In my shamanic practice, I focus on doing compassionate depossession and working with empaths. There’s a correlation. It’s more common for empaths to experience spiritual attachment.
Because empaths are sensitive to energy, we tend to be more able to notice the presence of discarnate spirits. Dead people know when someone can perceive them and are drawn to that person. (Would you rather interact with someone who ignored you or someone who paid you attention?) For empaths who have not yet learned healthy boundaries, in some cases it can lead to carrying a disincarnate spirit, also known as a suffering being.
The porous nature of the energy field of empaths contributes to taking on emotions in our environment *and* can also contribute to taking on suffering beings.
The lack of energetic boundaries leaves us open to feeling the emotions of everyone around us. It also leaves space for suffering beings to merge into our energy field. (Roughly the equivalent of having a lock on the front entry of our home but leaving the door wide open.)
Although the human body seems solid, we are a rather spacious collection of rapidly moving particles. Under the right conditions, discarnate spirits can move into our space and merge with our physical body.
While a natural occurrence, possession is never optimal – either for the suffering being or the host. As long as the lost soul stays here on the earthly plane instead of crossing to the light, they remain trapped in the pain and the suffering of their lifetime. It’s also not optimal for the human host, who can experience extreme fatigue, disturbed sleep, despair, and even physical ailments.
It is not helpful to allow anything other than our own energy and emotions within our body and energy field. This concept is often referred to as staying sovereign in our body.
Being sovereign starts with healthy energy boundaries. When we have healthy boundaries, both humans and spirit beings are less likely to invade our space, and when they do we know how to handle it and protect ourselves. This can be as simple as working with an intention such as, “This is my body. This is my energy field. You do not have my permission to attach to me.”
(Please note: Some spiritual practices allow divine spirit beings to merge with us. This is different than carrying a suffering being. For instance, in shamanism we often merge with our power animals. Merging with compassionate spirit helpers is temporary and done for a specific purpose, such as journeying or doing healing work safely. Compassionate beings who are fully in the light do not drain our energy in the way suffering beings do. They also voluntarily leave when the purpose for merging has been fulfilled.)
An important part of healthy boundaries is being grounded and centered in our being. When we are fully home in our body, we take up all our space, leaving less room for other energy. One of my teachers used to say, “Home in our body is the safest place for us to be.” When we live outside our body, it leaves a big juicy open for something to attach.
Being sovereign and having healthy boundaries are also more likely when we dismantle limiting agreements that lead to taking on outside energy. A common limiting agreement many empaths carry is that we must tend to everyone around us, even at great personal expense. It’s interesting to note that the limiting agreements that allow us to take on other people’s energy and emotions are the same limiting agreements that allow us to take on suffering beings.
The good news for empaths is that we can learn a few basic tools that are highly effective in helping us manage our abilities and be more comfortable in our body. We’re not just stuck feeling what we feel – we can use the tools over time to develop healthy boundaries and be sovereign in our body.
This work is real, and it matters.
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The summer series of the “Energy Essentials for Empaths” class begins on Saturday, July 29, 2023, from 9 am-5 pm. This is an in-person workshop at Crow Moon Healing in rural Mazomanie, WI. We learn grounding and many other techniques to build healthy boundaries and be free of outside energy.
If you’re interested, you would be very welcome to join us. Even if you’re not sure you’re an empath, you are still welcome. These are very helpful tools for life! For more information and registration, visit https://debramorrill.com/workshops/energy-essentials-for-empaths-summer-2023/.