August 27, 2012

Harassing Spirits

By Sharon Schindlbeck

As a member of Ghostvillage and an experienced psychic and paranormal investigator with more than forty years in the field, I have some serious concerns about today's rush of amateur ghost hunters armed with equipment bought from magazines, who hurry off to have their own ghostly encounter. I see too many harassing spirits and jumping to conclusions about what they have seen, heard, and felt. Dark shadow people, red eyes and other happenings does not mean you have come in contact with an evil or Demonic spirit. I do believe in nonhuman spirits who can be difficult to deal with, but they are rare, few and far between, and are not usually harmful if you are mentally and spiritually prepared for them.

For me, as a non-Christian investigator, that does not mean Holy Water or a blessed medal, but for others it may be those things.

Though I do want to see new faces and ideas in this field along with the new, more precise equipment, I have concerns about the otherside of the equation.

Questions We Need To Ask

Do the spirits want to be bothered? How many times do we have to hear "Get out!" to get the message? This has become a problem at some of the more popular places that are now paranormal attractions. The Lizzie Borden House is one such place. Tragedy, like what occurred on this site, deserve respect and closure -- not a constant barrage of thrill seekers looking for a ghostly encounter to share with friends. I know that Lizzie and her sister were victims of severe sexual and physical abuse by their father. Now, Lizzie is being mentally abused in her next life by the living looking for a paranormal experience with no thought for the dead. What kind of people does that make those of us who consistently go to these sites and ask them to show us a "sign of your presence?"

Several of the more popular places like Waverly Hills and the Stanley Hotel in Colorado seem to thrive on the attention. However, this extra attention has caused new and darker entities to show themselves more often, according to certain owners.

I enjoy the growing number of "ghost shows" on television, but some leave me laughing and others leave me worried about the victims, both earthly and the ethereal. People who want an experience go on a hunt then scream and run when they see their fist spirit. Many of them are not prepared to actually find what they are looking for. I often see photos that are easily debunked; orbs that are bugs and stuff they feel are demonic faces when it is just distorted real objects. There is a rush to call an EVP creepy when it is just the way voices sound across the spiritual divide.

I do not want to discourage true seekers from continuing studying the paranormal, preternatural or the supernatural, but these things must be condcuted with respect. Those on the other side do not want to be haunted by the living.

Sharon Bell Schindlbeck, a psychic and intuitive from an early age, lives 50 miles west of Chicago with her skeptic husband in an 1880's happily unhaunted farmhouse. After 40 years of keeping her talent repressed, and after two near death experiences in 2008, she is now stepping forward to share her perspective with today's "ghost hunters."