A Haunting in Beverly – I DO Believe In Ghosts – I DO, I DO!

In the Beverly neighborhood on Chicago's south side, old, massive homes line some of the streets in a spooky Halloween-type setting where tree branches look as if they might reach out to grab unsuspecting motorists and plunge them into depths unknown. One of those homes on one of those streets belonged to my friend, Clare. 

On the day I met her, I sat in front of her home for the first time, staring at the structure from inside my car. Something about the house caused my heart to palpitate and I felt instantly uncomfortable. The discomfort was so palpable, in fact, that I had to force myself to brush off my uneasiness just to make it up the sidewalk to the steps. With much trepidation, I climbed the stairs and tried to convince myself that my fearful perceptions sprouted only from my overactive imagination. 

"Want to see the rest of the house?" Clare asked after we drank tea at her dining room table.

No, not really, I wanted to say. But I accompanied her from room to room, anyway, the uneasiness following me with every creak on the floor and through every doorway. As Clare showed me around her spacious house with its giant rooms, she asked me if I wanted to see her basement. 

I didn't, but having never met her until that day, I didn't want to admit to her that basements have always frightened me. As I peered around the eerie underground space, I thought about Wes Craven. Was Clare's basement a model for his A Nightmare on Elm Street movies? Would I find Freddy Krueger lurking in the shadows? 

1984, the year I first met Clare, was the same year the first Nightmare movie appeared in theaters. Combining my feelings and observations with Clare's admission that she and her family shared their home with a ghost, I absolutely, with no hesitation, believed that a ghost lived in her home.

I met Clare through my oldest daughter, Keeley, who had been friends with three of Clare's children. Escaping the rants of her stepfather, Keeley moved in with Clare and had no apprehension at all about moving into Clare's home despite the fact that Clare AND her children had clearly stated that the house was haunted.

Unlike her mother, Keeley believed in nothing paranormal, so it was no wonder when, on her first night living in their home, she ignored admonitions not to intimidate the ghost – Keeley thought everybody was joking about him. 

Since Keeley was the only one tired enough to sleep that first night, everybody but Keeley remained downstairs. All of the bedrooms were upstairs, and if Keeley wanted to go upstairs by herself, she would be alone. Clare and her children were concerned about how Keeley would react if the ghost decided to appear to her in some form, so they reminded her again and again about the ghost.

In addition to the original Nightmare movie, Ghostbusters had also made its debut that same year, and after Clare and her children reminded Keeley again about their "houseghost" and asked once again if she would be OK going upstairs by herself, Keeley climbed the squeaky steps and flippantly remarked, "I'll be fine – if he bothers me, I'll just call the Ghostbusters." 

Clare and her children exchanged knowing glances, thinking her remark would be just enough to set off the ghost, and warned, "He's not going to like that," but Keeley was so certain that no ghostly activity whatsoever would occur, she dismissed their warnings, ascended the creaking stairs to the room they had assigned to her, and jumped on the bed, ready for a good night's sleep.  

Nonbelievers generally don't believe in ghosts until they experience their own ghostly encounters. Some former nonbelievers, after having had experiences with ghosts, now run their own ghost hunting companies. Some of them even televise their findings. Ghost Adventures on the Travel Channel and Paranormal State that used to appear on A&E are two ghost hunting programs that come to mind. 

I sometimes wonder what would convince a nonbeliever of a ghost's authenticity, because while I have had my share of ghostly encounters (read Touched By a Ghost if you want to read about one of them), I have always believed in them.

Keeley, on the other hand, had never believed in them. So on her first night at Clare's house, after she had found her room and sat down on the bed, in less than a minute, one single event challenged every belief Keeley had ever held. Because in that minute, as she sat down on the bed, with Clare's family awake and only one floor below her, the bedside table lifted off the ground beside her, and hung in mid-air, rocking.

Something strange happens to the throat of a person who is frightened beyond comprehension – a voice chokes into silence and any attempt to make sound becomes thwarted. Though she tried to scream for help, no voice erupted;  though she tried to thrash her arms and legs around, no movement ensued.

Like the Cowardly Lion who holds his tail, closes his eyes, and cries, "I do believe in ghosts" (in the movie version of The Wizard of Oz), Keeley would now admit to believing in ghosts.

So what about you? Do you think that not believing in something means it doesn't exist, or are you open to the possibility that beings exist beyond our abilities to perceive them through any of our five physical senses and that they roam among us on this planet? If you don't believe in ghosts, what would it take to make a believer out of you?

Just wondering.

One more thing: consider the house's history when purchasing a home in any old neighborhood. Why? Because when Clare sold her house and I asked her if she told the new owners about the occupant she left behind, she responded, "Nobody told me when I moved in and nobody asked me when I sold it." 

I can tell you with certainty that if I ever move into an older home, I'll find out about its history BEFORE I move in.

The Astrological Synergy Between The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr

Energy moves our bodies, wires the synapses in our brains, and lights up our world. Synergy is the combined effect generated by the interaction between or the cooperation of two or more organisms that results in something greater than what each individual alone could expect to accomplish.

Individually, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr were/are amazing musicians. Together, however, they were exceptional, sensational, phenomenal, and inspirational.

The exchange of energy begins when two creative geniuses (Lennon and McCartney) connect. When others of like mind join forces (Harrison and Starr), they contribute their creative energies as well. 

That energy exchange between hard-working, committed people with a common goal is often palpable. The energy involved in the dynamics of those types of groups is so powerful, in fact, that it can profoundly impact an entire world, as it did with The Beatles. 

Though energy can be measured, it can't yet be analyzed. For instance, what constitutes success in group dynamics? If one person in a group is taken out of the group, how does the group change? Would The Beatles have been THE BEATLES if even one member had been replaced by someone else?

When John Lennon and Paul McCartney met, they connected on a level that allowed them to support and encourage each other while they merged their unique talents and their individual styles. Some part of each of them was drawn toward the other through some invisible force that created musical harmony. They became a team with a purpose. 

When George Harrison joined The Beatles, another element was added to the duo – another dimension where more energy interacted with the already established duo and the relationship changed to include George. By the time Ringo Starr became a member of The Beatles, all of the elements necessary for an electric and eclectic mix of poetry, magic, and music combined to create the phenomenon known as The Beatles.

The dynamics of any group, however, are complicated. In the case of The Beatles, those relationships included not only the relationship between the four of them, but also John's relationship with Paul, John's relationship with George, John's relationship with Ringo, Paul's relationship with George, Paul's relationship with Ringo, George's relationship with Ringo, and a still different dynamic when only three of them were together.

Combine talent with skill, innovation with music, and personality with passion, and you get The Beatles. The Beatles affected people of all ages around the globe. Would it be possible to duplicate that kind of success in the music world again?

Energy in a horoscope is found through aspects – the way the planets and signs relate to each other. Can the merging of the energies with The Beatles be shown astrologically? 

Astrologers look for many factors when trying to determine relationships between people. One of those factors is harmonics, or the mathematical relationship between various aspects in two or more horoscopes. 

An astrology chart is divided into twelve houses. Beginning on the left side of the circle, just below the horizon, sits the first house. Going in a counter-clockwise direction, the next house (the second house) sits next to the third house, and so on until the chart ends at the twelfth house. The astrological chart is a mathematical computation that takes into account the longitude and latitude of the birth place, the exact time of birth, and the date of the individual's birth.

Once the math has been computed (in the "old days" astrologers computed everything by hand and it sometimes took hours – today computer horoscope programs take only seconds after inputting the information), the astrologer (or program) assigns planets and signs to individual houses and interprets the relationships between those planets and signs.

Conjunctions (planets and signs that align with each other) and trines (planets and signs that are four houses away from each other) show "easy" relationships. Squares (planets and signs that are three houses away from each other) and oppositions (planets and signs that are six houses away from each other) show friction or "hard" aspects.

In the case of the Beatles, the relationship between the four (see graphic with all four names) shows lots of conjunctions, but also enough oppositions and squares to make life for The Beatles very interesting and challenging. 

What astrologers might find particularly interesting is what appears in the second house of money and assets. Uranus, the planet of the unexpected, aligns nicely with all four musicians. Any astrologer looking at this combined chart could see, in retrospect, why The Beatles saw an unexpected rise to fame. 

Also, the sign Leo, a common sign for entertainers, shows in the fourth house of home and family. These four felt at home with each other in the early years when their stars shone brightly.

So the question is, could The Beatles success be duplicated in our lifetimes? Never say never.

Graphics:

Photo of the Beatles is from wikimedia commons.

The four natal (birth) charts of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr.

The combined chart shows (from inner circle outwards) the charts of Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon, and George Harrison. A combination chart always starts with the first sign of the Zodiac, Aries.

Touched By a Ghost

(previously published in September, 2010 on a site that no longer exists)

Dennis sat in my driveway after he dropped off his cousin, Marilyn. Our eyes met, and I could tell instantly that he was as attracted to me as I was to him. But our situations were complicated. We were both separated but still legally married and we each had a child.

I had met Marilyn when I joined the same company where she and her best friend Jeannie worked. We all became friends and every day the three of us took breaks and lunches together. When Marilyn told me the day after Dennis dropped her off that he wanted to know if I would go out with him, I told her that absolutely I would.

I was living with my parents at the time, and though Dennis and I dated for a couple of months, my parents were upset that every time he came to pick me up, he brought along his entourage of motorcycle buddies. She refused to babysit anymore if I continued to see him.

When Dennis called the day my mother refused to babysit any longer, I told him to spend time with his daughter, and I would work something out for the weekend.

The next morning I awoke with an uneasy feeling, but I went to work anyway. Marilyn hadn't shown up for work that day, but Jeannie was there and I told her that I had a bad feeling about something. I couldn't eat and I couldn't get rid of the feeling that something was terribly wrong with somebody I deeply cared about.

The first phone call I made was to my babysitter to find out if my daughter was OK. She was fine. I then called my mother, my sisters, and even my friends. It didn't occur to me to call Dennis, because we hadn't really been dating that long. 

Despite the fact that everybody I called was fine, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong somewhere. As the morning passed into the afternoon and I still couldn't eat, I told Jeannie I was really worried.

After watching me suffer all morning from worry, Jeannie finally pulled me aside to tell me the reason Marilyn wasn't at work that day – Dennis might have been killed in a motorcycle accident the night before, the night I was supposed to be with him. The rumor was that he had been hit by a Pepsi truck and that his head had been severed from his body.

Instantly I knew that the reason for my feeling of dread was because the rumor was true. Dennis had died. I asked Marilyn to verify the information for me, because I was shaking and crying too much to talk to anybody on the phone. 

When I made it home, still in tears, my mother reminded me of how lucky I was that she had refused to watch my daughter for me. The thought that I too might have died hadn't entered my mind.

That night, as I rolled over in bed, still crying, still thinking about Dennis and about how sad it was for his daughter to have lost such a loving dad, I attempted to fall asleep.

But whispers in my ear prevented that from happening. I immediately jumped out of bed and turned on the overhead light, my heart pounding inside my chest. 

I had been studying Harold Sherman's, How to Make ESP Work For You, and I had been implementing his strategies. His methods were working and I amused and amazed my friends at work with my predictions. But now that I "heard" whispering from the other side, I wasn't so sure I wanted to develop my ESP any further. I was, in a word, frightened by my ability.

The next night, thinking the whispering was a fluke, I turned off the light and sat on the bed. Out of somewhere I felt a hand touch my shoulder and I immediately leaped out of bed to turn the light back on.

Terrified, I acknowledged that maybe I didn't really want to learn ESP after all and that I couldn't handle ghostly encounters.

I've heard it said that when people die from traumatic events (in this case, a head severed from a body), their spirits remain earthbound for a time while they adjust to the fact that they're dead. 

To this day nobody will convince me that it wasn't Dennis saying a final goodbye.

Related Reading: The Pact – Two Friends Promise to Visit Each Other After Death

Time Travel – Psychic Espionage – Remote Viewing

Soviet Russia was of paramount concern for the United States during the 1960s when children dived beneath desks in response to Air Raid drills that warned them of imminent danger. These monthly drills were necessary in case the United States came under attack by Russia – something the people of the United States believed could occur at any moment.

The United States was also in fierce competition with Russia. On September 13, 1959, Russia's Luna 2 mission put a spacecraft on the surface of the Moon – TEN YEARS BEFORE the United States' manned moon landing of Apollo 11 on July 20, 1969. 

So if Russia exploited a skill using psychic espionage tactics that sounded more like science fiction from the vaults of Rod Serling than nonfiction from scientific journals, the United States wanted to implement those same strategies – with hopes for a more successful outcome. The procedure they wanted to learn and employ was called Remote Viewing.

Through paranormal means, remote viewers use their psychic abilities to "see" a target that could be thousands of miles – or several years – away. Over the years the U.S. government has often denied the covert remote viewing Stargate Project, but purportedly spent $20,000,000 to develop the remote viewing technique.

By the 1970s, the U.S. government implemented their Psychic Intelligence project and by the 90s, military intelligence reportedly used it during Desert Storm. 

Remote viewing requires one to focus on nothing more than a number or an image. The image or the number might be hidden inside a manila envelope. The viewer is told nothing of the target or the contents of the envelope, but using skills developed during training, the subject learns how to psychically transport himself (or herself) to a different place or to a different time. The remote viewer then reports or draws his or her findings. 

Numerous books have been written on the subject of remote viewing. One in particular stands out, because one of the participants in Stargate, Joseph McMoneagle, explains not only the process of remote viewing, but also the effectiveness of locating targets using remote viewing tactics. Memoirs of a Psychic Spy: The Remarkable Life of U. S. Government Remote Viewer 001,by Joseph McMoneagle and L. Robert Castorr, recounts Joseph McMoneagle's experiences with remote viewing. 

Of what use is remote viewing, you may ask? Imagine a weapon that could locate scud missiles, missing children, weapons of mass destruction, submarines, drug ships, and hostages. Now imagine that weapon to be your mind. By learning the techniques for remote viewing, you could psychically transport yourself anywhere in the world or anywhere out of the world, and you wouldn't have to leave your seat. 

According to remoteviewing.com, the remote viewing project mentioned in McMoneagle's book was Classified and participants had to sign secrecy oaths. What was secret then, however, is now common knowledge. Remoteviewing.com also writes that remote viewing is an innate ability – anybody, when trained properly, can learn remote viewing skills.

Despite Stargate's reported 85% accuracy rating, when the scientific community demanded proof for the effectiveness of Remote Viewing, after nearly a quarter of a century of funding the program, the government discontinued funding the Remote Viewing program. Apparently results had to be accurate and reliable 100% of the time.

If remote viewing intrigues you and you want to learn how to be a psychic spy, read the book mentioned above. In addition to Joseph McMoneagle's book, other books on Remote Viewing include:

Remote Viewers: The Secret History of America's Psychic Spies by Jim Schnabel

Remote Viewing by Paul Young (Editor), Vicenc Altaio, Emilio Alvarez, Carlos Duran

Remote Viewing: The Complete User's Manual for Coordinate Remote Viewing by David Morehouse

You can click any of those links or you can check out McMoneagle’s web site for links to the books shown in the photo above. Also try McMoneagle’s blog.

Imagine being able to travel through time and space. Imagine the consequences of improving the effectiveness of Remote Viewing. Imagine finding buried treasure, or even better, missing children.

Reincarnation in the Bible and at the Movies

The term, "born again," for many people, means, "Born Again Christian," but for others, "born again" means "reincarnation," and for those who don't believe in reincarnation, the topic incites many heated debates.

Reincarnation, or transmigration of the soul, is a belief that the spirit or soul of an individual returns to a different body upon the death of a previous body.

According to Comparative Religion, "The concept of reincarnation seems to offer one of the most attractive explanations of humanity's origin and destiny." 

Well, not everybody agrees. Many people consider the concept of reincarnation to be blasphemous. Some religious leaders argue against the possibility that reincarnation exists, and others use the Bible to prove that it does, saying that Jesus spoke of reincarnation when he said that John the Baptist was Elijah (in the book of Matthew). "Matthew 11:11 states: 'I solemnly assure you, history has not known a man born of woman greater than John the Baptizer. …' Matthew 11:14-15, in continuing Christ's remarks about John the Baptist, states, 'If you are prepared to accept it, he is Elijah, the one who was certain to come. Heed carefully what you hear.'"

The argument is extremely controversial because some people take the Bible verbatim while others understand it metaphorically. But even those who take the Bible literally will debate the theory of reincarnation as it relates to those three sentences. 

If you ask a biblical scholar what the statements mean, you might discover that Jesus referred to John the Baptist as being LIKE Elijah. And others will tell you that Jesus speaks in parables – puzzles that, until we reach a certain level of understanding, are left for us to figure out. 

But even if Jesus spoke in parables, wouldn't he have said John the Baptist was LIKE Elijah instead of saying he IS Elijah if that's what he meant? How can you pick out one part of the Bible among others to argue that this statement is figurative and then be emphatic that the rest of the Bible is literal?

While Western religions frequently denounce reincarnation by claiming it is evil, reincarnation is a commonly accepted certainty in Eastern religions. Belief in reincarnation requires them to live their lives with the understanding that whatever they do in this life impacts their souls in their next life.

Some people seek explanations about their former lives using hypnotic regression. Hypnotic regression has been used to explain the relationship between circumstances they are experiencing in this life and events that occurred in a previous life. 

The story of Bridey Murphy, depicted in the movie, The Search for Bridey Murphy (1956), tells the tale of a housewife, Virginia Tighe, who, after having been hypnotically regressed, relates to the hypnotist, without previous knowledge of Ireland, her 19th century past life in that country.

Though much of what Virginia said while regressed proved to be false, many things she related proved to be accurate, neither proving nor disproving reincarnation.

The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (1975), starring Michael Sarrazin, Margot Kidder, Jennifer O'Neill, and Cornelia Sharpe, is a movie that provides a scenario that, if reincarnation truly existed and people were aware that it existed, might explain why people either don't want to believe in reincarnation or wouldn't want to believe in it.

Peter Proud experiences flashbacks to a previous incarnation and finds himself drawn to a place and to a woman he knew in a previous existence. Morals concerning the possibility of entering into relationships with one's own child become muddied in the world of reincarnation theory.

A haunting movie about what happens to a child who is regressed occurs in the movie, Audrey Rose (not to be confused with the 2005 horror film, The Exorcism of Emily Rose), that debuted in 1977. Starring Anthony Hopkins and Marsha Mason, the story involves a man who is convinced that his daughter has been reincarnated in Audrey Rose, a little girl who has been born to a different family. What happens in the movie, if it were ever to be true, is frightening.

Karz, a 1980 movie inspired by the Reincarnation of Peter Proud, tells the story of a man who is reborn into a situation in which he may have to remain silent unless he wants to suffer the same fate as he did in his past life. Starring Rishi Kapoor and Tina Munim, Karz also examines the repercussions of knowing about your past life.

Is reincarnation merely a theory or does it indeed exist? Is this one life all we have? In terms of eternity, if one life is merely one speck of dust on the timeline of infinity, what can you do to make your life count?

For a list of other movies about reincarnation, click HERE.

Runes for Divination

One of my dearest friends, Katherine, believed in the power of Runes. She felt that by unlocking the secrets held within the stones, she could divine (predict) what the Runes were trying to tell her. 

Our journey through the occult began when we were each very young. I didn’t meet Katherine until we were both pregnant with one of our children. Initially I taught Katherine how to cast astrology charts by hand (before computer programs made astrology programs much easier), but her interest in the occult went far beyond where I had taken her. We both cast astrology charts and read the Tarot, but Katherine immersed herself in the Tarot and had so many clients, she was able to quit her full-time job. 

She also taught me about Runes. When Katherine told me about Runes, I decided to purchase some. I liked the way they felt in my hands, I liked their smoothness, and I liked the symbols that appeared on them, but try as I did, I couldn’t get them to reveal to me their secrets.

Inscribed with ancient letters, each rune vibrates to a different frequency and the placement of them when thrown down reveals patterns that rune readers interpret. 

My dear friend died nearly eight years ago. I think of her often, most recently when I came across information about Runes in the blog I’m about to reveal, so if you want to know more about Runes or even purchase some for yourself, you’ll find them by clicking on How to Use Rune Stones or by clicking on the photo above, which comes from Blue Dragon Creations. 

Demons, Demonology, and Demonologists

"…Satan was now at hand; and from his seat

The monster, moving onward, came as fast

With horrid strides; Hell trembled as he strode." ~ John Milton

Demon Hauntings

One of the most malevolent of all hauntings is a demon haunting – an event involving evil spirits whose only goal is to deceive and destroy.

Unlike wraiths, which are ghostlike images of people who appear shortly after death and who want vengeance for some perceived or actual harm caused them in life, demons will force their will upon vulnerable individuals and take over their bodies.

Spiritually and physically demons assault the living as they engage in spiritual warfare and seek out psychological weaknesses in people. Acting as energy vampires, they suck the life out of the person whose body they have inhabited, while draining the unsuspecting victim of his life force, luck, health, and spirit.

Animals sense a demon's presence and respond with behavior that is so bizarre, pet owners who previously may not have believed in demons, find themselves doubting their own beliefs. Not every animal who behaves strangely senses the presence of a demon, but when no other explanation suffices for an animal's response to the presence of evil, pet owners might suspect a demon.

Ridding Homes of Evil

Ridding your home of demons is best left to the experts, but some solutions for getting rid of demons include: religious procedures such as exorcism (still performed by the Catholic church – though rarely), where priests use holy water; the practice of sea salt sprinkled around the edges of a room or home (a favorite of Supernatural's Winchester brothers); or lighting sage to suppress negative energy. 

Demonology and Demonologists

The study of demons is termed, demonology. People who study demons are called demonologists. According to several sources, demonologists must be “called” to the vocation in the same way priests and nuns are called to their vocations. Being called to the study of demonology means to feel a strong pull toward the field of demonology. The decision to become a demonologist is not a choice made lightly. 

Because future demonologists are unprepared for just how harrowing an experience dealing with demons can be, they must be mentored. Strong as they may feel physically, all humans are vulnerable to the manipulations of demons. Nobody is exempt from falling under psychic attack by demons who know how to enter a body and cause physical, emotional, and psychological harm, not only to the prospective demonologist but also to his or her family and friends. 

Because no one can learn how to become a demonologist from a book or from school, potential demonologist practitioners must first become apprentices, learning from others who have been called to the challenge. Motives for entering the field of demonology cannot be selfish (monetary compensation, fame, etc.), and the demonologist hopeful cannot be young, either, because even a spiritually evolved individual will experience psychic trauma while dealing with evil – dabble with demons without protection from God, and your loved ones will witness your destruction.

Discernment and Demons

Discernment is necessary when dealing with demonic spirits, because evil humans who once lived will be as evil in death as they were in life. However, humans who behave with malicious and evil intent are not demons. Unlike hauntings, where evil spirits demand attention from the living by frightening them, demons will inhabit the human body and take it over. 

If you are called to the field of demonology, you will be drawn toward people who will mentor you. But again, pay attention to the forces around you. Both evil and good will be vying for your attention, so the gift of discernment will serve you well when you agree to become another demonologist's intern.

Entering the Demonic Field

If you are curious about the study of demonology, visit: 

Demonology at the Institute of Metaphysics

Demonology at Paranormal Clergy

Demonologists, The Warrens

WORDS OF CAUTION: Never enter the demonic realm without God's protection or you might find yourself in the midst of your own exorcism.

Photo of Nightmare (1800) by Nicolai Abraham Abildgaard is from Wikimedia Commons

Sources:

The Warrens

D.J. McAdam

Are You Psychic?

You awaken from a dream that warns you of a trip you are about to take. Your daughter calls to inform you that she, too, has an eerie feeling about the trip. Though your spouse doesn't believe in dreams or in premonitions, he tells you that he feels uncomfortable about leaving too, though he doesn't understand why. You decide not to go and later discover that the day you were to arrive, an earthquake tore apart the hotel in which you were to stay.  

On another occasion, as you are driving south down a road next to a truck, which has been blocking your eastern view for a couple of blocks, you approach a red light. When it turns green, something tells you that, even though the light is green and the truck that was to your right is already turning, you should wait before you proceed. 

As you creep slowly forward, you question your reasons for doing so because the light in front of you is clearly green. In that moment a car races around the truck at high speed going west through a red light – directly in front of you. Had you not listened to that inner voice, you would be badly hurt – or dead.

Stories abound with people who avoided disaster because their plans changed at the last minute due either to circumstances beyond their control or because something didn't feel right. Listening to that inner voice has saved many people from enduring pain or loss. 

I am one of those people – the truck incident mentioned above actually happened to me, as did the following story:

Rarely were my children and I able to take vacations, but one weekend I decided to take them to Great America. Before we left, I awoke with a feeling of dread. Something told me to postpone the trip, but I ignored that little voice. One of my daughter's friends came over before we left and begged us not to leave, because she had had a bad dream about our trip.

Another friend called to ask us to stay home as well. Despite all the warnings, though, I decided to go anyway. We hadn’t gone on any vacation of any kind – ever – and I was determined that we would arrive safely, so I deliberately drove slowing and carefully. Numerous drivers sped past us so fast I felt as if we were sitting still on the expressway most of the time. I didn't care. The warnings were ever-present in my mind.

Though I took great care to drive safely, that feeling of dread continued the closer I got to Great America.

My children and I, along with one of my son's friends, had witnessed several accidents along the way, and I thanked God we weren't in any of them. Just as we arrived at the cloverleaf of the expressway that would take us to Great America, where the ferris wheel was clearly visible, the car in front of me came to a screeching halt. Unbeknownst to me the car in front of that driver had come to a screeching halt as well, because the car in front of that driver had slammed on his brakes to avoid hitting the car in front of him.

All along the cloverleaf were a series of accidents, one behind the other. As a police officer later explained, I was the last car in a series of five accidents. After we got to the hospital, we discovered that two more accidents had occurred behind us. Nobody was badly hurt, but my car was completely demolished. 

As in the case above, psychic feelings sometimes make no sense before they occur. It may not be until later that the person experiencing the feeling discovers the results of following (or not following) her intuition. 

When my oldest daughter was a toddler, for instance, I had a strong sense that somebody was trying to take her from me. From the babysitter to my mother, everybody knew not to let her out of sight. In the early 1970s, long before Adam Walsh was kidnapped from a shopping mall (and later murdered), the feeling that my daughter was going to be taken from me was so strong, I took every precaution to prevent losing her.

Several years later I discovered from a former sister-in-law that my ex-husband and his wife were going to court during that time to try to get custody of her. 

Though I haven’t always acknowledged my intuitive feelings, over time I have learned to pay attention to it.

How many times have YOU had that little voice speak to you and not paid attention to it? That feeling, that intuition, that sense that something is about to occur should never be ignored. Something that lies outside of our three dimensional world is trying to communicate with us. Something that lies within you is trying to communicate with you. Through psychic phenomena, secrets reveal themselves to us when we pay attention.

From fortune tellers gazing into crystal balls to séances held in darkened rooms, "psychic" phenomena is shrouded in mystery, but only because it reaches beyond the five physical senses. We tend not to believe things we cannot see, hear, feel, touch, or taste. Our perception of psychics is warped by the media portraying them as eccentric old ladies who predict futures while draped in veils as they collect money with greedy hands.

But we are all psychic, and we are all capable of predicting our own futures. We just need to understand what being psychic means.

The word, psychic, comes from the Greek word, psychikos, meaning "of the soul," and it relates to psyche, also meaning of the soul. According to Merriam-Webster, the term, psychic, is "marked by extraordinary or mysterious sensitivity, perception, or understanding." Also, "lying outside the sphere of physical science or knowledge: immaterial, moral, or spiritual in origin or force."

What that means is that psychic experiences, when they happen, cannot be easily explained through any physical science. They lie outside the boundaries of scientifically proven evidence. How does one prove dreams exist, after all? Scientists can prove THAT people dream because they can measure REM (rapid eye movement), but they don't understand WHY images appear in dreams or IF they are significant in meaning.

Psychics are often termed, "sensitives," because people who are highly sensitive are more likely to experience psychic phenomena than people who are less sensitive. Psychic phenomena reveals itself in a number of ways. Besides feelings of dread, many people awaken from prophetic dreams with curiosity, and many people react physically to their feelings. Some may become hyper-alert. Others become confused or nervous.

One morning as my sister and I were getting ready to go on a canoe trip with one of my friends, I kept dropping things. Normally clumsy, this particular morning, I was dramatically worse. No matter what I picked up, it managed to find its way to the floor. I was shaky and nervous for no apparent reason. I commented to my sister that something very weird was happening to me, something I couldn't explain, and I was a little nervous about taking the canoe trip, because I felt the clumsiness was somehow connected. 

My sister said that maybe my uncomfortable feelings were related to her feelings that something was a little off-kilter – she felt uncomfortable about going on a canoe that day as well.

When my friend arrived, the first words out of her mouth were, "We are NOT going canoeing today." She had been having psychic feelings all morning about the trip and when we combined my unexplainable physical clumsiness to my sister's bad feeling about the canoe trip with my friend's feeling that something was going to go disastrously wrong, we changed our plans.

In situations like the one just mentioned, we may never know if the Kankakee River would have swallowed us in an undertow or if nothing would have happened, but unlike the trip to Great America, we listened to that inner voice and decided not to go. We trusted our instincts.

Can you trust your intuition? If you can relate to any of the above stories, or if you have had premonitions, prophetic dreams, or an inner "knowing" about something you couldn't explain scientifically, you have probably experienced psychic phenomena.

My own personal belief is that everybody is psychic; some people have just developed theirs further than others. But developing psychic ability is similar to exercising a muscle, and you can develop your psychic powers by practicing techniques that will enable you to become more psychic. 

To learn more about developing your psychic abilities, please read ESP Works – Harold Sherman Shows How.

Thank you for visiting!

The Case of the Humanoid Alien

Documentary film, Sirius II, currently running on Netflix, discusses two major subjects – government coverups regarding UFOs and the finding of a suspected humanoid alien in the Atacama Desert in Chile.

Dr. Garry Nolan, Director of the Stanford NHLBI (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) Proteomics Center, is the geneticist and professor of microbiology and immunology at the Stanford University School of Medicine, who examined the 6” skeleton.

Dr. Steven Greer, an Emergency Room doctor and UFO researcher who founded CSETI (Center for the Study of Extraterrestrial Intelligence), heads the worldwide organization, Sirius Technology and Research, a think tank for scientists, located in Virginia. Greer believes that he and his fellow UFO seekers can communicate with alien lifeforms through meditation and remote viewing. 

Through a CE-5  (Close Encounters of the 5th kind) Initiative Greer puts “trained teams of investigators into the field where 1) active waves of UFO activity are occurring, or 2) in an attempt to vector UFOs into a specific area for the purposes of initiating communication. Contact protocols include the use of light, sound, and thought. Thought – specifically consciousness – is the primary mode of initiating contact.” (See more at: http://www.siriusdisclosure.com/ce-5-initiative/#sthash.LAVWc2h1.dpuf.)

So what are the current findings? According to ScienceMag  the remains are human. However, the skeletal remains are mysterious in nature. While humans have 12 ribs, this being has 10. We don’t normally equate a 6” skeleton with the size of a 6-8 year-old boy, which is what scientists concurred would be the age of the skeleton who was dubbed, Ata. Maybe Ata suffered from a severe form of dwarfism or died from an advanced stage of Progeria (the disease that causes humans to age quickly). Though tests currently indicate that neither dwarfism or Progeria appear in the genes of this skeleton, scientists continue to conduct more research on Ata’s genes.

ScienceMag states that Nolan is perplexed by the number of ribs and epiphyseal plate (growth plate generally found in children) densities, and he is open to the possibility that the presumed 6-8 year old might have resulted from some type of unknown fetal abnormality. Whatever the cause for its size, the little human being discovered in the desert still holds more questions than it does answers.

Photo of 6” “alien” is from Huffington Post and the documentary, Sirius.

Looking for Ghosts? Here’s Everything You’ll Need to Visit the Spirit World!

Has anybody ever asked you what you want to be when you grow up? If your answer has always been, “ghost hunter,” you’ve come across the right blog. Because in this blog I’ll introduce you to GHOST HUNTING EQUIPMENT (a PCH Search Engine site), Ghost Hunting Tools, and Ghost Hunting Gear.  Just click the links and you’ll head directly to each web site that sells them.

Sometimes costly, sometimes inexpensive, the challenge of hearing voices from the afterworld requires technical expertise and good listening skills. Voice (digital) recorders with microphones pick up EVPs (electronic voice phenomenon) but hearing what is being recorded is sometimes difficult to decipher.

EMF readers detect fluctuations in the electromagnetic field. If nothing human is causing the EMF to spike, something that ond3 has been human could be the culprit – or something inhuman could cause the EMF meter to move. More on that later.

One fun little gadget, used by the Ghost Adventures crew, is the Spirt Box SB7. You can find one at GhostStop for Spirit Box SB7. 

Guess what else you can use to detect ghosts?

Ghost Hunting Apps!  Yes, “there’s an app for that!” You can also FIND APPS HERE, HERE (Ghost Hunters Multi-Meter 5 Tools, 1 App for Android), And HERE (Forbes)! 

Because you never know what type of spirit will take advantage of your desire to connect with him or her, you must take precautions to protect yourself. Prayer, cleansing ceremonies, or even just a simple callout to your guardian angel will help, as long as you’re sincere in your request to be protected. Though you might not believe that a spirit can possess your body, why take chances, especially if you’re young?

If you’re a teenager, you are not yet fully developed physically, psychologically, mentally, or spiritually to undergo this type of research. Take heed to what I’m saying – if you’ve ever seen The Exorcist and researched the actual child the movie was based on, you’ll know that he dabbled in spirit communications via the ouija board and he invited those spirits into his home. Because he was a young man and therefore vulnerable, the spirits invaded his body and took over his entire being. 

So my words of caution are to be safe and to have fun! Who knows? Maybe you’ll end up with your own television show!

Related Reading: Ouija Use a Spirit Board? 

photo of the Spirit Box SB7 comes from GhostShop

Ouija Use a Spirit Board?

A member of your family or a close friend has just died. You tell yourself that your relationship with your departed loved one was so close, he or she must be trying to communicate with you. But you have received no such communication.

You look for a sign, but you see nothing. But are you really looking? Your aunt loved butterflies and suddenly they’re everywhere. Maybe you just need to pay more attention to your surroundings – you could be missing the signs. That special bearded dragon your brother loved so much pops up in a YouTube video that wasn’t even about bearded dragons, or a little girl you barely know hands you a pansy, your mother’s favorite flower. When you notice them, you’ll discover that signs are everywhere and soon you’ll begin to believe that none of them are coincidences.

Because signs aren’t always obvious in the beginning, though, and we tend to ignore them, we try other methods of reaching our loved ones. When President Abraham Lincoln and his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, lost their beloved son, William Wallace (Willie) Lincoln, Mary held séances in the White House in an attempt to communicate with her son. Did those séances bring about a visitation from Lincoln’s son?

According to the web site, Mr. Lincoln’s White House, Mary Todd Lincoln told her half-sister, Emilie Todd Helm, “He comes to me every night, and stands at the foot of my bed with the same sweet, adorable smile he has always had; he does not always come alone; little Eddie is sometimes with him and twice he has come with our brother Alec, he tells me he loves his Uncle Alec and is with him most of the time. You cannot dream of the comfort this gives me. When I thought of my little son in immensity, alone, without his mother to direct him, no one to hold his little hand in loving guidance, it nearly broke my heart.” 

Psychics and mediums, such as Theresa Caputo, Chip Coffey, James Van Praag, Allison Dubois, Maureen Hancock, and John Edward, help those in grief reach their loved ones. But some of them have waiting lists so long, you’d have to wait a couple of years before you spoke to one of them. Your grief is so overwhelming, you don’t think you can wait that long to talk to one of them.

So would you resort to using a Ouija Board or Spirit Board if you thought that method was the only one that would allow you to contact your loved one? Are you endangering yourself by inviting what you think are benevolent spirits into your home? How dangerous can they be? The worst-case scenario reminds me of the movie, The Exorcist, which was based on the real-life exorcism of a boy, Roland Doe (pseudonym), who used the Ouija Board with his spiritualist aunt, Aunt Harriet, and reportedly became possessed by an evil spirit. Are you willing to risk your life or the life of another loved one to reach one who has passed on? Read Ouija Boards vs. Angel Boards – Are They Just Games? before you decide.

UFO Sighting

From the Magical Mysteries Collection, published in the Daily Journal and later published on Yahoo Contributor Network, August 11, 2008. Then republished on and removed from Persona Paper. FBI link updated at end.

In the early 1970's I stood on a balcony with several residents of the apartment complex where I lived, all of us transfixed because of what we were witnessing in the sky. We couldn't determine the exact location of the disks that lit the sky, but a few years later, when I met a woman who would become one of my dearest and best friends, I discovered that the disks were hovering above River Oaks Mall in Calumet City, Illinois. She had seen them, too. According to my friend, people actually stepped out of their vehicles to look at them. The local newspaper, she said, wrote about the sighting.

Years later, when I decided to research the event, I contacted the local library, police stations, and newspapers. Nobody found any mention of UFOs anywhere. Had it not been for my friend, I might have thought I had imagined the whole scenario.

Across the globe, police departments receive calls reporting mysterious unexplained lights in the sky. Famous sightings, such as those at Roswell, New Mexico (Area 51), have received a lot of attention over the years, especially due to the coverage television programs give them, including the old popular TV Series, The X-Files. Government denial appears to play a huge role in UFO activities. Plug the words, "UFO" or "unidentified flying object" into the FBI's website and you will net one link, a link to nowhere, or perhaps it is a picture of a black hole. (*See below for update.)

For years, the public has wondered if the government has been covering up UFO-related information. But how valid is that reasoning? If numerous people have seen UFOs and the government denies their existence, one of four things may be happening: Those of us who have seen UFOs are crazy, UFOs don't exist and the public is hallucinating, the government knows what they are - IDENTIFIED flying objects, or the government doesn't know what they are and doesn't want to admit their ignorance to the general public.

From the cover of the book, "Communion."
When I saw this depiction, I stopped dead in my tracks.
It looked eerily familiar.
 If you read any of the two links I posted below,
you'll understand why.

But if the government does know about them, maybe it has a good reason for not divulging information to us about UFO activity. Take the information we received one year about an asteroid hitting the earth sometime between 2014 and 2088. What if we were told it was positively going to obliterate us next month? If the asteroid hit an area the width of the entire United States, would we all make a mass exodus to the other side of the planet? And what if the scientists were off by several hours? Sorry, folks, we were eight hours off - go back.

In comparison to the rest of the infinite Universe, Earth is infinitesimally small. The likelihood that life exists elsewhere is possible. The "beings" are probably not human-like, but they may be technologically more advanced than we are. People report alien abductions, but can prove nothing. Aliens will always be credited with mass extinction and cannibalism. I prefer to believe they are like the good guys depicted in the old movie, "The Day the Earth Stood Still."

*UPDATE: Visit this FBI link – all kinds of UFO-related material now appears on the FBI site, though much of it is blocked out. 

Related Articles 

Aliens In My Life – True UFO Encounters

Aliens Visited Me