Ghosts

Ghost:

    Middle English goste- ‘frightening’ (Originally the word did not indicate a disembodied spirit, only the emotion.)

    Over the centuries, ghost stories have changed to keep up with social demands. Society began to desire more action and interaction. The passive attitude of the wronged spirit evolved into more sinister actions and reasons to haunt, becoming more dangerous to the living.

    Ghosts of folklore and modern literature are scarier than most ghosts of non-fiction, yet as movies and stories have come to make up the majority of our lifestyle, society has been trained to believe ghosts are something to fear.

    The real fear deals with what ghosts represent, the mystery and horror of death, and the afterlife, or lack thereof. Ghosts used to be more acceptable when families were close. The closer the family, the more death they saw. Ghosts, the idea of a loved one remaining close in spirit, became a comfort. By improving hygiene and postponing death through science plus the loss of family cohesiveness, dying has become so unfamiliar to society that just the thought of it terrifies some. Ghosts, therefore, become foreign and unnatural.

-An excellent way to overcome fear of the paranormal is to do a tag-a-long with a paranormal investigation team. Check you search engine for one near your area.

These are groups that investigate paranormal activities. Please take them seriously.

-If you chose to invite one to your house to investigate, please be sure to research the group, asking them for references and names to contact from former investigations. Also, remember, these groups do not charge for their services.

-This can be an invasive process, with lots of equipment trailing throughout your house at very long and late hours.

-Be sure to choose the type of group that best suits what you are looking for. Many groups will have a medium on the team who will do a walk through, recording any impressions they may have. Some choose to be wholly scientific, using only their equipment to document any anomalies.

Scientific Theories of how some people experience paranormal phenomenon:

EMF- electric and magnetic or electro-magnetic fields. An invisible force surrounding anything electrical. It consists of two parts, the electric field due to lines of voltage and the magnetic field, lines from the flow of current.

    Many paranormal investigation groups use the EMF to help find ‘hotspots’ for paranormal activity.

    Professor Michael Persinger of the Consciousness Research Lab at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario has done studies to show that it’s the EMF themselves that cause the paranormal experience. Basically, his theory states that naturally as well as artificially occurring EMF lower the production of melatonin (relaxer and anti-convulsive) in the brain. When the levels drop, the brain is more likely to have tiny epileptic-like seizures, most particularly in the right-temporal lobe, which can cause sensory hallucination (mostly noted to be the invisible, sensed presence type).

Infra Sound- low-frequency sound waves inaudible to the human ear, ranging from zero to twenty hertz.

    Psycho-acoustics researcher Vic Tandy of Coventry University claims that the infra sound waves can pool in a room with thick walls and are not absorbed by rooms void of furniture, which is why older houses are more likely to be ‘haunted’ than are newer models. Therefore, those sensitive to the waves would have a paranormal experience.

    Jürgen Altman, a non-lethal weapons expert of Dortmund University substantiates this theory by stating that abnormal weakness in the ear’s bone structure can allow infra sound to cause the liquid inside the cochlea to vibrate, causing barely audible sounds. The brain naturally attempts to translate the sound into something familiar; whispers, sighs, footsteps.

    Tandy also found that most visual sightings are located out of the corner of the eye, in the peripheral vision. What he decided was that infra sound, in the frequency of nineteen hertz, will make the eyeball vibrate. This vibration is registered in the peripheral vision, causing some to ‘see’ shadows and shapes.