The Haunting (part 3)

Blather correspondent Lyra concludes her chilling tale…

Some time has passed since I last wrote about my haunted house. So what’s happened since then? Did I become possessed by some (rather quiet) evil spirit that is plotting to take over the world from my sitting room? Have I succumbed to such a point where I now have my feet up in a nursing home, watching re-runs of Dallas?
No fear – neither of these scenarios have occurred. But let me tell you what really happened.
I was at my wits end – I had been attacked in my bedroom, and my flatmates Sorcha and Ruth were scared, and considering moving out. We talked again about asking a priest to bless the house, but the one I approached seemed sceptical. I think he had us labelled as a pack of hysterical women!
To me, there seemed only one practical solution. I just had to roll up my psychic sleeves, and try to clear the house of malevolent energies myself. As a lot of the disturbances were coming from my bedroom, I decided to first focus on this area first. After the nocturnal attacks, I felt that I had been pushed far. I was like an estranged lover, sleeping in the spare room.
A few years ago I had visited Bali, where I picked up a book on ‘energy clearing’ rituals. The Balinese take this very seriously, constantly cleansing their homes and temples of unwanted spirits. This book was to become my bible. Interestingly, I also used a bell and candles (i.e. Bell, book and candle).
So, on the 14th of October, I began preparations for ridding our home of its unwanted guest.
Before undertaking the ritual, I had to thoroughly scrub and clean the house. This took the best part of a day.
While carrying out this mammoth task, I felt an immense resistance (this was not just my housework phobia). The resistance felt like a cold heavy feeling, oppressive and threatening. It made me feel tired and unwilling to continue. Things kept going wrong, everything felt difficult and I felt often like giving up.
Every room I walked out of, there would be a loud bang behind me, or the sound of something falling. When I checked, I could find nothing amiss. This occurred continually throughout the day. I also felt in foul humour, angry and unsociable, worse than I’ve felt in years.
That night, after the cleaning was finished, I fell exhausted into my bed in the spare room. As I turned off the lamp, from somewhere in the room came a loud bang. I reached out to turn on the lamp, but as I flicked the switch, the bulb blew, causing me to jump in alarm. Alone in the dark I contemplated my situation. One the one hand, I could panic. Or I could just turn over and go to sleep. I breathed deep, deciding not to give into fear. I fell asleep.
The next morning I began a cleansing ritual, involving salt, bells, and offerings of flowers and incense to appease the spirits, in Balinese tradition. This approach involves hand clapping and bell ringing to clear a room, especially the corners, of unwanted ‘negative energy’ or spirits. Salt has been used in every tradition, even in Ireland, as a method to protect the home.
I did encounter the feeling of resistance again and anxiety, particularly in one corner of my bedroom. Afterwards the house felt different, lighter somehow. It was as though it was a normal house, a more welcoming, atmosphere. The oppressive feelings seemed to have disappeared. I was exhausted.
I should add – another part of my approach was to refrain from discussing the haunting as much as possible. Hence my silence on writing more for blather.net
A few days later, around the 19th of October, Ruth reported hearing a lot of walking around upstairs, more than we had heard before. Since then, neither she nor myself have had any encounters in the house, except I still see the mystery cat from time to time.
Until recently, Sorcha hadn’t had any occurrences either, but in January she came to tell me she would be moving out of the house. She was feeling a ‘presence’ in her room, which was upsetting her. Also, while having a shower one day, she saw a shadow through the curtain and when she looked, the taps of the bathroom sink were on full strength. She didn’t feel she could continue living under these conditions.
I myself feel quite relaxed and safe in the house now. Ruth has also left now, to work elsewhere, so I have two new housemates. Neither has reported anything so far, so I’m saying nothing…
– Lyra

suzanne

Sue Walsh was partly brought up by cats in her native Wexford, where along with her brother, she scoured the river for junk. At the age of three her mother caught her carrying kittens in her mouth. She lived in the woods for a while, then the lure of the stage was too much, and she ran away with a theatre company. This enabled her to keep her multiple personalities happy, and so she is continuing to act whenever the opportunity arises. When not on stage or the silver screen, Sue can be found scribbling away and conducting séances. She is still scouring the river, hoping to find treasure in amongst the junk, just like Suzanne in the song...