Well I'm still on the bench as to whether or not these entities that haunt some of us are deceased humans, or any other type of being that we have labeled them thus far (angels, demons, changelings, blablabla). Still think it's possible they are "others" from other dimensions who are savvy to our behavior and play with us like ants. But who really knows?

My question is:

If at least some of these entities really are ghosts ...

Isn't it possible that some or all human victims that get all scratched up and bitten and growled at by 'demons' are really being attacked by the ghosts of angry animals (or some other earthly type of animal ghost that typically lives on Earth), and not demons? 

Just seems to me humans have a tendency to assume anything that doesn't obviously behave like a human and/or can't speak for itself deserves to be called things like "demon", "troll", "George W. Bush, Jr.", or "evil Jinn" etc. ... What's your thinking about this? ... Thanks.

20 comments View Entry

https://www.letter2god.com/index.asp

Something seems pretty seedy about charging a person for an extremely short, "pre-packaged" and generic online prayer, based on the responses received under my last blog of the same title. We agreed that there seems to be a big problem with many (or all) forms of pay-for-prayer scenerios. BUT, I have a specific question and am looking for a very direct response:

How can paying for a prayer be considered a total scam in the case where a customer feels s/he got a valuable service worth the money?

At times, customers who paid $9.99 (or whatever nominal fee) for a pre-packaged prayer will feel it helped them immensely.  The person may even feel s/he was led by God to that very website and the very prayer that was offered at that very moment helped turn their problems or life around.  

It's easy to keep complaining about people who victimize others spiritually (it's a legitimate complaint), but I'm looking to know your thoughts about the fact that these services apparently help create "happy victims" too.

4 comments View Entry

Stumbled across this website where, for the modest fee of $9.99, you can snatch up a generic, short, pre-written prayer.

Here's the link, and then I have a burning question. I'd very much enjoy hearing your answer:

https://www.letter2god.com/index.asp

Question/scenerio: What if I'm in a pretty bad jam and stumble on this site after entering "prayer" as my search word ...

Then I choose one of their ready-made prayers - one that sounds appropriate to my problem. I purchase it with the belief that somehow my payment really will increase my chances of being heard and helped by God ...

Then I do immediately feel much better. I conclude that this prayer I purchased was my positive turning point ... 

Did I get ripped off or did I pay for a valuable service??

9 comments View Entry

Well I got the results back from the whole MRI ordeal: negative. 

Thanks so much you guys ... I really appreciated all your well wishes and words of encouragment about this nerve-wracking affair! Now we move on to the next set of tests. Have a terrific day

7 comments View Entry

This is not a paranormal account. It's a personal account of what it feels like to be buried underground and aware of having been buried. All in the name of medicine. But I'm not trying to deter anyone from undergoing the procedure of which I'm about to speak. I suppose it's just a little heads up for those who are prone to anxiety:

 ... Well when you've gotta go, you've gotta go. Whether it's the supermarket, the public restroom, the rottweiler snarling up into your face, or the doctor's office, there are just times when You. Must. Go.

So today I went to undergo a medical test called an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging), to rule out the possibility of a brain tumor or some other interesting brain issue, since I've been hearing repetitive sounds lately that are not a part of my boyfriend's complaining, or my immediate environment, or  voices telling me what to do (or what not to do). ... just stuff like repetitive chirping and roaring in my ear, which gets a little louder when I'm trying to sleep. Could easily be something mundane like tinnitus, the doc finally said, but to be on the safe side I entered this narrow, noisy contraption today, known as the infamous MRI machine:

If you've ever watched episodes of the medical show "House" you've seen these donut-shaped contraptions: narrow white tunnels created to shove a human body into for the sake of gathering pictures / data regarding what's going on inside the body. Usually on 'House', you have two doctors arguing with each other about personal problems in a glass booth above a patient who is all laid up on his back, with head or body stuffed into the MRI tunnel, about to convulse or have a major psychotic break (for drama's sake).

When I got to the office I was met by a receptionist named "Paradise". You might think this is a literary joke, but yes, that is what she called herself. And just in case you're wondering, yes, she did seem bright, despite all odds. After some paperwork and changing into hospital gear, it was time. The technician was very nice and the room was stone cold. Having taken only 2 mg.s of Valium, I quickly realized maybe taking a higher dose would have been saner, as I was placed on my back onto a table that is not unlike a conveyor belt, with my head just outside the mouth of the dome. They load you up with both earplugs and earmuffs to try and block out the inevitable, loud sounds of the machine as it works its miracle inspection. They place a sheet of opaque tissue over your face - over your face! - while all this is going on. 

Well I don't want to go through each minute step by step, I'm already on the verge of a PTSD response just delving into this again. Suffice it to say you go through roughly thirty minutes of multiple and sundry on-again-off-again rotations of the grinding, whining, screeching noises of industry.

It is so profoundly loud that I thought my entire being was levitating from the vibrations at several points. You are afforded a "panic button", hidden below the thick blanket that entombs your body (a comfort from the cold room). Some part of my mind was actually a little upset they didn't strap me down too, to fully drive home the extreme nature of the entrapment. 

After about ten minutes the nice technician asked, "How are you doing?" from her booth (intercom magic). I said "Well, I'm not on the verge of an erotic dream yet". She either coughed, groaned or laughed. Not sure which because my ears were too insulated. By this point my nerves were all kinds of jumpy and I asked her if I could escape for a moment to go use the bathroom. She said "Sure, we can try this again some other day", smiling warmly. Hell no! I thought, smiling back weakly, and reminded her that I just wanted to take a bathroom break, and maybe hit someone up for additional Valium if they had any on tap and finish this thing up the same day. "I want to go back in to finish the test", I said, with partial resolve, wincing in reaction to my words. 

My Zen Buddhist attitude had diminished: Valium or bust. No more "just accepting whatever is happening in the moment". I told myself I could cope with the moment more bravely and philosophically as a doped up Buddha.

A kind and merciful doctor gave me some Valium. Maybe too much. They had me wait in a tiny room down the hall. While I flushed the toilet they had captured and bound the next patient. I could STILL here the noise of the machine in the distance (loud!). I put the earplugs back in and shut the door to the tiny waiting room.

In all fairness, not everyone has such an extreme reaction to this diagnosic monster. It's just that I've been plagued on a daily basis recently with a bunch of subtle, unexplained, irritating sounds. So it's kind of like if you were suffering nausea and in order to figure out what was causing the nausea, some doc ordered you to climb inside a chamber which shakes your stomache up and down and smells like puke. Ok, so the analogy is a little incongruous, but it's not entirely off the mark!

Thirty minutes later I was back inside the roaring, thumping monster. Toward the end I was once again asked "How are you doing?". I mumbled that it was like being buried underground, but you're able to breath, and you can hear people mowing the lawn over your grave ... mowing the lawn, drilling holes, setting off dynamite ... ".  That received no response. I think they thought, "This chick must have a brain tumor."

Now it's just a waiting game to see what, if anything, the monster discovered about my brain.

         - R

10 comments View Entry

... Now why would I bring up yet another touchy topic today? Is it because Alan is away from the site at the moment? Is it the air quality around me or lack of sleep or a blunted survival instinct? I don't really know. I can only promise that my fingers aren't in the mood to stop typing right about now ... and I have the surreal feeling that I'm transforming into one of those miniature yapping poodle thingies about to nip at the ankles of a throng of German Shepards with their noses firmly planted in the food bowl. In essence, this may tap into some of your nerves.

Just know that the "yapping" feels like non-irritating communication from my end, and all that nipping you feel at your ankles might just be bizarre "love pecks" (or not):

I'm not a formal paranormal investigator but I will speak as if I am for a moment. The experience I do have is from my own, recent (and fairly irritating) haunting.

It is my sense that allegedly haunted people should be routinely interviewed in a manner that helps the investigator rule in or rule out classical mental illness - especially hallucinations - as all or part of the cause of the alleged haunting ("yip yap y'all").

This approach assumes there are no witnesses outside of the one person's account.  If I were trying to rule out non-paranormal causes, mental health would be toward the top of my list. That's because, while we know hauntings occur, they still appear to be statistically rare in the general population. Classical psychosis appears to be far less rare in comparison.

 ... Why would I travel around and set up my ghostgear when, at the fulcrum of the activity might be someone's thought or psychotic disorder? 

A few arguments I've heard to justify not making inquiries into someone's mental health status:

It's insulting to the client
The client would feel insulted or put out
Don't want to insult or hurt the client
&
It's unethical

I think people sometimes have a very hard time with confrontation (me included, of course). But especially where it involves working with or interviewing a stranger. It's just my opinion that the discomfort risked (which at it's core probably stems from fear of personal rejection) is not the most practical or helpful basis for general investigative protocol (of any sort).

Why not tell the client before the initial interview that you may ask some uncomfortable questions as part of your standard evaluation, and it is not meant personally ... and that they can and should refuse to answer any question at any time, if they don't feel comfortable answering? You might be surprised to find people flatly stating "yes" to questions like "Do you suffer from schizophrenia (or any psychotic disorders)?" ... or "yes" to severe depression that may include psychotic features or delusions. That is useful information. Some of the alleged hauntings, you know, where you found no evidence? It could be that there was no haunt, (it was a mental health issue) and an interview might have saved you much time, money and energy.

There are ways to create a template for such questions, probably with the help of a mental health professional. It might possibly need to be examined by a lawyer (not sure).

Meanwhile, I'm puzzled about why such an approach would be considered unethical.

By the way, I saw a psychiatrist at the onset of my haunting, just to rule out what I felt was damn real, but might not have been. I also had PG&E inspect my place for gas leaks (which can cause hallucinations). Never did believe I was hallucinating, but then again, hallucinations feel real LOL.  Right ... fire away!

11 comments View Entry

Well looks like I'm on some sort of writer's high today LOL ... This is another subject I saw being discussed in the forum today. I was hooked!:

Some were debating whether or not psychics should be paid. Some attempted to answer this question by qualifying "psychicness" as either a "gift" or a "talent", and in-so-doing, trying to decide whether or not "psychicness" deserves monetary reimbursement, it seemed.
 

Instead of focusing on what the quality of "psychicness" is ("gift" vs. "talent"), as if their is some large universally agreed upon discrepancy between the two terms that would clear up the whole matter of payment vs. non-payment, I find it more helpful to acknowledge all energetic human outreach work in its many forms.

For example, psychic readings take mental energy. It is a form of counsel. I think this fact gets lost when people start talking about who should or shouldn't get paid for the energy they pour forth to help others. Obviously, the same debate rages in the general paranormal research arena: Do we pay paranormal investigators or not? While it seems most investigators would say "nah", I've run into plenty of laypeople who don't understand this reasoning.

I think it is gracious and appropriate to pay people for counsel, regardless of the form. And conversely, it is quite fine for the party who is offering the help to choose to offer up their efforts for free. 

I think society at times undervalues pursuits that are offbeat or outside the norm, especially if they remain scientifically unconfirmed or hard to quantify in their efficacy. The less "legitimate" or institutionally sanctioned the activity, the lessor the assigned value, perhaps in part from paranoia that one might be easily be "ripped off" by someone without reliable, popularized credentials.

So even if psychic gifts/abilities are used to help others, their worth is surreptiously nullified or undermined at times because the helpful effort is deemed unworthy of payment, regardless of the fact that it is considered by some to be another valid form of help that takes time, attention, and often considerable effort; sometimes even more effort than a paid psychologist.

You know that house your pastor lives in with his family - that man who counsels the congregation about spiritual matters on Sunday? ... well his house and other amenities often gets paid for via the funds of his/her congregation. That "charitable" spiritual work is monetarily rewarded. This is similar for priests

Is psychic work any less charitable, any less spiritual in the eyes of those who value it? Some would say religious leaders are often charlatans, not just psychics. Both groups get paid.

Also, what makes the psychic's efforts to help others any less monetarily rewardable than say, an entertainer who seems to be effortlessly creating laughter from her audience? We still pay her, even with her seeming effortlessness. She has presented herself as a "gift" to people for their edification. I bow to her, to my doctor, to the genuine psychic, to the mailman, to the clerk ... and applaud the effort (or what appears to some to be non-effort) and attention. I don't mind paying for valuable services.

21 comments View Entry

Shadow1 brought up a topic in the vampire forum about people who act like real life vampires and how they go about drinking blood. It inspired a burning question in my mind that may come off as judgemental if you in fact practice vampirism. But if you are a "vamp" I would especially like to hear your reaction.

Q: What would lead someone to try and live out a myth that is far less creative and mysterious when translated into real life (??)

... or maybe there are ways to make the sport of "blood drinking" or vampirism more dramatic and creative then the winged creatures of the original Dracula myth did? It occurred to me that maybe I'm the one who isn't imaginative enough to - well - imagine a more creative expression? Without goring everyone out, I wonder if anyone who calls him or herself a vampire has a method of practice that could push the original myth to a higher creative level?

The thought my question triggered for me was: why not really get creative and reinvent oneself as a brand new, original type of superhero or anti-superhero or whatever? ... one that's not pre-invented and revamped (pun unintended) like Dracula or Pippy Longstockings  ... 

 ... like what if one of the "vampires" put down the sewing needle or razor or sharpened paper clip, and put on a costume that looks like the entrails of a human, then roamed hospital corridors advertising as Super OrganDonor Man ("At your service kind people!"), donating an organ or some blood or something? I would find that sort of display of gore impressive.

8 comments View Entry

Just a friendly warning first ... this blog involves some skeptical questioning of the Bible, but I don't rule out the possibility that it might be based on a very real entity called "God". It is not an attack, rather a genuine inquiry. But if you tend to get offended by someone questioning the Bible, you might consider skipping my blog. I won't be offended by opposing views, however, and would welcome that. I am a student of life and feel I can listen to and learn from others. Or at least agree to disagree LOL:

Hope this isn't an inadvertent invitation to start a Third World War over the subject.

7 comments View Entry