In light of all the Spiritual Awakenings currently happening in individuals thanks to our collective shift in consciousness, it’s time to shed some light on the reality of the darkness that is all around us. It’s important to become aware of both the light and the darkness and to be able to discern the difference so that darkness doesn’t silently overcome you. This article is especially for you if you are a highly sensitive person or find yourself having more Empathic qualities.
In my personal experience, sharing stories of darkness i’ve encountered with spiritual practitioners or healers has not been well received and even frightened some. Most spiritual practitioners are trained to only focus on the light, and this is helpful when working with clients; however, refusing to believe that darkness exists at all makes everyone completely vulnerable to it. In this article, I simply want to break down dark energy (in a not so scary way) and help you to realize your own power to overcome anything that is dragging you down. I will also be sharing my own personal experiences and proven methods and rituals that work to clear away darkness from your life.
Dark vs. Light: How to Tell the Difference
The answer is simple: the difference is based on feeling. Many people are opening up their awareness to the possibility and existence of other dimensions and “veils” of consciousness and/or frequencies. We are collectively becoming more aware of that which we can sometimes feel yet cannot “see”. We all see with our eyes of course, but the type of “seeing” i’m referring to is that which we may know intuitively is there or perhaps catch a shape, image or sense in our third eye, while meditating or going about our other day to day activities. We ultimately need to learn how to rely on our intuitive feelings to speak to us when something is right or wrong. Highly sensitive, empathic and highly intuitive individuals are likely to experience these energetic sensations of feeling and seeing more than an average person would.
Most people usually know on an intuitive level when a person or situation feels “off”, and alternatively are able to know when a person feels “right”. We have the freewill to acknowledge and identify patterns in the way we feel after spending time with certain people, as they will either leave us feeling good or bad. Most people also know the general rule of thumb is to spend more time around people who make us feel good and spend less time with those who make us feel bad. Spending time with people who make us feel good helps to raise our vibration which makes us less susceptible to attracting dark energies. When we choose to spend time with people who cause us to feel bad, drained or worse it works to lower our vibration and that’s when those sneaky darknesses are able to latch onto us completely undetected. It’s true that like attracts like, however you’re less likely to have one of those darknesses stick around for long when your vibration is high.
Dark Energies vs. Energy Attachments
Thankfully the Spirit world is not as terrible as most popular movies portray it to be. Humans have free will which goes a long way and is ultimately our ticket to move out of the darkness and back into the light. I don’t want to scare anyone here or cause mass hysteria; however, there are definitely dark energies that walk among us and more people are adversely affected by them than I would like to admit. Dark energy (also known as “negative energy”) is more of an influence that can reveal itself through feelings, behaviours or activities that are generally seen and understood as being negative or limiting.
Energy Attachments are not always “bad” as there are some energies or beings out there who are just looking for a place to stay. It’s safe to say that they don’t really belong, yet they are bound to earth for one reason or another (the reason why this happens is largely unimportant), are curious and/or lost. The point is that even if that particular energetic presence, entity or spirit doesn’t have “bad” intentions, they still don’t belong and should be removed from your space immediately (more on that later in the article). Alternatively, other energy attachments are indeed “bad”, have bad intentions and can really drag you and your life down which is why it’s important to become aware of this in order to over come it. Some people have negative energy attachments from early in life that have stayed with them into adulthood. They may have eventually started to acknowledge this darkness as familiar and even comfortable, and have formed the believe that this negative “part” of them is just who they are or is just part of their personality. It’s important to get a clear understanding of WHO you really are as a person and what your core values are. Once you get clear on this, the darkness that isn’t “you” will become more apparent.
How Does it Find Us?
It’s the chicken and the egg here. Do they find us or are we actually attracting them with our vibes? The easiest way these darknesses or spirits/energies that “don’t belong” sneak in is when we are emotionally (or sometimes physically) vulnerable. We may become vulnerable whenever we feel tremendous guilt, shame, sadness for a prolonged period of time, if we become extremely intoxicated or by engaging in sexual intercourse with someone who has a really bad vibe. Like attracts like and boom they’re in without us even noticing. It’s no secret that guilt, shame or sadness that doesn’t go away can morph into anxiety, depression, sleeplessness, anger, apathy, self harm and eventually perhaps even an illness of some kind if left untreated – especially if there is a dark influence taking the reins behind the scenes. These ongoing emotional issues are one indication that there may be something “there” that doesn’t belong.
Another way we make ourselves vulnerable is by not setting boundaries with others, especially in the personal space department. It’s important to learn how to say “no” to people or situations that just don’t feel good without feeling guilty. Know that feeling guilty about saying “no” is normal when you’re first learning how to set boundaries. As you build up you self-confidence and self-awareness, the feelings of guilt for taking care of yourself first will eventually fade. Making the choice to take care of yourself and protect your space is a powerful one as you will then have the energetic ability to help others who may need it (we cannot pour from an empty cup).
Other ways darkness can come into our space and attach onto us is through physical contact with people of a low vibration (not all, but some people of a low vibration may have energetic hitch hikers). This includes hugs (my mantra is “not everyone gets a hug”), sexual intercourse – being cautious of who you choose to connect with in this way, inheriting or bringing home items that have a “bad” or lower vibe, or when you are intoxicated. If you get a bad feeling, back away and protect your energy.
If you typically are not a person who has a lower vibration, yet find yourself being bothered by feelings that something is just off all of a sudden, it could be that you attracted a darkness that is curious about your light which does tend to happen. If you stick to your course of positivity, and follow the protection methods I outline further in the article, the darkness will eventually get bored of you and will leave.
That Feeling You Get
Most times, these energies or attachments want to stay for as long as possible and will therefore remain completely unnoticed and unseen (unlike how popular movies portray). Sometimes the way we can notice them is by noticing your feelings, behaviours and thoughts. At times, you may feel like you are being “watched”, like there is just something different about your home, yourself, or maybe you just get a “feeling” that something has shifted in your space or home. It’s your space, so trust your gut! We are all way more sensitive to these feelings than most of us would like to admit. If the shift of energy happened all of a sudden, retrace your steps backwards. It’s possible that a hitchhiker (negative energy or spirits that don’t belong) got off at your house that someone else unknowingly brought in with them or perhaps you may have picked something up and took it home with you after spending time with a person or in a place that caused you to feel emotionally vulnerable. It’s rare that this sort of thing just shows up in a home out of nowhere, unless is intentionally called in somehow.
Fear and the Mind
Do not allow fear to control you. As humans have freewill, we get to choose whether or not we will allow fear to control us or if we will control the fear. If you’re the type of person who scares easily (me), then perhaps not watching any fear inducing shows or movies can be your ticket to overcoming any fears you may have in your mind about darkness. Feeding our minds with “what if’s” based on fictional stories we read or movies we’ve seen only makes the mind’s projections worse if we do happen to get “that feeling” that I mentioned previously. Know that you get to make the decision about fear. The real power is in our ability to control our thoughts about the darkness so that it doesn’t overcome us. Freeing your mind of it’s constraints (including focusing on Ego Work) is a powerful tool to help you move through the fears that prevent you from moving forward in life. Once you can overcome your fears, you won’t feel bothered anymore by lower vibrations.
Protection Methods
Regular smudging, ridding your home of objects that don’t feel right, carrying protective crystals, being super mindful of who you invite into your home and who you connect with on a deeper level are all great ways to keep dark energies from continuing to sneak into your space and your home undetected. It’s been my personal experience that many of the protection methods recommended by New Age spiritualists have only proved to be temporary in ridding people and homes of dark energies, entities or attachments. What I mean, is that smudging, calling in Jesus or Archangel Michael, using crystals etc. only diffuse the issue for a short period of time. Doing these rituals may feel good in the moment and a couple of days following yet that same feeling that something is there that doesn’t belong comes back again. You may find yourself (like I have in the past) smudging constantly because that “feeling” keeps coming back, which is a sign that the root of the problem has not yet been addressed. These tools and rituals are great to use once you’ve already overcome any darkness that may be lurking around you and to keep them away going forward but it takes more than these tools to really get rid of dark energy which I will cover later in this article.
As previously mentioned, making a conscious effort overcome your fears goes a long way in addition to self actualization, loving yourself and others, changing your thoughts from negative to positive and working to change any negative behaviours. Hitch hikers will be less likely to want to follow you home or to stick around for long if you’re vibing high due to positive thinking and behaving.
How to Overcome and Rid Darkness
Now that we have covered ways to protect yourself from dark energies, entities and attachments, I will share ways that I have personally discovered to work when it comes to ridding darkness from yourself that may be hanging on for dear life. Most people who have darkness don’t really know it but in some cases, a person may know they have it but they’ve lived with it so long that they started to believe that it is just a part of them. As I mentioned earlier, ways to detect such energy attachments is by calling your awareness towards any repetitive destructive habits or choices that you have continued to make throughout your life, past traumas, guilt or shame that has been hanging on. Healing these patterns, traumas, guilt or shame and making the choice to change will make the attachment go away eventually. Therapy and a solid commitment to change your life for the better is the best way to get rid of these dark creatures and to keep them gone for the long haul is to heal ourselves and to change our thinking and behaviours. Practicing discernment with any spiritual, life guidance or ideas you receive (especially on an intuitive level) is also very important if you have become aware of something that doesn’t belong in your space.
In addition to healing traumas, guilt, shame or destructive behavioural patterns or thoughts, three more methods that work well to really clear out these dark energies or attachments are:
- Reiki: A good Reiki practitioner will be able to identify the darkness and move it out of your energetic body so long as you are willing to let it go. The willingness to let it go will be the determining factor of whether or not one session will be enough to remove the darkness. If you are someone who feels that this darkness is a part of who you are as a person, it will take some self actualization before you may be ready to live without the thing that’s been dragging you down for so long. When booking with a Reiki practitioner, make sure you see a master who is experienced in identifying and removing dark energies and who does not fear them.
- Sea salt baths: I’ve personally had success in removing a dark entity from myself by simply taking a sea salt bath. The entity was something I was feeling in my home for quite some time; however, I did not realize that it was actually attached TO me. I realized this when in my meditative state while I was taking the salt bath, a long, dark shadow literally came shooting out of me from my root chakra and disappeared through the ceiling. At the time, I never seen anything like that in my life and it was quite shocking. After that pivitoal moment, the darkness I had been feeling in my home for months was finally gone and my life starting getting better. I am now a firm believer in the power that salt holds in both a physical and spiritual sense. Since then, I started making my own aromatherapy bath salts under the brand Moonstone Bath Salts. The quality of salt is a game changer, especially for ritual type work such as this which is why I create my salts with a blend of Dead Sea salt and epsom salt, and I also include a special healing crystal in each bag which can also be used as an aid in your rituals. Here is the link to the store for purchase.
- Ignoring: As you work through healing yourself and raising your vibration, ignoring the darkness is very effective. Also avoid speaking directly to “it” and instead, if you must, speak in the third person to it. An example of this would be “Colleen would like this feeling or energy to go away now.” or by simply saying out loud “I’m not afraid!” followed by a hard stomp with your foot or a clap of your hands whenever you get that “feeling” that something isn’t right about your space. The less power and attention you give to it the better. Eventually it will get bored and leave.
Clearing Ritual
This is a clearing ritual that I use personally and that I recommend to others. It involves smudging, prayer, a sea salt bath and a meditation. If your mind is racing with fearful “what if” thoughts, do this ritual when you are feeling more calm. You may also want to enlist the help of a trusted friend of family member to be present in your home (for additional comfort and support) while performing this ritual. The mind is a powerful thing, so do what you can to help you believe you are protected and safe. I personally like to do this ritual during daylight hours and I always make sure I watch a funny show afterwards or call a loved one as these are things that really work to increase my vibration. *Use proper fire safety precautions while smudging (ie. tying back your hair, not wearing loose clothing that may get in the way, using a proper fire & heat resistant holder, properly putting out any flames and ensuring the level of smoke is manageable so it does not set off the smoke detector).
- Begin with a prayer by calling in Archangel Michael or Jesus (or both) and asking them to protect you and assist you in clearing your space.
- Light your smudge tool (my personal favourites are Palo Santo and sage) and carefully encircle yourself with the smoke and saying out loud “Archangel Michael, please clear away any negative energies or entities that are within, around or attached to my physical, spiritual or emotional bodies and send them to the light now“.
- Proceed next with a thorough smudging of your home. Make sure you get the smoke into every corner, top to bottom while repeating the following in every room: “Archangel Michael and Jesus of Nazareth, please clear away any negative energies, entities, spirits or beings who are not of my Spiritual Family and who are not appointed to me by God, even if those beings are not negative and just being curious – remove them from this space and send them all to the light now.“
- When finished, thank the Angels and Jesus for helping you to do this work and to always protect you and your space going forward. Some people also like to do a thorough cleaning of their home after a smudging session, or to simply open the windows in each room for a short period of time to let any residual energies escape.
- Prepare a sea salt bath and soak yourself for 20 minutes. *Make sure you practice proper bathtub safety and take measures to ensure you do NOT fall asleep during the following thought process, especially while you are in the tub!!!
- While in the bath, turn your attention to your body. Imagine the salt water pulling out all impurities from your body. Imagine them dissolving into nothing as they are pulled out of you. Don’t try to force anything to happen here, just go with what comes up.
- Next, imagine what your life would look like if you had no fears at all and really focus on that feeling or image you have. Make the feeling as good and positive as you can. When you are ready, get out of the bath.
- Repeat as necessary over time.
It is only through awareness, healing trauma and self-actualization that we can truly rid ourselves of darkness that lingers in life. Once healing has occurred and we are able to step out of fear and into the light, a continual effort should be made to protect our energy from becoming infiltrated again. Negative thoughts are natural for humans due to our egos; however, carefully monitoring and acknowledging them rather than trying to stop them completely is the key. A steady practice of positive thinking, mindfulness and challenging any negative thoughts that may arise are great ways to ward off darkness from entering into your life. Love is highest vibration of all and learning to understand the concept of love is extremely powerful. At the end of the day, it’s all about how high our vibrations are.
I hope this article gives you some peace of mind and insight into your life. If you are interested in learning more about how you can improve your thoughts, behaviours and ultimately your life, be sure to get in touch with me at colleen4coaching@gmail.com or click here to book a private Life Coaching Session or Oracle Reading with me.
Love and Light,
Colleen