I remember when an interest in the paranormal was something to be hidden away. “Watch out for that Ravencraft boy. He’s a little strange.” The occult — a world which means “secret knowledge” by the way — was something to be sought in strange little book stores, or the remote regions of the local library while people eyed you carefully over the tops of their glasses. It was not spoken of except with people you could trust.
So what do we have now? People running around trying to “capture” ghosts. I’ve seen contests offering free T-shirts and a chance to be on a real ghost hunt. I’ve spoken to someone who was looking to move from the library to the field and her first concern was what to call the group! Ye gods!
I suppose that I should have some gratitude that the popularity of books like Harry Potter (and the myriad of books that are tapping into this magical interest) and TV shows about hauntings and the paranormal have moved some of this out of the closet and into the street. But maybe some of it ought to go back into the closet! I am genuinely concerned that people who will get all up in arms about things like a Ouija board (Yes, I got all of your notes telling me I was on my way to the fiery regions of hell, thank you very much.) will think nothing about going face-to-face with the unseen world armed with nothing more than the cheapest video camera they could afford. And they aren’t content to simply observe and report. Some of them have taken their cues from the boneheads on TV and are calling these things out. Do you have any idea what a malevolent being could do to you if you get him good and pissed off?
I’ve never been much for the gadgets. I’m a little curious about some of the ghost radio sorts of things. I have a little “Shack Hack” that was made for me by a friend, but I haven’t done much with it. I think that if your connection with the spirits relies on having enough batteries, then you’ve missed it altogether. That world has been rubbing up against ours since the beginning of time. Our forefathers seemed to find ways to make sense of it without help from Sony.
So what is the goal of all of these people running around trying to flush out the paranormal? A lot of them seem to think that there is money to be made. Ha! I’ve known many a rich charlatan, but rarely a wealthy wizard. I suppose that the research and experimentation interferes with quality T-shirt design. Maybe a lot of them are genuinely curious, but the noisy ones have made everyone feel like it’s all part of the game.
Steve, the owner of the museum, has agreed to let me experiment with the entities that he has in the building. I know of at least one that seems to be tied to the human skeleton he has on display. (Strangely, the mummy doesn’t seem to be bothered. Maybe there was something to all that effort preparing someone for Tuat — “Heaven” for you Bible thumpers.) There is also a good deal to draw upon in that whole area of the city. Perhaps I’ll sit some of you explorers down for a good old fashioned approach to talking to the ghosts. If it will make you feel better maybe I’ll let Steve design a T-Shirt and sell tickets.
I guess what I’m really on about here is that if you are a seeker, then know what you are seeking. Don’t just jump out there to see what will jump back. Look at some of the knowledge that people have accumulated on these subjects for the past several hundred years and consider that they might know something that could be useful to you on your quest. Perhaps even consider that the search for the hidden can happen quietly and peacefully with results that show you personally that there are connections, as opposed to ooing and ahhing over little glowy things in your photographs. Go curl up with some Hans Holtzer (may he rest in peace) and see what that gets you. Then come with me and we’ll walk quietly through the curtain together. The Museum knows where to find me.
If you’ve been following us for a while, you may remember the following story we posted from August 15th of last year:
… Loren Coleman, world-renowned cryptozoologist and resident blogger at cryptomundo.com, reported on this incredible breaking news: supposedly up to 15 of the mysterious sea serpent-like cryptids known as Cadborosaurus have been filmed, and the footage will be broadcast on the Discovery Channel… (you can read his post here and the link to the original story here).
Loren was understandably wary in his blog, raising the possibility that it may in fact be otters.
But today, fellow cryptozoologist John Kirk has posted there that he himself was able to view the footage and makes the following claim:
“…I must say I was stunned because it looked like a living breathing version of the famed Naden Harbour carcass obtained in 1937… I can fairly confidently say that readers will find this footage fascinating…”
I’m excited but cautious regarding this news from our friends at cryptomundo.com. I guess just like everyone else we’ll just have to wait with baited breath!
Well that long-awaited show, officially titled “Alaskan Monster Hunt: Hillstranded” finally airs tonight on Discovery Channel (10pm EST/9pm CST). I’m surprised there hasn’t been more fanfare prior to the airing of the show, considering how important this footage is actually supposed to be. In any case, I’ve set my DVR and am anxiously awaiting seeing the footage.
How would you like to be a part of THIS tradition?
This might be your worst nightmare, but in Shaoyang, China, it’s just part of an annual tradition.
The annual bee-wearing contest didn’t exactly attract a swarm of entrants, but two Chinese apiarists competed to see who could attract the most bugs to their bodies in an hour-long contest,the BBC reported.
Contenstants wore nothing but shorts, goggles, and nose plugs, and stood on a scales so that the weight of the bees could be calculated.
Each contestant attracted the bees by locking a queen bee in a small cage and tying it to his body.
The victor? 42-year old Wang Dalin, who added about 52 pounds of bees to his frame
What do you get the two-headed, six-legged bearded dragon who has everything?
Well, everything it needs, anyway.
For Todd Ray, who actually owns such a creature — a reptile he calls “Pancho and Lefty” — the answer was found in a lookalike pinata.
Yep, you read that correctly: A giant pinata that looks like his beloved pet two-headed, six-legged bearded dragon.
Pancho and Lefty turned 1 back in May, but Ray, who runs the Venice Beach Freakshow in Los Angeles, is celebrating the big day on June 11 with a big shindig fit for, well, a two-headed, six-legged bearded dragon.
“These are literally the rarest animals in the world,” Ray told AOL Weird News, and he should know. He has the largest collection of two-headed animals around, more than 100 specimens including 22 living creatures.
Ray has been collecting double-domed animals for the past 10 years and exhibiting them publicly for six. He considers it a calling.
Interesting little bit about this young boy claiming to be “magnetized”.
What do you think?
Young Ivan Stoiljkovic poses for pictures with a Samsung Galaxy Tab stuck to his chest in front of his home near Koprivnica, about 62 miles (100km) north of Croatia’s capital city, Zagreb, on May 12, 2011.
Ivan, 6, is purported to posess an extraordinary and seemingly magical talent: the ability to attract metallic objects — from spoons to heavy frying pans — to his body.
He is said to be able to carry up to 25 kg of metal stuck to his torso. Ivan’s family also claims that his hands can emit heat and his mysterious ability has also given him healing powers.
“Medical checkups so far have reaped inconclusive results,” reports Reuters. More images follow, in which Ivan “attracts” cutlery, cookware, an iron, and other metallic objects. In the image below, his grandfather tosses coins at his chest. Surely this isn’t a hoax!
HUGE new ocean-dwelling dinosaur has been discovered that could SNACK on a T-rex!
It is said to be “the most fearsome predator that ever lived,” according to a BBC News report. It is a pliosaur, or “sea monster,” and now its 2.4 meter-long skull has been unearthed and presented to the public. UPI reports that Naturalist and TV presenter David Attenborough unveiled the fossil to the public this past Saturday.
The 155-million-year-old fossil was accidentally discovered in Dorset, U.K. by local collector Kevan Sheehan, who told BBC News: “It was sheer luck – I was sitting on the beach, and saw three pieces. I had no idea what they were, but I proceeded to drag them back. Then over several years, I’d go back every year and find a new piece.” According to The Guardian, Dorset county council has decided not to reveal the specific location of the find, since the area is prone to rock falls.
It is possible that the discovered creature may be a new species, or possibly even genus. Scientists estimate that the predator could have measured up to 18 meters from tip to tail.
[Ouija appears to be a combination of the French “oui” and German “ja,” which both mean “yes.” The French “non” and German “nein” both mean “no.” You probably already knew that.]
Recently I picked up something nice… well, nice for me anyway. It’s a 50-year-old talking board, or Ouija® board. (It’s pronounced “wee-jah” by the way, not “wee-jee.” Look at the word!) It’s a William Fuld board, made in the 1960s, before the rights went to Parker Brothers. It did not come with a planchette (that little triangle thing that they use today). It’s intended to be used with a overturned glass. I had my eye on a proper board from around 1920, but I got distracted during the critical final moments on eBay. Alas! (Yes, I use eBay. I’m a mystic, not a Luddite.)
Doc's new, old Ouija board
There is a lot of fear for people around talking boards, especially the Ouija brand. (Frankly, I find it difficult to put too much fear into the object itself. After all, it is now largely plastic, glows in the dark and made in the same factory with Mr. Potato Head!) If some of the stories people tell are true, Toys R Us would be the most terrifying place in the world. Perhaps it is!) In truth, people have explored ways of communicating with spirits before you could buy a talking board in a box. It all really got going in the mid 1800s with spirit knocks and table-tipping and all those wonderfully creative ideas that people have come up with to get around the fact that the spirit world hasn’t caught on to email.
From my own experience, working with a talking board is no more dangerous than using a pendulum or any other method where I wish to interact directly with a spirit. There is nothing about the Ouija board that makes it especially evil (except, perhaps, that it is plastic and glowy and sold in a toy store). There is nothing that makes it especially effective (except, perhaps, that people’s belief in the stories allow them to open up enough to let something happen). You could accomplish the same results with an overturned glass and a circle of Scrabble® tiles. It’s not the tool, but how you use it.
Let’s talk mechanics here for a moment. When you use a pendulum, or a talking board — or just about anything that you use to communicate with the spirits by having it move as you hold it — you are dealing with ideo motor responses. This means that your brain is subconsciously sending signals to your muscles to make something happen. Because you are not consciously doing this, it feels like it happens with an outside force, all by itself, but you are making it happen. “Gasp!” I hear some of you say. “He’s saying it’s all fake.” No! I am not! I am saying that there are natural means involved and that it’s not being pushed by “magic fingers.” You won’t get anywhere if you wait for the universe to do things without you.
You must understand that you are involved with moving these things in order to appreciate how they can become dangerous. If you want to sit down with one of these things and make it spell out whatever you wish, then you can do that. (It can be fun to get some squeally teeny-boppers and just completely punk them with what the board says. They’re not taking it seriously anyway, so why should I?) However, if you are doing it properly, you are letting go of the answers that you want it to say and letting your subconscious drive things. In other word, you are letting go of the outcome and allowing something else to drive it. Now, that may simply be thoughts hidden in your brain that are only available to your subconscious, like the last place you really saw that key. There are those who believe, though, that our subconscious mind is the one that can connect with outside influences, including spirits. In other words, you might open the communication line and become a channel for these things to talk to you. Can you see a potential problem with that?
If you believe that all this is crap, then you’re probably find no matter what. You’re mind will be closed enough that it’s pretty unlikely anything will get through. (See! Finally an advantage to being asleep!) However, if you are legitimately experimenting with these ideas and opening yourself to the possibilities, then there are some things you need to do:
Take responsibility for what you are doing. You are exploring in what may be dangerous territory. You need to be smart and you need to be attentive. If you come into contact with bad things you will have to be willing to get you and your fellow participants to safety. If that idea gives you serious doubts then leave it alone. If you make a mess, you will need to have the guts and wisdom to see that there is a problem and clean it up.
Ground, clean and clear. If you were going to meet with strangers, would you go to a rat-infested hole that was unfamiliar to you or would you try to go somewhere comfortable and safe? I guess if you’re buying crack you go wherever it is, but most of us would want to meet someplace that was at least neutral. So, take some time to make the place spiritually comfortable before you start inviting people in. I don’t think that there is a particular practice that is superior. It all depends on your own spirituality. (If you don’t have any, then this probably isn’t a good idea. If you just want the thrills, rent a movie instead.) Do what is done before you take on a serious ritual or sacrament. It may be smudging the site and casting a circle. It may be joining together and saying a prayer. If you don’t know, then you should probably work with someone who has more experience in this area before you try to do anything on your own. From what I have encountered, most of the bad things that happen with things like talking boards happen because people skip this step. They don’t bring any sort of protective force and place themselves at the mercy of anything that they encounter.
Don’t be an idiot. If something feels wrong to you, stop it. If you encounter something that feels dangerous, move away from it. There are old, dark things out there that are looking for opportunities to mess you up. You will not outsmart them like Captain Kirk giving something a logic puzzle. Forget the movies and the TV shows. Pay attention to your instincts. It would be better for you to lose out on a conversation than to allow something nasty to work through you or your friends. If something seems like it’s hiding something or the “vibe” you get is inconsistent with the words, let it go. If someone says that they are uncomfortable or describes something that they are picking up, don’t act as though it can’t be real if it didn’t happen to you. Don’t bully people into keeping contact with something that may not be nice to them. I know I’m being a little dramatic here, but you get these things for a reason. Don’t ignore them and cause unnecessary trouble for yourself.
Set some guidelines for what you are trying to do. Don’t just say “Hey! Is anyone there?” That’s like posting something on the Internet that says “Everyone come to my house! Here’s the address.” Make some decisions about who you want to contact and why. Start there and let them introduce you to other entities. Remember that bad things (or merely mischievous things) will lie to you. Don’t assume it’s Elvis just because he says so. Take some time. Be polite. An excellent place to start is to try to contact a spirit guide that is already connected to one of the participants. You may have one and not even know it. The point is that you want to connect with something that has your interests at heart. Starting there will save you a lot of trouble down the road.
Take notes. Keep some kind of record of who you contact and what they tell you. It gives you something to help verify anyone that you contact. It also helps you watch for inconsistencies, which can be a sign of something that’s messing with you.
Clean up when you’re finished. Just like after a big party you may need to wander through the place and make sure that everyone has actually gone home, you need to close things out after a session like this. Thank everyone who talked to you and ask them to depart until you invite them again. Do a closing prayer, or open the circle or whatever makes sense for your path. Just don’t leave things hanging.
There’s no way that this little list of ideas could cover all the possibilities when working with these tools. Hopefully, though, I’ve got you thinking. If you have questions, ask them. In the mean time, I’m going to see which of these glasses seems to like my Fuld board.
Found this on Discovery.com, thought our readers would be interested. Enjoy!
A Triceratops may have been the last dinosaur standing, according to a new study that determined a fossil from Montana’s Hell Creek Formation is “the youngest dinosaur known to science.”
The Triceratops, described in the latest Royal Society Biology Letters, dates to 65 million years ago, the critical period of time associated with the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) extinction event that wiped out all non-avian dinosaurs and many other animals and plants.
Since this rhinoceros-looking, three-horned dinosaur lived so close to the mass extinction moment, it could negate an earlier theory that dinosaurs gradually died out before 65 million years ago.
Heard of “Lizard Man” yet? If not, that may soon change. Because the new mystery creature is stalking car fenders in rural South Carolina in the dead of night. That’s a diet Bigfoot never went for in his pursuit of wild berries and always making sure he was just out of camera range. There’s nothing like eating the clunker in the front yard for pushing you up to the top of the Cryptid sighting list.
According to local channel 19 in Lee County, SC, the legendary lizard creature made a return after a 23-year hiatus, and he’s up to his old tricks.
Witnesses on a rural road in the county are saying they heard a strange noise on the morning of July 4th and went outside to investigate.
That’s when they discovered the front bumper of their car had been chewed and clawed in a way no normal creature of the woods could manage. Police veterans realized they’d heard this story before.
“This part here is how it all started in 1988,” explained former Lee County Sheriff Liston Truesdale. “We got a call to come and look at something that had mauled a car. I went out there and looked at that damaged car, and I haven’t seen anything like that before.”
Then reports of a lizard-like creature in the area started coming in. Only this terrifying animal was 7-feet tall, with red eyes and three claw-like fingers on each hand. With an appetite for chrome… just like the old days.
So the hunt is on, pushing Bigfoot off the front pages. But he hasn’t been seen in a while anyway.
10:00 PM CST, TONIGHT: It’s that time of the week… time to ease into your favorite chair, sit back and relax as we explore the sublime world of the strange, the odd, and the unusual. It’s time once again for… The Shadow Hour.
Tonight’s guest, Austin reader Diane Parma, joins us again to talk astrology. While Diane is not a full time astrologer, she has long used astrological information as part of her work. She’ll talk to us about different perspectives on astrology and how it connects to the other tools that hse uses. If you’ve been curious about astrology, this will be a great place to begin.
As always, you can listen right here with our blogtalkradio widget! You can listen to past broadcasts at any time, or tune in tonight (Wednesday, July 6th) at 10pm Central for the live broadcast. See you in the shadows…
I remember when an interest in the paranormal was something to be hidden away. “Watch out for that Ravencraft boy. He’s a little strange.” The occult — a world which means “secret knowledge” by the way — was something to be sought in strange little book stores, or the remote regions of the local library while people eyed you carefully over the tops of their glasses. It was not spoken of except with people you could trust.
