The Witches' Book of the Dead (23 page)

If you have specific questions for the spirit you're calling, it's important to know those as well. In your dream journal, write the name of the spirit you wish to contact as well as any questions you may have at the top of a blank page. That page will be dedicated to any visions, messages, or other perceptions you experience during the dream, which you should write down immediately upon waking. You may want to write these in the journal the morning of the day you plan to perform the ritual so that you can take the day to think about whom you wish to contact and what questions you might ask.

You should also write the name of the spirit and your questions on a piece of paper and place it on your altar of the dead along with the photo or mementos. This will form a connection between the altar and your dream space.

Before you begin the ritual itself, it is best to take a ritual bath with a palm full of kosher salt added to purify and protect your body before proceeding. While in the bath, meditate on the spirit you wish to meet in the dream and contemplate the questions you wish to ask.

Create an altar on a small table near your bedside with all of the tools listed above. Anoint the candle with oil and light it, softly saying,
As the candle flame is a doorway to the other worlds, let it open the way for [speak name here] to join me in my dreams this night
.

Lightly sprinkle spirit powder around your bed and softly say,
By the Earth of the grave and the sweet scents, let no evil spirit enter here
.

Light the charcoal and sprinkle a bit of incense over it—or, light a stick of incense, softly saying,
The smoke of this incense becomes as the mists of the underworld, through which the shade of [speak name here] will enter, to join me in my dreams this night
.

Take up the bronze dagger in your right hand and pass it through the smoke. Then, draw a circle of protection around your bed, three times counterclockwise, and softly say,
Let this circle become a doorway between the living and the dead. Let no evil enter here! Let only spirits who are pure of intent join me in my dreams this night
.

Return the dagger to the altar and take up the yew wand in your right hand and pass it also through the smoke. Tap the wand on the crown of the skull three times and softly say,
By my will, I do stir and summon the shades of the dead, that [speak name here] shall join me in my dreams this night, bringing wisdom, truth, and visions of what is to be
.

Place your left hand upon the skull and softly say,
Through this portal, I join myself to the energies of the Death Current, that [speak name here] will hear my call and join me in my dreams this night
.

Hold the chalice of spring water up above your head with both hands and softly say,
I make this offering to the spirits, that they may infuse it with the wisdom of the dead. By drinking from it, may I swim with them in the sacred waters of the dreamtide
. Now, drink half of the contents of the chalice, leaving the rest for the dead, and place the chalice on the table.

Snuff the candle out, as it is unsafe to fall asleep with it burning.

Get into bed. As you are falling asleep, visualize the spirit you wish to communicate with as vividly as you can. Imagine talking to the spirit and obtaining the answers you seek. Affirm to yourself that you will see the spirit whom you wish to see and affirm that you will remember the dream when you awake.

Upon awakening, record as much detail as you can in your dream journal. Dreams can evaporate with astonishing speed, so if you cannot write it down or record it, then repeat it to yourself so that it becomes set in your memory.

After you've had your coffee and you're more awake, or perhaps later in the day, take some time to analyze the dream. Think about the messages you received. Sometimes, the words might sound like gibberish, but after you ponder them for a while, they may become clearer. Did the spirit appear alone, or were there others with him
or her? Were you taken to specific places that might have had importance?

It is important to note that you may not experience a literal visit and conversation with the dead, but your answer may have been delivered in other ways: through visions of specific places or things, words, and even symbols. There may be elements in the dream that have associations with the person you were hoping to contact, and so there may still be meaning behind them even though you did not actually see the person.

If you get no results, do not be discouraged. You can repeat this ritual until you get the hang of it. If you still feel unanswered after several nights, give the process a break for a few days and then try again. Keep in mind that answers may not be obvious and literal. It is helpful to have some experience in dream work, and I encourage you to study more on the subject. Answers can even come outside of the dream, such as flashes of intuition or strange coincidences that happen even days after the ritual was performed. Dream magic manifests into the universe in a way that unfolds in its own course and at its own pace.

• • •

12
Ghost Hunting: Seeking Out the Dead

I have been present for a number of ghost hunts through the years. I participated in one during a conference at the Houghton Mansion, a highly active haunted site mentioned in
chapter 6
. I've investigated the infamous Danvers State Hospital, a former insane asylum at which strange phenomena continue to occur. Shawn and I joined psychic medium Chris Fleming in his search through Salem for the spirit of Bette Davis that was featured on the Biography Channel show
Dead Famous
. But my absolute favorite ghost experience was when I filmed with the Travel Channel's popular show
Ghost Adventures
at a lockdown in the Salem Witch House, home of former Witch Trials judge Jonathan Corwin.

Ghost Adventures

In late 2010, my friend and paranormal author Jeff Belanger invited me to perform a spirit blessing ritual for an episode of
Ghost Adventures
set to air in
February 2011. I had never seen the show, but it was my coven-sister Kelly Spangler's favorite, and since she is a powerful spirit medium, I invited her to go along. The choice of sites was between the Witch House and a local restaurant that I really didn't want to film at because, however many times I had brought TV crews to their location, the owner and staff had always told me they didn't like the “kind of tourists” that my publicity attracted, and so I saw no reason to go somewhere that wouldn't appreciate my work. After seeing what had shown up at the Witch House during the show
Dead Famous
, I felt that it was a much more interesting site with much more potential for paranormal phenomena. There was just one tiny problem: the restaurant had a longstanding association with the spirit of Witch Trials victim Bridget Bishop, which meant that the restaurant's segment of the show might actually get as much activity as the one filmed at the Witch House. This would not do at all.

Kelly and I showed up at the Witch House with my favorite tricks of the trade: Robert the skull, the yew wand, the bronze dagger, the jar of honey, a chalice of libation, my Anubis spirit rattle, and a medical lancet to draw blood. The manager of the historic building told us that the hosts of the show were already locked inside, so we waited for one of the producers to come around to let us in. While we were waiting, I looked at Kelly and said, “This will be the only place they will get anything.” I pointed my right hand in the direction of the restaurant and said “Bridget, I ask that you give them no audience this night. Give them no show at all. Depart from that place and let them discover nothing!” Yeah, it was catty, but I didn't want anyone, living or dead, to steal the spotlight from the Witch House.

The producer let us in and we met the hunky paranormal investigators that host the show: Zak Bagans, Nick Groff, and Aaron Goodwin. Being locked in a house with them was hardly what I would call work. Kelly and I set up a temporary altar of the dead, complete with fake candles and no incense—for this was a very old historic home and nobody wanted to chance a fire. Our hosts brought out a variety of strange equipment including a PX box, which converts electromagnetic fields into one of over 2,000
words that sound like they came out of an old Speak & Spell, giving voice to the dead, and a “spirit box,” a tool that allows the spirits to communicate by traversing through a spectrum of radio waves. The team mentioned recording some strong activity on the second floor, but their machines really started to get going once we arrived. Real Witches are magnets for the dead. We proceeded with our necromantic blessing, knowing that when you perform the proper steps, the spirits will come forth. We went into a visionary state and I made an offering of three drops of my blood. No sooner had I done so than the PX machine went really wild, spewing out a torrent of words and, in particular, repeating the word “apple” several times. I was elated that such a timeless ritual would continue to produce such dramatic results.

Once Kelly and I had blessed the space, I then called Zak, Nick, and Aaron up to the altar, each in their turn, to place their right hand upon Robert and declare themselves creatures of spirit, equal to, and able to protect themselves from, anything they might encounter. We were only supposed to be there for this initial blessing, but they were getting so much activity from their machines that they decided to keep us for the remainder of the filming. Kelly and I continued to channel the flow of the Death Current so that the spirits of the place would come through. The team began to listen for voices on the spirit box. It was incredible. So many different energies seemed present, but one, a woman's voice, rose above the din of the rest. The voice called out the name of Robert the skull (so Shawn was right about what his name was) and then called out my full name. I'm still a skeptic after all these years, and so this just blew me away. Then the team asked for the name of the spirit. The spirit replied with a first name. They then asked for the last name. Again, a reply came. The full name of the spirit present was Bridget Bishop. The PX machine saying “apple” made much more sense now. Bridget Bishop once owned an apple orchard in Salem on the site where the restaurant now stands. That she came that night to the Witch House, a place her spirit had never been associated with in the past, proved the power of the magic I did before entering the building.

Kelly and I didn't know quite how to tell the team that we had done a little hocus pocus to ask Bridget to leave the restaurant so that the film crew would find nothing there. And we certainly had no idea that she'd be joining the spirits already present at the Witch House that night! When we finally got to see the show, very little happened in the second lockdown at the restaurant. In fact, the only voice to appear on the ghost box was “Mary,” so my spell to draw Bridget away from the site worked like a charm and made for quite a spectacular experience. This has definitely become one of my favorite stories of the powers of spirit conjuration. It not only proved the existence of the dead, but the existence of magic as well!

What Is Ghost Hunting?

Ghost hunting is a popular pastime that anyone can undertake. There are countless paranormal groups in every state that organize hunts and investigations, many of which are open to the public, and television shows about ghost hunting are among the most popular. Ghost hunting largely involves the collection of evidence to determine if spirits are present, and a significant part of it involves communication with the dead. I have participated in my share of ghost hunts and séances over the years; have seen, heard, and felt apparitions; and have experienced many communications from the dead. While I do not consider myself a ghost hunter, per se, I love to join in on such paranormal investigations when I can, and I believe that having a Witch on board can guarantee that you not only detect the spirits, but also encourage them to show themselves.

Ghost hunting can be exciting and even unnerving, for you never know what you are going to experience, but you must also be patient. If you are new to this field, keep in mind that much of what appears on ghost hunting television shows has been edited down from many hours of tape. Ghosts do not always show up immediately, and so you should not always expect to experience paranormal phenomena right away. Ghost hunting is a truly scientific process that can take time, but the results are worth the effort!

Before we consider the ways of ghost hunting, let's take a look at our targets: what exactly is a ghost? Is it really a manifestation of a dead person? What are we hunting?

What Is a Ghost?

The broadest definition of a ghost is that it is unexplained phenomena associated with the dead. The dead can include people, animals, and anything in the natural world, as well as the “dead” past—buildings, vehicles, and objects that no longer physically exist. Do the dead really stay behind and haunt us in homes and other places?

As we discussed in
chapter 5
, most of what we call ghosts are actually
residual hauntings
, which are energy imprints on the spirit of place that either the living or dead have left behind. It is like a psychic photograph or video that plays over and over again, and is experienced when the conditions are right. There is no intelligent awareness to them. Examples of imprints are ghosts that always walk the same corridor, smells that always occur in the same room, and so on. Most imprints are comprised of smells and sounds; seeing a ghost is often the least likely way for most people to actually experience one—unless, of course, you have the psychic ability to see the spirits on their own plane of existence.

Other hauntings involve
interactive intelligent presences
. These ghosts tug your jacket, pull your air, brush by in a breeze, move objects about, and make noises, such as footsteps, when no one is present. They may be some form of shell energy also left behind by the living, but they are capable of interacting.