Ghosts - research, evidence, and discussion.
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Features Archive:

2006 Archive:
The Winchester Mystery House - Ghost Chronicles
December 28, 2006

Ghostvillage Radio - podcast

Investigating Jane Doherty - Ghost Chronicles
December 20, 2006

Ghostvillage Radio - podcast

Shadow People - by Lee Prosser
December 16, 2006

Column - regular feature

The Westford Knight - Ghost Chronicles
December 15, 2006

Ghostvillage Radio - podcast

Haunted Real Estate by Richard Senate
December 13, 2006


Traditions Behind Christmas By Vince Wilson
December 8, 2006


The Haunted Dibbuk Box - Ghost Chronicles
December 6, 2006

Ghostvillage Radio - podcast

Have Ghosts? Will Travel: A Ghostgeek's Guide to the RMS Queen Mary By Jen Brown
December 4, 2006


Thanksgiving: A Day of Forgiveness - by Lee Prosser
December 1, 2006

Column - regular feature

America's Stonehenge - Ghost Chronicles
November 29, 2006

Ghostvillage Radio - podcast

Instrumental TransCommunication (ITC) - by Jeff Belanger
November 16, 2006


Ghost Hunt Seminar - Ghost Chronicles
November 15, 2006

Ghostvillage Radio - podcast

Ghost Photography: Orbs by Robbin Van Pelt
November 9, 2006


Pet Ghosts - Ghost Chronicles
November 6, 2006

Ghostvillage Radio - podcast

Ghosts Haunt the Inn by Richard Senate
November 3, 2006


Japanese Woman Artist - by Lee Prosser
November 1, 2006

Column - regular feature

The Ghosts of the Windham Restaurant - Ghost Chronicles
October 30, 2006

Ghostvillage Radio - podcast

The Salem Witches - Ghost Chronicles
October 23, 2006

Ghostvillage Radio - podcast

Homan House, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania: A Preliminary Report by John Sabol
October 20, 2006


What Does Halloween/Samhain Mean to You? - Compiled by Jeff Belanger
October 16, 2006


That is the Way of It - by Lee Prosser
October 15, 2006

Column - regular feature

Fooling the Ghost Hunter by Richard Senate
October 11, 2006


Jack Kerouac - by Lee Prosser
October 2, 2006

Column - regular feature

Civil War Re-enactors and the Ghost Experience - by Jeff Belanger
September 15, 2006


Who Goes There in the Shadows? - by Lee Prosser
September 15, 2006

Column - regular feature

Engagement and Data Analysis in Symmetrical Field Investigations by John Sabol
September 11, 2006


Occult Warfare by Richard Senate
September 6, 2006


Cats and Other Critters From Beyond the Grave - by Lee Prosser
September 1, 2006

Column - regular feature

Chicago's Strange Angles and Haunted Architecture by Ursula Bielski
August 25, 2006


I Have a Hunch: A Look at Psychics, Mediums, and Clairvoyants - by Jeff Belanger
August 16, 2006


Geof Gray-Cobb - by Lee Prosser
August 15, 2006

Column - regular feature

Orbs: Have They Become that Boring? by Tuesday Miles
August 14, 2006


A Night on Char-Man Bridge by Richard Senate
August 7, 2006


Five Union Soldier Ghosts - by Lee Prosser
August 2, 2006

Column - regular feature

A Visit With Author and Witch Kala Trobe - Interview by Lee Prosser
July 26, 2006


Perceptual Stratigraphy: Making Sense of Ghostly Manifestations by John Sabol
July 24, 2006


The Trouble With Witches - by Lee Prosser
July 15, 2006

Column - regular feature

A Look at Our Haunted Lives - by Jeff Belanger
July 13, 2006


An Active Ghost Hunt at a Haunted Bed and Breakfast by Richard Senate
July 7, 2006


Lee Prosser, 1969 - by Lee Prosser
July 4, 2006

Column - regular feature

My Theory on Spirits by Edward L. Shanahan
June 28, 2006


Ethnoarchaeoghostology: A Humanistic-Scientific Approach to the Study of Haunt Phenomena by John Sabol
June 19, 2006


Christopher Isherwood & Lee Prosser in 1969 - by Lee Prosser
June 16, 2006

Column - regular feature

ESP, M&Ms, and Reality - by Jeff Belanger
June 15, 2006


A Duel on the Airwaves by Richard Senate
June 5, 2006


Marjorie Firestone and Her Dream Predictions - by Lee Prosser
June 1, 2006

Column - regular feature

Until Death Do Us Part? by Rick Hayes
May 31, 2006


Part Four: the Conclusion: Primrose Road - Adams St. Cemetery - by Marcus Foxglove Griffin
May 22, 2006

Column - regular feature

Folklore, Folklore, Folklore with Dr. Michael Bell - interview by Jeff Belanger
May 16, 2006


Swami Chetanananda and Lee Prosser - by Lee Prosser
May 15, 2006

Column - regular feature

Theatre, Séance, and the Ghost Script: Performances at Haunted Locations by John Sabol
May 5, 2006


Willard David Firestone and the River Ghost - by Lee Prosser
May 1, 2006

Column - regular feature

When the Spirits Held Sway at the White House by Richard Senate
April 25, 2006


Part Three: Investigation: Primrose Road - Adams St. Cemetery - by Marcus Foxglove Griffin
April 20, 2006

Column - regular feature

Talking Reincarnation with Dr. John Gilbert - interview by Lee Prosser
April 17, 2006


Billy Bob Firestone and the Ghosts of Pythian Castle - by Lee Prosser
April 15, 2006

Column - regular feature

Cryptobotany: the Search for Lost Plants by Richard Senate
April 7, 2006


The Mysteries of Druidry Book Excerpt Part 4 of 4 by Dr. Brendan Cathbad Myers
April 6, 2006


Vedanta and Durga - by Lee Prosser
April 2, 2006

Column - regular feature

The Mysteries of Druidry Book Excerpt Part 3 of 4 by Dr. Brendan Cathbad Myers
March 30, 2006


Ritual, Resonance, and Ghost Research: The Play in the Fields by John Sabol
March 27, 2006


The Mysteries of Druidry Book Excerpt Part 2 of 4 by Dr. Brendan Cathbad Myers
March 23, 2006


Celtic This, Druid That, Saint Patrick Hit Me With a Wiffle-Ball Bat - by Marcus Foxglove Griffin
March 21, 2006

Column - regular feature

The Mysteries of Druidry Book Excerpt Part 1 of 4 by Dr. Brendan Cathbad Myers
March 16, 2006


Christopher Isherwood, Time Loops, and Ghosts - by Lee Prosser
March 15, 2006

Column - regular feature

Druids - by Lee Prosser
March 3, 2006

Column - regular feature

Natural Selection and the Involution of the Gettysburg Ghosts by John Sabol
February 28, 2006


Part Two: Investigation: Primrose Road - Adams St. Cemetery - by Marcus Foxglove Griffin
February 20, 2006

Column - regular feature

Lights, Camera... Action! by Brian Leffler
February 16, 2006


Divination and Geomancy - by Lee Prosser
February 15, 2006

Column - regular feature

Spirit Messages from a Murderer by Richard Senate
February 8, 2006


The Ghosts of Springfield, Missouri - by Lee Prosser
February 3, 2006

Column - regular feature

The Ghost Storyteller: A Dinosaur Among Lemmings? by Charles J. Adams III
January 23, 2006


The Fools Journey: A Magickal Roadmap to Life - by Marcus Foxglove Griffin
January 20, 2006

Column - regular feature

Tarot and Spiritual Alchemy - by Lee Prosser
January 15, 2006

Column - regular feature

Demons from the Dark by Chip Coffey
January 9, 2006


Spooky - by Lee Prosser
January 3, 2006

Column - regular feature



May 5, 2006

Theatre, Séance, and the Ghost Script: Performances at Haunted Locations

By John Sabol

Theatre and theatrical productions contain the same ritual resonating elements as a séance: Both are social events between a performer and a "targeted" audience. They usually occur within the context of a darkened location in a specific area. The performance usually takes place at night. There is a feeling of communal presence, which is focused, and purposeful. Non-living entities and past events are evoked. Intense concentration is needed, and high emotion is transmitted. Finally, there is an attempt at establishing communication via unseen forces through a link between the authenticity of the actor's performance and the personal experiences of the "targeted" audience.

Communication is established when these productions create a resonance with the audience. Social interaction is achieved through the theatrical performance because the communication is focused on activities of shared experiences. The participants, and their intent, are equally communicated through the resonating qualities of a script. If we use theatrical production and develop this script relative to the past events and activities that occurred at a haunted location, and we ourselves perform as actor-investigators to an ongoing drama, we may create a direct resonance with the past and stimulate a response from our "targeted" audience. We may resurrect, or restimulate, the "ghosts" of the past.

Theatre is the key to unlocking the door to the past. Theatrical productions during ghost field investigations are an invitation for the entities who remain to participate in something that they themselves are fully aware of having experienced during their lifetimes. The script itself should be composed of three basic elements: 1) traditional texts that would create a resonating effect (such as contextual stories and poetry); 2) media events of audio and video programming such as songs, melodies, and historical video reenactments; and 3) the use of symbols ("trigger" objects keyed to the previous two elements). The performance of the script is enacted through the technique of "framing." This consists of four components: 1) an ideological component which is composed of the underlying themes of the presentation. For example, if we are dealing with a Civil War haunting, our ideological component would take into account specific characteristics of the particular engagement and targeted at the known individuals who were involved, the military "environment," and, most importantly, the socio-cultural background of these individual soldiers; 2) a structural component which is composed of the organization of the themes into a plot that is controlled and sequential in character. For example, using the Civil War haunting, this would involve incorporating such elements as family/home, loyalty to one's roots, bonding with fellow combatants, and elements of fear, loneliness, etc.; 3) a sensory component which consists of presenting the plot using auditory, visual, olfactory, etc. sensory imaging and sensations to recreate the appropriate "atmosphere"; and 4) a transactional component which consists of the actual "playing out" of the themes. This means how "physically active" the presentation should be, and when to incorporate such acting techniques as targeted pauses, silent contemplative moments, use of specific grammar, vocabulary and slang, voice tone and pitch, non-verbal cues, and dress/auxiliary "interpretative tools" (such as military gear and equipment). It also matters who is the person performing. Sex and age factors are important considerations, and depend on the socio-cultural context of the "haunt."

Many times, at this stage of an investigation, when "haunt patterns" have been detected, the next step is to begin a "watch." We install our equipment at appropriate locations ("hot spots"), set the proper controls, and "wait", usually away from the potential interactional zones, for something to happen, so our equipment, and not us, can measure and record the phenomena. This is precisely the time, however, when a "watch" should not be used because this "investigative tactic" does not create a resonance or communication link with the past. Therefore, few, if any, sensory "responses" may be observed/recorded. Once we have identified who (or what) may be causing the haunting phenomena mapped the spatial distributions (location of "hot spots" and their influence) of the manifestations, and researched the cultural/physical context of the ghost's "perceptual environment," it is time for active participation in the continuing drama. It is not the time for passive inactivity, such as a "watch." It is "opening night" for our play! In performing our script in the field, the interactive past is recalled, restimulated, and relived. The present becomes a part of the drama of the past and visa versa. This is the essence of a ritualized ghost investigative resonating field technique. This is our version of a séance directed at, and seeking responses from, targeted individuals.

If ghosts, and their associated influences, are potentially interactive fields of contextual sensory assemblages that manifest and can be felt, sensed, seen, heard, smelled, etc. in the contemporary environment, we need to utilize all of our own senses in a theatrical investigative performance with a script that resonates with a "targeted" audience. Only then can we begin to communicate and interact. The time for "watching" will come soon enough for us in the future as we, ourselves, become the audience, and the "ghosts" of the past!



John Sabol is the founder and principal investigator for the Center for the Anthropological Studies of the Paranormal for the Eastern Region C.A.S.P.E.R. Research Center, 725 East Mahanoy St., Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania 17948, USA. Visit his Web site at: http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeoqapc/ghostexcavator/



2014 Haunted New England Wall Calendar by Jeff Belanger photography by Frank Grace
Check out the 2014 Haunted New England wall calendar by Jeff Belanger and photography by Frank Grace!


Paranormal Conferences and Lectures
Don't miss the following events and lectures:

Jeff Belanger and “The Bridgewater Triangle†at Dedham Community Theatre - April 6, 2014 9:00PM

The Spirits of the Mark Twain House - Hartford, Connecticut - April 12, 2014

Paracon Australia - East Maitland, New South Wales, Australia - May 10-12, 2014