Our new house is totally haunted.
It was built in 1903, so how could it not be?
We moved into our new house in mid-November, fully aware of its age and general spookiness. But that’s what we wanted: a house with character. A house with character is certainly what we got.
On the very first night we were there, a light in the upstairs hallway turned itself off.
(“Old house, old wiring,” you say. But the wiring has all been replaced.)
The jets in the jacuzzi tub keep coming on by themselves.
(I asked the ghost to please stop doing that because it was scaring the cats, and it actually worked for a few days.)
The door to the attic began rattling in the wee hours of the morning. This happened the first night we put a cat tower in front of the door. I thought it was because there was a draft coming out of the attic, but after an inspection, James informed me there were no drafts in the attic.
Things will randomly fall off shelves and walls. Did the cats do it? No - because the spots things fall from are too high for the cats to reach.
We’ll hear thudding and footsteps from upstairs when we are both downstairs - and all three cats are, as well.
(Speaking of cats, theory has it animals and children are more connected to the “other world” than we are. The cats will randomly bush up their tails and stare into space. Take that however you will.)
When you think you have a ghost, you'll start hearing all sorts of odd noises that you're quick to blame on the spirit. I swore I heard our front door slam in the middle of the night, but we do have a storm door not prone to latching securely. The spooky clanging? Our old radiators. But we can't explain everything away, as hard as my logical brain is trying.
We are also getting all sorts of confirmation from the community that we're not crazy. My brother’s girlfriend works at Caribou in Aberdeen, South Dakota, and she was talking to a new coworker not too long ago. It turns out this new coworker of hers is the daughter of the people who owned our house for 20 years, and she lived there all her life! She loved that house, and “it’s totally haunted,” she said. Apparently, the haunting started after the kids left for college.
We had our friend Cody over to see the house one evening, and the jacuzzi jets turned on just as we were talking about the house being haunted. He left immediately and came back with some sage for us. Cody talked to some of his friends in town later on about this phenomenon, and those friends called the owners to ask if they'd experienced anything similar. Sure enough, they had. They heard the jets turning on quite often and a few other odd noises and flickering lights. However, the spookiest thing that happened to them was that they'd put a desk up against a window seat... only to find the desk across the room later that evening. The previous owner's words of advice were to talk to the ghost and let him/her know who we are and what we expect. She told the ghost they were leaving and to be nice to the people moving in.
When you think you have a ghost, you'll start hearing all sorts of odd noises that you're quick to blame on the spirit. I swore I heard our front door slam in the middle of the night, but we do have a storm door not prone to latching securely. The spooky clanging? Our old radiators. But we can't explain everything away, as hard as my logical brain is trying.
We are also getting all sorts of confirmation from the community that we're not crazy. My brother’s girlfriend works at Caribou in Aberdeen, South Dakota, and she was talking to a new coworker not too long ago. It turns out this new coworker of hers is the daughter of the people who owned our house for 20 years, and she lived there all her life! She loved that house, and “it’s totally haunted,” she said. Apparently, the haunting started after the kids left for college.
We had our friend Cody over to see the house one evening, and the jacuzzi jets turned on just as we were talking about the house being haunted. He left immediately and came back with some sage for us. Cody talked to some of his friends in town later on about this phenomenon, and those friends called the owners to ask if they'd experienced anything similar. Sure enough, they had. They heard the jets turning on quite often and a few other odd noises and flickering lights. However, the spookiest thing that happened to them was that they'd put a desk up against a window seat... only to find the desk across the room later that evening. The previous owner's words of advice were to talk to the ghost and let him/her know who we are and what we expect. She told the ghost they were leaving and to be nice to the people moving in.
I have never lived in a haunted house before, so I’m not sure about the ghost vs living protocol. Obviously, the ghost has been here much longer than we have. The ghost doesn’t feel like a malevolent presence - just a spirit letting us know it’s there.
James has done a little research into the history of our house, and he learned two sisters lived there for some time. They never married, and they turned their home into a boarding house for high schoolers who lived in the country and wanted to go to school in town (there was no transportation to town back then). The sisters lived in the house until they died, leading James to believe the ghost is likely one of the sisters. We’re calling her Agnes - the sister who lived longer.
James and I burned the sage last night, taking special care around the jacuzzi tub and attic door. The process felt quite sacred, and we spoke to our spirit as we proceeded through the house. We told the spirit they were welcome to stay if they wished, but we were burning sage in an effort to open doors between worlds if they were in fact stuck here and wished to move on. It's too soon to tell if it worked, but I will keep you posted.
Just in case the sage didn't do its job, if you have any advice about how to live peacefully with a ghost, we’d like to hear it. So far, Agnes seems to be ok with us. We’d like to keep it that way.
Just in case the sage didn't do its job, if you have any advice about how to live peacefully with a ghost, we’d like to hear it. So far, Agnes seems to be ok with us. We’d like to keep it that way.
This is very interesting.....
ReplyDeleteMy aunt and uncle lived for many years with a ghost, and described things very similar to your experiences. Apparently, ghosts like to play with lights and electronics. My aunt developed the habit of unplugging radios and TVs at night, as well as taking the light bulb out of the bathroom, and my uncle put a hook near the attic doorway, so he could tie it shut at night--it would rattle all night, otherwise!. Still they managed to live there for a good 20 years or so.
ReplyDeleteSue