Ghost programs and the metaphysical issue: Part 8

I wanted to close this out, for now, with a few final points. One ghost-themed program that I should mention--which began right about the time that 'A Haunting' ended--is 'Ghost Adventures'. This genre is called "paranormal." The program is hosted and narrated by Zak Bagans, and is featured on the Travel Channel. It has aired now for seven seasons. It's not quite produced in the documentary-style like some of the others, but they take chances and manage to capture a lot of eery and interesting EVP's as well as spirit-footage. Zak Bagans' fearless and confrontational style has drawn criticism from some. Despite his "in your face" style, he is hard to dislike.

One other reality/paranormal program is 'The Haunted', which has aired on Animal Planet. I guess everyone just wants to get into the act, as one stipulation on this program is that the subject home/environment must have at least one animal living there. It is quite good actually, and more in the documentary-style that I prefer. One aspect about these programs-that I can't help but notice--is that very often, the featured subjects seem to be pretty interesting and decent people in general. I don't know what that might suggest in the bigger picture. By the way, many of these programs are available on YouTube.

That brings up another point. Animals, especially cats, can see things that humans can't see. Also, children are often able to pick up things that adults cannot. Another typical theme is that dark spirits usually target the weak, or at least the person(s) who scare more easily. Not always, but often. "Fear feeds" it, and allows it to grow in power. The simple truth is that this is all a normal condition of the planet. Once I saw an image from a polaroid, probably from the 70s, which was perhaps the strangest image that I've ever seen. I wasn't able to find it online, but in this photograph was a small group of teenage boys in a room sitting. The camera somehow picked up some very odd-looking being... hunched over and staring at one of the boys... bent over and just inches from his face, just staring at him! I would guess that it was some type of simple, benevolent spirit. All of us have probably had run-ins which this type of thing and never even knew it.

Parapsychology is the study of psychic phenomena. According to Wikipedia: The term parapsychology (also known as psi phenomena) was coined in or around 1889 by philosopher Max Dessoir, and originates from para meaning "alongside", and psychology. The term was adopted by J.B. Rhine in the 1930s as a replacement for the term psychical research. Parapsychologists study a number of ostensibly paranormal phenomena, including telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis, near-death experiences, reincarnation and apparitional experiences.

Some people suggest that "spectrology is" the study of ghosts. However, this doesn't not appear to be the case. According to Wikipedia (not that I always agree with Wikipedia): Spectroscopy is the study of the interaction between matter and radiated energy. It is, however, tied to the study of "visible light," of which we apparently are very limited as far as what our eyes can see. This brings us back to animals, especially cats; who can see more than we can. So when a cat suddenly looks up at thin air, perhaps you should take it seriously...

2-7-13 Addition: I had to add to this series at least two names. Lorraine Warren is--and has long been--a medium, clairvoyant, paranormal investigator, and author. She and her late husband Ed Warren were involved with many famous cases of this type... including the Amityville case, of which books and ten moves have been based. She has been featured in many of these programs from the last seven or eight years; and so many others over the decades. Warren heads the New England Society for Psychic Research.

Another name that I wanted to mention is John Zaffis, who was also involved in the Amityville case. and has long been a paranormal researcher and investigator. He is the chief producer and figure of a program on the Syfy Channel called 'Haunted Collector', which features cases involving "items" which are haunted. For example, if you purchase some old item at a garage sale, it could have something attached to it that you then bring into your home. I guess it's like a form of animism, which is a pretty scary thought if it's a negative energy. How would you even know? Zaffis runs the Paranormal Research Society of New England (also, his own website JohnZaffis.com). He was also involved in the "Haunting in Connecticut case" mentioned earlier, which led to the making of the 2009 movie.

It probably should be mentioned again--and it's so important--that "the negative energies get the press," as it's simple human nature for people to just accept good things in their lives and not question them. Only when something dark comes over them do they question "what's going on?" In other words, we just accept the results from positive energies, and ignore the "cause and effect" from that end. There's much more positive energy than negative.

A few weeks ago I saw a light green beetle, the kind with the broad shoulders, slowly walking along in a spot which presented a danger to it. I allowed it to walk up onto my hand, and relocated it across the street along a hillside. It's not that I care about every "bug," but this one caught my eye and I took the time to do this. Now, do we get some type of "brownie points" in this spirit and energy world for something like this? I wouldn't completely rule it out.

However, if negative energy is coming our way full force, then there's no stopping it. No common "positive energy ally" can help you. I think we need to find the balance between serenity and evolutionary struggle in our lives. For example, the wolf seems pretty happy-go-lucky as he trots along; however, he's ready to fight on a dime when danger confronts him. It's all about engaging with daily positive and negative energies.

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