Dear Julia:

My ten-year-old son is often so scared at night that he gets up and turns the overhead light on. In fact, he wants to sleep with the light on every night. He even takes toy guns and swords to bed with him because he feels safer. We have restricted his exposure to scary TV shows and movies and violent video games. Nothing is helping. He sometimes comes in and wants to sleep with me and my husband. His father thinks he is too old for this, and I do too, but then I start to worry and wonder - what if there really IS something frightening him? What if he is perceiving ghosts or spirits or something? What do you recommend?
- M.

Dear M.:

I commend you for considering the possibility that your child's fears may be valid. Too often parents dismiss everything their kids say that doesn't fit into their personal belief system or range of experiences.

As you probably know, most children are far more aware of subtle energies and entities than adults are. One reason for this is most adults were told repeatedly when they were children that the entities and energies they perceived were not "really there." They were thus trained to not trust their psychic senses, and they started to ignore them. When we ignore something, eventually it withers away. (This is also true of dark entities, so keep it in mind!)

I know you're probably afraid to encourage him by taking him seriously. Further, if you get scared, he'll just become more scared, and then where will you be? Since you didn't start this whole thing, however, I don't think you have to worry about putting ideas in his head just by really listening to him. If you are calm and matter-of-fact about this and assure him that you know what to do, he will feel SAFER. If you work WITH him to transform this pattern of experience, he will not only gain a new sense of security, but also some spiritual skills he can use for the rest of his life. Since he's obviously sensitive, this will be very helpful.

My son was plagued by dark entities when he was deeply depressed as an adolescent, and he often heard "whispering voices" and saw entities in his peripheral vision. While it may seem like an easy thing for me to handle, I rarely talk about my work and my spiritual experiences with my children because I don't want to brainwash them into believing as I do. I believe that everyone should be allowed to develop their own spiritual beliefs via direct life experience.

So my ex-husband took him to see a psychiatrist, who of course labeled this a "psychotic break" and put him on anti-depressants. As my son had been very depressed before these phenomena began, and I knew he was struggling with powerful hormones, I let the doctors see what they could do. While the medication seemed to help with the depression, it didn't make a dent in the paranormal experiences.

Finally I decided it was time for me to step in and teach my son how to clear his aura of attached entities. I taught him about energy and vibrations, and how to rise above fear and turn up his inner light to dispel shadows. This worked INSTANTLY, and he has not had any problems since.

Your son is in many ways ahead of you and your husband in knowing what to do. If there IS some dark entity that is scaring him, the very things he wants may indeed protect him. For example, though it may seem silly, turning on a light will not only chase away his fears (and raise his vibration, which is a natural form of psychic protection) - it will actually DISPEL dark forces.

Turning on a light when we're scared is helpful beyond being able to see that there is "nothing there." There are certain things that attract dark entities, and there are things that repel them. Bright light (especially in the form of sunshine, but also artificial light) repels dark entities. (We call them "dark entities" because they are OF darkness.) It's thus no accident that as soon as they can talk, young children will ask for the light on when they're scared. They know what they are talking about!

There are other things that repel dark forces, and interestingly, these things will seem obvious or natural once they are named, because these are things we naturally associate with feeling calm, peaceful and safe. At some level, we are very much aware of the nature of astral entities.

For example, when we are scared, we don't want to be alone. This an effective form of protection not only physically but also spiritually, for there is power in numbers. Also, when we're with other people, we remain more grounded in common, everyday reality, and it's harder for dark entities to mess with our minds via our "imagination." So sleeping with you feels safer to your son for a good reason.

Speaking of imagination - your son taking his toy weapons to bed is a fairly astute idea, for it is on the level of "imagination" that we interact with astral beings. Just think about little kids playing with an imaginary friend, when in truth, they're really interacting with a relative in Spirit. If your son feels empowered by his toy weapons, he can effectively battle astral entities via his "imagination." If he feels that a toy weapon can scare away astral entities, then it will probably work, whether that toy is a replica AK-47 or a sword made from Tinker Toys.

Basically anything that we associate with well-being, peace, and a feeling of safety will tend to dispel dark entities. Playing uplifting, "spiritual" music is a good way to keep shadowy beings at bay. Anything associated with purity and cleanliness will also clear out dark entities.

You might go through his room and clean EVERYTHING. Buy him a new mattress or mattress pad and wash his bedding with bleach. Clean all the surfaces, triple vacuum the rugs, throw out old or broken toys, get rid of anything dark or scary looking, etc. At the same time, hang up peaceful, beautiful artwork or pictures of angels.

Running water is also a fantastic deterrent for dark spirits. This is in part why fountains feel so soothing. You might consider putting a fountain in his room, or perhaps saging the room to clear it of unwanted energies. Open the windows and let fresh air circulate as well.

You've been very wise to keep him away from scary movies and such. Make sure he's also eating a healthy diet, getting plenty of exercise, and practicing self-discipline, integrity and responsibility. The higher his spiritual vibration, the less like he will be to encounter anything dark or frightening.

As you ponder how to handle this in general, ask yourself this: if your son were somewhere like school or the park and he suddenly sensed danger, would you want him to ignore it or trust his instincts? Well, when we "get the creeps," it's because our psychic senses are trying to alert us to the presence of negative energy. It's very important to note (and to explain to your son) that there is no physical threat implied in such feelings: the "danger" is psychological/ spiritual in nature. While these energies are very real, this experience really is "all in our heads." Dark entities generally can't harm our bodies, but they can influence our actions via our thoughts, or feed on our energy by generating fear or other negative emotions.

You're probably thinking that taking such an approach will only validate his fears and make things worse, but I don't see a better alternative. If you dismiss his fears, he'll have to deal with all of this on his own, which is sadly what most kids have to do. I know you are a wonderful mother, and you're trying hard to do the right thing. I feel if you take your son seriously and help him find a way to feel safe, he will know he can trust you to really be there for him, which will reassure him immeasurably.

- Julia