Posts Tagged ‘Paranormal’

A new website, Mass Most Haunted will be launched on August 15th by Phillip Brunelle. The focus of the website will be to present video and photo evidence of real ghosts captured on camera. Mass Most Haunted will upload videos and photos to showcase paranormal evidence that they capture during future investigations.

According to Brunelle, he has been contacted by producers of the SYFY network’s television show, Paranormal Files with a request that he share some of the paranormal footage he has captured, or may capture in the future to use on the television show Paranormal Files: Fact or Fiction. Phillip Brunelle is not yet sure if he will release any of his paranormal evidence or work with the production company just yet as he is still in the process of creating his website Mass Most Haunted and preparing for its launch.

Mass Most Haunted is currently seeking requests for paranormal investigations in Massachusetts and New England. In addition, they will also display the most genuine paranormal videos & photos sent to the site by the public. If you have a video or photo with evidence of a ghost or paranormal activity and would like to have Mass Most Haunted review the paranormal evidence and consider it to be featured on their website, they invite you to submit the information to them, by following the instructions on their website.

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Enjoyed this article? Kala welcomes your comments and reads them all. Don’t miss a thing! Subscribe by clicking the button at the top right corner of this article. By doing so, you’ll receive e-mail updates every time a new Haunted History article by Kala Ambrose is posted – and it’s free! To read other articles by Kala Ambrose, visit her column as the National Metaphysical Spirituality Writer for the Examiner.

More about Kala Ambrose: Kala Ambrose 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 Ambrose is a highly interactive teacher on a mission to educate, entertain and inspire. She lectures on the Ancient Wisdom Teachings of Egypt and the Mystery Schools, Developing Business Intuition, Working with Auras, Chakras and Energy Fields, and Wise Woman Wisdom.

Kala’s new book Ghost Hunting North Carolina will be available in 2011.
More information about Kala at: www.ExploreYourSpirit.com
Information on Intuitive readings and consultations with Kala available at:
http://www.exploreyourspirit.com/psychic.html

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.

In this column ‘Ask Kala’, intuitive and ancient wisdom teacher Kala Ambrose, invites you to email your probing metaphysical, spiritual, esoteric and paranormal questions. Due to the volume of email she receives, she won’t be able to answer back individual e-mails. Instead, she’ll choose interesting questions and answer them here on the Examiner. This week’s question is from Kelley.

Kelley writes – “Hello Kala, I have a digital alarm clock that I used to have to reset every 5 days or so because it gained time. I’ve had this clock a few years and its always been this way. My mother’s room was adjacent to mine. She recently died and since then I haven’t had to reset my clock!! Could she have affected the clock’s mechanism? It sounds weird but a few years ago she went to see a psychic who I had seen as well as other members of my family. He knew the names of deceased relatives, etc. There was no problem reading me or other members of my family. And no, we didn’t volunteer information as we were somewhat skeptical and didn’t want to give him any clues he could work from. Anyway, my mother went to see him and he was stumped. He tried and tried but he couldn’t read her. Are there people who can affect clocks, etc without knowing it? Thank you”.

Hi Kelley,

Thanks for writing with a most intriguing question. You ask – “Are there people who can affect clocks, etc without knowing it”?

The short answer is Yes and it has been studied, researched and discussed by people in both the spiritual and scientific realms.

The Aura Body and Energy

As an intuitive, I’ve seen auras since childhood. Over the years, I began to study what I saw in the aura, observing the energetic patterns and shapes as well as short energy bursts that I would see erupting from the body, similar to what occurs when the sun emits a solar flare. These energetic bursts are capable of disrupting electronics and are felt by other people who have intuitive ability and are sensitive to energy. Some people are aware of the energy they can build and for others it is a complete surprise when it occurs.

In some cases, it is not a burst of energy that is created, but rather energy residue that has built up and is trapped within the aura and energy bodies and is not able to be released properly. To imagine what this looks like in the field surrounding the body, visualize a thunder storm right before the rain is released from the clouds. The clouds are heavy and full, the energy gathers and the air feels pregnant, ready for a release. If the conditions are not right and the rain is not able to gently fall, tumultuous weather patterns can occur with lightning and high winds. Energy blocked in the fields can cause similar disruptions as it seeks to be released. When there is a blockage which stops the release of energy, it builds like a thunderstorm and can create havoc.

There are also people who have learned consciously with their spiritual practice, and sometimes subconsciously carrying over information from previous lifetimes, to balance and harness this energy. They are able to take this energy to creative positive effects in the world including healing abilities in many forms, such as physical healing, soul healing, working with nature and raising the energy vibration of people and places wherever they are.

What About the Clocks

Each of the three energy types listed above can have an effect on the electronics near their energy field. I receive reports each year from people who have experiences including turning street lights on and off as they pass by them. Others affect the performance of radios, clocks, computers and televisions or cause lights, security alarms and other electronics in their home to turn off and on repeatedly. For many years, I was not able to wear a watch, as invariably, when I did, the watch would malfunction or stop completely. I’ve also had a similar effect on clocks, including the clock that I kept in the library where I taught the esoteric teachings for years. The clock would never keep the time and would randomly change the time often and then stop working completely. The clock was looked at to see if it was in need of repair and it was found to be in good working order. The batteries would be replaced with new batteries only to run down again quickly.

There are a variety of physical, emotional and spiritual reasons for why this happens. For some people, it occurs only when their emotions are running very high and for others it was a random event occurring only when they were going through puberty. Some of these people are tapping into what is described in parapsychology as psychokinesis/telekinesis (PK/TK). While there are skeptics who will say that the human body is not capable of affecting these fields, those who have experienced doing so first hand see the results.

Scientific Study

There has been some scientific parapsychological research on this effect, including what is referred to as the Pauli effect. Further research needs to be continued on psychokinesis, expanded consciousness and expanded energy fields so that it can be further understood. Unfortunately, there has not been enough support with funding for many institutes to continue these studies at the level needed to provide the deeper research needed. Some of the most notable researchers in this field of study include J.B. Rhine (Rhine Research Center), Professor Bill Roll (University of West Georgia), Dean Radin (Institute of Noetic Sciences) and Robert Jahn and Roger Nelson (PEAR laboratory at Princeton).

A form of psychokinesis/telekinesis was recently featured in the film with George Clooney entitled The Men Who Stare at Goats, which focused on the US Army’s research into psi abilities. Another example would be the fictional book and film by Stephen King entitled Carrie, which displayed an extreme and negative show of psi ability with PK/TK force.

Universal Mysteries

I’m currently writing a book about the aura and energy fields and the effect of these fields on each person. Over the past decade, I have seen the energy fields expanding and I believe we will begin to see greater activity within these fields, which some describe currently as paranormal activity. In the future as we evolve as a species, more of these unsolved mysteries will be commonplace and considered to be a natural sixth sense, rather than a supernatural one.

Sometimes life is just weird and the more we try to make it normal, the weirder it gets. There’s a theory that the reason why soap operas used to be so popular with housewives, was that it made the trials and tribulations of their day seem mild in comparison. Perhaps these days we’ve replaced soaps with reality tv, but the sentiment is still the same.

Over the years I’ve explored a lot of supernatural and unexplained occurrences in my own life and interviewed a lot of paranormal experts on my show. In fact, a good part of my work is based on investigating things that are difficult to explain. Many of these investigations begin with legend or lore from a specific location or event.

There’s always been a prevailing love for myths, legends and stories passed down from multiple generations and cultures and nowhere are these stories more appreciated than in the U.S.A. Here in the great melting pot of America, (or where I come from in Louisiana, we’d say the gumbo pot) we have a treasure chest of traditions from the Irish and Scottish who brought the tales of fairies, leprechauns, and celtic magic, the West African people who share their love of rhythm and spirit, the Italian Strega’s, the German connection with Christmas trees, and so many more cultural icons that are so precious and make this country what it is today.

Tapping into the curiosity of our nation with the mysterious, weird and unexplained, author Nick Belardes has written – “Random Obsessions: Trivia You Can’t Live Without”. The book lives up to its name with astonishing and intriguing bits of trivia guaranteed to make for good conversation at your next social event or at the very least, provide interesting and provocative twitter fodder.

Some of my favorites include: the story of Thomas Jefferson’s grandson who was an ax murderer, Snake Day and 2012, Alien Hand Syndrome, Random Weird Jobs and mundane yet intriguing questions we should all know, but don’t, such as Where did gloves come from, who knew?

Engaging and entertaining, you’ll jump to tweet, facebook or yell out to a significant other, “Hey, did you know this”? and proceed to fill their brain with “trivia you can’t live without”. I’m off to read more about my favorite chapter – “Eccentric Authors and Fantastic Art: Great and Little-Known Works by the Wildly and Weirdly Creative”. Yea, that sounds just about right!

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

The moment that consciousness of the world around him first bloomed in the mind of primitive man, god was. Early man could only explain the awesome terror of thunder and lightning flashing through the night, the wonder of a child birthed into the world, the mysterious, inescapable power of death, as the work of some force, some entity greater than himself.  An eternal force, all-powerful, all knowing, immutable.

God.

Millions of years later, most of humanity still holds a belief in a god, or gods. This, despite the fact that there is not one shred of evidence to prove that god exists. Simply stated, a belief in god is an act of faith.

Over the last five years or so, I have been actively engaged in studying paranormal events as I researched my three books about ghosts and ghosthunting. As I conducted my research, my curiosity about paranormal activity deepened. I began to ask larger questions: What were ghosts, exactly? What was the nature of their existence if, in fact, they existed? What did their existence say about the nature of our existence? What did it say about the possibility of human existence after death? An afterlife?

That’s when parapsychology ran smack into theology.

If ghosts exist, then there must be another level of existence for us after death. Such an afterlife is incorporeal, a realm of spirit energy. Nearly all the world’s religions down through the ages have maintained a belief in some sort of afterlife, or at least, a belief in a spirit world distinct from the human plane of existence.

Here’s where things get a bit sticky. If god were spirit, then he would be part of, or would exist in that spirit realm. Is it possible then, that the existence of ghosts could be evidence of sorts of the existence of god, since both would presume that world of spirit?

A woman approached me after I had given a talk about ghosts at a library in Ohio. She said that she was a devout Christian and, as such, believed in ghosts because they proved to her that there was life after death as Jesus had promised.  A few minutes later, a second woman came up to me and said that, as a devout Christian, she categorically denied the existence of ghosts!  They were the work of Satan, designed to confuse us poor mortals and lead us astray. Two devout Christians, two opposite ideas about ghosts. These different viewpoints served as the springboard for my inquiry into the connections between parapsychology and theology, ghosts and religion.

I was raised in a traditional Roman Catholic family where the Holy Ghost was invoked every time I began to pray and made the Sign of the Cross. I didn’t give the term much thought as a youth, but in later years, I did question the word ghost, as did the Church apparently, since the term more commonly in use these days is Holy Spirit, rather than Holy Ghost. But, why the switch?

The change makes sense. The word spirit refers to a being that never had a corporeal existence, in other words, a being that was never human, but was always spirit. For religious folk, angels and demons, gods and goddesses would fall into this category.

The word ghost, on the other hand, refers to a being that was once alive as you and me. Now deceased and without a body, the essence–perhaps soul–of that person remains earthbound for whatever reasons. I think of this ghosthood as a transitional state, something akin to getting off a bus at the wrong stop. We know we haven’t reached our proper destination and now we’re lost, confounded, without a direction–or a bus–to guide us home.

This distinction between ghost and spirit, helpful as it may be while investigating paranormal events, becomes less clear when theology enters the picture. Some of the world’s religions, notably Christianity, believe in a god that is also human–fully human and fully divine. These gods die, just as we mortals die, but what then is the nature of their existence after death? Ghost or spirit? Reading the New Testament accounts of Jesus after his death suddenly appearing among his disciples in a locked room, or materializing beside two disciples on the road to Emmaus, one is struck by how ghostly these events seem. In many details, they mirror modern day ghost sightings. What of Lazarus coming forth from his tomb? Was he a ghost?

As we explore the connection between parapsychology and theology, it would be helpful to use one term that would encompass our traditional understanding of ghosts and spirits (gods). I propose the term spiritual energies. Here, spiritual refers to any being that does not exist in a corporeal state. The word energies means that these beings have some force, some essence associated with them. Since we know that all things are energy, the word energies is useful in capturing the conceept of both ghosts and spirits. It makes no claim as to whether these beings have intelligence, emotions, motivations, etc.; it simply says that they are.

There are three possible explanations for the existence of spiritual energies:

1. Spiritual energies are actually manifestations of physical laws whose science we do not yet understand. Just as centuries ago, radio waves and microwaves were unknown, it might be that science, especially quantum physics, will demystify paranormal and divine events to show them up as naturally occurring scientific phenomena.

2. Spiritual energies may be products of our own neurological and psychological functions. It may be that paranormal and divine manifestations stem from our own hallucinations, misperceptions, delusions, and physical and metal abnormalities. In other words, we experience spiritual energies in our minds and not as objective reality.

3. Spiritual energies may, indeed, be real entities inhabiting a realm of existence separate from our own and subject to metaphysical properties and laws unknown to us. Ghosts, then, are real in this scenario, as is god.

More about John B. Kachuba:
John B. Kachuba is the author of Ghosthunting: On the Trail of Mediums, Dowsers, Spirit Seekers and Other Investigators of America’s Paranormal World, Ghosthunting Illinois and Ghosthunting Ohio. Author John Kachuba holds advanced degrees in Creative Writing from Antioch University (Yellow Springs, OH) and Ohio University. He has taught writing at both the University of Cincinnati and Ohio University. He is also on the faculty of the Gotham Writers Workshop. John is a noted conference speaker and presenter and has appeared at Wildacres Writing Workshop, Florida Suncoast Writers Conference, Columbus Writers Conference, Erma Bombeck Humor Writing Workshop, Blooming Grove Writers Conference, West Virginia Ghost Hunters and Spirituality Conference, Haunted America Conference, and Victory of Light Psychic Festival. He has also spoken on many radio and television programs throughout the country and internationally. John lives in Athens, Ohio, with his wife Mary. More info at http://johnkachuba.com

Listen to interviews with Kala and John Kachuba on ghosts, hauntings and paranormal experiences on The Explore Your Spirit with Kala Show.

Shows include:

http://exploreyourspirit.com/Media/shows2.shtml#GHOSTHUNTINGGUIDES08

and

http://exploreyourspirit.com/Media/shows2.shtml#KACHUBAGHOSTTRAIL

and

http://exploreyourspirit.com/Media/shows2.shtml#KACHUBA