Happy Halloween

Halloween originates back in ancient Celtic culture. November 1st marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of the darker, colder days and nights in what is now Ireland. Celts believed that on the 31st the veil between the two worlds blurred and that the dead could return to earth in the form of ghosts.
The ghosts could get unruly, and damage crops but would also communicate with Druid priests and give them information about the upcoming year.
The Druids would celebrate on this evening by dressing in costumes and telling each others fortunes based upon what the now loosed spirits told them. They would burn a sacred bonfire to help protect them during the long dark winter months ahead.

With the arrival of the Christians to the Celtic lands, Pope Boniface designated November 1st as All Saints Day, which was to be a time to honor the saints and martyrs of the Christian faiths. The night before was referred to as All Hallows Eve, now Halloween.

Whatever the history of Halloween, I am sure we all have our own favorite memories of Trick or Treating, costume parties and haunted houses. Some of my best times as a teenager revolved around Halloween festivities, and I still like to get spooked, pretty much any day of the year.

Do you have a favorite Halloween memory? Please share it here in the comments section. Mine? I’d have to say seeing the Two Headed Llama costume walking down the street for trick or treat. Every year it would show up. Too good a costume to waste I guess.

Happy Halloween my friends.

Photo by Mike Swope ~ sxc.hu

Ghosts of Singapore

Singapore is as bright and bustling a city as any in Europe but its illustrious past of war crimes, murders and tragic mass suicides means its also a great place to do some ghost hunting. Full of legend and lore you’ll have a wonderful time trying to separate fact from fiction. Here are some places to check out if you are in the area.

The National Museum. The spiral staircase of this former monastery carries the ghost of a priestly apparationwith a dark side. Visitors feel like they are pushed when on stairways here and although now the staircase is closed off, a few lucky photographs may just show the mischievous spirit who has mastery over this public location.

The Old Chaghai Hospital. This is a popular spot for Singapore ghost hunting groups due to its connections with WW2 and the unseemly treatment of prisoners there.

The Bukit Brown Cemetery. Also known as Kopi Hills, this beautiful area is filled with paranormal energy and legends abound about its after-dark activity. The government has this location slated for relocation, so the potential for activity to increase is great.

Fort Canning. The old battle box here is the site of some paranormal activity and this historic fort put into commission in the 1800’s even has its own spooky cemetery.

Devils Bend. This curvy spot on Old Thomson Road has claimed many lives over the decades and locals say the spot has an oppressive and sad feeling about it. If you’re lucky you may even get evidence of the Orbs people claim to see here.

Final stop is Galang Island. Once a refugee camp for the Vietnamese it is the site of mass suicide and rampant mistreatment of war prisoners. An overall feeling of dread and oppression is present in this open air space and the Body Tree offers horrors all its own. The sight of hangings, photographers have caught orbs here and so can you. Be respectful as this is a tragic location.


Photo by Singapor3 ~ flickr

The Soldier and Other Wanderers

As I worked on developing my skills, I began to open up to my friends about my psychic experiences. Many of them were interested and intrigued, and wanted to test my skills. So, feeling this would be good practice for me, and a way to build my confidence in what I was feeling and experiencing, I agreed to have a few people to my home to do “readings.”

A typical reading from me usually went like this. I would ask the person to sit quietly and I would do some meditation and protection visualizations before we would begin. Next, I would discuss physical issues, including past injuries, and health problems that may come up in the future, or could be avoided with changes made in lifestyle. After that I would “open the door” to any spirits or information I might get from a spirit guide, angel, or ancestor.

Opening the door was once described to me as creating a beam of light. A beacon that if not controlled or protected properly, would attract not just the desired benevolent presence, but also any wandering spirits who might be out there. As I was new to the process, I did learn the lessons of protection the hard way. It was during one of these readings that night, that a spirit who is only known to me as The Soldier came through.

As I stood behind the woman who was to be my subject I immediately felt a strong energy around me. The participant felt it also, and although I knew there was someone out there, I wasn’t prepared to address him at that time.

I continued my reading, discussing health problems and courses of action when suddenly the energy we were both experiencing decided to wait no more.

My hands vibrated and I was quickly immersed in a rapid paced slide show of human tragedy and images of war. Immediately I began to relay the messages, the images and words that were coming through to me to the people gathered around. We knew it wasn’t a spirit connected to any one in our group, and I felt strongly that the Soldier had seen the light, and was seeking to express himself.

The Soldier told me his first name, and I felt him as angry, confused and unwilling to go to the light. Unlike some other souls who lose their way to the light after death, or have unfinished business on the earth, and refuse to leave, all I sensed from the Soldier was his anger, and his desire to share his pain with whomever he could, in this instance, me.

After several minutes during this onslaught of imagery, pain and incredible energy flowing through me, I was able to call upon my spirit guides and protectors to help me with this soul, and to encourage him to find peace in the white light of creation.

He left, he did not find peace, and I am sure he is still out there wandering the dark abyss of his own creation.

This was not the last time I experienced Wanderers during my readings, or other moments of quiet. It seemed that during my learning and training period my “light” shone constantly, and I would often come across lost or dwelling spirits in homes I visited, or near people I would meet. Usually they were just sad, or confused, and needed some help to move along, It was a rare thing to be attacked as I was on that night.

Paranormal State: "We Are Six" Episode

Much to my surprise my DVR recorded a new Paranormal State episode titled We Are Six. The theme of the show is demonic possession and exorcism as a reality. The team travels to a private home where a young woman is attacked on a regular basis, including words scratched into her skin, rape and attempted drowning by a powerful negative spirit – or demon.

The team discovers that the girl had felt a presence in the home, and did an EVP session with good results. Did she open a window to the other side without the protection those of us who travel there take care to create? It seems so.

During my beginning stages of medium ship I, too, dealt with some negative energies, not demons by any means, but spirits I had a hard time controlling and limiting. Do I believe in demons and evil? I’d have to say yes. That is why I am careful when I open a door to the other side and call upon my guides and my God to protect me.

After my first negative experience I had a priest do a blessing for me. He was a Catholic priest and had taken part in an exorcism himself. He would not speak about it or give me any details, but he believed, so I believed.

The rest of the show is an interesting look inside possession and the powers of evil. It reminded me of The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Being faced with evils we cannot see is more frightening than taking on the evils we can. I guess these are lessons for us who experience the paranormal in any way, or try to look through the veil, to be careful and always do a protection prayer before entering into a conversation with the other side.

I will post a story of one of these negative encounters later. Until then, try to catch this episode of Paranormal State. Very Interesting.

Halloween Decorations for your Computer

So, as expected, I get pretty excited about Halloween, and since I am glued to the laptop, finding and using a cool Halloween screensaver is just part of how I celebrate the holiday. I thought I would share some great spooky screensavers that I found online…maybe they can get you in the scary-mood for the big night.

Freeze.com has some cool 3D Halloween screensavers including a scary mask and graveyard. If you need some eerie music and ghosts and bats flying around, this has it all. They also have some nice animated wallpaper so check it out. No charge for download at Freeze.com.

Halloween-screen-savers.com has a good variety of free savers and touts that it was voted the best Halloween screensavers of 2008. They claim to be spyware and virus free but you do have to agree to download Smiley Central and some other annoying little utilities you don’t need. If you can live with that, (and delete later) there are some fun Halloween savers here so it may be worth the download.

Screensavers.com has some unique 3D savers including flying pumpkins, black cats’ haunted houses and skulls. Downloading is easy and the price for this free screensaver is the downloading of a handy toolbar you can always delete later. You can also simply buy the screensaver and avoid all the extra bits.

Enjoy and send candy

Ghost Adventures: Is There Anything Scarier Than Zach Bagan’s Hair?

The Travel Chanel has come up with another ghost hunting program to fill our unquenchable appetite for the spooky. Ghost Adventures is on Saturday nights and it began last week with an hour premiere “documentary” followed by the first installment.

Like most shows of this type, it’s interesting to get an inside look at some of the more well-known haunted locations around the US, locations that most of us won’t get the chance to “ghost hunt” and this show is no different. With visits already to the Bob Mackey Bar and a pretty interesting flying brick caught at another location, the latest episode takes the gang to Houghton Mansion in North Adams MA.

This interesting old house, now Masons gathering spot, has a rich enough history to indicate some paranormal activity, but is the group relying too much on knowing who the supposed ghosts may be?

As I watched the introduction and tour of the building, I find it hard to concentrate on the information because the host’s hair is more frightening than anything paranormal ever found. So, too, is the bravado-theme of the show where the host and his gang take pride in locking themselves in the haunted location, and spend hours taunting and daring the tragic spirits.

As I wonder to myself how much time it takes Zach Bagan to grease his hair in such a disturbing manner, the team installs a lock on the outside of the building to heighten the drama. Since I have already seen them jump out of a second story building, this show of courage seems mute to me.

Overall, although it’s interesting to hear EVPs I am sure are legitimate and see other somewhat questionable results, the lead ghost hunter’s attitude toward the pain and sorrow of earthbound spirits is disheartening. He has already been scratched when daring the devil himself to “harm” him, I wonder what it will take for this group to show some respect to the spirits they hope to make contact with.

So, ignoring all of that, and the fact that Zach must believe that the spirits are deaf as well as dead, I guess this show falls into the category, “Love to Hate.” I am hoping as the season goes on these ghost adventurers will learn to address the spirit world in a more caring way. Maybe the Ghost Hunters from TAPS can teach them a few things.

Ghost Story from Pakistan

My friend from Pakistan was sharing a ghost story with me from his own personal experiences and allowed me to share it with all of you. It’s interesting to hear stories from different countries with different superstitions and belief systems. Enjoy.

“It was almost thirty years back. I was catching light insects [lightning bugs] in my village in a corn crop with my nephew. I was about 8 years old. There were many light insects in the field, and the moon light was bright and I saw someone sitting in the field.

Usually at that time the ladies of the village didn’t have toilet rooms like we did, so they went there in the open fields. My nephew asked me to go there, because we were young, but I refused saying some lady is there!

After about five minutes we observed the lady growing upwards and then going upwards into the sky! She was wearing a white dress and had some ringing ornaments on her feet. We rushed toward the light of her, and started weeping and crying. One of our old servants came and we told him what we saw, but the lady [ghost] went away.”

I asked my friend why he thought this spirit would have been there and he replied:

“Hindu’s lived in this area before the partition and [when people died] they burned the dead bodies. Older people say these people turned into vampires.”

Photo by Murtaza Imran Ali ~ flickr