By Rosemary Ellen Guiley

c. Visionary Living, Inc.

Spirit releasement is a contemporary term for ways of the exorcising, or sending away, of an earthbound spirit or a discarnate being that seems to be attached to a place or person. Spirit releasement refers primarily to exorcisms which have no religious elements and are not performed by clergy, but rather are done by mediums and pay people.

Forms of releasement are practiced the world over. Spirits have long been blamed for causing virtually all ills and back luck, and they are routinely exorcised. In the early days of Spiritualism, people suffering from unusual mental symptoms often attended séances in hopes of having “low” spirits exorcised.

Spirit releasement has become increasingly popular along with the growth in past-life therapy. Some past-life therapists say their clients have attachments relating to past lives. Edith Fiore, a past-life therapist, began recognizing and releasing, or “depossessing,” attached entities in the 1970s. Dr. William Baldwin began studying releasement in 1980 and developed techniques now used by many practitioners. Baldwin left his practice of dentistry in 1982 to work fulltime with his wife, Judith Baldwin, in spirit releasement, past-life related problems and extraterrestrial contact. The Baldwins founded the Center for Human Relations and are co-directors of the Association for Spirit Releasement Therapies.

In contemporary spirit releasement, a practitioner, working with one or more spirit guides who act as facilitators, makes mental contact with a spirit who is haunting a site and causing a disturbance, or is attached to a person. Often, this is an earthbound soul who does not know he or she is dead, or is bound to the earth plane by unfinished business.

Practitioners say that simply finding out the entity’s “story,” that is, his or her life and death and perhaps unfinished business, is often sufficient to send the spirit on its way to the next world. The entity is engaged in dialogue and persuaded to depart. The transition is marked by the appearance of white light, and the spirit is urged to move toward the light. Sometimes the earthbound spirit has to be coaxed or convinced to move on. Sometimes it is led away by helping spirits that appear. These helping spirits include angelic beings, other spirits of the dead whom the earthbound one knew in life, or the spirits of animals with whom the person had strong emotional attachments, such as a pet.

Following releasement, patients often report feeling lighter and better, and say they experience a cessation of troublesome conditions. The departing spirits do not return, but patients are advised how to protect themselves from future invasions by other spirits.

Spirit releasement is done at a distance as well.

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Adapted from The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits, 2nd .ed. by Rosemary Ellen Guiley, published by Facts On File, 2000.