Posts Tagged ‘haunted’

“The tender word forgotten, The letter you did not write, The flower you might have sent, dear, Are your haunting ghosts tonight” – Margaret Elizabeth Sangster

You’ve heard of haunted houses, but what about a house designed by the haunted to keep the ghosts at bay?

In San Jose, California, a house just of this nature exists. It all began back in 1862, when Sarah Pardee married William Wirt Winchester, the manufacturer of the infamous Winchester repeating rifle. Sarah gave birth to a daughter Annie, who soon died from marasmus at only 42 days old. This fact is intriguing, as marasmus is caused by a lack of nutrients, displayed as energy deficiency (wasting away). Could the haunting of Sarah by spirits, already been around her at this time, depleting her energy and resources while pregnant? Her husband William later died from tuberculosis. Alone and grief stricken after losing her only child and husband, Sarah journeyed to Boston to speak with a spiritualist medium, seeking advice on why her life had been filled with such great misfortune.

The spiritualist medium reportedly told Sarah that she was haunted by the spirits of hundreds of ghosts, the spirits of those who had been killed by a Winchester repeating rifle. These spirits included soldiers from the Civil War, native americans and cowboys in the Wild West.

The medium went on to explain that in order to escape the continued hauntings, Sarah would need to move out west and to build a house. The house would not be an normal type of house, rather the construction must never cease. According to the medium, as long as construction was ongoing in the home, it would keep the angry spirits disoriented, while providing a place for the good spirits to commune with Sarah and protect her from further danger. In addition, the architecturial design was meant to be complicated and confusing in order to vex and confuse the angry spirits, which would distract them from finding and further haunting Sarah. Sarah took this advice to heart and moved from Connecticut to San Jose, California and bought over 160 acres of land, where she began and continued construction on a home, which is now referred to as the Winchester Mystery House.

After her husband’s death, Sarah received twenty million dollars along with shares of stock in the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. It is reported that the dividends that she received averaged about one thousand dollars a day, along with her millions in the bank. This was in the late 1800′s, into 1900′s, when there was no income tax and the average rate of pay was less than a dollar a day.

With this unlimited amount of cash in hand, Sarah hired the best carpenters available and proceeded with

stained glass doors and windows – Winchester Mystery House
photo: Kala Ambrose

construction 24 hours a day non-stop. The craftsmanship and victorian design are stunning and quite a tribute to the men who built the home. She built a house seven stories tall with stairs leading up to nowhere, doors that opened to a two story drop into a kitchen, windows built into floors, staircases with forty four steps that are only two inches high each, a seance room, secret panels and passageways inside the walls of twisting hallways and the presence of the number 13 in a myriad of examples including windows with 13 panes, 13 bathrooms and 13 hooks in her seance room. As extravagant as it was bizarre, the decor included elaborate tiffany glass windows, gold and silver chandeliers, and rare woods throughout including intricate parquet floors. Her favorite pattern, the spiderweb can be seen in many windows and other designs in the home.

Though beautiful, the house exudes a macabre energy. In some rooms, the sense of fear is palpable, such as the daisy bedroom, which was Sarah’s bedroom until the 1906 earthquake damaged the front thirty rooms of the house. During the earthquake, Sarah was trapped in this bedroom until staff could remove fallen debris and reach her. Once she was pulled from the room, she stated that the spirits had punished her for spending too much time working on the front rooms, so she ordered that these thirty front rooms be bordered up and closed. These rooms remained closed up until her death.

As a psychic paranormal investigator, I visited the Winchester Home in September 2000. I was looking forward to spending some time in the seance room as well as the rest of the home and grounds to see what energy and spirits were around. Walking through the house is a maze at best and provides insight into the mind of Sarah Winchester and the decisions she reflected on each day as she gave new instructions to the workers each morning for the continued construction.

While in the home, I assumed that the seance room would be where I would feel the most intense energy if something was there, but during my time at the house, I experienced no paranormal activity in the seance room. I did however sense the presence of a spirit twice during my time at the Winchester House. The first encounter was while walking through the house. I was focused on the many twists and turns throughout the house and walked to a window to see how high up we had climbed. Looking out the window, I saw a crescent shape hedge on the grounds below. Standing by the hedge was the ghostly figure of a woman who was looking directly back at me. I stepped back to lift my camera to take a photo and by the time I had the camera in place, she was gone. The figure wore a white gown and appeared to be in her late 30′s or early 40′s. She did not appear to me to be Sarah, who was always described as wearing black, including a veil covering her face most of the time, with her hair pulled back in a bun. This women was dressed in white and her hair was free flowing around her.

The second encounter was in the bedroom described on the tour as Sarah Winchester’s bedroom, though

Sarah Winchester’s bedroom – Winchester Mystery House
photo: Kala Ambrose

it is reported that she slept in many different bedrooms throughout the years. In this bedroom, to the right of the bed seen in this photo here, I saw the same figure I had seen at the hedge outside. Could it perhaps be her niece who cared for Sarah?

Paranormal investigators and enthusiasts continue to investigate and tour the Winchester Mystery House for the house itself is as fascinating as the history. The Winchester Mystery House is located at 525 South Winchester Boulevard, San Jose, CA and the website is www.winchestermysteryhouse.com

Consider it to be a must see should you be in the Bay area. During the month of October and on every Friday the 13th (Sarah’s favorite number), the house holds candlelight tours in the evening. Since my last visit, new areas of the house have been opened and are available to tour, including the basement, which is reportedly one of the most active areas for haunted activity, with the presence of a worker in coveralls seen by staff and visitors repeatedly.

As a psychic and empath, I’m particularly sensitive to people, places and things, all of which carry energy imprints and trails. For this reason, I rarely bring home an antique, carefuly consider where I sleep and am rarely found in a mall.

Antiques in particular carry the energy of the people who lived in the home. The longer the antique was held in a family home, the more energy it collects.  Some people are so attached to their material possessions and loved ones, that they don’t leave, even upon their death.  They choose instead to stay in the family home or attached to a piece of jewelry or even a favorite chair.

Paranormal investigators and psychics understand this connection and almost all of them have a story or two to share about a ghost who was attached to a particular home or item.  What has proved most difficult is to catch an image of a ghost on video, so that people without the sixth sense can see what we see.  The wait though may be over, as the footage here caught on tape, may very well be one of the strongest pieces of evidence found to date.

On June 14, 2010, the Habitat for Humanity in Franklin, North Carolina experienced a disturbance at their store, which caused their burglar alarm to go off in the middle of the night. Local police responded to investigate, but nothing was found disturbed at the location and the entrance that tripped the alarm was founded locked tight.  The next morning the office manager reviewed the security video tapes to see if she could find anyone entering or leaving the location.  What she found has surprised everyone, as it appears that the Habitat for Humanity cameras have captured the image of a ghost exiting the building, which tripped the alarm sensors.

View the video here to see for yourself along with the interview from ABC News 13:

http://www.wlos.com/shared/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wlos_vid_2437.shtml

What are your thoughts, is this a ghost captured on video?

Current speculation is that the ghost is attached to an item
that was donated for sale to the Habitat for Humanity.

Beginning in 2006 on the Explore Your Spirit with Kala Show, I’ve had the opportunity to speak with the legendary Brad Steiger about his research and subsequent writings on the paranormal realms. During our conversations, we’ve discussed many aspects of spirituality, including parapsychology, the metaphysical and the dark side. Suffice to say, if there was a paranormal incident requiring the need to assemble a powerful group to investigate, Brad would be my first choice for the team.

Over the course of five decades, Brad has written 170 books in exploration of the unexplained, the mysterious and the supernatural. I consider myself a fan and a friend and I’ve had the pleasure to interview Brad several times about his work. These interviews are available in the archives of the Explore Your Spirit with Kala Show including -  Real Vampires, Night Stalkers and Creatures from the Darkside; as well as Shadow World and Revelations: The Divine Fire and my favorite interview of all with Brad – Strange Guests.

In his latest book, Real Zombies, The Living Dead, and Creatures of the Apocalypse, Brad Steiger demystifies the stories and legends of the zombie, including what has been portrayed incorrectly in films. The book delivers a haunted history of zombie life and explores how zombies are created using spells and hexes, along with intense rituals and ceremonies to bring the dead back to life. Examining the history and culture of the zombie, the book includes legends, traditions and rituals from Native America, China, Japan, Persia, India and the Pacific. Along this historical journey leading up to modern day reports of zombie encounters, Steiger compels us to ask the question, ‘Are zombies real, are they the undead walking amongst us’?

This blood-curdling chronicle delves into the legends
and chilling tales of the macabre including:

• The devil baby of Bourbon Street, lurking in the shadows of New Orleans
• The great zombie war involving hundreds of zombie soldiers fighting for their Queen
• A swamp child who roams the bayous of Louisiana
• The history of the most famous Queen of all – Marie Laveau
• Cheeka, the wendigo of Sproat Lake and other ghosts, golems and monsters
• Ancient Kahuna teachings of Hawaii

Moving beyond zombie legends, Steiger explores the religions and traditional folk magic rituals connected with the ability to create a zombie including Voodoo, Shamanism, Spirit Doctors, Santeria, and Macumba. Other chapters reveal time honored traditions of creating objects to ward off evil, invoking special rites to honor the dead and ongoing battles between darkness and light.

A particular favorite for me in the book is on page 128, where my name is defined as it was used in an ancient Hawaiian Kahuna ritual.… ‘When she agreed to his request, he took a sprig of leaves and some sea water, sprinkled the girl and the air where the spirit stood, and spoke the words of the kala. Then dismissing the girl and the spirit, he turned to the young man explaining that the kala (to bring back the light) or cleansing for him was a more difficult matter’…

Highly entertaining and informative, consider it to be a must read for any paranormal scholar who wishes to further understand the connections between tribal religions and cultures and the link to the astral planes where spirits reside hovering between life and death before passing into the shadowland.

‘I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it’. – Thomas Jefferson

Continuing on our journey through the spirit of New Orleans, the city itself showcases the diverse cultures that make up the gumbo of NOLA. The fascinating history of the Creole and Cajun cultures are portrayed in the music and cuisine, the Spanish and French architecture are apparent throughout the city and the soulful influence of the Caribbean and African people provide the pulse and vibe of the crescent city.

The most unique combination of ingredients blended together make the best gumbo and the same can be said about creating a city. Each culture, who settles in a region, indelibly leaves their mark and impact on the area. In New Orleans history, this includes the migration of the Irish. During the 1840′s, a great famine hit Ireland, referred to as the potato famine. The magnitude of this famine along with the politics of the time with the English, encouraged almost one million Irish people to migrate to the new world. During the influx of the Irish to America, the majority relocated to Boston and New York in greater numbers than in New Orleans, but like each piece of history that we explore here in NOLA dear readers, we can see the significant impact that each culture created in the city. When looking at American history, it can be said that Ireland’s loss was America’s gain, as the country benefitted in a myriad of ways from the Irish settling here in the U.S. Many of our cultural, religious and holiday celebrations were brought here by the Irish, including the celebration of Halloween and St. Patrick’s Day.

The Irish who migrated through the port of New Orleans settled into an area near the river called the Irish Channel. At great peril and with a tremendous loss of life due to disease, snakes and alligators, the Irish were instrumental in digging and establishing the extensive canal system in the city including the New Basin Canal which provided an important link from downtown New Orleans to Lake Pontchartrain. The building of the New Basin Canal was extremely difficult, as the Irish worked with water up to their hips while digging and were at constant risk of contracting malaria, cholera and yellow fever, all of which were fatal to many. Many of the Irish laborers who fell ill while working were buried at or near this area and it is estimated that the number could be as high as 30,000. This area is reportedly one of the most haunted in New Orleans, especially near Canal Street at City Park Avenue, which has a record of hauntings and active encounters including seeing full apparitions of ghosts walking down the street and ghostly funeral processions.

The Irish added to the diversity of architecture and culture in the city, building St. Patrick’s Catholic Church and establishing Hibernia Bank. One example of Irish architecture is the Gallier House on Royal Street, built by Irishmen James Gallier and his son James Jr. who were architects in the city. Another testimony to the strength and heart of the Irish is the statue of Margaret Haughery, an Irish immigrant who became a well respected business woman in New Orleans. Her business acumen was only matched by her good deeds and charity and the statue portrays her comforting an orphan in her arms. It is believed that this statue of Margaret is the first statue in the U.S. to honor a woman.

When in New Orleans, it’s always good to tap into the ‘Luck of the Irish’ and no place is more famous for being Irish in the city than Pat O’Briens. With their signature flame fountains (water fountains with fire in the middle), live music and special drinks served up in souvenir glasses, Pat O’Brien’s delivers on their motto created back in 1933, which is “Have Fun”! Located in the heart of the French Quarter, Pat O’Brien’s has an illustrious history, first as a speakeasy during prohibition and then operating as an Irish bar. Perhaps what it’s most famous for is the creation of the drink – the ‘Hurricane‘, which is still popular to this day. Dining and listening to music at Pat’s is an experience not to miss while in New Orleans. May the luck of the Irish be yours while you enjoy the food, music and festivities!

Kala’s tips on finding the ‘Luck of the Irish‘ while visiting New Orleans:

• Visit the historic Gallier House, now a local museum located on Royal Street
• Have a signature Hurricane drink at Pat O’Briens in a souvenir take home hurricane glass
• Order your very own Pat O’Brien’s Mardi Gras beads to wear at the next St. Patty’s Day party
• There’s no St. Patrick’s Day parade quite like the one in New Orleans where cabbages, potatoes and other produce are tossed from the floats
• Visit the haunted area of Canal Street at City Park avenue to try your luck at seeing a ghost

Maggie can’t leave the kitchen while anything is cooking.  As long as she stays in the kitchen everything is fine.  But if she leaves, the stove top, oven, toaster, whatever she has been using, mysteriously shuts itself off.

She has narrowed this phenomenon down to the presence of her “kitchen ghost,” as she likes to call it – a woman who had died, and carried with her a fear of fire. Maggie has resolved the problem by bringing into the kitchen good music and plenty of reading material whenever she wants to cook. “I like my kitchen ghost,” she confesses. “I never want her to leave. Now I don’t have to worry about whether or not I turned the coffee pot off.”

Alice, a single teenage mother with an infant, lives with her own mother in a two story home. Alice goes to school part-time and Grandma Sarah, while not working, watches the baby. After Alice sees a spirit in the living room one day we are called in to do a “ghost clearing” Alice hopes the session will explain the unknown footsteps in the middle of the night, doors mysteriously left open, her feeling of being watched.

We go in and, forming a healing circle, convince the spirit of an angry elderly man to leave the house and complete his journey to Spirit. He moves on to a better place, joining his ancestors in peace. A second spirit, a nice woman, moves on as well…easily…almost too easily. First she is there, and then she’s not. We don’t see her anymore and the house is at peace. So we leave, thinking our work is done.

It is now two months later, and we get a call from Alice. She says that she smells perfume every-so-often, and that at one point she felt a comforting presence, watching over her during a period of sadness and despair. “Steve, do you think I could have prevented the spirit from moving on during the clearing? At one point,” she relates sheepishly, “I thought to the spirit that she could come back anytime she wanted to.”

Alice finally shares something she hadn’t shared before. A few weeks before the clearing session, she had left the baby alone in the bedroom while going quickly to another room to take care of errands. “It’s safe,” she thought. “The baby can’t even roll over yet.” But, while in the other room, she heard a noise and rushed back to the bedroom to behold something amazing. The baby was hovering midway between the bed top and the floor, and was slowly being “lifted” by invisible hands through the air, to be gently placed upon the bed. “I’m not ready to let go of the ghost yet,” she confides. “I really want the extra help.”

While traveling, we might see an advertisement about, and actually participate in, a “ghost tour.” Some of those ghost tours actually do include ghosts! Many of the spirits may be comfortable where they are – Earthbound. There are many people that wish the spirits to stay, and many of the spirits might feel good about being wanted, and attended to.

Claire had told her husband, before he died, that he could evaluate, or at least meet, prospective husbands for her before he succumbed to terminal cancer. She hadn’t wanted to agree to this, but did so in order to appease him and alleviate his fears.  A short while later her husband died and after some time of mourning, she decided to date again.

Her first date had car trouble before going to pick her up; the engagement never took place. Her second date tripped on her front doorstep, severely straining his ankle. Some time later, she actually went out to dinner with a man, only to have a chandelier fall from the restaurant ceiling, narrowly missing his head. “Steve,” she admits. “I think it might be time for me to let go of my husband.”

As Light Workers, part of our job description is to help bring people higher levels of awareness, a greater sense of peace. And this is not limited to those people still embodied, but also to those who are disembodied – ghosts. At the time of death, and thereafter, having not taken advantage of the gateway to a Higher Reality, these Earthbound Spirits often roam unconsciously around the Earth, haunting various people and/or places. As a service, we can help these spirits become more aware of their surroundings, and their choices – to stay upon the Earth Plane, or to continue the journey to Spirit, joining their ancestors in a place of greater peace and contentment.

At times, it may seem hard to decide if and when to release spirit. If the spirit has become a problem then we may easily decide to send him or her onward. Doors or closets opening and closing, lights coming on or off,  bad smells, people having negative physical interactions with the spirit, bothersome noises at times, other more negative interactions – all these may prompt a person to send the ghost onward.

But what about a spirit that just wants to help, a spirit who is comfortable where he or she is? What about a spirit that is more of a helper than a hinderer? In the first example above, the situation with the kitchen ghost, Maggie did not even help the spirit become aware of her choices. She decided to keep the spirit in the dark, assuming that the spirit would be more than happy to stay and watch the kitchen. This, to me, may have been an unethical decision on Maggie’s part. I felt the need to communicate with the spirit, to see if I could help. However, I was not given permission from the homeowner to do so. Even if I had tried to send the spirit onward, the homeowner might have just as easily kept the spirit there.

In the second example, Alice, the single teenage mother, had the heart and the willingness to help lead the spirit to a greater state of awareness, but then, out of fear or the need for additional help with her baby, she invited the ghost to stay. During that incident, we were able to communicate clearly to the spirit that she had an option to find greater peace with her ancestors. However, the single mother and the ghost had reached an agreement in which the ghost would stay and help. The mother wanted the help, and the spirit wanted to help. Alice, however, did agree that at some future time when she was feeling better and more confident about her own parenting skills, she would once again contact the ghost. She would remind the ghost about greater peace and contentment being available. She would sincerely urge the spirit onward.

What about a spirit who is actually a loved one who has passed on? These situations can cause ethical, moral, and emotional dilemmas. For someone who has recently lost a loved one, it is often “normal” for the spirit to hang around for some time, normal for the bereaved to “hallucinate” the presence of the deceased. If the relationship is supportive and loving, I will not even try to send the spirit onward. There may be a need on both the person’s parts to continue the relationship. However, if the relationship turns harmful or limiting, if it interferes with the healthy functioning of either individual, then it may be time to intervene. It may be time to help both of them with the grief process, allowing, even encouraging, the separation. Claire, whose husband had died holding onto the thought of interviewing prospective husbands for her, had finally reached a new level of awareness herself. After realizing that her husband had been hanging around, being perhaps a bit too forceful with his interviews, she had reached a decision to help him reach a new, higher, level of awareness.

There is no pat answer as to when we “should” send an Earthbound spirit onward. For “simple” hauntings, those in which the spirit is just hanging around or observing, we may be doing a disservice to those ghosts that we know are present if we merely ignore them. The same holds true for more “complex” cases. We can review our motives, our needs and wants, and approach the situation with loving kindness, from the heart. We treat the ghosts as we would real people. They may be lost or merely unaware of the option to find greater peace. When the spirit is letting its presence be known, he or she is also more open to receiving our communications, to listening to us. We can, at that time, communicate with them. We can let them know that they are dead, their responsibilities upon the Earth are over, they are forgiven for what they did or didn’t do, and loved ones are waiting (in the Light) to greet them and to help them. If family, they can come back to visit on holidays and other times, but they must not linger.

They have their own lives to lead…in Spirit.

Steven Rogat will be a guest on The Explore Your Spirit with Kala Show in early 2010 . Check back for the official show date coming soon.

More about Steven Rogat…
Steven is a gifted clairvoyant, medical/emotional intuitive, and shamanic healer renowned for his ability to touch others’ lives with his wisdom, insight, and healing. He is a National Certified Counselor and Licensed Professional Counselor who brings to his practice extensive training with indigenous healers in the Hawaiian, Mexican, and Native American traditions. He is also a massage therapist, hypnotherapist, Eye Movement Therapist (EMDR) and Thought Field Therapist (TFT) whose variety of skills and natural clairvoyance create a unique opportunity for healing. Steven’s books include Healing Thoughts: Applying Therapeutic Shamanism in Your Daily Life and, co-written with Marcia Rogat, Spirit Journeys: Freeing the Soul in This Life and Beyond. More info at: www.CreativeThought.org

This summer on the Examiner I shared the Best Metaphysical Movies to watch and discuss with friends. This fall as Halloween draws near, there’s no better time than the present to list the best Paranormal Movies that are entertaining, informing and at times, downright frightening. This particular list focuses more on (reportedly fictional) paranormal style movies, rather than horror. Horror movies are certainly based on paranormal circumstances, but for the sake of this list, I’m choosing to focus on paranormal monsters and events.

Don’t be shy, share your favorites paranormal movies with me and together we’ll grow the list to share with others. If you’re wondering what next “Best” list I have on order- coming this winter, I’ll deliver the Best of Sci Fi.

As promised in the Best Metaphysical Movies list,

I present

“Paranormal Movies, Chills, Thrills and Mysteries Galore”

In no particular order, my list of Best Paranormal Movies are:

• GhostBusters 1 & 2
• Dracula
• Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein
• Wolf
• The Wolfman
• The Mummy
• The Howling
• Carrie
• An American Werewolf in London
• Young Frakenstein
• The Sixth Sense
• Interview with a Vampire
• Poltergeist
• The Entity
• The Exorcist
• Salems Lot
• Signs
• Witches of Eastwick
• Hocus Pocus
• Practical Magic
• Rosemary’s Baby
• The Shining
• The Ghost and Mrs. Muir

I always love to throw in a few tv shows too…

• True Blood
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• Charmed

More about Kala Ambrose:
Kala is an award winning author, intuitive and talk show host of the Explore Your Spirit with Kala Show. Her thought-provoking interviews entice listeners to tune in around the globe! Described by her guests and listeners as discerning, empowering and inspiring, she speaks with world renowned authors, artists, teachers and researchers delving into metaphysical, holistic and paranormal topics. Kala’s  book, 9 Life Altering Lessons: Secrets of the Mystery Schools Unveiled delves into the mysteries of ancient Egyptian mystery schools and explains their wisdom teachings. Kala lectures on Esoteric Teachings,  Developing Business Intuition, Working with Auras, Chakras and Energy Fields, and Wise Woman Wisdom. Kala’s Guided Meditations CD’s have just been released with Spirit of Hawaii and Egyptian Mystery Temple and Tibetan Mountain Journey.  More info: www.ExploreYourSpirit.com