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http://www.jeffbelanger.com/theghostfiles.shtml

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Dear Ghostvillagers,

This month we're going to explore a topic that's long overdue here in the Village. In fact, I'm embarrassed it took this long to get to the subject, but as the proverb goes, the best time to plant a tree was five years ago, the second-best time is today.

Over the last ten years, I've had the opportunity to meet with many paranormal research groups, to attend quite a few conferences, and to exchange emails and phone calls with hundreds of people regarding paranormal research. One fact has become abundantly clear -- though there seem to be more women than men interested in the topic (our own membership list can attest to this), there are very few women in leadership roles within the paranormal community. Only a handful of groups are run by women, and for the most part, the glass ceiling has been firmly in place in ghost research from the beginning. That's not to say there aren't exceptions, and considering the women I've been corresponding with over the last month, there are certainly some long-overdue cracks showing in that glass ceiling.

This month we're going to explore women in the paranormal more in-depth. We'll hear it for (and from) our sisters in this community. In preparing for this topic, I reached out to a lot of women who are out there doing this work. I was overwhelmed with the response. When I asked if they would be a part of a series of feature interviews, not only did they all say yes, they said yes with an exclamation point. Each week in the coming month, we'll be adding interviews with some women in the field in our Features section. We'll hear from researchers like: Lorraine Warren, Rosemary Ellen Guiley, Ursula Bielski, Amy Bruni, Donna LaCroix, Allison Andrews, L'Aura Hladik, and more.

For any research group to be successful, you need balance -- a balance of skill sets, of personalities, and of the sexes. Men and women bring different strengths to the table, and groups that try to exclude or repress any gender or skill set simply won't reach their full potential.

Also this past month I had the opportunity to visit Tombstone, Arizona, and took the time to film a new Paranormal Journeys Webisode while I was out there. I hope you'll take a few minutes to visit the ghosts of the Old West and watch it: http://www.ghostvillage.com/resources/2008/pj_02142008.shtml.

Enjoy the rest of the newsletter below!

Supernaturally yours,

Jeff Belanger
Mayor of Ghostvillage.com

Monthly Contest

Congratulations to Melissa Noakes of Mesa, Arizona, who was last month's winner of an autographed copy of Jeff Belanger's new book, The Ghost Files, a Ghostvillage.com window sticker, and a Ghostvillage.com t-shirt!

This month, we're doing the contest again, but we ask that you first click this link: http://www.ghostvillage.com/index.shtml#winner. If it says, "The search is on" then we don't have a winner yet and go ahead and send in your answer. If you see today's date and "We have a winner!" that means you weren't the first to email us. Sorry, please try again next month.

On to this month's question: This question can be answered by reading a page on Ghostvillage.com. The first person to reply to this email with the correct answer will win this month's prize.

What's the name of the manager of the Bird Cage Theatre in Tombstone, Arizona?

Once we have our winner, we will announce them on our home page as soon as possible. Good luck! (Only Ghostvillagers who have not won a prize from us in the last year are eligible.)

This month's prize: We're giving away an autographed copy of Jeff Belanger's latest book, The Ghost Files, a Ghostvillage.com window sticker, and a Ghostvillage.com t-shirt!


Didn't win? Want to buy a copy? Click on the graphic.

Supernatural Calendar

The Supernatural Calendar is the place where thousands will learn about your events of interest to the supernatural world. The service is only available to registered members of the message boards, and it's free! Ghostvillage.com now syndicates our calendar of events so other Web sites can also display these supernatural happenings at no charge! To learn more about installing our calendar of events RSS feed, please visit our syndication page. Adding your own local events to our calendar is more important than ever!

February 24: The Unexplained World - Internet Radio Broadcast
March 28: Ghost Rush 2008 Conference - Volcano, California - Jeff Belanger will be speaking at this event
April 11: 2008 California Ghost Hunters Conference

Who's Who in the Village?

Get to know some of your fellow Ghostvillagers.

>>AnnieV<< - member since January 9, 2008

What is your name?
Anna Schreiber

How old are you?
26

Where do you live?
Wausau, Wisconsin

What do you do for a living?
I own and operate a child care facility.

What got you interested in the paranormal? Have you had an experience yourself?
I have always been fascinated by the unknown. The logical side of me has a need to know the "whys" of everything, and when I can't find the answers, I am only more intrigued.

Do you think women have an advantage or disadvantage in pursuing paranormal research?
I believe women have a great advantage in pursuing paranormal research. Women in general tend to be more intuitive, which can be a great asset to any investigation team. But for the most part, I think the advantages and disadvantages differ from person to person, regardless of gender.

What's the first musical concert you ever attended?
I saw Diamond Rio at our county fair when I was in high school. They were my favorite band at the time, and I'll never forget it!

Last Month's Theme - Featured Content

Our last month's theme was animal spirits. Here's what you missed if you haven't checked in since last month:

Discussion: Ghost of a Cat? - Join the discussion!
Archive: Do All Dogs Go to Heaven? by Jeff Belanger - from the Ghostvillage.com archives
Author Interview: Pet Ghosts - an interview with author Joshua Warren about his latest book
Feature: Ghost Cat by Lee Prosser

Shopping at Ghostvillage.com

Have you checked out our Ghost-Mart and Ghostvillage U.?

Ghostvillage U.: "Professor Paranormal" Loyd Auerbach and the HCH Institute's Distance Learning Certificate Course on Parapsychological Studies is now available through Ghostvillage.com. Ready to take paranormal investigation to the next level? Check out the online courses.

Ghost-Mart:
Digital Voice Recorders: Going for EVP? Think DVR.
Paranormal Books: Ghost-Mart has many of the leading paranormal titles.
EMF Meters: Check out our line of EMF meters from cell sensors to tri-field.
Closed Circuit TV: From inexpensive to the high end, we have them all.

Supernatural Library

Ghostvillage.com's book reviewer, Lee Prosser and the staff have brought you several new book reviews and author interviews since our last newsletter.

This past month's Library additions:

The Thoth Companion by Michael Osiris Snuffin
Angels by Maiya and Geof Gray-Cobb
Kitchen Witch's Guide to Magickal Tools by Patricia Telesco
The Druid Magic Handbook by John Michael Greer
On Becoming an Alchemist by Catherine MacCoun

Ghostvillage.com Advertising Opportunities

Each month Ghostvillage.com reaches tens of thousands of people interested in the paranormal. We offer the most effective and best-valued advertising and sponsorship packages of any paranormal media outlet. Please visit: http://www.ghostvillage.com/advertising.htm for details.

If you're ready to put Ghostvillage.com to work for your company or organization, send us an email to get started.

Recent Encounters

We receive personal encounters from all over the world. Many are scary, some are touching, but they are always profound. If you would like to share your own experience, please click >>here<<. Since our last newsletter, we added the following new encounters:

A Haunting in The Booter - St. Andrews, Scotland
Ghosts at Union Station Hotel - Nashville, Tennessee
My Family's Haunting - Rio Grande, Puerto Rico
Happy 2008 to the Spirits on the Land - Milton, Florida [PIC]
The Tall Man Gatekeeper - San Rafael, California
The Evil Force - Marin Headlands, California
Cold Wet Grandfather's Visit - Oostende, Belgium
Haunted Barracks - Dermott, Arkansas
Cell Phone Calls From Beyond - Simsbury, Connecticut

News

This is the place to find press releases and news items on paranormal happenings around the world. If you have a news item you'd like to submit, please see our guidelines.

WANT THESE HEADLINES ON YOUR SITE FOR FREE? Syndicate our news! If you have a Web site or blog, you can syndicate our news feeds to your site for free. Join the growing list of Web sites who carry our news by visiting our syndication page.

Obsessed Ouija Board Collector Builds Virtual Shrine to Those Responsible for Its Invention
Who Ya Gonna Call? Ghost Hunters! Cohasset Mariner - Marshfield, Massachusetts - January 31, 2008 [EXTERNAL NEWS]
Loneliness Breeds Belief in Supernatural LiveScience.com - New York, New York - January 24, 2008 [EXTERNAL NEWS]
Ghost of a Chance in Amador County Hotel The Sacramento Bee - Sacramento, California - January 22, 2008 [EXTERNAL NEWS]
Ghost Hunter Wants to Explore Ayscoughfee Spalding Guardian - Spalding, England - January 16, 2008 [EXTERNAL NEWS]

Features

Our "Features" section is a place for editorials, research articles, open letters to our readers, and other content of interest to Ghostvillagers. If you have a topic on your mind, agree or disagree with something you read recently, we want to hear from you! For guidelines, click here.

New features added since our last newsletter:

The Ghosts of Tombstone - Paranormal Journeys - February 14, 2008 [WEBCAST]
Magick and Magic, What is the Difference? - by Lee Prosser - February 13, 2008 [COLUMN]
My Theory on Spirits of the Paranormal - by Edward Shanahan - February 1, 2008

Investigating the Séance with U.K. Psychic Gavin Cromwell - Ghost Chronicles - January 30, 2008 [PODCAST]
Electronic Voice Phenomena is Affected by Solar Weather by Tom Ginther - January 21, 2008

The Concord Colonial Inn - Ghost Chronicles - January 16, 2008 [PODCAST]

Jeff Belanger's Upcoming Events

This is the place to find out where author and Ghostvillage.com founder Jeff Belanger will be speaking on the subject of the supernatural. If you're interested in booking Jeff for a conference or other event, please email us for more information.

Events Scheduled:

Ghost Rush 2008 - Volcano, California - March 28-30, 2008
Cape Cod Community College - West Barnstable, Massachusetts - May 30, 2008
Mid-Atlantic Paranormal Conference - Gettysburg, Pennsylvania - June 27-29, 2008
MASS Monster Mash - Watertown, Massachusetts - October 18, 2008
Stanley Hotel Paranormal Retreat - Estes Park, Colorado - November 9-12, 2008
Queen Mary Conference - Long Beach, California - December 7-10, 2008

Hot Threads and the Ghostvillage.com Community

In the past month, hundreds of new people registered for free to join our supernatural discussion! Have you?

If you have registered for our message boards but haven't validated your account yet, it's simple to do! Look for the email that was automatically sent to you when you registered and click on the account activation link in the email (note: some bulkmail filters may block this email, so you'll need to check your bulkmail folder if the validation email didn't immediately come through). There are always great discussions going on in our huge message board community. We hope you'll get involved. It's free to register if you're not already a member. Here are some of the hot topics this month:

Mythical vs. Fictional People
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showtopic=22786
How can you tell sometimes?

Paranormal News
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showtopic=22719
Rock group uses Ouija board...

Skeptics
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showtopic=22789
Meditation and body temperature.

Places of Forboding
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showtopic=22799
Have you ever entered a place that had that strange feeling?

Past Lives/Reincarnation
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showtopic=22798
What is everyone's views on past lives/reincarnation? Do you believe this is possible and why?

What's in a Name?
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showtopic=22803
Paranormal investigator vs. ghost hunter.

I Just Have a Little Question
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showtopic=22782
Why do people call on ghost hunters?

Residual Hauntings
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showtopic=22717
Stone tape, psychic impression, or something else?

Helping Spirits Move On?
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showtopic=22773
Is it cruel/irresponsible not to help earthbound spirits move on? Should people feel a responsibility to help them pass on?

In Your Area...
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showforum=41
Looking for people close to you who share your interest in the paranormal? Check this out.

What Happens at the Moment of Death?
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showtopic=12173
Share your thoughts and opinions.


Board of the Month -- Women in the Paranormal
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showforum=27
Let's hear it for (and from) our sisters in the field!

Ghostvillage.com Quick Stats:

256,953 Messages in the Town Square Message Boards
19,922 Members in the Town Square
728 "Personal Encounters" published on Ghostvillage.com
930 Paranormal Web sites in the Ghost Links directory
24,919 Subscribers to this newsletter
7,567,867 Total Web site "hits" for Ghostvillage.com in January

Support Ghostvillage.com

Ghostvillage.com is the Web's largest supernatural community, the central place where people come to share their experiences, thoughts, and research. Please help us continue to grow by buying a copy of The World's Most Haunted Places, Communicating With the Dead, The Encyclopedia of Haunted Places, The Nightmare Encyclopedia, Our Haunted Lives, Ghosts of War, The Ghost Files, or shopping in Ghost-Mart. Every little bit helps run our servers and helps the site get bigger and better! Please also click on our banner ads and support our advertisers -- when you do business with someone who advertises with Ghostvillage.com, let them know you saw their ad with us and thank them for the support.

Please email us anytime at info@ghostvillage.com. Your comments, questions, and feedback are always welcomed.

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