Maybe you will think that keeping things at home can be a “respectful” thing to do. However, it is not the case. We would suggest you read up on a few posts in our “after death” section to understand the details, but here we will try to explain it in a simple way so you will know what is best to do.

Energy and Transition

There is energy in all things, the soul energy. The belongings of someone who passed away will also have their soul energy attached and it takes time for them to release and go away. Especially the items that the person loves or has an attachment to the most, it will have the heart energy of that person in it, which is what holds the soul fragments in the body of that object.

Have you ever heard people saying that you can be buried with things that you like the most? That’s what it is all about. Things that you love the most have the most heart energy from you, and this heart energy help you connect back to this world. Imagine you are already in the ghost world or in the Yuen Sun as a ghost immortal, you still have memory of this life here, and so this connection power allows you to connect back to here and sense things such as the people praying to you, talking in front of your grave and so on. It’s all about the connection.

Now imagine you have a lot of those things at home, like as if your husband died and you leave his belongings in the house like he is still around. That means he can sense anything in the house all the time without even trying. He can sense your thoughts, your feelings, and all that.  Is that a good thing for them?

Moving On

You want them to move on and don’t think of this world so much. They have to accept the next life and accept the fact that they are dead and detached from this world already. If they don’t, it would be a longer wait before they can even release all that sad energy out and move up to the Yuen Sun.

If they are already a ghost immortal in the Yuen Sun, and they always think about you, it could be a good or bad thing depending on your relationship with them!

However, the best thing to do is really to have them NOT think of you and move on to the next journey. Even as a ghost immortal they can make friends with new people in their world and not have to spend their whole time there being so attached to a world that is already “done” with them. If you want them to have a good life and good time, you should let them go.

Problems with Energy

Keeping these things around, their energy is no good for the people who are still alive, because these are energies from a dead soul, which is all negative. Even they are “happy”, the energy is still not aligned with the property of this world. Keeping these dead people belongings around is nothing but bad luck. 

If they are your relative like your husband or someone close to you and live with you, then you should really do the following after they passed away and the funeral is over:

1. Sort out all their belongings (personal) and group them up, throw them out. DO NOT SELL IT! DO NOT GIFT THEM TO PEOPLE!
2. Everyone in the house should buy some new clothes and even new furniture etc., and throw the old ones out. REPLACE things.
3. Do cleansing and reset the house energy.
4. For the coming years, keep buying things to swap out the stuff at homes such as dishes, cups, bed-sheets, computers, tv, car, even tools like screwdrivers or anything they have touched…everything.
5. Be happy and don’t talk about them, they are gone and it’s the end of the story, don’t bring it up again.

These things are done for the good of that person, so that they will be settled and transition quickly to the next life and not have to be bothered by things here.

The faster you replace things, the better. These soul fragments and such will detach and group back to that person sooner, which results in their transition period shortening, and it is all for their own benefit.

What About Altars

There is this contradiction now – what about ancestor worshipping then? If it is best to have them move on to their next life, what about building an altar for them or worshipping them and burning offerings for them?

That is a good question because this is a personal preference.

It’s about what you want, and what the dead one wants.

Communication is the key. The best way is to have a Taoist funeral done by us, and then we will see how the ghost wants things to be done, then you will at least know what that person wants to do first. Maybe altar for 3 years and then remove it, so you can give them a strong start, then they move on. That’s fine too.

Ordain to learn more and don’t forget to check out our FIRST TAOISM BOOK!