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Seeing the Unsettled Dead

~Rachael ‘Spatula’ Hendrichen

Many cultures throughout time have recognized the season of fall as a time when nature transitions toward the death and stillness of winter. It is this time where we may also feel more connected to and aware of things around and within us that we are ready to take an honest look at and put to rest. In ancient Chinese culture, the wisdom of ‘science’ was based on the experiences of humanity at its best and worst. The worst or most troubling afflictions a person may endure, were considered ghostly behaviors. Ghosts and even demons were created by humans who lost their lives in the midst of great suffering, and continued to wander still unsettled, suffering and confused. During the time when the Chinese government employed many astrologers, they took great measures after a battle to do large rituals that would put the spirits of the warriors whose lives were lost to rest.

In the modern day, more than perhaps ever before, the transitions from life to death are not recognized or properly honored. Suffering that remains unexpressed and unresolved before death is common in our society. If we take a moment to consider that in helping and caring for life, we also must help and care for death, we can become empowered to do what we can for those around us and to help our own ancestors find resolution. We are all connected and are all ancestors to each other. By acknowledging our role and responsibility in assisting death, and resolving ghostly behaviors within us, we can come full circle and resolve karmic repetitive patterns.

Often we are taught to think that ghosts are terrifying, powerful, evil, and strong. According to ancient Chinese thought, ghosts are confused and weak, and often linger near their blood relatives (as the sense of smell and hearing are the only remnants senses they have left). Perhaps they came into being because of a slow painful death through some addiction, suicide, trauma, dying away from home, or any other suffering. Their confusion would lend to the idea that they then haunt their relatives, to repeat the same pattern that lead to their own death. By influencing family members toward the same demise, they get stronger and can turn into demons (ghosts that are even more confused).

The best thing we can do to help our lineage is to be honest with ourselves about our own behaviors. We may even have a clear idea as to what destructive patterns we may have inherited or we may have yet to discover it. As ghosts are weak, we can think of addictions as weak – where doing something once might not kill you (having a drink or a cigarette), doing something a million times might land you reluctantly in your grave. It is weakness, not strength, that sneaks in and convinces us just do it one more time (over and over again). By looking at these patterns as ghostly behavior, we can separate them from who we really are, and let them go.

We might all recognize those places in life where we are unable to learn from experience. Ghostly patterns can feel compelling; an urge to participate in something we may know full well will not work out well for us. Engaging in abusive relationships, harming ourselves, binging on substances or experiences, and then going back for more – are patterns that we must find the strength to become aware of and free ourselves from. We can do this knowing that it is not just for ourselves, but also for our ancestors and our children.

Creating a ritual, and making offerings of incense, food, flowers, mantras, and prayers, can help us transition out of ghostly patterns and into a higher respect for ourselves. Dedicating a time in the day to serve and help others creates positivity that ghosts do not enjoy being around. Taking your blood back to your ancestral homeland and making an offering can also help put these patterns to rest. We all come from many place and many traditions, although I am not Chinese, I find this understanding, as taught to me by my teacher Liu Ming, to be helpful and wise. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or advice on this subject, as it is part of my healing practice to help with the transitions between the seen and the unseen world. [email protected]