How To Hire a Medium or Psychic

Last night, you had nightmares; terrible nightmares that left you shaking.  But that is hardly the beginning or the end of the story.  Recently, you've been seeing things.  At first, it was hard to admit, even to yourself, but things kept on happening.  You used to look forward to coming home from work, but now home feels strange.  It feels unsafe.  There are unexplained knocks and scratching sounds.  Until yesterday, you felt you could handle all that.  But yesterday was when the shadows began to move.

You haven't shared this with anyone, but you know you're not alone.  It took some time, but your family has also mentioned a strange thing or two.  That was why you started watching ghost shows.  Initially, you just tuned in because there was nothing else on.  But the stories were eerily familiar.  You even started recording your favorites.  And, when the experts talked about solutions at the end of the show, you paid attention.  Somewhere in the back of your mind, you wondered if you should try some of those remedies.  It couldn't hurt, right?

Yeah, not so much.  Playing around with a haunting can have disastrous results.  It's kinda like walking into a chemistry lab and blindly mixing stuff together.  How surprised can you really be when those beakers begin frothing and bubbling over? Here's a trusty adage: when darkness begins to manifest itself in tangible ways, it is better to tread softly and carry a big stick of sage.

Not that you are certain that what is going on is a haunting.  But, whatever it is, it must stop.  Today, you checked the local listings for psychics and mediums in your area.  You also noticed that there are several paranormal investigation groups within driving distance.  Now, you just have to wrap your mind around the idea of making the call.  But you're not too worried.  You might be crazy, but they advertise it.  

The only thing slowing you down is a sense of uncertainty about what you might be getting into.  You don't want a bunch of lunatics coming to your place and casing the joint.  You are a little worried that the solution might be worse than the original problem.  And that's a valid fear.  It's important to know what to look for and what to expect.  If you call a dozen mediums or psychics, you will be lucky to find one who can really help.  

Unfortunately, the world is full of charlatans.  I suppose there's always a market for b.s. and handholding, but the real work is no barrel of monkeys.  True mediums and psychics can no more move about unseen to haunting entities than most celebrities can go unnoticed at a local convenience store. When you enlist the aid of a medium or psychic, symptoms of a haunting will immediately ramp up.  Haunting entities will see this action as a threat, so they will try to scare you even more.  In my opinion, this is still preferable to contacting most paranormal investigation groups.  By virtue of numbers alone, one lousy medium will generally do less damage than a group of people armed with digital camcorders and thermal sensors.

But how will you know if the person who shows up at your door is the real deal or a phony? My advice is to be open with that person about what has been going on and allow them to walk the property.  After that, in most cases, their instructions should be simple.  Cleaning and purification are terms you would do well to listen for.  They should be mentioned early and often, along with specific directions about areas that need attention.  

My personal pet peeve is ceiling fans.  For reasons that defy comprehension, people who have trouble with hauntings refuse to run their ceiling fans.  Hopefully, the person you call will note this and advise you to turn them on low and keep them running.  Air movement disperses negative energy.  It makes it harder for haunting entities to manifest.  In this game, it is the small things that make all the difference.

The person you call should also make themselves available to monitor your progress.  It takes time to neutralize a haunting.  The worse the haunting, the longer it can take.  If your home was once a good and safe place, you may have to fight for it to be that way again.  And you need someone who will support you in that struggle.  What you do not need is someone who shows up and encourages you to communicate, in any way, with the haunting entities.

If a medium or psychic advises you to participate in a Ouija board session or a seance, politely decline and show them the door.  Dollars to donuts, that particular person is using you as an excuse to talk to the other side for their own reasons.  A homeowner should never participate in any activity where a medium is communicating with haunting entities.  

A medium or psychic should also not try to guess the names of haunting entities.  That said...oh wait, I'm getting a strong 'p' vibration.  What could it mean? All I can think is: 'p' is for phony and that's good enough for me.  This is a low-rent trick, but you are actually better off if they get it wrong.  Naming ghosts is bad business.  The last thing any medium or psychic should want is for you to reinforce an ad hoc, signifier/ signified relationship with the haunting entities.  It is like rolling out the welcome mat.  Good luck telling the spirits to get gone after that!

On the flip side, the whole reason for most paranormal investigation groups is to try and prove the existence of haunting entities.  If they show up at your house, it will usually be with the intention of stirring the pot.  They want verifiable results, end of story.  Sometimes they may offer help or bring along a psychic, but don't count on it.  

There is one thing I like about these groups.  Usually, they will not include the homeowner in their investigation.  I suspect it's because they don't want anyone to interfere with their findings, but a positive is a positive.  Personally, I think it is dangerous to try and communicate with ghosts via electronic devices.  Is it not enough to stand at the edge of the vortex and stare into the darkness? I do not know why anyone would want to record what the vortex has to say.

In all honesty, it is difficult to find an authentic medium or psychic.  They are rare by nature.  Also, their job is getting harder.  I am sorry to say that hauntings are getting worse.  And serious hauntings are becoming more common.  It is a sad state of affairs.  

Ghosts are everywhere.  They always have been.  The fact that ghosts exist is not really the problem.  I will even go so far as to say that the presence of ghosts or residuals in your general vicinity does not always mean you have a haunting.  Hauntings are defined by their impact on the living (or, really, how out of hand things get before someone does something about it).  Only one thing is for sure though:

It all starts with blood in the water...

Signs of a Haunting

OK, let's get down to the nitty gritty.  How do you know if you have a haunting? Sure, there are weird things going on, but you don't believe in ghosts, right? Still, something's got you spooked.  If you don't get some answers soon, you might slip up and start telling people about the shadowy figures in your home.  And that would be a mistake.  They'd think you were crazy.  So enough proselytizing about ghost theories.  You're a busy bee.  You've already wasted enough energy keeping one eye open when you go to bed.  You need answers.  You need facts.  You need a good night's sleep.  Well, I can't help you with any of those things.  But maybe I can help by scaring you even more...

How often do you experience dejavu? Often, sometimes, not often at all? I hope the answer is not often at all.  That's the best answer.  Sometimes is pretty normal.  If you often experience dejavu, you have my sympathies.  Dejavu is disconcerting.  It feels as though the world has gone crooked on you.  What is dejavu anyway? Maybe it's a state of listless timeline interference.  That's my current theory.  Of course, I don't know for sure.  However, it does seem to correlate strongly with living in a haunted house.  

I know that hardly seems fair.  Dealing with things that go bump in the night is bad enough.  Unfortunately, living in a haunted house is not conducive to getting sufficient or restful sleep.  It causes people to spend their days in a state of disorganized exhaustion.  Dejavu seems to occur when the line between sleeping and waking is too often blurred.  The bad news is that if you don't get enough sleep, then frequent episodes of dejavu will probably be the least of your problems.  

Here's a fun fact: Ghosts are most often seen when someone is dozing off.  Why? I think it's because this is when ghosts get excited.  Bedtime is like an extended happy hour for haunting entities.  People are most vulnerable when they are asleep.  Scaring people before they go to bed is a great way to drain off energy.  

Simply put, the weaker we are, the easier it is to steal our energy.  Some haunting entities can even infiltrate our dreaming selves in an attempt to gain greater control.  Not surprisingly, frequent, recurring nightmares will often result.  In the worst case scenario, someone may begin sleepwalking.  Don't brush it off.  Sleepwalking is serious business.  It can be an audition for full possession.  But this is hardly the only sign worth noting.

Let's move right along.  Do you have trouble with the smoke detectors in your home? Do they go off randomly in the middle of the night? You replace the batteries.  It doesn't stop.  Then, you get frustrated and dismantle the darn thing.  Everyone knows this is a bad idea, but how else can you get a good night's sleep? 

Haunting entities love to play with smoke detectors.  If you have a bad haunting, anything is fair game, especially if it can be used to further unbalance the living persons in the house.  Problems with smoke detectors can indicate something pretty insidious.  Demons are most often associated with fire.  The sole purpose of demons may be to burn structures to the ground.  If the people inside go with it, so much the better.

Of course, there are many other signs.  Haunting entities are capable of wreaking all manner of havoc.  Do you feel apprehensive about spending time in your basement or attic? It's pretty common to feel this way.  Basements and attics are often the darkest, dirtiest, and most forbidding areas of a home.  If you have a haunting, the feelings may escalate from mild apprehension to a real sense of dread.  Usually, dread is accompanied by the feeling that you are being watched.

How awful is it to know something is wrong, but not know what to do about it? Maybe not even know if it is just your imagination? How exhausting is it to feel queasy about going to certain areas of your own home? When haunting entities are weak, they will begin to gain power by draining off energy from the environment.  Queasiness is a sign that this is going on.  When they are strong enough, then they will move on to living beings.  This is when someone may begin to feel genuinely threatened or afraid.  At this stage, unexplained noises will become more common and sightings may occur.  If you have pets, they might start acting strangely.

If your home is haunted, people will begin to avoid it.  People can sense when something is wrong.  Suddenly, your home will go from bustling to busted.  It is unfortunate because having people around will help to keep a haunting under control.  It is another danger sign, although it is not as immediately obvious.  Also, pets can help to illuminate a potential problem.  If your usually happy dog starts barking at nothing and acting fearful, it is worthwhile to pay attention.  Cats do not scare as easily.  But if your contented cat begins to bristle at corners and wants out of the house, then that could be a sign of real trouble brewing.

You may be wondering what are the signs that you have a more serious situation on your hands? Something more than run-of-the-mill residuals or ghosts? Two signs of a demonic haunting are smells and infestations.  No two ways about it, demons and dark things stink.  It is one of the first and most noticeable danger signs.  If there are unmistakably foul odors in your home that are unexplained, it is time to take notice.  I have heard it said (most notably in the movie 'Constantine') that the odors smell like sulfur.  Maybe, maybe not.  More often, these entities smell like s**t.

Another danger sign is infestations.  Dark things bring forth filth.  Do not ignore infestations.  It is not a sure sign of a bad haunting, but the two co-occur about 90-95% of the time.  Deal with them quickly and effectively.  If you can do so without poisoning the air in your home, then try that first.  But definitely rid your home of pests before they make you ill.

Any time there is a haunting, you will find that the environment within your home will change.  The air will become colder, sunlight will not penetrate as deeply, and your house may feel like it is always dirty, even after you finish cleaning.  If your home starts to feel foreign and dark, pay attention.  Infestations usually follow pretty quickly.  Luckily, there are simple things anyone can do to help themselves without stirring up real trouble.  The struggle is won when you take control where you can without making things worse.

More on that later...

What is a haunting?

Soothsay, you say? Well, OK.

Everyone experiences hauntings.  It does not matter whether they believe in ghosts or not.  How can this be? It hardly seems fair.  But it's true.  A lot of people seem to operate under the impression that there is a non-believer loophole: "I don't believe in ghosts ergo...I don't have to deal with hauntings."  

Hoodwink yourself if you like, but we are all haunted on a daily basis.  People who say they don't believe in hauntings might as well say they don't believe in regrets.  Actually, I have heard people say just that.  I used to be one of them.  It seemed like a good philosophy.  It's just a little unrealistic.  As long as there is regret, there are ghosts.  Everyone knows someone so weighed down by regret that they have become a ghost in their own life.  

People often conjure their own hauntings.  In this respect, hoarders are experts.  They prefer to live their lives surrounded by shades of the past.  Psychologist David Tolin, PhD, writes that 2-5% of the American population are hoarders*.  That may not sound like a lot, but it is enough for everyone to be affected by it.  This statistic means that everyone has a family member, neighbor, or acquaintance who is a hoarder.  

You may have no idea that someone you know is a hoarder unless you go inside their home.  Most hoarders keep their problem hidden from others.  Accessing their homes can be like trying to get into Fort Knox.  Often you will be met with an artillery assault of excuses and prevarications.  Gain entry and you will be left feeling as though you have entered a bizarre fugue state.  Prepare to be met with a cloistered, airless, and tangibly depressing state of affairs that will suck the air from your lungs and the will to live from your marrow.  As an added bonus, it will also likely be infested with all manner of blackness.  

The problem is that we all have this in us.  Our consumer culture, which so eloquently confuses wants and needs, also contributes.  At the heart of this problem is a refusal to let go.  If we cannot let go of what is broken, damaged, or no longer useful, then there is no room for anything new.  The future recedes and the past becomes all-encompassing.  Most hoarders will forgo making new memories to hold onto torn scraps from the past.  

I know it seems like I pick on hoarders.  But hoarding and hauntings go together like cheese and crackers. Unfortunately, the people who suffer the most are too often thrown away. They become just like the junk they believe is precious.  And that is wrong.  This compulsion is a silent killer.  It creates an insidious, property-value-diminishing void of darkness that affects more than just the hoarders.  I would dare anyone to walk through the cramped, chaotic, smelly rat tunnels of a bad hoarding and declare the area a 'haunting free zone.'  

Hoarding is a great way to generate hauntings.  If you spew enough despair into the environment, ghosts will make their presence known.  It is nearly impossible to neutralize a haunting from a property that has suffered a hoarder.  The walls might as well be painted with blood.  The stuff may go, but the ghosts remain.  Sometimes the home cannot be saved.  It takes a special piece of property to come back from this sort of trauma.  Most of the others fall into utter disrepair or ruin.

There are other times when we may encounter a haunting that we had nothing to do with creating.  Even if the environment supplies a ready-made haunting, it won't matter.  The results will be the same.  You will get stuck dealing with it.  Unfortunately, there is no Court of Paranormal Justice where you can go and claim that these ghosts are not your problem.  No spectral judge will sentence the ghosts to go and haunt the idiot who lived there before.  You know, the one who held seances every other Tuesday night and made do with a Ouija board the rest of the time.  Hopefully, you have read this blog and, at the very least, understand what not to do.  However, most people will do everything in their power to make the situation worse.   

Hauntings are tough to shake.  Ghosts are dead energy, unresolved from the past.  Energy can never be destroyed, but it can die.  It can also become stuck in its death state.  Positive energy disperses and regenerates.  It does not hang around, toiling with anger and regret for eternity.  This is why ghosts are portrayed with chains.  They do not show up to clean your house.  They hang around to rattle their chains.  And when they are done making noise, they get hungry.  

More on that later...

*webmd.com

Star and Circles

In honor of the XXII Olympic Winter Games, this post will be devoted to the history and symbolism involved in the Sochi Games.  So, enough claptrap about ghosts for now.  Let's talk Olympics...

Although the exact date of their inception is unknown, it is widely believed that the Olympic Games began in 776 B.C.  It may have been earlier, but that is when the records begin.  Upon completion of his twelve labors (or so the story goes), Hercules founded the Games.  The Games were originally held in Olympia, Greece, at the sanctuary of Zeus.  Hercules was the half-human child of Zeus, the father god.  He was also the god of sky and thunder.  Zeus, not known for his fidelity, had an eye for his great-granddaughter, Alcmene.  The beautiful Alcmene, unlike Zeus, was a model of fidelity.  However, tricky Zeus impregnated Alcmene by coming to her disguised as her husband, Amphitryon, who had foolishly left her alone while he was away at war *.

In theory, all hostilities between warring city-states were supposed to cease during the Games.  However, the ancient Greeks, just like their modern counterparts, did little more than give a nod to this ideal.  One aspect of the treaty that was upheld was the right of safe passage for travellers.  These pilgrims, making their way to the competitions, were believed to be protected by Zeus.  Therefore, their persons were held inviolate as they passed through hostile lands.

According to legend, it was Prometheus who formed mankind from a block of clay.  Later, his sympathy for the suffering of humankind led him to risk eternal damnation by stealing fire from the gods.  In the theater of the Caucasus, Zeus chained Prometheus to the rocky crags of Fisht Mountain.  Each day, a mighty eagle, the emblem of Zeus, tore out and ate the liver of Prometheus.  At night, the eagle, known as Suna, would retire to his giant nest as the liver of Prometheus regenerated by the light of the moon*. The dawn would greet Prometheus, newly made whole, so that he might endure being torn apart once again.  Aeons turned before Suna was killed and Prometheus was freed by Hercules.

This year, the stars aligned for the XXII Olympic Winter Games to be held in Sochi, Russia.  And how fitting that the flame should burn so bright in that setting.  Millenia ago, Alexander the Great travelled those same lands.  Sochi is a winter resort town snuggled against the foot of the Caucasus Mountains.  In that place, trees grow to be thousands of years old.  And new life was breathed into ancient creation myths.  

No one wins easy in a place so rich in beauty and ancient mysteries.  The ice was mean.  And the snow turned to slush rather than be molded into a usable half-pipe.  Sochi birthed monumental performances and spectacular falls.  The brilliant sunsnow of Rosa Khutor did not carry the competitors.  They had to fight for every inch.  In that place, glory had to be earned.  It proved my theory that every ounce of excellence comes with an equal measure of b.s.  

As the competitors converged on the banks of the Black Sea, the Year of the Horse lost no time making its entrance.  In the opening ceremonies, we were off to the races.  A troika of three lighted horses pulled a great ring of fire across the arena.  It was meant to signify the end of winter.  I hoped it meant the end of the stagnation we all endured during the Year of the Snake.  Anyway, it was appropriate for the Year of the Horse.  Horses like to make an entrance.  They are big, bold, and beautiful.  

Inside Fisht Olympic Stadium, the opening cremonies were a whimsical re-telling of times gone by interspersed with the avant garde finery of the modern age.  But, there was a glitch.   Five snowflakes were supposed to open into five interconnected rings, but the final one failed to open.  Welcome to the Year of the Horse.  Things may move fast, but we should definitely expect the unexpected.  To attain perfection maybe there should always be one small imperfection.  I don't know, but this one caught the world's attention.  It spoke volumes.  

    

The commentators dismissed it as "just one of those things that happens." But I didn't buy it.  This glitch had symbolic import.  Maybe that is why it stuck in the craw of the commentators.  I heard it mentioned several times.  What did it mean? Maybe nothing, maybe something.  Given the events that have taken place on the world stage during the course of the Games, it does seem to be a bit of an omen.

It bothered me.  Immediately, I knew how I would interpret the same spread if I saw it drawn from a deck of cards.  Circles are representative of the Sun.  Great achievements, cooperation, and blessings all flow from circles.  But four circles and a star? And a red star at that.  Red is strongly associated with fire, aggression, and lust for power.  

If it was a person sitting before me, this is what I would say: There is trouble brewing beneath the surface.  Something important is being withheld.  Has money gone missing? Hold on to your hat because an unpleasant change is coming.  Unity will most likely be sacrificed for personal gain.  It just goes to show that no matter how tightly you hold the cards to your chest, something can slip out.  

For all their fierce intensity and stylish execution, the Sochi Olympics seemed to suffer from a bad case of circlephobia.  The most obvious example would have to be the snowflake glitch in the opening ceremonies.  But what about the medals? The medals were beautifully rendered objets d' art.  They were also anything but traditional.  According to the official website*, "The sun's golden rays deflected (sic) through a prism of snowy mountain tops and the warm sea and frosty ice living side-by-side are embodied in the medals."  Stylish? Yes.  Sexy? Yes.  But circles? Definitely not.

If I had been awarded one, I would be like: Wow! This is beautiful, but where is the rest? Beautiful pieces of cut glass do not fetch the same price as gold (or silver or bronze).  Most Olympians are probably not worried about what their local hock shop will give them for their medals, but it's the principle of the thing. The medals were half-moons of diamond shaped glass contained within spheres of precious metals.  But they were not spheres complete unto themselves.  Personally, I think someone saved a buttload of money on the cost of their precious metals.   

In addition, the host country always offers a symbolic dove of peace during the Opening Ceremonies.  Or, in this case, a shuttlecock.  Maybe it was a jellyfish.  Honestly, I couldn't tell.  Don't get me wrong, the presentation was beautiful, but the lampshades with their dangly cords did not read as doves to me.  Perhaps I'm just nitpicking, but the dove of peace is important.  It hearkens back to the origin of the Games and the idea that the (Greek) world should take a break from war and come together in the spirit of peace and honest competition.  Oh well, it didn't work then and we still can't get our collective minds around this idea.  However, if you're going to honor the tradition, then it's important to not take so much artistic license that the intended meaning is lost.

I have an idea.  Why not just release some doves into the stadium? I guarantee it would be cheaper than creating dancing jellyfish.  So what if someone gets pooped on? It's good luck.  And we could all stand to stop taking ourselves so damn seriously.  I think anyone who got pooped on by a dove of peace should get an honorary free pass to the events.  Or maybe get their rooms comped.  Now that would be some good fortune!

*wikipedia.org

*The liver is the only major human organ which has the capacity to significantly regenerate itself.

*Sochi2014.com

Angels and Demons

ii. of ii.

It's worthwhile to understand the nature of angels and demons, their similarities and differences.  Just as there is a hierarchy among angels, the same is true of demons.  Most of the lower orders are not named.  This is especially true when speaking of dark entities.  The higher orders of both, archangels and devils, are transcendent and very powerful.  The movie, Constantine, has the best portrayals of archangels and devils that I've ever seen.  It gave me chills.

Angels are misunderstood.  They are not fairies.  They may be altruistic, but they are also temperamental.  Altogether, angels have gotten a bad rap.  No one takes them seriously.  People think they're cartoon characters, but there's much more to them.  They are potent forces of alchemy.  Constantine did a great job of explaining how angels and demons work on the physical plane.  They are influence peddlers.  Humans are a means to an end.  It is possible for both angels and demons to take people over to serve their purposes (just not at the same time).

Although angels are good, intentionally calling them is a little like playing Russian roulette.  Not a good idea unless you know what you're doing or your need is great.  Once they (angels or demons) are more than peripherally aware of you, there is no going back.  I liked that this was one of the central themes of the movie.

There are far more darklings than angels.  Light is more powerful, but darkness is more pervasive.  Angels, by their nature, are ephemeral.  They flit in and out.  They are here, there, and everywhere.  They are too busy to stay in one place for long.  Demons, on the other hand, are much more monogamous.  They find a person or place and there they stay, sewing discord, until the structure burns to the ground.  Then, they will move on and start again.  

Despite being genderless, we tend to identify demons as male.  Angels, although neuter, tend to exhibit both feminine and masculine attributes, often at the same time.  It is uncommon to see an angel, but it does happen.  No special giftedness is required.  Sometimes, angels choose to be seen.  Many times they will take the form of a stranger.  This stranger will impart a message of some import to the reciever.  Belief can come before, but after is more common.  However, it is a mixed blessing.  Seeing an angel generally means that there is real trouble afoot.  The kind that can swindle your soul.  We cannot see white blood cells, but we know they are there to protect us.  It is the same with angels.

Demons are not commonly seen.  This is not a mixed blessing; it is just a blessing.  We see the tracks of demons in the destruction they leave in their wake.  They are not particularly subtle.  A person must possess strong spiritual gifts to see these denizens of darkness.  They do not often slip up and reveal themselves.  Their job is to make you afraid.  Madness is the most common symptom of a demonic haunting.  And it can strike anyone.

Recently, a woman drove her car into the ocean.  She was not alone; she also had her three children with her.  They barely escaped with their lives.  Why did she do it? She said it was because there were demons in her home.  In a desperate bid for escape, she loaded up the kids and took off.  Then, some strange impulse told her to drive into the ocean.  And she did it.  The investigators said that her demeanor was unusual, distant and affected.  Demons are whisperers.  They are hiders.  They are stalkers.  Worst of all, they are patient.  

In effect, this mother attempted the triple homicide of her children.  Something went terribly wrong.  I don't know if it was organic or spiritual.  In a way, it doesn't matter, the result was the same.  The damage is done.  Everyone survived, but life will never be the same.  I bet she will be run through every series of psychological tests known to man.  But I doubt anyone will show up to investigate her claims of a demonic haunting.

These days, we are spoiled.  We have forgotten how to protect ourselves.  Consequences carry no weight.  They are practically relics of a time gone by.   We rely too heavily on technology to educate, distract, and entertain us.  And it is a great thing, but it is not all things.  When the shadows begin to growl, there is no app for an exorcism. 

Peace is every step - Thanh Nhat Hanh

Happy...

NEW YEAR OF THE HORSE!

The Year of the Snake is finally over.  And I couldn't be happier.  Snake years are important, but hard.  They are characterized by secrecy and karmic comeuppance.  Snakes are sneaky.  I don't know anyone who escaped being bitten by tragedy this year.  

Time worked funny too.  It seemed to rush by in slow motion.  Problems mounted and resolution was hard to come by.  Snake years can be a ruthless and dogged struggle.  Special opportunities can appear, but patience and shrewd attention to detail are required to make anything happen.  People born under this sign tend to be good with money.  And Snake years can be financially prosperous, but it will probably come at a cost.

Luckily, we can finally bid adieu to the Snake.  It will be another 12 years before we are again locked in his coils.  Give yourself a pat on the back for surviving a relentless year.

I welcome the Year of the Horse with open arms.  Horse years are about determination, action, and forthright communication.  Hang on to your hat because there will be no time to waste.  The year of slogging through the muck on your belly is over.  It is time to grab the reins and gallop into the future.  Just be careful not to get trampled.

Gung hay fat choy!

(May prosperity be with you!)

The Devil Made Me Do It

i. of ii.

This is probably the oldest excuse in the book.  For centuries, millenia even, people have claimed that evil spirits were really at fault for their own wrongdoing.  But can this ever be true? Is there a devil? And, if so, can he intercede directly into human affairs?

No one argues that good and evil exist.  We really just argue about what form they take.  It could be said that God is creation and Satan is destruction.  Humans embody both, since we also have the power to create or destroy.  In the Bible, it says, "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him" (Genesis 1:27).  Thus, it is within our power to create heaven or hell on earth.

In all of creation, we alone were given the power to name and be named.  However, omniscience and immortality were not part of the bargain.  William E. Channing said, "Absolute power was not meant for man." In our race to obtain dominion over the planet, we have been tempted to forget the tenuous nature of our mortal existence.  We will always be plagued by the minions of death, whether they come in the form of sickness or worse.

A long time ago, someone told me a very strange tale.  It was about the Vatican.  Everyone knows about the wealth of the Church.  I have seen it with my own eyes.  Corridors that seem to stretch for miles are filled with stock piles of rubies, pearls, and sapphires.  Most of these gems were big as robin's eggs.  It was breathtaking.  And I'm not even mentioning the exquisite furs and plush velvet robes.  All I could think was: if this is what is available for public display (albeit under five inches of glass), what might be hidden away? What must the secret vaults contain?

According to legend, there is a secret room hidden deep within the ancient walls.  Supposedly, this is the room that the Swiss guards are really there to protect.  The jewels are just for show.  What is in this room? Some speculate that it is a book.  Others whisper that it is something else entirely. 

It is also said that upon his coronation, every new pope is taken to a room and there he learns how the world will end.  Is it the same room? It would seem to follow that it is.  But can such fanciful tales ever be true? Or do these stories serve only to perpetuate the mystique and grandeur of the Catholic faith? I guess we'll never know.  

Personally, I like that the Church has these secrets and mysteries.  It is a reminder that we are not meant to know everything.  However, I do know one thing.  The Church believes in demonic possession.  So much so that it has developed highly effective methods to deal with it.  The Catholic Church has been training its clerics to perform exorcisms for hundreds of years.  

One of the reasons that priests are uniquely qualified to perform exorcisms is because of their vow of celibacy.  Over the course of history, many religions required that their practitioners be celibate.  Why? It is important to be a pure vessel to channel nature or connect with the other realm.  It is a calling that requires great sacrifice.  It is not for the faint of heart.

Recently, Paranormal Witness aired an episode called "The Exorcist."  It followed the story of Father Vince Lampert and how he became one of the preeminent exorcists in the United States.  During the course of the episode, the showrunners made a dangerous error.  They chose to broadcast the proper names of several demons.  I will not repeat them here.  Be it upon your head if you hunt this stuff down.

I do not know of a field of study that is more dangerous than demonology.  Demons imperil the soul.  An exorcist must possess nerves of steel.  He must also be steadfast, brave, and spiritually gifted.  It's a one-in-a-million sort of formula.  Father Lampert fits this bill.  Apparently, he is continually besieged by requests for exorcisms.  But he is only one man.  We all need to exercise vigilance over our own souls.  There are far more demons than exorcists.

The movie, Paranormal Activity, did a good job of illustrating a demonic haunting.  It was a bit over-the-top and extreme, but you got the idea.  I was surprised to see that they got the footprints right.  Not something you ever want to see, but they did a good job.  One thing I did not agree with was the psychic who advised the victims to stay in the house.  He made the case that the entity was too powerful to run away from.  Well, yes and no.  I realize that the victims had to remain in the house to serve the purposes of the film, but bad advice is still bad advice.

Unfortunately, there are few sources of accurate information about how to deal with an extreme haunting, so I want to set the record straight.  My advice is to get out.  Get to where people are.  It is true that a powerful entity might follow, but you will buy yourself time.  The entity will have to expend energy to re-assert dominance in a new location.  And demons are lazy, so give yourself a fighting chance.

It is sad to say, but some people are marked.  By heredity or weakness or vice they are marked.  Secrets can be powerful enough to evoke the darkness.  Then there are those who choose to invoke it.  Not knowing the traffic laws will not get you out of a ticket.  It is the same with spiritual laws.   Demons can be invoked by spiritual intemperance.  Choosing to be ignorant of spiritual rules will not redeem your soul from jeopardy.  Tempting fate is a dangerous game.

Physical dependencies can also weaken not only the body, but the soul.  The similarities between possession and addiction can be unsettling.  There is no faster way to destroy your life and create hell on earth.  People who are lost to the throes of gambling, hard drugs, or mental illness would probably have a lot to say about demons.  

Our bodies and souls are in our keeping.  Destroy the body and the soul will follow suit.  We are in every way capable of destroying the light and dwelling only in darkness.  And the darkness is not a place to be alone.  It is where the shadows are free to consume your mind, your heart, your soul. 

Where is the line between bad behavior and demonic influence? To be honest, I'm not sure.  It is a winding, twisted, tenuous affair.  We are all capable of good and evil.  We don't need to be marked for possession in order to engage in truly heinous acts.  Regardless of the genesis, once someone forfeits their soul, dark things will find them.  They will become nothing more than a puppet for things that dwell in the shadows.  Full possession is not necessary when whispers will do the work.  Why break through a window if someone has left the door wide open?

What the...

Holy jumpin' jellyfish were they thinking?

I do not claim to be an expert on the paranormal.  I write about topics that I find interesting.  I also share what I have learned through personal experience.  In my opinion, claiming to be an expert on the paranormal is a subjective designation.  There are no longitudinal studies or peer-reviewed research papers that can be used to rank yourself as an expert.  And hauntings do not lend themselves to the gathering of empirical data.  When dealing with a haunting, what you choose to do either works or it makes things worse.  There is no other way to measure the results.

I am a little skeptical of people who characterize themselves as paranormal experts.  There are people who I respect because they have the skills and knowledge to help others.  At the end of the day, hauntings are dangerous.  People who are haunted feel terrorized in their own homes.  When they reach out for help, they do not need the services of people who are only interested in aggrandizing themselves.  Hauntings are not appropriate for testing theories.  Do what works or get out of the way.

Recently, I watched an episode of "The Haunted."  The family who was profiled had a very serious situation on their hands.  They were being held hostage by a powerful haunting entity.  They had experienced a substantial reduction in their quality of life.  Their once happy home was now filled with sickness, financial problems, mental instability, and too many things that went bump in the night.

The family took action.  They moved away from their beloved home.  Normally, this course of action will nullify a haunting.  There are few haunting entities powerful enough to follow someone to a new location.  But they do exist.  Unfortunately, this family was being victimized by a very powerful haunting entity.

Things improved dramatically for the first few months.  Then, practically overnight, the nightmare resumed with even greater intensity.  At this point, they reached out for help.  I felt for this family.  They had done everything they could to rid themselves of the problem.  As near as I could tell, they had done nothing to make their situation worse (i.e. Ouija boards, seances, etc.).

Somehow, their case caught the interest of two paranormal experts.  In other words, two people who make a living publishing books and delivering lectures on paranormal phenomena.  The female expert claimed she was a vampirologist.  Does such a thing exist? Has Harvard instituted a School of Vampirology that I don't know about? Hmmm... maybe its an online degree program.

Anyway, she went on to describe vampires as haunting entities who form damaging parasitic relationships with living people.  I can get on board with that.  It's an interesting take on the our current perception of vampires.  A little vague, but valid.  To further expand, I believe she was excluding human generated residuals.  Basically, her definition could include any of the following non-human entities (in descending order of terrible):

Demons

PK manifestations

Shadow people

Poltergeists

Her male counterpart explained that he had extensive experience studying and dealing with hauntings. At this point, I'm thinking that the family might have lucked into a solution.  After interviewing the family and examining the house, the experts decided that the family needed to participate in a ritual in order to send the entity packing.  It is what I would have suggested as well.  

Ritual is not to be used lightly, but sometimes you have to pull out the big guns.  The night of the ritual, the experts show up armed with sage, salt, and holy books.  I'm sitting on the couch thinking that they have a fighting chance at this.  Then, the experts did something that blew my mind.

They drew a protective circle with salt, but they purposefully left the circle open.  Leaving a circle open is beyond useless.  In fact, it is better to do nothing at all.  Salt, especially black salt, is threatening to haunting entities.  To invoke the strength of a boundary and then not carry through will aggravate the haunting entity.  It will also reinforce that you are irresolute and weak.  Truly, it is a recipe for disaster.  

In real world terms, it would be like paying for a gym membership and never once getting on the treadmill.  Basically, you are paying to not work out.  All you've done is create an emotional and financial drain.  In other words, you were better off before you tried to take action.

But they didn't stop there.  They had the family sit outside the open circle holding candles.  Inside the open circle (read: funnel), they sat some poor soul who claimed to be a psychic.  Then, the ritual commenced.  In fact, I'm done calling it a ritual.  This was a sacrifice, plain and simple.  The experts were either not willing or not capable of solving the problem, so they offered it a new victim.  They knew the oldest trick in the book.  When all else fails, make an offering.  Divert the problem elsewhere.  I was appalled.  Apparently (and not surprisingly), the attempt was successful.

At the end of the episode, the family talked about how grateful they were to be free of the haunting entity.  For their part, the experts were smug and self-congratulatory.  Nothing more was said about the wayward psychic.  I guess they are saving her story for another episode.  I think they should call it 'Vampire Hot Potato: The Aftermath.'