San Diego, California
TYPES OF
HAUNTINGS
FEAR VS. REALITY
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The Paranormal exists, but not as most people have been led to think. There is a LOT of misinformation, exaggerated story telling, and fake evidence being passed off as real. Why is there so much fear, animosity, and misinformation? Who is to blame? Sadly, it's the Entertainment Business. They have done such a good job in creating the stuff of nightmares that people actually believe that that is how it is in reality, that's just not how it works. Things you see on TV and in movies are fictional creations designed to scare you. They are not real, nor are they accurate depictions of hauntings, ghosts, or other entities. Named entities such as "Slenderman", or "The Hat Man" are also works of fiction in the form of urban legends.
For example, there are two types of hauntings that are incredibly rare, and yet they are portrayed as frequent and common. These are the terms "Poltergeist" and "Demon". Despite being depicted as a dime a dozen, many paranormal investigators can go their entire careers without encountering them in a real-life situation.
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There are also a number of camera phenomena that occur that people assume are paranormal because they don't understand how they happen.
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TYPES OF HAUNTINGS
RESIDUAL SPIRITS
The bottom rung of the "Paranormal Ladder", as I like to call it. Residual Spirits are less spirity, and more trapped energy that replays itself over and over and over again like a recording. These could be visual, but they can also be auditory or olfactible. Meaning sight, sound, and smell. This is the kind of activity that sounds like footsteps in the hall, or cannon fire on an old battlefield. Or maybe a child's laugh, or a voice singing. On the visual end, you may see a mist-like figure descending the stairs or floating through a wall where there used to be a door. You may smell perfume or old cigars. This kind of "spirit" has no way of interacting with you. It cannot harm you, it cannot respond, there is no intelligence. This is also one of the more frequent types of activity. Alarm Factor: 0-3
INTELLIGENT SPIRITS
The next step up is the most common spirit, the Intelligent! These are the ones that have the ability to communicate with you, and can do so in many different ways! From being able to produce cold spots, to manipulating electronic equipment (i.e. flickering lights or draining batteries). They can occasional move objects or produce voice phenomenon - which you can hear with your own ears without the help of a recording, and of course EVP. They are the ones that can answer yes or no questions by manipulating our equipment. Given that they have enough energy to do so, they may reach out and touch somebody!
Most of these spirits know their situation and are just trying to communicate with you. Some don't know they are dead. You got your Wanderers, your Haunters, your Jokers, and your Bullies. Wanderers are spirits that go where they please. Haunters usually stay in one place. Jokers know they are ghosts and stick around just to tease the living. (thanks Grandpa) Then . . . there are what I call the Bullies. These were usually bad people in life, abusers, murders and the like. Unfortunately, the angrier they are the more they are able to manipulate. Alarm Factor: 1-5
POLTERGEISTS
Even though 'Poltergeist' is German for 'noisy ghost', believe it or not, they are not even ghosts! Neither are they demons. And no, the two terms are not interchangeable either. True cases are EXTREMELY RARE, and not a dime a dozen like you see on TV.
Poltergeists are manifestations of emotion that usually stem from prepubescent children, all the way up to teenagers. Some adult cases have been documented, but again, they are extremely rare. So what do they do? Like the name suggests, they are noisy! Objects may move or even go for a short flight across the room, cabinets and drawers may open, lights may flicker (or burst). Think of it as a child throwing a temper tantrum. As scary as it may seem, the solution to fixing the problem is up to you! Talk to the kids in the household. Make sure that they are alright. Broken homes, abuse, neglect, bullying, constant change, stress, or just plain ol' puberty could be factors in the appearance of your Poltergeist. If there are no kids in the house, then it's probably not a Poltergeist. Alarm Factor: 3-5
SHADOW PEOPLE
These are not the giant "black masses" that you hear tales of, but rather child-size humanoid shadows (about 3-5 feet tall). Also known as the "Curious Observers". You may see them peeking around corners or doorways, or at the foot of the bed, or running across hallways. They prefer to stay just at the edge of your peripheral vision as to not been seen. Not a lot is known about them, to be honest. A popular theory states that Shadow People may be visitors from another dimension. They are completely benign as they seem to do nothing but watch, and if they perceive that they've been spotted, they will run away! One thing is for certain, wherever ghosts are, they seem to gather. So if you see one in your house, it's probably fine. If you see multiple Shadow People in your house, you might want to get your house smudged.
Alarm Factor: 0-3
INHUMAN - AKA "DEMONIC"
Okay, Okay, Okay. Before anyone goes making the sign of the cross, or dousing themselves with Holy Water, let's get one thing straight. Those which are popularly called 'demons' have less to do with religion than you may think. They are a type of intelligent being that has never walked in human form. These beings feed off of human emotions. Meaning they will do whatever they can to illicit an emotional response from you and since fear is the most powerful emotion, that's what they go for. Growling, banging, terror-inducing manifestation (a.k.a taking on scary forms), whispers, laughing, shaking the bed . . . whatever they think will get the job done! They can even induce smells and visions like blood dripping walls and such. They can even physically touch, and in some cases harm you. Here's what you can do in this situation.
#1. #2. Call for help! And no I don't mean call the Catholic Church and ask for an Exorcist. I
mean call someone who knows how to PROPERLY Cleanse houses. Just lighting some sage and waving it around in each room is not a proper smudging. There's a whole thing to it. And doing it improperly will only serve to make it angry. Luckily, true "demonic" activity is even more rare than Poltergeist activity. I know TV shows and Movies like to portray that they are everywhere and as common as grasshoppers in a yard. But it's simply not true. A lot of perfectly 'normal-paranormal' activity gets prematurely slapped with a 'demon' label and that is just spreading the fear and misinformation.
Okay, let's talk about the religious implications here. The reason that ''demons'' primarily attack religious families or individuals is because they are predisposed to believe in and fear them. The stronger the fear of them, the more likely they will be attracted to you. Alarm Factor: 5-10 *Do NOT attempt to deal with this alone.
