Lisa Waugh

You may not believe in ghosts, but chances are you get a little spooked by creepy stories. A compelling ghost story or a tale of demon possession is enough to make even an extreme skeptic look over their shoulder. And if you already believe in such things? Well, you’re probably already looking for ways to ghost-proof your home.

Whether you’re a firm believer in ghosts and demons, or just want to cover your bases, you may want to take some precautionary measures to keep your home from being haunted and your soul from being possessed. It’s always better to be safe than sorry!

While many basic ways of protecting yourself and your home from ghosts and demons are well-documented, this list also covers more in-depth tips that may not be as well-known. Follow this guide for how to banish ghosts and demons from your home and soul, and you can sleep a little easier tonight.

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• Don’t Panic

Photo: Warner Bros.

Saying “don’t panic” if you believe that your home is haunted is much easier said than done. However, it’s the absolute best thing that you can do. If you’re worried about a haunting or a possession, take a few deep breaths, clear your head, and try to think calmly and clearly.

• • Eliminate Any Confounding Factors

Photo: DreamWorks

There are many things that initially appear to be caused by dark forces, but are really just natural occurrences. If you live by a power station or hazardous waste facility, or if you have a gas leak or a rogue rodent, you may think you’re experiencing something paranormal.

Make sure to fully scope out the area outside of your home, as well as inside, so that you can eliminate all other factors before you jump to conclusions.

• • Cleanse Your Home

Photo: Warner Bros.

There are several ways to spiritually cleanse your home, including smudging, praying, and casting a circle. Smudging involves burning certain herbs, which will then waft through your home in a specific direction. A professional can guide you on which herbs are best for your specific situation, as well as on the proper actions and words to make your smudging successful.

Prayer involves calling upon God, enlightened beings, saints, or others to join you in battling the evil spirits. The prayer or prayers should be chosen depending upon the entity that you are dealing with. As with smudging, a professional should be consulted.

Casting a circle by holding hands is traditionally a pagan or Wiccan ritual, but you can partake in this cleansing regardless of your beliefs. The purpose of the circle is to hold positive energy and create a sacred space. This sacred space can then be used to help fight off dark forces.

• • Use Herbs and Other Beneficial Plants to Protect Your Home

Photo: Warner Bros.

There are several plants and herbs that can help protect you and your home from dark forces. Agrimony wards off hostile magic and is used to reject evil spirits. A cilantro wreath rids your home of negative energy, and many people even grow cilantro in their garden to protect their home and property. However, it’s very important to never burn cilantro, as it can increase negative energy.

Valerian incense also helps ward off dark spirits.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that many of these plants and herbs smell delicious and look beautiful. Thwarting dark forces while improving your home’s aesthetic is a win-win.

• • Don’t Expose Yourself to Evil Forces

Photo: Paramount Pictures

It sounds obvious enough, but it bears repeating: don’t expose yourself to evil forces. Through your actions and emotions you can invite dark powers into your life unwittingly. Try to avoid harming others, wishing harm on others, or blindly participating in a negative or dangerous belief system, including occult religions.

Try to avoid negative thoughts, as these leave you vulnerable to negative forces.

• • Seek Out a Trusted Professional

Photo: FX

You may want to seek out someone who has experience in dealing with ghosts, dark magic, evil spirits, or demons. However, this all depends on your belief system, and you should be vigilant in assessing a professional before choosing them.

Priests, Wiccan priestesses, spirit releasers, and any other person who claims experience in dealing with such forces should be carefully researched. Always trust your instincts, and leave if a person doesn’t feel quite right.

• • Check Your Mental Health

Photo: MGM

Regardless of whether or not you have a hostile entity in your home, you may be in need of a psychiatric analysis or evaluation. If counseling is readily available to you, it wouldn’t hurt to rule out your mental health as an outside factor. People suffering loss on many levels may experience something akin to seeing spirits or feeling their bodies have been taken over.

Even if your mental health is found to be fine, it can bring you peace of mind to have an analysis.

• • Listen to Your Instincts

Photo: Toho

If a person or place just feels weird to you, then you may be tuned into something. Remove yourself from the situation as quickly as possible. If you’re unable to do so, then you should quickly seek out positive forces to counterbalance the bad energy.

• • Communicate Carefully

Photo: Paramount Pictures

You can often get a spirit to leave simply by asking, but being respectful is important, as insulting the entity can have negative consequences. You may encounter resistance, which may require you to cleanse while asking the spirit to leave.

• • Paint Your Door and Shutters Blue

Photo: Dimension Films

Demons and spirits aren’t scared of the color blue, but many will not cross water. Painting your doors and windows shutters blue can sometimes trick spirits into believing that the entrances to your home are surrounded by water, which can keep them away. Added bonus: it looks good!

• Document Your Experiences

Photo: SyFy

Journaling and recording your experiences will help you know exactly what you’re dealing with. You can take your notes to a professional, and they can help you determine the nature of the entity that is bothering you. Documentation can also help you tackle fear, as it’s easier to handle something you understand.

It’s always a good idea to have some other people document the situation as well, so you can get a fully objective recording.

• • Make Sure Your Evil Spirit Isn’t Infrasound

Photo: MGM

Infrasound is a low-frequency sound that can result in nausea, fear, and bizarre visual anomalies. As evil spirits can also cause these symptoms, many people think they have a dark force in their home when it’s really an infrasound from something else.

If you build an infrasound detector, you can figure out whether the symptoms are from a spirit or an infrasound.

• • Don’t Put Your Plumbing in the Northeast Corner of Your Home

Photo: Lions Gate Films

It may sound obscure, but some cultures believe that evil spirits can enter a home through the plumbing. Furthermore, it is believed that windows and doors near the northeast corner are also an entranceway for spirits.

Now, you can’t exactly eliminate plumbing or the northeast corner of your home, but you can hedge your bets by not putting the two together, if that’s possible.

• • Wear Sacred Objects and Stones

Photo: MGM

Sacred objects can protect you from many different evil spirits. If you have a saint’s medal, a stone that has been blessed by a shaman or priest, or even just a special crystal, try wearing it around your neck. However, simply wearing a sacred object is not enough; you have to also possess the intentions and positive thoughts that the object represents.

• • Post a Horseshoe on Your Door

Photo: A24/Universal Pictures

Horseshoes are one of the oldest forms of prevevting evil spirits from entering your home, used as early as the 16th century. It doesn’t hurt that they look pretty awesome as well!

• • Drive Away Spirits with Wind Chimes

Photo: Lions Gate

Wind chimes are a sacred object, so placing them around your home can help drive away evil spirits. You can opt to have your chimes blessed by a professional, or you can choose to put your own positive energy into them. Of course, both is always the best option!

• • Learn to Live with Your Ghost

Photo: Paramount Pictures

You may have a harmless or even benevolent ghost in your home. If that’s the case, you don’t have to get rid of it, but you do need to set some boundaries. You should not let the spirit run amok, visit you while you sleep, or have full access to your home. If the spirit abides by your rules, you may enjoy their presence.

However, if they begin to cross your boundaries, you should swiftly ask them to leave before the situation gets worse.

• • Banish Hostile Spirits and Ghosts

Photo: MGM

In the case of malicious spirits, you may need to do more than simply ask. Instead, you may need to banish them via an exorcism. As banishing can be dangerous, make sure that you have politely asked the spirit first, and make sure that you are not alone when you attempt the banishment.

• • Never Tackle Dark Forces Alone

Photo: Columbia Pictures

You should never go into any battle alone, and that’s especially true where dark spirits are concerned. Always try and surround yourself with supportive, like-minded people who believe in the same things that you believe in.

If you are comfortable with it, having a spirit releaser or religious official help you is always a good option.

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