I have been afraid of the dark since I was born. I feel a dark presence that wants to grab me. Why do I feel that presence? I experienced weird things a few years ago at night—something grabbed my feet, someone whispered in my year. I heard footsteps every night above my bed, and the entity levitated one of my slippers one night. But the strange experiences stopped when I moved from home.
—Timea , Romania
Dear Timea, Being afraid of the dark is very common for children and for some adults also. A simple solution is to have a soft night-light glowing in your bedroom after dark.
As for the dark presence or entity, which was bothering you, Yogananda offers many solutions for getting rid of them. Here are a few:
1) Keep a picture of Paramhansa Yogananda (or any saint or Master to whom you feel drawn) handy at all times and look at it and pray for help!
2) Use your hands to encircle your body with a large halo of light, visualizing light all around you. With the thumb of your right hand, make a cross of light in front of you.
3) With your fingers write AUM on your pillow before you go to sleep at night.
4) Here’s another specific technique Yogananda suggested: Place your hands in front of you palms together. Then encircle them around behind you touching the palms together in back of you, and then bring them back to the front. Repeat this several times, saying, out loud if possible, the mantra (mantra means words of power!) “AUM, Tat, Sat!” The meanings of these words are: God in the aspects of the vibratory creation or Divine Mother, God within creation, and God beyond creation.
Because you have not had these strange experiences since you moved away from your home, then most likely you were experiencing what Yogananda calls a “tramp soul,” which was attached to that house. He defines this as a person who has died, but is confused and attached to something, someone, or a particular home or place. The entity has not yet found a way to let go of specific attachments and leave the material world behind, in order to move on into its rightful place in the astral world. Such souls can really benefit from our prayers, to help them release themselves from the strong attachment. But we should never allow them to bother us.
In any case, it would be very wise for you to contact the Ananda Healing Prayer Ministry to ask for prayers and special assistance for this sort of difficulty. See: https://www.ananda.org/prayers/prayer-resources/healing-prayer-form/
