The House of the Wolf and the Raven

Haunted houses are not always scary places to be. To me, what makes the presence of an unseen intelligence frightening is the unknown factor or the manner in which it can present itself in such a way that it appears to intend to create fear.

There is also the way in which a place is ‘haunted’ that can contribute to it being frightening as opposed to enlivening, or intensifying in terms of how we can experience other sides of reality that are not common or immediately obvious.

I have found that spaces intentionally fashioned to invite spiritual energy can evoke a distinct feeling and experience, differing significantly from the garden variety hauntings that can include residual emotional energy, grumpy or sad old ghosts, or entities of a darker nature.

One such space I know like this is the house of the wolf and the raven. That's what I call it anyway.

In the most regular sense, it’s an older Victorian home on top of a hill near the town where I work. It’s owned by my friend and her husband. You could call my friend a kind of ‘white witch’. Similar to myself, she has a strong connection and affinity towards animal spirits and native American spirituality.

Her house is like a shrine to all things of this nature. She is also an artist, a tarot reader ( which is how I met her), an energy practitioner, and a writer.

The house is covered with animal art, indigenous masks from multiple cultures, ritual objects of Native American origin, and countless books about spirituality, art, and nature.

Everything in the space is intentional and beautiful, leaving one with a sense of reverence and potency towards all things creative and mysterious.

I house sit for my friend when she and her husband travel. Sometimes it is for weeks, other times it is just for a few days, but every time I am at the house of the wolf and raven, my roots grow deeper into the energy of the house, and the roots of the house grow deeper into me.

I’m going to share a few strange occurrences I experienced at this house over the last two years, which have built on my feeling that multiple spirits in the space or that the energy in the house produces spiritual energy that has interacted with me more than once.

The first experience was my first time at the house. My friend took me on a tour of the house, which was a delightful winding experience through hallways, stairways, a private movie theatre, an art studio, and a very interesting office space. The office space had two entrances, one leading from the theater and the other leading to the two upstairs bedrooms.
My friend led me into the office, which I could tell at once was also a ritual space. I had never felt a room ‘pulse’ the way this room did, especially when I stood next to a large cabinet near the end of the room. I discovered this was her ritual cabinet, filled with her tarot cards and other important items and tools. I was delighted at this experience. I had never experienced anything so physical when it came to spiritual energy. It was the first time I could feel energy in a physical space that way and know what I was feeling.

The first or second time I stayed over at the house, I was taking a nap in the spare bedroom, which was next to the ritual/office room. I still wasn't entirely comfortable staying somewhere that ‘potent’ energy-wise. Every time I stay there, I learn a little more about how to relax into it. But this time I was a bit on edge. I remember waking up from my nap because I heard music. I had wondered if I’d left music on my phone playing, but I hadn’t. I could clearly hear the voice of a woman singing a native american tune. It was beautiful and haunting, strangely soothing.

‘No, thank you.’I said softly. I had to be there for two weeks, and I had to work most of the time. I didn’t want spirits to come and visit me while I was trying to sleep, but I was grateful that the experience I had wasn’t frightening, but lovely and almost comforting.

I always have a sense that I am being observed or that I am not alone at the house. I always have my little French Bulldog, Butter, with me when I go. My friend has outside cats I care for, but no animals inside, not living animals anyway.

I noticed from the first time I started staying there that Butter has a tendency to wander off inside the house. This, in and of itself, is bizarre behavior for her. She is always beside me. I would go so far as to say Butter suffers from separation anxiety. Yet, when I am at my friend's house, more often than not, I will find her in the back hallway, either sitting or lying underneath the shrine my friend made for her late dog, whose name was Shinalla. There is a tribute to her above the runner rug with a bit of her fur, and one of her claws attached to a painting of a heart with wings and paw prints. I’m sure there could be a logical explanation for why Butter prefers to be there instead of in her soft doggie bed in the kitchen, but I haven’t figured it out yet.

I’ve spent time in the ritual room when I visit, and sometimes I set up my own space to do my own spiritual work. There was one time last October, on a long visit, when I had been doing some rather intense personal pathworking, and I was meditating in that space. I had a flash of a vision of the foyer downstairs. In the Foyer, there are two large statues, one of a lion and the other of a black panther, on either side of the large ironworked double doors. I saw them clearly in my vision, but I also saw a jaguar sitting between them. This jaguar was not a statue, and it turned its head and looked directly at me. I nearly jumped out of my skin at this. It was sudden and unexpected. I do have visions sometimes, but this one felt very intense.

When my friend returned home from Guatemala, she told me she got something very special. She brought me an item wrapped in cloth and proceeded to show me a ritual Jaguar mask made of wood and painted bright colors. I stared at her, afraid to touch the mask. I have learned a thing or two about items like this, and I generally don’t touch them unless I absolutely need to. I ended up telling her the story, and she smiled at me like she knew something I didn’t. In hindsight, I take this as a very good sign. Jaguar energy, while intense, helps us through times of initiation, when we are developing our personal sense of integrity and internal boundaries with life. At that time, I was navigating some very difficult situations around my job, and I really wasn’t sure what to do. During my stay at the house, I got a lot of personal perspective that helped me navigate my situation. I believe the jaguar spirit was part of that and still is.

My most recent experience at the house happened the last time I was there, about two weeks ago. This was the strangest experience yet. I was asleep and I woke up because I needed to use the bathroom. I always lock the bedroom door and leave the hallway light on leading to the bathroom. As I mentioned, I am comfortable at the house, but I prefer a confined space when I sleep. It’s also my own way of setting a boundary around my sleep time. I always want to remind the spirits in the house that I am off limits while I am sleeping. They don’t always listen, but I still try my best to make that a rule.

I got up, and when I walked into the hallways, I could hear an alarm clock going off in the master bedroom. It was very strange. It unnerved me, and I almost chose to ignore it and go back to bed. I thought it through, and I decided to go and turn off the alarm.

Part of cohabiting with spirits is about letting them know you are not afraid of them, being assertive, and having the courage to set boundaries. I walked into the bedroom and saw that it was exactly midnight. I couldn’t figure out how to turn off the alarm, so I unplugged it from the wall. As soon as I did that, I became aware of the sound of voices, like two or three people talking, but the voices were muffled. At first, it sounded like someone might have a television on in the office. But I knew no one else was there, and there was no TV in the office.

I stood still and listened. The more I paid attention, the more I could hear it, but when I stopped focusing on it, the sound seemed further and further away. That was what told me that whatever I was hearing, it wasn’t actually happening in the physical world.

Confident there were no intruders in the house, I went back to my bedroom, shut the door, and went back to sleep, happy to let the spirits carry on whatever conversation they wanted to have without me. I won't lie, though, that one creeped me out. I have yet to tell my friend it happened or ask her why she had an alarm set for midnight. I will have to save that story for another time. Until then, I hope you enjoyed hearing about some of my experiences at the house of the wolf and the raven.