Ghosts

Since I was a little girl, I have been interested in the paranormal. It all started with Scooby Doo. Then, I read all the ghost stories in my town’s library, and then re-read them. When I was about the Little Man’s age, I discovered Hans Holzer. He is the godfather of the modern paranormal movement, where he employed a variety of methods to determine whether or not a particular site was indeed haunted. Some of his cases bordered on the fantastical, and some of his methods would be scoffed at by today’s ghost hunters, but if it wasn’t for him, there wouldn’t be K2 meters and the like.

I went from reading about ghosts to hunting them in high school. My friends and I weren’t exactly tech savvy, and didn’t have a lot of equipment. My primary focus was research, since I am also a history buff. Since this was the days before the internet, there was a lot of hearsay, checking township records (I got great at reading survey maps) and since I lived in Salt Lake City and had access to the Family History Library, genealogical research. I got to use my Nancy Drew sleuthing skills, and later on, used my journalistic ability to interview witnesses.

As I got older, I stopped advertising that I was interested in the paranormal. There were people who thought I ranged from a satan worshipper (obviously they didn’t know me very well) to a witch (like that is a bad thing) to crazy. After I met the Big Man, I felt comfortable telling him about my paranormal dabbling and he didn’t find me insane or evil, which was a relief. In fact, at one point in time, we lived in an (allegedly) haunted house!

About 10 years ago, a plethora of ghost shows began to air on TV. It started with Ghost Hunters, which in turn spawned about a gazillion including Ghost Bait (my friend Mallie was on the show as the tech guru), Deep South Paranormal (Duck Dynasty meets ghosts) and Ghost Mine (which combines a children’s book series with ghosts. Seriously. The Little Man read the books in 4^th grade so he’s been fascinated with the dredge and Old Joe Bush, the ghost). Personally, I think the genre had jumped the shark with Celebrity Ghost Stories (Erik Estrada! Jermaine Jackson! Various other b movie & below “stars”!), but that hasn’t stopped the gravy train. While the Big Man has suffered through me watching them, he has the eye of a skeptic. He doesn’t want to watch them anymore, since they never really find any conclusive proof.

While you don’t always find something on an investigation (and if you did, I would seriously question your methodology), you do have evidence to document your time. Even back in my day, back when we had these huge, clunky tape recorders and cameras where we had to get the film developed, you had to review everything just to make sure you didn’t miss anything. Most of the time, we didn’t find anything to back up the claims presented. In fact, I can only remember one case where we found anything to correspond with what the homeowner claimed. It was my high school drama teacher who lived in an old Victorian in the Avenues in Salt Lake City. She had reported smelling a floral scent in an upstairs bedroom, footsteps on the stairs, and doors closing. One of my friends (in today’s paranormal parlance, a team member) swears she saw a shadow, but couldn’t rule anything out. We heard footsteps on the stairs when we were the only people in the house, and all were accounted for in the living room.

While I started hunting in high school, I had already spent years researching the field and was prepared both intellectually and spiritually. I had a strong spiritual practice, so I was able to both shield and ground myself. I spent a lot of my spare time reading about the field, and as the internet grew, joined message board groups with others having the same interests. Even today, I spend a lot of time reading and keeping up with information in the field, despite not being actively involved. What I am most concerned with are the weekend warriors getting involved with “ghost hunting”. They see things on TV and then feel like they are able to do the same thing, despite not having the proper preparation and training. It’s a double edged sword. I’m ecstatic that one of my greatest interests and passions has gone mainstream, BUT I think there are a lot of people getting involved with it who don’t have any business doing so.

 

For those who protest, I’ve seen every episode of Ghost Hunters. I know what to do.

To which I counter, I used to watch ER. Does that mean I’m qualified to be a trauma surgeon?

 

What is not shown on TV is the preparation that the good teams go through prior to an investigation. Many spend time in meditation and prayer prior to it. There usually is someone in the group who does investigations and interviews ahead of time (that was usually my gig), and there is a plethora of information that needs to be disseminated before ever stepping foot into a location. You need to be armed with as much information as possible so you know what you are dealing with ahead of time-no one likes surprises, especially in the dark. High tech equipment doesn’t mean you’re more likely to get evidence, and in my opinion, I think a lot of this stuff is great for TV but in real life probably serves no purpose.

 

 

The most important thing is to remember don’t tangle with something that you don’t know how to banish. I get so angry watching these ghost shows with people going into locations wanting to capture EVP’s or activity and “provoke” the ghosts. Think about it for a minute. If it was your space, would you want someone to come in and bother you all the time to make a noise or say something or whatnot. The best evidence on any of these shows came from when cameras were just rolling along and no one was around to bother the ghosts. Other groups bring in “psychics” or even worse, an Ouija board (a big never, don’t do that. Most certainly a never if you don’t know what you are doing!). Back in the day, we were there as observers. We didn’t interact with what may or may not be present. I am a believer that there is good and bad in the material and the ethereal world, and that is because of my faith tradition. By provoking or using a spirit board, you may be opening a doorway to something or someone less than kind or nice. Be careful of what you wish for, you just might get it.