A hundred years ago in the U.S. and Europe the idea of hauntings was not considered far fetched – hauntings and ghosts were even fashionable, to an extent. In the late 1800s into the 1930s, unusual hauntings and paranormal events were even routinely reported in newspapers. Since that time skeptics and scientists have spent consider time and media spin to show most hauntings are not hauntings at all. Entering the modern era scientist felt it was time to put an end to superstition and anything mystical. That, however, is not how things are working out.
A funny thing has happened in the last ten years or so – hauntings are making a come back. Perhaps ghost and spirits just don’t care what skeptics and scientists think. They continue to haunt houses, locations and even objects. Hauntings of one sort or another have been reported world wide since the beginning of human history. Just because you can prove one possible haunting is no haunting at all does not logically mean ALL hauntings are imaginary or faked. Perhaps you think your home is haunted. The possibility is that it isn’t. On the other hand …
How To Know If Your Home Is Haunted
Hauntings take many forms but there are a few key things to consider. The idea one’s home is haunted can begin with a person having unexpected experiences and strange feeling about their home. Maybe this is happening in your home. Have you found unusually hot or cold spots in rooms; hear noises that cannot be explained; smelling things that are hard to explain. These are a few of the classic experiences of people who have lived in haunted homes. Also, objects might seem to move by themselves; electrical devices might switch on or off or strange electrical disruptions take place when the weather is calm. Pets can often begin to behave in an unusual fashion like being startled for no reason, acting aggressively or hiding for long periods of time. Hauntings have been known to actually cause pets not to want to be in a house or apartment no matter what the owner tries to do to make the pet comfortable.
Before jumping to the conclusion that a haunting is taking place, consider all other possibilities that might cause unusual events to take place. Focus on finding logical explanations. Most of there are. In truth, most supposed haunting do turn out to be a person’s mind playing tricks on them. There is no shame in this. We fool ourselves all the time. Think of all the people you would have never dated had we been really honest with ourselves. Sorry to bring that up, but it does provide a good illustration for most people how we fool ourselves. Now, as to hauntings, could the strange noises just be the furnace heating up? Or, those ‘footsteps’ you hear, could that just be a water pipes bumping a wall when faucets are turned on and off? Before running out of the house screaming there is a ghost in the bathroom or basement, really look for logical answers.
A good tip is to keep a log of haunting-like events. Make notes of time, weather conditions and anything else you think might be important. By looking for patterns, such as when a seeming ghostly occurrence happens, can go a long way towards resolving whether your house or apartment is haunted or not. Keeping a camera handy is also helpful. It is amazing how many ghost disappear once a camera is around. You would think ghosts are inherently camera shy. It is best not to rely on your memory and by having notes it will help later with remembering key aspects of an apparent paranormal event.
It is the sum total and type of events that lend credence to your claim of a haunting. When you have hot/cold spots, noises you cannot explain, doors opening and closing by themselves, electrical devices seeming to malfunction … all of this things together point to a possible haunting. A single event, like lights flickering, might more logically be traced to a failing light switch or a wiring problem. The one top indicator of a haunting is seeing a ghost. One sighting is important. Two sighting and it might be time to contact your local paranormal group and see if they would be interested in helping you sort out these haunting events.
When To Call in Paranormal Investigators – Types of Hauntings
If haunting events continue to occur, and especially if they intensify (like seeing kitchen cabinets open and close or objects moving by themselves – or a sighting), then bring in some help. What will help you convince most ghost hunters to visit is that log book in which you have been recording events. This shows you are serious about uncovering the source of these apparent paranormal events.
According to the Paranormal Society, there are different types of haunting. ‘Residual hauntings’ are a type of haunting where a traumatic event has occurred in a home or location. One could say that this powerful, traumatic event leaves a ‘psychic impression’ in the house or at a location. The theory is that there is an ‘energy’ left that some people can sense. Under the right condition, this ‘psychic impression’ within the home replays itself. This type of haunting is harmless. It is like an energy imprint left behind by an event. You might even be able to do some investigating on your own and uncover what traumatic event occurred and how it relates to what you are experiencing.
Another type of haunting is your good, old fashion ghost. This may be a person or persons who are very attached to the home, person, object of location. So attached that this spirit refuses to move on. These types of haunting are benign. In fact, there of many, many stories of people, families, living in harmony with such ghosts. These types of haunting are also often recorded at businesses in old building. Where paranormal investigators can often help ‘authenticate’ this type of haunting, they can do little about it. Many people have had good luck working with psychic mediums to help the haunting spirits move on. The answer is not a scientific one, it is a spiritual one.
A couple of other types are the poltergeist haunting and a type of haunting that seems to involve malicious ghosts or an other worldly being(s). You might call it a malevolent haunting. Poltergeist haunting involve strange events such as cabinets being opened and closed, noises, moving objects, just about anything to unnerve the occupant of a home. It is like dealing with mischievous child only in this case is seems to be a spirit who enjoys pranks. Poltergeist type hauntings have a long history and vary in intensity. But, other than possibly a few broken dishes or such, poltergeist haunting rarely last long and are pretty harmless (no matter what you may have seen in the movies). Opinions vary as to what poltergeist hauntings are all about or why they happen.
The malevolent type of haunting is extremely rare. Becasue Hollywood movies and TV shows love to produce a good, scary story, often people think malevolent hauntings are more common than they really are. In truth, very few have been documented, and of those documented there is debate that some are overblown or the research into them is sketchy.
Those who are religious then to explain ‘malevolent hauntings’ as having to do with demonic forces. Scientific based paranormal groups tend to look for other explanations, maybe just a mean ghost or a powerful impression left by a horrific event. All paranormal investigators love to investigate a supposedly ‘malevolent hauntings’ – it may be the only one they have a chance to investigate in their lifetime. And, many of such reported sightings have turn out to have other, underlying explanations. The very few documented ‘evil hauntings’ usually end up with the haunting victims looking for spiritual answers rather than scientific ones. However, on the very rare chance you might have such a haunting the best advice is get all the help you can muster – paranormal investigators, a priest, psychics, whoever you can contact to help. If you think it necessary, move out of the house or apartment or get some friends/family to stay with you until the haunting is studied.
There are three points of view on hauntings: Those who say there is no such thing; those who say there is; and those who just are not sure. There are those who take the scientific approach; those who take the spiritual approach; those who take both; and those who take none because for whatever reason they do not believe in hauntings and believe they will never encounter one. Whether your house is haunted or not, and what you decide to do about it is all about what you believe and who you decide to work with uncovering the ‘facts’ behind unusual events in your home. Hopefully this article gives you some insights and a place to start when dealing with what seems to be a haunting.
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