Paranormal Activities: Haunted Houses - Part 1

When people often think of haunted houses one of the first questions that people ask is what makes a house haunted. In one of the earlier articles on this blog I tried to briefly explain what makes a house haunted , now in more depth I will try to explain by giving more details and descriptions. Ghosts and haunted houses have often been the theme of many camp fire stories, books and many horror movies. There are many people who are interested and excited by ghosts and haunted houses have come up with exciting and interesting plots for why a house is haunted.

In the late 70s, the movie 'The Amityville Horror' came to the screen and the movie claimed to be the supposed true story of a family called 'The Lutz's family'. A nice quiet couple who moved into a house in a quiet area of Long Island where the previous year before a series of murders were committed by the eldest son (Ronald Defeo Jnr.) of the Defeo family who had lived there, the same Ronald Defeo Jnr who killed his parents and siblings in that very house by shooting them in their beds, a horrific cold blooded murder. The film showed 'The Lutz Family' different experiences from the move into the house until the couple where forced to flee the house in the middle of the night because of the supposed haunting. The haunted house that 'The Lutz Family' claimed the Amityville house had an almost demonic devil like presence that showed itself by leaving dead flies on windows, foul smells, dark shapes, possessions etc. With the violence of the murders 'The Lutz Family' then claimed demonic presences possessed the father of the 'Lutz Family' and then the lawyers of Ronald Defeo Jnr who had murdered his family in that very house tried to claimed that their client had been possessed when he committed the murders on his family. But, was what 'The Lutz Family' said all true or was all of it a ploy by the lawyers to get their client a lesser or should I say reduced sentence. When the movie came to the silver screen and the book was published. Psychics, Medium and Parapsychologists made there way to the house in Amityville to investigate but by then the new owners would let few of these people into their home.

A well known American Parapsychologist called Stephen Kaplan that was allowed access to the 'Amityville House' to investigate the supposed claims on the property. He and his then assistant talked to the new owners who were a married couple who been living in the house for a period of time during that time they had experienced nothing demonic or paranormal in the house. The new owners explained that the house was quiet, even peaceful and that they had honestly never seen or heard anything out of the ordinary. The main questions that the Kaplan asked himself was, if this house was haunted or there were demonic forces at work then where were they? Where were the demonic forces that had forced 'The Lutz Family' from their home? The house was quiet, there was nothing to suggest that there was or had ever been any type of paranormal or demonic forces at work within the house? It appeared that 'The Lutz Family' may have told lies or had been asked to tell stories of demonic forces and demon possession to help Ronald DeFeo Jnr. Or perhaps their lies was merely for financial gain, they had royalties after all from the movie and the book? The truth is that the real truth may never be known, was it really a haunted house or was it a made up story that 'The Lutz Family' created for any number of reasons, it is doubtful that anyone will ever know? But, it does seem strange that the new owners never had any trouble of the paranormal nature within their home don't you think?

There are many who believe the 'Amityville Horror' to be a hoax, even the well known parapsychologist Stephen Kaplan gave his opinion after 10 years of research on the house and said that it was all a hoax. But there will only ever be opinions or theories unless the people involved came forward and admitted the truth and that is doubtful at this point.

As I have already stated in the previous haunted houses articles, violent crime and murder, brutality and suicide can become a factor in a house being haunted because the violence of such monstrous actions against one or more people can seep into not only the walls but the foundations of a house or office building. It is like the impressions of the violent acts seeping into the very life of the house or building whatever it happens to be. The seeping of the crimes into the house often traps and binds ghosts to the areas, houses or building. Whenever the ghosts crossover to the spirit world they leave behind the wants, desires and the hates of the flesh. I've been asked before do spirits in the spirit world feel? From what I know and have been told by my 'guides' spirits do feel but what they feel is pure emotion for example pure love, but what is that? Pure love is like the love of a child the feelings a child not yet tarnished by societies ideals feels for family or friends. For spirits there are no sins of the flesh, there is no is no wants, desires, needs, passion or sex as far as a spirit is concerned that is gone when the body dies. Spirits as I said feel as a child does, they feel love, compassion and sometimes sadness there souls feel as children feel no more and less.

But, back to hauntings and ghosts, another movie which was the theme or concept of haunted houses where this time the violence was more like the mental torture and hurt caused from husband and wife. This haunted house movie was Stephen King's 'Rose Red'. The storyline of the movie tells of a female psychologist turned parapsychologist, who takes a group of psychics and sensitives to 'Rose Red' to try to re-awaken the forces within the house. There ghost hunt becomes a hellish struggle to try and escape from the malevolent forces within the house that wants them dead. In both these haunted stories involving houses the main problem have been caused by negative feeling's and actions that seeped into the walls of the house and then poured into the walls of the house and the poured into the people living there, to their actions and behaviour towards others.

In the late 70's and early 80's, a haunted movie came to the screen the movie was called 'The Changeling' one of the main characters was played by the actor George C. Scott. Scott's character was a man who had been widowed after a terrible car accident that took his wife and child from him. His character was that of a composer who after the death of his wife and child he moved to another area and rents an historical home from the historical society. The house he lived in was once the home of an influential senator called Joesph Carmichael. While in the mean time Carmichael was living the good life. Scott sees the ghost of a small boy in a bath filled with water. With the help of one of the woman at the historical society, they began to investigate and found a much bigger story, murder, money and an angry ghost looking for revenge.

Not all haunted houses and ghosts are angry or negative ghosts looking to hurt the living. There are only ever a small amount of ghosts that are negative energies, there are ghost hunting shows on television now that are always trying to make out that the majority of haunting are evil people, dead witches and devil worshippers died and turned ghosts that are out to hurt the living, but that is so far from the truth than you can get. The vast majority of ghosts are bound/stuck to a place, trying to get the living to acknowledge their presence and perhaps try to get help from the living to help them crossover, others just want to be acknowledged and an understanding of live and let live to be brought into practice. There has only ever been a small percentage of negative energies in houses that have presences in it. It should also be remembered that during the witch hunts and witch trials that many of those accused of practising witchcraft where midwives, herbalists and natural healers who weren't practising anything except trying to help people.

In the second part of haunted houses I will be giving you a more in-depth look into real cases of haunted houses and paranormal ghost activities, giving you more examples of ghosts and haunted houses.



copyright©2009 PsychicHecate/GeraldineMac

The Differences Between a Spirit and a Ghost

Many people get confused when it comes to the technical side of the paranormal. To be precise some people are confused about the terms 'ghosts' and 'spirits'. Some don't recognize or realise that there is a difference between 'ghosts' and 'spirits', even though in some ways they are the same in other ways there are very defining differences between them that makes them not the same thing.

I am going to try to simplify my explanation and try not to get too technical with you all. A 'spirit' is a person who has died and has 'crossed over into the light'. A lot of mediums use terms like 'crossed over' or 'crossed over into the light', and some people know what those terms mean but some don't. So for those who don't here's a quick and simple explanation, 'crossing into the light' means that when a person dies they pass quickly through the passage of light into the spirit world. Once they pass into the spirit world and through the light they become a 'spirit'. 'The Light' is merely the doorway or the passage/corridor that guides the deceased into the afterlife. A 'Spirit' can be a visitational spirit who goes back after there passing to the spirit realm to visit their family and friends left behind but they are based if you like in the spirit world on a constant basis.

Now, there's the term 'Ghost/Ghosts' which is a person who has died but for one reason or another has not chosen to 'cross over into the light' and go to the spirit world. The reasons can vary from a person have died so quickly they don't realise their dead so they don't 'cross over' like they should and sometimes need a bit of help to do so or can after a short time realise that they are dead and 'cross over' themselves. Sometimes a person dies and is confused and doesn't realise that 'the light' is for them to go into. Other times traumatic death's or regrets can leave a recently deceased person not willing to 'cross over' or not realising that they should. Those that don't 'cross over' are known as 'ghosts' and at times are also referred to as 'bounded' or 'grounded ghosts'. These terms are used in certain cases of 'ghosts' depending on the reasons for not 'crossing over' after they died.


copyright©2009 PsychicHecate/GeraldineMac

Haunted Places: How Do Haunted Houses Become Haunted - Part 2

Another Tower of London prisoner was a young woman called Lady Jane Grey. Grey was the niece of King Henry VIII, and became Queen of England for nine days in a coo to change the royal line from the then Tudors to a family of Dukes in Northumberland called the Dudley's.

In the attempt by the Dudley's, Jane was told that she was to be married to the Duke of Northumberland's son, Guilford Dudley. The marriage took place on May 1553. Her accession to the throne took place on the 10th July 1553 and ended on the 19th July 1553, when Mary daughter of King Henry VIII, had Jane and her husband Guilford Dudley arrested. Mary had them sentenced to death; they were both beheaded on the 12th of February 1554. Both their ghosts have been seen in and around the Tower of London.

Ghosts: Famous Ghosts and Haunted Places - Part 2

Another famous haunted place is that of the Borley Rectory in Essex. A book called 'The Most Haunted House in England' by the famous Psychical Researcher, Harry Price.

The facts surrounding this particular house are that anyone who has lived in the house has never been able to stay living it. This is because of the paranormal phenonomen that has occurred in the house from 1900 to 1939. The house burnt down mysteriously in 1939, and from that time no one has lived on the site that is now a burnt out shell, so you could say that there has been no reported paranormal phenonomen since the house became ablaze.

Facts and history have been so deeply intertwined in this particular case that after so many years it is difficult to separate out the facts from the fiction or folklore. Therefore in order to give you what information I can, I shall give you everything I have read and researched on the rectory and perhaps if you are interested in the story then perhaps you can research it more on your own, and share any findings you make find.

In July of the year 1900, Ethel Bull the granddaughter of the Reverend Bull who built the rectory was out walking with the daughter of the then current Rector of Borley, when suddenly Ethel saw a figure of a female dressed in a nun's habit.

Throughout the years that the rectory was in use, many people saw the ghostly nun. It was said to float over the land and disappeared as soon as anyone got close. Many called the area in which the ghostly nun was often seen as the 'Nun's Walk'. Throughout the years there was and have been many theories and explanations of the ghostly nun were. Some people said that the rectory was built on a 13th century monastery. A monk was supposed to have fallen in love with a nun from a nearby convent. The monks and the other nuns discovered the lover's secret love and the nun was killed by the other nuns because of her broken vows, and some people say that is why she haunts the place that she died.

The second explanation for 'Nun's Walk' is that at some point during 1667, a nun was forced to abandon her calling to serve God in order to marry one of the sons of a family call the Waldengrave family who at that time lived in Borley Manor. It is said that she was murdered on the site of the rectory and so haunts there.

The third and last explanation for Borley Rectory is that there was once a French nun called Marie Larre, who ran from her convent in France to be with the man she loved. Unfortunately for Marie, not long after arriving in England and at Borley she had an argument with the man she loved. In a moment of violent rage her lover killed her and buried her body in the basement/cellar of the house that was on there before Borley Rectory was built. Many people believed this third theory more than any of the others. This may have been because a female jawbone and skull where found on the site as was a selection of religious artifacts.

Paranormal Tools: Ouijia Board

There has always been allot of stories told about experience with the Ouija Board. I am sure that many of you reading this have either had your own experiences with the Ouija Board, or know some who used the board and experienced things?

Some people say they have experienced something paranormal in using the board, while others say that the Ouija Board is a silly game and just nonsense. What is the truth of the board is it just a silly game or is the Ouija Board a dangerous game to play?

In order for me to describe and explain the dangers of the Ouija Board, I must first explain what is an Ouija Board. In the US, Ouija Boards are sold at as a children's game. The board itself is about the same size, shape and material made of a monopoly board.

The main differences between an ordinary gaming board and the Ouija Board are the designs on the board. For e.g. on the front of a Ouija Board at the top center are the words 'Hello', below that are the letters of the alphabet from A to Z. In the center of the board there is usually a clear circular space. To the left center of the board is the word 'Yes' and to the far right is the word 'No'. On the bottom center of the board are numbers ranging from 0 to 9. Below the numbers is the word 'Goodbye'.

Many people use this board by placing a glass down on the clear space on the center of the board. Then each person takes the tip of their first finger and places it on the edge of the glass. A speaker among those taking part is chosen to ask 'is there any ghostly energies or entities wishing to communicate'. Once a ghostly entity answers then the speaker is the one that asks the questions and asks the entity to reply using the Ouija.

The main and most damaging and dangerous thing about this board can be cut into two main sections or areas. The first section covers how people use the Ouija board, while the second covers the dangers of the entities that are communicated with through this board.Section one covers how the board and how children and adults use the board. In a sense using the Ouija board is like taking part in a séance, where there is no medium to help offer any form of protection for those using the board. Most children and adults don't even offer up a prayer, before calling out 'is there anybody there'. With no protection they begin to play a very dangerous game without knowing whether they will make contact with something positive or negative.

Supernatural: Visitational Ghosts

Unlike Non-Visitational or Bound Ghosts, Non-Visitational Ghosts are not Bound or attached to a particular place. They generally can come and go as they please. They don't haunt like other Ghosts as such, but they do visit certain places usually on a regular bases.

One of the best examples of a Visitational Ghost I found for you was in a book called 'The Unexplained' by Rueben Stone:

This story is about a woman called Frances Little, who with her husband moved to a house in California in 1968. After a few weeks of living in their new home they had just begun to settle in when both of them would have a paranormal experience with a Visitational Ghost.

In there new home one day Frances Little's husband saw a woman cross the window outside the house. He thought it was his wife because he had just seen his wife leave the room and assumed she had went outside. After a short time he realized that the woman was not his wife Frances and knew that it was a ghost that he had seen. Frances wasn't sure what to believe, was there a ghost in there new home or not? That was until she saw the ghost lady herself.

Deciding that she needed to find out who this lady was she researched on her new home. Frances asked neighbours about the tall slim woman in the old fashioned clothes she had seen. After finding some things that the previous owners had left, she came across a old photograph and there in the picture was the ghost lady.

She made a few enquires and with the help of the photograph was able to find out that the woman in the photograph had been called Margaret. Margaret had once lived with her husband in the exact house in the 1920's. The same house that Frances and her husband now lived in. She had loved the house so much that when she died she came back in Visitation to the house she had loved so well.

So as you can see from the story most visitational ghosts tend to be sighted in many places not just one area, room or building. Visitational Ghosts tend to roam places that had meaning for them when they were alive.