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.'
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