Tag Archives: paranormal investigations
Protected: Murphy Auditorium Investigation Review 10-8-22
Protected: Community House #2 Investigation 10-23-21
Protected: Ghosts in the Gallery Investigation
Protected: The Haunting of The Ribeyre Gymnasium
A Different Kind of Paranormal Investigation
1
When I first started doing paranormal investigation, I stuck with the current trend of conducting a “scientific investigation.” My friends and I spent tremendous amounts of money on paranormal equipment and used them for every investigation. We set up cameras in all the known hot-spots and used meters and devices to measure and record the energy in the room in the hopes of capturing evidence of paranormal activity.
As I became more experienced, the traditional investigations began to bore me. I was so tired of the concept, of asking all the same old questions and then listening to hours of recorded audio in my hopes of capturing a ghostly voice. I was also worried. While we were capturing evidence, we weren’t doing anything to solve the issue. This especially bothered me with private investigations.
When a homeowner asked us to come in because they were experiencing something they couldn’t explain, they were often frightened by the activity. When footsteps are heard in the middle of the night or voices drifted through the house when no one was home, they often thought the worst. And who can blame them?
Most people’s perception of ghosts is based on what they see in the media. Nice ghosts exist, but they don’t sell out movie theaters. Instead, Hollywood invests in the darker side of the paranormal world, largely excluding the majority of the paranormal arena. I have probably contributed to this personification as well by writing about my horrific experiences in dealing with darker entities. The fact is: the paranormal world is far more complicated.
There are a mixture of good and bad ghosts, along with entities that were never human. In some cases, they already have a system set up, one that doesn’t require human involvement to keep it continuing. It’s the humans who need to be schooled, not the ghosts.
As my abilities as an intuitive medium expanded, I found that I was able to connect directly with the ghosts in residence. I no longer needed a digital recorder to hear their voices. I could now go directly to the source. This changed everything for me.
Now, when I go on a private investigation, I don’t bother with most of my equipment.I bring a high quality electromagnetic frequency (EMF) meter that I use to rule out high levels of energy that might be impacting the living. Sometimes, a malfunctioning electrical device can emit high levels of EMF, which can cause people to react in the same way they might if a ghost were present.
To explain this further, high EMF often makes people feel as though they are being watched. An example would be a house we investigated where the owners felt as though they were being watched while they sat in their living room. A quick sweep with the EMF meter revealed two air purifiers that were situated at opposite ends of the room. They were both old and outdated and were pouring high levels of EMF into the room. Once they were removed, the feelings of being watched disappeared altogether. To read more about the effects of high EMF, click HERE to read a previous blog post.
When I investigate private homes now, my most valuable tools are my friends and teammates. I bring like-minded people with mediumistic abilities. Together we’re able to identify what is causing (or not causing in some cases) the haunting and put together a plan to resolve the issues.
During a recent investigation, I was invited to the home of a friend who had just purchased a house. He hadn’t necessarily experienced any activity that would put him on Paranormal Witness, but he was uncomfortable in his home all the same. It had a bad vibe. It didn’t feel right. It was as though he wasn’t welcomed there. I stopped him before he could go into more details that might impact our walk-through of the property.
I brought two people along with me who I knew could help me get to the bottom of the haunting: Ken Murray and Barbara Niles. Sandy MacLeod often joins us, but was unable to attend this time.
Ken Murray is a talented psychic medium who has blown me away with his abilities and Barbara Niles is far more talented than she gives herself credit for. I met both of them through the Paranormal 101 classes I used to teach in the town of Gardner, Massachusetts. Sandy’s abilities are similar to mine. We are somewhere between Ken and Barbara. We both get distinct impressions when a ghost is nearby.
(Above) My Dream Team L-R: Joni Mayhan, Sandy MacLeod, Ken Murray and Barbara Niles
As we came into the house, I warned the homeowner to stay silent about the activity he had been experiencing. We wanted to go in completely cold, not knowing anything about the haunting or the history of the house that might taint our impressions. As a medium, this is very important. We are filtering any messages we might receive through our human bodies. If our brains are already thinking about the dark shadow he often sees at the end of the bed, we’ll be looking for dark energy. It might even lead us to mix our own impressions with the information we’ve been told, changing it completely.
We started on the third floor in an area that we later learned had once been servant’s quarters in the massive Craftman-styled house. Armed with notepads and writing utensils, we split up into separate rooms and allowed the energy to speak to us.
Being clairaudient, I alway hear tones that are similar to ear ringing. Once I tune into the sound, I am able to connect with the soul attached to it. In the first room, I picked up a tone that I identified as a young female. As I allowed the connection to grow, I saw her in my mind’s eye and began to hear her words. The first thing I saw was long light-brown hair that trailed down her back. As she turned, I saw a bit of her face. She was young, probably in her late teens or early twenties, and she was sad. As I studied her, I learned that she was an Irish immigrant, brought to this country to work for an American family, possibly as a nanny or housekeeper. “I just want to go home,” she told me.
Knowing we still had a lot of house to cover, I moved into another room on the third floor. I then connected in similar fashion with a heavy-set older woman with dark hair that was pulled into a knot on the back of her head. She struck me as motherly and matronly. She felt like a housekeeper to me, someone who took care of the family, as well as the rest of the staff. I saw her folding laundry, humming while she worked.
I moved onto a third room as Ken and Barbara switched rooms too. During this time, we didn’t say any more to one another than deciding on what to call the rooms so we could discuss them later. We decided on Room 1, Room 2, Room 3 and Room 4. Room 1 was where I felt the girl. Room 3 was where I felt the older woman. In Room 4 I got an impression of children and saw a child’s sailboat. I didn’t connect with any energy, except for the younger woman who was following me. I quickly moved onto Room 2 and discovered the reason for the haunting.
I didn’t need to listen for the tone. The impression came to me immediately. I saw a tall man with ramrod straight posture and dark hair. He had an air about him of importance, but the word that rose in my mind was “butler.” He felt he was better than everybody else. We were all beneath him. I saw him actively trying to disturb the living, making them as uncomfortable as possible.
Once everyone was finished, we moved through the rest of the house, feeling the energy and quietly writing down our impressions. By the time we made our way to the basement, I had also connected with a woman from the 1920’s. I saw her as tall and fashionably thin, wearing a pale beige silk dress with fringe along the hem. She was worried about something, but I couldn’t pick up on the source of her discontent until we got to the basement.
Basements are often my favorite places in haunted location. Not because they are creepy and dark, but because they seem to be the place where ghosts go to hide when the living impede upon their space. This basement was different though.
It was brightly lit and freshly painted. If you saw a photo of it, you wouldn’t immediately think it was creepy, but the energy said otherwise. It felt as though the air itself was sizzling with electricity. It was hard to breath, feeling like the air was thick and heavy. I did a quick sweep with the EMF detector, not finding anything amiss.
Soon, an image rose in my mind of wooden cases filled with glass bottles. I felt myself being drawn to a far corner of the room that had been sectioned off in a closet to house the well pump. “This is where they hid it,” a voice said in my mind. I identified the source of the voice as coming from the fashionable 1920’s woman and realized that this was the reason behind her anxiety. “Flowers cover up the scent,” she told me.
Scent? I looked around, trying to make sense of what I was being told and then it dawned on me. Alcohol. Instinctively, I knew that the house was used during the prohibition days to hide alcohol. While she was worried about it, her husband was almost glib. “Don’t worry about it. We won’t get caught,” he told her.
Once Ken and Barbara were finished writing down their own impressions, we reconvened outside on the porch steps to discuss our findings.
This is always a worrisome moment for me. I often doubt the impressions that I feel, wondering if my highly active imagination was simply manufacturing all the information. It made sense that I would identify the third floor as servant’s quarters. Most old houses were set up in that fashion and the staff I saw were traditional roles that were often employed in wealthy households. The 1920’s woman fit the time period that I had established in my mind, which also fit the style of the house. Was this nothing more than a nice story?
“Ken, why don’t you start,” I suggested, waiting with baited breath to hear what he was going to say. Ken has impressed me over the past year with his findings. He’s almost alway dead-on in his impressions, helping us solve many cases.
“I felt an older woman on the third floor, who I feel was a maid or a nanny,” he said and went onto describe her exactly as I saw her myself. Being a far better medium than I’ll ever be, he also added details, such as the color of her dress and the jewelry she was wearing.
He also picked up on the younger woman and the butler, adding in more layers. He thought the young woman’s name was Anna and saw her with her hair pulled up in a bun. Barbara’s notes revealed similar impressions.Because she is still in the beginning stages of her spiritual advancements, her encounters were less detailed. She identified the older woman, the younger woman and the man. Neither of them picked up on the 1920’s woman, but they both felt children present, which went along with my feelings about the bedroom with the sailboat.
Our only disagreement came in the basement. Ken saw a fight between two men that led to one of the men being stabbed. He also felt that the younger woman was having an affair with the former male owner of the house, something that might have contributed to the fight. He didn’t get any impressions about alcohol, but thought it made sense as he listened to me talk. Barbara also felt alcohol was involved, but felt like it was stolen.
All three of us agreed that the source of the haunting was the male butler. Ken felt as though he probably stood at the end of the homeowner’s bed and presented himself in shadows.He also thought the homeowner might feel as though someone was watching him while he was in the shower and that the bathroom door might occasionally pop open on it’s own.
We also all agreed that while the butler was an angry soul, he wasn’t powerful enough to do anything more than rattle doorknobs and create shadows. The older maid kept him in check, preventing him from attempting anything truly frightening or dangerous. Ken also felt that she liked the current homeowner and would work to keep him protected.
At that point, we took our findings to the homeowner and learned more history of the house. As it turns out, the house across the street had a hidden tunnel that led from the basement to the garage, something that the current owners suspected was created during the prohibition days. Was this connected?
As we thought about it, it began to make sense. Even though we were all different in our findings, they fit an overall story. If the people across the street had an illegal still or were bringing in alcohol for the sake of reselling it, it would make sense that the man in the house we investigated might have been a part of it, perhaps even breaking into his house to steal it and then hide it in his basement. If he were caught by his neighbor, a fight could have broken out. Even though we were forcing the pieces together, they fit.
In the end, we decided not to do anything about the haunting. Sometimes this is the best method. The dead have worked out a system of checks and balances. Often, we join hands and create a sacred circle where we envision a white light above our heads. We then encourage any lost souls to go through it, bringing them to a place most people call Heaven. While this is usually successful for us, it wasn’t the right thing to do in this case. If we attempted to cross over one or more of them, we might end up doing more harm than good. The heavy-set maid might have crossed over, leaving the angry butler there alone without anyone to prevent him from going after the living. It wasn’t worth taking the chance. It was better to leave it as we found it.
The only one I felt bad about was the younger Irish immigrant woman. She had been following me all night and was nearby as we spoke to the homeowner.
Mentally, I connected with her and told her about the white light, showing her an image of her floating towards it and finding her way to Heaven, where her family was waiting for her. I felt her acknowledgement and knew that she would go when she was ready.
Once we explained our findings to the homeowner, he felt better about the situation. Being a person who is involved in paranormal events, he was well-versed in the ways that ghosts often function. The reason why his house didn’t feel warm and welcoming was because the butler was impacting his emotions.
“Ask the maid to help you. Ask her if she will keep him away from you,” I suggested.
“You might also make an offering to the male butler, to appease him in a sense,” Ken said. “I see a decanter of liquor, possibly bourbon. Put it on a shelf in the dining room and tell him that it’s for him,” he said.
“And flowers for the maid,” I added, somehow knowing that she’d enjoy them.
Ken also gave the homeowner a stick of palo santos wood, which we often use in place of sage to “cleanse” the air to make the energy more positive and instructed him on how to use it. “Light it and then let it smolder in a small fire-proof bowl and then allow the smoke to fill the air in the rooms,” he told him. “When you finish, it will feel much lighter in here.”
After we said our goodbyes to the homeowner, we gathered by our cars and chatted about the evening. All in all, we felt good about what we did. We didn’t remove any energy or cross over any weary souls, but sometimes that’s the best thing to do. We simply went in, evaluated the situation and made a decision. I know that some mediums will disagree with what we did, but that’s to be expected. Everyone has differing opinions and we did what we felt was best for this case. If the activity picks up or becomes threatening in any way, we can always go back and do something different. Sometimes it’s better to just leave things as you found them.
Joni Mayhan is a paranormal investigation and the author of 15 paranormal books. She also teaches a popular online Paranormal 101 class. For more information about Joni or her books or classes, click HERE .
Keeping Yourself Protected in the Paranormal World
Like many others, I dove into the paranormal world head first. Like a foolish cliff diver leaping off a ledge, I didn’t look before I jumped. I just took the plunge and paid dearly for it later by picking up a negative attachment.
Paranormal investigating isn’t a fun hobby, something you do with the same irrelevance as bowling or playing a round of golf. In many ways, it should be considered more like social work in a very bad neighborhood.
When we go into haunted locations, we are dealing with an assortment of invisible entities. Some could be elderly ladies trapped in a world they can’t escape, while others might be pedophiles and rapists looking for their next victims. The problem is: you can’t immediately tell the difference. This is why it’s so important to keep yourself protected. You wouldn’t skydive without a parachute, so why would you tackle unseen entities without some sort of protection?
Beyond picking up a paranormal hitchhiker, there are other factors you might face. Entities often use our energy like fuel. If you aren’t protected, you might find yourself with a Paranormal Hangover, (click the title to read more about this) which could leave you drained for days.
Below are some of the methods of keeping yourself protected:
A Strong Mindset
We are made of vibrations. In fact, everything in our world vibrates. Some things vibrate at a high speed, while others vibrate much slower. When you are feeling down, your vibration is low and your resistance is diminished. This completely jeopardizes your entire defense system. Make sure you are at the top of your game before you take on the paranormal world. You might be coming in contact with something quite powerful, so be prepared.
As a sensitive, I am prone to getting paranormal hitchhikers. They see me and understand in an instant that I can sense them too, so they follow me. Sometimes, I think they just want to experience the comfort of human companionship, but other times they have darker agendas in mind.
My journey into the paranormal world started in 2009 when I began working on my mediumistic abilities. I knew I could communicate with the dead and began working on it in earnest. By 2011, I was advancing in my abilities and became even more visible in the paranormal world. After a heartbreaking break-up, I found myself in a depressed state of mind. Someone invited me to go on a ghost hunt and I went, thinking it would improve my mood. As a result, I picked up the worst attachment I’ve ever encountered, which I document in my book The Soul Collector. When I tell you to have a strong mindset, I’m talking from experience.
A Healthy Body
Since we are vibrational creatures, it’s important that we maintain our physical bodies. Eating healthy foods, getting enough exercise and rest are important for us. If your body isn’t strong, it often affects your mindset, weakening your defenses. If you’ve come into contact with a negative entity that follows you home, the first thing it does is isolate you from other people. This often diminishes your access to sunlight, lowering your defenses even further. Taking Vitamin D supplements helps, as well as insuring you are getting outside for ample periods of time. Vitamin B complexes often helps with mood and attitude too, but can’t compare to eating a diet filled with plenty of leafy greens.
Grounding
Have you ever been around someone who simply radiates negativity? After you walk away, you might feel a residue of that hostility clinging to you, dragging you down too. The truth is: we often absorb other people’s energy. Whether they mean to or not, they spread their discontent around like someone scattering seeds. If some of it lands on you, you begin sprouting the same bad emotions. The best way to get rid of this unwanted energy is to learn how to ground yourself.
How to Ground:
There are many methods for grounding, but my favorite way is to imagine myself as a tree. I close my eyes and envision a pure white light radiating above me. With every breath, I pull this white light into my body through the top of my head. As I exhale, I push the black negative energy downward into the ground where it can be reclaimed and recycled by the earth. In the beginning, it might take you a few minutes to master this technique, but after a while it will become second nature.
Other methods of grounding: take a shower and imagine the water washing away all traces of the negative emotion or hug a tree and allow the powerful energy of nature to cleanse you.
Shielding
Most paranormal protection practices rely heavily on visualization. Most people don’t find this to be easy to do. It takes a lot of practice. If you don’t succeed the first time, don’t give up. For many of us, this ability takes weeks, if not months to master.
The principal of shielding involves using your own body’s energy to form a protective barrier around you. Make this shield so strong that nothing can penetrate it, keeping you cocooned inside, safe and sound.
How to Shield
Methods vary from person to person, but this is how I create a shield. I envision a warm golden ball of light that burns with the intensity of the sun. I hold it between my hands and allow it to grow larger and larger until it encapsulates my entire body. Once it is large enough, I say a prayer, asking that this shield keeps me protected for the next twenty-four hours. Some people have better success with this by watching a Guided Meditation. You can find many of these online.
The video below takes a slightly different approach, but I’ve found it to be helpful:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17uTmUBxhnU
Talismans
Some people carry religious medallions or gemstones with them when they encounter the paranormal world. While they do carry metaphysical properties that can assist in your protection, they also act as “touchstones.” When you touch them, it gives you a sense of comfort, often activating the abilities you already possess. You think, “I am protected,” and the intent of your thought sends a message out into the Universe, making it happen.
I often carry a combination of gemstones, depending on what I feel I will need. Any of the stones listed above act as protection stones. You might also combine them with healing stones, such as Amethyst or Rose Quartz to extend their abilities.
Being safe while delving into the paranormal world could change your life. All it takes to ruin everything is one bad situation, one moment when your guard is down.
This is just a sampling of paranormal protection. More methods can be found in my book, Dark and Scary Things – A Sensitive’s Guide to the Paranormal World.
Joni Mayhan is a paranormal investigator and the author of 17 paranormal books. To learn more about her, visit her website http://jonimayhan.com
Click on the cover to learn more about each book.
The Power of Thoughts in the Paranormal World
Julie was intuitive and could feel the energy long before she walked into the haunted building. Someone told her that the entity might be demonic, so she steeled herself, trying to work up the nerve to go inside. She knew that demons weren’t something she should mess with, but she was excited to experience it firsthand. She just hoped it wouldn’t hurt her.
Does this scenario sound familiar? As more and more people delve into the world of the paranormal, they often find themselves in situations they aren’t prepared to handle. I experienced this first hand when I investigated a location that was known to have negative energy. I ended up with a negative attachment that stuck with me for months and was the subject of my book The Soul Collector.
Most people aren’t aware of how powerful their thoughts are. Just thinking something fuels it with power and gives it the momentum to become a reality.
Think about it in regards to your everyday life. When you roll out of bed on a Monday morning, do you groan, dreading the day ahead of you? If you do, you will probably have the day you envisioned. Your mind latches onto this conception and turns a thought into reality. You will probably have a rotten day.
If you roll out of bed and see the day as a blank canvas, filled with opportunities, looking past the obligations and requirements you must fulfill, your day will go much better. Much of this is due to the Law of Vibration and the Law of Attraction. Everything in this world is made of vibrations.The chair you sit in, the floor you stand on, even the thoughts that ramble through your mind all vibrate. When you put a negative thought out into the Universe, it acts like a blueprint. Everything else will be built on top of it and you will draw in more negative things. If you aren’t grateful for everything the Universe has given you, why would it give you more?
In the paranormal world, thoughts are compounded by the fact that the entities often know what you are thinking. Yes, they can hear your thoughts. That’s how they communicate with one another and, often, with us as well.
Imagine walking up to a school yard bully and telling him that he is strong and unbeatable. It will pump him up and make him feel even stronger than he actually is. This is the same concept as walking into a haunted location and believing it is infested with demonic activity. Chances are, the entity inside is just a human soul who has a bad attitude. When you give him the title of “demon” you infuse him with power. You give him ideas and the free will to do what he would like. If you fear that he might follow you home, it acts like an invitation.
Fear is a tremendous motivator in the paranormal world. It feeds them, acting like super-powered rocket fuel. Allow yourself to be afraid and you are giving them the ability to scare you even more. Promote them with a higher ranking title, like “Demon” and you are empowering them to be stronger. Give them ideas, like following you home or hurting you, and you are giving them a to-do list of things to accomplish.
Most of the strongest methods of paranormal protection revolve around your thoughts and intent. You can carry as many crucifixes and gemstones as you want, but if you don’t believe they are protecting you, you are doing nothing more than carrying useless objects. Protection items, if fully empowered by your beliefs, act like touch stones. You touch them and it reminds you that you are safe, which means that the real catalyst behind the protection comes from inside you. The stones and medallions don’t protect you, YOU protect you.
In Julie’s case, if she is fearful of the location and believes demons loom inside the haunted location, she shouldn’t go inside. She should start with some locations that aren’t as volatile, places where she can learn slowly. Jumping into the fire will only get her burned. In addition, her fear will fuel the entity inside and could make it a dangerous situation for everyone else on the investigation. It will act like a snowball rolling down a hill. As soon as the entity understands that it has so much power, it will get stronger and stronger until someone ends up getting hurt.
Paranormal protection isn’t something anyone should take lightly, especially if you are sensitive to their energy. They know this too. They see you shining brightly. Your energy is like nectar to them. They will do anything for a sample. They might even follow you home.
Keep this in mind during the October season especially. The veil is thinner this time of the year, giving the dead a freer range to inhibit our world. Be safe, be smart, and keep your thoughts positive. It will make a difference. Trust me.
You can find more information about paranormal protection in my book Dark and Scary Things – A Sensitive’s Guide to the Paranormal World.
Joni Mayhan is a paranormal investigator and the author of 17 paranormal books. Click on the cover to learn more about each book.
Debunking Paranormal Evidence
My blood boiled as I saw the photo being passed around social media. It came with a caption, “My friends were taking pictures of their house that they just bought – look what 
was captured in the picture….” In the picture is the figure of a ghost. It’s so obviously a fake, I was surprised anyone would fall for it. When I clicked on the photo, I was flabbergasted at the plethora of comments, most of them congratulating the photographer for the capture.
As technology increases, so does the capacity to provide false information. As a paranormal investigator, I see it time and time again in photos. With the invention of “ghost apps” anyone with a cell phone can create a seemingly paranormal photo in minutes.
Beyond the obvious faked photos are the photos that aren’t altered, but probably aren’t paranormal either. Many people fall for these as well.
As humans, we are programmed to find faces. We see them in clouds and in reflections on windows. The truth is: some people want to find something in a photo. Every time I post a picture of the Haunted Victorian Mansion online, someone finds a face in the window. Chances are, it’s just a reflection. Clouds and bushes have a tendency to look like faces. Everything isn’t a ghost. In fact, most things aren’t paranormal. If you look hard enough, you’ll find the explanation.
Another huge topic regarding ghost photos is the subject of orbs. Are they true ghost pictures or just dust or moisture? This is quite a controversial topic that I plan to handle as gingerly as possible. People are either “orb believers” or they aren’t. There truly isn’t much grey area when it comes to people’s opinion about orbs.
My opinion is that the majority of the orb pictures you see are nothing more than dust or moisture that is catching the light from the flash and making it reflective. The bigger the orb, the closer it was to the camera when the photo was taken. If the orb is a different color, it’s reflecting something nearby that is the same shade. All you need to do to test this yourself is to walk across a room and then snap a picture with the flash on. You’ll see all the orbs you care to capture.
My first experience with orb photography came during a haunted walking tour in Nashville, Tennessee. The guide guaranteed that we would capture a ghost on film. It was even printed in the brochure.
I was intrigued by this, being a brand new investigator. I wasn’t sure how they could guarantee I’d get a paranormal picture, but I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt to see what happened.
They brought us to the street across from the haunted State House building. The guide waited until the light turned red and then instructed everybody to start snapping pictures. Even as a newbie, this was enough to make me roll my eyes. You could see the dust swirling in the air, kicked up from all the traffic. As it settled, people were getting hundreds of orbs in every picture. The guide congratulated them and they walked away thinking they actually captured something paranormal.
It does make sense that a ghost would take the most conservative shape, which would be an orb-shape. It’s aerodynamic and can move easily around the room. As someone who is sensitive to ghostly energy, I can tell you that ghosts don’t simply walk through the doorway and stand in a corner. They move around the room rapidly, something my cats track as they watch them zipping around. However, with that said, the only way I will believe that an orb photo might be a legitimate ghost is if the photo is taken without use of a flash or if it is captured on video maneuvering around in a manner that separates it from dust and moisture.
I have dozens of photos that look ghostly. Case in point is the photograph above. I once investigated with a team who had a similar photo. They proudly displayed it on their website as proof of fairies. I nearly laughed when I saw it, because it is clearly a mosquito caught in the flash.
Don’t believe it because you want to believe it. Only believe it after you’ve ruled out everything else it could be.
The photo shown above was taken in at the Haunted Victorian Mansion, the subject of my 2014 book Bones in the Basement – Surviving the S.K. Pierce Haunted Victorian Mansion. It was snapped by an investigator from Conscious Spirit Paranormal. I know these ladies personally and know they wouldn’t fudge a photo, which gives it more validity in my eyes.
The photo supposedly shows a portal in the Copper Room. I’ve been in this room many times. In fact, I’ve slept there several times. I can assure you, there’s nothing physical at the foot of the bed that would cause a photo to look like that.
My first thought about the photo was that it was a camera strap hanging down into the photo. Below is a photo of a camera strap in a photo. You can see the ridges of the straps. The images, while not exactly the same, are similar. The only real difference is the fact that the Victorian photo’s vortex image ends before the top of the photo. If it were a camera strap, it would continue through the top of the photo. Just always bear in mind that photos can be misleading. Always take a series of three photos when you’re in a haunted location. That way you can rule out a reasonable explanation.
I think most of us want to find something paranormal in our photos from investigations. After all, that’s the primary reason why we’re taking them, besides to document the investigation. In the photo below, a fellow investigator, Pam Howell, took this photo of us standing near my car during a break. There appears to be a strange mist above us. I was quite excited when I saw it, until I realized that I was holding my E-cigarette in the picture. Many argued that an E-cigarette couldn’t produce enough smoke to create that mist, but I still had to throw it out as possible evidence. If there is a possible explanation, then it can’t be used.
Paranormal audio captures, also known as EVPs also have room for debunking, as well. Modern digital recorders are very sensitive. Even the smallest of noises will be recorded and could be misconstrued as a ghostly response.
When I conduct an EVP session, I employ the utmost care. I keep the group small (under 5 people, if possible) and everyone remains seated. I can be quite a dictator during these sessions, but it’s important to monitor the session as closely as possible. No one is allowed to drink beverages, chew gum, snap photos or, God forbid, whisper during one my sessions. If someone’s stomach inadvertently growls or a car drives past, one of us always says aloud “stomach” or “car” so we’ll know later when we review the audio. If you aren’t careful during a session, you might come across something that seems to be paranormal but isn’t. Below is a good example of someone whispering during a session.
https://soundcloud.com/jonimayhan/kitchenette-example-of-whispering
When you listen to it, you’ll hear the faint sound of a voice speaking over mine. What you won’t hear is me saying “whispering” afterwards, while giving the investigator a hard look.
I have a rule that I always follow: when in doubt, throw it out.
I believe that we owe it to the field to only submit the most valid evidence possible. This means keeping the EVPs that might or might not be another investigator burping, and the photos of smudged mirrors to ourselves. We don’t grasp for straws, we just keep trying until we find something worth sharing. I truly wish all investigators followed this rule as well.
For more information about EVPs, please check out my new book Ghost Voices, available on Amazon.com for Kindle or paperback.
Joni Mayhan is a paranormal investigator and the author of 13 books. Click on any of the covers to learn more about each book.
The Dangers of Ghost Hunting
It looks like fun, something entertaining to do on a boring Saturday night. You imagine calling a few friends and heading out to the closest graveyard to see what it’s all about. The truth is: paranormal investigating can be dangerous.
I know this firsthand. After making several beginner’s mistakes, I encountered several low vibrational entities that followed me home and made my life a living hell for months on end. Had I known what I know now, I would have done things much differently.
A paranormal investigation shouldn’t be treated like a fun night out. It should be planned with the same care and respect that you’d use if you decided to start cave diving. You certainly wouldn’t just go out and purchase scuba equipment and head to your nearest cave. You’d spend months, if not years, learning how to dive first to prevent yourself from getting lost and drowning inside a cave. You’d then research and train with someone who knew how to cave dive. You would also bring a map, as well as a companion who knew the cave well.
The biggest danger with paranormal investigating is the unknown factor. Ghosts come in many varieties. Like people, there are harmless ones and there are dangerous ones. Unlike people, ghosts are invisible and you might not be able to tell the difference until it’s too late.
People who are sensitive to spiritual energy have far more to worry about than non-sensitives. Not only do ghosts see us and recognize the fact that we can also detect them, they might grow curious enough to follow you home. Once they’ve attached to you, they will attempt to get your attention. This could include moving items around your house or making sounds that you can detect. If the entity is negative in nature, they will probably attempt to pull your energy, something they will use to grow stronger. The footsteps and misplaced items will quickly escalate to more serious dangers. They might turn on burners on your gas stove, something I’ve had happen before, or they might push you when you walk down a steep flight of stairs. If they think they can get away with it, they might even attempt to take you over.
We often think demonic entities are the only entities that can possess a person, but this isn’t necessarily true. There are some very high-powered human ghosts who have the same capabilities. Beyond even demonic or earth-bound ghosts is the possibility of entities from other dimensions. The problem is, when they cause your EMF meter to spike at an investigation, they all look the same.
Sensitives should be well-versed in paranormal protection before they actively put themselves in harm’s way. They need to study the various protection methods until they find one that works for them. As they start out, they should always investigate with a mentor who can help keep them safe. Here are some tips to help you stay protected:
Grounding and Shielding
Learn how to ground and shield yourself. Grounding is the process of removing all negative energy from your body. My favorite technique for this is to imagine a ball of pure white light above my head. As I inhale, I visualize this white light filling my body, while simultaneously pushing the negative energy down through me, where it can sink deeply into the ground. Some people visualize themselves as trees with deep roots as they do this. To shield, you build a bubble of white light around you, and then set a time limit on it. I usually set my shield daily, infusing it with the intent that it will keep me safe from any energies that aren’t mine for 24 hours, the maximum time amount. If you don’t set a time, your shield will only last for several hours.
Protection Touch-stones
Many people carry gemstones in their pocket, such as black tourmaline or tiger’s eye, which have protective properties. Other people wear crucifixes or religious medallions. While these items will help you stay protected, they also serve as a reminder. Many people believe that you already have everything you need to keep yourself protected inside you. By touching the stone or wearing the cross, you reinforce your internal belief that you are protected.
External Assistance
Whether you are praying to a higher power or calling in your Spirit Guides, you should always utilize this extra assistance. It’s like having a posse of warriors who will run defense for you. Without them, you are vulnerable to attack.
Keep Your Vibration High
Everyone and everything vibrates with frequency. When people are feeling good and everything in their lives are running smoothly, they vibrate at a high rate. When they are feeling depressed or are physically ill, they’re vibration decreases. Ghosts vibrate at different rates too. A positive entity will vibrate at a much higher rate than a negative one. They can only attach to you if your frequencies are similar. If you don’t feel well or have had a horrible fight with a friend, don’t go on the investigation, especially if you are a sensitive. You will be much more vulnerable to picking up an attachment.
Some other tips:
- Never antagonize the dead. Provoking comes with a heavy price considering you don’t know what you’re truly dealing with. You could be screaming at a lost child who has been trapped in our world for centuries or you could be taunting something inhuman, who considers your insults an invitation. Tread lightly and be polite.
- Unless you have several years in the field, always investigate with a mentor, someone who can help keep you protected. If you are a sensitive, find an experienced medium who is willing to take you under his or her wing. They can not only alert you to possible dangers, but they can help you advance your own abilities.
- Stay away from unknown factors. This includes cemeteries, old prisons, old hospitals and location where humans have suffered. Start out with public events at locations that have been fully investigated before. It might initially seem like driving with training wheels, but you should always learn in a somewhat safe environment. With that said, still employ caution. Ghosts often come in with other investigators and decide to camp out at new locations.
- Don’t attempt private investigations at people’s homes until you have several years of experience under your belt. Yes, you do need to learn the craft of investigating sometime, but don’t learn at the expense of a homeowner. Any mistakes you make will be left for someone else to deal with. Private events are also risky because you don’t know what you’re dealing with until you investigate the location, which puts you at risk, as well.
- NEVER investigate your own home. If you have a ghost in residence, call in someone else to help, preferably a medium who can communicate directly with the entity. If you do EVP sessions and frequently try to capture the ghost on a camera, you are giving it more fuel to stay. The attention you provide it with acts as an invitation, which will make it much harder to remove later.
- Do not give ghosts permission to touch you or use your energy. Essentially, what you’re doing is inviting them inside the shield you’ve carefully constructed, giving them an opportunity to connect to you. If they use your energy, you will probably find yourself on the brink of exhaustion the next morning, making you more prone to illness.
- When you leave the location, I recommend doing a closing ceremony. Basically, this entails telling the ghosts that they must remain at the location and cannot follow you home. We will often burn sage and do a smudging of each participant before they leave, as an extra measure. You should also cut your cords. Entities, and even people, connect to one another with invisible energy cords. Cut these with your non-dominant hand, envisioning the ethereal cords breaking in half. Then imagine white light filling all the holes where the cords were once located. Once you’ve done this, leave. Don’t stand by your car and talk. This gives the dead more opportunities to attach to you.
- Cleanse yourself when you get home. I recommend taking a bath infused with sea salt and lavender. This cleanses the spiritual energy off you and also serves to relax you after an eventful investigation. Eat something healthy, as well. It’s recommended to eat foods that will help you ground. Nourishment that comes from the earth is usually the best. Nuts, grains, root vegetables and even chocolate are good for grounding.
- Ground and shield yourself before you begin reviewing your evidence the next day. If you didn’t fully cut your cords to the entities at the investigation, you will re-attach yourself to them when you begin listening to your audio recordings or combing through your photos or video captures.
- Never cut corners. Even if you are in a rush, always take the time to protect yourself before, during and after an investigation. The investment could end up saving you a lot of pain and suffering after the fact.
As an author and investigator, I’ve encountered dozens of scenarios that you will not want to experience. Ghost hunting is not fun and games. Sometimes it can be deadly. If you would like to learn more about the ins and outs of being a sensitive or would like to explore other avenues for paranormal protection, please check out my book Dark and Scary Things – A Sensitive’s Guide to the Paranormal World.
Joni Mayhan is a paranormal investigator and the author of 13 books, including Dark and Scary Things – A Sensitive’s Guide to the Paranormal World, Devil’s Toy Box, The Soul Collector and Bones in the Basement, all available on Amazon.com, as well as Barnesandnoble.com and Smashwords. Click on any of the covers below to learn more about the book.
