Haunted Mansion

Last night, I dreamt that we bought a haunted mansion. Obviously, not all dreams are premonitions! It was in a horrible state of repair but my husband and I loved it. I communicated with ghosts in the dream but only about the house.

Tarot Card Reading

Of my last few readings, one from yesterday stands out. She was a young woman, 20-ish and full of life. It was quite refreshing to hear her written list of questions for me. Most people ask exclusively about themselves and very close family or friends but she asked dozens of interesting, impersonal questions such as: "Is Michael Jackson guilty?" The questions about herself were very good, too: "What can I do to improve myself?"

She was not in crisis, not unusually frightened about the future. This is quite a departure: usually, people are afraid of the unknown (and this is why scammers and fraudulent psychics get me very angry) and come looking for something that only a psychic can give.

I want people to walk away feeling empowered. I never tell them what to do or what to believe. When she left, there was a spring in her step and digital recording of our session in her hand.

How To Spot A Fraud

Recently, I was reminded of a particularly bad "psychic" experience. For ten dollars, a lady read my tarot cards. She forewarned me of much trouble ahead in my life. Then, she explained that someone was working "magic" against me. For 75 dollars, she could remove the spell on me and provide me with a protection spell.

This is definitely a sign of fraudulent activity. This "fortuneteller" gives us all a bad name by drawing the customer in with a cheap rate, then trying to scare the bejeebers out of him/her and offering protection at an exorbitant rate.

Another sign? Anyone who claims to be 100% accurate is definitely someone to avoid. No psychic is always accurate.

I have read that refusal to be taped is another red flag. I know some psychics who do not wish to be recorded and I don't understand why. A digital recording is provided with my readings. I have had clients bring in their own recorders, too.

So, those are the three major signs, the situations that should raise red flags.

Free Online Ghost Stories

I must check out this site as soon as I get some time.

Interim

At the moment, my blog is slow because I have been sifting through hours of audio recordings and video tapes of the past investigations. I need to finish transcribing them. I will definitely post anything interesting. In fact, so far, I have found an as-yet unidentified male voice on one of the digital voice recordings. You never know...

Also, I am working on an article that I have not finished.

So, bear with me!

Who Wants to Live In a Haunted House?

Besides me, I mean. Today, I trampled through knee-high wet snow and stood waiting outside for the owners of a private residence to arrive. (Did I mention that the temperature was sub-zero?) I kept telling myself that it was all in a day's work.

Wet, cold and shaky, I ended up walking through a house that a couple wanted to buy. They had heard that it was haunted but wanted to see what I thought. They are a very nice couple and I wanted to help them.

"Yep, it's haunted," I concluded.

"There's nothing dangerous here," I added. "If you don't mind the occasional event, I don't see a problem."

"That's just it," the wife said. "I don't want to live in a haunted house."

The owners were quite open about the troubles with their ghost. A man asked me, "Are you the one they brought to sense the entities?"

"Yes, I am." Put on the spot, but, wotthehell, I am not ashamed of what I do.

"So," he pressed me. "Do you sense anything?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. Nothing too serious, though."

Unfortunately, the house had a terrible ambiance about it. The wife was "creeped out" by this and I don't know if they will take it.

Investigation, Private Residence - Redux

Unfortunately, the walkabout had to be cancelled due to some pretty strange conditions. First, the people who are about to move in have been told that the place is haunted.

They, themselves, are moving from a haunted home. The home they are leaving had a very gloomy, sad atmosphere: very heavy. While there, the woman would be poked while sleeping and her bed would shake of its own accord while she was in it.

They have had several problems merely leaving the place. On one single day, they lost the first place into which they were going to move. Then, they couldn't rent a truck because all companies were booked solid. Then, the person who was supposed to help them arrived only to have the car break completely down. No truck, no moving car, the need to be out by midnight and the intended destination yanked away from them. What a horrible day!

Anyway, they did get a second lead on a house and that is what they wanted to have investigated. I don't know if it will happen (I am, of course, willing).

There is some feeling of guilt on my part. Months ago, when they came for a reading, they asked me about moving. I said that I saw them moving in January (not March as they expected) and that it would be extremely difficult. They ended up having to move unexpectedly (January) and it is extremely difficult for them. Of course, it is not my fault but I still feel bad. On the one hand, I feel sorry for them. On the other hand, it demonstrated accuracy on my part.

Orbs

Let's talk about "Orb Photography". I am a skeptic in this area. I honestly have never seen anything in a photograph that could not be explained by snow, rain, dust, reflected light, lens smears, etc. This is not to say that it could not happen. Frankly, I would just need to be hit in the face by it to be convinced.

Unfortunately, it is the hot topic where media are concerned, often seen as the potential for smoking-gun evidence of otherworldly phenomena and, let's face it, who wouldn't want to be the one lucky photographer to catch something uncanny on film or memory stick?

The media would be bored stiff by the necessary hours of listening to and watching various recordings. I am actually behind in doing this so my week ahead is well-planned now.

Investigation, Private Residence

Early this morning, I was requested to do a private-residence investigation. Someone is about to move into a house and the owners have told him that it is haunted. I requested that no details be given to me.

I will be doing this tonight.

This has been a busy weekend but this is one of the benefits of being a freelance sensitive: I am under no obligation to be exclusive to one group. So, I generally reserve private investigations for myself or, in the case of another one coming up, work with another psychic of my choosing. I don't think that I could have it any other way.

This way, too, I also own my files: they don't have to be stamped by anyone and can't be claimed as personal or business property by anyone else.

Tonight's Investigation

It was the best I have ever been on. I had unprecedented access to a closed historical site. What is more, the operators were more than open-minded and did their best to ensure a great environment. I barely noticed the equipment being used.

Anyway, I PROMISE to blog more about this but I need to finish writing an unrelated article that I swore I could deliver by next week.

Sleep, Sleep...Where Hides Sleep?

I have a huge investigation~~probably the biggest one that I will ever do~~and it's fewer than 12 hours away. I cannot sleep. I have tried everything, including counting sheep.

I realize that stress is here involved but it really shouldn't be. I mean, it's just an investigation, right? I've done so many already. It's not as if my ability to "see" things is suddenly, without reason, going to fail. It's not as if I don't enjoy these events.

I don't know what it is: perphaps I am excited about the investigation?

I need sleep!

Still Recovering

I am still exhausted after the last investigation and I have a few days to catch up on my sleep, etc. Sometimes, they really take it out of me. I was searching for a helpful article on the subject but failed to turn up anything very useful. If anyone has any leads on this, I would be grateful. If any psychics out there have any advice, that would also be very much appreciated.

More about the last investigation....

Sometimes, it is easier to deal with the dead than it is with the living. While my nascent investigative career is very interesting, it also tests my ability to navigate group dynamics. (Though I have been providing readings for 15 years, it has only been since the latter 6 months of 2003 that I have charged for readings/investigations.)

This last group of investigators: Burke, the "audio guy"; Ben, the "video guy" and Christina, the "reporter". As we went along the walkabout (def. a walk around a purported haunted property to gather psychic impressions), I have to deal with Burke. He makes me feel like a ventriloquist: every time I open my mouth to say something, he speaks. He is actually supposed to be there to record what I say and what the owners say. Sometimes, I feel like walking out of the room to centre myself (as, in fact, I have done.) I find it difficult to deal with the domineering personality.

I have done my level best to be flexible about things and this is the only sticky point for me. I shall have to say something soon.

Post Investigation

Well, my eyes were half-bloodshot yesterday afternoon and now, after many hours of investigation, they are completely red. I cannot believe that this is normal.

Anyway, as I said, there were many hours of investigating in this third and final stage of things. Equipment gets set up rather quickly but then there is the waiting. Waiting to see if anything happens. People get impatient, tired, bored.... I only got tired. And cold. The temperature must have fallen to -40 C. with the windchill.

I have several hours' worth of recordings to sift through: my job is not over, not by a longshot. There are video and audio data as well as maps, etc. to sort. Then, there is making sure that everyone gets copies of everything, that our files are the same. Everyone contributes to the report and this report gets a stamp of approval from the owners of the property. The report is subsequently published in written form. Everyone is happy. This is the way that things are supposed to go.

I know all of you will be waiting for some details, any details, to justify the time you've spent coming to my site. I can only urge you to be patient.

I also know that most people want the chairs-on-the-ceiling experience to happen. I understand this wish. I think that I would be out of a job if this kind of thing always happened. It doesn't. Sometimes, most times, you just hear the sounds of the plumbing or the whrrrrr-ing of machinery. On the one hand, you arrive hoping to contribute something to a body of knowledge; you leave realizing that the body of knowledge is smaller than the head of a pin. Nobody knows anything. On the other hand, you really love your job.

Off To Work I Go...

Well, I'm off to my investigation. It is the third and final stage of an investigation of a large property.

Recap:

On my last investigation people became intensely frightened without cause (this is why I prefer not to have non-investigators on site). I ended up reassuring people about perfectly ordinary, explicable events. My attempts to explain the Reticular Formation and pattern recognition fell on deaf ears though. It seems people want to be right about such things. I actually felt bad having to let them down.

It was -38 with the windchill and my double layer of clothing kept me almost comfortable. There was little heating anywhere that we went.

I was able to pick up the salient historical facts about the property, including particularly bad accidents, a hanging and other suicides as well as descriptions of previous owners and their names (that is, surnames).

Continuation:

The next part of the investigation involved speaking to local residents and asking for anecdotal histories. Everybody wanted to recount the sometimes-gruesome tales but not one person stated a belief in the supernatural or owned up to a belief that the place was haunted.

Interestingly, this is how the conversation would go:

"Do you believe that this place is haunted?"

"No, I don't. But someone hanged himself from those rafters over there. I have heard doors shut by themselves. I've heard footsteps..."

So, the direct approach is useful in getting a conversation started. Nobody wants to admit to a belief in the supernatural but most people want to speak about it.

I picked nothing up because there were too many people around for me to relax enough and I wasn't really there to get impressions.

The Final Stage? Upon my return or soon thereafter...Wish me well. It is -25 degrees Celsius outside.

News Item: The Bassetlaw Ghost Research Group

In all my experience, I have never encountered any objects thrown at me or at anyone on an investigation. This is not to say, of course, that it does not happen. I think that I am fortunate in this respect.

In my one city with which I am familiar, there was a story of a haunted house. The house was on a very busy street and is now boarded up. The information that I gathered those many years ago: a "poltergeist" made the life of a teenage boy and his family very uncomfortable. The ghost did not, apparently, mind performing in front of peoole. There is one report, verified by I don't know whom, that the boy was transported to the ceiling while still sitting in his chair. It would not surprise me, if this did happen, that the child might have sustained bruising, scrapes, etc.

I have added a "Dear Ghostie Gurl" section, kind of an "agony aunt" of the paranormal....



Coming soon: More New Features!

What To Take On An Investigation

Some of these items are good if you are not the only "tool" of divination/detection. All of them are good ideas for a kit.

Flashlight
Digital/SLR Camera
Digital Voice Recorder
Notepad (Weatherproof)
Pen (felt-tip, not ballpoint)
Handheld computer
Extra batteries for everything
Tylenol (cold, damp or dusty areas can cause headaches)
Lip Balm (there is more time outside than one might think)
Hand Sanitizer (plastic containers, not foil because of time involved in removing wrapper)
Comfortable Shoes (preferably waterproof or hiking quality)
Extra Sweater (esp. in winter or after midnight)
Extra Socks (sometimes you muck through puddles, etc.)
Mittens & Gloves (mittens go over gloves in extreme cold)
Scarf (in winter)
Pendulum (or other tool(s), including (but not limited to) EMF readers, etc.)
Mini Toolkit (in case malfunction of equipment)
Tape Measure (you just never know)
High-calorie snack (replace some calories after long time)
Bottles water (2)

What Not To Take On An Investigation

Friends
Spouse/Mate
Children
Pets
Cellphone Turned On
Favourite Book

As you can see, there isn't much that you shouldn't take with you. Taking your friend, spouse, child or pet might be really fun, but it would be too distracting. While they might appreciate the gravity of the situation, there tends always to be a certain amount of whispering. Taking your favourite book to while away the long hours of equipment reading, etc. is just wrong because it sends the wrong message to the owners of the property and to anyone else for that matter.

The Non-Fictional Ghost Story

Initially, I considered using this space to discuss my readings in the "personal accounts" genre. Unfortunately, there is one problem: I rarely read anything in this area. First, I read these accounts for at least two decades and, obviously, after a period of time, there is not much left to read. Secondly, the thrill is not there anymore. I believe that it is because I now investigate hauntings and because I am so accustomed to haunted areas/phenomena.

What I can do, however, is share titles of books that I have enjoyed (sometimes more than once). I have many shelves' worth sitting right beside me so there is no excuse for not doing this.

Spirit vs. Ghost

To me, this is an interesting point and people ask me often. I disagree with Sylvia Browne and probably most of the "psychic community".

Sylvia Browne states that there are, at least, three realms: ghosts, spirits, angels. She defines them as follows: a ghost represents a deceased individual who is unaware that he/she is dead; a spirit represents a deceased loved one or relative who may visit you. An angel, however, belongs to an entirely different "phylum" of entities; these are beings that never incarnate as humans but which can take any form (including human) that is needed to help humans.

Well, I disagree with Sylvia Browne on this front: I believe that a ghost is a spirit and a spirit is a ghost. Angels are another topic altogether: I suspect that these are ghosts, too. It is simply based on my experiences and on my intuition. (What do any of us have in this area but our experience and intuition?)

I also believe that a poltergeist is simply a ghost, though there may be a connection to teenagers, too. A poltergeist is simply a noisy ghost, one that is not seen.

An apparition is simply a ghost, one that is seen.