I've caught an episode or two of Sci-Fi Channel's Ghost Hunters. It's pretty cool and they don't automatically assume that every little cold draft or odd reading is paranormal, which I appreciate.
But it does bring up a good question in my mind. More than one, actually. When do you call in a paranormal investigation team? And how do you pick a good one?
A very good question, and not as easy to answer as "where can I find a good plumber?" (Please pardon the thinly veiled Ben 10 reference.)
Well, I'd like to say that you should first see if they claim any affiliation with a church, but anyone can claim anything, especially on the net. Personally, I'd shy away from groups that use mediums or anyone who channels spirits. Channeling involves letting a spirit into your body and giving over some control to that spirit. The only kind of spirits I know about that are willing and able to do that sort of thing aren't the kind you want anywhere near your control circuits. If someone is willingly doing something like that then my first guess would be they're either faking or seriously deluded on the dangers they're in. Either way, I wouldn't trust them for accurate information.
A good indication that a group is worth looking into is if they recommend contacting a priest if the situation seems unmanageable. Of course, I'm Catholic, so I would find that a positive point.
As for when to start looking for a paranormal investigator, do you really think your house is haunted? There are some things you can look for yourself. Make sure you didn't just misplace your keys and that the kids aren't playing games with the furniture. Check for drafts. If the main symptom is noise in the walls make sure you don't have mice. Things like that. If you still can't find a natural explanation then you might want to call someone in to look for unnatural explanations.
And whatever you do, don't panic.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Piper of Duntrune
This story not only helped get me interested in the paranormal but also contains a little indirect family history. (The latter is probably part of the reason for the former.)
For a long time the castle of Duntrune was a Campbell stronghold. Probably not the branch of the Campbell clan I hail from, but Campbells nonetheless. Most likely this story involves the royal Argyll branch.
In any case, the Campbells and MacDonalds were at each other's throats as usual.
The story varies on how exactly the MacDonald piper became a prisoner of the Campbells. The way I heard it on the documentary was that the MacDonalds took the castle and left the piper there with a small garrison as the main force went on for more conquest. The Campbells came back, however, and took the piper prisoner.
The piper was still allowed relative freedom within the castle because of the status pipers carry. He took to pacing the battlements, wondering when he might do when his master returned.
Eventually, he saw his master's ship on the horizon, and not knowing what else to do he took up his pipes to play.
His master heard the song wafting over the waves and thought at first that his piper was playing to welcome him home. Then the song began to change and he realized the song was a warning to turn back.
Unfortunately, the Campbells realized this too and seized the piper. As punishment they cut off his hands and let him bleed to death. Then they buried him under the cobblestones of the courtyard.
The other version of the tale can be found at Ghosts and Paranormal UK. Here the piper is a spy that is discovered and imprisoned in a tower. Again he sees his master approaching and plays a tune saving his master but costing him his life.
Personally, I prefer the first version.
The ghost is still around even though the body has been found and given a proper grave.
The story was thought to be entirely made up until the renovations unearthed a skeleton without hands under the cobblestones.
There's no explanation for why the activity is still going on. Perhaps because the hands haven't been found. Maybe because he was given a Protestant burial instead of Catholic, since as a MacDonald he would have been a Catholic. No idea.
And what activities are there? Ghostly pipe music, moving furniture, clocks stopping (at the time of his death? I've never heard if there's a particular time when the clocks stop), and sometimes people see a man standing on the battlements of the castle holding a set of bagpipes.
And it was just such a touching story of loyalty. I pray that his soul finds rest.
For a long time the castle of Duntrune was a Campbell stronghold. Probably not the branch of the Campbell clan I hail from, but Campbells nonetheless. Most likely this story involves the royal Argyll branch.
In any case, the Campbells and MacDonalds were at each other's throats as usual.
The story varies on how exactly the MacDonald piper became a prisoner of the Campbells. The way I heard it on the documentary was that the MacDonalds took the castle and left the piper there with a small garrison as the main force went on for more conquest. The Campbells came back, however, and took the piper prisoner.
The piper was still allowed relative freedom within the castle because of the status pipers carry. He took to pacing the battlements, wondering when he might do when his master returned.
Eventually, he saw his master's ship on the horizon, and not knowing what else to do he took up his pipes to play.
His master heard the song wafting over the waves and thought at first that his piper was playing to welcome him home. Then the song began to change and he realized the song was a warning to turn back.
Unfortunately, the Campbells realized this too and seized the piper. As punishment they cut off his hands and let him bleed to death. Then they buried him under the cobblestones of the courtyard.
The other version of the tale can be found at Ghosts and Paranormal UK. Here the piper is a spy that is discovered and imprisoned in a tower. Again he sees his master approaching and plays a tune saving his master but costing him his life.
Personally, I prefer the first version.
The ghost is still around even though the body has been found and given a proper grave.
The story was thought to be entirely made up until the renovations unearthed a skeleton without hands under the cobblestones.
There's no explanation for why the activity is still going on. Perhaps because the hands haven't been found. Maybe because he was given a Protestant burial instead of Catholic, since as a MacDonald he would have been a Catholic. No idea.
And what activities are there? Ghostly pipe music, moving furniture, clocks stopping (at the time of his death? I've never heard if there's a particular time when the clocks stop), and sometimes people see a man standing on the battlements of the castle holding a set of bagpipes.
And it was just such a touching story of loyalty. I pray that his soul finds rest.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Animal Ghosts?
It's a popular plot device in fiction, certainly, from the 'rationally' explainable Hound of the Baskervilles to the somewhat New Age movie Ghost Cat.
And people in real life have claimed to have encounters with ghostly animals. Some may have no close connection to the storyteller, such as those who say that they've seen the ghost of England's last bear near Verdley Castle. Others have closer connects, such as those who say they've been visited by a much beloved pet.
This all makes for wonderful storytelling, but to me the veracity is suspect. For one thing, I'm Catholic and Catholic teaching is that animals do not have immortal souls. It is the immortal soul that is a ghost. Of the known creatures with a physical existence only humans have this.
Animals do have a spirit, but it is a temporal spirit that ceases to exist once the animal dies.
That isn't to say that something like an animal ghost couldn't exist, but it would probably be accompanied by human 'ghosts'.
What I'm referring to is emotional imprinting on an area. This is a phenomenon where there are such strong, violent emotions involved that what might be a called a recording of the event is left behind. If animals are involved then it seems reasonable to conclude that the image of the animals would be left as well.
These are not actual ghosts, however. Only images of an event. They can not interact and the sequence does not change.
And people in real life have claimed to have encounters with ghostly animals. Some may have no close connection to the storyteller, such as those who say that they've seen the ghost of England's last bear near Verdley Castle. Others have closer connects, such as those who say they've been visited by a much beloved pet.
This all makes for wonderful storytelling, but to me the veracity is suspect. For one thing, I'm Catholic and Catholic teaching is that animals do not have immortal souls. It is the immortal soul that is a ghost. Of the known creatures with a physical existence only humans have this.
Animals do have a spirit, but it is a temporal spirit that ceases to exist once the animal dies.
That isn't to say that something like an animal ghost couldn't exist, but it would probably be accompanied by human 'ghosts'.
What I'm referring to is emotional imprinting on an area. This is a phenomenon where there are such strong, violent emotions involved that what might be a called a recording of the event is left behind. If animals are involved then it seems reasonable to conclude that the image of the animals would be left as well.
These are not actual ghosts, however. Only images of an event. They can not interact and the sequence does not change.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Dowsing Rods: Defined
Enter "dowsing rods" into Google and you get a wide variety of results. The same is true for the alternate spelling "dousing rods". They are also sometimes called "divining rods" a term I object to except in for one of the definitions.
First I should probably describe what a dowsing rod looks like. There are a few varieties.
The first one that I'll describe is the one I'm most familiar with and I think the one least prone to human error and/or faking.
(This image is taken from "The Rock Town Weekly.")
This is one way to hold a dowsing rod when dowsing for water, oil, or minerals. There are other, more awkward, ways to hold it to further insure that the user can't manipulate the rod himself.
Usually the objective is the find water, thus the name "water witching." I think the 'witching' part has more to do with witch hazel being the traditional wood used rather than any association with actual witches.
It must be made clear that I do not consider this variety of dowsing to be supernatural in nature. It has been given supernatural overtones, however, by the use of prayers to 'influence' the actions of the rods and other rituals. This is a grave error and is why, I think, most Catholic resources put together by the laity say that dowsing rods should not be used.
Also, though it has been used for such, do not use a dowsing rod of any variety to look for lost objects. The traditional use of a dowsing rod is searching out the geological location of water, oil, or minerals. Just being lost doesn't make an item unique enough to trigger any sort of reaction by a non-intelligent object and therefore any reactions that do occur should be suspect!
There, I used an exclamation mark. It's a very important point and I think it deserves the emphasis.
(This image is from "UK Skeptics.">
This is probably the most popular type of dowsing rod and is used not only for water witching but also the detection and communication with spirits. They are often sold along side pendulums of various mysterious shapes and may come with books on the paranormal and spirit communication. The idea is that they will cross, like in the picture, when near a supernatural 'entity.' In communication with such entities the position of the rods indicates either a 'yes' or 'no' answer. The user often states which position is which before asking the question.
What they actually are is a pair of metal (usually brass) rods bent in the shape of an L. The short bit, which is grasped, may of may not have comfortable wood handle covers.
Assuming, as most ghost hunters do, that spirits and other paranormal phenomena are accompanied by strong elector-magnetic fields, the copper rods actually makes some sense. Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, and copper is, after all, used in electrical wiring. Depending on the proportion of copper (and perhaps the addition of silver) used, brass can be an excellent conductor of electricity. It also indicated to me that having something other than wood between these electrical conduits and your bare skin might be a good idea. (Rubber gloves come to mind.)
Then groups go and say you can make your own rods out of old coat hangers. *sigh* I guess their brand of spiritualism is more important than believability.
I would be most interested in seeing how a professionally made set of dowsing rods react to a known electro-magnetic field. If anyone is willing to spend the time and money to find out, let me know the results.
*Never* under *any* circumstances use this to contact or otherwise interact with ghosts! It is a really, really stupid idea and one that I covered in Opening the Gate: The Dangers of Divination.
Not only that, but if you happen to be Catholic it breaks standing Church rules. I haven't been able to find details from an official source, but it seems that except in the case of water witching (and then only if no supernatural forces are called upon) use of dowsing rods is forbidden. If that is the official stance I can't say for certain. The word dowsing does not appear anywhere on the official Vatican site.*
* Yes, the Vatican has a web site. *Everyone* is on the web!
First I should probably describe what a dowsing rod looks like. There are a few varieties.
The first one that I'll describe is the one I'm most familiar with and I think the one least prone to human error and/or faking.
(This image is taken from "The Rock Town Weekly.")This is one way to hold a dowsing rod when dowsing for water, oil, or minerals. There are other, more awkward, ways to hold it to further insure that the user can't manipulate the rod himself.
Usually the objective is the find water, thus the name "water witching." I think the 'witching' part has more to do with witch hazel being the traditional wood used rather than any association with actual witches.
It must be made clear that I do not consider this variety of dowsing to be supernatural in nature. It has been given supernatural overtones, however, by the use of prayers to 'influence' the actions of the rods and other rituals. This is a grave error and is why, I think, most Catholic resources put together by the laity say that dowsing rods should not be used.
Also, though it has been used for such, do not use a dowsing rod of any variety to look for lost objects. The traditional use of a dowsing rod is searching out the geological location of water, oil, or minerals. Just being lost doesn't make an item unique enough to trigger any sort of reaction by a non-intelligent object and therefore any reactions that do occur should be suspect!
There, I used an exclamation mark. It's a very important point and I think it deserves the emphasis.
(This image is from "UK Skeptics.">This is probably the most popular type of dowsing rod and is used not only for water witching but also the detection and communication with spirits. They are often sold along side pendulums of various mysterious shapes and may come with books on the paranormal and spirit communication. The idea is that they will cross, like in the picture, when near a supernatural 'entity.' In communication with such entities the position of the rods indicates either a 'yes' or 'no' answer. The user often states which position is which before asking the question.
What they actually are is a pair of metal (usually brass) rods bent in the shape of an L. The short bit, which is grasped, may of may not have comfortable wood handle covers.
Assuming, as most ghost hunters do, that spirits and other paranormal phenomena are accompanied by strong elector-magnetic fields, the copper rods actually makes some sense. Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, and copper is, after all, used in electrical wiring. Depending on the proportion of copper (and perhaps the addition of silver) used, brass can be an excellent conductor of electricity. It also indicated to me that having something other than wood between these electrical conduits and your bare skin might be a good idea. (Rubber gloves come to mind.)
Then groups go and say you can make your own rods out of old coat hangers. *sigh* I guess their brand of spiritualism is more important than believability.
I would be most interested in seeing how a professionally made set of dowsing rods react to a known electro-magnetic field. If anyone is willing to spend the time and money to find out, let me know the results.
*Never* under *any* circumstances use this to contact or otherwise interact with ghosts! It is a really, really stupid idea and one that I covered in Opening the Gate: The Dangers of Divination.
Not only that, but if you happen to be Catholic it breaks standing Church rules. I haven't been able to find details from an official source, but it seems that except in the case of water witching (and then only if no supernatural forces are called upon) use of dowsing rods is forbidden. If that is the official stance I can't say for certain. The word dowsing does not appear anywhere on the official Vatican site.*
* Yes, the Vatican has a web site. *Everyone* is on the web!
Friday, January 11, 2008
Visits from Relatives
I think most people with an interest in the preternatural have heard of relatives returning from the grave to give some comforting messages to those left behind. Some are credible, others... not so much. I dunno, usually when I hear about this sort of thing it brings to mind some New Age strangeness.
But it does happen, nonetheless.
There's one story about a British Naval officer who was seen by guests at a party held at his house. These guests expressed surprise to his wife, since they were under the impression that he was still on tour. His wife assured them they must be mistaken, his ship was in the middle of the Atlantic.
What she didn't know was at that very moment his ship was on it's way to the bottom of the ocean.
Personally, I haven't had a dead relative actually visit. A Great-Great Aunt (or something along those lines) did have a premonition that a younger relative and mother of small children had just died. So when the father came to fetch her to help him take care of the kids she was already packed and waiting on the porch for him.
A friend of mine had a much more detailed encounter with a recently dead relative, and a much more poignant one. It's a very good read. He posted the story as a comment on my Experience Talks post.
But it does happen, nonetheless.
There's one story about a British Naval officer who was seen by guests at a party held at his house. These guests expressed surprise to his wife, since they were under the impression that he was still on tour. His wife assured them they must be mistaken, his ship was in the middle of the Atlantic.
What she didn't know was at that very moment his ship was on it's way to the bottom of the ocean.
Personally, I haven't had a dead relative actually visit. A Great-Great Aunt (or something along those lines) did have a premonition that a younger relative and mother of small children had just died. So when the father came to fetch her to help him take care of the kids she was already packed and waiting on the porch for him.
A friend of mine had a much more detailed encounter with a recently dead relative, and a much more poignant one. It's a very good read. He posted the story as a comment on my Experience Talks post.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Not all things creepy are supernatural: Ghost photos
One of the great mainstays of paranormal research, serious and otherwise, is the ghost caught on film. Usually that film is a set of still images showing a vague, misty shape, like a blob. Some are more spectacular. And much more scary.
There's a Video on YouTube that sets a slide show of such photos to appropriately creepy music.
But are they real? Any of them? I really can't say, though I would have to say that there's a pretty good chance that at least some of them are fake. (I'd even be willing to bet a few cents that most are.)
The thing is that ghost photos are very easy to fake. Particularly for an online audience. There's even a website on How to make a fake ghost photo.
It's really very complete, including such classics as cellophane over the lens and more high-tech Photoshop techniques.
The one they don't cover is the double exposure. This is great at getting ghostly effects, and I suspect the source of a lot of the photos in the above slide show.
There's a Video on YouTube that sets a slide show of such photos to appropriately creepy music.
But are they real? Any of them? I really can't say, though I would have to say that there's a pretty good chance that at least some of them are fake. (I'd even be willing to bet a few cents that most are.)
The thing is that ghost photos are very easy to fake. Particularly for an online audience. There's even a website on How to make a fake ghost photo.
It's really very complete, including such classics as cellophane over the lens and more high-tech Photoshop techniques.
The one they don't cover is the double exposure. This is great at getting ghostly effects, and I suspect the source of a lot of the photos in the above slide show.
Friday, December 28, 2007
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.
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.
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