Demonic presences tend to appear intelligent and have sharp, if evil personalities. This is not always the case with human ghosts. Like some of the spirits ejected from Dr. Wickland’s patients, many earthbound spirits seem to have very defective or warped memories, often unable to remember even their own names. A few may seem more like fragments of personalities when trying to communicate through a medium or a Ouija board. Some were criminals or mentally ill before they died and have existed in sensory isolation for a long time. If the earthbound spirit has spent a lot of years in its state of sensory deprivation, it may be little more than a bundle of its old habits and inclinations. Even so, these conscious apparitions can sometimes intentionally make their presence known through the facility of psychokinesis if a sensitive living person is present to lend them the energy to manifest.
It’s important to understand that the Catholic Church does not “exorcise” human ghosts. That’s why they do such thorough investigations before authorizing an exorcism. A human ghost that infests a home is treated by the church using blessings or “binding rituals” in each room of the house. A human ghost that possesses a person is considered to be a psychiatric problem by the church. On the other hand, evangelical ministries that exorcise demons will usually assume that all persons who exhibit signs of possession are demonically possessed and will generally treat the victim according to the creed.
If your household is being haunted by what appears to be a malevolent human ghost, there are a few tricks recommended by the Warrens that can reduce the disturbances. First, remove trees and bushes that block the daylight from streaming into the windows. Paint the inside walls white, yellow or light blue because daylight and high frequency colors block negative spirit vibrations. If you are moving into an old house, remove any old pictures of previous tenants and owners. You should also remove old furniture and mirrors that came with the property. And whatever you do, eliminate Ouija boards and any other occult paraphernalia that might allow a negative spirit to gain entry.
Always remember that “A happy home is the best protection against evil”. A person who is unknowingly psychically sensitive and also is under severe emotional stress is like a beacon for evil entities. Malevolent spirits feed on negative emotions. Ghosts that have been dormant on a property for years might become active when a troubled psychic suddenly enters the picture. You need to ask yourself, “Who in my household is in emotional pain?” Unresolved anger and anxiety caused by a divorce, spousal or child abuse or any other existential stressors can attract and enable negative spirits that otherwise would not be able to manifest.
Before you panic or look for an exorcist, sit down and see if you can resolve these personal issues. The active living agent is generally the person who receives the most harassment from the ghost. Sometimes there is more than one agent because it is possible that there is more than one psychic person in the household. If there’s an alcohol or drug problem, that may be the root of your problem. If there is a child or a passive adult agent, see if there is any form of abuse and eliminate it. If you can do these things, you might not entirely rid yourself of the ghost, but you may be able to reduce the amount of energy available for the entity to cause trouble.
If the disturbances are mild and appear to be linked to the house, and not to a particular person in the house, a properly done blessing by a clergyman, shaman or properly trained psychic will often work to remove human entities. Even though these human entities may not be very nice, or even very religious, they really don’t want to mess with God. You can find a psychic by consulting a reputable local psychic research organization.
If the disturbances are relatively mild and appear to center around a child or adolescent agent, the best way to treat it is to ignore it! Most of the time, it will resolve by itself. An immature adolescent agent will eventually mature out of their “poltergeist phase” within a few months. It is really not much different than ignoring bad behavior in any child. The more you ignore it, the quicker the child learns that bad behavior doesn’t pay.
If an earthbound spirit is taking advantage of an adolescent agent’s excess psychic energy, it is generally a childish, low level spirit with a short attention span. If you ignore it and its associated psychokinetic phenomena, it will eventually get bored and wander away just like the immature child it is.
A haunting by a human ghost is quite different from a haunting by a demonic entity. Houses in which a murder or other evil act took place may draw demonic influences. Homes that have previously been occupied by people who held satanic rituals are more likely to be infested by demonic entities in combination with evil human ghosts. Evil acts by a living person seem to leave behind an evil energy field which can attract multiple spiritual presences, most of them human, but occasionally a non-human entity may take up residence on the property.
Old hospital and asylum buildings which have been abandoned or converted to residential use are often haunted by the ghosts of former patients, and though most of these shades are of the human variety, they may still maintain their mental illnesses or the mindset of an invalid because ghosts are souls who have not yet crossed over to their mainstream spiritual homes where they would be cured of their mental afflictions.