Recent Ghosts at Work. Any suggestions?

[wagegoth]

A few months ago, the law firm I work at moved me to another desk on a different floor. For weeks, I just thought it was so cold because of the location (NW corner). My fingers were turning blue, there was always a chill around my legs, and I felt worn out all the time. I had a heavy shawl or sweater on all the time, and a heated footrest, but it didn't help much.

Building maintenance came by and returned some ceiling tiles to their proper places, and adjusted the thermostat by me to 72F. It didn't help much.

I finally brought in a thermometer we have that measures your temperature on your forehead. It's not one of those temperature sensitive bands; this is what it is: http://www.amazon.com/Exergen-Tempor...6148406&sr=8-2 . It's pretty sensitive, and I had noticed that it picked up the ambient temperature if I turned it on. I figured I'd take it to work, register the temperatures under my desk and around my hands (which were especially cold), then get building maintenance to find the leak.

Several times I put the thermometer in what felt like cold breezes, but the thermometer kept reading around 72F. Finally, the light dawned. I picked up my bottle of cedar/sage spray and started sprayed everywhere. The temperature immediately started to rise and I felt comfortable for the first time since I had moved down.

Since then, I've had to spray my desk almost every day. It's a pain, and if I'm not in early to do it before the attorneys come in, I usually don't do it. (I'm sure they wonder about the lingering odor, but they're too polite to ask.)

So, any suggestions would be appreciated. I'm taking one of my dragons to work; they usually help. I've got a new supervisor, and I'm kind of afraid to bring in anything too obvious to sit on my desk, so I need some stealth anti-ghost items.

BTW, I've been reading the book by the woman who was the basis for the "Ghost Whisperer" series, and she says law firms are one of the top five haunted places. I can corroborate this. Every firm I've worked in has had cold spots and weird happenings, some worse then others.

[Andara Bledin]

If I thought it would be even remotely acceptable to your bosses, I'd suggest smudging your area.

Otherwise, you can try to visualize building a ward around your area. The effectiveness of such a thing would be tied mostly to your own belief in its effectiveness, however, so it's possible you may need to bring someone else in to do the warding. I usually just go for a basic framework ward that blocks and repels negative and malicious people/entities.

I once warded the place I was living in a little too well; none of my friends could find it the first time they came over, and it was at a T intersection, so it's not like it was a difficult location to get to.

^-.-^

[Aisling]

Do you work with crystals? You could get one of those little desktop Zen gardens and put special stones in it. Or if you think it'd get enough light to survive, a living plant might help.

[teh_blumchenkinder]

... does it have to be a cedar/sage spray, or can it be a thing of potpourri, or an ornament of some sort?
Personally, I'm more of the "exorcism" school. But, then again, I live in a place where there shouldn't be that many ghosts-- not layers of concentrated history like where you live, iirc.
EDIT: at least what you're spraying smells nice. You might also want to investigate the history a bit.

[Rapscallion]

Ghosts have noses?

Rapscallion

[Eireann]

Imagine yourself surrounded by white light. It's a powerful protection measure. Is it possible you can move your desk?

[firecat88]

I second the suggestion about the stones, if you're into that sort of thing. Furthermore, I'd suggest a few in particular- Amethyst, tiger's eye, turquoise, or red jasper. Just make sure you cleanse 'em once a week.

Or, if you want it gone, just tell it so. Be firm, but not mean, and state plainly that whatever presence is there needs to leave. *has to do this about once every two weeks at her house*

[wagegoth]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I brought my dragon in and that seems to have taken care of most of the problem.

At least this office isn't nearly as bad as one I worked at before. One of the IT employees was a seventh-generation witch on her mother's side. She refused to go on the floor I worked on alone. It was pretty bad.

[Sheldonrs]

Ghosts have noses?

Rapscallion

It explains the extra-Scents-ory perception.

[fma_fanatic]

We have the same problem at our work. There's a part of the office that is freezing no matter what time of the year it is. Everyone's gotten heaters and it does help a little, but not enough to really do anything. Maintenance has been in, done what they could and even they know it's cold using a thermometer like what they use on Ghost Hunters. They say it's the HVAC and will be fixed with the renovations.

The thing is that the building management has had contractors in before and said that there's nothing wrong, so I'm wondering if there is something haunting there.

[Amanita]

Wierd. I'm an urban animist, so I work with the energy of buildings themselves, not neccessarily other entities which may occupy the space.

I've got some books on Urban Paganism, and they mention things like what you guys have suggested- subtle things that won't attract undue attention, such as the stones or crystals, or the cedar-sage spray, which you could explain away as a natural air freshener or aromatherapy product designed to help with stress or some such thing.

[Seshat]

Law firms attract intense, and often hostile emotions. Even if noone's died there, the ghost of those emotional states can linger. Plus, of course, new emotion ghosts are added every working day.


Cedar and sage are cleansers. Did you know that you can also use other cleansers? Try citrus. Vinegar. Carb soda. Jif. Shamwow. Bam. (Okay, maybe not those last two - but whatever you like to use to clean your own home.)

You do need to activate the cleanser you use - while you're using it, think hard and seriously about what type of thing you're using it to cleanse away. (The ghosts)


Use can use smears of vinegar, or salt-and-water, or carb soda-and-water, to make 'ghost barriers' around your desk, or around the room itself. You may need to renew them once a week or so, due to the energies of your workplace, but it should help.


A potpourri or some other sort of air cleanser will help between cleansings.

[Mytical]

Don't know if it was a fluke, or what..but here is something I once used to get rid of a spirit that loved to move things around.

What you need.

1) A rose, preferably white.
2) Water
3) A spray bottle
4) A heat source (only once however)


Put the rose petals (only) into the water, boil. Let cool. Put water (not the petals) into the bottle. It will appear ordinary water. Spray the water in inconspicuous and non harmful places (ie that won't ruin anything). Will just look like you are doing some fall (or spring) cleaning. You can put the petals in a book, on a garden, or wherever.

[Daskinor]

Here at work the server farm is a converted bomb shelter. So the main door in is a heavy metal fire door with a heavy metal track. When no one is around it the sucker will slam shut.

We put a Pneumatic cylinder on the door to keep it opened or closed. Sucker stopped working after 2 months.

We once had a coworker who put paper charms on the door, that seemed to do the tick. Until he was no longer around to put fresh charms up.

[Amusement Gal]

I would second (#th?) stones, but with a different one. Quartz, if you cleanse it enough, is pretty good with negative energy. I find that amethyst makes me rather drowsy just from being in the room, so I can't use that. In the living room where I put one in each corner after a rather nasty spirit visitation, it feels much more comfortable. Even when the local brat relative comes up and tries to argue and fight, it feels a lot more calming in there. Another idea could be incense cones (I'd assume the sticks would be too obnoxious).