Ghosts & Hauntings – Page 7 – Museum of the Weird

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Doc Ravencraft — 1 Comment

Ouija or Nonnein?

[Ouija appears to be a combination of the French “oui” and German “ja,” which both mean “yes.” The French “non” and German “nein” both mean “no.” You probably already knew that.]

Recently I picked up something nice… well, nice for me anyway. It’s a 50-year-old talking board, or Ouija® board. (It’s pronounced “wee-jah” by the way, not “wee-jee.” Look at the word!) It’s a William Fuld board, made in the 1960s, before the rights went to Parker Brothers. It did not come with a planchette (that little triangle thing that they use today). It’s intended to be used with a overturned glass. I had my eye on a proper board from around 1920, but I got distracted during the critical final moments on eBay. Alas! (Yes, I use eBay. I’m a mystic, not a Luddite.)

Doc Ravencraft's Fuld Ouija board from the 1960s — Doc's new, old Ouija board

There is a lot of fear for people around talking boards, especially the Ouija brand. (Frankly, I find it difficult to put too much fear into the object itself. After all, it is now largely plastic, glows in the dark and made in the same factory with Mr. Potato Head!) If some of the stories people tell are true, Toys R Us would be the most terrifying place in the world. Perhaps it is!) In truth, people have explored ways of communicating with spirits before you could buy a talking board in a box. It all really got going in the mid 1800s with spirit knocks and table-tipping and all those wonderfully creative ideas that people have come up with to get around the fact that the spirit world hasn’t caught on to email.

From my own experience, working with a talking board is no more dangerous than using a pendulum or any other method where I wish to interact directly with a spirit. There is nothing about the Ouija board that makes it especially evil (except, perhaps, that it is plastic and glowy and sold in a toy store). There is nothing that makes it especially effective (except, perhaps, that people’s belief in the stories allow them to open up enough to let something happen). You could accomplish the same results with an overturned glass and a circle of Scrabble® tiles. It’s not the tool, but how you use it.

Let’s talk mechanics here for a moment. When you use a pendulum, or a talking board — or just about anything that you use to communicate with the spirits by having it move as you hold it — you are dealing with ideo motor responses. This means that your brain is subconsciously sending signals to your muscles to make something happen. Because you are not consciously doing this, it feels like it happens with an outside force, all by itself, but you are making it happen. “Gasp!” I hear some of you say. “He’s saying it’s all fake.” No! I am not! I am saying that there are natural means involved and that it’s not being pushed by “magic fingers.” You won’t get anywhere if you wait for the universe to do things without you.

You must understand that you are involved with moving these things in order to appreciate how they can become dangerous. If you want to sit down with one of these things and make it spell out whatever you wish, then you can do that. (It can be fun to get some squeally teeny-boppers and just completely punk them with what the board says. They’re not taking it seriously anyway, so why should I?) However, if you are doing it properly, you are letting go of the answers that you want it to say and letting your subconscious drive things. In other word, you are letting go of the outcome and allowing something else to drive it. Now, that may simply be thoughts hidden in your brain that are only available to your subconscious, like the last place you really saw that key. There are those who believe, though, that our subconscious mind is the one that can connect with outside influences, including spirits. In other words, you might open the communication line and become a channel for these things to talk to you. Can you see a potential problem with that?

If you believe that all this is crap, then you’re probably find no matter what. You’re mind will be closed enough that it’s pretty unlikely anything will get through. (See! Finally an advantage to being asleep!) However, if you are legitimately experimenting with these ideas and opening yourself to the possibilities, then there are some things you need to do:

Take responsibility for what you are doing. You are exploring in what may be dangerous territory. You need to be smart and you need to be attentive. If you come into contact with bad things you will have to be willing to get you and your fellow participants to safety. If that idea gives you serious doubts then leave it alone. If you make a mess, you will need to have the guts and wisdom to see that there is a problem and clean it up.
Ground, clean and clear. If you were going to meet with strangers, would you go to a rat-infested hole that was unfamiliar to you or would you try to go somewhere comfortable and safe? I guess if you’re buying crack you go wherever it is, but most of us would want to meet someplace that was at least neutral. So, take some time to make the place spiritually comfortable before you start inviting people in. I don’t think that there is a particular practice that is superior. It all depends on your own spirituality. (If you don’t have any, then this probably isn’t a good idea. If you just want the thrills, rent a movie instead.) Do what is done before you take on a serious ritual or sacrament. It may be smudging the site and casting a circle. It may be joining together and saying a prayer. If you don’t know, then you should probably work with someone who has more experience in this area before you try to do anything on your own. From what I have encountered, most of the bad things that happen with things like talking boards happen because people skip this step. They don’t bring any sort of protective force and place themselves at the mercy of anything that they encounter.
Don’t be an idiot. If something feels wrong to you, stop it. If you encounter something that feels dangerous, move away from it. There are old, dark things out there that are looking for opportunities to mess you up. You will not outsmart them like Captain Kirk giving something a logic puzzle. Forget the movies and the TV shows. Pay attention to your instincts. It would be better for you to lose out on a conversation than to allow something nasty to work through you or your friends. If something seems like it’s hiding something or the “vibe” you get is inconsistent with the words, let it go. If someone says that they are uncomfortable or describes something that they are picking up, don’t act as though it can’t be real if it didn’t happen to you. Don’t bully people into keeping contact with something that may not be nice to them. I know I’m being a little dramatic here, but you get these things for a reason. Don’t ignore them and cause unnecessary trouble for yourself.
Set some guidelines for what you are trying to do. Don’t just say “Hey! Is anyone there?” That’s like posting something on the Internet that says “Everyone come to my house! Here’s the address.” Make some decisions about who you want to contact and why. Start there and let them introduce you to other entities. Remember that bad things (or merely mischievous things) will lie to you. Don’t assume it’s Elvis just because he says so. Take some time. Be polite. An excellent place to start is to try to contact a spirit guide that is already connected to one of the participants. You may have one and not even know it. The point is that you want to connect with something that has your interests at heart. Starting there will save you a lot of trouble down the road.
Take notes. Keep some kind of record of who you contact and what they tell you. It gives you something to help verify anyone that you contact. It also helps you watch for inconsistencies, which can be a sign of something that’s messing with you.
Clean up when you’re finished. Just like after a big party you may need to wander through the place and make sure that everyone has actually gone home, you need to close things out after a session like this. Thank everyone who talked to you and ask them to depart until you invite them again. Do a closing prayer, or open the circle or whatever makes sense for your path. Just don’t leave things hanging.

There’s no way that this little list of ideas could cover all the possibilities when working with these tools. Hopefully, though, I’ve got you thinking. If you have questions, ask them. In the mean time, I’m going to see which of these glasses seems to like my Fuld board.

Doc

Posted on June 26, 2011 by Steve Busti

GHOSTLY GUEST CRASHES WEDDING PARTY PHOTO

MOTW-0602511-Ghost_Wedding_Photo — Something isn't quite right with this picture. What's that floating above the soundboard? (Courtesy Karen Hanlon)

People at a wedding reception at the Newman Wine Vaults in St. John’s believe they caught an image of an uninvited and otherworldly guest.

Newlyweds Matt White and Danielle Hann said one of their friends was shocked by the digital image she took at the June 18 event.

“Karen [Hanlon] was staring at this camera and she came running out with the camera saying, ‘Look what I just took! Look what I just took! There’s somebody in the picture,” said White.

On the right-hand side of the photograph, some see a figure that seems to be wearing a white top and floating in the air.

“Somehow it’s not as creepy in the daylight,” said White.

But it still makes Hann uneasy.

“I don’t know, it’s still creepy,” she said.

St. John’s folklorist Dale Jarvis said it might be explained away as a reflection or a light flare, but he added that the Newman Wine Vaults does have a haunting history.

“It is one of those places that continually generates new ghost stories. So, this is part of that tradition for the space,” said Jarvis, who has collected many St. John’s ghost stories.

Jarvis is the organizer of the city’s “haunted hike” – a tour of the downtown area that recounts many of the stories he has been told.

The Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage website said the history of the wine vault is unclear.

It’s believed to have been built in the early 19th century, and was used by the English mercantile firm Newman and Company to age port wine from Portugal in St. John’s – a tradition that began in the late 17th century and continued until the late 19th century.

Posted on May 8, 2011 by Steve Busti

HAUNTED ‘AMERICAN IDOL’ MANSION FOR SALE

Season 10’s “American Idol” house is not some Victorian-era mansion or even an abandoned mid-century modern from the 1960s, yet the contestants on Fox’s hit show claim that the place is indeed haunted.

Built in 2008 the home now abandoned by the singers, has hit the Beverly Glen real estate market with a listing price of $12,000,000.

First reported by celebrity site TMZ, reports of paranormal activity began with “bizarre flickering lights” followed by an infestation of spiders. A few of the reality show stars told OK! Magazine that they saw “a hand falling down from the ceiling.” (They also admit to watching a horror movie at the time.)

But apparently the last straw was when several of the cast-mates “claim they watched a bed sheet suddenly take on a life of its own and float down an empty hallway.”

That and the roof leaked a little bit during a torrential Los Angeles rain storm.

Posted on April 17, 2011 by Steve Busti

IS THE OLDEST HOUSE IN AMERICA HAUNTED?

The Fairbanks Homestead: Oldest Haunted House in America?

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 4:53 PM on 14th April 2011

It’s the oldest timber frame house in America, lived in for generations by the same family and lovingly kept just as it was in its early Colonial days.

But what the Fairbanks House lacks in modern facilities it seems to make for with … strange spirits.

The house in Dedham, Massachusetts, was built between 1637 and 1641 by English settlers Jonathan and Grace Fairbanks.

Today the house is a museum, but it could very well one of the most haunted houses in America.

Justin Schlesinger, one of the museum directors whose ancestors built the property, said: ‘There’s always been weird things happening in the house, from the doorbell going off a million times to flashlights never working.’

He added that there are sometimes footsteps heard on the stairs when no one is there. Also, a newly-installed alarm system went off every night for several weeks with the alarm company unable to offer an explanation.

If there are such things as ghosts, he said, ‘this would be the logical place for them to be.’

For decades now, throngs of visitors from all over the world, from school children to distinguished architects, have toured the house, entranced by its authenticity.

MOTW-041711-Oldest_Haunted_House_in_America_2 — A gentler age: Portraits and china bring a dash of colour to the living room

Over the centuries, there must have been some deaths in the house, museum business manager Lee Ann Hodson said.

There’s even been a shocking murder. In 1801, one of the Fairbanks sons, Jason, was convicted in the killing of his girlfriend, Elizabeth Fales, in a nearby pasture. She had apparently spurned his marriage proposal.

He was hanged from the gallows on Dedham Common in one of the most sensational murder cases of the time.

On a whim last year, Mr Schlesinger, 25, asked a ghost-hunting group, The Atlantic Paranormal Society, or TAPS, to come in and see what they might find.

MOTW-041711-Oldest_Haunted_House_in_America_3 — A house full of history: Tools and items from the early Colonial days litter the property

He spent a a night in the house with the TAPS investigators.

‘We heard footsteps in the beginning,’ he said. ‘Up where the children used to sleep.’

The TAPS group made audio recordings all night in an effort to detect anything out of the ordinary.

They told him after reviewing the tapes that they did record some sounds.

‘They thought it was kids, because they got some laughter on the recordings.’

Schlesinger admitted that he didn’t get much sleep that night while the group camped out on sleeping bags in the house’s tiny parlor, especially when his cell phone went off in the middle of the night and began playing organ music.

‘I don’t know if scared is the right word,’ he said.’Maybe startled or confused.’

The ghost hunters told him not to worry, that if there were spirits in the house, they were likely his own family and wouldn’t harm him, thebostonchannel.com reports.

Posted on March 30, 2011 by Steve Busti

FAMILY CAPTURES POLTERGEIST ON VIDEO

A spooked family have called in a real-life ‘ghostbuster’ – after claiming to have captured on video a poltergeist moving a chair across a bedroom.

Lisa Manning and her children Ellie, 11, and Jaydon, six, have fled their house in terror several times because of bizarre goings-on.

They include pots and pans being thrown around the kitchen, window blinds moving up and down by themselves, lights being switched on and off and drawers being opened.

Last week they were even forced to climb out of a window after being trapped in their living room when the door locked by itself.

Now they have been advised to wear crucifixes by a priest after capturing video footage of a chair moving by itself in Ellie’s bedroom.

Carer Miss Manning, 34, shot the film two weeks ago after putting hidden cameras in the family’s home in Holbrooks, an area of Coventry.

The 52-second clip shows a wardrobe door opening before a pink swivel chair moves slowly backwards towards the wall.

Poltergeist haunts Coventry house

Posted on March 4, 2011 by Steve Busti

5-year old boy snaps ghostly photo

This spooky series of photos was posted on Lon Strickland’s Phantoms & Monsters blog. Whether they show a real apparition or not, they certainly do send chills up your spine.

Here’s the story as it was submitted by a reader from West Sussex, UK:

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A couple of years ago a neighbour and I were discussing ghosts and the paranormal. She said she had something to show me. On her cell phone were 3 pictures taken by her 5 year old son at 5am in the morning. His mother had gone downstairs to get a baby bottle heated up for her 8 month old son. You can see the edge of the bed and her husbands bulky legs under the quilt. The cot with her 8 month old son is in the left hand corner.

The eldest 5 year old son, who had hopped into her bed snapped the pictures as he usually likes playing with her cellphone. It’s a common occurrence with him. She came across the photos when clearing out her phone of clutter some months later. The time stamps on the photos were removed when I transferred them over to my computer and then an external hard drive. However, I did witness the time stamps, dates and the pictures showed they were taken within 3 -7 seconds of each other.

The picture shows a woman that looks nothing like my neighbour, the head shape is all wrong and it appears she is wearing a suit and skirt. When you enhance the picture certain features look terrifying. My neighbour stated she had been in her dressing gown and pj’s.

MOTW-030411-Ghost_Photo_5 — Enhanced photo showing details

My neighbour has had lots of paranormal activity in her house over the years and has witnessed on one occasion a red-eyed being staring through her dining room window at night. Her husband has also witnessed the same strange going’s on. I have no reason to disbelieve my neighbour as she is one of the most honest and open people I know.