Ghost and other such things that go bump in the night

[Moses Medina]

Hello all.
What is the Orthodox position on seeing "ghosts"?

Side note, i am not experiencing anything just asking out of curiousity.

 

[ArmyMatt]

either demons, some natural phenomena that we don't understand, or both.

 

[~Anastasia~]

And furthermore either ignore them or call the priest (or see a doctor) if necessary. Whatever they are, don't interact with them.

 

[joshua 1 9]

Hello all.
What is the Orthodox position on seeing "ghosts"?

Best way to get rid of "ghosts" is to paint your walls. Shadows tend to play tricks on your eyes. There are angels and demons, but you can not see them with your natural eyes only your spiritual eyes.

 

[Moses Medina]

Right, thanks everyome for the responses, again not experiemcing anything myself. I have always believed that such occurences were demonic oppression. Seeing if there was a dogmatic stance in the Church.

 

[gzt]

Almost always our minds connecting dots that aren't there, either when there's no "there" there or some natural phenomenon that we're anthropomorphizing.

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

The Orthodox position——

Don’t cross the streams
Aim for the flat top
Don’t let the EPA inspect anything
No one steps on a church in our town
Gozer was very big in Sumeria
During the third reconciliation of the last of the McKetrick supplicants, they chose a new form for him: that of a giant Slor!

either demons, some natural phenomena that we don't understand, or both.

 

[truefiction1]

I had a ghost try to communicate with me through a psychic once. Turns out it was really a demon just pretending to be someone else. So I do my best to utterly disregard anything I heard, in accordance with the teachings of our spiritual fathers.

 

[Tigger45]

Out of no where my wife started having night terrors. It really freaked her out and started making me a bit leary too. We started saying our nightly prayers together and occasionally walked about the house doing a house blessing of our own. We finally made a point to visit our local Orthodox parish and at the end of the service we went up for a blessing. I mentioned to Fr Justin what was occurring and he told my wife not to make an elephant out of a gnat and gave us some prayer suggestions. Since then things have for the most part settled down.

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

I would walk through each room blessing the house with holy water while singing the troparion of St. Michael the Archangel!

Troparion of St Michael the Archangel

O Commanders of the heavenly hosts,
We the unworthy beseech you, through your entreaties you will fortify us,
Guarding us in the shelter of the wings of your ethereal glory,
Even as we fervently bow before You, crying:
“Deliver us from all danger as commanders of the powers on high.”

Kontakion — Tone 2
Commanders of God’s armies and ministers of the divine glory, / princes of the bodiless angels and guides of mankind, / ask for what is good for us, and for great mercy, / supreme commanders of the Bodiless Hosts.

Out of no where my wife started having night terrors. It really freaked her out and started making me a bit leary too. We started saying our nightly prayers together and occasionally walked about the house doing a house blessing of our own. We finally made a point to visit our local Orthodox parish and at the end of the service we went up for a blessing. I mentioned to Fr Justin what was occurring and he told my wife not to make an elephant out of a gnat and gave us some prayer suggestions. Since then things have for the most part settled down.

 

[Moses Medina]

View attachment 241576

The Orthodox position——

Don’t cross the streams
Aim for the flat top
Don’t let the EPA inspect anything
No one steps on a church in our town
Gozer was very big in Sumeria
During the third reconciliation of the last of the McKetrick supplicants, they chose a new form for him: that of a giant Slor!

Human sacrifice! dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!

 

[MariaJLM]

I'm following this thread because I have seen and experienced things that I'm fairly certain were not "of this world". I used to attribute it to ghosts, but since becoming Orthodox I have begun to suspect demonic activity. Surely that means that the house I grew up in had some very dangerous bad energy lingering.

 

[~Anastasia~]

I had a house once with lots of weird stuff happening. There do exist natural phenomena that could account for a lot of it. But to have all of it converge on one location seems pretty odd. That was some years ago though.

 

[Moses Medina]

Read a book by Rev. Bennett, he is a Lutheran of the LCMS. It was his thesis on the Christians in Malaysia and the release from demonic captivity with conversion. I thought it was great and very Chrisological as it is not a book about fear but rather hope.

Ironically enough the baptism and confirmation that they were doing was much more inline with historical chrismation though I believe it would be lacking still.

As memtioned its a Lutheran book written by a Confessional Lutheran but for those who are smart on theor theology can read through and soft out the things not held by your church.

Not sure if Fr. Matt would be on aggreeance to this outlooj, I must remind all that I am a catehuman converting from Lutheranism.

 

[“Paisios”]

I had a house once with lots of weird stuff happening. There do exist natural phenomena that could account for a lot of it. But to have all of it converge on one location seems pretty odd. That was some years ago though.

I have had a lot of strange things happen in my house over the years - lights turning on and off, black shadow figures, music blaring loudly from speakers in the “off” position, smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms sounding when the fire department found nothing wrong, car horns sounding continuously until I disconnected the car battery, dishwasher and dryer turning on spontaneously, pets acting terrified for no apparent reason, children with night terrors, myself with apparent sleep paralysis “that old hag” - and no explanation from the (very expensive) electrician I hired to check the wiring or the fire department which investigated the smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. I’m still not sure how to explain it, or what the Orthodox perspective would be, but it seems to have settled since we had our house blessed (by a CEC priest, not Orthodox) and each room sprinkled with holy water. (Actually, my wife had this done - I was more skeptical and kept looking for a physical explanation that I could not find).

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

Tinkle the piano keys back and forth to scare away demons. They hate that.

 

[~Anastasia~]

I have had a lot of strange things happen in my house over the years - lights turning on and off, black shadow figures, music blaring loudly from speakers in the “off” position, smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms sounding when the fire department found nothing wrong, car horns sounding continuously until I disconnected the car battery, dishwasher and dryer turning on spontaneously, pets acting terrified for no apparent reason, children with night terrors, myself with apparent sleep paralysis “that old hag” - and no explanation from the (very expensive) electrician I hired to check the wiring or the fire department which investigated the smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. I’m still not sure how to explain it, or what the Orthodox perspective would be, but it seems to have settled since we had our house blessed (by a CEC priest, not Orthodox) and each room sprinkled with holy water. (Actually, my wife had this done - I was more skeptical and kept looking for a physical explanation that I could not find).

Those are similar to the kinds of things I had happening.

I think a house blessing is always the way to go. Just in case.

 

[Hermit76]

Time to resurrect this dead thread...

I performed several exorcisms as a Protestant pastor. I've found that most things ghostly are demons or imagination. Don't go looking for them or become interested in them. Say prayers, go to confession, make communion, have the priest bless your home, wear your cross, read scripture, venerate, cross yourself... You know, be Orthodox, and you will be battling darkness effectively.

 

[vote4waifu]

View attachment 241576

The Orthodox position——

Don’t cross the streams
Aim for the flat top
Don’t let the EPA inspect anything
No one steps on a church in our town
Gozer was very big in Sumeria
During the third reconciliation of the last of the McKetrick supplicants, they chose a new form for him: that of a giant Slor!

The only stream that can be crossed is the bishop's blessing. It makes an incredibly powerful blast.

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

Nobody steps on a church in our town either!

The only stream that can be crossed is the bishop's blessing. It makes an incredibly powerful blast.