Were you fascinated by ghosts as child? I know I was. I would spend my lunch times in the school library, looking at books about ghosts and scaring myself silly with ghost pictures, like this one:
(This is a famous photograph taken in Newby Church, Yorkshire, and although it looks kind of fake to me now, it didn’t when I was a child!)
I was both fascinated and terrified by ghosts growing up. My first brush with a ghost was when I was about five or six years old, in our family home. The more I developed my intuitive abilities in my early twenties, the more I perceived ghosts. In my own home I rarely came into contact with a ghost, but I regularly came into contact with ghosts in hotels and in friends’ houses.
I spent the last three and a half weeks on holiday in England. During my holiday, I visited Blickling Hall in Norfolk, which is the supposed birthplace of Anne Boleyn (the second wife of King Henry VIII, who was beheaded by him in 1536 for adultery). Legend has it her birthplace Blickling Hall is haunted by her headless ghost, among the many ghosts that reside there.
I was looking forward to having a look inside and seeing what I might ‘pick up’ about the place but unfortunately only the grounds were open – the actual building was shut for the winter.
The afternoon spent at Blickling Hall reminded me that I’ve never written about the topic of ghosts, even though I get lots of questions about ghosts from readers.
What Are Ghosts?
Ghosts are the mental and emotional bodies of the deceased. (Another term for them is ‘earthbound spirits’.)
They exist in the astrals, but have not fully crossed over to the astral realm and so a part of them is still on Earth. They are often found in hospitals, police stations, funeral parlours, cemeteries, bars, clubs, and hotels.
Ghosts can stay behind on the earth plane for a variety of reasons. For example, if a recently deceased soul believes they have done something wrong that they will be judged for, they may refuse to cross over. Or if a soul had an addiction when they were incarnated that they are not ready to release, they may also be reluctant to cross over. And when someone dies suddenly and unexpectedly and the person is too shocked and distressed to cross over and leave their life behind, they may choose to stay on the earth plane. Unfinished business can also cause a soul to keep a part of themselves on the earth plane, long after their life has ended.
(Important note: don’t confuse ghosts with the popular term ‘negative entities’. Ghosts are not scary or even inherently negative – they were once incarnated people.)
How Ghosts Affect us
Ghosts can occupy homes and can attach to peoples’ auras too. When they do this, they drain energy, which is one reason why it’s not a good idea to keep ghosts hanging around, no matter how much we like them!
One ghost will drain a very small amount of energy. But the more ghosts you have hanging around you, the more draining it becomes. The second reason why ghosts are to be avoided is because by nature they are emotionally unstable and very susceptible to negative emotions. When they attach to someone, they amplify and echo any pain and negative emotion in a person’s energy field. So if you feel angry and have one hundred earthbound spirits in your energy field, that anger will be amplified. The same goes for any fear, pain or guilt. Those negative emotions can be reduced by removing any earthbound spirits that are present (although note that removing the spirits might do nothing to remove the actual root cause of the negative emotion – these spirits simply echo negative emotion that is already there – they do not create it.)
What’s It Like When a Ghost Comes a-knocking?
Perhaps you have also had the experience of feeling a presence in your home or somewhere else. Here’s what it feels like for me:
It often happens as I’m falling asleep. The sides of my head get hot and start tingling. Next, faces I don’t recognize start flashing through my mind’s eye furiously and usually, one or two will stick in my mind’s eye. If I attempt to sleep, I get woken up, sometimes as often as every ten minutes or so and it feels like someone has hit me on the side of the head to wake me. (This happens mostly in hotels and friends’ houses – it has only happened once in my own home.) If it goes on for long enough, I can clearly see in my mind’s eye the entity that is bothering me. The last time this happened in a friend’s house, I was told by the family living there that the description I gave of the entity I saw in my mind’s eye matched exactly the previous owner of the house who was known to be haunting the property.
Who Attracts Ghosts?
Sensitive, empathic and intuitive people often notice ghosts. And ghosts notice sensitive people and are attracted to their auras because they are so open.
Your aura may be even more open if you practise automatic writing, channelling or mediumship, and you are willing to channel whoever ‘comes through’. Ideally, you would want to be channelling your Guides in spirit or your Higher self – not just any old spirit. For this reason, I recommend starting an automatic writing session by addressing your Higher self or Spirit Guides. Because if you are willing to open up to whoever comes through, you may actually be channelling the emotional body of a ghost who is still around on earth because they couldn’t let go of their physical addiction (as an example). That’s the earthly equivalent of asking someone who is on drugs or addicted to drugs, for advice on your latest life issue. It’s possible that you might not get very helpful advice because it is could be coming from a place of stuckness and fear (remember that many ghosts won’t cross over because of fear, pain or sometimes a desire for revenge.)
In the first chapter of my Intuitive Awakening Course, we get clear on who it is OK to channel, for exactly this reason – there is no point asking for advice from disembodied entities who have no more (or even a lot less) perspective than you do on your own life. If you do end up channelling a ghost, the channelled information may not be very coherent or helpful.
How to Avoid Channelling Ghosts
To prevent ghosts entering your aura, don’t open yourself up to channel just any old spirit. Instead, channel your Higher self or the beings who were assigned to you to help you on your path (i.e. Spirit Guides and Guardian Angels.) When you do channeling, request to channel your Spirit Guides, Guardian Angels or Higher self only – those beings who are with you at the choice of your soul.
Those who smoke marijuana can also attract ghosts in even larger numbers because this substance opens up your aura to these spirits.
What about you – ever had an encounter with a ghost? What happens for you when you perceive one? Do you have any further questions about ghosts? (I may write another article on this subject.) Feel free to share your experiences in the comments.
It’s good to see an update, Anna! I love this blog and get all excited when I see something from you. 😛
I used to talk to ghosts a lot when I was small. It’s curious you should mention this drain on energy – not long after I started talking to them I sort of… lost it… to put it simply. My mental health plummeted. I was paranoid and became very fearful. It’s nowhere near as bad as it was, but it never really went away. I always thought it was due to my mental illnesses cropping up back then, but I wonder if it part of it was due to that draining you mentioned.
For years now, I’ve been extremely protective of my space and put up shields regularly around my room to keep it safe from visitors. Whenever I feel something nearby I send it packing. It’s nice to have space to myself!
I also wonder – do you have any plans to write about star travellers again soon? It was something that strongly resonated with me (I recall you saying I had a “Nihal vibe”, as well, back when I commented as Zora.) but goodness knows I can’t find any information on it! Haha.
Hope you post again soon, I love your blog!
Hi Dusty, happy to hear that you are still enjoying the blog! 🙂
It’s good that you have a way of protecting your space.
I don’t have plans to write more about the star travellers for the moment, the information I do have about them is contained in my Akashic Record Reading Program – https://annasayce.com/the-professional-intuitive-training-certification-program/
Oh my word, that picture of the ghostly monk used to freak me out when I was a child! I remember being totally fascinated yet terrified at the same time 🙂
Like you, I only ever see things in my mind’s eye, but I know a couple of people who have seen ghosts as clearly as if they were physical people standing in front of them (until they faded away!). They’re not people who consider themselves psychic in any way, they’ve just had a few experiences like this over the years.
Could you also write more about the experience of faces flashing before you as you fall asleep – I know someone who’s experiencing this at the moment for the first time and is quite scared by it.
You know that mention about marijuana totally resonates with me because I do have a friend that smokes the substance on a daily basis. And he’s been using the substance for 10+ years. It’s safe to say he has a lot of psychological problems especially with paranoia. He did say that he would sometimes go into people’s houses and feel like something happened and turns out there was a murder or some tragic event.
There’s a show on A&E called Psychic Kids and it’s very interesting in that teenagers born with the ability sort of go on a psychic summer camp to work on their abilities. And the recurring theme is that those kids have an unhealthy ability to pick up on spirits and the problem is that they’re overwhelmed with all the spiritual data.
I’ve never personally experienced a ghost and I have to admit I almost want to see one just to experience it. But now with this blog I know it’s better to stay away from them he he!
I’d love it if you wrote more about this! I’ve only ever really felt recently deceased loved ones around. Though I’m sure i’ve felt other ghosts but am just in denial 🙂
I get the faces flashing in front of me before I go sleep sometimes (or just after I’ve woken up). Since I get clairvoyant visions that way, I just assumed I’d figure out who the faces are down the line. But perhaps they’re just various earthbound spirits visiting me? Recently, my deceased grandparents and aunt have appeared in my mind’s eye and that’s never happened before, even though they’ve been deceased for years. I don’t get scared at all, just treat it as though they’re stopping by to say hello!
The weird thing is when I get alien faces looking back at me. What is that do you think?
Anna, thank you for the interesting post.
I am wondering if there are earthbound spirits that are not diseased human beings, but some other beings.
This happens to me as well, but not with any consistency. When I do see faces they are always different as far as I can remember. Mostly they just seem to be passing through, but very occasionally they project nasty feelings which force me to wake back up again and shake them off, so to speak.
I never thought they could be ghosts until I read this though. You say that most ghosts have some fear or pain which is why they are still here. Maybe this is why the best feeling any of these encounters has left me with is ambivalence?
I’ve never seen alien faces, but once or twice the human faces have been pretty warped and angry, needless to say those were the times I had to wake up!
Actually on that show they help the kids avoid the overwhelming psychic data that is ruining their lives. There was an episode of a teenager girl who had to drop out of high school because she could not control her ability to channel spirits.
You can check it out some more at http://www.aetv.com/psychic-kids/
Thanks for the blogs, they are great! I have the visions when I close my eyes at night too. I never thought of it as people visiting me, I like that way of looking at. I thought I was just picking up on stuff out in the universe. It sounds like people are saying that when this occurs it is actually contact by a spirit? I never thought of this…there is a presence I feel behind my couch, I just recognize it and respect it, I allow it to be.
Well, we must have been on the same wavelength! I posted a story on ghosts the other day as well. Mine was about a haunted store I worked it. What a great example of synchronicity.
I am intrigued with the spiritual cleansing idea….I would love to learn more.
I’m not to certain where I sit in all of this…. | know I’ve had contact but cannot place what I would call myself.
thanks for this information on your website
I had nearly or over a million (can’t remember the exact number) earthbound spirits removed from my aura and home. This was a home where a lot of pot smoking occurred. From my aura alone, I had about 25,500 removed. I felt SO much better after getting a cleansing. I felt lighter and I stopped being so accident prone.
Do consider getting them out of your aura and home. They do not belong there. That is YOUR aura and YOUR home. A cleansing is a respectful healing for you AND the spirits.
I felt a dark presence in my parents’ house a few months after my brother died. It was a very unpleasant feeling – like some other entity was trying to take over their house. I prayed very hard, even though I thought I was probably imagining things.
I have felt 2 ghosts in my flat. One was unpleasant and gave me a massive shake – so I could barely move (cue praying and blessing). The second seems benign. It appears before midnight. If I sit in a certain seat I can feel it and smell pipe smoke. It all feels quite real – though still feels as though I might be imagining it!
Catriona – that sounds absolutely terrifying! Have you thought about having the ghosts removed from your flat?
i have been experiencing alot of paranormal activity lately including seen a shadow figure. i have seen things all of my life..never have been diagnosed with any mental health issue and have a medical background/education. but lately its becoming more and more of an occurrence, things moved, noises are heard, doors open and close. this morning i heard the voice of a woman or young man and felt and incredible numb feeling all over which subsided into a feeling of being drained of my energy..then i saw a bottle of cleaner that i had been looking for all morning sitting out for me to find in the middle bathroom counter minutes after i had wiped it down with just plain soap and water. 🙁 i am not afraid…just getting to the point of second guessing myself and if this is all really happening. 🙁
When I came back home to my parents house after becoming aware of a spirit at university halls I tried to tell it (just kind of said it in my head) that it wasn’t allowed to come into the house. Purely because my parents are Christians and I didn’t think it was fair on them. Their house might have some kind of protection because of their faith and I still wasn’t sure what this spirit was.
One night I was downstairs late at night and I saw his face at the window next to the door (It’s kind of like the Easter Island statues except not so long and there’s holes where the eyes should be like a mask). I felt kind of bad for leaving him out in the cold. But from what I’ve learnt from Anna that’s probably the best place for him :/
Hello Anna, I haven’t personally seen a Ghost b4, but i reeaally want 2oo, and i hope 2one day be able2, but my Dad has….He used 2have a Ghost Dog, that he used 2b able 2see years ago..but i think it scared him..it was years ago, when he was alot younger..and i completely believe him, because my Dads a skeptic, and seems very closed minded, aaaand then, a few weeks ago, i get home, and he tells me that he just a Ghost little girl, at my sisters house….She is VERY sick, and they were over there, cleaning her house 4her. I’m thinking, that with all my talk in the last few months (i’m alot more open about it all now, the more i believe), may have opened up his mind, 2b able 2see another Ghost of late. It makes me wonder, why the Ghost girl is there tho’, and if she needs help..shes all on her own, i think!!-Wish i could help her, but i don’t seem 2have that gift, just now. And also, my eldest sister, saw three Ghosts 2gether-She woke up, one night, and saw three faces looking over her..She screamed, turned on the light, and woke her Hubby, at the time….Since then, she always leaves the light on, when she goes 2bed….And you know what….that reeeeaaaally angers me..they have gifts 4reasons, and they r wasting them, noth 2mention, all those poor Ghosts, that used 2b people, and r having trouble crossing over..they need help!!..I wish i could help them, and the world!!!!
Hi Very interesting. My mother passed in March, my father is final stage Parkinson’s and I have a Shaman working with him – dying consciously. She takes his soul on the journey so that when the time comes he knows the way. The reason I write is that he’s recently moved closer to departing and the shaman couldn’t “find” him when working one day and the next week my daughter told me she could see a man in a black coat inside our door. I asked her to point to exactly where he was and then I started a “bio-energy” healing session to clear and move him. This seemed to work; my daughter told me where he moved to and then she asked me to open the front door and he left.. I was a sceptic but now more fully understand the process and what happens. Love your website and all that you share.
Hello
I never considered my self a psychic or to have the ability to contact spirits. BUT there is a ghost in my bathroom… I’m certain of it… It steals my stuff then leaves it in plane sight so that I know I didn’t place it there. I don’t address the issue because its not my place to dabble in the spiritual realm. Secondly… I smoked week seriously for the first time and I saw a million faces and heard a million voices… So much that I screamed at the top of my lungs and cried louder than I’ve ever cried before. I shocked myself with how bad I freaked out. So it makes so much sense to hear that marijuana opens you up to spirits. I want to know how to close myself to these spirits. I really do.
Anna, thank you so much for your blog. I have experienced this since I was really little. I feel people around me all the time, especially at night when I’m trying to relax before going to sleep. I hear whispers, I mainly hear them calling my name. Recently, instead of the whispers, I heard someone, a man, yelling my name out. It sounded as if he was right next to my ear. It sctually scared the crap out of me. (They normally do) I don’t sleep very well most nights. I almost always do not have energy. It has gotten worse over the past year since we had moved into our place. I really feel at times that I am going completely insane. I don’t talk to them. I ignore them. I had a very bad experience when I was a little girl, so I refuse to talk to anyone unless I know them or they come to me in my dreams. I feel them around me almost all the time. I can sometimes even smell certain scents. Like flowers or perfume. How can I learn to not be afraid of everyone that comes to me?
Hi Anna. I have a question: I smoke marijuana ocassionally, and I’m also an intuitive person. Can I lose this gift by smoking marijuana?
I’ve started meditating. Took up Buddhist techniques, been looking into yogic techniques as well. Need less to say I’ve also been researching the occult, not to sure what to make of it due to all the doom, gloom, and secrecy it cultivates. Any ways, the other night before I went to sleep I had a interesting experience. I experienced a very loud muting sound in my right ear. Due to meditation I’ve developed a humming noise or the “Divine Ear” as it is called in Buddhism. After experiencing this loud muting noise a few moments later in my minds eye I saw a face, a smiling face. I also experienced some shivers as well. The face appeared to be child like, and behind the face I saw a lightning and storm clouds. I wasn’t too sure what to make of it. Definitely creeped me out. Don’t know if it deals with me studying occult literature online or what not, but I’d like some answers.
Hey Anna.
I’ve seen what I think to be ghosts/spirits around my house for about 5 years now, they’ve never done anything as such; except for disappear after a few seconds however I can always feel a presence. It came in the form of a young girl who would be in the kitchen or living room. Once i saw her walk through the patio door and into the hallway where I later heard screaming and banging. My little brother was stood next to me at the time and didn’t see a thing? It really freaks me out when I see her and i do not know what i’m supposed to do? I’m forever catching glimpses of shadows and hearing noises. Could you please tell me what this is? Thank you
Hey anna,
im 15 and my dad passed away two days before my 12th birthday due to depression/suicide. I used to live in new york and I recently moved to florida. I have been experiencing strange things. Recently I decided to pursue my career in the military after I get my high school diploma and I want to enlist into the Marines. About 1 or 2 nights after really thinking about enlisting into the Marines I had a dream(this was months before I started hearing a girl’s voice) but I had a dream. It scared me. I was a Marine sitting behind a sandbag bunker with other fellow US Marines and I’m smiling watching my post on top of a fortified rooftop and out of no where I hear one of the Marines next to me scream,”AMBUSH.” and out of no where I hear bullets wizz by my head and one bullet hits my neck and it was extremely hot and I felt the blood squirt everywhere. I then woke up right after that happened and I was sweating.(months later the voice began) At first it was just clearly whispering my name, it sounded like a girls voice. I asked if it was a girl I went to middle school with(she was hit by a car and killed instantly) but there was no answer. A few nights later I woke up from a dream in which I don’t recall but I immediately said,”Your mother?” I have no idea why I said it, but then again I have been joking around in school a lot saying Your mother to my friends, as a joke. But then I hear a response that say’s as clear as day,”Don’t talk about my mother.” I quickly said,”I’m sorry I didn’t mean it, it was a joke.” It’s response was either,”it’s okay, or okay.” Should I ask who they are? My dad? My middle school classmate that was hit by a car who I talked to in class? It sounds like a girl my age’s voice though! Should I be praying? Is it telling me not to pursue my dreams to become a United States Marine? I have plenty of questions to ask it, but Anna what do I do in your honest opinion!
Please Help!
The faces I see before I go to sleep can be injured or look like they have been partially decayed, is this what others see, how can I work on channelling spirits that aren’t like this? At times it gives me the creeps.
I am so glad I found this article! My husband is the only person in my family that understands. Ever since I was a little kid, I was “uncomfortable” in my home. Only in certain rooms, but those rooms have remained a constant. Now, returning home for visits, it is almost unbearable – to the point my husband will sleep in the recliner and I will sleep on the couch in the living room rather than stay in the guest room (my former room).
Over Christmas, I tried my hand at smudging for the first time, and though I felt a lightening, something happened I had NEVER had happen before. I was in the room with my cats in front of the corner I usually feel the most discomfort. I heard clearly “Mmmm” and instantly stopped for a second. I told myself, it’s ok if you heard something, and left the room. Later that day, I couldn’t get the thought of Native Americans out of my mind. Through long hours of research, I have discovered the land my hometown (and family home) sits on was the main area of certain tribes that had a war there over land many years before the Revolution. I felt I had found an answer the minute I began to read. The only problem is, the discomfort and unease is still there. I’d love to know if there is anything I can do to “clear the air”, because it is awkward to explain to others and highly upsets my grandmother that I won’t stay in that room.
Hi Melissa,
It would help to get a property clearing done with a reputable practitioner. You could ask around any friends who are spiritual or sensitive to energy. Or look online.
Hi anna, My first experience with a ghost. I moved into a new home an old cottage that used to be part of thr farm opposite, i had recently had some shamanic healing done and I had bought my self a few crystals, I had nodded off on my bed with a lump of tigers eye on my brow. I slightly awoke turned light off and I then experienced a vibration/shaking of my bed and as i’m new to all this I put it down to the crystals. I then experienced the most awful thing i was literally fighting off something that i could not see but could feel what it was trying to do to me very scary of a sexual nature I tried to scream and could not.After fighting for my life so it felt like i managed to wake my self up and was quite shaken and scared out of my wits. I did manage to move after awhile and get into bed with my 10 yr old daughter. I have smudged cleared my house on numerous occasions, I have asked it to leave me and my house, but every night i get into bed and i turn the lamp off my bed shakes, i dont like to be in the house alone, or go to bed on my own, every time I try to do something positive like meditate or just think positively my thoughts some how end off being really horrible to the point i have to stop and do something else, No one believes me when i say my bed shakes i have even asked my mum to stop but it didn’t do it that night but it happens when my daughter is asleep beside me, Its putting me off my spsiritual journey, I say prayers every night to my guides and angels but it even said in my ear one night whilst praying that it was my angel in a very scary voice in fact it posed as my guardian angel for awhile as someone told me to ask my guardian angel what there name was, so on asking this outloud I got the name george thomas, so i then started addressing it as george alot which i think gave it power, I’m just trying to get some answers or help and guidence really as i have thought about moving out of my beautiful dream home and now i have the oppurtunity to buy it and i’m scared to because of the un ease i feel when i’m in there, also i found out that there has been people connected to the farm with that name and i think he was a farm bailiff back in the 17 something century x
Thanks for your insight on this topic. I recently found out that I am an empath. I don’t exactly know how to channel my guardian angels or my spirit guides. I have seen my guardian angels and have spoken with them. They usually use telepathy. I don’t know if there’s a day that goes by that I don’t feel spirits with me. I don’t see them often, when I do see them, I see them in reflective objects, like mirrors. I have no idea how to channel my spirit guides, I don’t even know if they are different from my guardian angels. I feel like I’m walking through this blindly. I have no idea if I’m right when I see things that they show me. I don’t even know how to meditate. All I really know is that I’ve predicted 9 out of 9 deaths in my family and circle of friends. I am an empath and can’t use my gifts, because I knew I was different. The problem now, is how to handle my gift. It can be really frustrating.
I commented on another one of your posts, and I was brought to this one by a link. For several years now, occasionally when I’m right on the verge of falling asleep, a man’s voice will speak into my ear. I always am terrified when it happens, but the really weird part is that afterwards I can’t remember what he said or exactly what he sounded like. Sometimes this is followed by seeing images in my mind when I close my mind, terrifying images of things I don’t want to see-atrocities, mutilations…I don’t enjoy it. Sometimes the images happen without hearing anything, and for awhile I can’t close my eyes without seeing a procession of gory and scary images go through my mind in shocking detail-detail I’ve never gotten with pictures inside of my mind by myself. How do I get rid of this? Please answer and thank you so much if you do.
Thank you,
Jo