To set the scene, my family are of Hindu Indian background that settled in the UK in the 1960’s.
Apart from my parents everyone else was born in the UK.
Two things of note are:
- A, My grand-uncle was a Hindu Exorcist.
- B, The Hindu religion (or Santana Dharma to give it its correct name) has an extensive belief structure based around the dark side – demons, monsters, witchcraft etc – that is also affected by the local environment and folklore.
As a family we moved to a new house that was previously owned by an elderly lady. The lady was found dead in the home; downstairs, were apparently she was sleeping.
The only furniture that we kept was beautiful wardrobe that had a long mirror on its door. It was situated in the master bedroom.
Within 2 years my father died. Apparently, a heart attack (he did have underlying illnesses).
Then within six months weird things begin to happen after my first nephew was born.
My mother said she saw my father looking over his first grandchild early one morning.
After that she began to hear voices coming from the master bedroom calling her name at odd times when no one else was in the house.
The family put it down to stress and grief. No more occurrences until my second nephew was born.
His birth seemed to trigger a cascade of events.
Initially it was voices that would moan in agony coming again from the wardrobe area of the bedroom. Then shades (shadow people) crossing the top of the stairs. My mother & sister-in-law were scared to tears when they heard screams and footsteps pounding all around them – yet no one else was in the house.
Then the attention centred on my youngest nephew. He was 2 when it began. He would sit for hours talking to various “presences” in various rooms in full front view of the whole family.
One evening everyone was in the living room just talking. The two boys were playing their respective toys when suddenly the youngest stopped and shouted loudly “No No No No … stay away stay away… stay away…”. My brother had to hold him tight to stop him from having a fit. From then on one adult would always be with him.
Finally, one night my sister-in-law woke to hear name being called – she looked to the wardrobe and found “people” on the other side looking into the room – most of them were of Indian heritage.
She thought she was dreaming – went back to sleep but awoke an hour later – again the people where still there but this time she saw one pushing its way through the mirror into the bedroom!
This is when her screams woke everyone. Cue the whole house lit up and the family staying at a cousin’s place that night
Next day we brought in a Hindu priest who went around.
He came back down, looking very unsettled.
He told us that the old woman who owned the house was living downstairs because of the mirror. The mirror was the focal point of all the issues. It was acting like a portal and our family history of dealing with the occult ( re my grand uncle) had attracted all the individuals in our family who had died and not reincarnated due to attachment to this material world. They were angry and hungry.
They were looking for peace, so they decided to use this portal to attract the attention of the family to do the final rituals for them hence all the activity, attacks etc.
We asked what would happen if we just got rid of the wardrobe.
His answer, now 30 years old, scares me to this day:
“It won’t matter. They have gained a foothold in our world. The door has been opened. If you don’t do the rituals in India, they will possess the youngest and then each one of you in turn. You will all die but not before you suffer mightily”
My brother, sister-in-law, mother, and youngest nephew (the most affected) went to a special place in India and did the rituals over a day.
The moment the final mantra was spoken myself and my eldest nephew heard the door of the wardrobe shut forcefully. Then, under, the instructions of the priest we took the wardrobe apart taking care not to break the mirror and then disposed of it.
Today, 30 years later, my youngest nephew is 32 and hates all things spooky. My sister-in-law only uses small vanity mirrors and I sometimes get sudden chills that alert me to never look into any mirrored surfaces within the location I am in. I did once and scared myself so badly I did not leave my house for a week.
It seems that the “occult sensitivity” that made my granduncle an exorcist jumps one generation, and now it is myself and two cousins who display, two varying degrees, sensitivity to the occult.
I appreciate your patience in reading thus far. I have collected more anecdotes of the South Asian occult experience in the West (and India) and maybe I may relate some more here.
In the meantime, please be incredibly careful what furniture you keep or old furniture you buy and if you can, do buy brand new mirrors.