While I have been a witch since the mid nineties, I have a black and white brain, so a large deciding factor of my belief in something is based on evidence. There is a reason for that, but it is a long, complicated explanation, but I digress. I am hoping to hear from all of you wonderful witches regarding your experiences with spirits. I have never formed a solid belief, because I didn’t have evidence one way or the other. Well, a year or so ago that changed. I was asleep, but in a light slumber state when someone sat on the bed at my feet. Because I was in a light slumber, I initially brushed it off as one of my kids. But it suddenly hit me that my kids were no longer at the age where they would come get in bed with me. I sat up at that point and nobody was there, so I asked my husband if he had just had his foot by my feet (I am really short and he is tall so it made sense in my head). He was on his side kind of in a fetal position which made me realize it wasn’t him either. I am extremely logical and highly objective so I was feeling all the feels. Nothing happened after that in that manner, but I we had noticed some interesting behavior from my pets that could only be speculative. Fast forward to this morning. Normally, I am the first up in the mornings when my husband is on summer break (he is a teacher), but this morning, completely out of character, I slept late. My husband and I were spending some time together and he asks me if I woke up and came downstairs in the middle of the night. Which I had not. Then he asked if I heard our dogs at all last night. Again, I had not. He hesitates, but finally tells me that all of our top row cabinet doors were open this morning. Umm, Sir! Excuse me?!? We live in a house that was built sometime in the early to mid 1800s (the paper trail stops at the mid 1800s), and I would guess that the last update was done around the eighties, so the cabinets are relatively older. All but one of the cabinets on both the top and bottom, are sticky, so it is simply not possible that gravity had anything to do with it. Well, now my husband and I are thinking maybe I should cleanse the house, but I hesitate because I don’t want to risk letting something else move in or cause whatever or whoever is here to become irritated. So, please share your experiences. I apologize in advance if this is not in the right topic, I’m still learning to navigate the site. Wednesday blessings, beautiful souls. May your mid-week be rooted, focused, and bright.
Hi there! I don’t really have any personal experiences, but my Mom and Dad lived in a house that became haunted when his friend died. Well, not long after. The cabinets would be open, cans put on the table, or the closets would be emptied onto the beds. They lived in Alaska at the time, and they’d leave the house, and there would only be their tracks leaving the house and none going in.
They figured it was his friend because he had stayed in that house for a while, and when he’d died, he’d been buried in a suit with a bible and a rosary. He was a T-shirt, beer, and cigarettes kind of person, and hadn’t been to church in decades. They figured he was looking for something more comfy to wear and something to drink or a cigarette. LOL! So I believe it’s possible; I just have no firsthand accounts of my own.
I always seem to miss stuff.
I’m with you, that is spooky! 
It would depend on the type of cleansing and the exact words/intentions set during the ritual, but generally cleansings are to remove bad or stale energy. If you’re worried something else might move in to the newly freed space, a follow-up protection spell, barrier, or ward could help lay those fears to rest.
As for irritating any entities already there, it’s hard to know how something might respond. You might want to try to get a more solid read on it before doing any work. Do you have a favorite method of divination? Or, if you feel safe doing so, do you think you could try to communicate with it? Once you have a more clear idea of who/what it is and what it wants, you’ll be in a better place to decide how to handle it (or if it needs handling at all - some house spirits can be beneficial).
Thank you, Kat - wishing the same to you! And wishing you good luck with whatever spookiness is happening in your home. I’m sure you’ll work out a way to move forward 
It sounds like someone who is watching over you and your family. Let them know you are aware of their presence, that you felt them sit by your feet a year ago and you remember that. Tell them you intend the best possible for them and you are open to the idea that they have a different perspective which can be helpful. Before you go to bed, perhaps ask them a yes or no question- yes, open a cupboard; no, leave them all shut. It’s ok to live with ghosts, as long as they intend care or positive energy toward you.
Some questions may include asking if they are happy here with you. If not, ask if they would like assistance in reaching the light.
Ask if they intend good things for all in the house. Ask if they’d like to help protect the home and those who live there with them.
Ask if they can see something coming of which you need to be aware- if the answer is yes, this is an opening to work together. Perhaps they can offer a dream to help you understand what they need. Not all ghosts are dream workers, though.
How long have you lived there? If there was peace before the events began a year ago, what changed just before the first experience?
One possible place to consider is the age of your kids- you said they were too old to climb in bed with you. Teens sometimes externalize their energy. I did by clumsily knocking foam cups off shelves when I was too tired to restock coffee cups when I was working nights at a gas station.
And yes, pets do see things of which we are not aware. I once did a caretaking job wherein I watched a cat walk around a sofa, giving a wide berth to empty space before hopping up onto the couch. It didn’t seem to be a change of mind mid trek, but a smooth path around something or someone standing there.
If the events are causing a disturbance, you can ask the spirits to moderate their activities so as to not scare the others. One of our members did something similar while working at a caretaking facility and the ghosts were kind enough to remain peaceful protectors. Maybe someone else remembers the thread and can guide you to her experience?
At the very least, introduce yourself to the spirit while you are alone in the house. Let them know you are aware of them so things don’t get out of control. If they are simply lonely and looking for confirmation of their existence, you could have found a friend.
I’ve had a few encounters with spirits. At one time my husband was driving on the trails in the woods when we both seen a woman’s figure floating next to our car by our dogs head. It was night time and very dark. Needless to say we left out of there really fast. My second encounter was visiting a cemetery, I was in high school 11th grade I believe. I was told it was haunted by a witch. Nothing big happened that night but 30 years later I was telling my husband and kids about my rendezvous in the cemetery and they wanted to go and see what it was all about. So we went, it’s a small town that was expanding because of the railroad back in the 1800s. When you arrive there you see nothing but indents in the ground from where the buildings use to stand and go down the road just a little ways and you arrive at the cemetery. The story is told that there was a witch that hurt the children. But what actually happened was the plague hit that little town not once but twice and took the lives of a lot of children. We went there once in the winter and you could see little kids barefeet prints in the snow. When we were leaving something touched my youngest daughters back, she had a red mark from it. The second time we went it was summer and we spent the night and the next morning there was little kid hand prints on our car. It was crazy, but I was never scared. I never felt a bad aura.
I just thought I’d share my experience with the spirits.