One of the symptoms of dead person identification (or spirit possession) is
May appear to have psychic sensitivity. Although Carruthers seems to
dismiss this as sensitivity to
unspoken body language, I have frequently observed people
with DPI symptoms accurately describe secret past events
and current events elsewhere, and accurately predict future events of
previously unknown people.
Protection against Undead Spirits
Some people attempting to play games with ghosts or spirits of dead people
later find themselves obsessed or disturbed in ways that psychotherapy cannot
heal. Magical stories are full of warnings about entities that expect to be paid
for their services. (An inexperienced therapist or healer may be wise to refer
clients with DPI symptoms to people with experience.)
Never Strike a Happy Medium
Interview some self-proclaimed mediums at a psychic fair.
Many mediums seem to have the symptoms and sensitivity - that
Carruthers describes as typical of people who identify with a dead person.
Most mediums that I meet not only have the symptoms of dead person
identification - they often boast about spirit helpers
- about dead people who help them. But it's wise to check the payment before it is overdue.
The history of magic is full of stories about people who tried to avoid this payment.
Which Witch is Which?
Shamans of many cultures use the spirits of
dead people to harm the living. Solving these attacks can be wild rides,
mostly because of a client's fears and beliefs, yet
they reflect human system dynamics.
My study into "Can the dead communicate?" brought me to
spiritualism, parapsychology and psychic research. Although most are
well-meaning
people, for a few occult organizations and cults, you are prey.
(If you have difficulty leaving an occult group - read
Exit Coaching.)
Cross Cultural Horror Show
All over this planet, people use similar ways
to honor and communicate with the quiet dead - and similar unpleasant stories
about the unquiet dead. Central European vampires, werewolves, and Egyptian
mummies may reflect Hollywood films, but my talks with native Canadians and with
immigrants from Cuba, Africa, Vietnam and Afghanistan bring eerily similar
stories.
While Carruthers says "Preoccupation with death and dying"
is a common symptom of dead person identification, there are other,
less scientific, explanations. What is the difference between a dead person
and a ghost? Or between dead person identification and possession?
Between "dissociating a dead person" and exorcism?
Or between a "systemic coach" and an exorcist?
Here are a few of my cases should you be interested...
[
Haunted House . Curses .
Black Magic .
Ghosts . Demon ]
Death and Dying
As I investigated the lives and family histories of people with symptoms
of dead person identification, a deep concern arose. These unpleasant
symptoms provide doors between the world of the living and the world of the dead.
The symptoms of dead person identification may predispose people towards psychopathic behavior and suicidal depression. I met many people
with these recognizable symptoms who tried psychiatry, psychotherapy
and religion, but found effective long-term solutions in systemic coaching.
Ancestral Ghosts
| |
Many early people believed that
spirits occupied all elements of nature. Evil spirits or demons were the
spirits of ancestors who brought harm to living people.
Microsoft Encarta Reference Library 2003 |
Asking "Does anybody know any ghost stories?"
is my way to break ice. Most people have ghost stories. A sincere and
sympathetic ear can bring out hair-raising tales
from the most conservative people. This is my hobby; I collect ghost
stories, and sometimes I research them.
Common themes of ghost stories, from different cultural backgrounds, are:
- Most ghosts seemed to be sad or angry spirits of
people who were abused, victimized or murdered in life. They seemed to live on after
death to find a way to balance the injustice - by harming the victimizers or
their descendents; or they live on in their own descendents, demanding
justice.
- Some ghosts were "guilty" or "confused" -
being punished for harmful or abusive acts.
- Some ghosts were beneficial and friendly, often guiding or protecting
their descendents.
- The remainder could be described as "entities"
that had never been human. This group included animal spirits, space aliens and angels.
However, the ghosts that I researched did not seem to exist in our reality.
To go beyond second-hand stories into first hand experience was not easy.
I needed a bridge; and I found it in lucid dreaming.
Dreaming Together
Using Systemic Coaching, I can do more than listen to ghost stories.
Carruthers teaches ways to join people within their dream realities. (He learned
this while living in Hawaii, where he lived and studied with native Polynesian
healers - see
Hawaiian Spirituality) Dreaming Together
allowed me to accompany people into their dreamscapes,
explore their imagery and interview whatever lurked there.
Most people seem to have emotional leftovers from childhood - and
Dreaming Together can bring this unconscious stuff to the surface rather
quickly. Sometimes shared dreams are so intense that I nearly forget to
breathe. Most people, however, quickly forget Dreaming experiences on
waking.
Even stranger - these shared dreams could overlap onto objective
reality! Changes made in the dreamscape seemed to cause, or at least
be related to, rapid changes in the three-dimensional reality in
which we live. "Where do dreams stop and
reality begin?" This is close to magic.
Entertaining Demons
Dead Person Identification concerns dead human
beings. Yet our human world includes dead supernatural entities that
were once worshipped by human beings. How can something die that was never
born? How would the ghost of a deity be different to
that of a person? And how can we recognize a group or
organization of people who are identified with a dead person?"
It is often said that man creates gods in his own image. So the gods
of identified people might appear to demand, or at least request,
that symptoms of dead person identification be perceived as normal.
Could Carruthers' "systemic" symptoms (of DPI) be transformed into
recognizable beliefs?
