Translation of an article in the Dutch magazine “Happinez”, September 2004

Susan Smit: Good Alternative

Energy Clearing

Restless, I stroll through my house. At eleven o’clock, two professionals will come and clear my house of negative energy - should it be present. Will there be soon a man with a dowsing rod at the door, or a ghostbuster who will see the spirit of an old monk flitting through my bedroom? For safety’s sake I open windows in order to refresh the energy somewhat. This has no effect whatsoever of course; as feng shui says, I know that it’s a matter of Qi, the vital energy which must be able to flow freely and unrestricted through a space.

Listless, draining energy
Right on time Eric Dowsett (dowsing is what Eric does, what’s in a name?) and his Dutch student Juno ring the bell. Eric is a humorous, good-natured, grey-bearded Australian. He tells about his work, which is obviously his great passion. ”When intense emotions are experienced in a space, there may actually be an energetic residue that remains,” he says, “and this may influence people for years afterward.” Actually it doesn’t sound far-fetched. Quantum-physicists have acknowledged for a long time already that everything is energy, that everything is interconnected and influences each other.

Eric brings out a crystal pendulum and an L-shaped rod but adds inmediately that these are only instruments and have no power in themselves. “Is the Qi in this house for the current occupants of the house in a balanced state?” he asks the pendulum. No, is the reply. The pendulum indicates that the Qi is nearly completely yin, the passive aspect of energy. It is a listless, draining energy which may exhaust you when there is too much of it. It takes me aback. I have lived and worked in this house for over half a year and I never missed a deadline. Moreover, I thought that I was such a sensitive girl. “Many people notice these things only after five or ten years,” Eric says, but still I feel pretty thick!

Hissing cat
We go on to track down the scene of the disaster. The fact is that when there is a residue of emotions or experiences, the spot where it lingers can be located. The pendulum indicates – pfuh – that it has nothing to do with me or my partner. It has to do with former occupants. I immediately think of something: the previous owner was a depressed lady and had a miscarriage during the time she lived here. With his dowsing rod pointing forwards, seeming to move all by itself, Eric walks through the house. In the middle of the room, he suddenly feels cold. And Juno gets goose bumps. Eric’s eyes water and he grabs his belly. “Whu-uh,” he trembles, “this is heavy”. While he tunes in to the negative energy, it seems as if my cat Karel is thunderstruck. He looks into Eric’s eyes, gets a thick tail and starts to hiss in a frightening manner. I don’t know what he sees: the only time Karel hissed at somebody was when the veterinarian gave him an injection in his backside. My heart starts to beat at breakneck speed.

Head bump from Karel
“Physical violence has taken place here,” Eric says, while beads of sweat flow on his upper lip, “about fifty, sixty years ago.” Long before the previous occupants moved in, I think. Eric explains that he doesn’t “do” anything to clear the energy. “What you push against, pushes back. Rather, it’s a matter of compassionately accepting and letting it go, that is all.” I keep bombarding him with questions about what and how and why. “Don’t try to identify too much with it,” he says smiling. “It is not important. It was here, and now it goes back to where it came from, to the people who were involved with the situation.” Juno feels the heavy energy flowing away slowly. I also feel a cold stream pass my belly, or do I imagine this? My face must look terrified, because Eric makes jokes to put me at ease.

Later on the day, when I tell Eric about the miscarriage and depression of the previous occupants, he says that this might have been caused by this heavy energy. Would I have been able to have a healthy pregnancy in this house without this clearing? No, the pendulum says. Karel, curious but still a bit suspicious, comes and bumps his head against Eric. And then, finally, I am fully reassured.

Discharging
The purpose of an energy clearing is to release any charge that disturbs or blocks the energy flow in a space or a person. In this way, people and spaces can come into mutual harmony and balance. A space clearing involves working with the memories of people and events that have remained in a room, disturbed earth energies, and the influences of technology.

In each issue Susan Smit writes an article about an experience or treament which she has undergone in the alternative circuit. Susan is a journalist and author of, amongst others, “Wise women” (2003) and “The city and the stars “ (2004).