Haunted Places: How Do Houses Become Haunted - Part 1

Often over the years I have spent in the paranormal industry. I have been asked many times 'what makes a house haunted'. This is a very difficult question to answer because there are various different factors that come into the answer itself.

Some of the main factors include the history of the house, like was there any violent deaths, abuse or cruelty done to any, man,woman or child on the property. The age of the house or how old the house happens to be is also an important factor because, if there happens to be a lot of families that have lived in the house then there is a good likelihood that there were events and situations like death, un-happiness, betrayal, sickness etc.

All these things seep into the walls of the house and can leave an impression, energy or ghosts in the house. There can also to be said about the land that the house is built on. For e.g. people who were murdered, who fought in battles and whose blood seeped into the land upon there death, can leave unsettled ghostly energies or entities not only on the land but also in any house that is built on that land.

With a little more detail I will try to describe, 'what makes a house haunted'. I will do this by giving you several story examples of haunted houses and buildings so, that hopefully you can better understand what I mean.

Anne Boleyn was one of the many wives of the English King Henry VIII. Henry ruled England during the 15th century and is well known throughout history for being fickle when it came to woman. Boleyn replaced Catherine of Aragon as Henry's wife, because one woman was never enough for him. A few months's after Anne gave to birth to their first and only child, Elizabeth I. Henry's eye was already roving towards a young girl called Jane Seymour. So, he got rid of Anne by getting one of his Archbishops's to bring up false charges of adultery and incest on her. So, that she would be sentenced to death and he would be free to marry his next wife, Jane Seymour.

Anne Boleyn was beheaded at the Tower Green, which is outside the Tower of London in 1536. With her death being so violent and the falsehoods that lead to her death, it is not surprising that her headless corpse has been seen near and around the Tower of London. You would think that being headless that she would be difficult to recognize but believe or not, she has always been easily identified by her clothes. Her ghost has also been seen at Blicking Hall situated in Norfolk, which at one time in the 15th century was once her family home. It would appear that Anne's ghost has always been most active on the Anniversary of her death.

Definition of Metaphysical

A definition of ‘Metaphysical’ is that the word describes everything that goes beyond the five senses that we already know exist, and that which can be linked to what is commonly known as the sixth sense, or the psychic sense and beyond. So, in essence it is the word that is used to describe things that exist beyond the physical realm. There are many words that are often linked to and put under the title of ‘Metaphysical’. Some of these words are mentioned here:

* The Supernatural
* The Paranormal
* The Unexplained and The Unknown
* The Sixth Sense or The Third Eye
* Psychic Abilities
* Metaphysical Forces
* Metaphysical Reasoning
* Metaphysical Philosophy
* Cosmology
* Ontology
* Metaphysics
* Spirituality and Spiritual
* Astral Travel
* Psychicism
* The Human Soul

Copyright ©2008 -2009 GeraldineMac(Psychic Hecate)

Omens of Death

There are many types of Omens, but Death Omens have a uniqueness to their design. Each Omen can come as a Precognitive Dream, a Premonition or a Ghostly Whisper - a warning from beyond the grave.

Precognitive and Premonition are very similar and yet very different. Often their meanings are confused, but in basic terms Precognitive Dreams are dreams of future events that are dreamed while sleeping. While Premonitions are often described as waking dreams of future events. With Premonitions a person can see flashes of future images while awake and have gut feelings on things that are about to happen.

Famous Omens of death's are like the Precognitive Dreams that both US President's Abraham Lincoln and John F Kennedy had about their own death's before they occurred.

US President Abraham Lincoln and his wife were long standing believers of the paranormal. During his time at the Whitehouse, séances were a regular occurrence. It has been said throughout the years since Abrahams time at the Whitehouse, that during the most difficult days and times of the American Civil War that Lincoln himself had many experiences of a paranormal nature in regards to the War itself.

At the begining of April in the year 1865, Lincoln told one of his close loyal bodyguards that he had a dream of his own death and that in this dream he saw his own funeral. Then again on the 11th of April 1865, Lincoln told the same bodyguard that he had the same dream of his death again. On the 14th of April 1865, Lincoln was set to go to a theater called 'Fords Theater'. With the knowledge of the dream some people close to Lincoln at the Whitehouse tried to stop him from going to the theater, but Lincoln refused to be persuaded not to go. He went to 'Fords Theater' that night and while there a man called John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln by shooting him.

Did President Lincoln go to that theater with the knowledge of what was to come? Did all his Paranormal Experiences lead him to believe that this was his fate, and that he couldn't fight it or change it? These are questions that we can never really get an answer to there is no answer with any kind of factual or solid proof. In saying that though there is a lot of room for speculation on this subject and I think that people will always wonder why he chose to go to 'Fords Theater' on that night after the dreams that he had?

President John F Kennedy had a similar experience in that he also had a Precognitive Dream of his death as well before it happened.

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.

Ghosts: Famous Ghosts and Haunted Places - Part 1

For many people seeing a title like 'Famous Ghosts and Famous Haunted Places', brings to mind images of celebrities like long deceased actors and actresses of stage and screen like Marilyn Monroe, Montgomery Clift, Carole Lombard to name but a few. Some people believe that there is nothing more to this subject of 'Famous Ghosts and Haunted Places' that old movie stars haunting movie studios and their former homes. This is most definitely not the case, because what if I told you that these older movie and stage stars is merely a thin layer of ice on a larger frozen lake.

For example; take 'The Bell Witch' evil Ghost or Poltergeist? No-one will ever know for sure. Unfortunately the story of John Bell, his family and 'The Bell Witch' was changed and the story was twisted when the story became a movie known as 'The American Haunting'. In most of the information that I have found over the years on 'The Bell Witch' there was never any mention of child abuse.

When dealing with the paranormal you need to be able to set out the facts from the fiction. In the case of the 'Bell Witch' the facts are this, that in the year 1817 in Robertson County, Tennessee, USA. That a man called John Bell, his wife, four sons and his daughter Betsy had several paranormal experiences with a negative forces. That this negative force seemed to focus at first only on Betsy and then late on John himself.

At first these paranormal experiences were just noises were just noises like scratching on the walls and knocks that were from no physical person or animal. Then without warning bed clothes were being pulled off the beds while the family slept in them, and their was the sounds of some one choking in the middle of the night. There were sounds of furniture being moved and stones being thrown.

It was a period of time when all this happened already that the physical attacks started on John's daughter Betsy. The facts state that Betsy was slapped across the face so hard that you could hear the blow, and that a pattern of a hand appeared in red an her face. That her hair was pulled violently on many occasions causing her a lot of pain to Betsy. To everyone that was involved there was no doubt that the main focus of the attacks were against Betsy.

The facts also state that the person John Bell approached was in fact a lay preacher who called James Johnson. That the negative malevolent force began to communicate with the family first by whistling and then with actual words.

When the negative and malevolent forces started in on John, it told John and his family that it would now attack John with such force that it would kill him. From there John was attacked violently, first his jaw swelled up and then he began to suffer from severe spasms and convulsions. Finally John Bell's body could take no more he fell into a coma and never awoke.

When the head of the family John himself died, it was said that the negative force could be heard to cry out with a wining roar that repeated just days later at John's funeral.

After John Bell's death the malevolent force seemed to leave that was until one night in 1821 as Betsy, her mother and four brothers were having dinner, that the family heard the malevolent force cry out that it was going and would never return and that is exactly what happened.

Ghostly Actors and Actresses

MARILYN MONROE

Monroe is said to haunt certain areas of 'The Roosevelt Hotel'. She was born Norma Jean Baker on the 1st of June 1926. At the beginning of her career she was a model which lead her unto the path of the movie business. For two years she lived in Suite 1200, at 'The Roosevelt Hotel' at the start of her modeling career.
A mirror that once hung in her room now hangs in the lobby is said to be haunted by the actresses' spirit. It has also been said that Marilyn haunts the ballroom of the hotel. Both staff and visitors have claimed to have seen her ghost dancing in the ballroom.

MONTGOMERY CLIFT

Monty as he was known to his friends also haunts 'The Roosevelt Hotel'. He was born on the 17th October 1920 and is best remembered for his roles in such movies as 'From Here to Eternity', 'The Misfits' and 'The Judgment at Nuremburg'.
During the year 1928, he spent three month's in Room 928 of 'The Roosevelt Hotel'. Over the years since the death of Montgomery Clift, it has since been claimed by the hotel staff and visitors that Clift can be seen walking along many of the corridor's in the hotel.

JEAN HARLOW

Jean was born on the 3rd of March 1911; she was an American born actress who took Hollywood by storm in the 1930's. She was the original 'Blonde Bombshell'; she was also known and described as 'The Platinum Blonde' which was also the name of one of the movies that she starred in 1931. Jean starred in over 30 movies but her career and her life was tragically cut short at the age of 26, by kidney failure. Since her death in 1937, there have been many sightings of 'The Blonde Bombshell' in the mansion she once called home.

CAROLE LOMBARD

Carole Lombard was born on the 6th of October 1908 in Fort Wayne in Indiana, USA. She began her film career at a very young age. She made her debut at the age of 12, in the movie 'Perfect Crime' in 1931 were she played the role of a tomboy. From there she starred in a few low-budget movies and then moved on to work for studios like Twentieth Century and Paramount Studios. Best known for films like 'My, Man Godfrey', 'To Be or Not to Be' and 'Mr and Mrs Smith'. Carole is also famous for being married to actors such as William Powell, who she married in 1931. Divorcing Powell in 1934, and was linked romantically to actors like Gary Cooper and George Raft. Her most famous marriage was to actor Clark Gable in 1939. She died on the 16th January 1942, and like her husband Clark Gable she is said to haunt 'The Oatman Hotel' in Arizona, where Clark and she spent their honeymoon.

GEORGE REEVES

Reeves was born on January 5th 1914 in Woodstock, Iowa, USA. He began his movie industry in 1939 with a minor role in the epic movie 'Gone With The Wind'. Through that one small role he was contracted to Warner Bros, where his acting included a few B-Movies or B-Pictures as they were known then, such film's as 'The Fighting 69th', 'The Strawberry Blonde', 'Torrid Zone' and 'So Proudly We Hail'. Though he acted in many movies as the ones above, he will always be remembered for his portrayal of the comic super hero 'Superman' in the 1951 television series.
George died on the 16th of June 1959 by his own hand; he committed suicide by shooting himself. It has been said the he can often be seen in his Superman costume roaming the rooms of his former home.

JOHN WAYNE

He was born on the 26th of May 1907 in Winterset, Ohio, USA. Wayne was best known for his western and war movies that's what made him famous acting in film's such as 'The Son's of Katie Elder', 'The Angel and the Badman', 'The Searchers' and many more . He was sometimes described as American's Favorite Movie Star especially with his roles in classic movies like 'The Quietman', 'She Wore a Yellow Ribbon' and 'Hatari'.
John died on June 11th 1979 of stomach cancer, his ghost is said to have been seen on the yacht he once owned and enjoyed sailing called 'The Wild Goose'.

LUCILLE BALL

She was born August 6th 1911, in the town of Jamestown, New York, USA. She was an actress that appeared in movies and TV shows from the 1980's to the 1970's. Though she was well known for her film, television, stage and radio work. It was her talent that made her an icon that will never be forgotten.
Lucille died on April 26th 1989, she was 77 and since her death in North Roxbury Drive. The house itself has become a paranormal phenonomen known as 'Haunted'. The next people to own the house after Ball have described a lot of strange going on's. For example; furniture and objects moving on their own. Unexplained broken windows and voices being heard from an empty room.

CLARK GABLE

Clark was born on the 1st of February 1901 in the town of Cadiz, Ohio, USA. He was once nicknamed 'The King of Hollywood'. He is best remembered for playing Rhett Butler in the 1939 epic, 'Gone With The Wind' also starring Viven Leigh. Other movies that made Gable famous were movies such as 'Mutiny on the Bounty' made in 1935, 'It Happened One Night' in 1934. It has been said that that Clark Gable also haunts the 'Oatman Hotel', the same hotel that Carole Lombard and he spent their honeymoon in after their marriage in 1939.

ORSON WELLES

Welles was a genius when it came to directing in Hollywood; he also had a talent for writing and producing. Orson was born on the 16th May 1915. He directed, produced, acted and was an exceptional writer of film, stage, radio and television. For acting he is best remembered for his roles in 'Citizen Kane' and for his very real radio broadcast adaptation of 'The War of the Worlds'. At the time it was broadcast there were many who truly believed that the world was under attack and that what they were listening to was a real news broadcast.
Orson died of a heart attack in 1985 at the age of 70. At his favorite restaurant 'The Sweet Lady Jane' customers and staff have reported seeing him sitting at his favorite table.

JOAN CRAWFORD

She was born on the 23rd of March 1905, in San Antonio, Texas. She was an actress signed with the great MGM Studio's and with Warner Bros. Joan started her career as a dancer in a chorus line on Broadway. She started her movie career in a silent film called 'Pretty Ladies' in 1825, moving on and becoming famous through other movies like 'Possessed' made in 1931, 'Dancing Ladies' 1932 and 'Double Indemnity' which is just a few of the movies Crawford starred in. Her former home is said to be haunted by the actresses' ghost that is said to be just one of the ghosts to be linked with Joan Crawford's former home

How to Become a Paranormal Inestigator - Part 2

TORCHES/CANDLES/BATTERIES On a paranormal investigation or ghost hunt a torch is like your best buddy. It is very important that you have a good torch and plenty of extra batteries. It's also a good idea to bring some candles and matches as sometimes ghosts can affect things like video cameras as in camcorders, electric equipment and torches. A ghost hunter investigates in the dark and so you don't want to be left in the dark especially with ghostly noises around you, would you?

CAMERAS, DIGITAL AND CAMCORDERS

Orbs cannot be seen by the naked eyes. They can only be picked up by cameras, digital cameras and camcorders.

The best kind of cameras to get is a 35mm with SLR. A digital camera should have over 300 million pixels and a card of 256mb or higher. A digital camcorder with night vision is very good as you can walk around in a room with no light and still see where you’re going. Getting a tripod for your different types of cameras can be a great way to get a different perspective of a room or area.

You don't need to get all of these at first. A good camera, a tape recorder, a torch, spare batteries, some candles and an EMF Detector would be good enough for a start-up for any ghost group or individual investigator.

Another device that some paranormal groups use is a thermometer. This is used to read the temperature in different rooms and areas from houses and buildings. It is a well known fact that when ghosts and paranormal entities manifest, that there is a drop in temperature, before during or after their manifestation.

Monitoring and writing down each room temperature at the beginning of a paranormal investigation, and then paying close attention during an investigation; you may find a drop in temperature and realize that a ghost is around you.

There are two different types of thermometers. One is an ambient thermometer, which is used to give you the ambient room temperature. Then the other one is called a non-contact thermometer which is a thermometer that will give you the temperature of anything it is pointed at.

MEDIUM

Finding a professional and good medium is very important for any paranormal investigation group. A medium is a person who has the ability to receive or channel messages from the spirit world. As part of a paranormal investigation group a medium can give the group information about the visitational and non-visitational ghosts that reside with the house or building.

As I said before it is very important that you make sure that you recruit a real medium that can prove the abilities that they say they have. A fraudulent medium could damage the group's reputation and would definitely effect whether they where taken seriously or not professionally. The best ways to make sure that you find a good genuine medium is by either asking for their psychic resume, which very similar to a normal resume the only difference is that the previous jobs are with psychic companies. Asking for references is also a good way to find out if someone who says they are a medium can actually prove it, as is testing the medium on their abilities.

If someone calls themselves a medium but is not willing to provide a resume, references, and won't let you test them. Then my advice is to not let them be a part of your group as they would damage your reputation and they would make people not take you serious, so stay clear of them.

How to Become a Paranormal Investigator Part 1

There are many ghost hunting and paranormal groups throughout the world. There are so many groups and societies that want to find real proof of the paranormal, and in particular ghosts.Many people call themselves ghost hunters or paranormal investigators but carry no more than a digital camera and a few flashlights to the haunted site. These people are not ghost hunters, nor are they real investigators in the paranormal.If you are interested in becoming a paranormal investigator or perhaps even running your own group, then here are a few tips to running your own group or being seen as a professional investigator. So, here's what you need:

ELECTRO MAGNETIC FIELD DETECTOR (EMF)

An Electro Magnetic Field Detector also known as an EMF, is used to measure the electro magnetic energy that comes off electronic devices such as mobile, microwaves, DVD players and radio's etc..The importance of this device is that ghosts are made of energy. They use this energy that they are made of to manifest and to move over and through areas in houses and buildings etc.

They can also use this energy to affect electric equipment or devices such as the ones I have mentioned above. In paranormal investigations, investigators use the EMF device to write down the readings of electric fields each individual electronic device, of within the house or building you choose to investigate. Once you have these readings then you have what is called your base line investigation. As you move around the building or watch the EMF device when it reads above 2.5 mill gauss, then this could mean that you are not alone and a ghost is within the area you are in.

TAPE RECORDERS

A tape recorder is used in several ways during an investigation. It can be used to interview the owners of the property that you are investigating. You can also use it to make notes of your own initial thoughts and feelings of the house, building etc…One of the more important uses of a tape recorder is to use it for the purpose of EVP.

EVP -Electronic Voice Phenonomen is a method used to record paranormal and ghostly noises like voices etc… By using a tape recorder many of these ghostly noises are often recorded like background noises and this is known as Sonic Events. EVP Recordings are the best type of proof for the existence of ghosts and the paranormal.

POINT-TO-POINT LASER ALARMS

These are small battery alarms that are usually used as a form of home protection. They are placed at doorways and work by placing a device at opposite positions of a doorway. If someone walks through the doorway they are caught by a laser beam which is set off by the intruder unknowingly crossing the beam. When doing paranormal investigations these alarms can be used in a similar way to the way they are used for the living intruders.

By basically putting devices on staircases, corridors and doorways in building's and houses, you will perhaps be able to catch a ghost. Ghosts are energy and they can manifest fully into a more solid shape so, if they walk or float across a corridor or down a staircase then there energy and solidity will set off the laser.

TRIGGER OBJECTS

During a paranormal investigation trigger objects are used as an experiment to find out if there really is a ghost or ghosts in a building or house that is under investigation. A trigger object can basically be anything as long as it can lay perfectly flat on a white sheet of paper. The way it works is that the investigator draws an outline around the object and then place a camcorder in the room across or near the object making sure the camcorder is on; the investigator goes out and locks the room.

If, when the investigator returns after a period of time and if the object is outside its line and shape, then by looking at the camcorder you will have documented proof of the paranormal.

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.

Psychic Abilities: Automatic Writing

Automatic Writing is a term given to an action whereby a person is able to use their sub-conscious mind to write down words and sentences that do not come from the person’s conscious mind. For some automatic writers they show signs of a trance like state and when awakened have no conscious memory of what they have written or what has taken place while they were in this trance. For other writers they have some awareness that they are writing something down but feel they are merely a passenger in their own bodies.

Some Automatic Writers believe that their messages come from a higher conscious and that they are merely been used as tools to relay important messages. While others believe simply that it is another type of paranormal ability or skill to contact those from the Spirit Plane.

People all over the world have been aware of Automatic Writing since as early as 1850, and no this awareness has not just been for those with abilities or for those throughout the centuries who have been referred to as the freaks, weirdo’s or any person who has been categorized in the eccentric groups of societyJ . On the contrary many of those involved throughout the years have been prominent and societies deemed normal individuals such as judges, novelists, housewives, philosophers etc… Some of the Spirits who were said to have used Automatic Writers to write beyond the veil were composers such as Brahms, Mozart and Chopin but to name a few.

There are writers who have claimed to have been used by actors and actresses who once where stars through the old classic American movie studio’s to write messages thoughts and feelings back to the physical world. Are these claims true or are they just stunts for 5 minutes of fame?

The problem with Automatic Writing is there is little proof when dealing with long dead stars or composers, there is no one to tell how accurate or true the messages are. This is something that we all need to decide for ourselves in what we believe is possible or not? Food For Thought Though: From the mediumship end, proof could and can be found when there is more than one living person involved in the relaying of the messages. For example; a lady contacts an automatic writer and asks her to come to her home as there have been some paranormal experiences happening.

The woman knows that the family home as been in the family for several generations but tells the writer little. The writer takes a walk around and then sits and goes into his/her trance like state, if the writings are about the families or the people that have lived there within the time frame that the woman’s generations have lived there, then it is possible that the woman herself can tell the automatic writer how accurate or not she has been and in that scenario that would be proof that Automatic Writing works.

copyright © 2008-2009. Geraldine.Mac(Psychic Hecate)