Ghost Encounters in the Real World
The Shadow by the Crib
Some people believe by faith, others believe only what they see. But what if what you see is not something you can easily explain?
Belief in the supernatural is quite common, and it doesn’t get any more supernatural than belief in God. In any religion, supernatural beings are mentioned in those canonical texts. Angels, demons, spirits… And then there are shadows.
There is a story told in my family about a dark shadow, one that appeared often near the crib where my older brother slept.
It was 1964. My brother, just a baby at the time, slept in a crib in the small room off the living room of a house my parents rented. Despite the usual heat of south Florida, it was always cold in that room. One evening, my mother spied a dark shadow standing in a corner by the crib as she entered. Startled, she told my dad. This apparition continued to make appearances, night and day, in that corner, and the temperature in that room remained cold. Mom said she got a very bad feeling from it.
Dad shared this with his sister and her husband, my Uncle Mike. Uncle Mike has quite the interesting history and that’s a story for another day, but for this telling, it’s important to note he was a practicing Santero (a practitioner of Santeria, a religion that blends both African and Catholic traditions). This was the Cuban side of my family (dad, my Aunt Alice, Uncle Mike). Side note: dad never did teach me to speak Spanish (and I’m still not happy about that) but I remember hearing him speak it often with his sister and my grandpa. Second side note; my dad looked like Ricky Ricardo (Desi Arnaz).
So, my uncle came over to investigate this shadow. Afterwards, he told my parents the shadow was an evil entity and needed to be removed from the house before it harmed my brother.
Although mom had seen this shadow with her own eyes, part of her rejected the whole idea of an exorcism as crazy. Pretty sure my Catholic dad thought it was hooey too. But Uncle Mike said it was necessary, and more frightening, said the spirit was dark and trying to attach to my brother. Despite feelings of disbelief, for mom, protecting her baby came first.
Arrangements were made and the exorcism set.
As my mother described it:
Uncle Mike lit sage and worked his way around the house, going from room to room reciting blessings, until the last bedroom, the one with the baby crib. It was there where he cornered the dark spirit and through ritual and words, attached it temporarily to my aunt.
My aunt then grabbed my mother’s hand and pulled her outside where they got into the car. Aunt Alice was babbling and driving erratically. They were the only two of them in the vehicle when it began to shake and sway, “like a caged tiger in the backseat pacing back and forth and bouncing off the doors.”
It was very cold in the car, and the banging grew louder as Aunt Alice drove away from the house, as far as she could get. When she was far enough away, she began shouting, “Open the door! Open the door!”
Paralyzed with fear, mom said the back passenger door, which had been locked, suddenly flew open and all the cold air gusted out on a loud WHOOSH.
First, she noticed the silence and a feeling of peace, and then the warmth of that Florida night in 1964 seeping in through the open door.
They never saw the dark shadow again.
More Ghost Encounters in the Real World here.