While opining on another blog of mine about writing and emotions, I veered off into the subject of the paranormal. I repeated something I’ve said many times before: the living scares me more than the dead or undead. By miles, in fact. It’s an oft-asked question when you’re a paranormal investigator: “But aren’t you ever scared?”
Well, startled is often what I am. Only once have I felt bone-chilling threatened/scared. Of course, does that mean I was in danger? No, it was my perception of a personal experience. An event or perceived event that filtered through my mind, my experiences, my psyche. Just because I THINK something is happening, doesn’t mean it’s really happening, you know? Personal experiences, great as they are, do not qualify as evidence. Capturing phenomena on video and audio — verified as authentic and genuine — is what I consider evidence.
When it comes to raw fear, I’m much more afraid of the criminals or psychopaths out in the world who are lurking about in the world and hungry to wreak havoc on the rest of us who live average, mostly simple lives, with our family and friends. When it comes to the non-living — or never-living (meaning an entity that’s never been in human form) — I’m less afraid.
Why? Because, most of the time, you’re dealing with something or someone who wants to make its presence known or get your attention. Or perhaps there’s a message that needs passing along. Maybe there was a violent or sudden death, and there’s a pressing, ever-present need to let others know — like us on this side of the veil — how he/she died or that he/she is still around as an intelligent, communicative presence, albeit not in corporeal form.
I’m not concerned with a ghost or entity robbing me, assaulting me, murdering me or jacking my car. Although the latter might be head-scratchingly funny (at least at the time). Or, I should say, I’m more concerned with the wicked living carrying out those types of crimes.
When I’m confronted with alleged paranormal activity, the prevailing feeling is one of curiosity and excitement. While most people pray their houses aren’t haunted, I’m disappointed that (to my knowledge) ours isn’t. For five years, I lived in an apartment that was ripe with paranormal activity. When I moved into our house three years ago, I began to miss the activity. We’ve had instances that have made us scratch our heads in confusion, but so far we haven’t tagged any bonafide paranormal activity.
Most people fear the non-living because this is an area of which we know little about. There’s much conjecture and many theories; however, the fact is that this is a frontier that is wide open for study and what we think we know is tiny compared to what we actually do know or need to find out. This is an area ripe for excavation, and I’m constantly surprised at how science — for the most part — continues to ignore it. Ignoring this field won’t make it go away. Phenomenon happens, period. The question we need to answer is, “Why?”
We also get a lot of people who exclaim, “Oh, I don’t believe in that crap,” or something similar. That’s fine. You believe as you like. But you’re missing one thing: whether you believe or not, when a phenomenon happens, it happens — period. The issue of whether you believe or not is irrelevant. An example of this would be phenomena we witnessed for ourselves — and was captured on video — at a local bar here in the Springs called the Farside Lounge, off of Airport and Murray.
The owner, Lorrie, called us in after she captured a couple instances of possible paranormal activity on her security cameras. We went in there hoping to debunk what she’d caught, but to our surprise, we couldn’t. We did the first investigation and caught more paranormal activity ourselves with our own equipment. Then two more pieces of convincing evidence were caught on audio, including a large lid to a fruit tray completely opening up by itself! We’ve since gone back for a second investigation, during which we captured even more evidence. At this point we have video and audio evidence, along with events recorded by our meters/instruments as well as accompanying personal experiences.
It’s rare that we’re able to get evidence throughout the spectrum of our devices, but at the Farside Lounge, this is what we have done. It’s impressive, and it happened. It continues to happen. Phenomena at Farside Lounge happen; it’s not just a figment of people’s imaginations. We have multiple witnesses and testimonies, and concrete evidence on audio and video to back up those claims.
My point is this: whether you believe in paranormal phenomena or not, that becomes irrelevant when you’re faced with events that OCCUR, despite your personal beliefs. To deny those events occurred, especially when you can see or hear them with your own eyes and ears, is to attempt to deny reality. When you attempt to deny existing, verifiable reality in order to protect your false beliefs, then it becomes an exercise in foolishness and cowardice (just my opinion).
In C.S.P.A., what we do is research and collect data. We ask questions. We debunk what we can, which is usually 90-95 percent of what we come across. However, once we do that, we’re left with five to ten percent of phenomena that cannot be explained by mundane means. What about that five to ten percent? Is it responsible to simply dismiss those events in order to preserve long-held prejudices and beliefs? No, of course not. It’s our job — our duty — as thinking human beings to pursue greater knowledge and understanding about the world around us, and beyond.
I would also argue that many scientists are shirking their responsibilities by ignoring paranormal phenomena and refusing to apply serious, methodical study to this field. Go beyond your current dogma and theories to explain this phenomena. Your predecessors have had to do it before in centuries past, so step forward with courage and engage in scientific pursuit the way it was intended. Your colleagues may scorn and criticize you, but that will prove how small-minded and cowardly some people can be. Rise above the archaic thought process of the past and strive to expand your awareness and knowledge of the hidden and as-yet-unexplained facets of this expansive universe.
The answers to why paranormal phenomena occurs are out there. It’s our responsibility and legacy to find them, once and for all. Will you enlist in the cause?
Ruminations on the living and non-living
July 16, 2009 by scribequill
While opining on another blog of mine about writing and emotions, I veered off into the subject of the paranormal. I repeated something I’ve said many times before: the living scares me more than the dead or undead. By miles, in fact. It’s an oft-asked question when you’re a paranormal investigator: “But aren’t you ever scared?”
Well, startled is often what I am. Only once have I felt bone-chilling threatened/scared. Of course, does that mean I was in danger? No, it was my perception of a personal experience. An event or perceived event that filtered through my mind, my experiences, my psyche. Just because I THINK something is happening, doesn’t mean it’s really happening, you know? Personal experiences, great as they are, do not qualify as evidence. Capturing phenomena on video and audio — verified as authentic and genuine — is what I consider evidence.
When it comes to raw fear, I’m much more afraid of the criminals or psychopaths out in the world who are lurking about in the world and hungry to wreak havoc on the rest of us who live average, mostly simple lives, with our family and friends. When it comes to the non-living — or never-living (meaning an entity that’s never been in human form) — I’m less afraid.
Why? Because, most of the time, you’re dealing with something or someone who wants to make its presence known or get your attention. Or perhaps there’s a message that needs passing along. Maybe there was a violent or sudden death, and there’s a pressing, ever-present need to let others know — like us on this side of the veil — how he/she died or that he/she is still around as an intelligent, communicative presence, albeit not in corporeal form.
I’m not concerned with a ghost or entity robbing me, assaulting me, murdering me or jacking my car. Although the latter might be head-scratchingly funny (at least at the time). Or, I should say, I’m more concerned with the wicked living carrying out those types of crimes.
When I’m confronted with alleged paranormal activity, the prevailing feeling is one of curiosity and excitement. While most people pray their houses aren’t haunted, I’m disappointed that (to my knowledge) ours isn’t. For five years, I lived in an apartment that was ripe with paranormal activity. When I moved into our house three years ago, I began to miss the activity. We’ve had instances that have made us scratch our heads in confusion, but so far we haven’t tagged any bonafide paranormal activity.
Most people fear the non-living because this is an area of which we know little about. There’s much conjecture and many theories; however, the fact is that this is a frontier that is wide open for study and what we think we know is tiny compared to what we actually do know or need to find out. This is an area ripe for excavation, and I’m constantly surprised at how science — for the most part — continues to ignore it. Ignoring this field won’t make it go away. Phenomenon happens, period. The question we need to answer is, “Why?”
We also get a lot of people who exclaim, “Oh, I don’t believe in that crap,” or something similar. That’s fine. You believe as you like. But you’re missing one thing: whether you believe or not, when a phenomenon happens, it happens — period. The issue of whether you believe or not is irrelevant. An example of this would be phenomena we witnessed for ourselves — and was captured on video — at a local bar here in the Springs called the Farside Lounge, off of Airport and Murray.
The owner, Lorrie, called us in after she captured a couple instances of possible paranormal activity on her security cameras. We went in there hoping to debunk what she’d caught, but to our surprise, we couldn’t. We did the first investigation and caught more paranormal activity ourselves with our own equipment. Then two more pieces of convincing evidence were caught on audio, including a large lid to a fruit tray completely opening up by itself! We’ve since gone back for a second investigation, during which we captured even more evidence. At this point we have video and audio evidence, along with events recorded by our meters/instruments as well as accompanying personal experiences.
It’s rare that we’re able to get evidence throughout the spectrum of our devices, but at the Farside Lounge, this is what we have done. It’s impressive, and it happened. It continues to happen. Phenomena at Farside Lounge happen; it’s not just a figment of people’s imaginations. We have multiple witnesses and testimonies, and concrete evidence on audio and video to back up those claims.
My point is this: whether you believe in paranormal phenomena or not, that becomes irrelevant when you’re faced with events that OCCUR, despite your personal beliefs. To deny those events occurred, especially when you can see or hear them with your own eyes and ears, is to attempt to deny reality. When you attempt to deny existing, verifiable reality in order to protect your false beliefs, then it becomes an exercise in foolishness and cowardice (just my opinion).
In C.S.P.A., what we do is research and collect data. We ask questions. We debunk what we can, which is usually 90-95 percent of what we come across. However, once we do that, we’re left with five to ten percent of phenomena that cannot be explained by mundane means. What about that five to ten percent? Is it responsible to simply dismiss those events in order to preserve long-held prejudices and beliefs? No, of course not. It’s our job — our duty — as thinking human beings to pursue greater knowledge and understanding about the world around us, and beyond.
I would also argue that many scientists are shirking their responsibilities by ignoring paranormal phenomena and refusing to apply serious, methodical study to this field. Go beyond your current dogma and theories to explain this phenomena. Your predecessors have had to do it before in centuries past, so step forward with courage and engage in scientific pursuit the way it was intended. Your colleagues may scorn and criticize you, but that will prove how small-minded and cowardly some people can be. Rise above the archaic thought process of the past and strive to expand your awareness and knowledge of the hidden and as-yet-unexplained facets of this expansive universe.
The answers to why paranormal phenomena occurs are out there. It’s our responsibility and legacy to find them, once and for all. Will you enlist in the cause?
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