EP 11: The Restless - Part III
A Haunting in New Braunfels, TX
*SPOILER ALERT: The following article contains spoilers for Episode 9,10 & 11. Before reading, be sure to listen to The Restless - Part I, Part II & Part III . Afterward, feel free to check out this "Behind-the-Episode" blog for additional info and photos! And visit our Patreon page for more extras!
Photo by @thaophotography
I didn't quite know what I was getting myself ,and this show, into when I decided to pursue our first personal case involving a couple in New Braunfels, Texas. Early on in the investigation, I felt this case was going to be different from the start. Stepping into someone's home, asking them to reveal their personal experiences to the public, and then allowing us to bring people in to try to uncover the truth could not have been easy for Amanda and Paul. So when we got the news that things seemed to have escalated and our attempt at helping them, in fact, might have caused more disturbances, I was unsure if we should continue the case.
However, it was everyone surrounding me that encouraged me to keep going. Franklyn remained loyal to the case. He had a personal connection to the client and also is our rational thinker and skeptic. Although he'd heard the reports, witnessed Sara's validations, and experienced the noises in the home, he kept his rational wits about him and ws not giving up so easily. He was ready to go back there to continue helping Amanda and Paul get to the bottom of what was causing all this unusual activity in their home. Alexis was driven now to find a Native American Medicine Man who could perform a cleaning that would possibly appease the Native American spirit in the house that seemed to be protecting the clients and showing Sara images of a ceremony she wanted performed in the house. Lastly, Sara herself was the most determined to get back to New Braunfels immediately to see if she could help Amanda herself with some additional cleansings she felt would break the tether she saw leading to Amanda's side of the bed, and also break the attachment she believed the oppressing spirit Zack had on Amanda.
We had several things from our previous investigations of this home pulling us in different directions. Alexis performed a copal and palo santo cleansing the night we were there with Sara. Everyone believed the house was more positive and that the oppressive spirit had been subdued. However, Amanda and Paul would report that they had a terrible night, Paul heard someone call out his name, knocks continued all through the night, and Amanda saw a shadow figure standing behind the door by her bedside. However, following this night, Amanda was reporting that things were quieting down and getting better.
I theorized that the cleansing we did, did in fact help, but perhaps we angered whatever was there enough to deliver one last night of torment for Amanda and Paul. Or, possibly the signs the Native American spirit were giving Sara were because she knew we needed a larger ceremony to get rid of this oppressive energy in the house. Perhaps only a true Native American cleansing performed by a Medicine Man was really only the way to stop all this. Alexis also noted that we only had a small emergency kit of his and that the smoke wasn't heavy as it should have been to perform a full-on copal cleansing that night. I think we'd all hoped it would have helped, but in turn, it might have not been enough and only angered Zack more, fueling him to wreck havoc that night on Amanda and Paul trying to sleep. But then, I asked myself, why had it quieted down since this first night? Maybe the copal and palo santo slowly strengthened the female spirit in the house and she was now taking control? Or maybe Zack was letting off the gas a little to trick the clients and us into believing he was gone, when in fact he was just waiting for us to stop prying and go away so he could resume his oppressive ways.
My thoughts were everywhere, as you just read. But thankfully, having Sara return, put a lot of things back in perspective. Zack was definitely still there. He was more worried and a bit cornered by the positive energy Sara felt in the house. So it seemed the small cleansing did help a little. However, Sara still needed to do some work.
Alexis had found us a Native American Medicine Man willing to perform the cleansing. But in the meantime, Sara felt she needed to break the tether and attachment so that when the final cleansing was performed, Zack would have nothing he could cling on to and remain attached to Amanda or this house.
Above and below are photos I took of the items Sara used in her light ceremony to break the tether she saw going from the living room, down the hallway, and to Amanda's side of the bed in the master bedroom.