My Recent Discoveries in Ghost Hunting
I haven’t ever been that afraid of the spirit world for the most part. Even when I was going through a Halloween haunted house, which can be terrifying, I was more fearful of the humans operating it and if they had any unresolved anger, that they might take out on me. The spirit world for me has always been interesting. My religion warned me to stay away from anything that they had not taken the time to explore. They didn’t have a concrete reason to stay away from most of the things they warned me about because they didn’t understand it.
When I wrote my first novel, The Hotel, most of the people I interviewed said that the real one was haunted. One of them even pointed to a specific spot in the hotel where they had felt something that seemed unusual. I didn’t know whether this person was telling the truth, but I didn’t have any reason to doubt them because they had nothing to gain by lying about the experience. I have learned from abuse survivors to believe people who have been through something traumatic because it can do damage when we don’t believe them.
While researching the hotel and writing the book, I took a few moments to sit in a rocking chair in the lobby and open up to anything happening there. I had heard the stories of different people seeing different things, but I wanted to see for myself. As I was sitting in the rocking chair, I closed my eyes and began to experience something like a flashback where many people were coming and going into and out of the hotel. The scenes were changing over and over again like it was scrolling through history and showing it to me.
Later, some friends of the owner conducted a paranormal investigation at the hotel and asked me to go with them. Again, I wasn’t really scared at all except by the raccoons that had invaded from outside. I was impressed, especially with their use of the Estes system which I don’t have time to describe. Several times, I felt we communicated directly with the spirits and learned something about them. It was nothing like my past religious advisors explained and there were no dramatic lights or music, like in the movies.
I have had the privilege of participating in several more investigations. Every time the process intrigued me, but I remain less afraid of spirits than humans.
I think it is relevant to point out that, since my deconstruction from religion, I have done a lot of work addressing my fear. Most of this has been shadow work and trauma-informed therapy. In one of my books, while I was processing these things, I accidentally wrote twice about fear. Fear is heavily cultivated in religions and high-control families, so there was a lot to disentangle but I feel this greatly helped me have an open mind and not be afraid of the paranormal. Fear will help us in imminent danger, but most other times it keeps us from processing things rationally with our higher brains.
When fear is not the primary thing I feel, I can participate in an organized investigation of my home and use my prefrontal cortex to process what’s happening rather than my root brain just responding to my cultivated fears.
What I’ve Learned So Far
My Fear Was Cultivated by Religion
Lately, we have been watching a show called Psychic Kids. This show is about teenagers who have some psychic abilities and are usually low functioning in society because they live in fear of spirits and the assumptions they have been raised to believe. Similar to the things that I pointed out above, they primarily have to deal with their fear and then they can responsibly interact with the spirit world. Once they face their fear, they can tell the spirits to leave them alone or permit them to cross over, or sometimes even deliver a message to someone.
The youth that have the most problems are those with overtly religious parents who are themselves so fearful that they make it harder for young teenagers to cope with or get over their fear of the unknown. The parents usually can’t even see how they are stoking the cultivated embers of their children’s fear because of the limited information they have received from whoever advises them spiritually. Similar to dealing with survivors of trauma, the first step is to believe them especially if they have not been diagnosed with a mental illness. Then there has to be some trust in the professionals that are giving them good information.
Furthermore, everyone has to face with courage the vulnerability it takes to overcome fear. It is really hard for us to rationally interpret what is happening to us if our unsubstantiated fear throws us into a crisis before we ever experience whatever the thing is. I’m not gifted in this area, so I don’t see as much as the psychics do. But I do trust their experience more than a person who went to Bible school and is just repeating his own cultivated fears.
The Encounters are not Usually Attacks
I have heard stories like many of you probably have about people being possessed or attacked randomly. Think down through your history and see how little evidence there is for someone being killed or seriously harmed by a spirit. Because I am a person who is deconstructed from religion, I realize now that these stories of people being possessed by a demon or spirit may be able to be explained by the psychology we have learned in the past 100 years. Maybe a demoniac in biblical times was someone who had serious mental health issues or trauma. Even among the people who do regular investigations, stories about possessions and harm are the kind of stories they tell around the campfire but usually have not experienced themselves.
Common among these investigators are stories and experiences of spirits trying to do several things including:
- Spirits trying to communicate
- Spirits trying to finish business
- Spirits who are lost/confused
- Spirits trying to deliver a message
That seems very obvious to me that if we were to address our fear first, like in all other areas of life, we would be much more competent in our assessment of what the spirit world is more like. I also believe, because of my deconstruction, that there are two things we will never understand completely. They are:
- What is God like?
- What happens in the afterlife?
The only way to understand them better is to address them soberly, instead of fearfully!
It’s Not My New Religion
I have enjoyed my experiences with Night Owls Paranormal of Missouri #2, Blonds and Boos, and Paranormal Among Us for helping me experience these things. I have had enough experience in the past getting obsessed with things and buying lots of equipment only to move on to something that caught my attention later. So, I want to keep this experience and continue to experience healthy learning opportunities like I have thus far.
I now understand that religion wants to come to a definite conclusion, even though it is based mostly on assumptions. You cannot argue with a Mystic who has had an experience, but it’s really easy to poke holes in religious doctrine and assumptions that have been made over the years. I am referring specifically to dogmatic statements made about devils, angels, or spirits without ever experiencing it at all. Religious people reacted the same way when I first told them about yoga and meditation I was doing. I quickly realized they didn’t know anything about it but were willing to tell me that it was dangerous and stoke the fear.
Of course, I don’t believe in a literal devil or hell anymore, so their warnings don’t reach the mark with me very often.
Extra: Not sure about possession.
In paranormal circles, I still hear warnings about possessions and really dangerous places, etc. The common expression is “Don’t take anything home with you.” So, I guess I should say I’m a little cautious because they have more experience than me, but it still doesn’t stoke my fear like it once may have.
It’s possible that I could have had a car accident on the way to the investigation, just like a homeless person might have been sheltering in the hotel that we were investigating. I was more afraid of him/her conking me over the head than a spirit doing anything to me.
Most ghost hunters use their tools from their experience, like saying a prayer or wearing a cross that gives them confidence and makes them feel comfortable. But I have found that it also makes me feel comfortable because I see instances where the investigators can encourage the spirits to leave them alone or crossover or even have somewhat of a conversation with them about what troubles them. Often it is their fear or anxiety that never gets resolved that the investigator is absorbing rather than any evil intention by the entity.
As I said before, many of the things I’ve worried about in religion have been clarified by addressing my trauma and doing some inner child work along with trauma-informed therapy. I also should repeat that I am not an expert, and I am still learning. These are just my initial impressions and what I have learned thus far. When religious people criticize my yoga and meditation, I always ask if they have ever gone to a yoga session. They always say no.
When the team was investigating my own home, the spirits kept telling them about a fire. It was mentioned several times, but nothing specific. I wondered about it but then I remembered that the history I knew of the house didn’t mention a fire. Last week, a couple of my friends and relatives were here helping us replace the ceiling on our wrap-around porch. It was 100 years old, and it was past time to change it.
When we removed the ceiling boards, we saw fire damage that must have been in the attic. They didn’t fix it very well and so it created a bunch of extra work for us, but it was super obvious that there had been a fire in the house. It doesn’t necessarily prove anything, but it’s interesting and that’s why I love learning more about it.
Be where you are,
Be who you are,
Be at peace!
Karl Forehand
https://www.amazon.com/Evolving-Religious-Trauma-Karl-Forehand-ebook/dp/B0CWMJWY48/
Religious Trauma Resources
The Desert Sanctuary Podcasthttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-desert-sanctuary/id1345562241
Karl Forehand is a former pastor, podcaster, and award-winning author. His books include Out into the Desert, Leaning Forward, Apparent Faith: What Fatherhood Taught Me About the Father’s Heart, The Tea Shop and Being: A Journey Toward Presence and Authenticity. He is the creator of The Desert Sanctuary podcast and community. He is married to his wife Laura of 35 years and has one dog named Winston. His three children are grown and are beginning to multiply! You can read more about the author here.
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