You gotta have faith - But not while investigating the paranormal

Many people in the general public think that if you do investigate the paranormal that you must automatically believe that there is life after death.

And granted, some do. Which is fine. We investigate the paranormal for different reasons and often from an experience that has made us ask questions about the afterlife.

But, you don’t have to believe in it to investigate the paranormal.

Now let me back up for a second here. Having faith in the afterlife is fine. Actually having faith in religion is equally fine. Goodness knows that faith has often pulled many a person out of their darkest hour.

But, that’s where it should stay. “Hang on!” you say. “Isn’t investigating the afterlife investigating the paranormal?” Not necessarily. Not for everyone. Here are 3 reasons why.

1)      Belief clouds judgement

As much as it can be a shining hope when we are in our emotionally heaviest situations in life when it comes to investigating, the less “belief” of anything regarding the afterlife, the better.

Having a belief in any sort of afterlife is fine, but leave it at the door. Yes, when investigating you need to be as objective as possible. Confirmation Bias is rife with investigators and we are all susceptible to it. So recognising this and going into an investigation with a “clear slate” as much as you can help you better interpret the environment and psychological situation around you.

2)      Your aim is to investigate phenomena

Yes, phenomena. Not whether a place is haunted or not. Of course, this also is a little different when exploring public locations since the basis for going is due to the well-known reports of activity. Your focus though is on things like witness experiences, not if there are trapped souls who haven’t made their way to a version of “heaven”.  There is also the argument of being careful of negative and demonic entities. Understandable to hear this often, yes, but how are we to research something while avoiding it at all costs? So much can be explained by other means.

Think of the 3 knock example. One person hears this and believes it's mocking the holy trinity of Christianity. Then they may start to think that there is a case of a negative entity. Or maybe another person hears 3 knocks and see’s it as a sign of their pagan faith (power of 3). And they begin to think that their faith is there to protect them from what possible harm may come to them during the investigation. Neither situation is right or wrong. But either scenario's may have nothing to do with the 3 knocks which could have very well been a window shutter banging in a breeze.

3)      Afterlife clinically doesn't exist regardless of belief

As much as many of us have had experiences that we still can’t explain till this day, the fact of the situation is that “the afterlife” hasn’t been proven – yet. And, there is no evidence that anything spiritual has anything to do with the paranormal. It is, quite often, used to explain what science hasn’t proven.

If you really want to, go “old school”. Observe the environment inside and outside the location only. No “asking out” or trying to illicit communication. Just seeing and making notes on what is happening around you at the time.

So if you want to adopt this way of investigating, start by leaving your belief of what happens after we die at the door. Again, having a belief is completely acceptable, but when you step foot into a location, leave it at the door.

A Rational Approach

Debunking to me sounds like something you do to dissemble a bunk bed. It doesn’t sound like a term you would use in the paranormal at all.

But it’s one, if not, the most important words when investigating the paranormal.

We’ve all been there at one time or another. Something happens…. Something occurs that at the time you can’t figure out how. Say for instance a door slamming when there is no breeze or maybe a whisper is heard from a part of the room that no one was in at the time.

It’s exciting! Could this be it? Could this be THE time where you can confidently turn around and say “THIS is paranormal”?.

Mmmmm…. Not just yet.

If you’re interested in the paranormal, getting familiar with how possible phenomena occurs is really important. That loud bang? Where did it come from? What can cause loud bangs in walls naturally?

Doesn’t sound very exciting does it? But, there is good reason as to why you need to do this.

Paranormal Investigators are meant to observe potential paranormal phenomena first and then look at what could cause it — that is NOT paranormal.

Imagine hearing a whisper in the other room to immediately declare “it’s a ghost!” and then only to find out months later after reviewing any video footage that it was in fact another person that caused the whisper. It can happen to the best of us and not because someone is trying to be deceiving.

Sometimes as humans we forget when we murmur under our breaths. It doesn’t mean malice, just the fact that one has forgotten at that time that they had whispered. You see, we don’t generally keep track of all our movements consciously all the time — it’s just being human.

So how do we start ruling out explainable reasons before we look at paranormal ones?

A good place to start is looking at whether the phenomena could be environmental or psychological.

What does this mean?

Let’s break it down.

Psychological: You heard a whisper in the other room, what could it be? Our minds are amazing instruments but are yet also programmed to get us out of danger and know our enemies from our friends. So being able to recognise a voice meant the difference between friend or foe.

If a whisper is heard then we start to look at why we as humans would hear a whisper when there wasn’t one. If you started initially researching this then you would come up with the term “Audible Paradolia”. Audible indicating sound and paradolia as in where we sense something and our brains turn it into something familiar, when it wasn’t meant to be in the first place.

Think about it, voices are the most common sound we hear so if there is a sound, we will try to categorise it as something familiar.

Environmental: A loud bang was heard in a room next door with no one in it. What could naturally cause this sound? Was it a thud or a knock? Go into the room and see if you can re-create the sound by looking for objects that may have fallen or even knocking on different parts of the room. Yes, you will feel like a right idiot walking around a room knocking on surfaces and saying “did it sound like this?” but being able to debunk naturally occurring phenomena is important.

Debunking isn’t exciting — I get it. But if you are interested in investigating the paranormal, arming yourself with knowledge of how non paranormal phenomena occurs ultimately saves you time and much needed energy.

How?

Because having a good background on explainable stuff means if something does occur, you aren’t wasting your time by being under the impression its paranormal when it’s not. You can actually focus on the things that do happen that can’t be explained straight away — and THAT is exciting.

Wanna get ahead of the game and learn the 3 key areas to focus on?

Find out via a free mini course video — only a click away.

Why you can get bored investigating the paranormal (and what to do about it)

“Tell us your name” 

“What year is it?” 

“Come forward and speak with us” 

It's dark, your tired, and you’ve just started your third Audio Recording session. 

Nothing. 

You continue to wait. Then ask “is anyone here with us?”. 

It can happen. Sometimes investigating a location can turn out to be a very very quiet night of sitting in the dark and fighting to stay awake. 

There seems to be a certain method or ways to investigate the paranormal that everyone else seems to do. 

You’ve got your EMF detectors and static detectors for any unusual fluctuations. Then there are the REM pods to detect anything moving closer to the radiating antenna. 

Packed in with those you have your digital recorders and video cameras. 

Learning this is important but after a while you think “gees, is there anything else I can do? Is there something different we can try?” “AM I the only person who thinks this way?”. 

A common issue within the field is that there isn’t anything “new” at the moment. It feels like we’re all doing the same thing, every time and often coming up with the same results. 

So how DO we “jazz” it up? Because it can become… boring after a while. 

One thing you can do to keep those “paranormal fires” burning is to go over and check out the free cheat sheet on “5 things you can do in between paranormal investigations”. 

Another tip (which is on the cheat sheet) is to start exploring more of what you HAVE experienced. What does this mean? 

Think back to a time when something happened to you. Did you feel as though something touched you or you heard a voice and still to this day can't think how it could have happened and see if you can find way to find a PAE (Possible Alternative Explanation). 

For example. If you felt something touch you, almost grab your arm when you were investigating a location that used to be a hospital. You had only one other person with you who was nowhere near where you were. And you haven’t been able to find a rational explanation since. 

Start with the possibility of why you would feel a hand on your arm. 

Is there something that can cause that to happen biologically? 

Are there any conditions that can make someone feel as though they are being touched when they aren’t? 

What about anything in the environment? Would something cause you to feel pressure on your arm? 

How were you feeling at the time? Could it be something happening psychologically that could make you believe something touched you? 

When you start to do this, you start to become more aware of how certain areas of Science and Psychology can explain some of what we would think could have been caused by the paranormal. 

You begin to become a more effective investigator as the info gained begins to be your doorway into learning more. 

So go ahead! Write down some of the most intense experiences and hit the internet!

Wanna short cut? Then The Science 5 is for you.

One common mistake people make about learning science and psychology for paranormal investigating

“Physics”…. “psychology”…. Sometimes these words can make a person gain a headache. 

And yet they are GREAT subjects to know. 

But I know…. the minute you start to delve into it, it's like being lost in a sea of complication. 

And yet you are BEYOND waving a KII around. 

DONE with the blurry orb photos. 

SO OVER asking the same questions in an audio recording session. 

You’re at that point where you are REALLY after some of the more in-depth stuff right? 

There’s gotta be something more to it than this? 

Luckily there is. But it can feel almost intimidating at first. And many people when they start looking for more fall for this one common mistake. 

They just don’t know where to start! 

Honestly, WHERE do you start learning more about science and psychology? 

Yep. Been there. 

Information overload right? 

Web sites galore! 

But what CAN be a trusted resource and what isn’t? 

There can be many people sharing what they think you should know, but you don’t want to start learning about something to only then find out it's not entirely accurate*insert picture with egg on face*. 

There are so many great information websites out there but to be honest, only a few that can be trusted. 

How would you know? 

• Look to see who is writing the material. Do they have qualifications? Do they have a good amount of “field” experience? Where did they get this information from? 
• Do they themselves offer any online courses or books you can read? 

A tip: If a course is “Accredited” it only means that the information that is provided is formatted in a certain way (standard) to the company the course is accredited too. It doesn’t mean the actual content of the course is any better or more useful than other information available or that you are awarded any type of qualification

Is the information provided “belief” based. Is it written with the belief in a particular faith. Faith is a wonderful thing that can get people out of some of the most darkest moments in life. But this information that is faith based isn’t always the best information to learn from as it will be “tainted” with what a person's belief of what the afterlife is. Remember…You want facts, not someone's idea of it.  

So, here are websites highly recommend starting with as they are backed by those who hold qualifications and are credible organisations: 

• ASSAP - http://www.assap.ac.uk/ 
• Parapsychology Association - http://www.parapsych.org/ 
• Australian Institute of Parapsychological Research - http://www.aiprinc.org/ 

They often have newsletters too, so be sure to sign up and keep up to date with the latest. 

So, don’t make the most common mistake with learning more. Find your credible sources and flex that grey matter!

Why Inertia could be affecting your investigating (and you may not know it!)

Sitting in the bedroom of a suburban house. Lights are off except for the faint glow coming in from the window from the streetlight outside. 

It was the middle of winter and even though were inside, we had to switch all heating off to be able to eliminate any possible audible interference. And yes… it was COLD. 

I and another investigator were here to help a family with claims of paranormal activity and most of it seem to centre around this area of their house. 

Knocks were heard from what appeared to be inside the walls. 

Shadows claimed to be darting across the hallway at 3pm at night. 

Feelings of uneasiness and of being watched seem to happen as well as objects seemingly moving from room to room on their own. And in most cases, disappearing alltogether. 

One part of this bedroom had an open door wardrobe. The tenants would often claim the hangers would swing on their own. 

As we sat there for a while, I decided to try and figure out if there was a reasonable explanation as to why the hangers would move. 

Firstly I jumped around near the wardrobe seeing if the floor below would tilt the foundations of the wardrobe and make it move. Yes, sometimes when investigating and trying to find a PAE (Possible Alternative Explanation) you can look a little strange, to say the least. 

There was a slight swinging of the hangers but not enough to be consistent with the witness statement. 

I decided to walk casually past the wardrobe. Just as I did, I just brushed passed one of the hangers. This then hit the other hangers and in what could best be described as a domino effect, got them ALL swinging. And in a decent swing. 

The biggest clue was that they continued to swing for a while. So, if you were to walk past it and come back minutes later, it could appear as though they were moving on their own with no assistance from anything living. 

What actually happened is called Inertia. It’s a part of physics and is known as one of Newton’s 3 Laws of Motion. 

Sounds a little wordy? Do not fear! Here it is broken down: 

There are 3 Laws of Motion. 

1) Inertia

2) Force

3) Equal and Opposite

We’ll go into Inertia in a moment but the second Law of Force means for something to move an object it needs to have mass itself. 

The Third Law of Equal and Opposite means that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction so if something is picked up and weighs 1kg, the “thing” picking it up must have a mass and energy enough to overcome gravity as well to move it. 

So… Inertia. How could this be affecting your investigations? 

Inertia means if you have an object and it is stationary, it will stay stationary. 

It also means that if an object is moved it will continue to move. 

In short? An object will be stationary unless there is “power” applied to the object to make it move. 

So if something like a light bulb that dangles from the ceiling is moving and yet wasn’t before, there is a possibility that something like a breeze started its swinging motion and it’s still swinging minutes later – and therefore not something caused by the paranormal. 

Or if there is a chain swinging that wasn’t before. Maybe someone was near the chain, moved it slightly unconsciously (we’re in the dark as well, right?) and it was still swinging minutes later. 

You can also try finding a PAE (Possible Alternative Explanation) too by recreating the situation by moving the object and timing how long it swings for – just to be sure. 

Keeping Inertia in mind when investigating is a wonderfully beneficial insight to have.

5 Reasons Why Investigators Need to Learn About Science and Psychology

Have you ever found yourself looking through what seems like a sea of information on the internet? 

Annoyed about finding information from someone who claims to have 30 years experience… but really only investigating for 1 year?

Sick of just knowing how to use an EMF detector and want something a little more?

Feel like every other investigator is just “winging it”?

Right then. You start searching on the internet for some sort of reliable information. 

You type something like “Paranormal Phenomena” in google. Wonderful, there are pages and pages of information that comes up. 

That’s great, right? 

But some of this info comes from research papers written by people who have, lets just say, a more “complicated” language. 

And yet this information is enormously valuable but it really can feel intimidating navigating through it all when it's written in an “academic” format. Your brain can feel like exploding just trying to get through the first paragraph.

If you do have an academic background? Awesome! I highly encourage you to explore some great case studies on the internet.

But, like me, not all investigators do have an academic background and important information like this can feel - so out of reach. The time it takes to read and re-read each paragraph to then try and comprehend can be enormously off putting.

Yet, knowing this kinda info is really beneficial and for so many reasons.

Knowing how your equipment works, setting up for an investigation and sometimes even the history of a location are key things to know about investigating. But, understanding even the basics of science and psychology are just as beneficial. 

Even though this information can feel like it's hidden behind a secret language, here are the 5 most important reasons why learning the basics of science and psychology is important:

Understanding the best tool you have – your mind

Our brains are amazing instruments. And they are also built for survival. But when it comes to investigating those survival instincts can kinda be a hindrance. Think of visual pareidolia and how we can find familiarity in shapes. This is to protect us from enemies and people we don’t know but when investigating some of the most simple of shadows can look like a possible apparition.

Knowing how the outside world works

Knowing that materials can contract and expand with temperature changes to understanding air flow around a structure or building can help enormously when investigating. How many times have we heard pops and bangs to realise that it's before dawn (which is the coldest time of any 24 hour period) or that the sun has just gone down.

Saves time when investigating

Knowing even the basics of science and psychology can save so much time. If you do hear or see something you can find a PAE for (Possible Alternative Explaination) soon afterwards, this means more time spent on phenomena that can’t be explained (and possibliy paranormal!). Even when reviewing footage!

Saves money (from saving time)

Time is money, right? We investigate the paranormal because we are passionate about it and being more effective as an investigator means we can get more done in the time we are on a location.

Feel more confident investigating

Because you can become more skilled at finding your PAE (Possible Alternative Explaination), you become more confident with your knoweldge. Knowing HOW certain aspects of science and psychology works can be so rewarding. To you, to potential clients and others you investiagte with.

Knowing basic science and psycology can really up your game with investigating. It’s a way to take it to the next level after you’ve really got a handle on the key essentials. 

Because you shouldn’t have to feel stuck not knowing the important stuff JUST because of the way its written.