Can Spiritualism get you in trouble?
 

First of all, I should maybe say our family is more oriented to approaches like Vedanta or Unity than anything else, and we've had family members who (though Westerners) are Buddhist practitioners.

I have a favorite niece who seems to have bumbled her way into some kind of spirit possession, or something similar. She was going through a period of "checking different things out," and was attending (sporadically, I believe) a Spiritualist Church - to find out what it's like. After toying with a Ouija board at home (on her own), she found that she began to hear voices.

The voices never leave her for long, and the real problem is that they say what she considers to be usually quite derogatory, discouraging things to her. She dropped any contact with Ouija boards, and discontinued involvement with the Spiritualist Church.

Though her night sleep was frequently disrupted for a period of a year or so, she has been able to keep her job (teaching music at a school), to maintain her apartment, and to drive her car. She also has a bit of a social life. I consider all those things to be healthy for her.

After the problem with the voices was going on for a while, she was seeing a psychiatrist for regular counselling sessions, and was put on anti-psychotic type drugs, as an out-patient. The drugs did not end the voices, nor improve their amiability or messages. The drugs had side-effects only, making her sleepy during the day, which conflicted with her practical life. So she has discontinued taking them.

My niece is now strongly averse to being a medium (not sure she ever considered wanting to be a medium). My niece confides in me and tells me she longs for these entities to leave her alone as their communications are more forceful than "suggestions" and are not helpful.

She was advised a while back to use a white-light technique, in which she inwardly surrounds whatever voice she is hearing at the moment with light. She says this works for a while, but the voices return after a shorter or longer period of time - with the same negative behavior.

Any insights or advice I can pass along?

No spirtualism cannot get you into trouble, its what you do with spiritualism that gets you into trouble, a gun cannot get you into trouble, its what you do with the gun that gets you into trouble.

Psychoslice, thanks for taking the time to reply.

I'd say you replied to the subject-line of the thread. But please read the opening post. There's a little something more I'm after here. I want to help my niece.

I see, well i did read all of your posting, and I noticed that your niece seems to have a mental illness, such schizophrenia, in that case i would say its all in her head, maybe also she could ask for other types of anti-psychotics and see what happens. i myself have schizophrenia and it took quite awhile before they found the right medication.

Sure, spiritualism can get you in trouble. Most likely it will. People are stupid. They start believing their visions when they are just phantoms created by their own mind. The issue is how to get rid of them. Oh well, nobody wants to hear that the Lord's prayer is the panacea for everything. They think they are smarter than God.

I agree they might be phantoms. And that the issue is how to get rid of them.

This advice may be very good. But you've assumed no one will pay attention to your advice... You should not give up before you've said what you have to say.

But let me ask about using the Lord's Prayer. Have you used it, or seen it used, in this sort of situation? I'm interested in first-hand experience here.

I would not assume that all people think they're smarter than God.

Again, thanks for taking the time to reply.

I use it every single day many times, 500-600 times per day. It's like grandmother's gramophone playing constantly in my head . You see, the Lord's Prayer is not just a bunch of meaningless words. The Lord's Prayer is a condensed formula of principles for building the Universe, time squeezed into a capsule. Oh well, people think they know everything. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qayluuujauM

Interesting thoughts and real insight. Thanks again. And I'd not been aware of Jackie Evancho - she's truly amazing!

I know you've not yet been a member on this site too long. I think your opinion that "people think they know everything" is unwarranted. I also think that if you hold to it after being here for a month or two longer, that your attitude will seem (to others, maybe not to yourself) to be a stubborn one.

However, I do appreciate that you are contributing something here.

I am not any member of any site for any long. I wonder why. I guess, my merkaba is still spinning.

I'm so sorry your niece has encountered these problems.
I am neither a healer nor a medium, and not a psychiatrist either.
But I do know the dangers of experimenting with the Ouija board. A perfectly normal, nice sane person can experiment with an Ouija board, and then start with spirit-attachment problems, which give them symptoms which appear to most people on the outside as some form of mental illness. That's the hard line. That's what can and often does happen. Hardly anyone will give credence to the idea that other entities are behind this, and will think it's all in the mind of the one who is suffering. Experimenting with an Ouija board can cause the most lonely experiences ever.
I understand. I knew someone who went through hell because of these things.

Spirits who come through are quite close to the Earth plane, and are not either able to pass through to the spirit-world, or have desires so strong for physical experiences, they would rather overshadow someone and gain these things through them....feed on fear, and other emotions of their victim. They are trapped Souls. Desperately in need of an energy-fix.
Other spirits who dwell here are so messed-up they do these things for amusement! Yes, not very nice. They really don't care someone is driven crazy by them, or is worried.
This might be a single entity, or it might be a few.
But rest assured, mainstream help, healing, doctors, and all the rest of it do not have the faintest clue. As I said, it is a lonely predicament.

It's not possible for me to tell you exactly what procedure to follow to encourage this/these spirit/s to go the place they need to go. I don't have that sort of experience. But your niece needs to find someone trustworthy who does have the ability to do that. Either a medium who is experienced in spirit-rescue work, or a shaman who does the same. Be careful who you choose.

Then she needs to leave all this fringe spirituality well alone for the rest of her life, and concentrate instead on the true spiritual pathway and learning. (whatever that is for her)