You can use any kind of recorder for capturing electronic voice phenomena (EVP). EVPs have been even captured on phone message machines. It does not matter if your EVP is caught on a digital or a tape recorder. Some people prefer one or the other according to their own personal preferences.

Some paranormal investigators say that the first generation digital recorders made noises that were sometimes mistaken for EVPs. The following generations of digital recorders do not have this problem. You can use whatever recorder you have although there are some disadvantages to using recorders with a built in microphone.  A built in microphone may pick up noise from the recording machine itself.

Another consideration about recording equipment is to choose a recorder with a counter so that if you do find an EVP on your recording, the counter will make it easier to locate the EVP on the recording. If you have a recorder with a built in microphone, use its jack for a corded microphone. Get a microphone with a three-foot cord so any recording does not pick up any noise from the recorder.

Before you do an actual recording for EVPs, do a two-minute test with your recorder. Set your volume on its highest setting and then record the silence.  Listen to your recording for any machine noise or other interference. If you get too much sound from the recorder, you should switch to another machine. Record at the same speed as your tape if you have that option.

When you are ready to do the recording for EVPs, set the recorder down on a level surface. Do not set the recorder near windows because sound travels easily through glass.  Do not set the recorder near any doors, heaters, vents or air conditioners or power lines as these can all cause unwanted noise.

Always use new tapes and keep extra batteries handy. Record with the volume at its highest setting.  Keep your hands away from the recorder and avoid brushing against the recorder. When you talk, speak in your regular voice because some ghosts speak in a whispered tone. Stay still during recordings as footsteps can obscure any other recorded sounds.

If you are doing an outside recording, choose a calm day without any wind. Record the sounds of yourself moving around so you know what it sounds like. Sound can travel farther than you think.

EVP, or Electronic Voice Phenomenon, is what occurs when disembodied voices are heard on recordings with no scientific explanation as to how they got there. It is largely believed that these voices emanate from the spiritual realm. EVP can be a very useful tool in ghost hunting, allowing communication between the hunter and the ghost and helping to determine the reason for the haunting.

Making a quality EVP recording, however, can be difficult.  There are many everyday noises that can compromise the validity of the recording and, in some cases, render it useless. Fortunately, you don’t have to be a professional with fancy equipment in order to capture a quality EVP recording. You just have to have a reliable piece of recording equipment and the knowledge of how to avoid interference. 

The first rule of thumb, when making a recording for the purpose of picking up EVPs, is to make your recording in a space that is as free of noise as you can possibly make it.  Of course, some sounds are out of your control (e.g. traffic, wind rattling the windows, etc.), but what noise you can control, you must. Some common noise makers that you will want to eliminate from your recording space include television, radio, air conditioner/heater, telephone, pets, and other people.  Most importantly, don’t ever whisper!  Whispers can be easily mistaken for EVPs.

After you’ve secured a silent environment, you’ll want to ensure that your recording equipment is working properly by making a few test recordings.  Digital recorders are superior to tape recorders, for this type of recording, simply because there is no noise associated with their running.  Tape recorders, however, often have such sounds as whines, hisses, and knockings associated with the workings of their inner parts.  Such noises can compromise your recording if you don’t recognize them or aren’t familiar with them as being noises emitted from your recorder.  In that case, you should make your test recordings and listen to them, paying special attention to the sounds that your recorder is making, so that you will be able to properly recognize these sounds for what they are, later on.

Once you’ve done your test recordings, gotten your recorder primed, and have secured a silent environment, you’re ready to record.  In order to entice the spirit to speak to you, you’ll need to be an active interviewer. Ask questions and politely give the spirit time to respond to each one.  Be respectful and courteous with your questions just as you would a living person, always keeping an open mind.

When choosing equipment to listen to your recording on, keep in mind that some ethereal sounds are heard at frequencies that the human ear cannot pick up, but that can be listened to with special, computerized equipment. If you don’t hear anything straight from the recording, you may want to have it analyzed by a professional, to see if there are voices present at lower frequencies. If your recording yields nothing, don’t dismay. In some cases, ghost hunters are able to pick up EVPs on the first try. However, it more commonly requires a lot of waiting, a lot of tenacity, and a whole lot of patience. 

Whether you pick up an EVP right away or not, one thing is for certain: by following these guidelines and making a quality recording, you can be sure of the accuracy of your work and, in ghost hunting, accuracy is paramount.

Charles was looking to purchase a home for his wife and two children. He wanted a larger home on the outskirts of a metropolitan area in Texas. To assist him in the process of house hunting he enlisted the help of his mother Beth. She didn’t quite know how she would help out, but he asked her to go with him to look at houses. At the very least she knew that she could entertain the children when they got bored. The realtor was showing him and his wife homes that were newer in age and in communities that had features for the kids. The daughter and son were of school age and would go to new schools in the fall.

They came across a two story home located in a community not far from a lake. Charles thought that the house was worthy for a closer inspection. The house was vacant and empty. Nobody had lived in that house for about a year. The outside of the house looked like it needed to be landscaped, but the house was not run down or dilapidated. Charles made an appointment with the realtor to see the inside of the house. His wife, the two children and Beth all went to the showing of the house.

The family was the first to go into the house. Upon seeing the size of the first floor the children were excited, they had plenty of space to play. The family went to explore the kitchen and the dining room. Beth was the last to enter the house. As the family explored the first floor she intended on going upstairs to the second floor. Before climbing the stairs she looked up into the second story hallway that overlooked the front door. A strange feeling overwhelmed her, urging her to go up the stairs. She felt even more compelled to investigate the second story. As she climbed the stairs she felt a wave of energy overcome her. She paused momentarily and continued up the stairs. She turned to her left to look down over the rail which overlooked the front door. She felt lightheaded and dizzy, a moment later she felt as if the wind got knocked out of her. She couldn’t breathe. She backed away from the rail and supported herself on the wall of the hallway. She slumped over slightly to catch her breath, and she saw a flash of light. Still supported by the wall she looked through the railing down to the floor of the front door. This time she saw the tile floor dirty and smeared with something. She heard muffled screams emanating from a bedroom, just down the hall. Beth was going to run down the hallway towards the screams but she began to feel dizzy again. She felt the urge to run and get down the stairs as fast as possible. She knew that once she got down to the bottom of the stairs that she didn’t want to stop. Her intention was to get out of that house as fast as she could. Running down the stairs she looked down at the floor near the front door, the dirt and smears were fading away revealing a clean tile floor. She approached the front door and she heard a small click. She paused and took a deep breath as she reached to open the front door. The door opened quietly and easily despite her fears of it being locked and her ending up trapped inside that house. She waited for the rest of the group outside in the front yard.

Beth never mentioned what she experienced in that house to her son. She called Charles a few days later to find out if his wife liked the home. To her surprise, she found out that his wife did not like the feel of the house and did not want anything to do with it. They had found another newly built home in the same lake area, and decided to purchase that one. After living in that area for about a year, they met some friends who told them the history of the house that they had looked at. It turned out that the entire family – a couple with a son and daughter who lived there previously met violent and untimely deaths. The house was still on the market. Charles casually relayed the story to Beth who began to fit some of the pieces of her puzzling experience together. She perceived her experience as a warning not buy the house.

We've been hearing about the end of the world for quite some time, now, right? It might
come by meteor; it may be the result of a nuclear war; it could be a slow but definite
deterioration of our Ozone layer. Whatever the cause may (or may not) be, people are
obsessed with the idea of the end of the world. What makes the Ancient Mayan
predictions of doomsday any different from these other catastrophically deadly
potentials? The date. 
 
The difference with the Ancient Mayan prophecies, as opposed to other end of the world
predictions, is a precise account of when life as we know it will cease to exist. No one
can say exactly when or if a meteor will hit. We can only speculate as to when a nuclear
war might erupt. We're still learning about the Ozone layer and whether or not we can
reverse the damage done, but we cannot say precisely if or when it will collapse.
However, the Ancient Mayans pin-pointedly predicted one specific date, thousands of
years into their own future, when we will face the end of the world as we know it.
Furthermore, this date is frighteningly close: December 22, 2012.
 
How exactly did an ancient people prophesy such a future? The answer is in the codices,
a collection of writings created by this past civilization, the most famous of which is the
Dresden Codex. 
 
The Dresden codex aimed its sights at the stars, the planets, the sun, the moon, and space-
related phenomenon. In this hieroglyphic script, the Ancient Mayans used mathematical
and astrological genius to formulate an advanced working of the calendar. Contrary to
popular belief, the Ancient Mayans did not invent the calendar, but they did perfect it to
such a degree that their calendar system measured time and planetary occurrences more
accurately than the calendar we use today. They also are responsible for our current
understanding of the zodiac, based on a 12-part division of the sky. If you wake up in the
morning and read your horoscope, you can thank the Ancient Mayans. But who were
these people, and why should we be concerned about their predictions for our future?
 
No one knows exactly when the Ancient Mayans began making their mark on history, but
we do know they were most successful in Mesoamerica somewhere around 2600 BC.
(4,607 years ago), and peaking at around A.D. 250 (1,757 years ago) in present day
Southern Mexico, Guatemala, Western Honduras, El Salvador, and Northern Belize.
Most archeological findings date the most significant productivity of the Ancient Mayans
in what is known as the Classic Period, A.D. 250-900 (1,107 years ago). We also know
that during their near five-thousand-year reign, the Ancient Mayans accomplished
remarkable feats in the written language, mathematics, astronomy, astrology, art,
architecture, agriculture, and much more.

The years between 2600 B.C. and 100 A.D. were, for the most part, the golden years for
the Maya civilization. With the introduction of the Omelc civilization in 2000 B.C.,
Mayan culture expanded. Extensive trade routes were built, knowledge and goods
exchanged, and farming was established throughout Maya regions. This is when writing
was developed in Mesopotamia, when the first solar calendars were carved in stone, and
when the Maya set their spiritual, religious, and political roots in a hierarchal system
governed by nobles and kings. This is also the time when their greatest pyramids and
observatories were created. 
 
The Ancient Mayan structures were remarkable in their own right due to their seemingly
perfect alignment, their awe-inspiring size, their attention to detail, the exquisite artwork
and architecture, and the products they developed and learned to work with in their
buildings, such as plaster. Several of the buildings are even more mysterious in that they
produce certain effects, such as the sound of a chirping bird, or the shadow of a snake
slithering up their slopes during specific times of the year. But what's even more
astounding is that the Ancient Mayans created these elaborate pyramids and observatories
without the use of metal tools!
 
Ancient Maya religions are still not completely understood, but it is clear that the Maya
people honored, worshipped, and made sacrifices to many gods - gods that, unlike
individual entities, are thought to have the ability to merge and morph with one another
as needed or appropriate to portray differing aspects. The Mayans were also heavily
founded in beliefs in the supernatural. Because the Mayans understood all things to work
in cycles, good and evil were not set concepts, which could be how they justified, in part,
their acts of human sacrifice. 
 
Everything, to the Mayans, had a pattern of moving in cycles. This helped with their
advancements in farming and their understanding of the movements of the heavens and
the Earth. Combined, their knowledge of astrology, astronomy, mathematics, time, their
spiritual and supernatural beliefs, as well as their understanding of cyclical patterns, is
what led to the creation of the Dresden Codex.
 
The Maya didn't just work with one calendar, but instead had a multitude of ways they
dissected, analyzed, and measured time. They had two yearly cycles, one known as the
Tzolkin, measuring 260 days; and the other being the Haab, of 360 days. These two
calendars worked directly with the movements of Venus and Mars, and with a "special"
number of 1,366,560 days, a number that is not yet fully understood by modern
researchers. But then there was a third form of measuring time, and this third form is the
one with which we're most concerned. A person could easily spend ample time of their
own trying to understand the complex intricacies of the Ancient Mayan calendars, but to
suit the purpose of understanding the Dresden Codex in relation to doomsday predictions,
we can simplify as follows, based on the third form of Ancient Mayan time measurement.
 
The Ancient Mayans began with a start date, known as the birth of Venus, which is
understood as 3114 B.C, the beginning of time recorded. As with our calendars today, the
Ancient Mayan calendars were divided into what can be identified as months and years.
The months measured 20 days, and the years consisted of 360 days. The Ancient Mayan
calendar then exceeded the calendars of today, grouping together even longer periods of
time, the first being known as the kuton and measuring 7,200 days; and the second, called
the baktun, measuring 144,000 days.
 
Another number relevant to the Mayans that we don't yet fully understand is the number
13 (superstition, perhaps?). They believed that after 13 buktuns, each buktun measuring
144,000 days, would be the end of a cycle - or, as many of today's time understand it, the
end of the world. By doing the math, we are able to understand that the end of this time
period translates to December 22, 2012. Some accounts suggest December 21, others
pinpoint December 23, but that may depend largely on geographic location. Nonetheless,
we are faced with potential drastic change in December of 2012. As of the writing of this
article, according to the Dresden Codex, the end of the world is roughly five and a half
years away.
 
No one disputes the advanced workings of the Ancient Mayan civilization. We're all
impressed with the knowledge they possessed and how they chose to apply that
knowledge. However, how or where they gained such knowledge is open for debate, with
theories ranging from simple and natural evolution, to involvement from alien beings.
Adding to the mystery of this ancient people are findings such as the Crystal Skulls in
locations close to Mayan ruins. These unexplained crystal skulls are said to possess
certain metaphysical or paranormal attributes, such as psychic communications. Science
is puzzled over the skulls because no one has yet been able to determine exactly how or
when the skulls were created because they reflect absolutely no signs of tool markings.
As with any unexplained, potentially paranormal phenomena, several theories have been
laid out, including that the crystal skulls, once they've all been found and united, will
unveil great knowledge capable of saving humankind. Naturally, it is suspected that the
year 2012 may not be the end of the world, but may in fact be the end of the world as we
know it, marking the beginning of a new way of life on earth.
 
Even though scientists and archeologists have learned a great deal about the Ancient
Mayans, how and where they lived, and have been able to, in part, decipher the Dresden
Codex, there are still many holes in the doomsday prediction pointing to 2012. One of the
most important factors to keep in mind is that though several codices are believed to have
existed, only a few of those remain - and even fewer are accessible to us. Many of the
codices were lost or destroyed by time or conflict with other ancient civilizations. Others
are currently protected as sacred text by the Elders in modern day Mayan cultures whom
are not willing to share the extent of their knowledge. Taking this into consideration, we
have to rationalize that we only have a small portion of the information on which the
Ancient Mayans founded their belief systems and civilizations. We may have a list of
ingredients, but we are lacking the full recipe! We cannot logically reason that we can
formulate a crystal clear understanding based on a portion of ancient information taken
out of context.
 
Will the crystal skulls found around Ancient Mayan ruins come together alas in 2012,
shining upon us their wisdom and glory, paving the way to a new way of life? Is 2012 the
date the alien nations will reunite on our planet to share with us their technology? Is the
world itself destined to die five years from now? Or are we setting ourselves into a panic
based on insubstantial evidence? Only time will tell.

The Ghost Trains

Most Americans have heard the rumors of Abraham Lincoln’s ghost looking out of windows and pacing the floors of the White House, but have you ever heard of the tale of Lincoln’s funeral trains.

It has been told that on the anniversary of Honest Abe’s death in April, a ghostly funeral train travels the rails along the same route as the train carrying his body back to Springfield, Illinois did so long ago. The train’s route starts in Washington, D.C., moves north to New York State and then turns west toward Illinois.

People have reported seeing two steam engines along that route. The first pulls cars draped in black, bearing black streamers, an indication that the nation is in mourning. The second steam engine pulls a flatcar that holds Lincoln’s coffin. It is said that when these trains pass, all clocks and watches in the vicinity stop immediately. When the funeral procession has passed, they resume working.

Civil War Ghosts

During the American Civil War, a nurse hid a union soldier in the basement of a home in Hopewell, Virginia. When Confederate soldiers came to the house, they found items that indicated the woman was a Union sympathizer. She was arrested and taken to jail. The Confederate soldiers never found the hidden soldier, but when the nurse was taken from the house, he had no way to escape from the wall. He died in his hiding place.

In 1953, the home was renovated and the Union soldier’s body was discovered in the wall. It’s said that scratching noises still emulate from the walls of that house to this day. The Union soldier, after more than 140 years is still trying to escape his prison.

Ghosts of Gettysburg

Pennsylvania Hall at Gettysburg College was used as a hospital during the Battle of Gettysburg. It’s been reported that the building’s elevator takes visitors on a very macabre ride. At times, the elevator descends to the basement without stopping at the requested floor. When the doors open occupants are shocked to see a grisly Civil War hospital scene on the basement level.

British Soldier Haunts the White House

A British soldier holding a pitched torch is often seen walking stealthily across the White House lawn after dark. In 1814, during the War of 1812, several British soldiers were gunned down while trying to set fire to the White House. It is believed by some that the British soldier that haunts the grounds of the White House, is only trying to complete his mission.

Fort Monroe

Fort Monroe, which was built in 1819, is reported to be one of the most haunted places along the eastern seaboard. The most famous of its ghosts include President Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant and Chief Black Hawk.

Chief Black Hawk was chief of the Sauk Indians and as such negotiated the Treaty of St. Louis. He led the Sauk during the Black Hawk War, was captured by the Sioux and was imprisoned at Fort Monroe. Visitors to the Fort report hearing mournful wails coming from the area where Black Hawk was imprisoned.

Another famous specter seen at Fort Monroe is that of Jefferson Davis, who was President of the Confederacy during the War Between the States. He was imprisoned at Fort Monroe in 1864, when the war ended. It is said he was abuses, chained by his ankles and wrists and made to beg for food and water. Davis’ specter has also been seen in the passageways of the holding area at the Fort.

Ghosts, poltergeists and haunted places are three commonly reported paranormal experiences.  All three of these phenomena involve spirit activity.  Though these paranormal phenomena are similar, there are some important differences. 

When someone talks about the paranormal phenomena occurring at their home or business, they usually mean they are hearing sounds or seeing unexplainable sights.  These incidents could include hearing footsteps, voices, music or seeing apparitions of various appearances.  Perhaps there is the sound of cupboards slamming or objects being moved when no one is around.  All of these experiences are sometimes caused by a spirit or some unseen entity. 

Ghosts are the disembodied spirits of people who have died.  They seem to be aware of the living and may even try to interact with people.  People may experience a touch or hear their name being said.  A ghost may try to communicate to the living.  Sometimes the presence of a ghost may make a person feel as if they are being watched.  The presence of a spirit may be signalled by a fragrance or odor. 

Electronic voice phenomena (EVP) occurs when unexplainable voices are captured on recording equipment such as tape recorders, digital recorders and phone message recorders.  EVPs are thought to be caused by ghosts.  Sometimes phone calls are received from spirits of dead members of the family or friends. 

Poltergeist is a German word for "noisy spirit".  Poltergeists are rare phenomena that seem to center around preadolescent children.  It is thought that a the young person either creates the energy phenomena or attracts spirits because of the abundant energy that they carry in their changing bodies.  The paranormal phenomena related to a poltergeist event can include fires, slamming cupboards, moving objects and knockings.   

When a house is haunted, it is a place where an event from the past is re-enacted by the spirits of people who have already passed on.  In some haunted places, an old murder may be played out.  The ghostly apparitions do not seem to be aware of the living people around them.  The spirits are only tuned into their own actions.  Sometimes it could be a haunted event such as the ghostly funeral train of Abraham Lincoln.  This funeral train used to be seen on the annual date of the dead president’s funeral. 

Any of these types of paranormal phenomena are strange.  While a haunted place may have ghostly apparitions, it is not truly haunted unless it is replaying a usually highly emotional or dramatic scene.  In some rare cases, one haunted place can also have a ghost and a poltergeist.

I woke slowly rolling over facing my husband’s back.  I sighed with a soft puff of exasperated breath released from pursed lips.  I kept my eyes closed. “Sleep…sleep…sleep…” kept tumbling over and over in my head like the blue sheets that I slept on now had tumbled in the dryer yesterday.  Looking at the clock, I could see the arms taunting me at two am.  With my big toe I touched Tom’s leg just to see if he would flinch.  He didn’t.  I hated the fact that he slept like a baby deep in his snoring dreams while I rubbed my feet back and forth, one against the other, in a soothing motion.  Agitation began creeping up my legs, extending to my tightening stomach muscles, and stopping to irritate my fidgeting fingers.  I wanted to clap my hands to make more noise than the creaking and settling of the 1870 farmhouse.  No winds whistled around the corner of the house to distract me.  No stars peered in from the outdoors twinkling in mocking giggles of light.  Even the moon hid beneath clouds rather than watch me twitch and turn under the sheet.  Another unsettled night crept upon me.

Insomnia haunted my nighttime endeavors.  When the rest of the world was cradled in mostly peaceful slumber, I lie awake.  It always began the same.  Go to bed at 11:30pm.  Wake at 2am.  Oh goodie for me, I slept a whopping two and half hours!  How fortunate! How fine!  How sarcastic.  Lying on my back in the three and one half poster bed, (half a poster lost the fight in a battle between three kids bouncing on it and the floor that threatened to stop their fall if the post didn’t.) I counted the corners in the room and cursed the security nightlight that stared brazen and bright in the tall windows that allowed the count to proceed unhindered.  Six corners plus four in the closet. Count the opening and that makes two more.  This room has 12 corners. The tiny closet stood open to the world.  An open closet was like a Cyclops standing in the room staring with one giant black eye idly perusing the room, the bed, and the occupants.  I would have gotten up and slammed the eyelid to the giant eye shut if it had a door.  No door existed.  A drape hung across a wooden bar once upon a time, but now it was just open displaying its contents before me.  Open closet doors invite something unsettling.  Somewhere along the line in my childhood I suppose, something or someone scared the bejeezus out of me and it had something to do with a closet.  Thank my lucky stars that I don’t remember the event.  To this day I will jump out of bed and close a closet door if it’s left open, but this damn doorless opening just stares and there’s nothing I can do about it. 

The temptation to turn on the light and read gripped me like a vice.  I could hear the voice inside my head whining, I want to read.  Why can’t I read?  Just because he can sleep doesn’t mean I should have to lie here in the dark doing nothing with a security light staring from one direction and an open closet peering from another.  Pleating and unpleating the top sheet with my hands, I closed my eyes once more.  I would have sold my soul to the devil for forty winks.  My mouth opened wide in a yawn. I stretched my legs and pointed my toes toward the end of the bed where the quilt my mother pieced so lovingly laid folded in a sea of blue prints.  I tried to push at the quilt with my toe, a game fraught with the bitchiness of insomnia.  Can I push it to the floor?  Will it slide soundlessly in one cloth puddle to the chill wood floor?  Maybe it will land half off and half on.  I hummed a made up song softly under my breath getting louder and louder.  How loud could I sing before someone would stir?  With a look of sheer disdain that only a queen of the night could pull off, I glanced at Tom with a wicked thought.  Would he wake if I gently pushed against his butt until he fell to the floor or would he curl into a ball like a fretting child, whimper and go back to sleep. I wouldn’t find out that night, but the thought to experiment was there. 

I could hear my daughter in the room catty cornered to ours sleeping quietly with the blissful slumber only children know.  I imagined the rise and fall of her chest in measured time.  The deep sighs, the soft moans, the silent springs that didn’t tell of her every move.  I drew my legs up in a fetal position with my hands, palm to palm in a humble sort of prayer pose, between my cheek and the down pillow and watched the clock deliberately tick off the seconds.  Clocks become the enemy of the wakened tired and the sleepless. The hatred rose up in coils of parched anger toward an inanimate object that just kept ticking out the seconds that seemed like hours of my insomnia. I half rose from the bed and balled up the pillow between my hands, the only pillow I’d ever had, and gave the round matted bunch of feathers a hard thwap with my fist.  I looked over to see if the sound woke Tom.  He moved slightly, but he didn’t wake. Once I had the pillow in the perfect shape, I laid my head on it, closed my eyes and pretended to sleep.  In my pretend I fell asleep.

Sometime during the next hour or so I rolled over, pushing against Tom’s backside with my body.  The constant rhythm of the windmill thumping around and around with the intermittent squeak of rust against rust woke me again.  With squinted eyes I looked over the hunched up body of my husband who in all my insomniac thrashings never woke.  From my bed I could make out something.  I rubbed my eyes with index fingers curled blinking several times before peering longer.

The foot of my daughter’s bed could easily be seen from where I was.  My skin began to bubble up with tiny goose bumps.  The hair on the back of my neck stood up as a shiver chilled my body even though heat emanated from Tom’s body and a sheet and blanket covered me to the waist.  I turned away and looked out the window behind me with certainty that when I looked back into the room what I’d thought I’d seen would no longer be there.  I drew in a sharp breath as my head turned toward the door and I beheld the site again.  My breathing quickened as a fine film of sweat formed on my hands.  My mind was playing tricks on me from lack of sleep.  Inside my head I shouted, Get away from her!   The fear gripped me, but the fury of a mother desperate to protect her child warred inside, but I could not move.  I could not utter a whisper, let alone call out to my daughter.  I continued watching the unearthly sight before me incapable of willing one muscle to move. 

At the foot of the Jenny Lind bed that had belonged to my great, great grandmother floated a vaporous unknown.  Periodically, I closed my eyes tightly only to reopen them to the bluish green aura that covered the outline of what appeared to be a person.  It was as if colored smoke swirled mysteriously about the outline of a shadow person, but never did it cover the bed or my daughter.  From somewhere deep within my being I wanted to scream, to awaken the man who slept oblivious by my side.  My child…our child… was being visited upon by an apparition and I was paralyzed with fear or dread or something unknown that would not or could not allow me to move.  The echo of soundless screams filled my head, but only the syncopation of windmill sails whirring could be heard. 

All sense of time was lost.  Did I watch for merely seconds or was it minutes?  As quickly as terror seized me it loosened its hold.  As I continued watching the blue and green colors wave in out of each other in a dance around the faint outline, a sense of calm washed over me.  A vague smile played at the corners of my mouth until it broadened.  I didn’t know why I smiled, only that the ghost projected a sense of trust that all would be well.  I should sleep now.  My body relaxed and I collapsed lightly to the mattress falling into a deep sleep. 

The sun rose shining into the room and in my face.  I shook Tom lightly, waking him.  I began telling him of the wild dream I had last night ending with, “It all seems so real.” 
He laughed and told me I was silly.  I shrugged my shoulders as if shrugging off a shawl of confusion.  It seemed real in mind but it must have been a dream.  Apparitions don’t really make an appearance.  There’s no such thing as ghosts.  Throughout the day my mind wandered back to the night before.  Envisioning the swirling blue and green gossamer gowned outline that stood at the end of my daughter’s bed took me back for a moment at a time.  I never mentioned it to Tom again.  I knew he thought me a silly goose.  I never bothered to mention the dream to anyone.  It wasn’t long until the freakish nightmare wandered from my mind and I thought of it no more.

It was one of those all is right mornings.  The sun smiled on the old farmhouse as the children sat at the table choosing favorite cereals, pouring milk while the toaster popped and cows lowed in the pasture outside the window.  The dry walling, sanding, and painting was nearly complete in the spare bedroom upstairs.  Soon the dust would come to an end and the house put back to rights.   

“I’m tired of sleeping in the hallway,” my son stated matter of factly as he shoveled another mouthful of cereal in his mouth.  He’d been relegated to the upstairs hallway after he’d been unceremoniously kicked from his sister’s bedroom following a sibling battle.  His bedroom had become the catch room for the overflow of antiques and “stuff” from the spare bedroom that was being finished.     

“The work is almost done,” I consoled as he mumbled into his orange juice.  I moved about the kitchen from cupboard to sink to table. 

“Hey, mom…” he began as I continued to ready everyone for the day.  “I saw an angel last night.” 

I stopped in my tracks.  “What did you say?”  I asked him turning to gaze into his little boy face. 

“I saw an angel last night.  She was blue and sometimes green.”  The breath caught in my lungs as I plopped into the chair across from him.    My face questioning and cautious, I chose my words carefully. 

“Can you tell me more about what you saw?” I inquired as I searched his face for fear.  None showed.

“Well, she waved.” 

“She what?” 

“Yep, she smiled and waved at me.”  His hand went into the air to demonstrate how she waved with her hand open moving back and forth in quick successions.  I sat across from my son stunned.  My mind went back to the dream or what I had convinced myself was a dream. 

“Weren’t you afraid?”  I asked him while watching his every move.

“Nope, I think she was an angel, mom.”

“Brush your teeth,” I told him as he wiped his face with the back of his hand removing the milk mustache put there by tipping his bowl and finishing off the remaining milk. 

The bus came to pick up the children; Tom was busy getting the combine ready to go for fall harvest.  The soybeans were ripening and turning brittle while the corn continued its march to hard golden nuggets.  I sat on the front porch swinging slowly back and forth.  The dog romped in the front yard and I watched her grab a stick and carry it around as if she’d just bagged a trophy lion.  My mind wandered to the short conversation I’d had with my son over breakfast.  An angel…  or a ghost…  I had no idea.  I reeled in one question after the other.   Who was this ghost angel?  Just as I knew it was a she, my son knew it too, how could we tell?  Why did she come at this time?  Why not earlier?  Where did she come from?  Where did she go?  Will she be back? 

I tried to reform the image in my mind of the faceless human outline with swirling vaporous colors in blue and green.  One certainty remained; it wasn’t a dream or nightmare.  I wiled away an hour sitting on the swing trying to figure out the unimaginable. 

Years have gone by and still from time to time I wonder about the ghost angel.  I’ve put together various theories and ideas, but of course, I’ll never know who or what stood at the end of my daughter’s bed and who or what smiled and waved at my son.  The farmhouse always seemed haunted to me.  It had been in my now ex-husband’s family since 1836.  They were until now the only family to ever live and work that land.  People died in the house, funerals were held in the parlor.  My son who was nine when the angel smiled and waved at him, is 24 today.  My daughter is 27 and with a child of her own, never saw the angel, but she is as much a part of the mystery as anyone.  Perhaps the apparition was a long ago ancestor.  My mother in law passed on a year before the ghost angel made her appearance.  The children were the only grandchildren she’d had the pleasure of watching grow from infants to school age children.  She doted upon both of them.  I often wonder if she came back one last time to say her gentle goodbyes.  In my estimation she left this world too soon.  I rarely speak of our visitor because most people think I’m surely telling the story in jest, but I did see the bluish green ghost angel hover at the end of my daughter’s bed and my son validated what I saw.  Like me, he believes in the ghost angel.

Human understanding of the process of freezing and preserving food has developed to bizarre proportions.  Ever since its advantages were discovered by the Native Americans in Labrador, it has become an essential and ideal way of preserving food until it is needed.

Yet in recent years freezing has been employed as a means to a far different end.  In an attempt to defy the laws of nature, people can now be frozen after death, the idea being that when a cure is found for the cause of death, the victim can duly be brought back to life.  This is known as cryogenic freezing, where liquid nitrogen is used to keep the body as near as possible to absolute zero.

The question of preserving people for future reanimation raises some interesting points, some of which make you wonder whether the whole exercise isn’t merely a waste of time and money.  Consider the possibility of the afterlife, for example.  There is much evidence to suggest that we can and do exist independently of our physical bodies, and the act of dying is simply casting away the outer skin, enabling the soul to move on to a higher plane – a heightened state of existence.

Spiritualists believe the spirit body is attached to the earthly body by means of a cord.  We may float out of our bodies at night while we are sleeping or during an out of body experience, but the cord keeps us connected with our physical form and is only broken when we no longer need our solid form and thus die.

It seems impossible to suppose the human soul might also be frozen by the act of cryogenics, since the soul departs from the body at the moment of death, becoming an entirely separate entity.  So even if the cause of death could eventually be prevented, the body could not be brought back to life without the reintegration of the soul which, by this time one could reasonably assume, would exist elsewhere in the scheme of things and would have no need or desire to return to its earthly shell.

Or would it?  The subject of returning from the grave naturally brings into play the possibility of reincarnation.  Would successful attempts at cryogenic freezing and reanimation prove that reincarnation was indeed possible?

Many people believe they have lived previous lives and their current life is simply one of many, their souls being incarnated into another body at birth.  If this is true, do we only return in new incarnations and bodies simply because the previous ones have decayed and are unable to continue as souls do?

If the process of cryogenic freezing was proved to work with humans at some point in the future, would departed souls return to their earthly bodies and continue to live their earthly lives as they had before death – in essence, as our living ancestors?  Or would we merely be left with thousands of perfectly preserved corpses, cured of whatever killed them but still lacking the one vital component of life over which no doctor or scientist has any control – the soul itself?

The possibility of resurrecting nothing but zombies may also have entered your mind – and indeed, there have been apparent cases of people who have died, only to come back to life as zombies at some later date.  Haiti is often mentioned in cases such as this, where voodoo and black magic are said to be responsible for the phenomenon.

However, it has been shown that suspended animation of this kind was due to carefully administered doses of poison from the skin of a certain type of toad and several species of puffer fish.  Thus people who died in this way and were then resurrected were not really dead in the first place and we could assume their souls had therefore not departed from their bodies.  Their vacant, lifeless appearance could easily be put down to shock at what they had experienced, rather than the reanimation of a body minus its essential core – the soul.

So it seems that cryogenic freezing can and will do little to affect the ghost population.  Holding a body in suspension in this way is very similar to placing someone who is brain dead on a life support machine.  The monitors will have you believe the person is still alive – the heart keeps on beating, the lungs inflate and deflate, the whole body keeps functioning but once the machines are switched off, the body dies.

Scientists can indeed keep bodies functioning – at least for a certain length of time – but they cannot find a way of persuading a soul to stay beyond its allotted time on earth.  And I think it will stay that way.

Dean graduated from high school almost a year ahead of schedule. He fancied becoming an engineer and wanted to go to a technical college to get his Bachelors Degree. He was accepted into a college in Arizona, just the next state over. He was not unfamiliar with the desert as his brother Robert lived in the same city as well. Dean’s father took advantage of the situation; he viewed it as an opportunity of investment. He purchased a house where Dean would live and manage it, renting out rooms to other technical students or individuals. If there was any serious situation Robert was always there for extra help. There is no getting around it; the older track house was a fixer-upper. Dean fixed the necessities and started renting out the rooms. He found that extra storage space was needed to store his camping equipment, and for the first time looked towards the attic. He didn’t notice anything unusual in the attic. He found the attic empty with ample space for his tent, stove, fishing poles, pots and pans.

A year went by, room mates moved in and out. Some stated personal reasons for moving, getting married or they just simply couldn’t pay rent. Other room mates just said that they didn’t like the vibe in the house; others said that it was just too noisy. Potential renters came by to look at the house, most people passed it up. By early autumn – late summer by Arizona standards - all the rooms were rented. The Arizona heat let up a little and the weather turned bearable for camping. One day while most of the room mates were either at school or at work, Dean was alone in the house. He was busy with completing school work, chores and planning his camping trip for the following week. As he busied himself with chores he began humming a familiar tune. Humming while working is not one of his habits, he soon realized that he was humming along with a familiar musical tune that he was hearing. The tune was something familiar; something that he learned in his youth. He recognized it as an old folk song – “Oh, Suzanna”. At first it was a vague sound, like a distant radio playing in the background. Within just a few seconds it sounded closer, louder, and with more echo. The familiar music sounded less like a recording and more like a live musician playing in a tiny music hall. The music had a tin metal characteristic to it. Curiosity got the best of Dean. He went outside in the front and backyard of the house, he didn’t hear it. Back into the house he went. The familiar music was heard again, and it sounded like it was coming from the air vents. During that week, the familiar music was heard off and on. Some room mates heard it while others didn’t. Dean thought that he should check out the air vents. He took the metal vented plates off, cleaned and investigated the ducts. He didn’t find anything unusual. The origin of the music was a mystery. One room mate thought that perhaps it was just the desert wind blowing through the house and carrying the sound with it.

The following week was the camping trip. In preparation for the trip, Dean went to retrieve his camping equipment from the attic. He grabbed his open box of cooking supplies and inspected the equipment. He knew that he was going to have to wash all the cooking gear before the trip. He lifted a frying pan from the box and found an old photo yellow with age, right inside the pan! The photo was of a family – not his family. Dean took the photo downstairs to take a better look at it. He had never seen this photo before. The photo was of a man, a woman, and a child. The face of the man was missing. It wasn’t like the face was obscured, just missing. The face just was not there. You could just barely make out where the nose, eyes and chin should be. He was wearing old western apparel and the rest of the photo was clear with detail. You could see the woman’s face and clothing and the children’s as well. It was just like the man’s face had melted away. Like someone erased it.

Dean didn’t know how the photograph got into his camping equipment. None of the room mates claimed the photo, nor did any of the past room mates enter the attic. Dean thought that this was a clue to the mysterious familiar music.

NOTE TO THE EDITOR: The spellings of "faerie" and "magick" are intentional and are understood by most in the paranormal/pagan communities.

Who among us hasn't mentally entertained glamorous tales of fantasy? Most of us have
daydreamed at least once or twice about alternate realities, other dimensions, dragons,
wizards, and faeries. What would it be like if we really did have an Alice in Wonderland
experience in which we were suddenly transported into a world of mystery, magick, and
mayhem?

Think about it. If you were going to travel to a foreign country, you'd probably see to a
multitude of arrangements in advance, including but not limited to: exchange in currency,
language barriers, customs, laws, moral codes, social standards and class. You might
investigate crime areas or safety measures. But would you be prepared in the least if you
really did have a chance to join a magickal tea party with faerie folk and bewitching
beings? Would you know how to communicate, how to find your way around, how to
properly compensate and show respect for the land you're visiting - or would you know
how to protect and defend yourself against magickally equipped thugs and bullies?

Yes, thugs and bullies exist even in realms as enchanted as the faerie kingdom - so do
laws, consequences, customs, and challenges. When traveling to faerie land, on purpose
or by accident, one must be prepared for the wide array of diversified faerie characters, as
well as the characteristics of humans that are liked and disliked by the faerie folk.

Many people tend to group all faeries together into one visual image - a thumb-sized,
winged, glittery creature with undefined magickal abilities. This, however, is not at all
the case. Faeries are incredibly diversified not only in location, appearance, size, and
shape, but in likes, dislikes, morals, values, goals, sects, and then some. To assume that
all faeries are the likes of Tinkerbelle or Thumbelina is a mistake.

Those of the faerie kingdom do have certain elements in common with one another. For
example, nearly all faeries prefer to remain invisible and will take insult to being
acknowledged directly. Likewise, if a faerie assists a human in any way, it is considered
rude for the human to directly offer thanks. Instead, a subtle gift left out where it can be
found, unlabeled, is most appropriate.

Those of the faerie kingdom are incredibly sensitive and quite easily offended. There are
many stories, tales, and legends of faerie pranks, kidnappings, souring of milk, breaking
household appliances, and other malicious (though rarely truly harmful) events resulting
from a faerie's feelings being hurt. Whether or not these stories are true, no one can
actually say, but caution combined with ultimate respect is highly suggested when
dealing with any faerie characters.

Each variety of faerie has its own traits, quarks, general attributes, gifts, features, and
functions. Faerie functions range everywhere from aiding Mother Nature, Father Time,
and the Four Directions in the basic functions of life, such as nurturing or adding colors
and aroma to flowers or decorating a sunset, to being assigned to humans to aid with
basic elemental functions, like dealing with emotions, physical health, inspiration, etc.
There are faeries assigned to every element, every direction, every plant, flower, and
blade of grass, and there are said to be faeries assigned to every single person.

Rumor has it that certain faerie characters are mischievous and love nothing more than
pulling pranks on innocent humans. Based on legend, there may be some truth in that
statement, although the statement cannot be considered entirely true. Lore leads us to
believe that at one time, faeries and humans may have well worked together, sharing
many of life's pleasures and chores. In time, however, mankind began taking advantage
of the faerie folks, manipulating them, trying to trick them, and being greedy with faerie
magick. Because of this, many faeries retreated all together, disappearing from Earth.

Other faeries became angry at the disregard humanity had shown for Nature, the
Elements, and for Life, and therefore moved forward with grudges, taking pleasure in
"punishing" humans for their treatment of life's gifts. In general, and with good reason, it
is said that faeries have a great distrust in humans, and no respect to speak of for
humankind. There are, however, exceptions to every rule. While some faeries vanished
and others rebelled, still more found ways to remain, to blend in, or to hide in their
surroundings. Aside from these, there are those faeries who are fascinated with and
curious about humans or human behavior, much like some humans are fascinated with
faeries and faerie behavior.

In the land of faerie, things operate on a hierarchy system. There are Devas who can be
considered closer to deity than to faerie, there are Sylphs, Undines, Gnomes, and
Salamanders who work with the elements. There are trooping faeries, which are the royal
state of the faerie kingdom, and there are also peasant faeries, outcast faeries, rebel
faeries, and a whole slew of others, such as pixies, brownies, leprechauns, giants,
mermaids, mermen, and hundreds more. Each has his own talent, his own treasure, and
his own secrets.

Never make a deal with a faerie, even if they're of the most generous, kind nature.
Negotiations with faeries never work to the advantage of humans. When in faerie land,
never accept a gift from anyone; any gift is always expected to be repaid in a fashion we
can't possibly imagine or enjoy. There are rumors that faeries will often extend
hospitality and graciousness to humans, particularly on equinoxes and solstices.
However, it is also said that a human who eats, drinks, and dances with the faeries loses
all track of time, remaining trapped for eternity in an unfulfilling illusion of glamour
magick.

Faeries - all faeries - are adept to some level with shape shifting or glamour spells. Their
magick allows them to be seen, or not to be seen, or can cause a human to see things that
aren't really there, or be blinded to things that are right in front of their own nose. That
being the case, one must rely 100% on instinct and intuition, forsaking the five senses
we're accustomed to as humans.

Considering the risks of "believing" in faeries, for what it means in regard to societal
rejection or mental instability, there are those humans who continue to believe in the
faerie kingdom - some to the point of worship and religion. For those, it is entirely
possible to form working relationships with certain elementals and entities from the
enchanted realm. There are many ways that faeries and humans can work together for
mutual benefit. These faerie-loving humans will try anything to see a faerie, including
spells, charms, or special stones, herbs, or flowers for attracting faeries.

Daydreaming of faeries can be a delightful way to pass time, and believing in faeries can
be a wonderful way of life. Working with faeries can be ultimately beneficial and
enlightening, but one must always keep an intuitive eye out for those not so pleasant
enchanted faerie characters.

There is a consensus among ghost hunters that some weather conditions seem to encourage paranormal activity. Conditions that help activate these paranormal events act to influence the earth's magnetic field.  These conditions include strong solar flares, geomagnetic storms and full moons. It is believed that ghosts are able to use the abundant electrical energy that is present under these conditions.

During paranormal investigations, equipment and batteries are frequently drained of energy.  Ghosts are thought to be the reason for that occurrence. During the conditions that charge up the earth's electromagnetic field, it is thought that the ghosts tap into the extra energy in some as yet unexplainable way.  The types of paranormal investigation equipment that is used to check these conditions are computers, the internet, gauges and a calendar.

Solar Flares and the Geomagnetic Field
Extra solar activity in the form of solar flares affect the earth's geomagnetic field. Conditions where either an M Class flare, X Class flare or a Mega Flare has occurred are ripe for ghost investigations.  Some extraordinary paranormal evidence has been collected during times of mega flares and geomagnetic storms. Serious ghost hunters will watch for high-level periods of solar activity and will plan paranormal investigations during those times. Another good time for paranormal investigations is when the geomagnetic field indicates a storm or unsettled condition.

Full Moon
People and paranormal activity are both influenced when the gravitational force is affected during a full moon.  Lunar phases also affect the earth's geomagnetic field. The earth's electromagnetic field is affected when the moon is closer to the earth such as during a full moon. Not all paranormal investigators agree on this point.  

Thunderstorms
Thunderstorms and lightning also create good conditions for having success with a paranormal investigation. It is believed that during a thunderstorm, a higher vibration frequency is reached by both the living and ghosts. When a ghost has a higher vibration frequency, it can be seen and heard more easily.

Solstice and Equinox
It is also believed that the annual solstices and equinoxes present excellent times for paranormal investigation. This is not based on science; cultures from around the world believe that the solstice and equinoxes are a supernaturally important time.  Ancestor cults will have important events planned at these times.

If you want to raise your chances of a successful paranormal investigation, try ghost hunting when the earth's magnetic reading is stormy and the solar activity guides indicate a Mega Flare.  It also helps if these events are happening during a solstice or equinox and that there is a thunderstorm and a full moon at the same time. With the earth's magnetic field full of zap like that, you could get some great results.