Because of their faceted, reflective eyes and their nocturnal natures, the feline has always been associated with ghosts, witches and the supernatural. Worship of cats traces to Egypt, where cats were first domesticated, when they became associated with Egyptian gods and goddesses, especially Isis, and Bastet, the cat goddess.

            The favorite familiar among witches has always been the plain domestic cat, at least, since the introduction of witches in fairy tales. After all, cats have and calm and hypnotic nature. In occult lore, cats are known to repel evil spirits, and many who experience the terrifying Night (Old) Hag encounter claim they have far fewer attacks when sleeping with the family pet, more especially the cat.

            Cats are connected to the mysterious influences of the moon, probably because of their luminous eyes, that can only suggest the glow of intrigue and magic.  Since such mystery that suggests such evocative powers, cats, especially black cats suffered the same persecution as witches in the distant past. In 1233 Pope Gregory IX denounced black cats in the “Papal Bull or ‘Vox in Rama’ launching a mass extermination of cats. Domestic felines were burned alive like those charged as witches, and were the targets for many killings. Perhaps the reflective eyes of the cats acted as mirrors sometimes catching shadows. If you gazed into them, some might see the darkness of their own souls reflected there.

            Interestingly, under torture, some Knights Templar confessed to heresy, saying they had renounced Christ and turned to the worshipping of black cats. (Friday the 13^th, which notes the massacre of the Knights Templar, is often illustrated on calendars by the picture of a black cat.) Knights Templar worshipping a black cat, of course, was balderdash, but aligned them to the powers of darkness, as an excuse for their eventual execution, if not massacres, by the Church.

            Many dark, ash gray and black cats tended to be born in summer during blackberry season, another association with the Devil since there was a legend that told when Satan was cast out of heaven he landed on a blackberry bush, and while landing on the thorns, spilled urine and his spittle all over the bush, thus, defiling it. Thus, black and dark gray cats were referred to as “blackberry cats” and were routinely killed.

            In Greece and parts of Eastern Europe, it was thought unlucky for a cat to jump over a dead body. If so, it was feared the corpse might be turned into a vampire and seek retribution on the living.

            Domestic cats are native to the deserts of Egypt and Northern Africa, so it is odd they would have developed such legend and lore in Europe. But they became transplanted to Europe after they were hidden away on pirate ships, eventually escaping to the shores of colder climates. Because of their desert origins, cats can go a long time without water, but need a warm, somewhat isolated spot to call their own.

            In the Scottish Highlands, there is a belief in Elfin cats, not used as familiars, such as in stories about witches, but as an actual supernatural black cat of a much larger size than a domesticated cat.

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On October 31^st, during All Hallows Eve, or the Irish Gaelic Samhain, derived from the Indo-Sanskrit based word Samharaidhreach, meaning “end of summer,” small, white cakes were baked as “cakes for the dead.” Although adults and children were allowed to eat as many cakes as they liked, the cakes were actually set out as offerings for the wandering spirits who prowled the countryside and towns at a time when the ghostly forces were thought to be the strongest and most pristine. Whoever ate the most cakes for the dead would have the best luck in the coming year.

            It was believed that households which set out cakes for the dead would not suffer from ill luck or misfortune in the coming year. Sometimes cakes were left at the crossroads as an offering for the Goddess Hecate, who ruled darkness and the underworld. Hecate cakes were usually lit by one candle so she could find her way in the dark. This is where our tradition of candles on birthday cakes comes from.

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Popularized as an adolescent game played during slumber parties, the “Bloody Mary” legend seems to have first surfaced in the 1970s. The initial idea was to go to a mirror (usually the bathroom mirror) where the light would be switched off and the door closed to make the room very dark. Players as ask to take a candle, hold it up to their faces, and chant the phrase “bloody Mary” exactly thirteen times, no more and no less. In an instance the face of the alleged Bloody Mary is said to appear in the glass as is seen by the light of the candle.

            The participant should then drop the candle immediately and run from the room, for as legend has it Bloody Mary has been known to pull her victims into the mirror never to be heard from again. Even worse, she will slit their throats and they will die bleeding on the floor.

            No one claims to know who Bloody Mary really was or how the legend really started. Some say Bloody Mary is the ghost of a woman who was burned as a witch and other stories tell she is the spirit of a young woman killed in an automobile crash. She is sometimes also called Mary Worth. As most folklore believed in by adolescents and some adults, Bloody Mary holds most power over the human imagination, and no doubt will be part of sleepovers for a while.

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The Banshee is a good example that fairies do not always bring goodness and light. These ancient Irish-Scottish death fairies bring omens of doom to certain Irish and Scottish clans. The Banshee is most well known for her wailing cries, usually heard along waterways, where she washes out the bloody clothes that belong to members of her clan. The Banshee or Bean Sidhe among the Irish is literally translated as “woman of the hills.” The sidhe, or ‘the good people,” have long been thought to be fairies.

            With long, streaming, red hair, milk-white skin and green, woolen clothing, the only way you can tell the Irish Banshee is a messenger of doom is her eyes remain blood red thought to be caused by her constant crying for her Irish dead. Although the Banshee is more often seen than heard, she is sometimes glimpsed combing her long hair with a silver comb by a lake or a stream.

            The Bean Tidhe, or the fairy housekeeper, is the Scottish version of the Celtic Banshee. The Scottish Banshee appears as an old crone, dressed in funerary rags, and is often preceded by a black hearse with two headless horses leading the way. Some call the Banshee “the washer at the fords” because she is associated with bodies of water, across which her bloody cries are often heard. Some describe the Scottish Banshee as a hideous hag, with only one nostril, sitting stiffly on her horse, appear almost sexless from her advanced age. On rare occasions the Scottish Banshee is sighted as a beautiful raven-haired woman in a shimmering green dress who rides a white mare.

            Some believe the Banshee steals souls and returns them to Celtic Fairyland where all Celtic souls come from.  Likewise, the Banshee shares the power of glamoury with mortal witches, so she can project any age, image or vision that she wishes.

            Although there are hundreds of Irish surnames who have attendant Banshees tied to their clans, a few stand out, such as O’Kennedy, O’Reagan, and O’Lennon. These names were later shortened to Kennedy, Reagan, and Lennon, three famous men of Irish descent who were felled by an assassin’s bullet in the 20^th Century – luckily, one survived. It is important to note that the sidhe, or fairy people, may be based on actual human beings that populated Ireland and Scotland before the Celts. Sidhe simply means “powers” or “fairy powers.”

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Universally, the Crossroads is a place of spiritual power, but also danger, where ghosts, malevolent fairies, the old gods and goddesses of Europe and Africa, as well as devils are thought to lurk. The Crossroads, that place where two roads intersect, now exist everywhere, of course, but forks in the road weren’t as commonplace in the ancient world.

The Indian god Bhairva was said to guard the Crossroads at the edge of each town which were often littered with stone phalluses and statues to represent him as the watcher of boundaries between worlds and to honor opening doorways to new information from other places. 

The Goddess of the underworld and sorcery Hecate (also the “Queen of Ghosts”) held dominion over the Crossroads in Ancient Greece. This probably originated from her older role as Goddess over the wilderness and unclaimed areas. The Greeks often placed offerings of “Hecate cakes” at the Crossroads to the Goddess, sometimes marked by a single candle so Hecate could find her way in the dark. This is where our tradition of putting candles on birthday cakes comes from. In Germany, the Crossroads are called Geisterwege or “Ghost Roads.”

In Africa, the Crossroads gods are varied and they go by many names such as Eshu, Legba, Ellegua, Ndumba, Pomba Gira and Nzila as those who open the way to the powers and teach wisdom.  Hoodoo practices of the Mississippi Delta rely heavily upon the mystical and sometimes maligned powers of the Crossroads.  Hoodoo associates the Crossroads with the Devil. However, the Hoodoo Devil is not exactly the same as the traditional Christian Devil. Instead, the Hoodoo Devil is more of a trickster spirit, wise and crafty but not really evil, more like a friend who has also gone down the wrong path.

Populations who are brought up on Hoodoo believe the Devil hangs out at the Crossroads, waiting for the right person to come along, to strike the right bargain, so he can steal the person’s immortal soul in exchange for a favor.  

In the Crossroads ritual the bargain that is usually made is to learn a skill such as to play a musical instrument superbly, throw dice, sing, public speaking or preaching, and most popular to win in any kind of gambling. During the ritual, whatever object is wished to be mastered, the guitar, banjo, deck of cards or dice are brought to the Crossroads at midnight, or just before dawn for three to nine nights in a row. 

 Certain animals should appear, such as a bear, a black dog or cat, to let the person know his spell is beginning to work. On the last visit a large black man should materialize. The black man (not dark-skinned, but completely coal black) will ask to borrow the object brought to the Crossroads.  He will then demonstrate how to properly use the item. When it is returned, the bearer will then be gifted with almost supernatural powers when it comes to the object, winning all games or becoming the greatest musician in the town and beyond.  But often the person who sells his soul to the Devil at the Crossroads for sudden wins will often die tragically, or will have his winnings quickly taken away.

Because the crossroads is land that belongs to no one it is an area that invites ghosts and other creatures that might not belong in the natural world such as vampires and demons. In Eastern Europe it is thought that vampires carry their shrouds to the Crossroads looking for fresh victims. Malefic fairies are also believed to haunt the Crossroads looking for lost souls to lure into the half-lit world of the Fairyland.

 In England, gallows were built at the Crossroads where the condemned were later hung. This was done to confuse their ghosts, in case they decided to return and revisit those who took their lives. Suicide victims were also sometimes buried at the Crossroads so their spirits would not search for those who had wronged them in life. It was thought the four directions of the forked path would confuse them, to keep such restless souls from “walking.”  

 Certain routes were used for funerals and called “corpse way” and sometimes “corpse cross.” Part of the funeral ritual was to rest the coffin at the Crossroads before heading on to the graveyard.

Some have suggested this is because the Crossroads form a Christian cross. But belief in the powers of the Crossroads predates Christianity by at least 1,000 years and occurs in cultures that are not Christian. India may be a source behind the European tales of the Crossroads when the Sanskrit-speaking Rom people, otherwise known as Gypsies, spread their legend and lore about the Crossroad’s occult powers. These European and African beliefs later informed Hoodoo practices and Voodoo rites in the United States.  Ritual sweeping was also done at the Crossroads and become associated with witches.  A few hundred years ago, the Irish thought witches met at the Crossroads to celebrate their sabbats.

The Roman god Mercury (or the Greek god Hermes) known for his slippery wit, deft intelligence and fertility also lorded over the Crossroads.  The Greeks erected phallic statues at the Crossroads to honor Hermes (or Mercury), the god of travelers and to note the place were information was exchanged.

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The Witch & The Wampus Cat
          There is a power witches have called “glamoury” that allows them to transform themselves into any thing that they might choose such as a dog, a cat, a bird or just a more beautiful human being. (This is where our term “glamour” comes from - Interestingly, though, the root of the word for “glamour” is“grammar,” meaning to recite a spell or incantation.) The witch’s power of glamoury is shown in the fairy-tale Snow White where the beautiful witch transforms herself into an aged crone in order to win Snow White’s trust so she will accept the poison apple.
            Among mountain folklore in the hills of West Virginia, there is a story passed down about an unmarried woman who lived in a mountain community who had “special powers.” This woman stayed pretty much to herself and she seemed to favor animals over people. It was rumored this isolated woman was in fact a witch endowed with supernatural powers, that she was able to use them for both good and ill.
            We know, historically, that any time witch allegations are bantered about, there always seems to be accusations of some type of evil-doings on the part of the witch. After all, the woman was odd and kept to herself. She wasn’t as friendly as people thought she ought to be.
            Local livestock soon came up missing. The cows dried up and would give no milk. The beginning of growing season suffered a serious drought. This simply had to be the fault of the witch. The people had noticed her sharp and mysterious looks.
Many claimed it was the witch’s power of glamoury that enabled her to turn herself into a large, gold-eyed, tuft-eared cat that many referred to as a “Wampus Cat.” Now as a cat, whenever doors would open, the witch would sneak into houses of unsuspecting families and wait until they all fell asleep. She would pilfer objects from the family to be used in future spells. The witch would then cast her spell over the family causing them to be unable to wake up during her nighttime roaming.
            As the Wampus Cat she would teleport herself through the walls, then out to the barn where she would take the smaller livestock, like lambs and calves. The witch had to go easy at first. She could only handle the smallest animals.
            For many years, the witch continued her flagrant stealing by using her glamoury spells. She wasn’t stopped until some locals caught on to her stealth- inspired, witch-ways.
            One night, some village men decided to wait in their barns for the witch, just as she would be transforming herself into the Wampus Cat. Startled in mid-spell, the witch had only changed herself partly into the cat when the men frightened her. Part of her face and breast was woman but the rest of her was a monstrous cat. The witch yowled, fled the barn and disappeared into the woods.            &nb sp;                         &nb sp;                         &nb sp;                          After that, the witch never returned to her home, but over the years the people in her community have been awakened by a mournful howling in the woods at night.
            In Virginia and Tennessee, the Wampus Cat is a Cherokee Indian legend and differs somewhat. In fact, some believe the entire tale of the Wampus Cat originated with the Native Americans. Among the mountain Cherokee Indians in North Carolina, the Wampus Cat is called Ewah. Its story began with a large wild cat that plagued the hunters of the tribe. It killed off all of the game, causing the people to go hungry and had to be destroyed.
            One Cherokee woman that did not trust her husband during hunts put on a mountain lion skin and tracked the group to see what he was doing. When the Cherokee braves caught her in her prowling, she was punished by the truth and was doomed to wear the cat skin until eternity. She is doomed to scavenge the mountains as the dreaded Ewah, ready to gobble up bad people’s souls.
            Another story tells of another Cherokee woman who wore the mask of the cat to spy on her husband while in the woods. She thought perhaps he was lying to her about going hunting and she wanted to catch him in the act of some infidelity.
            Finally, when she happened upon her husband, he was innocently tracking a deer. But when the husband saw the dreadful mask his wife concocted, he was driven insane by fear of it. The Cherokee man ran away never to be seen again. As the woman attempted to pull the mask from her face, she found it was stuck to her skin.
            Now the young woman, another Ewah or Wampus Cat must wander the mountain’s deep thickets to this day in order to make peace or find resolution with the husband she misjudged and scared to death.

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13. How Do I Know If I Am Being Haunted? by Susan Sheppard

The appearance of ghosts and other types of haunts often start out as very subtle. You may not even notice them in the initial phase of the haunting unless you are a person who is “tuned in” to these spiritual energies. It is only when the haunts become impossible to ignore that we begin to experience the surreal world of haunted houses and ghosts. And this is where the fun begins. 
           

 Fun? But, of course! If you find yourself in the midst of a true possession of spirits or haunting count yourself as one of the lucky people who gets a true glimpse of the world of ghosts. Many would love to meet up with a ghost but never do. After all spirits can be unpredictable and generally show up in their own good time and not ours.            &nb sp;                   &nb sp;                         &nb sp;                         &nb sp;                         &nb sp;                                   Scared? There is really no reason to be. The vast majority of apparitions are quite harmless and since ghosts are not really physical, they are usually not able to harm one in any physical way. Oh, there are a few who may trip you or pull your hair. They may break your camera or twist your ear. That’s about as bad as it gets although in the case of malevolent spirits there are some psychological dangers that we covered earlier. 

How does one know if one is being haunted? There are certain elements of hauntings that are universal when it comes to the matter of ghosts and their manifestations. These happen across the board and occur no matter what country you are born in, what language you speak or even what sex or race you are. The ingredients that indicate ghosts are haunting you are pretty much the same. Although such ghostly occurrences may seem strange or even bizarre to most, they’re actually rather ordinary to those of us who study such things. 
           

So — do you think you might have met up with an actual ghost or are you living in a haunted house? Read on and see if the following rings a bell... some delightfully, frightfully, ghostly bell.

Ø      You feel as if you are being watched... You know how it happens. The skin on the back of your neck crawls. Hairs lift. Other souls are watching you — you’re sure of it. As soon as you turn around no one is there. Did they leave? Do they no longer watch?  Of course, not! Your ghosts are still watching, enjoying the show. One thing we have learned from the spirit world, they are just as curious about us as we are curious about them—maybe more so. And they do like to check in on the living. Some sensitive enough can feel them. As soon as you realize that spirits are really no threat, you can learn to live with your ghost. There is really no reason to run from the room. Such spirits probably haven’t been in the world for a while and want to experience it all over again. Ghosts have feelings, too.

Ø      The sudden appearance of unusual odors or smells... The presence of odd smells or odors that are otherwise unaccounted for is often the initial phase of a genuine haunting. Smells can be the first (albeit indirect) way that a spirit announces or makes itself (him or herself) known. Usually a scent, such as lingering perfume or cologne, pipe tobacco, gasoline or coffee perking, has some meaning to way the person was in life. If the ghost smoked a Cuban cigar or a Sherlock Holmes type pipe — then that’s what you will smell. Sweet perfumes and the scent of flowers seem to be a favorite among spirits. That is, was a favorite, before he or she became a ghost! Keep a log of smells turning up in areas of your home or haunted area. This can be a good clue as to who it might be that is actually is haunting your place. Foul odors, on the other hand, are generally not a good sign. Repulsive smells may indicate malevolent ghosts and spirits.

Ø      Waking up to a feeling of a presence in your room... Many of you already know the feeling. You startle awake. Your heart pounds. Much to your horror, you realize you are also paralyzed. Can’t move a muscle—not a baby finger! You sense someone there... Your eyes can’t focus but you feel it. A terrible weight crushes you into the mattress... sits on your chest. Now, whatever it is pulls you by your ankles to the bottom of the bed. In worse case scenarios, there may even be the sensation of a sexual violation. This is no doubt the most terrifying spirit experience of all. Not because the ghostly presence is going to hurt you. It is simply because during such a state, there is very little you can do to stop it. This state of psychic attack is called the “Old Hag” and also “Night Paralysis.”        

Researchers think this has little to do with ghosts but I (Susan Sheppard) am not so sure. I’ve had attacks of this “Night Paralysis” throughout my life and they always occur in the houses where I’ve lived that are the most haunted. They also tended to occur whenever I opened up a bit more psychically, as well. I believe this dreaded appearance of the “Old Hag” (fear of it caused me to have insomnia for many years) is both a physical and a psychic attack. Some researchers believe that paralysis happens when we wake up during a period when our muscles have been paralyzed to keep us from thrashing around and hurting ourselves during deeper sleep cycles. During the Middle Ages the “Old Hag” was associated with demonic attacks such as the Incubus (a spirit that has sex with sleeping women) or a Succubus (a spirit that has sex with sleeping men). If you find yourself the victim of too many “Night Hag” violations (because that’s exactly what it feels like) you may want to bring in a psychic, a healer or some other holy person to try and get rid of it. Prayer often breaks the spell but cursing works almost as well. Recent research shows if you sleep on the left side (and not in a supine position) you will have less of a chance of having an “Old Hag” attack.

Why? No one knows for sure. Maybe it is because you are keeping your heart, your vital self, covered and protected. Never sleep flat on your back if you are prone to this strange sensation.

Ø       Drafts and cold spots... Just about anywhere in the world, the presence of ghosts is associated with cold spots, and that means a significant drop in temperature from one room to the next. However, such drafts or frigid areas are not limited to indoors. The next time you visit a cemetery, for instance, you may notice how much cooler the air seems to be inside the gates. Why? Some theorize spirits use natural heat or thermal energies in order to appear or manifest in such way that they can be noticed. In other words, ghosts may use heat to gain vital energy. The truth of the matter is no one knows for sure why cold spots are associated with the spirits of the dead. However, cold spots do occur in most cases of haunts whether the spirits turn out to be malevolent or benign. But a briefer, scarier explanation may be death is damned cold.

Ø       Hearing glass shattering or ice being dropped into sinks, yet when you check out the sounds, nothing is there. This is a familiar story once you start investigating or studying ghosts. More attention getting.

Ø      Feeling a weight or seeing an impression at the foot of a bed, seeing the shape of a human body outlined in the sheets, or feeling any kind of weight or impression on a piece of furniture for that matter. Just another unusual, but universal indication of a haunting. Visiting New Orleans a few years ago, we visited the former house of the Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau. Later in the evening, at the Royal Sonesta Hotel, my small daughter gasped and said that there was the shape of a woman’s face in her pillowcase. Wanting to reassure her that pillowcases sometimes crease like that, that it is only our minds playing tricks on us, I was shocked to see, indeed, my daughter was right. There was the outline of a very pretty woman’s face in the pillowcase. Marie Laveau was quite a beauty. Did the Voodoo Queen visit us? Perhaps.

Ø      Unexplained electrical malfunctions such as problems with television sets, clocks, phones, computers, lighting, etc... Take, for instance, my television set. Since attending a blessing ceremony with Tibetan Lamas a few years ago the energies in my house went wild. The night of the blessing, the television set switched itself on after I had walked upstairs and turned off the lights in the house. Unbeknownst to me, I heard the TV blaring then saw a blue light flickering in the hallway leading up the stairs. Absent-minded of me, I thought. But I hadn’t been watching TV, had I? So I walked downstairs turned off the television and went back to my room to sleep. The next morning, I awakened to ringing of the telephone. As I sat up, the television set in my bedroom suddenly switched on. So, for this particular week in my life, the TVs turned themselves on two to three times per day. This was highly interesting but would soon die down. So, what can it mean? Spirits are electrical in nature and in order to become detectable they will often resort to drawing upon various types of electrical equipment to get their batteries charged. Why is this? It is the easiest way. It is so much easier than trying to distract or connect with the mind of a human that is so preoccupied by other things. It takes a bit of a shock. In keeping with this, spirits will also use other electrical items, most especially lights. Flickering lights are the most common for this to take place. If you’ve ever gone into an old haunted theater or library, you may notice how erratically the lights tend to flicker. No need to worry. It’s just the spirits saying, “We are here.” You can choose to ignore them for there is no reason for concern. However, when hunting out a haunting, take into consideration any electrical occurrences unusual especially those having to do with lights. Spirits love fiddling around with the lights. Gets our attention, right?

Ø      Hearing your name called when no one is there... This one is rather fascinating because it usually comes without warning so can be unnerving. Hearing your name being called (or whispered into your ear) may be explained by one of two things. A person close to you may simply have you on his or her mind. This is one form of telepathy (thought transference) and is actually pretty common. The other explanation may be that spirits are simply trying to get your attention. This does bring up the question— are the ghostly voices audible to others? In my experience, yes! Other people around usually hear the same spirit voices. This means spirit voices you are hearing as well as other examples of ghosts are not just happening inside your head. Makes one feel a bit less cuckoo, EH?

Ø      Feeling touched, patted or caressed... It must seem odd that a nonphysical-being would be capable of human touch, but such is often the case. How this is achieved is a mystery but allow me to fill you in on the particulars. During our ghost tours each fall, several participants have reported being caressed, fondled and having their hair tugged on around of the Weeping Woman statue. She is the famous statue at Riverview Cemetery. It is her job to watch over the graves of Stonewall Jackson’s relatives. But the Weeping Woman seems not to like having her picture taken. This was interesting development since earlier in the tour I dreamed of a woman’s icy hand caressing mine. It was not a bad feeling but the hand was eerily cold. By this time this book is out, I am sure there will be even more reports of “touching” around this impressive statuary in seasons to come.

Ø      What does this all amount to? An awareness of being brushed or touched indicates a pretty intense haunting. It takes a lot of power for a spirit to come across in a physical way. So, if this has happened to you, take your ghost seriously and stay tuned for more developments. However, if ever there is ever a case that you are scratched to the point that blood wells, do be extra careful. This can imply a more negative kind of haunting.

Ø      Someone in the home begins drinking heavily. Unfortunately this happens more frequently than most would ever imagine. Many of the most talented mediums throughout the history of Spiritualism ended up alcoholics such as Arthur Ford and both Fox sisters. Never drink alcohol while communicating with the spirit world. This is extremely treacherous. You have our word on it.

Ø       Stuff gets lost and then turns up in unlikely places... Missing objects are often the way poltergeists start out. Researchers have found where there are poltergeists there are usually other ghosts. Look for objects of significance getting lost and then turning up in obvious places. The items may be family heirlooms, such as old photographs, or objects that are associated with a family member who has already passed on but now wishes to communicate with the living. This can be true when an item holds meaning to the ghost that haunts your house. The spirit of my maternal grandmother placed one of her hankies on my cousin’s pillowcase. My cousin hadn’t seen the handkerchief in years... then suddenly there it was on her pillow, unfolded and everything. She couldn’t miss it. There was no need for worry. Grandmother was simply making her presence known. There are also nonsensical manifestations of objects, such as finding your hairbrush in the refrigerator or your toothbrush in the toilet. In this instance it’s only your ghost trying to get your attention... so stay alert. Things are just now getting interesting...

Ø      Appearance of poltergeists... If you are interested in the paranormal, you already know what poltergeists are. You’ve heard it before... “Poltergeist” is a German term which means “noisy spirits” or “to rap or to knock.” The word is even older, with Greek origins. (That’s how long poltergeists have been around.) The poltergeist attack usually starts out as loud banging noises. Often, there is the sound of footsteps in the upstairs of the house or it sometimes sounds as if someone is walking on the roof. Ordinary objects fly about. Things get broken. Beds begin to shake. Typically, the poltergeist will pester one person in the family more than the others. That person is normally a teenager under stress or with some emotional problems. We know that poltergeists are lumped in with ghosts—

Ø      But aren’t poltergeists actually ghosts? Over the last fifty years, appearances of poltergeists are believed to be a latent ability that humans have to move objects with the powers of the mind. Such individuals are thought to have some inner turmoil, which creates the right setting for the poltergeist phenomena to occur, a form of “telekinesis,” (moving objects with the powers of the human mind. But you knew that already, didn’t you?) Such abilities can appear around adolescents in crisis, usually at the beginning at puberty. Often the poltergeist activity goes away or become buried around the age of twenty. However, the experiences can continue at various times throughout their lives. Only recently, psychic researchers have begun to notice that poltergeists tend to occur simultaneously with other hauntings and these do involve spirits of deceased persons. It could be that spirits also use the electro-magnetic powers of the human mind to appear, especially in the case of psychics who are more in tune with their powers. In this way, the person acts as a portal or doorway for other spirits to arrive on the scene and haunt. Poltergeists certainly fascinate but before you call in some holy person to do an exorcism on your home, keep in mind that poltergeists lose energy and fade out and almost always go away on their own.

Ø      Certain rooms in a house exhibit dinginess or unexplained shadows no matter how good the lighting is... Houses and rooms absorb all kinds of energies. The minute a person walks into your home, he or she will change the energy in your home. This includes ghostly visitors as well. Usually, if the feeling in the room is bright and expansive, no one really worries about ghosts. On the other hand, if your spirits are earthbound and are of a melancholy nature (as some earthbound spirits tend to be) the room will take on a type of dinginess or shadowy quality. For some unknown reason ghosts thrive best in the shadows.  In fact there is a specific type of ghost called “Shadow People” which only appear as shadows. We associate the shadows with evil, because after all darkness is scary since we aren’t as able to seen things as well in the dark. They may hang out in sunlight, too, but it is possible more ethereal appearances are not as easy to determine in glaring light as they are in subtle shade. But if you find corners in a house that seem impossible to light well, this is probably the area of the house or area that may be the most haunted.

Ø       Dreams that are not typical, involving people you may not know... There are some dreams that are so vivid or real that when we wake up the next morning, we feel already tired from the dream. Such dreams tend to have a psychic component, maybe involving people we do not know in our waking world. At times, such dreams can involve the spirits or ghosts that have moved into your life, especially if your dream is recurring and the people you see in your dream are detailed and quite specific. You may want to consider the possibility that your dream characters may be actual people, either living or deceased. The living people may be ones you have a psychic connection to, for some unexplainable reason. If the people turn out to be deceased, well, you guessed it. You may have a ghost. While on the midst of what you think might be a haunting, pay special attention to your dreams. You very well may solve the identity of your ghost through an especially vivid one. If you get specifics in your dream such as names, locations or events go to the library or courthouse and see what you can find out about your ghost. You may begin understand why your ghost was initially attracted to you and why they chose to haunt.

Ø      Pets or other animals may appear frightened or avoid specific places or rooms in the house... Do you have a room or a corner where pets refuse to go? Are there certain areas in your home that tends to unnerve your cats or places where dogs begin to growl? Since animals rely upon their instincts, they are also able to see and hear things that human beings normally do not. And so, it is not surprising that our pets are able to see and discern spirits even better than we do. After all, animals are very basic. They will behave strangely whenever there are spirits around, oftentimes sensing malevolent and other kinds of ghosts. Many cases of pets discerning spirits have been documented. Pets can be quite psychic, sometimes more than their owners are. Therefore, if you find your life besieged by apparitions and ghostly energies take into consideration the places where your pets act the strangest. These often turn out to be “hot spots” of ghostly activity when looked into further. In fact, using your pet to find out where your spirits are can work out exceedingly well.

Ø      Setting off buzzers and alarms... By this, I mean YOU and not your ghosts. (Well, maybe it’s a little bit of both.) If you are in contact with spirits as well as other types of psychic energies, you may begin to notice that you tend to set off buzzers and other alarms. In my town, this is no problem because everyone knows me. Therefore if I set off the bomb alert at the post office or shoplifting alarms at my local bookstore, no one is too surprised. In fact, when in contact with spirits either intentionally or unintentionally, you may notice all types of instruments will go haywire. You may get a few funny glances as you are walking across a parking lot when the automobile’s lights come on and the engine suddenly starts up even though there is no one inside. Just don’t chuckle to the stranger beside you and say, “Did you see that? It always does that whenever I come around!” You may also notice street lights flicker and go out when you walk under them. This is just one interesting by-products of dealing with the paranormal. It’s fascinating and usually temporary, so enjoy it. If the activity continues, consider calling up the Amazing Randi to take his psychic test so you can collect your million dollars. But it’s doubtful he’d believe you anyway. Oh well, what the hell...

Ø      Unexplained health problems, specifically headaches or feeling drained... There is little doubt that directly communicating with spirits can wear you out. Disembodied entities will draw up on your resources, and this will drain you. There are ways to avoid this such as imagining a white light surrounding you at all times, but most especially when you are in communication with spirits. Also, if your spirit gives you the creeps, you can rings bells, or chimes, or clap your hands loudly in areas you may feel are spiritually dangerous areas. This may seem ridiculous, but most spirits, like small animals avoid high-pitched noises or ringing sounds. One other problem, which is both a physical and emotional one that is the suffering from depressive episodes that are difficult to shake away. This may indicate spiritual oppression where some negative entity has wormed its way into your life. Using bells, burning sage, creating circles of protection and white-lighting exercises can all work to get rid of any negative spiritual influences in your everyday life.

Ø      Seeing shapes that float, dark spots, small lights or shadows... Perceiving ghosts can sometimes be like staring at a faint star. When looking directly at it, the star seems to fade or disappear. But when adjusting your vision to look at it slightly askew, the faint star comes into focus. The same is true of ghosts, especially if there are several moving about. Sometimes, apparitions are most visible when looking out of the corner of your eye, or in your peripheral vision, as it is called. Pay attention to movements that happen quickly, such as shadows, flying orbs and lights. Ghost orbs, (and other ghost images) can be seen by the human eye but they most often appear lightning quick. If you have recently become aware of such shapes around, you might try to capture them by using a camera of your choice. Prepare to take several pictures before capturing them. As mentioned before, they are as slippery as mercury and just quick! You can train yourself to recognize spirits. All you need is patience.

Ø       Waking up suddenly at the same time each night... This can clue you in on the hour that ghostly powers are most strong in your home. It can be your haunts waking you up in order to convey some message but never manage to make the connection or otherwise appear. Waking at the same hour can also indicate the hour your ghost may have died and this is his way of reminding you that he is not entirely gone. Continuance seems to be the main theme among ghosts. It is just one way of telling us that we never truly die.

Ø      Hearing music or singing at odd hours and places when no one else is around... This is a strange one but easy to figure out. Music seems to remain important to those in the spirit world. Many ghosts communicate through music such as disembodied singing eking through when you’re on the phone. It’s not unusual for radios and tape players to start up in haunted houses when the radios or recorders have not even been turned on. Ghostly voices and choruses layered over the piped in elevator music, the kind played in hotels and Drs. Offices are fairly common. Often, the music has a religious tone, sounding like a Catholic mass or sopranos of angelic choirs. (Apparently there is no rock n’ roll music in heaven and for that, we are disappointed.)

Ø      When taking photographs with your camera, you get strange images such as balls of light or you capture material that looks like mist or fog that was not there when you snapped the shot, or there coils or strings of light, weird shadows and shapes or other things that should not be there can indicate the presence of ghosts in your pictures.

Ø      When entering a room, you feel a presence as if a crowd has just left it... It is interesting to walk through a house and realize that empty rooms often feel full. The energy is still present, it seems, from all of the people who’ve lived or even visited there. Rooms that feel “full” are often the most haunted rooms in the houses, no matter if that energy feels light or heavy. This can clue you in to the most haunted areas of a home. If this happens in your search for ghosts a room that feels the most active is the one to pay the attention to.

Ø      Last but not least, seeing someone who shouldn’t be there!  First of all, it’s not like in the movies where ghosts appear as filmy, see-through apparitions, with full moon light misting around while some spirituous wind blows. Ghosts and apparitions often appear as solid and look much as they did in life. Sometimes the spirits are missing a head or their feet. This does not mean the ghost died in some violent way. This is because it takes great energy for ghosts to appear so the extremities of heads and feet tend to get left behind. However, because the apparition is mostly solid, we are tricked into thinking it is a living person we see. It is only when the spirit vanishes that we realize we have been in contact with the spirits of the dead or at least something unexplained. Poltergeists, of course, never look like animals or people since poltergeists are nothing more than unleashed psychic energies. Spirit recordings do appear as people or animals but usually perform the same act over and over again, without any real consciousness behind them. If you think you will die of fright upon seeing one very real apparition, think again. Apparitions disappear quickly, sometimes even before you can get them into full view. You won’t have time to have heart failure. Ghosts normally vanish even more quickly than they originally appeared. Will you believe it if we tell you there is no reason to be frightened over? No? Too bad.  Ghosts really are a lot of fun to be around!

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