Friday, December 7, 2012

Paranormal Integrity

Paranormal Integrity
The truth vs. hype. As paranormal investigators, I feel we should not be in competition with each other. I see it more and more everyday. I feel we should be one big group working together to find who or what is out there. We have a common goal and passion that we should join together to research. Unfortunately, there are people out there who will mock and ridicule us or try to make us out to be fools. And even worse, there are some in our own community. It is such a shame that we can not do what we love freely. There are places that overcharge groups to come in just to make a quick buck. I have no problem paying to investigate, when the money goes back into the building. Most of the places we go to are extremely old and falling apart. These wonderful people need this money to keep them up to code and to help restore the historical importance of these places. There are others out there who unfortunately fake evidence to drive more people to their buildings. This is a shame. Most places we frequent do not need additional "evidence", they have plenty of their own to make us happy. We must remember we are not a TV show. We don't spend several days in one place to get that 35-40 minutes of show time. It takes that long sometimes to get evidence. Sometimes you don't get anything, and that is completely fine with me. I always say "ghosts" are people too. They have feelings and sometimes they just want to be left alone.
 
Para drama. As of late there has been a ton of "para drama" out there. WHY?? Why are we fighting each other? Why are people who aren't directly involved being drug under the bus, attacked, and threatened? As I said before, this is a field many of us feel passionately about. So, how about showing some integrity? I have a friend who was hurt emotionally because of this. People in her family received personal threats. What is wrong with people? Can't we all just get along?
 
Back to the truth/hype. I understand we are in a field where there are believers and non-believers. Each side has very strong feeling on the subject. My husband and I are on different sides of the spectrum and have gotten into arguments over it. :-) There are several aspects of this field as well. We all aren't "ghost hunters". There are people who search for aliens, Bigfoot, fairies, trolls, unicorns, etc. There are people who range from having no "feelings" when things are going on to full blown medium/psychics. I have recently investigated with a true medium as well as someone whom I feel was "faking it". If you don't have it, you don't have it. It is not needed to be a paranormal investigator. Are people trying to get attention? What is the reason? I'm getting worked up over this. I want to type so much, but my personal integrity won't let me be mean to someone just for the sake of doing it. There is no point in fabricating things in a field where we can not prove without a doubt what is "real". I know it is real and you may know it is real, but take my husband for instance, he does not. He has a explanation for everything I show him. If we start faking evidence, then that puts more ammo for the other guy. They can say "Piece A was people doing it, so what is to make me believe Piece B is real?" We are here to find the truth, not just make stuff up for our own good. What does it prove if it isn't real? I will close this with a saying a member of the paranormal community likes to say, "The truth will set you free."

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

The Haunted President book review

My 3rd book review is on The Haunted President by Troy Taylor. It is about the history, hauntings, and supernatural life of Abraham Lincoln.

In the introduction he states growing up in Illinois, Lincoln was big in his life. Also being from Illinois, I can relate. We are taught an abundance of Lincoln. Although the spiritual side was never covered. He states "Most people don't realize that Lincoln was a great believer in signs and portents or that he believed in the spirit world."(5)
Chapter 1 the early life of Lincoln. Goes over his life. It goes over the death that he dealt with as a child. It says "With his own hands, Abraham helped to fashion his mother's coffin and then helped place her in the ground."(7) Seriously?? He was 9 years old. Wow. After reading this short but packed chapter I have learned several new things about the young Abraham Lincoln.
As we continue on through the book It is packed with tons of information about Abraham Lincoln. It is a quick read, and mostly packed with historical information. I understand not much would be publicized about the "paranormal" aspects of a person's life in that time, but I found the smaller bits of info extremely interesting. On page 37, Mr. Taylor writes about how Lincoln would have a "vision" or "premonition." He would see himself in the mirror with two faces. One of him "normal" and one after he becomes president.
Page 48 Lincoln had a premonition in his dreams about the confederate soldiers overtaking union forces. He ran to the telegraph office to find this dream to be true.
The book goes on to state that Lincoln contacted mediums and clairvoyants to obtain information about the future events of the war.(57)
He attended séances, held them in the white house, and had some interesting experiences.
In chapter 7 it talks about the several different ways that Lincoln's death was predicted. I guess he was ready to die. He knew from his previous premonitions, that this one was going to be true as well. So why did he really go to the theater?
Towards the end of the book, it goes into the people that surrounded Lincoln and paranormal things that happened to them. Also goes into the important places that are now haunted. Great read. Very informative, historical and paranormal wise.



Investigation Health and Safety

Paranormal Safety
 
I thought I have written a blog about safety during the investigation before, but I can't find it. So I guess I'll write one now.
With the recent death of a fellow paranormal investigator, I feel this is important to reiterate that we need to think about our personal safety when we investigate. Another paranormal blog put out some important information on what we all should do. I feel it is imperative that everyone reads this. http://www.parahunts.blogspot.com/2012/11/ghost-hunting-health-and-safety-issues.html
 
Some things to be aware of. Dust, Allergies, structural issues of the building, mold, mildew, cockroaches, bats, mice, and of course said pest's poo.
How many times have you had a sore throat or raspy breathing the morning after an investigation? I know I have. Please be careful out there folks. We can't do what we love doing, if we are being investigated ourselves.
 
Here is another post about health and safety in the paranormal field. http://hollowhill.com/ghost-hunting-health-and-safety-issues