Is it a miracle?

Sometimes, you just can't know if something really is a miracle or not.

That's miracle as in supernatural intervention for the good. This is the meaning usually used in a religious context. Technically speaking, though, miracle only means 'something wondrous'. That definitely counts in this story:

Battling Back from Poverty: A Christmas Miracle

This family was in desperate straights. Sick kid, bills up the wazoo, no money... and I though I had it rough.

You know what I really want to know? Where all those trash bags full of stuff came from. They had everything the family needed, plus Christmas presents. And whoever it was paid all their bills for the month.

Who was it? It's just amazing that this happens right before the family finds out their baby is going to live.

But more important than that is what they did with their lives afterward. It's a very heart warming story.

In the category of "You're not going to believe this"

Car Crushed by Semi. Driver Lives.

Yikes.

It's a little hard to see, but that's a car under the side of that over-turned semi. From what I could see, there was only about 2, maybe 3 feet of space under the semi. Most of which was filled by what used to be a car.

A very nice car, if the exposed pieces of metal are any indication.

Even I wonder how this guy managed to survive. If guardian angels have water coolers his probably had quite a lot to talk about.

Baby grew in liver??

Okay, that sounded really gross, so of course I followed the link.

The BBC isn't afraid of the weird

This is the phenomenon known as ectopic pregnancy. Usually when these are discovered the baby is aborted because the doctors figure the baby won't survive and will put the mother at risk.

Well, when it's in the fallopian tube I guess that would be rather dangerous. But this is proof that such babies can survive. I think we should concentrate on making sure that more such babies survive. Well, it'd be even better to make sure ectopic pregnancies don't happen in the first place. (Those implants that are supposed to prevent fertilization? Bad idea!)

Don't know that this exactly counts as a miracle per se, but a lot of people do view birth in and of itself as a miracle. And this is definitely an unusual birth.

Maximilian Kolbe

I wonder how many people know about this man. He was a priest who lived in Germany when the Nazis came to power. He was sent to a concentration camp where he eventually died.

A story from his youth is rather touching.

Apparently he was a rather uncontrollable child and his mother didn't know what to do with him. (If he was anything like my brother, I can understand his mother's frustration.)

At any rate, he was worried about how his mother was worrying and went to a small altar of Our Lady of Czestochowa (I dare you to pronounce that). After a couple days of this Our Lady actually appeared to him holding two crowns. One was white, representing purity, and the other red, representing martyrdom. Our Lady asked young Kolbe which he would choose. Kolbe picked both.

A somewhat more complete account of this incident, and the rest of his life, can be found at Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Say, it's Advent, isn't it?

I suppose, in keeping with the season, I really should turn the discussion of this blog to something a bit more cheerful.

In any case, one might get the impression that the paranormal things discussed in this blog reside strictly in the realm of evil spirits.

Not true, or I should hope not. Better start now to keep that from happening.

After all, there are good spirits, too. There's also the Boss, who's the embodiment of Good.

So for the Christmas season I will start posting stories on miracles.

The first one is an interesting little thing I found on YouTube of all places. I don't usually go there, but I think this video is worth a look.

Angels 101

We seem to have a very odd view of angels now, don't we? They're either cute little kids a la "Precious Moments" or sylph-like women in flowing gowns.

But what are angels really like?

For one thing, they aren't female, or male. As non-corporeal entities things like that are meaningless. No need to reproduce if you don't die, you know?

In the Bible angels always appear as young men, probably as a matter of convenience. (It'd look rather odd to Abraham if three women came wandering into his camp.)

Another thing, and this is very important, angels are not to be worshiped. If you ever run into an angel that is fine with being worshiped he's working for the wrong side.

(I use the pronoun 'he' as a matter of convenience. 'It' makes them sound like they aren't people.)

As long as I'm on the subject I should also point out that even though when we say 'angel' we usually mean the ones working for God, demons are angels too. Fallen angels, specifically.

This is very important to know because real demons aren't red with goat legs and horns. In fact, they can appear like anything. Because of this it's best to test any spiritual visitors you may have.

Yeah, the chances of you having a visit like this are extremely slim, but it doesn't hurt to be careful.

A very basic test is to throw holy water at the entity. Assuming it's visible, of course. If there's no reaction then the visitor is most likely one of the good guys. If there is a reaction you could be in a world of trouble. Better start reciting the St. Michael's Prayer, The Lord's Prayer, or any other prayer you happen to know. Contacting a priest would be a good idea, too.

Common reactions include, but are not limited to, unearthly screaming, violent poltergeist activity, and boiling of the holy water.

And one last thing to finish up this post on angels. Humans do not become angels when they die. Angels started out as angels. Humans stay human even after their physical form stops working.

Experience talks.

Hello to my tiny number of readers. I'd like to take this opportunity to ask you for your ghost stories. Personal experiences would be great. Secondhand stories would be good, too. Please keep it so something you have some reason to believe actually happened though. Please?

Possession vs. Oppression

There is a very important distinction between oppression and possession when dealing with demons.

Now one thing I will mention right off the bat. As far as I know demons are the only spiritual entities capable of either of these attacks. I suppose angels are, since demons are simply fallen angels, but angels don't do these things as they are violations of free will.

Now, I suppose you may be saying, "Well, I know what possession is, what's oppression?"

Oppression is when a demon makes suggestions or puts thoughts in someone's head that wouldn't otherwise be there. Usually of a highly destructive nature. There isn't as much information on this sort of attack in popular works such as what's on the internet because it doesn't make for as sensational a story as full possession.

It is still dangerous.

With possession the demon must be welcomed in somehow. This can happen with seances or other forms of summonings and divinations. Or perhaps a request for power. I'd like to think it's rare for someone to knowingly let a demon into their body, but I really don't have any proof of this.

With oppression it's different. Anyone can be oppressed. It doesn't matter what you do. It doesn't matter how often you go to church. It doesn't even matter if your a priest.

Actually, it's likely that the holier you live your life the more likely it is that demons will try to oppress you. All of the saints have experienced this. Mother Teresa wrote about a time when it seemed God was not in her life. This caused quite a sensation after her death, but to me it wasn't so surprising. After all, in a war who do you try to bring down first but the best the enemy has?

That is what oppression is. The slow wearing away of defenses. Also to scare and disturb the target.

Having said all that, you may wonder how someone can be sure they are being oppressed, rather than just suffering from depression or having random thoughts.

Well, that's hard to say. I suppose in most cases you can't really tell.

There have been times when I'd pass a stained glass window or something else of great worth and have a mental image of me somehow destroying it. It always scared me a bit because I knew I'd never do something like that on purpose. At the earliest times oppression never occurred to me, but at that time I didn't know about oppression. Later I thought that might be it, but never said anything to anyone.

Maybe I should have. Maybe some of the fear would have been alleviated.

On a related note, while trying to find information for this post I found an interesting site that may be useful. It's called the Catholic Online Spiritual Warfare Education and Information Center.

Opening the Gate: The Dangers of Divination

One of the most popular forms of divination is the Ouija Board, perhaps because it's been sold as a children's game by Parker Brothers.

Whatever the tool, though, any form of divination opens a gateway. It welcomes in spirits to answer questions, particularly about the future.

This sort of thing is strictly forbidden by the Catholic Church.

"All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to 'unveil' the future.[48] Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone." (Catholic Catechism, paragraph 2116)

The story some might know from the Bible dealing with the summoning of spirits is how Kind Saul consulted a medium so that he could speak with the prophet Samuel. The first thing Samuel says is, "Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?" (1 Samuel, 28:15 Revised Standard Edition)

But if you are not a Catholic, or of any other Christian denomination, what reason do you have not to consult spirits?

Perhaps first I should mention that I think the Ouija board is the most dangerous of the divination tools I know of.

This is why.

To use the board two or more people touch the planchette and it seems to move under its own power. One theory is that the users move the planchette with their subconscious, another is that spirits are involved.

Either way, the very fact that it must touched by human hands to work indicates that those bodies must be involved in controlling the planchette. But is the mind of the humans in control or someone else?

It is because of this that many people have rituals to protect them when using the board. It might be as simple as a positive attitude, avoiding certain times of day or weather conditions, or even placing up sacred barriers.

The thing is, no matter what walls you have in place the Ouija board is a door. So when you start the session there's a gaping hole in your protective barriers and you no longer have control over which spirit answers first.

Also, spirits can lie. Especially if the spirit that comes to call is demonic in nature. It seems very silly, even arrogant, to think that we'd get honest answers whenever we consult the spirits.

Repeated use of divination tools can make the door harder to close, too. The stories most often seem to involve people who didn't take the tool seriously to begin with, but to me 'taking the tool seriously' involves not using it at all. Why take the chance?

There is one story of a girl who's Ouija board made the furniture in her room shake. One of the kids involved eventually moved on to Tarot cards, and found them "wonderfully insightful" (Tarot for Teens) but I beg to differ.

The only difference with Tarot cards is that rather than controlling the human's body, the spirits manipulate the cards. There is still nothing to keep the spirit from lying. And there's still nothing to keep the spirit from manipulating the human's mind. A charming speaker with a manipulative nature can do a lot of things.

I recommend strongly that you never try to contact spirits this way. If you have ghost in your home that you believe desires help passing over, don't you think the spirit would contact you? They can talk, after all. It's the spirits that you can only contact through an intermediary that you have to worry about. That's why such things are forbidden.


Resources:

• Ouija Board/Scrying from About.com
• Ouija Help Main Menu
• Catechism of the Catholic Church
• Tarot for Teens

Image of Victorian Houses

Why is it haunted houses are almost exclusively pictured as run down Victorian mansions?

The Victorian Age is notorious for several things. Perhaps the best known is the excessive prudishness. They even went so far as to put skirts on tables so that the *gasp* 'limbs' wouldn't show.

Good grief.

Well to do Victorians were also obsessive collectors. Their homes could easily be nearly impassable mazes of vases, paintings, statues, and perhaps a mummy or two.

Yes, mummies. Egypt was all the rage at that time and archeology was in its infancy. Most archaeologists were really little more than treasure hunters. They'd find some odd bit of jewelry or part of a mummy and sell it to the highest bidder. Counterfeiting was a great side business.

I don't know why anyone would want to keep a mummy, let alone a copic jar, in their home, but the Victorian age did seem to attract macabre interests.

This was also the time of spiritualism, an increasing interest in East Asia, and the popularization of the Ouija board.

This was the age of Houdini and Charles Dickens. Both Braum Stocker and Mary Shelley wrote their infamous horror stories during this time. (Dracula and Frankenstein, respectively.)

The idea of reincarnation also became popular. It seemed every lovestruck woman was the reincarnation of an Egyptian dancing girl and the object of her desire a reincarnated prince.

And I haven't even gotten to the houses themselves. The fanciful turrets, decorative extentions, and occassionally cramped confines may well have given them an other worldly air when they were new. Now that they average a hundred years, the creakings and groanings natural to an aging structure can make the most sensible person uneasy.

I should know, I lived in one for most of my life.

Granted, it's an old farm house and thus of a more utilitarian design. Still, it's age gives it an air. It's been remodeled at least once in the interim, including a questionable electrical system. The plumbing is certainly from the second half of the 20th century, though it's showing its age more than some other parts of the house. Still, there are creaks, groans, and odd spaces left over from renovations.

It is, in short a house more than capable of frightening newcomers. Once you get used to the place, though, it's easy enough to distinguish the normal sounds of settling from things much more... unsettling.

One of those 'what the heck' moment

My previous posts were of a rather serious nature. This one is just simply weird. And it happened this afternoon.

After finishing a meeting at a business building in town, I went out to my car. I hadn't noticed it before when I had gotten out because I was running a little late, but I noticed near a tree in the shadow of the building a mass of white stuff flecked with dirt and leaves.

It looked like a pile of packed snow.

No way. Sure it was the right time of year for snow, but not that much and there hadn't been any snow fall yet. Certainly not enough for a pile that size. My best guess was two feet wide and maybe a foot tall.

I went over to it to see if someone had pulled a prank. The pile rested in a depression, but the area was pretty open. There was no way I could see snow staying in that spot through a Minnesota summer.

So I touched the pile. It was without a doubt snow.

Perplexed, I went back inside and found someone to ask about it. The lady I stopped said she didn't know how it got there, but it had only been there for a couple days.

The mystery deepens. How could that have happened? It was far too warm for snow at the time.

How did it get there? I have no idea. But it definitely isn't normal.

Vampires

Those of you who've read Braum Stoker's novel, or just lived in the Western Hemisphere during the last hundred years or so, have probably heard about vampires.

The current image is a bit of a mix of traditions. The originals are too numerous to mention here.

You probably already know this, but people don't come back from the dead to suck people's blood or life force. So you can put away the wooden stakes and blessed wafers.

There are people who claim to be vampires, however. Some drink blood, but apparently there's an increasing population that forgoes blood and rather drains life force. Supposedly the life force draining 'vampires' have larger electromagnetic auras after a feeding than before and their victims show holes in their auras. Very odd, and a tad disturbing. (I can tell you right now, I would not want to be drained, no matter how sensual the experience.)

This isn't a so much a paranormal issue so much as a personal safety issue. Reliable research on this is a bit hard to come by. Most of my info comes from documentaries on Discovery and History Channel. Usually, vampire culture seems to be not only very goth but also super sexual. There also seem to be a lot of sharp, pointy objects involved.

So these vampires may talk about tolerance and such nice sounding things when they're interviewed, but I can't say I'd trust one. Maybe I'm being closed minded, but I can't say that the image of darkness and erotic display helps make them look any better.

What I don't know is if these vampires also participate in any spiritual activities. So far all my concerns about them are strictly physical. Rather odd, given the vampire's origins in myth and folklore. Do they have any occult or spiritual connections?

Mysteries always intrigue me. This one also disturbs and frightens me.

Halloween on the horizon

Halloween has a long history.

The word is a contraction of All Hallow's Eve. It's the day before All Saint's Day.

It also coincides closely to an ancient Celtic harvest festival, the name of which escapes me.

A lot of Celtic festivals and traditions made their way into Christian practice. Unlike southern Europe, where Christianity suffered persecution, the Celts for the most part welcomed the new religion and converts continued to see the old ways in a pleasant light. This was particularly true in the British Isles, most notably Ireland.

So it isn't any wonder that Halloween is still celebrated with some pagan trappings. Most of them are good fun. Dressing up in scary costumes is from the belief that the veil between this world and the spirit world is thinner at this time and that scary masks will frighten away evil spirits.

This evolved to become little kids asking for treats.

Jack-o-lanterns have a similar history to them.

Some traditions aren't so nice. Teens and others of immature mentality going around smashing pumpkins and tping peoples yards is on the mild end.

Satan worshipers often see Halloween as the antithesis of Christmas. Even those who aren't part of such a cult might dabble in occult practices at this time.

It may be in the name of fun and games, but Ouija boards are dangerous. Also avoid tarot cards and other forms of divination. Not because they don't work, but because they can.

You can't know what sort of spirit you're contacting, and the likelihood of contacting an unfriendly spirit is just too high. The risk isn't worth it.

So when you go to the party, stick to bobbing for apples and spin the bottle.

The unseen world

As the blog description says, ghosts really do exist. I was in my teens before I realized this and I've had a few possible near encounters since then.

I say possible because none of them are verified and were of such a vague nature that it is possible to explain them as something of a more physical nature.

That's the first thing I want to warn you about. Just because you heard a strange noise or felt a chill doesn't mean you have a ghost.

Keeping a cool head is extremely important, just in case the phenomenon isn't super natural.

And especially if the phenomenon **is** super natural.