To protect each person's privacy, I will refer to the Native Medicine Man as "MM" and the ghost hunter as "GH."
BACKGROUND: As MM carried on a conversation with a young fellow, GH, one who was driven to investigate as with most other ghost hunters, by the curiosity of "the other side in general." GH was heading to an area known to have Native spirits.
MM: How do you know there are native spirits there?
GH: The people say they have seen an Indian man.
MM: And you are going to do just what?
GH: I'm going to see if I can catch them on film, or maybe have them say something to me on my recorder.
MM: That's fine. May I make a suggestion? I'm not saying not to do it, but I have a small thought about it from my side.
GH: Definitely!
MM: Before you leave your home, ask permission. They know you're coming. Whatever words or language you wish to use with a message simple or complex, just tell them you'll be showing up. Regardless if you feel you captured good evidence or not, be sure to thank them as you leave. Just because they're dead, doesn't mean they do not understand. Maybe they understand more than you do. They deserve courtesy & respect. Would you enter the home of strangers you have never met, start filming them or record audio of them, asking them questions without permission, and when you were finished leave without saying anything?
Also, keep in mind, if going with others, safety in numbers does not apply. Now, your cross, holy water or anything like that is not recognized by the Native people. It is not something that we practice. It is not ours. Instead, take tobacco. Before you leave your house to investigate, offer a prayer and seal your house. When you get to your destination, say a prayer, introduce yourself. Tell them what you are doing. The Native spirits will listen. The OTHERS will not. There are different worlds.
GH: I asked my friends there with me who were busily making a plan to investigate, if they would like to gather around to join in a prayer I was planning to offer to the non-living, the natives, and that they were welcome to join me. None were interested in participating, instead continued their plan to investigate the various areas of the house. I went outside, stood on the front patio. I said who I was and I took the tobacco and dropped it on the ground as I was advised to do. I spoke aloud that I meant no disrespect. Once I had finished my prayer to the unseen, something happened. Not that I could see or hear, but the best I could describe it was inside my heart. The way I was approaching this, it was no longer trying to catch a shadow or a light or an orb. That no longer became the priority. It became an evident, peaceful feeling that I was walking among those who had passed on. It was the strangest feeling because I had been doing this for a while and I had never experienced this particular sense. Because of this, I am no longer looking for things that "go bump in the night," but rather I am attempting to make a connection.
GH: was what I described uncommon or strange?
MM: Not at all. They acknowledged your prayer. They acknowledged your intent. In their way, they let you know they accepted it.
GH: You know, sometimes when I go to a place, and I feel there are peaceful spirits, then I can bring them home.
MM: Not at all, not at all! Do not accept anyone to follow you. It doesn't matter who. Do not invite them. Do not trust them. Those who mean good intent will always leave you be and never make you feel like you need to bring them. THESE are not good! DO NOT open yourself up to being gracious and say 'come home with me.' Just because you have a sense of peace, of tranquility, feeling they might be around you just by uttering the words..... DO NOT! Nobody ever told you this? You're like a child given a knife for the first time. You are wielding it like a toy with no idea of the danger of the sharp point. Now, you have a family. The only ones who will be with you all the time, without invitation, are the 'helpers.' They are your guides. If you're Christian, they are known as your guardian angel and are always with you. We believe in what we call the helpers... spirits... ancestors. They are like sentinels or soldiers.
IN SUMMATION: The ways of indigenous beliefs/faiths should not be discounted, neglected or forgotten. There are parallels aplenty between various religions if you look for them. As mentioned above by MM, "those with good intent will always leave you be" ... I refer to comments by Fr. Jose Antonio Fortea, one of the foremost Demonologists and Exorcists of the Catholic Church:
"Evil is the lack (or privation) of a good that should be present in a thing."
"Evil is an objective reality, though many in today's culture insist that morality is merely one's personal opinion and is subjective... Certain actions are always objectively evil, regardless of our opinion about them."
"As purely spiritual beings, demons do not have a determined visible form. They are allowed by God to appear in a certain determined way to make it clear to us that it is actually a demon we are seeing. Demons are permitted to appear as moving shadows, as monstrous freaks, or a very black, little men."
"Souls of deceased human beings do not occupy space... they are not anywhere. They exist outside of earthly, material time. They exist, but they are not "here" or "there" in a physical sense... a demon is said to be in a place when they act in that place... if a demon causes a chair to move, we say it is in that concrete place. In all cases, the demon is simply acting there."
I leave you with this final quote from Fr. Jose Antonio Fortea: "Once a tradition cuts itself off from centuries of belief, new methods for dealing with the devil cannot be invented from scratch." (the popular ghost hunting TV shows come to mind here)...
and from MM: "You're going to this old home, old church, cemetery looking for spirits... WHY? They're always around you. You just have to look. Even in your own home."
- MoonJoey
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