Is there a direct relationship between someone hoarding a large amount of objects and their house becoming haunted? Can spirits still have attachment their earthly possessions? Is that rustling sound that of a mouse or a restless spirit?
Here is my updated blog about a subject I touched on in July, 2013. I first broached the idea of a possible relationship between hoarding and haunting and indeed there may be some merit to this. We may have discovered some possible photographic evidence to support this theory.
Here is my updated blog about a subject I touched on in July, 2013. I first broached the idea of a possible relationship between hoarding and haunting and indeed there may be some merit to this. We may have discovered some possible photographic evidence to support this theory.
The definition of Compulsive Hoarding (or pathological collecting, or, informally, pack ratting) is a pattern of behavior that is characterized by the excessive acquisition of and inability or unwillingness to discard large quantities of objects that cover the living areas of the home and cause significant distress or impairment.
Many of you I am sure have seen an episode or more of popular TV shows dealing with this subject of excessive hoarding. It shows where people basically filling up their “free space” they occupy with tons of stuff which seems to fill a void in their lives. But the psychological effects (and possibly psychic effects) of literally isolating and suffocating themselves in this environment is like having their life force sucked out of them! This disorder affects more than 3 million people in the U.S.
He was an anthropologist and world traveler who not only collected art objects but also brought home some ancient artifacts from his time excavating in South America. He felt apprehensive leaving his home for long periods of time, neglected going to the doctor (even after numerous pleas from me) and became paranoid of even having workmen come in to fix his bathroom plumbing. He had bars placed on his windows-he was like a virtual prisoner in his own house. We later found out that Paul* had been living in very hazardous health conditions with the discovery of dust, mildew and black mold when cleaning out his basement. * named changed
We have no proof but it is safe to bet that these years of accumulated harmful vapors in the moldy air caused him to be ill and his asthma condition to worsen. He told me he was using his inhaler more frequently and it may have masked his heart disease when he was short of breath thinking it was just his asthma. By the time the paramedics got him to the ER he was unconscious and showed signs of a heart attack several days earlier. There was so much damage to his heart the doctors were unable to save him. What a sad way to live, to die, and then to haunt!
Some of the "hoard" in the basement which became the epicenter of the haunting. A tiny fraction of what we had to clean out in the next 10 months.
So what causes the Haunting?
A collector, who brings items purchased at garage sales, thrift stores or in their travels into their home, may find they have ghostly attachments. Basically, you can be bringing the ghosts into your home! With that you can be bringing some type of unusual low-level energies into your environment.
Our particular experience relating to this phenomenon is told in my book, Estate of Horror, and how we had to clear out fifty years of accumulated hoarding by my friend and his family and were then confronted by terrifying poltergeist activity. The more we tried to de-clutter the house for eventual sale, the more the strange activity escalated. We learned from a psychic medium that came to the house and was in communication with my friend Paul, “That my deceased friend and his family were upset with the major changes happening to the house and their emotional attachment to their hundreds of possessions did not end with their lives. They still wanted everything to remain the same.”
We found this to be impossible to comply with as the house was to be sold and the proceeds donated to charity as specified in my friend’s will. I had no choice but to carry out his wishes. Tons of junk were put out in the trash. This made the ghosts angry and the haunting at the house become dangerous.
We found this to be impossible to comply with as the house was to be sold and the proceeds donated to charity as specified in my friend’s will. I had no choice but to carry out his wishes. Tons of junk were put out in the trash. This made the ghosts angry and the haunting at the house become dangerous.
Here are several images we caught of "faces/spirits"? near the collected items. We had no idea at he time we had captured these images which look like faces. See inside red circle. It resembles my friend Paul facial structure and features.
BEFORE
Yes, clearing out clutter and debris can improve a “hoarders” life one box at a time. With professional counseling, clutter-busters and experts in organizing, a person can get help. There can be a psychological release that is physically, emotionally, and spiritually liberating in changing their lives. But, what about the possible psychically linked energy that may have been attached to some of the objects? Does Hoarding and Haunting go hand in hand? It’s just a theory, but from my personal experience, I believe it to be one that deserves further investigation.
What happens to those of us who cleaned out a hoarder’s house? In my case, you write a book www.estateofhorror.com about your experiences of being the Executrix of a deceased friend’s estate, that is a hoarding nightmare, as a cautionary tale. In the ten months time it took us to clean out the house we found we had disturbed something supernatural and liberated some evil spirits that continue to haunt us even today!
This is now documented in my sequel, Dark Transference.
www.hauntedauthor.com
Your post is very interesting. I've always known that people who hoarded suffered from psychological issues, but I never thought there could be psychic effects as well. It makes sense that artifacts carry ghostly energy. And, if there are enough of them it could pose a problem. My neighbor was a hoarder. After living next to him for six years, only one time did I get a glimpse into his unit. There were boxes and stacks of paper from floor to ceiling. He had carved a small path for him to walk through. How consuming that must have been for him to live like that!
ReplyDeleteDear Dana, Thank you for your comments as they are most welcome and insightful. That's how it was at my deceased friend's house like your neighbor's.Yes, it is a huge physical and psychological burden to live in a hoarding situation. It literary sucks the life force from you and drains you. It was sad to see how my friend lived and kept it a secret from me.I still carry that shock of seeing his situation for the first time after he died. That is something that stays with you for the rest of your life.If you read my book, Estate of Horror, you can see how much it affected me. Stay connected and all the best!
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting story. I've been in a couple of previous homes of hoarders. If people realized what a huge burden it is for their family and friends, I think it might be an encouragement to break free of it.
ReplyDeleteI just got back from helping someone clear out some things. Their home wasn't nearly as bad as the pictures or what you see on TV. But it could have gone that way if allowed to continue much longer. The person had just gotten buried under a couple of life situations and the house reflected that.
We prayed as a group before we went down there. There was one specific time as we were beginning that I know there was a spirit in the middle of the living room. I didn't sense anything else during the time I was there. But I didn't realize until then how much of a spiritual aspect there is to it.