn’t know where until after this 5 seconds. I ran into my dads arms and told him what I seen. I just hear like, dragging noises at night and wispering, but I read the intriguing article and I think in creating my own fear. I feel better from reading this article. And sorry to the people that see this because I told my friends and now their scared to look in mars and things like that.

  27. Hallie

    Thanks so much for this!
    I have had fear of spirits drilled into me starting when I saw my first spirit when I was young and my grandfather, probably not believing me, told me to tell it to go away. Everything stopped and then my mom switched religions and “our” new religion taught that spirits are all demons. Lately though, I have had a huge surge of spirit activity around me and it got bad once I became afraid.
    Thank you for the reminder that I need to face my fears.

  28. Bee

    Does this apply to everyone even if they’re not psychic?

  29. Tesla

    Thanks! I’m a medium but I always shut off my ability because I’m scared. lol. I especially am scared of the dark. This helped put my mind at ease.

  30. Liana

    This article is the breath of fresh air that i needed. I had some bad information about negative ‘dark’ energies and ‘demons’ that i did not understand and it has been tormenting me for months. I too have been terrified to walk around my own house at night afraid of what may be lurking in the darkness! Thank you for this lesson, I don’t know why it took me so long to get here but finally i see that i have nothing to fear. My new reality begins today 🙂

  31. Alexandra

    Thank you! (A)

  32. Jo

    Hello! Several years ago when I was younger I saw several things that frightened me very much. There was a period of time when every night my door would move like a pendulum, and I saw this one same ghost twice(once standing in my room. Once in my dreams where she said it looked like I wasn’t breathing and asked if I was okay), a white, glowing ghost in my friend’s house, and a spirit(?)that looked exactly like the Grim Reaper(blackest cloak I’ve ever seen, tall as my ceiling, and it even had a wicked looking scythe). I walked over the threshold of my door and saw a girl’s body being dragged down what looked to be a pool entrance(you know, like the old fashioned ones that are completely concrete and have a big door at the end leading to a pool). I was terrified, and I began to refuse to even look around at night, and I put things in front of my door. It’s been a few years and I just saw a spirit at my friends house. Can you please give me advice for how to hone this and overcome my fears? Also, what what I’ve seen possibly means?

    Thank you,
    Jo

  33. Chelse pray

    Hi.
    I have been able to see spirits sense I was little. And things you said made so much sense. Recently I got an apartment and I think there was a spirit that was an earthbound spirit. I was laying in bed and something had happened and I confronted it and had no problem after. But last night I was driving on a road and I felt the urge to turn around. In the middle there was a woman and I drove past her and that urge you were talking about happened. It was a shock of depression, hatred, and hopelessness. It stayed with me in the car until I left that road. I would just like to know how I could learn to control my fear so I don’t have anything that bad happen again… thank you

  34. Cait

    Hi there ! Fab article ! Exactly what I was needing to read! I became scared during one of my meditations when I started to think of dark spirits, I got told by my guides to leave for my own safety which really scared me, but I knew I had to go back in and face my fear of them in order to get back into my own meditation & healing, I managed to do it with help from my guides but still felt uneasy after the experience and luckily enough I’ve found your article which has helped me to let go and realise it’s my own energy to blame and I need to stop thinking in those ways

    Love & light 🙂

  35. Natasha

    Hi Anna,

    Brilliant article, thank you so much! This really helped.

    Since I’ve gone vegan, I have been much more receptive to “outer” energies than ever, and lately, I have been feeling uneasy and scared most of the time. I also saw some people saying that our spirit guides are actually demons, but I am finding that hard to believe, because they always seem to help me and lead me in the right direction and the right articles full of light and love 😉 I think that for the most part, all the fear is actually on our head and as you said, based on the Hollywood movies we watched over the years, and we tend to wind ourselves up ( I know I do ).
    Either way, thanks again, your kind words made me calmer and made the fear seem unreasonable.

    God bless

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