One of our young granddaughters came to stay with us for a week over the holidays. It was new for us to spend so much time together without her brother and sisters around. It was also new for her to be at our house. So it was no surprise that sometime after midnight, she found her way to our bed and crawled in next to me. There is comfort in being close to someone you love when you are in a new environment. I fell asleep hoping she might find comfort that night.
My granddaughter has had a difficult time falling asleep. Since she was two years old, she has seen spirits, and as many of us discover, they seem to be more apparent to us at night. Not every spirit a child sees is necessarily harmful or scary, but when you mix a few of those in with confused and lost souls, children can lose site of the kind and helpful spirits that are also nearby. I assumed this was the case with my granddaughter, but I discovered there was much more going on.
In the middle of the night, I witnessed my spirit-body leap up on top of the bed. Sword in hand and slashing at menacing grey figures flying down toward our bed, I called out to them, asking them how they wanted to die. I knew these grey figures to be the energies that attack my granddaughter, filling her with fear in the night. The warrior in me was not going to let this happen to her again.
Of course, slashing at spirits with a sword is a little silly, and somehow my conscious mind broke through, realizing the futility of my efforts. When I was fully conscious, I looked at my granddaughter, who was sleeping quietly next to me, and decided to protect her more effectively.
I sang to her a protection song, the same song given to me to use when I am creating a protective circle for my questers. I sang until, the room was still and the energy around her was soft and loving. I called in the help she might need from the earthly and spirit worlds. I sang until the peace of the Divine settled in around her, my husband and me. Then I settled in to sleep, knowing the power of the Divine that had been invoked through this medicine song.
My granddaughter slept through the night and long into the morning. Every night, I made sure she was wrapped in the song, and each night she fell asleep undisturbed in the middle of the night. She also started falling asleep earlier in the night.
Before we sent her home, I blessed an angel necklace for her with the song that had protected her so well. With the necklace came instructions to wear it throughout the day and to keep it close at night, especially when she needs to feel safe. I reminded her that ignoring mean spirits won’t make them go away. And suggested the necklace could be a reminder to call upon the angels that are there to assist and protect her when she is in need of help in the spirit world. The angels can only act on our behalf when they are asked.
Someday, when she is older, she will need to address these spirits herself. They will prove to be a place in which she discovers more of her own gifts and power. But for now, while she is young, she has enough protection to give her a chance to grow up without so much fear. Perhaps now she can find a little more comfort in her dream-time rather than the sleepless distress imposed by menacing spirits.
The spirit world is a dynamic place. There are as many personalities of spirits as there are personalities of people. They have as many motivations and intentions as people as well. Most of us have watched too many movies that portray the spirit world inaccurately. We don’t understand it, and so we attempt to deny its existence, or we try to frame it according to the scary books we have read and movies we have seen. In my own experience, spirits can often be a lot easier to understand and deal with than humans, when you understand them and their motivations.
Hopefully, as she gets older, I will be able to help my granddaughter find her own strength, and even comfort, in addressing the spirits she sees. Though it may seem like a curse right now, she is likely to discover that the ability to see spirits can be a gift that ultimately benefits the lost spirits who look to her for help and people who are struggling to find their own peace with them.
For more information about Reverend Misa’s class, The World of Spirits, visit:
http://www.newdreamfoundation.com/SpiritLeadProg/Spirits&Ceremonies/Signup.htm
