This week, the New York Times released an article titled, Quarantining with a Ghost? It’s Scary. The article shared stories of different people who were dealing with hauntings and being quarantined in their home with said ghosts. I found this interesting because this has been a thought in the back of my mind when the lockdowns were being put in place. How is the dynamic between the living and the supernatural when neither are able to leave the house? If you’re in this situation, you’re not alone. Luckily, you don’t have to take this sitting down either and just accept your circumstances. It doesn’t have to be scary, and you are not the victim in this situation.

I’ve compiled a list of tips on how to get through the quarantine when you’re sharing spaces with a ghost. These tips can also help even after the quarantine is over. This is all similar to the advice we give our clients at Association of Paranormal Study. Please note that these tips are not guaranteed to resolve your haunting or make life easier for you with your ghostly roommate.

Things to Consider

Many times when there is activity in your home, after basic home incidents ruled out, that perhaps there may be a ghost that is trying to communicate with you for some reason.

Find out if other people in your home are also experiencing activity. If it’s just you, be sure to check in with your doctor and look at the side effects of any medication you’re taking just to rule out something medical. If others in your household are having experiences as well, that will give you some validation.

1. Learn the Language of Your House

I learned this tip from one of my team members, Pat Parisi, and it’s brilliant. Learning the language of your house, or any haunted location, means that you know all the creaks, unevenness, cracks, and plumbing. basically all the sounds you hear and sensations you feel in your house. This means just sitting and listening for a bit. This is actually a really useful tip for any paranormal investigation. Once you have an idea of what sort of sounds the house makes, you’ll be able to better debunk stuff.

2. Take Notes

John Tenney mentioned this great tip in the NYT article. Taking notes and making note of the date and time will help you see if there is a pattern to the activity you’re experiencing. It’s also helpful to take notes while listening to the language of your house. If it sounds like footsteps going up and down the stairs, make a note of the day, time, and what was happening before the incident happened. You’ll be able to rule out whether it could be anomalous, or if it happens when someone walks in the kitchen.

3. Set Boundaries

This is something we always try to help our clients with. Regardless of whether your ghostly guest is good or evil, you want to set some boundaries. This could mean anything like, “This is my house, please do not make noise at 1:00am because I’m trying to sleep.” Try to avoid phrases like, “Could you please…”, or “It would be great if you could…” because that is giving the ghost a choice. You don’t have to be mean or angry about it. Being assertive doesn’t mean being rude.

4. Open the Doors and Windows

When you’re stuck inside all day, especially with family, loved ones, pets, etc. things can get stuffy. In this situation, you have so much energy running around your space, that maybe it isn’t even a ghost. But instead, it could be just the accumulation of energy. I definitely recommend opening some windows, and maybe even a door or two to let all that energy out and let the house breathe. If you want to do other things to clear your space like sage or energy healing, be sure to keep things open so the energy has places to go.

5. Ask for Protection

Whatever religious belief you fall into, it doesn’t hurt to pray, meditate, etc. and ask for protection. For many, this may be something as simple as asking God or their deceased relatives to come protect them. If you want to add an extra layer of protection for yourself and your home, there are exercises on grounding and shielding to help keep darker entities, or all entities, at bay.

6. Avoid Communication on Your Own

It’s sort of an unspoken guideline that you should avoid investigating your own home. Even for me, as a seasoned paranormal investigator, I try to avoid ghost hunting in my own space. This is especially true if you don’t know what you’re doing. Before trying anything, try to get in touch with a paranormal team and ask them for their advice. Depending on where you live, they might even be able to come to you if they are exercising safety when it comes to social distancing, sanitizing, wearing masks, etc. I also know that there are teams doing Zoom meetings with their clients so that they can still help you from a distance.

If the ghost is trying to communicate with you, then you may want to explore the possibility of responding. Again, not without the guidance of a paranormal team. Sometimes, if you do listen to what the ghost has to say, they may end up finding peace and move on.

7. Encourage Them to Cross Over

You should have the guidance of a paranormal team or a reputable medium if you want to go this route. A spirit that is residing in your house may not realize that they’re deceased, or they are hesitant to cross over because of things that happened in life. There are a lot of resources online to help a ghost cross over. If this is unfamiliar territory for you, then don’t move forward without talking to someone experienced. There’s a chance you could make the haunting worse instead of better if this isn’t done right.

8. Don’t Antagonize It

During this time of being stuck inside, the last thing you want to do is try to be a big, bad ghost hunter that you see on TV. Don’t do things to make it mad, and definitely don’t provoke. Antagonizing the ghost will not make it want to leave anytime soon. Plus, it will make life quite a bit more hectic and turbulent.

9. Fill Your Space with Positive Energy

This can be hard with the current situation. One of the things I really don’t like is false and toxic positivity. Self-care is more important than ever before! I try to do something positive for myself at least once per day. That might be a dance party, exercising, eating my favorite food, watching Disney, watching something that will make me laugh, the list goes on. You don’t have to be constantly happy, but doing something to bring in a little more positivity can make a big difference. Taking care of yourself is the first step to taking care of your space.

10. Ignore It

This is advice I often see when it comes to dealing with a haunting. I don’t think this is the perfect way, but this is an option. Many will ignore their haunting long enough in hopes that the ghost will get bored and go away on its own. On the other hand, as mentioned before, if the ghost wants to communicate and has something to say, then it will continue to make a ruckus until you sit down and listen to it.

11. Learn to Live with It

If you have a ghost that is fairly calm with the occasional activity, then you have the choice to just learn to live with it. For example, I have a ghost in my kitchen, who I named Frank. He doesn’t really do much except the occasional floating objects and pushing bread off the bar. He does make the occasional appearance down the hall that leads to the kitchen. Besides that, I barely notice him. I can live with an entity like that. If the activity is much more disruptive and volatile, then there would be no way I could continue living with the entity, and it would have to go.

Final Thoughts

Think of the ghost as a roommate. You are sharing the same space and it’s inevitable that you may bump into each other occasionally. The idea of ghosts can be scary, but what has helped me in dealing with that fear is the fact that ghosts are people just like you and me. They just exist in a different state. Think of how you treat the people that live with you and give the ghost that same courtesy.

Do you have any tips on getting through the quarantine while living in a haunted space? Share them in the comments!

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It’s a weird time right now. Most of the world is under some sort of “stay at home” order, whether’s it a complete lockdown, quarantine, etc. Movie releases are being delayed indefinitely. TV shows are putting productions on hold. Essential businesses like grocery stores, auto repair, the post office, etc. are still open. But non-essential businesses like parks, hair salons, gyms, etc. are closed until further notice.

Unfortunately, haunted locations are closed as well. While it may be hard to stomach, ghost hunting is not an essential business. Truly…it’s not. Does it mean that ghost hunting doesn’t matter? Of course not. It’s just not something we need to survive like food, medical needs, etc.

Impacts of COVID-19

All of these new orders are for good reason. It sucks My ghost hunting plans for spring and summer of 2020 are pretty much shot. I truly feel for the ghost hunters who are out there doing fieldwork several times a month. I know there are several teams that go out on a weekly basis (you are rock stars). This current time has got to be hard.

Taking a Forced Break from Ghost Hunting

But guess what? You don’t have to go out there doing fieldwork to be considered a ghost hunter or a paranormal researcher. If you’re truly looking for something to do to help amp up your ghost hunting skills and resume, there are things you can do! I compiled this list based on what I’m currently doing at the moment. Most of these are free.

Research

Is there a paranormal topic you’ve been wanting to learn more about? Do you want to understand why orbs aren’t ghosts? Want to know where the “woman in white” legend came from? This is the perfect time to research a legend or area of the paranormal. If you need an idea of where to start, think of different areas of paranormal research. Choose the one where you feel the most uncomfortable, or you can’t define in more than two sentences. That’s the topic you pick!

Go Through the Evidence That You Haven’t Watched, Listened to, Etc.

I’ll be the first to admit that data and evidence review is something I dread. Especially for longer investigations. For me, I’ve been spending 1 hour each day reviewing my backlog. 1 hour is pretty much my limit right now.

Read a Ghost Hunting Book

This may seem…too simple. For some, it is. For others, especially the ones doing fieldwork, reviewing evidence, networking, planning, etc. reading a book may be on the back burner. Take this opportunity to read about the ways other people are ghost hunting. I’ll take this opportunity to shamelessly plugin my book, The Brave Mortal’s Guide to Ghost Hunting.

Give Back to the Community

If you’re in a position where you can throw a few dollars at a paranormal location (especially if they’re non-profit), it would be a huge help. Many of these locations will be suffering significant financial loss because of canceled ghost hunts. If you’re not able to give financially, spreading the word and sharing content can make a big difference. You can even do live streams on Facebook and fundraise for the location.

Plan Your Next Ghost Hunting Adventure

Sure, we’re not sure how long this is going to last, especially in the United States. But, we can get ahead of the game by already planning our next adventure. Whether it’s mapping out where you’re going to go, your ghost hunting plan, equipment list, etc., planning your next ghost hunt will also give you something to look forward to in the future.

Take Inventory & Tidy Up

I know for me, at the end of an investigation, I sometimes will throw my equipment into some random bag or case, mainly because I’m packing up quickly. I’ve been taking this time to reorganize my equipment and make a list of what I need like batteries, new flashlights, etc.

Watch TV

Yep. Watch some TV. I do sometimes watch ghost hunting shows, but not for anything educational (sorry). Ghost hunting shows are meant to be entertainment. I’m watching them to be entertained, find new locations to check out, and also review their investigation skills and see what I could do better. Watching how other investigators do things, even if it’s on TV, can be valuable. You’ll either get validation for your own methods, get new ideas, or know what NOT to do.

Network

If there was any time to network with other ghost hunters, this is the time to do it. Whether it’s through Facebook or some other social media platform, take the time to meet other ghost hunters. Ask to have an online meeting on a platform like Google Hangouts and chat for a bit. This is also super helpful mental health-wise, as conversing with friends during this time can really help you. Most therapists are recommending that we connect with people for about 30 minutes per day.

Create Content

If you have the energy, definitely create content. This means creating images, videos, memes, videos, blogging, writing, live streaming, webinars, basically creating things that people can enjoy. If you’re a paranormal team, this can drive people to your page and website. If you’re a solo ghost hunter, same deal. Right now, we have to move to an all-digital platform, and creating appropriate content can still drive engagement with your work.

Self-Care

Most importantly, take care of yourself. If you’re not able to do anything on this list…that is okay! If you need to just veg on the couch and just exist…that’s okay. If you need to clean everything, that’s okay. Basically, don’t put too much pressure on yourself to accomplish things. This is a very trying time in our world right now, and we’re not quite sure when it will all be over. People are also on edge and many are feeling angry and need someone to lash out at. If you have to walk away from a discussion, argument, etc., do it! Take one day at a time, and we’ll get through all of this together!

Tag: haunted

Live in a Haunted House? Here’s How to Get Through the Quarantine