Ghosts, Hauntings, Urban Legends & Other Supernatural Phenomena
Mirror, Mirror
Probably the most fascinating of divination practices (spirit contact) is known as scrying, in which a practitioner "sees" by focusing intensely on a smooth, clear, or reflective surface. Derived from the old word descry, meaning to catch sight of, scrying takes many forms. Ancient Greeks practiced hydromancy, or scrying in the waters of a spring. To see the fate of a sick person, hydromanceers lowered a mirror on a string to the water's surface, letting it graze the water. When they pulled the mirror back up and looked at it, they supposedly would see the image of the person as either dead or living.
In ancient India, warriors often practiced cylicomancy, peering into a vessel of water before heading into battle. If they saw their reflections, they knew they would return. Tahitians claimed to use cylicomancy to track down robbers. After digging a hole in the earthen floor of a burglarized house, they would fill the space with water, pray to a deity, and wait for the image of the culprit to be revealed on the surface of the water.
Virtually every kind of smooth or reflective object has been used for scrying, including mirrors, the back of a watch, a doorlock, an eggshell, and soap bubbles. One guy was even well known for using his own freshly polished shoes. The most well known, potent tool used for scrying: The crystal ball.
~hardrockspiritchaser 10/12/07
Ghost, or something worse?
Although there may always be exceptions to any rule, as far as my own personal research has found, basically, you can sort of break haunting/phenomena into 3 major categories. One is the residual, or “bleed through”. This occurs when an episode of time seems to be played and replayed, when the conditions are exactly right. This is a very important part because it explains why for years, activity may seem dormant in a location until a new family moves in and then the disturbances start up. These types are widely considered unintelligent spirits - no interaction or contact can be induced. It doesn’t know you are there, or even that it has passed on from this realm. They can be seen or heard.
The second type of ghost, or spirit is the intelligent haunting. Poltergeists (old German word for noisy, mischievous ghost) fall into this section, but are not exclusive to it. These types of spirits are more often heard, and not seen, but occasionally, they will form full apparitions. They may be witnessed during both day and nighttime hours, although they usually manifest in the early morning hours, as do many things in the spirit world. These ghosts are different from residual in that they might be well aware of your presence, without fully realizing that they have departed. Some may even know that they have passed, but because of some reason, they either refuse, or avoid leaving this dimension, perhaps because of an obligation, a vendetta, or some unsettling detail that prevents them from moving on. Sometimes, these spirits will intereact with you. These kinds of ghosts are sometimes even capable of moving things, or affecting electronic equipment in strange ways (ie. Turning radios on and off, or lights, or switching tv channels) Although this phenomena can be very scary, just remember this, that even an angry ghost should not be able to seriously hurt you, , as they should only be capable of moving lighter objects, at best.
Now, the third classification of spirit is something altogether different. According to many leading respected paranormal professionals, the third classification is what you may call an inhuman, or preternatural spirit. (see further explanation below) This means that the entity itself never once lived on earth as a human. Some would call them “the demonic”. Whatever you may choose to call them, they are very different that something that is just unsettling, or scary, like a residual, or intelligent ghost. These beings have an agenda. The agenda is usually broken down into a few “stages“. These types almost always target a single living person or smaller group of persons. Most of before mentioned professionals agree that somehow there is an invitation to this being to enter the target’s life, if even by seemingly innocent trickery. Some of the most common “doorways” to this type of infestation include improper use of séances, oiuja boards, burning black candles, psychic trances…etc. For instance, it might not be Grandpa you’re communicating with - remember, these things are liars and can read your thoughts, too, so that is how they know all the secrets! Their job is to create chaos, and your fear empowers them further. The thing generally builds up a false trust and is even playful, at first, just to get in the door. After it has your permission and attention, the activity increases because it gets stronger from the victim’s fear. It has been written by many experts on the subject that if you enter a house, and there are large pieces of furniture flying about, and things are moving around in a totally unnatural manor, that it can only be the work of a demonic presence. These sorts of wild phenomena are more likely to occur at night, and they will rarely, if ever actually show themselves in any form. If they are seen, they are said to be an “unnatural black mass”. But, they say you can smell them - feces, sulfur, or decay seem to be the fragrance of choice for them, and they can be heard growling and talking loudly and doing all sorts of vile things and will use blaspheme. One sure way to tell if you have a regular ghost, or something inhuman is to start quoting the bible (if you are so inclined to do so) and see if it doesn’t make all “hell” break loose, so to speak, in other words; see if the activity increases, or becomes suddenly worse. Ideally, ghosts have no particular issue with God, they are just putting off their journey, but preternatural spirits loathe any mention of the Holy Ghost. Demonologists and priests are very necessary to intervene in these rare, but real, types of circumstances. All a responsible paranormal investigator can do is document and validate the phenomena, as they happen, and help put you into contact with someone who might be able to help. And although I personally have been studying demonology for two years now, I would not be comfortable attempting to handle this and the stakes are just way too high on that. Thank goodness, that they are so very rare, and thank goodness that for those who become afflicted, that there is help available to them.
***
Think of it like this: A residual haunting is, however unexplainable, a natural occurrence, nobody has found out exactly why. Most often in a specific location or locations. An intelligent ghost is something supernatural, or, defies the laws of death. (Example: A person is suppose to be dead and buried, but he is seen still at his house, but he still was a living person that walked the earth at one time or another) Again, most often in a specific location, or locations. Preternatural means that it never walked earth as a human, vulgar and vile in nature. In this case, location doesn’t seem to matter, as the inhuman will follow the intended target if they decide to move away.~hardrockspiritchaser 10/1/07
EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena)
Undoubtedly, one of the most fascinating branches of ghost hunting and investigating haunted locations is the practice of collecting EVP(s). Electronic voice phenomena occurs when a disembodied voice is captured on audio recordings. Most times, it isn't audible until the data is replayed at a later time. EVP is widely recognized as a legitimate area of study in many paranormal organizations. Sometimes, the voices are actually heard by investigators while on site in real time, but for our purposes, we will refer to both types of evidence from here on as EVP as well. It would probably surprise most people to know that you will more often than not get results on location with EVP work.
~hardrockspirithcaser 9/18/07
WTH?
Milwaukee Museum to Display Human Corpses
~hardrockspiritchaser 4/23/07
Update: Remember, these are only my opinions. Please do not send me hate mail on this. I still say, WTF? This whole idea just rubbed me the wrong way. And people think that I'm weird, this plainly crosses the "sick" line, in my mind.
The Ouija Board (Parker Brothers)
Only a Game or a Dangerous Invitation?
Are Ouija boards dangerous? Studies have indicated that 95 percent of college age students are familiar with the Ouija board. Roughly 70 percent of those students have already either tried it themselves, or knows somebody who has. What exactly makes it taboo? It is, after all, just a game. Right?
Although extremely popular for over a century, the Ouija board may be one of the least understood oracle devices to date. So just when exactly, did it come to have such a negative reputation? To explain this, we have to turn to the experts in the field of parapsychology who have met and interviewed numerous subjects and recorded their stories of extreme poltergeist activity, violent sexual assaults, and yes, even demonic possessions have occurred as a result of innocent curiosity.
The board itself supposedly works by letting a spirit communicate with the participants by using the subject’s hands to move the marker across a board which is preprinted with letters and short phrases. The subjects ask questions of the spirit and then act as a conduit for the information or message to come through to the participants.
Personally, I have tried Ouija before a few times as a kid. We never had any results at all. It is my own personal opinion that herein lies the danger: in order to make contact with the other side (in this case) you are virtually offering up yourself as a conduit to just about anybody who is near and would like to come through. Mediums and automatic writing are also similar examples of this same principle. Only people who are experienced in divination practices and who are of strong mind should attempt such practices. This is however different than séances and EVP collection in that with examples such as these, the entities are not “invited” into a person’s mind and body in any way. Although you may run a small risk of a spirit or uninvited guest following you home or somehow attaching itself to you or your family, you will not become possessed and harmed physically and neither will your family and friends.
Reports indicate that it much doesn’t matter the physical location that the game was played, the negative energies have almost always followed the subjects themselves, and didn’t seem to linger in a particular location. The same reports also indicated that if a person were to get into trouble after using one, that the act of them denouncing the board, and then vowing to never use it again brought some relief, followed up with actually severing their relationships with it completely. Gradually, most people’s symptoms subsided except for in rare cases of possessions, where a priest or a demonologist may need to be consulted.
And so the question remains – is it dangerous? This writer thinks that they can be. I would handle the Ouija much as I would handle a handgun, with extreme caution. It is not necessarily something to be feared in itself, but something always to be respected and kept locked up where the kids can’t get ahold of it.
~hardrockspiritchaser 4/23/07
An orb is a seemingly anomalous sphere of light or energy which shows itself in photos, usually digital ones, and is believed to be paranormal activity caught on film. There are many theories about what orbs could be. Some researchers and psychics believe that they are actual spirit matter trying to manifesting itself. A few even believe that they are only angels, dropping in for an earthly visit. And yet, other paranormal investigators will say that they are balls of energy, representing spirit matter, which come before the actual manifestation of a classic ghost sighting. I have also heard many ghost hunters say that smaller “twinkling lights” appear just before a manifestation occurs. And then there are others who say that often times insects, moisture, and dust particles/pollen will make orbs appear. Keeping this in mind, a good friend and I conducted a test. (Actually, she gets the credit for this one, as she did all the work) Back in 2005, she took the following test photo just outside her back door (in an undisclosed place somewhere in Kenosha County,
And then, she took a handful of dirt and threw it up in the air and then took this.
Orb Experiment 2005
I think it is safe to say that this photo and its contents proves that dust will definitely produce orbs in digital photos. The photo is useful also, because we can study the characteristics of the false orbs, and compare them with other types of orbs that we have found. To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of the orb. Once in awhile, however, I get a rather solid looking orb (perhaps in motion) and I do start to wonder if it is more than just dust or moisture…
~hardrockspiritchaser 4/8/07
On Ghost Hunting - Is it smoke?
Paranormal investigating experience has shown me that smoke will ruin many a good ghost photo. The following two photos are obviously smoke. Looks creepy, but its just smoke. Don't smoke and take the picture, like I did.
(Kemper Hall 2006)
Next, I would like to show you a picture of something which is not smoke. This one was taken by RC while on one ghost hunting trip to the grounds of Kemper Center in Kenosha, WI. (see urban legends page) on 35 mm film at night with flash.
(There is no way this is smoke. Nobody had entered the rear courtyard yet)
There is, however, another explanation of what this could be. If you look, you will notice the outgoing ventilation pipes - most likely, this is where the mist is coming from. A very cool photo? Certainly, but you must follow every possibility before you can even imagine that this is supernatural in nature.
~hardrockspiritchaser~ 3/18/07
On the Web - Copycat websites
You know what is really discouraging? When you do a search on ghosts on the internet, and you find the same list of haunted places over and over, word for word. Please don't misunderstand, I'm not trying to insult anyone's site here, but it is so obvious that they copied a certain well known website's list of haunted locations and put it right into their page without even attempting to change the wording. I find this incredibly annoying, because who has time to read the same article over and over again? It's hard to come up with your own stuff - that's the beauty of it, you see. I would much rather read about whatever haunted local haunted places they know of, I don't know, maybe its just me...
I spend quite alot of time researching the paranormal, I guess you could say that it is an obsession for me. I am the founder of The Paranormal Investigators of Kenosha, Wisconsin or Kenosha Paranormal, as our friends have come to call us, our local group of ghost hunters in Kenosha, WI. We recently outgrew this space and moved our reports to a new location. I intend to keep this site going, and write articles on the paranormal from time to time, when I am inspired to do so. Check out the section on urban legends. There are two really good ones that I have studied extensively.
The Internet - A Superhighway to Misinformation
There is way too much misinformation on the web (don't trust it all, folks). Case and point, I'll take an example from the before mentioned well known website on the web (which is an outstanding website, by the way). Look up in the haunted directory "Paupers" cemetery in Kenosha, WI. Well for starters, its not in Kenosha, its actually in Pleasant Prairie. In addition, it was never called "paupers", at any time. It has always been "The Kenosha County Cemetery". And if that's not enough, it is no where near the police/fire station. It is not even on the same road! Now the only reason I mention it, is what if it was you that went looking for it, and you had all of that misinformation? You could spend an entire afternoon or night looking for it and come up empty. What a waste of your time that would be. Now, I know that these sights do not claim to stand behind the list, but I still say, what is the point. That being said, I have been to this cemetery on investigation. It's a real creepy place, definately worth a visit. If you want to go there, ask me, I will direct you, hell, maybe I will want to go with. :)
UPDATE Yesterday, my hubby, (and my ghost hunting partner in crime), had to go up to Racine and ended up debunking another urban legend while he was there. As it turns out, the Microtel Inn near Regency Mall, in Racine, IS NOT HAUNTED. The female employee told him that it was not true, laughed, and told him that it started out as a joke, and this younger female employee bought into it and spread it all over the internet, so there ya go...at least now we know. Thank you RC, for checking into that. I'm glad that we asked first,because we were planning on renting a room there for the night sometime. Now, I'd like to find a place that actually is haunted. Know of any?
~hardrockspiritchaser~ 3/16/07
Please don't forget to sign the ghost book!
Attention ghost groupies: The Paranormal Investigators of Kenosha, WI , or Kenosha Paranormal, have moved. Visit their new home @ www.kenoshaparanormal.com