What are Attachment Spirits?

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What are Attachment Spirits?


Originally posted January 2014. Updated and revised where needed.
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This is a long post, so buckle up!

Before we get into attachment spirit talk, I want to first talk about what an attachment is in general, spiritually speaking.

An attachment is something that is attached to you, spiritually and energetically and is probably something that you need to release.

An attachment can be: 
  • a thoughtform
  • a behavioral pattern
  • the energy that you were releasing that stuck around anyway
  • an idea
  • a hope or dream you had that didn't come to fruition
  • your own shadow self
  • other people's shadows
  • soul fragments that weren't fully retrieved
  • pretty much anything that has energy can be attached to your energy...
This means, that an attachment spirit is a spirit that is attached to your energy. 

Typically, attachment spirits are earthbound spirits that are attached to a living individual. 

Earthbound Spirits

In the minutes, hours, and days after dying, once the spirit has left the physical body, that individual spirit is given the choice - to cross over into the Light (Heaven, the Other Side, whatever you want to call it), or not. No one is forced to cross over into the Light, this is a choice. For any number of reasons, a spirit can choose to not cross into the Light and remain in the physical plane, on Earth.

Why would someone not choose to cross over?

Perhaps they felt this wasn’t their time, and there are things they still have to do on Earth, and wish to stay. 

Maybe they didn’t realize they died, as is often the case in traumatic and sudden passings, and were too much in a state of shock or disbelief, that they missed their chance to cross into the Light, or simply, didn’t believe that they were dead. 

It’s possible that, when alive, the individual didn't believe in “The Light,” and as a matter of belief, decided not to go towards this Light during their crossing. (Or didn't even see it because they didn't believe existed, and thus, perception.)

Some spirits actually choose to stay as part of their soul path. 

But most just got lost and had some emotional baggage to deal with before they were ready to cross over. 

Whatever the reason, individuals can and DO choose to stay on earth and not cross into the Light. These individuals are commonly referred to as Earthbound Spirits. 

They are not alive, and they are not crossed over, they are spirits bound to the Earth Plane.

An Earthbound spirit is also commonly known as a ghost. Usually, when people say ghost, they are referring to a spirit who hasn't crossed over.

Alright, so here's where it starts to involve you.

As it pertains to energy, you and I, as living, breathing, individuals, receive our energy from food,  water, and Source energy. This is how we keep living - by consuming food and water, and being connected to what some people called Life Force Energy, but I call Source Energy. 

Upon death, individuals that cross into the Light, and now only exist in spirit are without a physical body. They are unable to consume food and water, this can no longer be their energy source. To continue existing, as a crossed-over spirit, their energy comes from Source. From the Divine. From the Universe. Whatever you want to call it. By crossing into the Light, an individual is able to continue their energetic existence, as a spirit, by drawing upon this energetic source. 

Okay, so then what happens if you die and lose access to your own physical body and do not cross into the Light? You become earthbound, a ghost. 

You don’t have a body now, so that means no food and water for energy. You didn’t cross into the Light, so shamanically speaking, you don't have that as an energy source.

SOOOO, if you stayed behind on Earth, you need some kind of energy source. (I conceptualize this space as the Middle World, in shamanic terms. It's kinda like a "grey area" for spirits, a kind of purgatory). 

If you've ever seen the movie Ghost, you know that ghosts need some to generate some kind of energy to make things happen. In Ghost, they hang out in subway stations and people's homes - all sources of residual electrical type energy that they can draw on. 

But not everyone does that! 

PICTURE THIS. 

You're dead but it was sudden that you don't even realize you're dead for a bit. It takes you some time to figure that out if you even do. You may just think no one can hear you and you're in some kind of an alternate reality. So, you might start to feel really panicked. 

Imagine if you were trying to communicate with people and be seen for YEARS and it wasn't working. You wanted to talk to someone about what happened, make sense of it, maybe know where your family was. 

A human in a panicked state like this figures things out pretty quickly. One of the things that an earthbound needs to figure out is how to generate energy to move around, move picture frames, or whatever, make stuff happen. 

One source of energy is YOU. 

Sure, they can draw energy from other sources like plants, spaces with electric energy, residual energy in public areas, cell towers, shopping centers, hospitals, and anywhere that there's ample energy. But that's not the focus of this post.

One benefit of getting energy from a living person, and attaching to them to do it, is they become mobile and it's a lot easier for them to move around. 

It's kinda like still being human. 

This is the essence of an attachment spirit. It's a spirit that attaches to your energy so that they can get energy (or some other benefit to them). 


How and why does an earthbound spirit attach to someone? And how common is this?
First, let’s address the question - Why people? If they can choose buildings, why people? 

The short answer is that it's complicated and there's no way I could explain every human motivation to do something in a paragraph or 5. 

But for most, the answer is because it seems easy to do and they don't realize they're doing it, and because it feels good to feel normal and human, and have some sense that things are okay when they are not. 

When you're dead, it's not like someone is over there teaching them all how to be a best-behaved dead person. And that what they're doing could be harmful, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Attaching to a human allows them to stay comfortable and keep doing what they were doing (being human), and maybe eventually get some help for whatever they need. If you're gonna be in the grey space, it would feel better if you got to feel a little bit human while you did it, right?

Some attachment spirits CAN be malicious, just as some people can, but this is rare. Some choose to attach to people to continue vice-like behavior or otherwise ill behavior. And this is where the problems arise, some of them very serious. Drug addicts and alcoholics may wish to continue this behavior in death and can manipulate the behavior of the unboundaried living.

Attachments often wait, in places that people visit and frequent, to attach themselves to someone. They don’t go very far from where they died, because they can’t - no energy to travel.


Who is at risk for having an attachment?
Um, pretty much everyone.

Some estimates by shamanic practitioners say that nearly 75% of the US population RIGHT NOW has an attachment spirit attached to them. It's beyond common. 

At some point in everyone’s life, every individual is at risk. Any time a hole or a weakness in the energetic field, or aura, is created - this creates an opening. A place for the earthbound spirit to attach themselves. 


And what creates holes and weaknesses in your aura? 

This could be a whole blog post and probably will be again at some point, but to keep a short, a hole can be created anytime there is lower vibrational energy present in your field, your guard is down, your energy boundaries are down (or you don't have them at all), or there's some injury to your energy field. 

Because, at some point in our lives, as human beings, we all experience weakness (um, hello, we aren't always 100% perfect and boundaried and with glued up energy all the time), we are all at risk for being a host for an attachment spirit. 

Let me say this again, attachment spirits are very common. Extremely common. They can attach quickly when your guard is down, and often, you don’t even know it happens. It’s just the way it is - we experience weakness, and earthbound spirits are mostly invisible, needing energy, and boom, attachment happens.

They aren’t always evil, or malicious, remember, though these types exist. Most of the time, they are desperate, they are alone. They are still people - just without bodies. Friendly, caring, people that are scared, and they are doing anything and everything possible to continue their human existence.

BUT, just because they aren't being outright manipulative, deceptive, or trying to change you as a person, doesn't mean there's no harm to you in the process. 

Hosting another being's energy is INCREDIBLY energetically draining. 

Their energy can also overshadow yours, you can start thinking their thoughts and feeling their feelings, and processing their energy. It can make you physically ill. It can change your behavior. I can't think of any scenario where it would be "good" for you to be hosting an attachment spirit.

Remember that attachment spirits are using your energy to continue their existence. It's like a big giant energy drain, and also, an energy transfer with this connection in place. 

This means that their energy and this attachment can make you actually physically ill, emotionally unstable, and just really change your energy in all ways. 

All attachment spirits cause harm. Every one of them. Intentionally? Maliciously? Not always. But their existence is pretty much always detrimental energetically. By their very nature, they are using your energy. 

Once you’ve become a host for an attachment spirit - your behavior may change, your personality, your eating habits, your drug and alcohol use habits, your sleep behavior, your state of health - everything. 

They are living through you, drawing on your energy. You may even become weak or sick.

Now let me freak you out even more. 

Attachments can become chains of attachments.

There are often MANY attachment spirits connected to one host. I’ve seen cases of just one, but I’ve also seen cases of 10-20 attached to a single person. I’ve seen sets of attachments, for example, 3 sets of 10-15 attachments each. All of these attachment spirits are drawing on the energy of a single person. Even worse, the individual host, weighed down by the energy of so many attachments, is now unable to cross themselves, even if they wanted to. The weight is too heavy to move toward the Light. 

Alright, so enough victim talk - because it's a two-way street here. Attachment spirits can attach in moments when we are not our best, but it does not have to stay that way.


How do I get rid of an attachment?
If you’ve read this far, you probably already understand that this is serious, maybe you already know it's serious because it's happening to you. If you think you, your house, or someone you know, might be harboring an attachment - you definitely want to get this situation taken care of once. 

How do you do it?

Well, each situation is different. I wish I could give you some energetic tips involving letter writing, imagining golden light surrounding you, and daily positive affirmations, but it’s simply not that easy. Once an attachment spirit is removed and released then what? Do they continue their Earthbound existence, no longer attached to you? Well, maybe. . .they could reattach to you later on, or they could just as well find someone else.

The best thing to do, in most cases, is to assist that spirit in crossing over into the Light. Not all will want to go and some will have stipulations; it can be a process.  Some of them can be tricky and say they cross and don't actually do it. It's essential that this process is carried out with love and compassion both to the living party and the individual who as attached. Additionally, care must be taken to heal the space where the attachment occurred, and lifestyle changes must usually be made to ensure that more attachments don't just come right back. 

Spiritual Attachment Release is generally a shamanic practice, but some rescue mediums and energy healers also perform this work. 


If you believe you are dealing with an attachment spirit, I encourage you to seek out a professional who can help. 

If you'd like to try out the process with a little guidance, I have a guided journey meditation in my Etsy Shop that walks you through the process of attachment release. 


xo,

Sarah 


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