What Harm Can Attachment Spirits Cause?
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Originally written in March 2015, revised and updated where needed.
Before we get into the post, I want to give a big, giant disclaimer. Yes, spiritual attachments can cause harm. But, I want to caution you from going down the path that everything you're experiencing is spiritually caused only. Yes, sure, pretty much everything has a spiritual basis as a lesson, teacher, or root cause, but physical ailments exist with physical causes that need to be addressed. I am NOT a medical doctor or qualified to give medical advice, and I only speak from spiritual experience. Please talk to a doctor if you believe your health to be at risk.
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Years ago, having a spirit “attached” to you was called a possession.
But now, that term isn't used so much and the term, in many healing circles, has been replaced with spiritual attachment, and a possession can be considered an extreme (deeper) case of attachment.
A spiritual attachment happens when a non-crossed over individual in spirit, human or not human, attaches themselves internally or externally to the energy of living human or animal for the purposes of using their energy to exist, or worse, to intentionally manipulate their behavior for their own motivations.
An attachment spirit is a spirit that does not exist in the Light and does not have a physical body, and as such, they are without access to energy gained from food and water and they also do not have access to energy from Source energy (like other, crossed over spirits do).
Spirits who are cut off from both physical energy and energy from a Divine Source (Heaven, the Light, whatever you want to call it) have few choices from where to garner their energy to keep moving around and existing. They can choose to harness it from their local environment, or they can choose to directly tap into the energy of someone who is living.
I talk more about all of this in this blog post.
As living humans, we have access to energy from both physical (food, water, sleep) and spiritual, like Source energy.
To Attachment Spirits, who are often very low on their own energetic resources, many humans appear to have an unlimited, abundance of free-flowing energy.
And if a spirit has less than good intentions, we also have a physical body through which they could manipulate the behavior and actions of the living.
When a spirit chooses to attach to a living human, it can happen in for various reasons and to varying degrees.
Reasons for Attachment
There are a few motivations behind why a spirit would want to attach themselves to a living human.
1. They’ve seen other Spirits do it and don’t know another way to get energy
This is probably the reason that 90% of spirits attach to people - they don't know how to get energy and this seems like the easiest, most accessible way. They mean no harm or ill intention and don't even understand the ramifications of it.
2. It seems like it's easier and more abundant to get energy from a person than from the environment
3. They still want to do the things they did when they were alive. They still want to be human.
This can either be well or ill-intentioned. Earthbound spirits generally still want to be in the human realm and have access to human things. By attaching to a human, they can have an experience most similar to being alive. If someone is an addict, for example, and chooses not to cross over when they die, they may want to still engage in these activities and it's easier to do that via attachment.
4. To intentionally manipulate behavior for the purpose of causing harm
Ill-intentioned people are still ill-intentioned once they die and do not cross over. There are darker entities, too. This is rare but possible.
These spirits can and will attach themselves to a vulnerable person strictly to cause harm and in some cases, the Spirit, who is already ‘dark, may want to bring the living person and those around them to ‘dark side,’ too.
Levels of Attachment
Humans are made of millions of energetic particles that comprise the molecules that form the backbones of our entire physical body and our own spirit. Our bones, our blood, our thoughts, and our emotions are all made of energy. These energetic particles have tiny energetic fields, and together, they combine to form the human energy field, otherwise known as the aura.
We have a physical body - our blood, our bones, our skin, and our brain.
We have a spiritual body - otherwise known as the human spirit, it comprises our emotions, thoughts, feelings, personality, and experiences.
We have an energetic body - the energy that makes up our physical body and our spiritual body.
Generally, the spiritual body of a living human resides inside the physical body. Surrounding and encompassing those two, is the whole of the energetic body.
When a spirit attaches to us, it can happen in these ways:
Or they can step completely inside a living person. When this happens, they can replace or push aside the Spirit of the actual living person. This is the more extreme version and it is what was once known as a full-blown spiritual possession.
A person can also have more than one attachment. Either there are individual spirits attached in multiple places, OR there’s a single attachment spirit who themselves had attachments before they died, and went into the afterlife with spiritual attachments of their own. In cases like this, this person’s spiritual attachments can become so cumbersome to them, that they can weigh someone down, preventing them from crossing over entirely. When this happens, the single attachment + their attachments are all using the energy of the living person to whom they are all attached.
How it Happens
Attachments can only attach when there’s a vulnerability present to do so. When your guard is down, when your boundaries are down when you're not well boundaried in life and energetically. Unfortunately, times like this happen to everyone, making it possible for ANY person to be vulnerable, given the right circumstances.
It’s during these times that there may be areas of weakness in your energy, or, if you’re feeling bad enough, your own spirit may have even checked out from your own body momentarily, which can happen.
When these times occur, and you're in the right place at the right time, an attachment spirit can essentially send out an energy cord and attach.
Attachment Spirits exist anywhere where humans exist but do tend to congregate in areas where there’s a lot of death and dying, mostly because this is where they get “stuck” when trying to find a way to get energy with which to move around - hospitals and near death events, and near death last rite areas (cemeteries) are big ones. Big cities and urban areas are common places, too.
How it Harms
Dealing with an attachment spirit is like suddenly having to support the energetic requirements of two adults on the energy supply of one adult’s body.
In a way, it’s kind of like being pregnant. Except in pregnancy, you’re supporting the energy needs of yourself and of a tiny, growing baby that you know and love.
In the case of attachments, you’re supporting the energy of yourself, and at least one other individual who is likely a grown adult AND whom you know NOTHING about. So you're supporting them, AND all their baggage, energetically and spiritually speaking.
They could be a well-balanced person, or they could be completely unstable. Or someone that died with illness, and because they haven’t crossed, it hasn’t been healed, now transferring their ghost sickness symptoms onto you as they attach (yes, this is real!!). They could be someone with an intense anger problem, whose anger is now rubbing off on you and displaying itself in your actions.
It’s like sharing your ice pop with a complete stranger, who could very well have a disease that will be passed to you through the sharing exchange.
When an attachment spirit connects itself to you, there’s an automatic exchange of energy as the link is made. Your energy is siphoned to them and some of their energy flows back to you.
This can cause physical illness, behavioral changes, and emotional distress of varying degrees, depending on the intensity of the Attachment.
Attachment spirits can change the behavior of those they attach to drastically. If you’ve ever been in a relationship with someone, friendship or romantic, who was angry, irritable, and mean, and later you noticed that bad attitude rubbing off on you, it’s the same concept.
1. They’ve seen other Spirits do it and don’t know another way to get energy
This is probably the reason that 90% of spirits attach to people - they don't know how to get energy and this seems like the easiest, most accessible way. They mean no harm or ill intention and don't even understand the ramifications of it.
2. It seems like it's easier and more abundant to get energy from a person than from the environment
Collecting residual energy from an environment tends to be harder to do and requires more skill (see the movie Ghost! They did a good job of demonstrating this.) When you attach to a person, to can easily draw on their energy.
3. They still want to do the things they did when they were alive. They still want to be human.
This can either be well or ill-intentioned. Earthbound spirits generally still want to be in the human realm and have access to human things. By attaching to a human, they can have an experience most similar to being alive. If someone is an addict, for example, and chooses not to cross over when they die, they may want to still engage in these activities and it's easier to do that via attachment.
4. To intentionally manipulate behavior for the purpose of causing harm
Ill-intentioned people are still ill-intentioned once they die and do not cross over. There are darker entities, too. This is rare but possible.
These spirits can and will attach themselves to a vulnerable person strictly to cause harm and in some cases, the Spirit, who is already ‘dark, may want to bring the living person and those around them to ‘dark side,’ too.
Levels of Attachment
Humans are made of millions of energetic particles that comprise the molecules that form the backbones of our entire physical body and our own spirit. Our bones, our blood, our thoughts, and our emotions are all made of energy. These energetic particles have tiny energetic fields, and together, they combine to form the human energy field, otherwise known as the aura.
We have a physical body - our blood, our bones, our skin, and our brain.
We have a spiritual body - otherwise known as the human spirit, it comprises our emotions, thoughts, feelings, personality, and experiences.
We have an energetic body - the energy that makes up our physical body and our spiritual body.
Generally, the spiritual body of a living human resides inside the physical body. Surrounding and encompassing those two, is the whole of the energetic body.
When a spirit attaches to us, it can happen in these ways:
They can simply attach to our energetic field in the way that a tether would be attached to a pole.
Or they can step completely inside a living person. When this happens, they can replace or push aside the Spirit of the actual living person. This is the more extreme version and it is what was once known as a full-blown spiritual possession.
A person can also have more than one attachment. Either there are individual spirits attached in multiple places, OR there’s a single attachment spirit who themselves had attachments before they died, and went into the afterlife with spiritual attachments of their own. In cases like this, this person’s spiritual attachments can become so cumbersome to them, that they can weigh someone down, preventing them from crossing over entirely. When this happens, the single attachment + their attachments are all using the energy of the living person to whom they are all attached.
How it Happens
Attachments can only attach when there’s a vulnerability present to do so. When your guard is down, when your boundaries are down when you're not well boundaried in life and energetically. Unfortunately, times like this happen to everyone, making it possible for ANY person to be vulnerable, given the right circumstances.
It’s during these times that there may be areas of weakness in your energy, or, if you’re feeling bad enough, your own spirit may have even checked out from your own body momentarily, which can happen.
When these times occur, and you're in the right place at the right time, an attachment spirit can essentially send out an energy cord and attach.
Attachment Spirits exist anywhere where humans exist but do tend to congregate in areas where there’s a lot of death and dying, mostly because this is where they get “stuck” when trying to find a way to get energy with which to move around - hospitals and near death events, and near death last rite areas (cemeteries) are big ones. Big cities and urban areas are common places, too.
How it Harms
Dealing with an attachment spirit is like suddenly having to support the energetic requirements of two adults on the energy supply of one adult’s body.
In a way, it’s kind of like being pregnant. Except in pregnancy, you’re supporting the energy needs of yourself and of a tiny, growing baby that you know and love.
In the case of attachments, you’re supporting the energy of yourself, and at least one other individual who is likely a grown adult AND whom you know NOTHING about. So you're supporting them, AND all their baggage, energetically and spiritually speaking.
They could be a well-balanced person, or they could be completely unstable. Or someone that died with illness, and because they haven’t crossed, it hasn’t been healed, now transferring their ghost sickness symptoms onto you as they attach (yes, this is real!!). They could be someone with an intense anger problem, whose anger is now rubbing off on you and displaying itself in your actions.
It’s like sharing your ice pop with a complete stranger, who could very well have a disease that will be passed to you through the sharing exchange.
When an attachment spirit connects itself to you, there’s an automatic exchange of energy as the link is made. Your energy is siphoned to them and some of their energy flows back to you.
This can cause physical illness, behavioral changes, and emotional distress of varying degrees, depending on the intensity of the Attachment.
Attachment spirits can change the behavior of those they attach to drastically. If you’ve ever been in a relationship with someone, friendship or romantic, who was angry, irritable, and mean, and later you noticed that bad attitude rubbing off on you, it’s the same concept.
You’re sharing space, and in this case, energy, so you’re sharing attitudes.
Only here, you likely don’t even know the person or that it’s happening in the first place. The main major symptom of an attachment spirit is often fatigue, which is a symptom for so many other things, that most people don’t even notice or know a spirit could be causing the drain.
With this continual demand on your energy, you may feel lethargic, tired, and exhausted at all times. The attachment spirit depletes your energy. They can also cause physical illness, and with a lack of energy for an immune response, you could get sicker than you would normally get on your own.
If the attachment has chosen to attach themselves to a certain area of your body, your stomach for example, you can experience dysfunction in that area due to the energy re-rerouting and disturbance.
Attachments can cause and perpetuate addiction.
Addicts who die do not always cross over. And when they don’t, they aren’t healed of their addiction, like they would be if they went into the Light. Their earth problems still exist and they will still do anything to get more of whatever it is they were addicted to. Only now, they’re dead and they don’t have a body to partake in the activity and feel the results. So, the next viable option is to manipulate someone who is alive to their benefit. This can mean keeping someone who wishes to get clean, an addict, OR it can mean turning a new person into an addict.
Attachment spirits can also be a force behind mental illness.
This is especially the case in bipolar disorder and personality disorders. Depending on the power of the attachment and the vulnerability of the living person, the degree to which an attachment can change the behavior and personality of the living can vary in severity to match the severity of mental illness. Drastic and sudden behavior and personality changes have been known to be caused by an attachment.
These are just a few of the problems attachments can cause, though the list is much longer. Really, anything is possible. Like. . . did you know that your own unintegrated shadow selves and your unhealed and not crossed-over soul fragments from other lifetimes can become attachments?! Yep, I've seen it happen.
As you can, see Spirits who attach themselves to the living can and do often cause great harm.
The good news!!! is that attachments are not a lifelong curse if you have one in your life. They aren’t something you have to live with forever or even that long if you don’t want to. As soon as you recognize a problem, either a long-time illness or a sudden behavioral or personality change, you have the option to see someone who can help you remove the offenders.
Only here, you likely don’t even know the person or that it’s happening in the first place. The main major symptom of an attachment spirit is often fatigue, which is a symptom for so many other things, that most people don’t even notice or know a spirit could be causing the drain.
With this continual demand on your energy, you may feel lethargic, tired, and exhausted at all times. The attachment spirit depletes your energy. They can also cause physical illness, and with a lack of energy for an immune response, you could get sicker than you would normally get on your own.
If the attachment has chosen to attach themselves to a certain area of your body, your stomach for example, you can experience dysfunction in that area due to the energy re-rerouting and disturbance.
Attachments can cause and perpetuate addiction.
Addicts who die do not always cross over. And when they don’t, they aren’t healed of their addiction, like they would be if they went into the Light. Their earth problems still exist and they will still do anything to get more of whatever it is they were addicted to. Only now, they’re dead and they don’t have a body to partake in the activity and feel the results. So, the next viable option is to manipulate someone who is alive to their benefit. This can mean keeping someone who wishes to get clean, an addict, OR it can mean turning a new person into an addict.
Attachment spirits can also be a force behind mental illness.
This is especially the case in bipolar disorder and personality disorders. Depending on the power of the attachment and the vulnerability of the living person, the degree to which an attachment can change the behavior and personality of the living can vary in severity to match the severity of mental illness. Drastic and sudden behavior and personality changes have been known to be caused by an attachment.
These are just a few of the problems attachments can cause, though the list is much longer. Really, anything is possible. Like. . . did you know that your own unintegrated shadow selves and your unhealed and not crossed-over soul fragments from other lifetimes can become attachments?! Yep, I've seen it happen.
As you can, see Spirits who attach themselves to the living can and do often cause great harm.
The good news!!! is that attachments are not a lifelong curse if you have one in your life. They aren’t something you have to live with forever or even that long if you don’t want to. As soon as you recognize a problem, either a long-time illness or a sudden behavioral or personality change, you have the option to see someone who can help you remove the offenders.
I have a meditation in my Etsy shop that can guide you through the process, too, after doing hundreds of them and teaching my students to do the same.
A shamanic healer is someone that heals the spiritual and the energetic body, and in doing so, is able to release and remove any attachments that are causing problems. (Read more about what a shaman is, here).
Having an attachment is incredibly common and is no one’s fault. Everyone experiences periods of vulnerability throughout their lives, everyone. It's part of learning and part of our soul's path. And sometimes, that learning is what guides us to learn more about the influence of the spirit world too.
xo,
Sarah
A shamanic healer is someone that heals the spiritual and the energetic body, and in doing so, is able to release and remove any attachments that are causing problems. (Read more about what a shaman is, here).
Having an attachment is incredibly common and is no one’s fault. Everyone experiences periods of vulnerability throughout their lives, everyone. It's part of learning and part of our soul's path. And sometimes, that learning is what guides us to learn more about the influence of the spirit world too.
xo,
Sarah
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