Some Doors Can’t Be Closed

Experiences with the occult tend to leave lasting impressions.  The deeper down the rabbit hole you go, the more intense the after effects.  Sometimes people end up opening doors they didn’t intend to and then have to go to herculean efforts to close them again.  Unfortunately for the unwise, some doors just can’t be closed.

A while ago I was on a road trip with a friend and we were talking about the lasting effects of working with the occult and I brought up the story of a woman I know.  This woman, who will remain anonymous, was having marital problems and was emotionally distraught.  In her desperation she decided to go against her mainstream religious beliefs and resort to a local practitioner for a love spell aimed to bring back her wayward man.  The practitioner gave her instructions and supplies so the woman could do the spell herself, which she did.  As the woman performed the spell she experienced intense magickal phenomena that freaked her right out.  She stopped mid spell in the hopes of making it go away.  It didn’t work out quite the way she hoped.  Turns out the woman had a considerable amount of natural talent and once she opened the door to the world of the occult, even just a sliver, it noticed her.  Despite the woman’s best efforts to erase her occult encounter, things never quite went back to the way they’d been before.  Many years of steadfast church attendance and liberal applications of holy water, and still the unseen world lurks near the woman - waiting for her to once more crack open that door. 


Once the unseen world sees you, it’s never going to unsee you.  Steadfast denial of the realities of the occult and calling upon “holy” power to protect you can only do so much.  Pretending the occult doesn’t exist, once you know damned sure that it does, is a lot like putting a chain link fence around your yard to keep out wolves.  Sure, if it’s high enough the wolves won’t be able to get in, but they can still see and smell you and it won’t do anything if you have to open the gate.  Calling upon other/stronger metaphysical entities for protection will work so long as you maintain their good graces, but the threat is still real.  In the case above, calling on “angels” to defend you from “demons” will keep you safe so long as the “angels” are present but it doesn’t necessarily mean the “demons” are going to forget about you any time soon - particularly if you've got a lot of natural power.  The metaphysical world is real and once something in it takes an interest in you, it might never go away. 


As wishing away the realities of the occult world doesn’t work, if you’re going to open a door you need to be damned sure you’re ready to deal with the consequences.  For most people most of the time, a little dabbling is harmless.  Things like getting a tarot reading, playing with a ouija board, going on a ghost hunt, or even doing a little minor spellwork are rarely going result in long term problems.  However, if your personal energies are just the right strength and flavor, or if you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time, then you can attract attention that will never go away.  It's rare, but it definitely happens.  How can you know beforehand what kind of scenario you’re walking into?  Sometimes you can’t, but most of the time it’s a matter of listening to your intuition.  If a particular place or person with occult connections makes you uncomfortable, chances are good that it’s for a reason.  If you don’t understand what’s going on in an occult/paranormal situation or feel that there’s more going on than what you’re being told, you don’t have to participate.  Do not participate in occult workings that make you feel unsafe.  Yes, there are advanced workings that can be quite risky, but if you’re performing such a rite you’ve already opened those doors and should fully understand what you’re getting yourself into.  If you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into you should really find out before you find yourself neck deep.


There are many potential consequences to getting involved with the metaphysical world.  Some of the positive effects are increased awareness of the realities of the world, a higher degree of control/influence over what was previously unseen, and the presence of helpful spirits and entities.  On the negative side, you are more likely to be targeted by negative entities simply by being more obvious to them.  Dabbling in the occult is a little like sending up a signal flare on a dark night - things are going to come and investigate: good, bad, or indifferent.  Whether or not those things stick around depends entirely on how interesting you are and the boredom of the entities.


The unseen world is unpredictable, but there are some simple precautions dabblers can take to make things less fraught with peril.  1 - Do your research.  Curious about the occult? Read a fucking book.  Talk to people that have done things.  Learn about the potential risks and rewards and understand them.  Look before you leap, it’s not that complicated.  2 - Before dabbling, learn how to shield.  Seriously, this should be the first thing anyone learns before they so much as touch a tarot deck.  3 - Have a protective item on you.  Something as complicated as a charged amulet or as simple as a token received by a loved one or even a baggie of salt will give you a better-than-nothing amount of protection from negative entities and energies.  4 - If at all possible have an experienced practitioner guide you through your first foray into the metaphysical world.  Even if you don’t have someone local to you, there are plenty of advanced practitioners online that will happily answer questions and give advice to sincere seekers.  Take the time to ask someone who knows.  We really do know things you can’t find in the books.  By taking a few simple precautions you can make your first dips into the occult far less dangerous.


Take a moment to really think about what you want before you go dabbling in the occult.  Be sure you’re really willing to let the metaphysical world into your life, because once it’s there it will never go away.  The wonders and beauty of the unseen world are impossible to fully describe, unfortunately so are its dangers.  Take the time to understand what you’re getting yourself into and then prepare yourself, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

Book Review: Haunted Asylums, Prisons, and Sanatoriums by Jamie Davis

Any regular reader of this blog knows that I've got a thing for ghosts (it's the whole worshiping death and spending quality time in the underworld thing).  I consume pretty much any and all media I can get my hands on regarding ghosts - whether I expect it to be good or not. 

When I stumbled upon Haunted Asylums, Prisons, and Sanatoriums: Inside Abandoned Institutions for the Crazy, Criminal & Quarantined by Jamie Davis I knew I had to read it.  You see, most ghosts are totally benign and absolutely nothing like the rampaging fright-makers you see on sensationalist paranormal television.  However, the ghosts of criminals, the insane, and the criminally insane are a different story.  I've dealt with an insane ghost and it was terrifying.  I came to this book in the hopes of finding new and interesting information on atypical hauntings, but was disappointed.

Reading the introduction to this book I was immediately put on guard by the author describing her view of ghost hunting as a thrill-seeking activity.  Don't get me wrong, I totally see the appeal of spooking yourself silly in "haunted" places, but lauding it doesn't exactly give me confidence in the veracity of ones stories.  Thankfully, the author is really good about identifying her experiences as only that and doesn't make mountains out of molehills.  No shifting tree branches that are obviously signs of demonic activity!!!! Just honest experiences of being creeped out in exceedingly creepy places.

This books is basically a paranormal tourism guide and it serves that function pretty well.  Each chapter is about a visit the author made to a different paranormal hotspot and contains some basic historical information, the author's experiences while there, and info on how you can visit (many location offer regular tours or Halloween attractions).  It's written in a very matter-of-fact, guidebook style (which is fine, but it's not exactly flowing prose).  I do like that author has a webpage with all of the video, audio, and photos taken at each location so you can look and see for yourself.

This book is fine when the author is talking about the history of the location, but I had some trouble enjoying her descriptions of her personal experiences.  The problem is that the author is clearly an amateur ghost hunter, so she doesn't exactly offer deep insights into the paranormal.  If I want to hear about someone being freaked out by shadows I'll watch it on tv where I can enjoy the jump cuts and the soundtrack can get me invested.  Reading about it just falls flat.  Nothing all that extraordinary happens.  There's really not much in this book that you can't get from surfing the web, though perhaps not quite so conveniently packaged.  This book feels like the writer watched a few seasons of Ghost Hunters and then spent some time cruising paranormal hot spots to see what all the fuss is about.  While there's nothing wrong with that, it's just not the book I wanted to read.

If you're a seasoned ghost hunter or serious paranormal enthusiast, don't bother with this book.  There's just not enough added knowledge or even entertainment value to make it worth the money.  If you're an armchair ghost lover or someone looking to plan a trip to a haunted place then you might enjoy it, but there are better sources out there.

Book Review: Confessions of a Reluctant Ghost Hunter

The other day I was looking through book reviews in back issues of The Cauldron and saw one that caught my eye.  Confessions of a Reluctant Ghost Hunter: A Cautionary Tale of Encounters with Malevolent Entities and Other Disembodied Spirits by Von Braschler was the book.  The title sounded like it was right up my alley and The Cauldron rarely steers me in the wrong way.  I wasn't disappointed.

The problem I have with most books about ghosts, hauntings, and ghost hunting in general is that they either make all ghosts seem as friendly as Casper (Oh, all ghosts want is to be loved and acknowledged.  Please, feel free to go and try to hug the angry elemental.)  or they make ghost hunters look like white knights fiercely laying to rest malevolent monsters that lurk in every corner (An evil demon, fear not! My mighty flashlight and salt shaker shall save you!).  I was delighted to find that this book did neither of those things.

This is, quite possibly, the most realistic book I've ever read on what encountering spirits and other metaphysical beings is actually like.  At first I was skeptical.  Braschler explains that his "training" to "de-ghost" houses consisted of two meetings with a cheerful new-ager who said to talk to the spirits and get them to move on, and to simply "stake and salt*" the house if it didn't want to go.  As you might imagine, this did not inspire my confidence in the tales to come.  However, Braschler then details just how insufficient that information was and how problematic it made his later encounters. 

The encounters described in this book will be instantly recognizable to anyone experienced with the paranormal as residual hauntings, intelligent hauntings, spirit flight, and non-human hauntings - though Braschler never describes them as such.  The details of the hauntings Braschler experiences are incredibly authentic in their sheer banality.  Most hauntings that you read about in books are fairly spectacular (books flying off shelves, screaming in the night, scratches on the unwary etc.), but the average haunting is just not that interesting.  Real hauntings are made of fleeting images out of the corner of your eye, odd chills at unexpected times in unexpected places, and utterly unverifiable "coincidences" that make you think you're losing your mind. These are the hauntings Braschler describes, with a few exceptions.  

The thing that most struck me about Braschler's tale that make me actually believe him is the way he describes his experience of the paranormal.  He doesn't talk about glowing lights or strange writing, he talks about having to ground and center himself and deliberately open his mind to the frequency where the paranormal can be perceived.  He doesn't describe it as easy or natural, but as a skill that requires practice and effort.  He talks about freaking himself out when going into a building that he's been told is haunted, but never really perceiving anything there that can make him confidently say the place is or isn't haunted.  He doubts his perceptions and he doubts his ability to do anything about what he perceived.  That is the reality of dealing with the paranormal: thinking you probably understand what's going on but always doubting and always needing more proof.

 There are, of course, exceptions to the normally dubious veracity of the paranormal.  I've come across the undeniably paranormal (think demons trying to eat your head) two or three times.  Braschler deals with it twice.  This is totally believable, unlike those ghost hunters who claim to banish demons every damned day.  In the last encounter described in the book Braschler gets called in by a friend to de-ghost their trailer and ends up facing down a dark non-human entity that he's woefully unprepared to deal with.  It doesn't go well. This should surprise no one.  It takes a trained and experienced practitioner to deal with the nastier dark entities. 

If you're interested in dabbling in the paranormal I highly recommend you read this book first.  Read about what actual encounters are like before you go into that purportedly haunted house.  If you recognize yourself in the stories then do yourself a favor and get some solid defensive training before you hurt yourself.

Experienced practitioners that enjoy tales of the paranormal will enjoy this too.  I know I did.

*Braschler describes the process of staking and salting a property as driving four large iron spikes (think railroad size nails) into the ground at the cardinal points of the property and calling the watchtowers to guard the property, then to create a line of salt as a perimeter to keep the spirits out.  Yes, these actions can be a part of a successful banishing but alone they're not going to do much against something that really wants to stick around.

Legal Considerations in Ghost Hunting

Last Saturday I did a presentation for the Olympia Paranormal Research Group on the legalities of ghost hunting.  I was tempted to subtitle the presentation "How Not to Get Sued - Probably."  You see, there aren't really any laws that are specifically directed at ghost hunting.  I don't think lawmakers ever really think about it.  As a result, most of the legal considerations of ghost hunting revolve around civil liability (tort law) and protecting yourself from that liability.  It's all about how not to get sued. 

*First a disclaimer.  The following is just food for thought, it is not intended to be legal advice.  If you need legal advice I recommend you consult an attorney licensed in your jurisdiction.  While I am a lawyer, I am not your lawyer.  What you do with this information is up to you.

Further, the following information in not comprehensive.  It is intended to make you aware of the most common legal issues that can come up in paranormal investigating.  Unfortunately, the potential for legal snags in a litigious world is almost infinite while my desire to dwell on it is not.*

Trespassing

Don’t do it.  Seriously. Trespassing is a criminal offense - you can be arrested and/or fined.
It is imperative that you get permission from a property owner before you do an investigation.  I recommend always getting permission in writing (make this part of your general paperwork). 
 

Liability

Always make sure that all of your investigators and the property owner sign a liability waiver.  Liability waivers basically say that if anyone gets hurt or anything gets damaged, the person injured promises not to sue you for damages.  You need this so that if you accidental break the homeowner's ming vase, you wont get sued for millions of dollars.  The homeowner needs it so that if one of your investigators trips over the coffee table and breaks a leg, the homeowner wont get sued.  Everybody wins. 

Of course, just because you've got signed waivers doesn't mean folks can't sue you - it just changes how likely they are to win.  You see, most waivers protect you against negligence, but not recklessness.  That means if you're startled by a noise and accidentally put a camera through someone's plasma screen you're probably ok.  However, if you're juggling family heirlooms and accidentally drop one, you're toast.  I look at it as negligence waivers protecting you from unhappy accidents outside of your control, but not deliberate idiocy or douchbaggery [yes, that's a technical term ;)].

Referrals

Referrals are rather sticky when it comes to ghost hunting.  If someone spends money on something because “you told them they had to” and they don’t like the results, they can sue you.  If you tell someone they need to hire a plumber or electrician and the person the client hires is bad, they can potentially sue you (though not for much - probably).  If you really think they need a service (like having their wiring checked) make sure you just say something like “consult a licensed and bonded electrician” rather than giving a personal referral (e.g., call my friend Bob, he’ll fix you up) - that can be construed as slightly extortionate if it turns out the referral was unwarranted because you had the client at a disadvantage when you gave the referral (they were scared, confused, etc.).  

Equally sticky, though less likely to end in a law suit, are referrals for cleansings.  At lot of times you'll come across haunted locations that a good energetic cleansing can pretty much fix.  Some folks who do energetic cleansings charge fees, some only charge for their expenses, and others will come out of good will alone.  If you refer a client to someone who charges for the cleansing and the client ends up feeling taken advantage of, you could be in legal hot water.  More likely though, is to have the person doing the cleansing offend the client in some way.  Most cleansings have religious overtones (or are straight out religious rites) and many involve practices that can make some people nervous.  Be aware of what kinds of things cleansers do and refer accordingly.  E.g. Don't refer the evangelical Christian client to a Voudou priestess - the priestess can certainly get the job done, but will almost certainly bring the client to hysterics.  I recommend getting a list of several people of different backgrounds so you can refer people more selectively.  And, of course, if a client is of a particular faith (and you know it at the time) refer them to their own religious leaders first, if appropriate.

Expectations

Lawsuits are almost always the result of a relationship gone bad.  The easiest way to avoid getting sued (even if you do something wrong) is to cultivate a positive relationship with the client.  Be honest with them and make them feel that you're on their side.  Communicate clearly what you will do during an investigation before you do it.  Make sure the client understands - really understands - what you will do.  I like to check someone's understanding by having them sum up what they think I'm going to do - you'd be amazed the misunderstandings you can catch this way.  Make sure the client understands what kind of evidence you expect, and what DOES NOT constitute evidence.  If you can tell a client is misunderstanding you, you have a duty to make sure they get it before you investigate.

As an aside, I also recommend asking if the client watches any ghost hunting reality shows.  You can get a pretty clear snapshot of what they think you're going to do if you know where their ideas are coming from.

Religion

Clients with strong religious beliefs present their own special challenges. Be aware (if you can) of your client’s religion as early in the process as possible.  Some religions have very firm stances on the paranormal and can be very easily offended.  This goes back to making sure the client understands what you intend to do, so if they have objections they can say so before you start investigating.  A little respect goes a long way, even if you think your client's religion is wackdoodle (another technical term).

Insanity

Sadly, you almost certainly will run into crazy people if you make a habit of chasing the paranormal.  Some clients are very lonely and will call you in just to get attention; some clients are certifiable.  Do you best to figure of if the client is buggers before you investigate.  Be EXTREMELY cautious with crazy people.  You never really know what they're going to do.  NEVER, ever, tell them they need to get professional help.  You can ask if they’ve considered it or mention "that one person you know who in a similar situation found psychiatric assistance valuable," but do not do anything that could be construed as telling the client they’re nuts - apart from almost certainly pissing them off, it’s potentially libelous.

The other really tricky thing with crazy people is that they're often haunted.  Oh yes, you can be both cracked and haunted.  When someone has mental difficulties it can actually make them more vulnerable to negative entities, so you will often find them hanging around.  Situations like that, however, are beyond the scope of a ghost hunting group.  Honestly, this is the point where you should really start backing away slowly, making no sudden moves.  There are spiritual healers and psychotherapists who are trained to deal with this kind of weirdness.  Unless you're one of them, changes are you'll be way out of your depth with someone like this.
  
Remember, this is all just food for thought.  Consult an attorney licensed in your jurisdiction if you need legal advice.

Magickal Triage

One of the top questions I get from people is: How do I know if there’s something paranormal going on or if I’m blowing things out of proportion?  I wish there were an easy answer to this, but there really isn’t.  Truthfully, even after many years of practice I still sometimes have trouble figuring it out, although I’m more likely to get a false negative than a false positive (it’s the skeptic in me, I can’t help it.).  Here’s what I tend to do when someone comes to me with a potential problem.

First, I tell them not to panic.  Paranormal phenomena, or something mistaken for paranormal phenomena, can be very frightening and people don’t usually come to me unless they are well and truly freaked out.  After the person has calmed down a bit I like to get the whole story from their point of view.  Being in a paranormal situation, if you’re not used to it, can feel very alienating – chances are good the person has tried to get help from someone else and was told it was all imagined or otherwise undermined.  Even if the situation isn’t really paranormal it’s imperative to respect the person’s experiences.

Once you’ve heard the person’s experiences, then you can start to assess the situation.  The trick to assessing any situation is to find out not only what people think is going on, but also exactly what they’ve been experiencing.  Ask questions like, “What exactly have you been experiencing?” “What makes you think that you’ve got a problem with X?”  Ask questions that will give you the specifics of the situation.  If someone tells you that objects have been moving, you want to find out what they really mean by that.  Does it mean that trinkets are falling off shelves, books are flying across the room, objects on tables being in different positions than they were left in, or something else entirely.

It’s important to find out as much as possible about the situation before you even consider walking into it.  The more you know about the situation, the more accurate an assessment of it you can make, the safer you will be.

Here is a checklist of things you need to find out before you can properly assess the situation:

·         What kind of phenomena have been experienced?

·         How long have the phenomena been occurring, including whether any particular things trigger the phenomena?

·         What intensity of phenomena have occurred?

·         Has anyone been injured?

·         Are there children involved?

·         Has anything been attempted to end the phenomena? If yes, what were the results – for better or for worse?

Once you have that information you can try to figure out what’s really going on.  Look at the actual symptoms people are experiencing – do they match what you know of a particular creature or phenomenon; can they be explained without the presence of the paranormal?  Also look at the person wanting your help – does the person’s energy feel right, is he genuinely worried about the situation, is he trustworthy?  If the symptoms as I understand them seem to match known paranormal phenomena and the person seems genuine, then I will usually err on the side of caution and suggest performing whatever remedy would be appropriate if the explanation were paranormal.  The beauty of cleansings and purifications is that they will get rid of harmful paranormal activity if it’s there and won’t do any harm if it isn’t.  If there’s an obvious mundane explanation, then I’ll say so.  If there isn’t, or I’m not certain that there isn’t, a mundane explanation, then go ahead with the appropriate cleansings.

Psychic Protection for Ghost Hunters and Paranormal Investigators

Lately I’ve had a lot of inquiries about how to best protect oneself from malevolent energies and entities when going on a ghost hunt or other paranormal investigation.  It’s a tricky scenario because it requires a much more balanced and subtle approach to defense than my usual “err on the side of overkill” approach.  Investigators want to keep themselves safe but still want to have paranormal experiences; how can we ward off dangers but still invite experiences?  Many, if not most, common methods of protection actually repel paranormal entities, taking them out of the investigator’s arsenal.

One good method of psychic protection that does not repel paranormal entities is shielding.  Shielding is basically a way of strengthening your aura (your personal energy field) in a way that prevents negative energy from affecting you.  The most common way of shielding is to envision yourself surrounded by an egg shaped bubble of energy, usually blue or white, that creates a barrier between you and negative energy.  The problem with this for an investigator is that it can actually dampen your senses and make it more difficult for you to detect the paranormal.

A better alternative is to use a series of filters; think of them as the layers of an onion.  Instead of envisioning a solid wall of energy between you and the world, envision a fuzzy grey barrier that blocks negative energy, but allows all other energy through.  Inside of that barrier envision a yellow layer of circulating air that will heighten your perceptions and increase your awareness of your surroundings.  Inside of that, envision a layer of red, fiery energy that you can use to protect yourself if you should need it.  You can tweak your intent to change density of your filters, to allow more or less energy through.  If at any point you feel really threatened, you can always pump a little extra energy into your outer filter and turn it into a barrier.  It gives you the best of both worlds – protection and awareness.  After the investigation you just envision the layers of your filters melting into the ground and being absorbed away.

Another good technique to protect yourself during an investigation is to carry a bag of salt.  It sounds too easy to be true, but just carrying salt can do wonders for absorbing negative energy and keeping it from affecting you.  Salt has been used as a grounding and purifying agent by just about every culture in the world for pretty much all of recorded history.  I recommend putting about a ¼ cup of salt (sea salt is best, but any will do) into a cotton tea bag and either tying it to your belt of just putting it in your pocket.  To give it some extra strength, before the investigation hold the bag in your hands and say “Salt absorb negativity, nothing shall do harm to me, with this I ever safe shall be, as I do will so mote it be.”  After the investigation you can bury the bag, or just pour the salt down the drain.

Some investigators choose not to do anything to protect themselves before an investigation.  It’s their choice to assume that risk, but I don’t recommend it.  But even if you don’t want to risk dampening your chances of having an experience by protecting yourself before an investigation, all investigators should do some form of cleansing afterward to make sure they don’t end up accidentally taking something home.

My favourite way to do a self-cleansing is to smudge.  Smudging is a Native American purification method in which you essentially fumigate yourself (or an object) with the smoke of smouldering herbs.  The most common herbs used for this are sage, cedar, and sweetgrass, although you can use any herb with which you feel a personal affinity or that you find cleansing and soothing (lavender and mugwort are also used fairly often).  I like to use the bundles of sage that you can find in any metaphysical shop and even some natural food stores (I can get them at my local grocery – hooray Central Market).  Light the herbs, let it burn for just a little while, and then blow out the flame and allow the herbs to smoulder and smoke.  Waft the smoke over your entire body, being sure to get the bottoms of your feet and under your arms.  If you feel the need, spend a little extra time wafting smoke over the entirety of your spine and your third eye area.

The other super easy way to cleanse after an investigation is to take a shower.  Running water is excellent at removing negative energies.  To enhance the cleansing effects just envision any lingering energies being washed off of your body and going down the drain.  Bath salts and high quality herbal soaps (particularly those with sage or cedar as primary ingredients) can also enhance the energetic cleansing.

These simple methods will keep an investigator safe and sound against the kinds of entities and energies that they’re likely to encounter.  Of course, there are the rare strong entities that can cause harm despite these basic precautions.  If you know that a place you are about to investigate has a history of violent activity or is suspected of housing a really scary entity, like a hungry ghost or an infernal, think about employing some stronger protections.  For more info on that you’ll have to get my book ;)