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...
