..Loyd A.: First of all, demons do not exist from a scientific framework, nor is there any good evidence that such things exist outside a religious or mythological framework. “Non-human entities” would also include animal ghosts, and there certainly are good examples of that. However, any other “non-human entities” are pure conjecture, and have little evidence. For more on the demon thing, see my blog/article “Just Say No to Demons” at {http://www.mindreader.com/info.htm}. There are far too many alternative explanations for the symptoms/experiences people have where they conclude it’s “a demon” responsible – including both psychological / perceptual and psychic / spiritual explanations.

..As to harm, here’s a response I just sent to a colleague looking for my thoughts on this for her new book: With extremely rare exception, ghosts have no more psychokinetic (physical) effect on us than living people do, and perhaps less so since more spontaneous PK is reported around living people than discarnate entities. In addition, psychic attack in general requires some kind of openness to being "attacked" -- as psychic healing requires an openness to being healed. However, the perception of a ghost can harm us psychologically, or can cause secondary physical harm.

..On the psychological front, we can be surprised -- or even frightened -- by the sudden or continual appearance of an apparition. That surprise/fear reaction can cause us to become clumsy, trip, fall, etc., which can certainly cause us physical harm. Finally, we can perceive information that can be just as kinesthetic as it can be visual. An apparition telepathically connecting with us can provide us with the perception of being touched, pinched, or in rare instances even hit. However, just as the "sight" of a ghost is in the mind of the observer / percipient, the "feeling" of the ghost is perception not physical touch. If the percipient believes the touch can hurt, it will feel that way, and can cause a physical / psychosomatic reaction. In most respects, either disbelieving in ghosts or the understanding and acceptance that such perceptions are just that -- perceived information -- are good defenses against any harm by any apparition. Then again, most people are nice or apathetic. It's the rare ghost (ghosts being people) that does intends to try to do harm to the living.

..Loyd A.: We would include disembodied voices and shadowy figures in the category of apparitions (“shadow people” is sometimes an apparitional phenomena, and sometimes something psychological – or if you believe some of the UFO folks, other dimensional or extra-terrestrial). People see, hear, feel, and smell apparitions/ghosts – in actuality they PERCEIVE information that is translated into signals like seeing, hearing, feeling, etc. but those sensory organs are not actually involved. Please see my article at {http://www.mindreader.com/info_review.html} for definitions and basic information on apparitions, hauntings and poltergeists – our three main categories. Feel free to quote as though I responded to a question.

..As to percentage breakdown, I don’t have that kind of analysis, but most of my cases and reports where there was no “normal” (non psychic / paranormal) explanation would be in the haunting category (what many call residual haunting or place memory) – I’d say well over 50%. Of the remainder, I’d say that it’s about split for poltergeist (PK from living people) phenomena and apparitions. However, many of my cases have had cross-over – sightings of apparitions or experiences of the place memory cause the stress that initiates poltergeist phenomena, or an apparition is in a location that also has place memory, etc.

..Loyd A.: First of all, poltergeist activity is caused by PSYCHO-KINESIS (PK – MIND OVER MATTER). Telepathy is mind to mind awareness or communication. Neither have been proven or are “easily proven” to folks beyond those who have either experienced them or who are open to analyzing the data from controlled scientific experiments. Science in general does not even have “proof” that the Mind or Consciousness exists as something other than Brain – in fact this is a major controversy in mainstream Science.

..If Science is undecided whether Consciousness exists or what it is, for that matter, and how it works, it’s a lot to assume that any direct-consciousness communication, awareness or interaction is able to be proven at all at this time. This specifically applies to apparitions, as by definition they are Consciousness-without-a-body. If we can’t prove Consciousness -IN- the body, how do we prove it exists -AFTER THE DEATH- of the body.

..As to government research – Parapsychological research has gone on since the late 1800's (known as Psychical Research until the 1930's). There have been government grants and even applied-psi studies and programs, such as the government’s program in Remote Viewing which ran from the 1970s to 1995. But the research into psychic abilities, academically, privately and occasionally sponsored by various governments, has been going on for over 100 years. Some research into PK (which is what poltergeist activity is) has been government-funded, mainly how the human mind might affect / interfere with technology. No government-funded research has gone on with respect to apparitions, hauntings or poltergeists.

..Loyd A.: I don’t believe paranoid schizophrenics have radical electrical discharges in the brain – this is what happens with epilepsy and epileptiform-activity in the brain. Schizophrenics report auditory and other hallucinations, and some of this might be a psychic effect – they may, for example, be suddenly wide open to “hearing” people’s thoughts or otherwise inadvertently picking up information psychically. I don’t know of any indicator that there’s any poltergeist-like activity around schizophrenics, paranoid or not. There has been a connection drawn between epilepsy and spontaneous PK. In one study of a group of poltergeist agents, about a third turned out to have either a form of epilepsy, or unusual electrical activity in the brain. One suggestion coming out of this study was that the poltergeist outbreak was an externalized seizure – the brainstorm activated the person’s PK, instead of causing a seizure to hit the body.

..Loyd A.: I’ve been interviewed for the first season of his show. I only met and spoke with him for a short time when I was in Las Vegas for that interview, though one of his main (now past) consultants is a colleague of mine in the Psychic Entertainers Association (and a friend). As to any psychic abilities, I’d say he has none. In fact, he’s a strong disbeliever in psychic abilities, psychics, ghosts, and so on. All of what he does is explainable by non-paranormal means, though often trade secret – he -IS- a magician, after all.

---

..What follows is {Reprinted word-for-word} from Loyd Auerbach's book entitled: "HAUNTINGS & POLTERGEISTS", pages 166-172. We thank him here for his help and generosity for allowing us to put what we feel is very valuable information out there into the public forum to aid and educate those who would want to start investigating Paranormal Activity themselves. Before -ANYONE- starts out doing this, PREPERATION and PROPER SCIENTIFIC METHODOLOGY MUST BE FOLLOWED AND IMPLEMENTED.

..1. Do learn the basics of what parapsychologists and psychical researchers have learned about apparitions, hauntings, and poltergeists, even beyond what you’ve read in my book. While some amateurs dismiss parapsychologists and their literature, there is quite a lot to learn – as I hope you’ve seen in my book (HAUNTINGS & POLTERGEISTS- A GHOST HUNTERS GUIDE, available at Mindreader.com)

..2. Do learn about psychic experience and abilities. The basic model of ghosts requires that some form of psychic communication and perception can be happening. Hauntings, too, seem to rely on some form of receptive psychic phenomenon. Poltergeist cases – and any ghost cases involving physical effects – cry out for an understanding of psychokinesis.

..Psychokinesis: Defined as the mind’s direct effect on objects and events, on matter and energy, without the use of the physical body or tools. The literal meaning of the word is mind, or mental, action or movement. The mind moving or acting upon the physical world. Ignoring what has been learned in parapsychology can mean wasting time rediscovering what is already known or could mean heading down the path of misunderstanding.

..3. Do learn the concepts of psychics before believing pronouncements about other dimensions or parallel universes, including proof of other dimensions from which beings can cross into ours. Nothing of the sort has been proven. A basic conceptual understanding of physics helps to sort through the morass of bad information presented as fact.

..4. Do learn about the uses of technology in an investigation. Learn how to actually use the technology that ghost hunters use. Learn what the devices are designed to detect – it’s not ghosts – and learn the technology’s limitations. Take the time to think through what the readings, photos, and recordings actually represent. Just because you have an anomalous something, don’t leap to the conclusion that it’s a spirit or something from another dimensional plane.

..5. Do develop interviewing skills so that you can question the witnesses appropriately. The very definition of apparitions and hauntings requires the experience and observation of the phenomena by a human being. Focus your attention on the perceptions and experiences of the witnesses in the situation. Getting useful information from witnesses requires the best interviewing skills you can develop.

..6. Do look for non-paranormal explanations for the overall case you investigate and the individual events reported by the witnesses. Question everything. Observe thoroughly. Cases are rarely so cut and dried that everything reported or experienced is paranormal or normal. Often the witnesses are so freaked out by an encounter that they become suggestible or misinterpret normal noises and movements in their homes that they hadn’t noticed before.

..7. Do realize that some explanations can be rather bizarre without being paranormal. Look for unusual and rarely seen normal explanations. Read up on such unusual explanations. Old and new unusual explanations should be considered, such as the hallucinogenic effect of magnetic fields on the brain and the uneasy feelings and peripheral images caused by low frequency sound. The more you know about what it isn’t, the better you are at determining what it might be.

..8. Do take note of people’s experiences and perceptions. Work with psychics or sensitives who are team players and willing to be questioned about what they experience. Work with psychics who can accept that they are not always right and who are willing to dissect their perceptions. It doesn’t hurt to ask if they can perceive any nonparanormal causes.

..9. Do pay attention to what you experience yourself. Always look for alternative explanations. Consider your expectations. If you get too caught up in your own experiences, especially if you desire to encounter something psychic or spiritual, you may find yourself misinterpreting what’s really going on. Take your perceptions apart and do not immediately label a perception or experience.

..1. Do take special note of instances when both the technology and the humans are sensing something out of the ordinary at the same time. Technology can support the experiences of the witnesses and psychics, as you look for correlations between unusual readings, photos, and recordings and the anomalous experiences of people.

..10. Do combine all data from technology with the experiential reports of the witnesses and any perceptions of sensitives, your teammates, and yourself before making a final judgment of what’s going on and how much is or isn’t paranormal.

..11. Do realize that cases can be mixed. I’ve investigated cases that had combinations of hauntings or an apparition, sometimes related to each other. I’ve had poltergeist cases in which the stress that caused the psychokinesis was in turn caused by the experience of a haunting or an encounter with an apparition. I recently had a case in which an apparition was visiting in a house that also had a pretty strong imprint of a past inhabitant, causing lots of stress and leading to some recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis.

..12. Do respect the people in the location you investigate. Cases involving private homes usually revolve around the family’s need to get rid of the phenomena. If you are called in to help, do note leave without providing them with some kind of assistance, even if it is only referrals to other qualified specialists. Spend time educating the family about psychic experience and apparitions, hauntings, and poltergeists. Put their needs above your need to “get something.” In public settings, while you are certainly freer to simply gather data and make assessments, always respect the owners and always respect the witnesses. Consider that while most people in such settings may have no fear, a few might have been affected adversely by what’s going on. Offer them information and referrals.

..1. Do not go to any location without full permission of the owner or leaseholders and the inhabitants. Don’t investigate a public location – restaurant, museum, hotel – without permission. Do not trespass in cemeteries or anyplace else for that matter. You might get thrown in jail.

..2. Don’t go alone. There are two factors here: observations and danger. Having other people with you will provide different viewpoints, different perceptions, and other sets of eyes to look for causes of the experiences and phenomena. As for danger, there is little the paranormal can do to someone in the physical world unless one gets clumsy or fearful, or wants something bad to happen. We have our own psychic defense mechanisms, and ghosts or hauntings can’t affect us physically. We can still be affected emotionally by the experience, however, poltergeist phenomena, while physical in nature, have rarely been directed at people other than the agent – who does often harm himself.

..Remember that your cases involve living people. While witnesses may seem okay to begin with, sometimes they turn out to be psychologically disturbed. Remember that ghosts don’t carry guns and knives only living people do! Finally, consider the physical location and potential dangers associated with it: Rats, snakes, rotting timbers, and the like may figure into some investigations.

..3. Don’t jump to conclusions. Always consider all possibilities, normal and paranormal, before coming to your conclusion about what’s happening.

..4. Don’t believe technology over human perceptions. This may be repetitive, but it’s very important, given the weighty authority that so many amateur ghost hunting groups attach to technology. Again, you may get something anomalous, but don’t jump to the conclusion that a reading or photo relates to a spirit simply because you can’t think of any other explanation.

..5. Don’t scare people with pronouncements of ghosts unless you are sure of what is going on, and they can handle such news. You could be worsening already bad situation, leaving them to find someone else to help them, and leaving a more psychologically disturbed group for the next investigator.

..6. Don’t leave the situation and the people without some kind of resolution or referral for further help, Always give them good information about psychic phenomena.

..7. Don’t involve the media without discussing all the ramifications with the people involved at the locations. You don’t want to be at the center of a media situation that causes your clients more stress.

..8. Don’t promise to get rid of the ghost or haunting or poltergeist for sure. You can provide possible resolution, a likely understanding of what’s going on, and certainly referrals and information, but no one can guarantee the removal of paranormal phenomena.

HCH Institute is proud to present our new Certificate Course on Parapsychological Studies. This course is registered with the Bureau of Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education is approved for CE Units for MFTs, LCSWs and RNs.

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