I. Negative Entities 101: Introduction and Types of Entities
II. Negative Entities 101: Personality Profile of a Neg
III. Negative Entities 101: Who is Targetted?
IV. Negative Entities 101: Negs and Addiction
V. Negative Entities 101: Occult Dabbling and Spiritual Arrogance
VI. Negative Entities 101: Natural Metaphysical Abilities and Awakening
VII. Negative Entities 101: Mistaken Spiritual Beliefs
VIII. Negative Entities 101: Subconscious Wounds and the Shadow Side

Hands up, who here has gone through personal trauma? Anyone carrying around emotional baggage? Past resentment? Unbalanced emotional issues? Personal traits you aren’t proud of? Ever take something someone said to heart? Ever realized you were holding a self-limiting belief about the world, other people or yourself?

(Peering out over my readership…)

(Now addressing anyone who’s left that’s not creeped out by my Jedi-like ability to see you through my monitor, muahaha…)

Ahem. Well, that’s all of us. So we should probably all keep reading, no?

In my last post I discussed why conscious belief is not necessarily a cure-all for solving the problem of negative interference. All the issues I mentioned above are keys as to why that is.

Anyone who has grown up on planet earth will have ended up taking on subconscious baggage and other internal debris that causes discord in our lives; causes us to limit and even sabotage ourselves. We’re indoctrinated with self-limiting beliefs; we go through trauma and heartbreak; we have personality traits that negatively affect our relationships with ourselves and others.

We all have a shadow side which is called that partly because it’s where all our flaws reside, and partly because it’s our blind spot; the things we don’t like to look at or are unable to see for what they are.

In this sense, negative entities can be considered external representations of our collective shadow side. Any of the above mentioned issues are fair game for an entity attachment. Over time a long term attachment can exaggerate our most destructive qualities into something that causes much pain to ourselves and others. Even in the short term, an entity’s influence can have effects such as ramping up our emotions in such a way that, say, a minor yet heated disagreement turns into a full on raging inferno where things are said and done that we regret.

There are some who believe that this is the “purpose” of such entities in our lives – they draw our attention to our shadow side so that we can take responsibility for, and integrate it in a balanced way. Some, particularly very religious people, take this even further – a Christian might say it’s “God’s will.” God has been portrayed variously in the Christian tradition, as sending entities, or allowing people to come under their influence, whether as punishment or a growth experience. This theme is prominent in the film The Exorcism of Emily Rose for instance. It’s not limited to Christianity though; a Hindu might say this is one’s “karma.”

I would strongly caution that any belief that suggests a “purpose” for negative entities in your life is dangerous, because it’s all the permission they need to stick around.

Yes, entities can have the effect of forcing us to grow. The problem there is that rather than just drawing our attention to an imbalance in ourselves – entities work to throw us off balance by any available means. It is well within the realm of possibility for negs to find a small hairline crack in one’s personality, and depending on the strength of the entity, chipping away, jackhammering away or launching missiles at the crack until it’s a serious all-consuming problem. In situations like this, even the most diligent, self-empowered and responsible individual can have old problems being targetted and new problems piled on faster than is humanly possible to clear them out.

For a real world example, imagine that in a moment of anger and carelessness, an adult calls a child stupid. As is usually the case in these situations the child takes it to heart, and this statement finds its way into the subconscious. As the child reaches adulthood, although the statement is still there on some level, at this point it’s just subconscious debris, and may well be mostly counteracted by other, more positive influences and successes in the person’s life. However, now imagine an opportunistic entity comes into the picture, finds this piece of debris and attaches to it as the basis for a sabotage campaign. Over the long term, through mental and emotional conditioning, “stupid” is reinforced, and on top of that is piled worthless, lazy, ugly, miserable failure, socially inept… you get the idea. After months and possibly years of this, the original comment has been turned into something that consumes the person’s entire self image. Since our self image and the contents of our subconscious are the basis for much of the way we experience life, pretty soon other people and circumstances will begin to mirror all this extra crap the person is carrying around that they weren’t to begin with. Thus a vicious cycle is born that takes a whole lot more work to fix than would have been the case if the individual only had to clear the original bit of debris. Technically it requires the individual’s ongoing consent for this process to continue. This is one of many instances where “consent” and “permission” can get very fuzzy however. For someone who has never considered the possibility that maybe not all their thoughts and emotions are really theirs, or even that we can take responsibility for our thoughts and emotions and consciously decide which ones to allow into our mental space, breaking this sort of cycle can become very difficult. The silver lining is that many entities of this sort depend on their host’s ignorance of their presence – meaning as soon as you demonstrate some willpower and start taking steps to change your own mental habits, they’ll leave without a struggle and simply find an easier target. Unfortunately negs are notoriously messy houseguests, so you may still be stuck taking out the trash they’ve left behind.

Volumes could be written on ways to clear out entity attachments as well as how to clear subconscious baggage and integrate the personality… and probably will be, in future posts here. For the purpose of this one, the best place to start is with the same basic tool I’ve been hammering on throughout this series: total personal responsibility for your own thoughts, actions, words and emotions. Working toward self mastery has a host of benefits, not the least of which is that it makes us less vulnerable to malicious influences in our lives, whether physical or nonphysical. It also brings us to the conclusion that we have the authority, and responsibility to ourselves, to be vigilant about choosing who and what to allow into our space.

At this point I’ve decided to shift gears. I had originally planned on carrying on this series a lot longer… but as others who have written on this subject will attest, it’s not an easy thing to write about for a lot of reasons, especially for an extended period. Beyond that, this has been a major period of insights and breakthroughs for me, and my backlog of topics to write on is growing immense (just ask some of the poor unsuspecting people I’ve been bombarding with babble to let some steam off my suddenly overactive throat chakra. :D) I’m at a point where I personally am less focused on “what to avoid” and more focused on what I actually want, so dragging this on any further at this time is creating conflict for me that I feel is starting to affect the quality of the writing. The fact remains that this is a complex subject that deserves a lot more attention than it gets, and I’ve got enough material that I could keep this going for months. But that’s a long time to spend on any one subject… especially this one.

So.

I’m thinking that the Negative Entities 101 series will be kind of an ongoing thing that I will keep adding to as I feel so compelled, and I’m open to requests on what info my readers are specifically looking for on the subject.

For further reading:

Astral Dynamics – A site with a forum on many aspects of metaphysics and spirituality, including sections on psychic self defense and negative interference.

Practical Psychic Self-Defense — Required reading for anyone with negative entity problems.

To be continued!

–Palehorse

Popularity: 25% [?]

I. Negative Entities 101: Introduction and Types of Entities
II. Negative Entities 101: Personality Profile of a Neg
III. Negative Entities 101: Who is Targetted?
IV. Negative Entities 101: Negs and Addiction
V. Negative Entities 101: Occult Dabbling and Spiritual Arrogance
VI. Negative Entities 101: Natural Metaphysical Abilities and Awakening
VII. Negative Entities 101: Mistaken Spiritual Beliefs
VIII. Negative Entities 101: Subconscious Wounds and the Shadow Side

Needless to say, I am NOT of the view that all spiritual beliefs are valid; not all are created equal. Are your beliefs causing you pain? Limiting your freedom? Making you want to
limit the freedom of others? Guilting or manipulating you into giving your personal power and
energy away to an outside source? Then why do you hold them? A belief is something
that remains unproven by definition — so why hold beliefs that aren’t helping you evolve?
Such beliefs are vulnerabilities that can easily be taken advantage of for the purpose of
negative interference. I am of the view that if a belief is beneficial, it probably stands a better chance of being closer to the truth than one that has no demonstrable basis in reality. Speaking of reality…

You Create Your Own Reality

Most people reading this will be familiar with the concept that we create our own reality. Unfortunately many have taken this as far as “if I don’t believe in it, it can’t hurt me.” This is the spiritual equivalent to the ostrich that sticks its head in the sand and expects the problem to go away.

It is true that not giving attention and energy to a problem is ONE way to diminish that problem’s influence over you IF the problem is being CAUSED or contributed to by your attention and energy. If it has another cause, then you’re just turning your back on a threat and giving it all the permission it needs to have its way with you. Your conscious participation in their game is only one of the vulnerabilities that can be exploited by malicious entities; there are many others. Spiritual naivety is one of them.

External Saviors

The belief in external saviors — something outside ourselves, whether human, divine or cosmic, that will swoop in and fix the problem, is another one that should be reconsidered. Spiritual assistance is a perfectly valid concept, but in the end nobody is here to live your life, learn your lessons or overcome your challenges but YOU. The best spiritual helpers and teachers point you toward the answers and the source of power within yourself. There may be the occasional boost during a rough period, or nudge in the right direction when we’re stumped for an answer, but they aren’t going to do it for you. Anything that claims to carry you only wants to control you. It is for this reason that I say negative entities and many churches and religious groups are only adversaries in the sense that they’re competing with each other for YOUR resources. As a rule, anyone that wants you to become subservient and give your power away to something outside yourself is going to make you an easier target. Notable exceptions would be groups that encourage you to find your own truth, reach your potential and foster a mutually uplifting experience.

Spiritual Warfare

The belief in “spiritual warfare” is another common pitfall. So you’ve awakened to the point where you realize there really is something to this crazy spiritual stuff after all — and you’ve recognized it’s not all love ‘n light out there. This is all good, but at this point some people take it upon themselves to strap on the proverbial armor and run out to battle evil. The problem is that negative entities are like the Hydra — you cut off one head and several more grow in its place. To kill it you would have to get in a good body shot — and in that case you’re looking straight into the shadow side of the creator itself. Good luck with that; be sure and let me know how it turns out.

If you went scuba diving and got attacked by a shark, would you hate the shark, and go forth to declare war on all of sharkdom? Probably not — technically you entered its home and it was just doing what sharks do. It’s a risk you take when you swim in the ocean, and negative interference is a risk we take when we incarnate on earth. Given the choice to fight or just avoid the situation entirely, the second option is a lot easier on you in the long run. Being in a constant war with this stuff can easily consume your whole life and cause you to become like that which you’re fighting against if you let it. If you define part of your identity as being against something, like negs, then you will keep attracting negs! This is one instance where we DO have a say in creating our reality. One of my biggest breakthroughs in drastically diminishing my neg problem was switching my focus, from coming up with better defenses (i.e. putting myself in a defensive position) to simply wanting to feel good.

Don’t get me wrong — I resonate strongly with the warrior archetype, and have a great appreciation for it. But to me this means that if something enters MY space uninvited, or I am asked for assistance by someone in a similar situation, I have the ability, and authority, to remove it with as much force as necessary. It does not mean I have the authority to invade the space of other beings — even negative ones. If you essentially go into their home territory looking for a fight, don’t be surprised if waves of them start showing up in yours. If you go out looking for a war you’ll find one, and ultimately there will be no winners. There’s a lot of truth in the quote from the movie War Games that the only winning move is not to play. Instead letting yourself get dragged onto a battlefield of never-ending struggle and playing by the dark’s rules – start playing by your own rules, and leave their game behind.

The next post in the series will address how and why our emotional imbalances and subconscious baggage can leave us open to negative interference.

–Palehorse

Popularity: 21% [?]

I. Negative Entities 101: Introduction and Types of Entities
II. Negative Entities 101: Personality Profile of a Neg
III. Negative Entities 101: Who is Targetted?
IV. Negative Entities 101: Negs and Addiction
V. Negative Entities 101: Occult Dabbling and Spiritual Arrogance
VI. Negative Entities 101: Natural Metaphysical Abilities and Awakening
VII. Negative Entities 101: Mistaken Spiritual Beliefs
VIII. Negative Entities 101: Subconscious Wounds and the Shadow Side

Metaphysical ability and exploration do not, in themselves, make one a target… but there are ways that they can. The first example of these is a person who has latent abilities, but does not develop or use them; possibly doesn’t even know they exist. This falls under the principle of “to whom much is given, much is required.” If you’re not living up to your potential, and the universe is treating you as if you are or should be, you’ve got a major conflict on your hands. In this sense negative entities can act as a cosmic “nudge” to start living up to one’s potential in that we’re given a problem that can only be solved by doing so. I have sympathy for people in this position as I realize life circumstances often do everything possible to discourage us from finding out who we are, much less living it — but the fact remains that this is a very real phenomenon.

The second example involves people who know they have some natural ability, or start opening their eyes to the greater reality — and begin reacting in fear. Those who have some natural ability or are otherwise ready to start waking up will at some point probably see some strange things that they don’t understand. The mistake here is to fall into fear, paranoia and obsession. There are people who will witness a few unusual events; pretty soon their imagination takes over and has them believing every demon in the abyss is personally gunning for them. They’re shooting off the energy of fear in every direction, and pretty soon they do attract negative attention. Another possibility is that a neg deliberately causes such a person to witness something strange. It starts out with something that might be disturbing but basically harmless — looking for a reaction. If it gets the reaction, it is able to gain further entry. A cycle of interference, overreaction, sabotage and self-sabotage can be created in this way. People who look for demons under every rock will eventually start finding them.

The third example are people with natural ability but little knowledge and experience. This combination can easily be taken advantage of by an opportunistic neg, to take someone starting out on a legitimate path and lead them off on a wild goose chase. This can take many forms, but the most common scenario is an entity posing as a well known religious figure, or claiming to be a spirit guide. If you’re sensitive enough to hear spirits directly but not experienced enough to have a well developed sense of discernment or intuition, it is suggested that you thoroughly question and test anything that wants your attention. High-end positive spirits will understand and even encourage this need for caution; they will be patient and never become defensive. They’re there to play a supportive role, but really prefer to let us work out our own paths as much as possible. They should be treated respectfully but do not demand subservience. They always respect free will and will leave immediately if asked. In contrast, negative spirits do not enjoy being questioned though they may play along for a little while. They will be a bit too insistent and intrusive in an attempt to convince you of whatever it is they’re selling. The main thing to remember is that with positive beings, you will always be in the active position and the final authority over your path and your experience. Negative entities will always try to take control of the situation and convince, trick or try to intimidate you into handing your authority over to them. In all cases one must keep in mind that we are the only true authority over our own lives and spiritual path, and we have the final say in what we will and will not allow into our space.

In the next post in this series I’ll examine some commonly held beliefs that can make one susceptible to negative interference.

–Palehorse

Popularity: 18% [?]

I. Negative Entities 101: Introduction and Types of Entities
II. Negative Entities 101: Personality Profile of a Neg
III. Negative Entities 101: Who is Targetted?
IV. Negative Entities 101: Negs and Addiction
V. Negative Entities 101: Occult Dabbling and Spiritual Arrogance
VI. Negative Entities 101: Natural Metaphysical Abilities and Awakening
VII. Negative Entities 101: Mistaken Spiritual Beliefs
VIII. Negative Entities 101: Subconscious Wounds and the Shadow Side

Many people approach metaphysics and the paranormal simply because they want to see something strange and unusual happen — and as such, they do so without any safeguards, protection or clarity about what they will and will not allow into their space. Using a Ouija board as a party game and attempting to contact spirits is a prime example. As an analogy, the way many people approach this would be a lot like going into a random chatroom online, giving your home address to the first anonymous person you see, and inviting them into your house to ask them pressing questions about your life. Once you give explicit permission to any entity that feels like entering your space, you may well end up with something that doesn’t want to leave.

If there’s a genuine desire to pursue these subjects, it’s always good to do research and learn from the experiences of those who have been there already — especially those whose mistakes you can learn from.

Another side of this subject is people with a bit more experience whose arrogance takes them in an unhealthy direction. An arrogant personality who believes nothing bad can happen to them, and spiritual practice, can be a recipe for disaster. Online forums for instance, are filled with people who think they know a lot more than they actually do, and who believe they’re capable of more than they are. Negative entities are experts at stroking one’s ego for the purpose of manipulation. I have known people who came to believe they could “control” spirits — and as a matter of policy I distance myself from those people, quickly. Why? Because as soon as you fall into the trap of trying to control other free willed beings, you step onto a playing field where you’ve already given full permission to be manipulated and controlled by something that has a lot more experience at that game than you do. It’s not going to turn out well.

Arrogance and recklessness are two of many possible imbalanced personality traits that can be exploited by manipulative entities. Much like the addictions discussed in the last post, increasingly grandiose ego-boosts can become like a drug that negs are only too happy to provide. Seeking one’s next “fix” then begins to override the protective functions of logic and reason, intuition and common sense. Metaphysics and spiritual practices can add whole new levels of meaning to our lives – but could potentially lead one down a dangerous road if not approached in a respectful, responsible and balanced way.

The next post in this series will elaborate on possible pitfalls for newly awakening seekers and those who discover some natural metaphysical ability.

–Palehorse

Popularity: 17% [?]

I. Negative Entities 101: Introduction and Types of Entities
II. Negative Entities 101: Personality Profile of a Neg
III. Negative Entities 101: Who is Targetted?
IV. Negative Entities 101: Negs and Addiction
V. Negative Entities 101: Occult Dabbling and Spiritual Arrogance
VI. Negative Entities 101: Natural Metaphysical Abilities and Awakening
VII. Negative Entities 101: Mistaken Spiritual Beliefs
VIII. Negative Entities 101: Subconscious Wounds and the Shadow Side

In the last post I discussed how, when we aren’t in full control of ourselves, we leave ourselves open to anything that might want to take control. A person with a chemical addiction is the most obvious example of someone not in control of all their faculties; thus making them an easier target for negative entities. Drug and alcohol addictions are the most obvious — but anything that is done in excess as an escape can be an addiction. Gambling, sex, the internet, work, videogames — the list goes on.

Drugs and alcohol are in a special category. In addition to the fact that an addiction takes control over one’s actions, drugs and alcohol alter the brain’s chemistry in such a way that one does not have full control over their mind and body either. When someone is intoxicated to the point of not being in full control, their natural defenses are seriously compromised. To refer back to the analogy of one’s house: this has the effect of not only leaving the doors and windows unlocked, but wide open as well. Many family members and friends of addicts have observed that sometimes, “something takes over” and it’s as if the addict turns into a whole other person. One can only wonder if this is where the phrase “monkey on my back” originated. It may also explain the familiar phenomenon of an addict saying and doing destructive things that the individual would not normally, and then having no memory of it later. As a poster on a well known forum recently recalled:

“As a child I regularly saw my alcoholic father at a certain level of inebriation, suddenly change in looks, and in character right before my eyes. The switch was almost instantaneous, and within seconds he literally looked like somebody else - not my father. The eyes flashed dark and foreboding and his energy changed from my father’s drunk energy into something dark and very ugly hell bent on creating fear, chaos and pain for others - both physically and
mentally.”
–LimeLady

This quote underscores the point that negative entities seek to cause as many problems for as many people with as little effort as possible. Since an addiction can do serious damage not only in the addict’s life, but the lives of loved ones as well, it takes relatively little effort for an opportunistic entity to turn what is already a problem into even more of a major source of pain and heartbreak for all involved. For the addict him or herself to overcome the addiction is hard enough, but an attached entity can turn a basic urge into an overwhelming compulsion. While it’s not unheard of for someone to break the cycle and overcome addiction where an entity is involved, ideally the entity would be removed first so that rehabilitation can proceed without extra interference. It is for this reason that I wish all treatment programs included an emphasis on regular spiritual practices for developing one’s focus, will and energy system, such as meditation and basic energy work at the very least. With all addictions, additional influence or not, developing willpower — the ability to resolve to do something, and then do it no matter what — is very important.

A non-malevolent but equally problematic factor worth mentioning is earthbound spirits of former alcoholics. Many sources that I consider reputable have indicated that unless an addiction is resolved in life, we take them with us after death. A nonphysical spirit has neither the means to satisfy a craving for a physical substance, nor the ability to overcome the craving. What they can do is develop an empathic connection with a living alcoholic and experience the intoxication through them. Unfortunately this means that the spirit is continuously urging the person to drink more and more, and the living person basically has the cravings of two people to contend with. The spirit may be able to get help releasing the addiction on a higher plane; unfortunately in many cases the addiction is keeping them tethered to the physical plane in the vain attempt to satisfy their craving. Instances like this should be dealt with as a haunting rather than clearing a negative entity, though ways to figure out which is which, and accomplish either, are beyond the scope of this article. One’s best bet in cases like this is generally to get in touch with someone who has experience in these matters.

For further reading: Bruce Moen explores this and many of the ways the dead can (usually unknowingly) affect the living in his Exploring the Afterlife series.

If you are close to someone with an addiction, even if you suspect them of being influenced by an entity, your first priority should be your own safety and well being, and that of any kids involved. Any attempts to offer assistance to an afflicted person should always be approached with this firmly in mind: the best way to help someone else is to start by refusing to let yourself be controlled by their problem.

It is also important for all parties to keep in mind that there are no excuses for bad behavior — whether chemical or spiritual. I realize it can be extremely difficult to “own” things one may have said and done while not consciously aware of their actions, including actions that were influenced by a malevolent entity. The fact remains that personal responsibility is one of THE most potent weapons in one’s arsenal, against addictions and entities alike. All things considered, it is a small price to pay for the freedom of one’s consciousness.

The next post will begin to explore the ways metaphysical ability, exploration and awakening relates to the negative entity phenomenon.

–Palehorse

Popularity: 15% [?]