Doing Your Own GHost Hunting

 

Almost every day I get letters and e-mails from people -- nearly always young people -- who ask where they can do their own ghost hunting.
They rarely ask how they should do it, and they never ask if they should.
While many of these young folks strike me as sincere searchers after knowledge, just as many come across as thrill seekers with little or no consideration for people's privacy or private property.


 My advice on doing your own ghost hunting is: DON'T unless you are very experienced or are with someone very experienced. And experienced, mature paranormal investigators are about as common as snowflakes in Key West.
Don't be one of the feral ghost hunters, as I call them!


Here are some reasons why ghost hunting is a bad idea for 99.9% of the population.


1) YOU CAN MAKE MATTERS WORSE
In a "haunted house" that has residents, there almost always are pathological or domestic issues, or both, that are feeding the paranormal phenomena. Inexperienced investigators who pay attention only to the phenomena are not only neglecting the residents' needs but could make the whole scene worse by creating more psychic disharmony. That's especially true if they use seances, Ouija boards and other bombshells that only serve to open more doors in space-time.
And if you start "investigating" a house in which the house or land actually have no problems but the people do (psychologically), you can stimulate their neuroses or psychoses, creating big problems.

  
2) IT CAN HARM YOU
In paranormal situations or at troubled places, you have to keep a level head and know exactly how to handle the stimuli that come your way. This is supremely true with my theoretical "parasitical entities," whose only interest is feeding on your energy and who know just what "buttons" to push to do so.
In addition, I've time and again seen inexperienced people start investigating sites only to have their imaginations run wild, to the point that they were convinced that entities had followed them home or that they were being terrorized by demons. On several occasions, many years ago when I was doing graduate work in abnormal psychology, I encountered several people who had to be institutionalized because of what we referred to at the time as "demonopathic hysteria."
Conversely, I often encounter people who love all things paranormal to the point of obsession, usually because it can bring them attention, provide an escape from a boring life or, worst of all, create a sense of power over others. Many people, including me, are fascinated by the paranormal, but there comes a point at which any interest can become unhealthy, especially when many of the objects of that interest see you as nothing more than a hot lunch.
As if that weren't enough, if you are very sensitive or psychic and don't know how to handle it, the stimuli at many of these sites can overwhelm you.


3) YOU CAN CREATE A NUISANCE
Whenever they feel like it, many paranormal devotees form impromptu groups and go bumbling off to cemeteries and other outdoor sites that have paranormal reputations. While curiosity-seekers have been doing this since time out of mind, that doesn't mean it's right.
Trespassing is a crime, and cemeteries deserve respect.
So, by all means, read up on the paranormal and enjoy lectures and movies on the subject.

If that's not enough, take up soccer.


Copyright 2000 by Paul F. Eno. All rights reserved.