How do you deal with a haunting?

There have been so many threads lately about ghost and haunted places that it got me thinking, what do you do if you are a victim of a haunting? It�s interesting that so many people seem to be affected by this phenomenon but is their really a way to help them? I know that this is such a controversial subject as many don�t even believe in ghosts but others seem to be experiencing something real. What would you do if your house was haunted? Is there a number you can call or a University you can contact that will help you with your problem and will anyone even take you seriously? I know that there are parapsychologists that work in this field but can they really do anything? The only thing that I have seen them do is set up equipment and bring in �strange� people to walk around and have them find cold areas so they can proceed to cry or chant? I guess what I�m trying to ask is if there is anything, presently, that can be done to get rid of an unwanted house guest?

well, it all depends on the type and intensity of the haunting and how you react to it.
Many folks are like:



that only makes things worse due to the high emotional energy such a reaction can produce, thereby producing a weird type of feedback loop with the entity's energy

you could be like...





but that, too, can backfire in more ways than I can presently describle.

However, one could be strong enough in one's own being and presence and self-control/assuredness, that you react like....

and let "it" know that you aknowledge it's presence, and respect it's right to be there, but it's a two-way street, y'know? Sometimes, they just want attention...it can be lonely, spending decades and not talking to anyone...as you can imagine.
Hey, it happens, what can I do? You want me to lie?


Ok, I've had my fun.
Yours is a serious question and I, as a degreed parapsychologist, should treat it as such.
There have been situations where the level of activity becomes so intense, I've seen the residents nearly go insane, trying to deal with "it" or them or whatever the hell was causing the activity and manifestations.
In those cases, there are no easy answers.
At other times, I've participated in what could simply be described as a group meditation/prayer, asking "it" to please stop hiding the car keys when it KNOWS you've partied too hard the night before and awoken late, with just 15min's to get to work....and it worked.
One thing I ------always----- caution folks about is calling in folks on either end of the ghost-busting spectrum: those that are obviously highly religious in their approach...boy, I could TALK about some of the backfires a certain, well-known married couple that go around in the sanctimonious shroud of JEEEESUUSSS and....well, I've said enough for you to get -that- picture....or the other end, who are so uptight as to assume it's the PERSON who's haunted, not the house. Well-meaning super-skeptics can cause just as much harm, psychically and realistically, as any biblel-thumping zealot, imo.
Anyway, to get any more specific, I'd need to have a specific "case" and details of the experience, to delve further into a proper answer to your query.
hth a little:
bubbabak

Thanks for the info, Bubbabak. Have you, as a parapsychologist had any events that you feel you have helped to come to an end, such as a haunting. When you initially go in to a suspected haunting do you perform a psychological review of those involved and, if so, how do you go about getting this done when emotions can be so high? Do you sometimes feel powerless to stop these hauntings due to the fact that technically you have no idea what you are dealing with and can't see it (for the most part) as well? I would love to hear about some of your more interesting cases and if you were able to help those involved. Thanks for the input.

the place I used to live in had alot of stuff happen and my girfreind talked to a priest and
he said not talk to it but I did aney way.

[edit on 26-12-2004 by slayerfan]

Well, what ever happened slayerfan? Do you still live there and, and if so, has there been anymore starnge activity?

no I havent lived thair in years but it was a emty apartment above are beedroom a guy shot him self in a sleeping bag and we got his cand food and plants.

Hi Skychief:
What you're asking calls for a rather detailed, involved answer; something which I simply do not have the time to do right now.
However: the answer to most of thequestions below is yes...conditionally or fully, all of which I'll try to address.
In the meantime, I've posted some stories....some fanciful, others experiences that I fictionalized for a Newsgroup on ghoststories and some are downright spooky!
It's been at least a year since I even visited it (I wrote 18 or so short stories in a very short span of time, having never done anything like that before or since and, I kinda got burned out on it for awhile)
Anyway, you might get some answers to those questions going thru the stories and reading about how I attained a parapsych degree from a calif university doing several years of research in the psych dept's sleep lab.
here's the link and I promise I WILL get to your questions when I have the time.
Bubbabak
hzzp://www.geocities.com/soho/gallery/3549/

Originally posted by skychief
Thanks for the info, Bubbabak. Have you, as a parapsychologist had any events that you feel you have helped to come to an end, such as a haunting. When you initially go in to a suspected haunting do you perform a psychological review of those involved and, if so, how do you go about getting this done when emotions can be so high? Do you sometimes feel powerless to stop these hauntings due to the fact that technically you have no idea what you are dealing with and can't see it (for the most part) as well? I would love to hear about some of your more interesting cases and if you were able to help those involved. Thanks for the input.

No problem, take your time Bubbabak but I will be waiting patiently
I will check out your link as well, I'm sure you have some pretty interesting stories. Thanks.

I don't believe in such stuff, and never will. It is the creation of the bored human mind, to scare everyone to hell well, only those who buy into such stuff!

I don't believe in such stuff, and never will. It is the creation of the bored human mind, to scare everyone to hell well, only those who buy into such stuff!

Vertu i take it you have never experienced a real haunting?
To behonest unless you really have experienced it your self you cannot begin to understand, Creation of the board mind* for some maybe but not all, I for one would have not chose some of the experiences that i have had and i can assure you they were no creation of my mind... i have had many experiences where there are others presant

I would reccomend that you start drinking very heavy! No not really. I guess the best thing to do is sit down and write as much of it as you can remember. I was making love to an ex-girlfriend back in the 80's in a pre civil war era home in Fredricksburg. I do not know to this day what made me look at the foot of the bed. I think it was because my feet were getting cold. Anyway, I saw this mist start to form with this old guys face in it and it freaked me out. It was so weird, and real that I refused to enter her home again. It took my a few weeks to get over it and now when my feet get cold, I always think of that experience. She stayed shook up longer and sold the home a few months later when she foud out that 2 Confederate soldiers died in that very same room. Talk about having an unwanted "cold shower"

Originally posted by skychief
There have been so many threads lately about ghost and haunted places that it got me thinking, what do you do if you are a victim of a haunting? It�s interesting that so many people seem to be affected by this phenomenon but is their really a way to help them? I know that this is such a controversial subject as many don�t even believe in ghosts but others seem to be experiencing something real. What would you do if your house was haunted? Is there a number you can call or a University you can contact that will help you with your problem and will anyone even take you seriously? I know that there are parapsychologists that work in this field but can they really do anything? The only thing that I have seen them do is set up equipment and bring in �strange� people to walk around and have them find cold areas so they can proceed to cry or chant? I guess what I�m trying to ask is if there is anything, presently, that can be done to get rid of an unwanted house guest?

Everyone is capable of dealing with the situation on their own.
I don't think of a 'haunting' as a bad thing.

I agree with you Angel, but what if you are dealing with a malevolent spirit? What if the spirit seems to be tormenting a family member or setting up situations that could bring someone harm? Most people don't even believe in ghosts so how do they deal with something they don't believe in? You seem like a very spiritual person, which is great, but many have very limited beliefs, if any at all, and would have a very hard time dealing with this type of situation.

Hey skychief...cool logo, btw. I was raised AF and have a love for all aircraft...but the P-51....ahhh, now THERE's a beauty! (not to mention it's critical role in DubyaDubya II !)
Anyway, as you might surmise by my absence, RL has been one overwhelming day after another. Don't get me wrong, I love Xmas and all but DAMN! it can be draining. I need a vacation to recover from the holidays!
It's 2am here and I can't even consider diving headlong into the promised info. I hope in the meantime, you've had a chance to check out the story page; at least you can verify my credentials and get a feel for my experiences, ghostly and otherwise, in the field of consciousness research.
The gist of your query, if I'm not mistaken, is this:
How best does the average Joe or Jill deal with a malevolent presence in one's house, correct?
If you think I have the answer, we're both going to be disappointed.
Because there isn't any -one- way to deal with it, them, whatever. Each instance is unique, if not in the manifest activity (there -are- finite groupings ghost-hunter's use to categorize the type and intensity), then in the people that are being "haunted".
As you probably already know, it can range from benign to physically harmful. Did you happen to catch the series of programs carried by the Discovery Channel, involving several diffrerent families and what they were dealing with? One in particular was quite striking: the "entity", supposedly a little girl with a major attitude problem, would scratch the male of the household, among other things. They actually got several instances of these rather viscious scratches -on tape- as they were happening, so there was no doubt that this late 20's-working class dude was hoaxing it.
I've had plates fly at my head; chairs scoot across the floor at high speed, hitting me in the shins; loud screeching in the ears (as if an inch away from the ear) telling me to get out...or to help....or just plain screaming for the, ahem, hellofit, I suppose.
My participation in such instances has always been as an observer only; gathering whatever data I can through numerous and varied methods, and leave the "cleansing" to others with whom I've worked over the years.
Religon sometimes helps, sometimes aggravates the situation.
Traditional "cleansing" techniques, using various chants, the burning of herbs such as sage, basil and other plants, used by "sensitives", in conjunction with all kinds of oils, chemicals, sometimes helps....if for no other reason than that the people see "something" being done by folks who "care" (call it placebo effect if you like).
Anyway; thank goodness that most (90percent) of hauntings are harmless....a nuisance, at worst.
As specific instances come up on the board, I'll pipe in with a story/experience that is relevent, but really, that's about all I can add at this point.
The main umbrella org for which I "work", the White Crow Society, has an elaborate and involved set of protocols that we all follow, when conducting a formal investigation; the details of which are not appropriate for this venue. Suffice to say, we are heavy on the objective, rather than the subjective. This includes personality inventories, numerous interviews of increasing detail; all the "toys" one can afford to ammass, such as digital recorders, video and audio, motion detectors, infrared to ultraviolet sensors, all coordinated through a laptop with common software, regardless of whether the investigation is in South Africa or Alaska....we strive for continuity, uniformity of information gathering and professionalism, at all times. This is not a hobby for some of us...my better half would call it an expensive obsession! ) I simply describe it as my "calling". I'm not manifestly psychic, so I have to try harder!
Time for bed, my friend.
Hope you had a good holiday and new year!
bubbabak

Hey Bubbabak, good to hear from you! I hope your holidays were great. Kinglizard made the avatar for me as I was having trouble finding a good pic for it. Thanks, I think it is cool as well. My great uncle flew, and died, in a P-51 in World War II so i have always had a fondness for it. He went from farm boy to pilot in a matter of a year and a half which still amazes me.
I tried the link you left but unfortunately, I never could get it to work. Man, you sound like you have had some pretty hair raising expierences. I did see the ghostly scratches that you mention and yes it did seem real. That is exactly why I posted this thread. How in the hell do you deal with that? Good to hear from you again!

Originally posted by skychief
I agree with you Angel, but what if you are dealing with a malevolent spirit? What if the spirit seems to be tormenting a family member or setting up situations that could bring someone harm? Most people don't even believe in ghosts so how do they deal with something they don't believe in? You seem like a very spiritual person, which is great, but many have very limited beliefs, if any at all, and would have a very hard time dealing with this type of situation.

There aren't many spiritual beings I've come in contact with that really can cause harm (in and of themselves). Funny, thinking about it - there sure seems to be more and more in the last 3 or 4 years.
But anyway, I think your right, almost anyone would have a hard time dealing if they are not privy to back and forth communication and/or feeling their way through it literaly.
Rule number 1 is to NOT be afraid and to realize that there is very little they can do to harm you. Most of the harm is 'allowed' by the person, if not asked for directly.
I like to tell people to pretend as if the spiritual being is a physical one and deal with them accordingly. Respctfuly, truthfuly, with authority and without fear. To tell them that they are in YOUR home, that you have rules, and, if you choose, you can allow them to stay provided they abide by your rules.
If you want them gone period - tell them that. Let them know they are not welcome in your home and tell them to leave.
It is only the few that are already causing trouble that don't just up and leave at that.
(Have a Happy New Year :-)