Tag Archive: ghosts


When the Recently Departed Haunt the Dreams of the Living

Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum:

 

My boyfriend Billy died in a car accident a few weeks ago. His best friend, Kyle, was also killed; Kyle was the driver that night. Since they died, I’ve had some very long, intense dreams about Billy. In one dream, Billy and Kyle come to my house and I start crying and hug them both. Kyle tells me that they aren’t dead; I tell them that they are. They disappear and then Billy calls me on my cell phone, crying and saying that he is so sorry. He says he didn’t mean to leave me. In other dreams, I discuss with Billy and Kyle whether other people know they are dead, and whether or not we should tell them. In another dream, we go to a carnival and Billy tries to win me a stuffed animal, but all sorts of things prevent this from happening. Then we’re at a mall, going down the escalator. He makes it down before me. Billy: I beat you! Me: I didn’t know we were racing. I start going up the escalator and back down it as he tries to catch me. Me: I beat you! Billy: Didn’t you say you wanted sons? Children would make you happy? Me: I don’t need kids to make me happy. Being with you will make me happy.

Later we kiss. Then I’m standing in front of him. [In real life, Kyle’s dad has seen Billy wandering around his house, and I’ve been worried that this may mean that Kyle’s dad is going to die soon.] Me: Why are you wandering around Kyle’s house? Billy: I don’t know. Me: Is Kyle’s dad going to be okay? Billy: He is going to die tomorrow due to a low heart. Billy: I really want you to be with me right now but God said you can’t be with me yet. He runs from me to escape my desire to be with him. I chase him. He opens dark double doors that have a drop after them. I try to grab him and almost fall but stop myself and fall back into the mall. The doors slam shut. My best friend Gena (Kyle’s girlfriend) has had strange dreams about them too. In a dream a couple days after the accident, Billy told her to tell me that he loved me and I needed to be strong. I’ve also been seeing things out of the corner of my eye, felt like Billy was lying with me, felt him holding my hand, smelled him, and heard him say something. What do you think of all of this?
L.

Dear L.:

I believe Billy is trying very hard to make you know that he loves you and didn’t mean to leave you. First I’ll interpret these wonderful dreams, and then I’ll explore the bigger picture in terms of what I feel is going on with Billy and Kyle.

In my belief and experience, whenever we dream about someone who is departed, and in the dream we know that they are supposed to be dead, it’s a sign that we are actually meeting up with them in another dimension. We may feel confused about their presence because we know they’re dead, or we may actually have a conversation with them about the fact that they’re dead. In any case, if you’re conscious in the dream that they’re supposed to be dead, they’re not a dream symbol for something or someone else: this is a real visit with them in another dimension.

Your conversations with Billy and Kyle in which you discuss the fact that they’re dead, they argue with you, and you debate whether or not to tell other people are all very telling. These discussions suggest that for now, these two have yet to cross over and may still be in shock over their sudden departure from their physical bodies.

It’s my understanding that being in between life and the afterlife is very much like being in a dream. This should resonate with you given the experiences you’ve had with them in the dream state. In fact, being earthbound is probably like a very long, drawn out dream. Imagine yourself in a dream and someone tells you that you’re dead. You tell them that you’re not but then you think, Am I? Maybe I am… You’re not sure what is what here. I feel these two are still coming to grips with what has happened.

The dream where you go to a carnival and Billy tries to win you a stuffed animal suggests that you are both holding on to him being your boyfriend – the one who does things like win you stuffed animals. Yet he can’t be that person to you now, which is why one thing after another prevents him from succeeding.

I feel the dream about going down the escalator is all about going from one level of existence to another, and the fact that he beat you to the non-physical by dying when he did. When you then try to beat him and he asks if you don’t want children, he is basically saying, Don’t you want to go ahead and live a full life, fulfill your dreams, and catch up with me after that? He wants you to be happy and fulfilled. Your reply that you don’t want anything more than being with him is a natural way to feel a few weeks after your boyfriend was killed, and it’s because you’ve been feeling this way that he is trying hard to convince you to think about what you’ve always dreamed would make you happy.

Please know that you won’t always feel as you do now. I know it’s hard to imagine, but my own first love died suddenly at the age of 19, so I do know what I’m talking about here. I can assure you that there will be new happiness and new love in your future, and none of it will diminish what you feel for Billy or what you can have with him in other lives. In this dream, he is trying to talk you into finding the will to go on, allow time to heal your wounds, and try to live a happy life.

Regarding Kyle’s dad seeing Billy, this doesn’t mean he’s about to die. Instead, I feel it means that he WANTS to die. His heart is broken over his son’s death and if he doesn’t find a way to heal and the will to live, then he may indeed unconsciously do himself in. We see this all the time in lifelong couples: when one dies, the other isn’t far behind because the survivor doesn’t want to go on.

The part about God saying you couldn’t be with him yet is self-explanatory. I love how Billy is spelling everything out for you so clearly in these dreams: He is working hard to let you know that he still loves you, that he wants you to be happy, and that this temporary separation was not his choice. Then he does the noble thing and runs away so you can get back to your life here.

All of these dreams and experiences suggest that Billy and Kyle have yet to cross over into a new (after) life, most likely because they are worried about all of their loved ones here on Earth. They want to make sure that you are all going to be okay. Of course, they have their own strong attachments to you, and are trying to work through the realization that they have indeed died and need to move on.

I know that it’s hard to see the big picture right now, but I feel that all of this is going to change you in some very important, powerful ways. As a result of the amazing things that happened when my own first love died, I awakened spiritually, and I have had no doubt that there is life after death ever since. I would not be the person I am today and doing the work that I do had all of that not happened. Todd’s death led me to new awareness and understanding, deep compassion for the grieving, and a passion for spiritual exploration. While I still miss him, I have total faith that I will see him again and we will get a chance to live all we desire to live together. I believe that through all of this heartache, you too will be blessed with a new spiritual life. I pray you make the most of all the gifts of love and spirit Billy is trying so hard to give you through these extraordinary experiences.

– Soul Arcanum

Summoning Angels to Help Spirits Cross Over


Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum:

I have been working with Angels to perform spirit clearances. I have done this three or four times so far with their help, and I am comforted by their presence. My automatic writing suggests that in some instances, I can simply talk the spirits over as I naturally know where the gates of light are. What are your thoughts? Should I always call the Angels to assist or is there another way? Since I’m new to this topic, I would greatly appreciate your thoughts.

E.

Dear E.:

First, I encourage everyone interested in spirit rescue work to watch out for assumptions. For example, just because we are able to perceive a spirit doesn’t mean that spirit is earthbound. Every living person is unique and in a unique situation, and the same is true of spirits. It is never wise to push our help upon others whether they are living here or in another dimension. I mention this because I’ve met people who get so excited about finding “ghosts” and helping them cross over that they assume every disembodied presence is in dire need of assistance. There are both human and non-human beings living happily in other dimensions, so just because we can perceive a metaphysical being doesn’t mean it is lost or in need of guidance. A beginner’s mind is perhaps the most important thing we can carry with us into such situations, for this will keep us asking questions instead of leaping to conclusions, which will enable us to feel our way to the best approach.

Many readers are no doubt wondering why angels and other spiritual helpers can’t handle such matters on their own. Apparently, the problem is that spirits lingering close to the earth plane can no more perceive these higher beings than most living people can. Their consciousness remains as it was when they were living, so earthbound spirits continue to perceive the living but are oblivious to spiritual beings. The goal is to help these spirits shift into a higher state of vibration and consciousness. To answer your question, I think calling upon angels for help is a very wise thing to do; it certainly can’t hurt, and in many cases will prove powerful and helpful for all involved.

There are all sorts of reasons a spirit may not cross over into the afterlife when leaving this world, so the first thing to do is try to determine what the hang-up may be. Since you are able to talk to these spirits, this should be relatively easy for you. Being capable of two-way communication is helpful both in terms of figuring out what to do and knowing if your efforts have been successful. It’s a bit like trying to help a foreign immigrant get settled in a new land; it helps if both parties are able to hear and understand each other.

Some souls get stuck close to earth simply because they don’t realize they are dead. This tends to happen when people die suddenly and without warning. I imagine this state is much like what we experience when we dream at night; most of us “wake up” in a dream without any thought about the fact that our dream body is not the same body that is lying in our bed, sleeping. Here, helping a lost spirit is like approaching them in a dream and saying, “I realize you probably don’t know this, but you are actually dreaming right now and it’s time to wake up! Go that way to get to where you’re supposed to be.” If we bring angels in, the living helper can simply say, “If you look behind you, you will find an angel who is here to help you.” Once the spirit turns and sees the angel, the angel can take it from there.

Of course, not all spirit rescues are this easy or straightforward. If the spirit is mired in anger, fear, grief or other heavy emotions, its vibration will be too low to perceive the higher beings there to help. Here the job of the living is to help the spirit gain a higher perspective on their situation so that their vibration will rise to where they can let go of the past and open up to whatever comes next.

In this category we have the growing number of spirits who have no idea what to expect when they die. (Of course, this is preferable to when many people died in fear that they were going straight to an eternal punishment in hell.) When people expect there to be “nothing” when they die, that is what they tend to experience. This can lead to a period of limbo and confusion. I imagine this is like waking up in a hospital bed, feeling woozy and out of it, not knowing where you are, how you got there, or what you’re supposed to do next. Many spirits who find themselves in this position will wait for someone to come along whom they can ask for guidance. Since they can perceive the living but not higher beings, but most of the living can’t perceive them, this can prove to be a long wait. They may ask the living for help and become more confused when the living don’t seem to be able to perceive them. Some of these spirits may know or begin to suspect they have died but still not know what to do or where to go. If they had little religious experience when alive, the idea of “praying” for help may not even occur to them.

These spirits tend to linger in familiar places or near familiar people, and become excited when they encounter someone who can perceive them. Here the best thing is to explain to them that there is an afterlife, that there is nothing to fear, and that they have only to start to look for a light or tunnel and go through it to escape from the limbo they’re in. You can also suggest that they pray for help from whatever higher power they are most open to, or that they call to mind a loved one who preceded them in death and look around for that individual. If they are mired in strong negative emotions, you may have to counsel them just as you would the living. By helping them find more positive thoughts and feelings, they will become more able to perceive higher beings, let go of the past, and move on.

Some earthbound spirits have unfinished business and are looking for someone who can help them complete it. Many are simply waiting to get an important message through to the living. Others refuse to leave a particular loved one, preferring to wait until that person dies so they can cross over with them. You may be able to convince some that they can move on and come back when it’s time for the one they’re waiting for to pass, but some will refuse to go. We have to respect the free will of these spirits like we do the free will of living people.

Many earthbound spirits are stuck due to physical addictions. Just as this is one of the hardest things to “treat” in the living, it’s one of the hardest things to work through with a spirit. Since each individual has to find the strength to overcome addictions on their own, usually the best you can do is help a living individual free themselves from such a spirit, knowing all the while that the spirit will probably just find someone else to try to feed its addiction through.

Finally, there are those spirits who are so dark and “evil” that they are blind to the light and too heavy in vibration to rise to higher realms. These dark souls have no more interest in going “into the light” than they had in doing good deeds when they were alive. We can pray for and protect ourselves from these spirits, but like the worst criminals amongst the living, most of them don’t share our desire for love, peace and harmony.

Soul Arcanum

Haunted by Fatal Accident

Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum:

I was involved in a car accident eight years ago. The drunk man who hit me was 32 years old; he died at the scene. I am actively seeing a therapist and have been diagnosed with PTSD, but have always felt this man as a lingering presence in my life. I have been left with anxiety and remorse that I can’t shake even though the accident wasn’t my fault. I feel this lost spirit has attached himself to me and is draining me of my energy and truth. I have even tried to not believe in this to make it go away, but I can’t deny my truth anymore. I am an intuitive person and feel this to be the root of my problems. My date of birth is 4/22/79.
Kellie

Dear Kellie:

First and foremost, it is essential to your well-being and peace of mind to trust yourself. I know that the idea of spirit attachment is by no means mainstream, but that doesn’t mean it’s invalid. Further, whether one believes in spirit attachment or not, innumerable cases demonstrate that spirit releasement therapy can instantly resolve longstanding physical, emotional and mental problems. Usually, people have tried everything that modern medicine has to offer before they open up to the possibility of spirit attachment, so they are astounded when spirit releasement yields fast, dramatic results.

You describe a number of factors that support the idea that this man is indeed attached to you and influencing how you feel. Most important is your own feeling that this is what is going on. The best instrument for detecting this sort of phenomenon is one’s own intuition, and yours is very clearly trying to make you aware of the true nature of your problems. I urge you to listen to your own inner knowing and trust your ability to sense the truth.

In addition to your intuition, it’s helpful to realize that this sort of thing happens all the time. When a person dies a sudden, violent death, the odds of that person remaining earthbound on the other side rise dramatically. At first these spirits may not realize that they have died at all; one minute they are driving along, and the next, they’re walking through a very strange dreamworld. When someone who is inebriated dies a sudden violent death, the chances that they will end up disoriented on the other side are even greater.

When we add remorse to the mix, we even have a reason why a spirit who wasn’t necessarily disoriented may choose to hang around. Given your feelings of remorse and anxiety, odds are good that this spirit is aware of what happened and is so overcome with remorse that he is hanging around to try to find a way to make things up to you.

Knowing this should make it easier to forgive him if you haven’t yet, which will encourage him to move on. If you have forgiven him, then it’s important that he know and feel this. I doubt very much that he realizes that he’s harming you by endlessly trying to apologize or make things right. Once he knows he has been forgiven and that the best thing he can do for you is to let go, I imagine he’ll be amenable to moving on.

There is a book you may find interesting entitled A Change of Heart by Claire Slyvia. While the book is mainly about the attachment of a spirit via organ transplant, the author’s descriptions of how she became aware of the spirit’s presence and the ways this attachment made her feel like she wasn’t herself are similar to your own experiences.

For more on spirit releasement therapy, you might check out spiritrelease.org and spiritrelease.com. You may also be interested in this article, which links PTSD with spirit attachment: PTSD: An Alternate View.

For releasing the spirit, you have three basic options:

Personal/Ritualistic: You can try to release this spirit yourself. Since it seems this is a well-intentioned spirit, you shouldn’t encounter too much resistance from him. You might begin by simply communicating with him (out loud) that you are aware of his presence, and explain how he is negatively affecting you. Tell him that he died in the accident in case he doesn’t know, and communicate (with feeling) that you forgive him and want to move on. Communicate that it is best for him to move on as well – that both of you will benefit from this. Send him lots of love and understanding, and perhaps communicate that in losing his life in that accident, he more than paid for his poor judgment. Encourage him to forgive himself and look for the light or for angelic guides/helpers. Pray for help from the Spirit world and visualize him being guided in crossing over. There are also set rituals for this sort of thing that you may find in books or on the internet; trust your intuition to guide you to the best way for you.

Spiritual/Intuitive: You can visit a psychic/medium who is experienced with helping spirits cross over. I recommend finding a Spiritualist church and asking the minister there for advice. Many people who can perceive and communicate with spirits are able to talk them through the process of letting go and moving on. (This is what the main character on the TV show The Ghost Whisperer does.)

Secular/Interactive: In my opinion, this is the most reliable, powerful and thorough approach. You’ll want to find a hypnotherapist who has training and experience in spirit releasement therapy. The therapist will guide you into a deep trance state and dialogue with your subconscious mind/higher self regarding the true nature of your problems. If this spirit is attached to you, at this time it will be able to speak to the therapist through you, and the therapist can then guide the spirit in moving on. A good therapist will also help you begin to heal from all of this so that you can feel as good as new again.

After this spirit has been released, you may need further healing. It’s likely that this spirit attached to you at the scene of the accident, and your own healing from this traumatic experience may have been arrested or impeded by this attachment. Spiritual/energy healing can be very helpful here, as can prayer and meditation. Remember that your guides and angels are always standing by, ready to lend a hand. If you pray to them for the healing, answers and solutions you need, and you trust your intuition, you will be guided to whatever is right and best for you.

– Soul Arcanum

Crossing Over an Old Imaginary Friend

Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum:
I have a spirit friend who has followed me since I was a toddler. (My mother recalls me talking to her as an imaginary friend even before I do.) Though I don’t live in the house I grew up in, she now lives in my basement, and her name is Alyssa. Recently I decided to learn how to consciously communicate with her again, and now I can talk to her freely. She’s told me that she’s 11 years old and was killed by her abusive father. Her father’s ghost comes around sometimes too, though he’s not here as often as Alyssa. She tells me that he abused her throughout her life. I’ve seen him many times: he’s tall and muscular, looks dirty like a laborer, and is a smoker and an alcoholic. His eyes are filled with hate and sorrow. Sometimes I believe he’s mad at himself, but most of the time I feel he wants to hurt someone. Alyssa is very sweet and would never hurt me, but she hasn’t forgiven her father. Every time I go down into the basement, I feel she stands nearby to protect me from her father, who stares angrily at her while I’m there. When she is watching over me, he just glares at her but never moves an inch. Once she wasn’t there, however, and he crept toward me until I raced out of the basement. I want to help both of these ghosts cross over but I don’t know how. What should I do?
Laura

Dear Laura:

I must admit that this is not my specialty. While I have perceived earthbound spirits in the past, I am much more adept at communicating with spirits who have crossed over. I believe this is the result of a natural progression. When our psychic ability is first awakening, we tend to be pretty freaked out, and our fear aligns us with subtle energies of a lower nature.

Earthbound spirits have a heavier vibration than your average person. Even when they’re earthbound simply because they’re lost, they’re still deeply lonely and confused, so they’re not in a good space. Spirits who have crossed over have a higher vibration than your average person, so it takes someone who can get into a very high state of consciousness to communicate with them.

As we grow in faith and wisdom, our vibration naturally rises, so we tend to shift from psychically connecting with earthbound spirits to perceiving departed spirits in heaven, to ultimately channeling guides and angels. So where people are on this spectrum determines their psychic forte.

While I may not be the ideal person to help you at this time, I have been that person in the past, and I can tell you a few things about this situation that should help.

First, you are right to want to cross these ghosts over. As you can see, they are stuck beyond time and space; they’re interminably on hold. Given the appearance of the father, I’m betting he died shortly after killing his daughter. (Perhaps he committed suicide or got the death penalty for her murder.) In any case, neither of these beings were at peace in life, and thus they aren’t at peace in death.

As for your own needs, having earthbound spirits attached to you (even sweet little girl spirits) can have a negative affect on your mental, emotional, physical and spiritual well-being. To sustain themselves, earthbound spirits must draw upon our emotional energy, so even if Alyssa doesn’t mean you one bit of harm, she is a drain on you.

No doubt when you were a toddler, you were cute and seemed safe when Alyssa was looking for a happy family to join after she died. She had nowhere else to go, so she befriended you and hung out at your house. I’m sure it helped that you were able to perceive and play with her.

I bet her father is attached to her, and she is attached to you. He is clearly wrestling with his own demons, trying to overcome his lower nature. He may have resisted going into the Light when he died because he was afraid he would be punished for what he’d done, or he may have simply been trying to hold onto his daughter so he could continue to use her.

Many times murder victims will become earthbound because they want someone to know what happened to them and to see their murderers brought to justice. It’s my understanding that there is a window between a few days and about a week after death during which the Light is ever standing by, ready for us to cross over. If we linger too long before crossing over, that energy fades away, and we end up stuck between dimensions. This is why murder victims often become earthbound.

As for how you can help these two cross over, first you must convince them that this is in their best interests. You might assure Alyssa that once she has crossed into the Light, she’ll find other loved ones who have crossed before her. Further, since her father is clearly attached to her here, by crossing over she can set herself free from him.

As for him, you may have to talk to him about divine forgiveness and the need for him to forgive himself and seek redemption. If this doesn’t work, he may be willing to go simply because Alyssa is going. (You may have to get creative to convince him to move on.)

I would pray my heart out to generate lots of love and compassion for them both and bathe them with that energy. Send him as much love and compassion as you can muster, for though he may be angry and violent, he is clearly a tortured spirit. This will help him to reconnect with his own inner divinity, which will help him align with crossing over. It will also spiritually protect you, for as I always say, the best way to protect yourself from dark shadows is to simply turn up your inner light.

Having said that, it’s important that you don’t feel stressed about crossing them over. While it’s wise and kind to do what you can, they have free will. If they refuse to cross over, it would be best for you to set yourself free from this spirit attachment. That is a big additional subject that I don’t have room to go into here, and which I have covered extensively in other articles.

Once these two have agreed to cross over, you might simply pray for assistance from their guides and angels as well as your own. There are beings ever ready to assist us with this sort of thing, but first we must look for the Light. Getting stuck between dimensions is much like getting mired in any problem here in the physical. For example, an addict can be down and out and feel like there is nothing he can do to break free, but once he decides to change and asks for help, he discovers that there has always been help available to him. So pray with all your heart for guides and angels to come and escort these two over, and tell the spirits to look for these kind helpers.

If this doesn’t work, you could try to simply take them to the portal they need to cross through. An obvious choice would be a funeral, for there will be an open portal there, ready for the recently departed. Tell Alyssa to get her father and come with you. Once there, simply tell her to look for the Light and to take her father with her through it.

If all the above fails, you can always call someone who specializes in this sort of thing. Since you can consciously communicate with her, however, I’m confident you can affect this on your own. Heck, you may even have the makings of an earthbound spirit specialist yourself!

– Soul Arcanum


Why Some Ghost Hunters Have Trouble Securing Evidence

Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum:

I love the show Ghost Hunters, (on the Sci-Fi channel), but it has me puzzled. Though these guys believe in ghosts, they rarely get the evidence they’re looking for. (In case you’re not familiar, they investigate possible hauntings by taking all sorts of high-tech equipment to those locations. They then only deem a place to be haunted if they are able to capture indisputable evidence on tape.) The longer I watch this show, the more skeptical I become. It seems when studied scientifically, most paranormal phenomena falls apart. Your thoughts?
– Joe

Dear Joe:

I often watch this show, as it’s one of my kids’ favorites. Those who aren’t familiar can check out the website of The Atlantic Paranormal Society – a.k.a. TAPS – for more information.

Every time I watch it, I feel bad for these guys. They are trying to measure something metaphysical with physical equipment, so it’s like watching someone who is blind trying to prove the existence of colors by setting up a tape recorder. They need someone who can actually perceive what they’re looking for to guide them.

Also, with their blundering approach, they’re more like ghost busters than ghost hunters. Think about all the things that deer hunters do to avoid chasing away their prey; when TAPS shows up and starts moving stuff, making noise and joking around, they literally scare off the very entities they’re “hunting.”

It’s also important to consider that when a homeowner reports hearing sounds, seeing things, or even being touched, they may NOT be perceiving these experiences with their five physical senses. It’s more likely they are perceiving them via ESP – EXTRA-sensory perception, or via a mixture of physical and extra-physical senses.

We traditionally view ghosts as ethereal, misty beings. The term ether refers to energy in the process of manifesting. Ether is neither physical nor non-physical, but something in between. It only makes sense that since ghosts are not actually physical, it takes more than physical senses to perceive them.

The astral plane where earthbound spirits reside is close to our own realm of emotion, so it is just about as hard to capture ghosts on tape as it is to capture the essence of emotions such as love, longing, fear or anger on tape. This also explains why the best instruments we have for perceiving ghosts are our own feelings.

We first become aware of the presence of metaphysical entities with our “sixth” sense. We feel something, and that makes us pay attention. When our feeling alerts us, we may then “look” for what is causing this feeling and perceive something vague, or more commonly, something in our peripheral vision that “disappears” when we look at it directly. It is not our physical eyes doing this seeing – it is an extra-sensory experience that we perceive to be physical. Obviously, there is no video camera or recording device on the planet that has ESP.

The same is true of noises and touches. When spirits “touch” us, it is usually our auras that register the touch – not our physical skin – though we may not consciously know the difference. (When you feel “shivers” up your spine, for example, that is happening in your aura – not your physical body.)

There are various degrees of manifestation in the physical, however, which is why researchers do sometimes get physical evidence. For example, you may recall a recent episode of Ghost Hunters in which one of the investigators felt he had been slapped, and manifested scratches on that area of his back. (This sort of evidence is rare because it takes tremendous energy for metaphysical entities to affect the physical world.)

Another thing that always strikes me when I watch this show is how “unspiritual” these researchers seem to be in general. While they have a sincere interest in the subject, they have a pretty irreverent attitude, and seem to think that they can study ghosts the same way a biologist studies frogs or butterflies.

Pondering the sorts of places we typically associate with ghosts and spirits can teach us a lot about their nature and the best ways to study them. Cemeteries are a great example, for they are havens for earthbound spirits for a number of reasons.

First, spirits tend to move on from places where there is constant change and commotion, and settle in quiet places where energy can stagnate, and cemeteries are rarely disturbed. Also, everyone who enters a cemetery thinks about death and spirits, which sends the spirits there a lot of energy. If I were a spirit in need of a place to hang out where no one would try to get rid of me, and where I’d get fed a lot of energy in the form of mental and emotional attention, I’d linger in a cemetery myself!

In light of all of this, we might deduce that to get spirits to show up in supposedly haunted houses, we should treat those places as we would a cemetery. This means lowering our voices and moving carefully. Instead of bustling through with extension chords, laughing and joking, we should maintain a respectful, quiet, sacred approach.

Further, it takes a shift in consciousness – a meditative state of mind – to create a bridge to spirit, and most of the time, these guys are either goofing around or psychically shut down by their obsession with “scientific” evidence. Their minds are in full waking beta instead of the alpha state essential to perceiving subtle energies and initiating inter-dimensional communication.

They’re also fooling themselves with their “scientific” methods. Quantum physical experiments demonstrate that the beliefs and expectations of the observers will affect what is observed, so a skeptic who undertakes an experiment may get negative results, while a “believer” who undertakes the same experiment may get mind-blowing positive results. As no one can be 100% objective, researchers tend to convince themselves that they’re unbiased, yet all the while their conscious and subconscious desires and expectations are affecting their experiences. This tends to yield variable results, which is pretty much what happens on this show.

Though I’ve never seen them do it, TAPS does have an article at their site about using psychics in tandem with all the technology. This sounds like a great idea to me, because I believe if they had a “spiritual leader” aligning the energy of the group, they would have far more interesting experiences and be able to help the earthbound spirits they encounter. Such a person could also close portals and clear the energy of the buildings they investigate.

If you read the articles at the TAPS website, you’ll see that the investigators do believe in the existence of ghosts, demons, etc., and they often remark on the feelings they have during investigations and their frustration with not being able to capture much with their technical instruments. Despite this, they don’t seem to be changing their approach, and as a result, it seems to me that what they are really proving is that physical devices are not the ideal tools for studying metaphysical phenomena.

I’ll leave you with one more thing to counter to your doubts: Many experiences with spirits are personal in nature. They only happen for the people spirits are reaching out to, whether those are people the spirit loved during life, or people the earthbound entity has grown attached to for some reason. Just because others can’t perceive what the “haunted” can, that doesn’t mean those spiritual encounters aren’t “real.”

– Soul Arcanum