The question of dowsing rods......

A week ago our group did an investigation at a home in a northern suburb of Minneapolis.  One of our investigators, Mae, brought along a dowsing rod.  This was the first exposure for me of this tool.  I'm not sure that I believe it detects ghosts, but some ghost hunters swear by this simple tool.

It is believed that when a ghost/spirit comes near, the rod will move from the forward position backwards towards the person carrying it.  It is thought that it is the energy of the ghost that makes it move.  It is an interesting concept, but does it work? 

The dowsing rod in use at our last investigation.

I went into the investigation with two of my team mates holding this tool that has come to us through the centuries.  I held it in front of me as I was instructed to.  To my surprise,  it did swing back several times, actually touching me at all times, and of it's own doing.  It wasn't me that made it move.  What does it mean?  I don't know, some would say a spirit was near me.  At one point when it moved backwards at me I did feel like something came at me, went through me and away.  Was it a ghost?  I don't know?  I am sensitive to supernatural presences, and that one time it did feel like there was something there so it could be.  

We also caught this video of the dowsing rod spinning in Mae's hand, while she asked if the ghost who the owner of the house calls Mr. Howell was playing with them.  The EMF detector at this time also spiked so maybe they do work???   Have a look, it is interesting:

Some ghost hunters swear by this little tool, say it is as reliable as our EMF detectors and K2 meters.  Is it so?  I think the jury is still out, we will have to use it a little more before I decide.  My husband Jerry doesn't believe it works at all.  But it is very strange how it moved so much on its own isn't it? 

.

The Veil is Thinning.....



My Cone flowers, all done for this year.

The days are becoming shorter, the nights longer, the atmosphere is cooling, flowers and plants are coming to end of their life cycles, and the veil between the living and the dead is thinning.

Ever wonder why so many reports of supernatural activity take place in the Fall? Ancient Celtics believed that the living world and the world of the dead coexisted, separated only by a veil. At Summer's end when the harvest takes place and much life ends, they believed that the veil thinned. They celebrated the festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in) in early November, and invited their long dead ancestors in on the day when the veil was transparent.

Today, we know that a lot of paranormal activity happens in the Fall, beginning in September and running right through until mid November. It seems ghosts are better able to make an appearance, due to the thinning of the veil as the Celtics believed? Well, this girl does believe that it really occurs.

Many years ago, even before my daughter was born, a ghostly experience happened to me in Autumn. A phantom jogger showed up every September/October near my old house. The ghost was seen not only by me but also by my husband, Jerry, oh and my pups. As I walked with my two dogs in the very early morning, we would see him, jogging down the street. I never heard any footsteps, and the ghost would disappear as fast as it appeared. It was chilling to be sure, and even more so when the ghostly apparition came really close to us. Marlowe, Rheba and I watched it silently pass by, and we stood on that sidewalk, frozen in place, stunned with our mouths hanging open, well, mine anyway. My pups? Well, they acted all skittish and nervous like, dogs know when they are looking at something supernatural.

I did a little investigation at the time, and I did find out that a person, jogging, had been hit by a car and killed in that area several years before. This year, I plan on taking my dog Duncan for a few very early morning walks around my old neighborhood just so see if I can reconnect with that ghost, perhaps even snap a photo or two.

I definitely think the Celts knew what they were talking about. In this season where death is prevalent, isn't it just a little believable that lost souls on the other side are better able to make themselves known to us? I've seen it, and I certainly believe it.

To all my fellow ghost hunters out there in this time of the thinning of the veil, happy hunting!

Ghost Hunting Giggles

Back in April before we did the full investigation of the Wisconsin Central Railroad Bridge on the Mississippi River, Jerry, Mae, George and I decided to go to the bridge and scope it out.  This is what I have written from that night, and it is a little bit more about a funny slice of life, but still it's one of my seeking ghosts stories.  Enjoy!

On a Saturday night in April, four members of our supernatural crew went to a bridge on the Mississippi River for an investigation. The area around this bridge is probably about as haunted as it gets in Minneapolis, and the bridge as well. We were just setting up, it was about 11:15 pm, it was a beautiful night. The crescent moon was hanging huge and low over the western horizon, and the stars were out. It was chilly, and of course creepy on the bridge. I've been on that bridge many times before, a few times at night and the feeling one gets is, well, creepy.

Once on the bridge, Jerry and Mae were discussing where best to put the audio recorders for evp sessions, George was taking photos, and I was putting my camera into night mode. We were just barely on the bridge, in the dark, and I was so involved with putzing with my camera I wasn't aware of my surroundings, or should I say, what was in my surroundings. Suddenly a guy flew by on a bike and totally scared the begezzies out of me. I screamed, of course, and then so did the others, and then we laughed, along with the poor biker who by this time was at the other end of the bridge, yelling that he was sorry. How funny.

When we were finished with the investigation and were headed back to the cars, we once again met this young man, riding his bike, back from the way he had headed. He stopped for a chat with us. We told him we were paranormal investigators and asked him if he had felt any presences on that bridge. He looked at us funny then proceeded to tell us that he usually pushed away those feelings, and that he had a sensitivity to the supernatural, same as us. We asked him many questions, like how did he see in the dark to ride a bike? He said he didn't see - LOL! Now it was pitch black in that park, and I can't even imagine riding a bike down there at night. He begin to tell us a bunch of things, and then he apologized and said that he was "stoned", apparently not thinking properly. Now when he said that, I thought he had said something else entirely, but after he had left us and we walked on, Mae said he said he was stoned. We all thought it was the funniest thing, and of course anyone who knows me knows my laugh is contagious, and at times, I can't stop. This was the case, I laughed all the way to the car. With the information that he was "stoned", his jumbled disjointed responses and conversation with us became so much more understandable, it was very funny.

Justin

To put it in perspective, it was a very funny slice of life. It's amazing how many different people one meets at odd times here and there. Justin, thank you my friend for the giggle :) I hope you arrived safely at your destination.

A house in Hopkins full of crazy things

One of our investigations this summer was that of a home in Hopkins, Minnesota.  A friend of Jerry's brought this house to our attention for an investigation.  Her friend from childhood lived there, and she told us all kinds of crazy things happened there.  This friend was moving out of the house because of the unexplainable happenings and other circumstances, and she felt it time to move on.

So, we went there on a hot summer evening.  It was possibly the craziest place we've been to thus far.  As we stood around the kitchen table chatting with our friends' friend, the mom, I was very surprised by the things she was telling us.  She told us that she is a reformed witch (of the good kind, not bad), and that all her life she could see/hear ghosts and demons, and that there were plenty of them in the house.  I kept up the conversation with her, as it was quite intriguing, really.  True witches have beliefs that come from the ancient Celtics, and do not have anything to do with devil worship, and thus, I asked lots of questions of her.  I didn't know what to think, but my conversation with this woman was quite interesting to say the least.

As we walked throughout the home and property I observed several symbols of witchcraft interspersed throughout the home and yard, things such as bells scattered throughout the house, incense burners among other items, and in the yard there was what looked like some kind of pagan alter, some kind of place for rituals?

There were two girls in their late teens who lived in the house along with the woman, one of them her daughter the other a niece.  We interviewed them and they reported to us that they had used ouija boards there to contact with the otherside.  Now, Ouija boards are way dangerous, and are in themselves considered to be a portal.  It is said that demons and spirits can make their way to this side of the line between the living and the dead through this portal.  So, when I heard this I must say I became a little nervous.  I mean ouija boards are nothing to mess with.  My thoughts were that I felt that this investigation was more than I had bargained for.  Demons?  Witches?   I asked Mae, our investigator who is also an ordained minister, to lead us in a prayer of protection, which she did in the yard.  It was important to be protected.

The girls told scary stories of what they had seen/felt in that house.  The daughter told us that when she slept in her bedroom on the second floor that she would have dreams of being a man who hurt women, even killed them.  Demonic dreams I'd say.  The niece reported strange things going on as well, but most of it centered around the ouija board, which after the mother found out she broke it and burned it.  All three of the women living in the house claimed that a spirit they had made contact with during the ouija board session was to this day in the basement.

Look at the outline of what looks like to me to be a winged creature.

We did the investigation and did come up with some incredible evidence.  It is apparent that there are some paranormal things going on in that house.  We got hits on EVP sessions both in the upstairs bedroom, and out back in the yard by the swing where ghostly things were happening.  Digital recordings of disembodied voices answering questions, and one saying "leave us respect", along with photographs of unexplainable things. 

See the strange blue lights at the top of the photo?  We are unable to explain what they are, there were several photos shot within a minute or so of each other, this is the only one with the strange lights.

We wanted to go back for a longer session, without the family in attendance, but they had moved out.   It would be interesting to go back into that house now that the family has moved.  We are all of the opinion that this woman and her family had demons/spirits following them, and perhaps now that they have moved out the house is no longer troubled by paranormal activity. 

It's all very interesting, and crazy isn't it?