Ex-soldier turned shaman helps families rid Ireland's most haunted homes of spirits

Irish Examiner

4 days ago

It was a near-death experience that persuaded former soldier Paul O'Halloran to turn shaman - and pursue a career helping the owners of Ireland's most haunted homes rid them of unwanted spirits.
The Galway native is now the first port of call for families who believe they are being tormented by paranormal house guests. He says demand is high, and he frequently travels the length and breadth of the country conducting shamanic healing as well as house and land clearing.
Paul said he had an awareness of his clairvoyance from a young age but suppressed his gift out of fear of a negative reaction from people and a desire to conform.
'I was about four years old when I saw an old woman accompanied by a man and child outside my bedroom. It was a dark night and I could see them clearly. I knew they were spirits.
"I remember years later my dad telling me not to play by that window. When I asked him why, he told me that this was where the spirits walked.
I discovered later on that people from famine times walked there to find food. Some people died on the way but their soul kept walking that path.
"I was very frightened after seeing the spirits. I didn't tell anyone, not just because I was scared but also because I wanted to fit in. Looking back, they knew that I could help them but I couldn't see that at the time.'
Paul says he experienced an awakening, however, that prompted him to re-assess his relationship with death when fighting in Lebanon with the Irish Army.
'As a young man I believed the army was my calling. Shortly after we arrived in Lebanon and got organised and found our building all hell broke loose. Machine guns were fired under the window sills.
"The idea was to kill us while we were asleep but they were about two inches too high. A good buddy of mine took three bullets that night. Two hit him in the stomach and the other one hit his wrist but he survived.
Paul O'Halloran says he experienced an awakening that prompted him to re-assess his relationship with death when fighting in Lebanon with the Irish Army. Photo: Ger Rogers Photography
"A tracer bullet, which is designed to visually track the path of a fired bullet went over my stomach. I was trying to get my trousers on amid all the commotion. It's crazy looking back but my initial thought was that I didn't want to die without my trousers on.
"That didn't affect me as much as being held at gunpoint at a checkpoint. A young man put a M16 rifle to my head and told me he was going to blow my head off. I can remember pointing to the submachine gun on my lap and saying 'You pull, I pull'. Having that machine gun saved my life.'
What followed after that tour in Lebanon was an extremely dark period for Paul but one that would eventually lead to his career in shamanism. Over the years he trained with various spiritual leaders including South African healer, Zanemvula (Peter Von Maltitz).
'When I finished up with the army I did a course in shamanism. I had to do a 21-day clearing of the chakras. For some reason I decided to do it for a year.
This was at a time when I was suffering from suicidal thoughts and post traumatic stress. They train you for a lot of things in the army but not how to react when someone points a gun to your head.
"I believe that year of meditation cleared my body of all the trauma.'
It was at this point that Paul - who now owns a school of shamanic studies known as Pathway teaching - decided to embrace his gift of clairvoyance.
'I don't deny it anymore. The first thing that happens to me is I feel it. This feeling is experienced in certain parts of my body. The vision usually comes after that. I would see something and there may be communication.
"I believe everyone has a gift because we all come from spirits and this is what we go back to. We are all just spirits in a human body.'
But for the understandably sceptic, how does helping occupants of haunted houses actually work?
Paul points to the work he did with a haunted home in Hollywood Estate on Cork's northside in 2010 as a good example. The young family living in the house at the time had fled it in fear, after reporting some disturbing and inexplicable occurrences that included flying dishes, elevating tables and visions of spirits.
It attracted media attention at the time, particularly with the claim that the couple's five-year-old son had been 'flung' from his bed.
The 'haunted house' in Hollywood estate off Blarney Road that experienced inexplicable occurrences in 2010 such as flying dishes, elevating tables and visions of spirits. File picture: Cillian Kelly
Paul said he used a "cleansing" technique that involves an ancient shamanic ritual to help free the spirits trapped in the home. Among other methods, he constructed an altar using sticks, stones and crystals from sacred locations to channel positive energy.
His approach is inspired by the 'medicine wheel', used by the Aboriginals, native Americans and Celts. And rather than being 'evil', he felt the spirits' actions were simply a way of getting the family's attention so that they could be set free - many of them the spirits of children who had been buried in unmarked graves.
Paul says that house calls by fearful occupants vary in nature.
'It could be garments or items going missing. There are many signs that spirits are present. I've had reports of noises and shadows that can't be explained as well as cracks and movements.
"What happens a lot of the time is that the energy starts very gently before it escalates. Most of the time the spirits are just looking for help. Sometimes, they are happy to stay in the same place but they have to evolve on some level because the soul won't evolve if they're landlocked.'
Graffiti on the front door of the 'haunted house' in the Hollywood estate off Blarney Road in the north side of Cork City. File picture: Cillian Kelly
He is keen to point out that these spirits are worlds apart from their depictions in films and television shows.
'It really annoys me the way Hollywood and the media paint spirits in a negative light. They are not evil or even bad. Most of the time they are just looking for help. Spirits come under a couple of different categories.
"Sometimes when they die suddenly, they don't realise they're dead and remain landlocked. Other times they might have an attachment to a place like a farm or land they don't want to let go of. You get some who have a guilt complex where they are afraid to cross over.
"There are also spirits with attachments. These are cases of true love where one doesn't want to go without the other. There are so many different reasons why people might become landlocked. They become trapped and our job is to help them cross over.'
He gave examples of the spirits he encounters.
'There was one woman who was afraid to cross over because she didn't believe she was worthy. It all came down to conditioning. She had created her own hell around her and was sitting in that energy. We had to tell her that there was no such thing as hell and break that energy surrounding her.
"She was trapped in the energy because of her belief system. She thought she was a bad person and feared being judged. Luckily, we were able to break that energy around her to allow her cross over safely.'