July 11, 2008
Haunted Chair?
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Ellen, Gainesville, Florida, May 2008
My daughter and I have lived in a charming two-bedroom apartment for the
past two-and-a-half years. It felt very homey from the first time we saw it,
and we have loved it here. Nothing strange happened at all until she brought
home a chair about nine months ago. My daughter and her best friend found
some chairs that had been left behind by someone moving out. They were in
perfect condition and very clean -- small, plastic wicker-weave lattice with
black steel legs. My daughter kept one and her friend took the other.
From the first night the chair was in her room, my daughter complained that
she felt like someone was watching her. She had never felt that way before
so I wondered what was happening. She complained about it on and off over
the next few months, but I never felt or saw anything, and our cat would
even sleep quite comfortably on my daughter's bed, even as she had these
creepy feelings, so I wasn't terribly worried. After a while, she decided to
rearrange her room and had no room for the little chair so I took it and
made a little reading corner in my room with it. Immediately, I felt like
someone was watching me from the chair. It didn't feel evil or threatening
-- it just felt unfamiliar, like having a neighbor or a co-worker show up in
your bedroom at night. You know they won't hurt you, but you know they don't
belong there either. I kept the chair in my room, thinking the feeling would
go away but it never did. I had to cover the chair with a blanket to sleep.
Then one night as I was in the shower, I heard a very loud bang on the
bathroom door and it flew open, as if someone had slammed their fist against
it. I jumped out of the shower to see what was going on but there was no one
there. I wrapped a towel around myself and ran out to the living room to see
if my daughter was looking for me. She was sitting at the computer, head
phones on, a blanket draped over her lap, and her legs tucked under her.
There's no way she could have banged on the door and gotten back to her seat
in that time. Our cat was asleep on the sofa. All the doors were locked from
the inside, and there was no one else in the house. I got rid of the chair
that night. My nephew took it, even though I warned him that it was haunted!
He just laughed and thought it would be cool to have a ghost in his
apartment.
I checked with him a while later to see if he noticed anything, and he said
he has seen someone sitting in the chair, and he has also seen the chair
rock back and forth (it's not a rocking chair). He isn't scared of it but he
says there is definitely something in that chair. Once the chair was out of
our house, the feeling went away and all was calm again until recently. My
daughter has the feeling of someone hovering over her bed at night again and
now she won't sleep in her room alone. I told her that it won't hurt her; it
just seems to be a curious spirit that likes to watch her, but she is
spooked. The first night she slept next to me, I felt uneasy as well. When
she woke up in the morning she said, "Mom, it followed me into your room and
sat in the corner by your closet all night." I decided at this point that we
needed to claim back our house and we started talking to the spirit, telling
it to go to the light and that we are the living and this is our space, not
its space. We made salt circles around our beds and invoked Archangel
Michael for protection.
The feeling seems a little weaker now, but we have also started to notice
something touching our hair. First, I felt something tap my hair, as if a
large bug landed on my head. I swatted at my head but there was nothing
there. A few days later, I felt something run down my hair, as if someone
was gently brushing their finger over my head. My daughter also had the
feeling of someone running a finger through her hair down the back of her
head. It isn't a scary sensation -- just odd.
I went into her room one day when I was alone and had a very calm talk to
the spirit, telling it that it wasn't welcome, that we release it with love
and good will but it is frightening my daughter and I can't have that. I
told it to go to the light where friendly spirits will guide it and it will
be safe and welcome there. I turned and walked out of the room and, as soon
as I sat down in the living room, I felt someone very gently, almost
affectionately, run their hand down the back of my hair. Yesterday, my
daughter was in her bathroom fixing her hair when she felt the presence
behind her. She spoke to it calmly and said, "In the name of Jesus Christ, I
command you to leave us." As soon as she uttered the words, her bathroom
cabinet door gently swung closed. It feels to me like a gentle old lady
spirit and it doesn't frighten me but I know it doesn't belong with us. I
have an appointment with a spirit counselor tomorrow who has experience with
these things and he says he can help. I'll keep you posted!
