Ghosts and haunted houses

[BlofeldsCat]

Who here believes in ghosts and haunted houses? Anyone driven by, or stayed in a famous one like Amityville?

I used to believe in them as a kid, was and still am fascinated by them and would love them to be true, but I no longer do. I think it's all nonsense. Having said that there's a house in England that I had the chance to stay in - 30 East Drive, Pontefract - that had a similar history to Amityvlille where a family moves in and then flees in the night and has been unlived in since 1974. I was up for it until I read about a supposed demon being there and I won't fuck with that shit just like I won't dick about with a ouija board.

I don't believe in any of ot but I'm not that adamant in my convictions that I'm willing to be dragged across the ceiling and haunted forever, where I go.

[TheresOnlyOneWay]

I've stayed in a few and had a some weird things happen, not scary though. A lot of staff shared their experiences when we asked.

Nothing compared to the fright of shit I've seen in the sky.

[ziggysmalls]

I think we had a thread about this where I posted a bunch of personal stories so won't go into detail too much in case somebody references that. I can't find threads but I am an idiot

Yeah I believe in hauntings, spirits, etc because too much has happened to me personally. Quick list of things I have seen or experienced

Two Ghosts. One of which was seen by my friend at the same time AND the residents of the house showed a picture of him from 1920 or so. Oh yeah while this happened,. people were fooling around with a Ouija board in the next room.
Three Shadow people
My name being written in a dirty toilet while I was by myself in my apartment. Oh yeah this occurred in about 5 minute interval of me showering and putting on my clothes in the bedroom. My apartment lock was bolted so unless somebody crawled through a window......
My primary responsibility in the Navy (Top Secret- Need to Know) being told to me while two people were talking on a Ouija Board. These people didn't have need to know nor the clearance
Same board then told me my best friends middle name. Same people on board who never met my cousin and were 2000 miles away
Person on that board told the same spirit (followed them from Florida to Britain) to prevent his boss coming in the next day. Boss lost control of car and crashed the next morning. Didn't go to work.
Coat hangers moving in my closet with windows shut and me being by myself
Later that day my panic alarm goes off in my car while my keys are sitting in a drawer. Wife wasn't home.
Then a bunch of weird stuff has been going on since my mother in law passed last year. Too much of it to be purely coincidence.

Lastly I really got on a family history kick 2 years ago. Researching ancestry records, etc for several months and had an idea I found my great grandparents ancestral village but there were questions and honestly probably never would figure out. For months it was like this. Then on a sunny day I went to pay my respects to my great grandparents and just asked in the air if they could give a sign or nudge me to see if I am on the right or wrong path. Later that night, I found a needle in the haystack and was able to find the proof. Obviously it could have just been coincidental by me simply finding the info. However it happened on the same day so who knows

[pickslide]

You can be put in a dark room with your eyes and ears covered and electrodes can be used to disturb the electrical impulses crossing the hemispheres of your brain. During that times you will have all manner of strange experiences, including believing you are somehow outside your body, that someone else is in the room with you, that they may be touching you, talking to you or breathing on you. You may see strange shapes, hear moaning sounds, and you may see and hear people you know to be dead. You may see aliens, and you may feel as if you have been pinched or burned with no physical evidence that happened. And on and on and on.

As an added bonus, your brain can enter this state spontaneously or because of some unknown and temporary condition. You are particularly susceptible to this near or just after sleep but can also experience it when wide awake. You can even experience it in conjunction with others. People are especially vulnerable to it when they are emotional or frightened, malnourished or dehydrated. But it can happen at any time, and it might never happen again or it might happen often.

TK

[japeape]

If you happen to suffer from sleep paralysis, that is when you get to peek into a dimension
that exists but only outside our normal realm of consciousness.

Ghosts exist, and you are being observed when you are in a dream state.
When people accidentally penetrate this wall, and find themselves briefly trapped between
both states & dimensions, that is when the true horror begins.

Watch the documentary "The Nightmare," for more in depth analysis & stories.

When i lived in an old apartment, many years ago, there was no question it was haunted
by a female spirit from the 1800's.

I saw it only once, and it was not brief, it lingered in our hall.
It was mostly a torso, arms & legs, with the head & feet slightly faded & obscured.
It was dressed in a gown from what looked like the Victorian era.

I saw it the second night there, but after that, it only made sounds or moved things
around the apartment.
It walked down the hall, late at night & stopped outside my door.
Items were knocked off the kitchen table, once, as i watched TV.

Two very elderly people lived downstairs (it was a triple decker, i was on the top), they
both passed in the house, and their children booted us out as tenants and made it into condos.

I often wondered what became of the ghost & how it adapted to the later construction.

[BlofeldsCat]

Showing itself to you one time to let you know it's there.? Stopping outside your door? Sounds like a call for you to make contact with it - did you try?

[ziggysmalls]

Yeah Sleep paralysis is basically what you do when you attempt to astral travel. You put your body to sleep but your mind is awake. I did it once but freaked out a bit when I think I left my body. Heard weird noises, etc. Then a week later my now wife moved in with her dog and now since I have three dogs, do not have any chance to try it again

[Wruff_ajax]

Never ever try to make contact with these things. Do not open those doors. Often times people are getting duped by something very malicious that's trying to get in.
I've studied a ton of these cases, and very often the thing posing as your dead aunt or brother or whatever is really something diabolical that is probing your vulnerabilities and wanting you to open a doorway for them into your life.

An ex-girlfriend of mine from long ago, for example, whose father passed away while we were dating would often see something posing as her father after he died. It would visit her quite often. It was not her father.

Don't play friendly games with that stuff. Remember that the devil is the father of lies. Pray.

A prayer of exorcism for the laity:

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in the battle,
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May GOD rebuke him, we humbly pray.
And do thou, oh Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the power of GOD, cast into hell Satan and all of the evil spirits who prowl about this world seeking the ruin of souls.
In Christ's name we pray.
Amen


It's also believed that some ghosts may be souls in purgatory, in which case praying for them is the best thing you can do for them. Don't try to contact them. Just pray for them.
Pray for souls, but never attempt to interact with the paranormal. You've no idea what you're messing with.

"Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."
- 1 Peter 5:8

[BlofeldsCat]

Never ever try to make contact with these things. Do not open those doors. Often times people are getting duped by something very malicious that's trying to get in.

Let's pretend they exist, if there's evil there has to be good, therefore ghosts may often be good and not just diabolical. Plenty of stories, too, of helpful spirits especially those warning of evil and danger.

[Wruff_ajax]

Let's pretend they exist, if there's evil there has to be good, therefore ghosts may often be good and not just diabolical. Plenty of stories, too, of helpful spirits especially those warning of evil and danger.

I did not say they were all diabolical (read the latter part of my previous post). If a holy angel is going to help you (your personal guardian angel, for example, and yes each of us has one) then they are not going to appear to you as your dead grandmother or a strange woman knocking things over in your apartment. Your angel helps you everyday without your even knowing it.

But these so-called "helpful" spirits. Careful taking favors from spirits.

[BlofeldsCat]

I did not say they were all diabolical (read the latter part of my previous post). If a holy angel is going to help you (your personal guardian angel, for example, and yes each of us has one) then they are not going to appear to you as your dead grandmother or a strange woman knocking things over in your apartment. Your angel helps you everyday without your even knowing it.

But these so-called "helpful" spirits. Careful taking favors from spirits.

You're just poo-pooing everything. If it's a dead relative, its not them - why can't it be? Helpful spirits are also to be cautious of (and this avoided) because they might be a malicious entity pretending to be nice. No one said the strange woman in Jape's apartment has to be a guardian angel except you but I'm talking about it being just a spirit (and not necessarily a diabolical one). One that likes hanging around, or needs help to pass on (such as help solving a great injustice that happened to her).

You say to read the last part of your post to show you didn't say they're all evil yet out of 18 lines only 2 of the latter lines consider harmless spirits whilst the other 16 are all over-egging the evil aspect like a priest in a horror B-movie. And even though the last part of your post considers non-harmful spirits your very last line is ominous in it's warning so no offence but all you're doing is going hardcore religious and operating out of fear that everything ghostly is evil incarnate.

[Wruff_ajax]

You're just poo-pooing everything. If it's a dead relative, its not them - why can't it be? Helpful spirits are also to be cautious of (and this avoided) because they might be a malicious entity pretending to be nice. No one said the strange woman in Jape's apartment has to be a guardian angel except you but I'm talking about it being just a spirit (and not necessarily a diabolical one). One that likes hanging around, or needs help to pass on (such as help solving a great injustice that happened to her).

You say to read the last part of your post to show you didn't say they're all evil yet out of 18 lines only 2 of the latter lines consider harmless spirits whilst the other 16 are all over-egging the evil aspect like a priest in a horror B-movie. And even though the last part of your post considers non-harmful spirits your very last line is ominous in it's warning so no offence but all you're doing is going hardcore religious and operating out of fear that everything ghostly is evil incarnate.

I didn't say that at all.

If she's hanging around then she needs prayer, like I said before. Some trauma in her life very well could be a factor in how she ended up like this, still hanging around and all, seemingly stuck in that place. A wrong turn or terrible trauma in someone's life can send them down dark paths searching for answers.

A quick search yielded a perfect example of what I was speaking of. I don't believe you and I differ on the subject as much as you think.


Two Exorcists Weigh In On Ghosts and Haunted Houses

Fearful that her deceased ex-husband was haunting her, a woman went to see Fr. Vincent Lampert, the exorcist for the diocese of Indianapolis, Indiana. Ever since her ex-husband’s death, there were strange goings-on in his old favorite room.

The woman lived alone so when she found furniture moved around, there was no one to blame. It was especially unnerving that an old wedding picture kept showing up on a table. She would put it away only for it to later show up on the table again—sometimes face up, sometimes face down.

The marriage had ended because of infidelity. When the man announced he was leaving for another woman, the wife had told him: “Rot in hell!”

Time passed and the man developed a terminal illness. Before his death, he repented of the adultery and asked for his wife’s forgiveness. “Rot in hell!” was her response. She had no intention of forgiving him for the intense pain he had caused her and for destroying their marriage.

But now, after his death, it seemed he was making his presence known to his ex-wife. Was he haunting her out of revenge? Or was he actually in hell now and somehow punishing her?

After assessing the situation, Fr. Lampert believed that the man was in purgatory and in need of prayers. God was allowing him to make his presence known to his ex-wife. “I convinced her to forgive him,” Fr. Lampert said. “I prayed for him together with her and everything stopped.”

Demons or Souls in Purgatory?

It’s not the first time Fr. Lampert had encountered such hauntings. “I have celebrated Masses in locations where these types of things happen and that usually takes care of it,” he said. “During the Mass, when we pray for the person and everything becomes quiet, then we know this is what was needed.”

Does that mean that haunted houses are real? The spate of ghost hunter TV shows, movies, and books has been capitalizing on this notion. Many people do not believe in haunted houses while others blame them on activity from the devil. But is there such thing as a friendly ghost?

“I believe that souls can act in this reality if they are in need of prayer and God permits it,” Fr. Lampert said. How, though, can we know if it is a soul in purgatory causing mysterious activity in a house or if is it the work of the devil? “If everything becomes silent when we begin praying, then it’s a soul in purgatory,” Fr. Lampert said. “If it’s evil, things will become more turbulent because a demon is being tormented by the prayer.”

Many people have come to Fr. Lampert reporting strange things happening in their homes. “If it’s a soul that’s trapped, it’s seeking prayers and trying to get people’s attention,” he explained. “It needs those prayers to move on to where it needs to be.”

Before acting in a haunted house situation, Fr. Lampert said that he will investigate and spend time in prayer. “I’m usually pretty cautious before I agree to celebrate a Mass,” he said. “I would say prayers to drive away evil but not hold a Mass. I don’t want anything to happen that could profane the Eucharist.” He explained that during an exorcism, if a demon manifests, the priest must take great care to protect the Eucharist.

The Invisible World

Father Patrick, (not his real name) is a parish priest and unbeknown to his parishioners, also an exorcist for his diocese. When asked if there are such things as ghosts, he referred to the words in the Nicene Creed: “We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all that is seen and unseen…”

“If, as an ordinary Christian, you do not recognize the invisible world, then you are blind to a lot of it,” he said. Besides the 9 choirs of angels and demons, he said there are all the souls that were once attached to bodies.

“After death, our souls will be in heaven or hell but there are those who are not yet in heaven because of their imperfections,” Fr. Patrick said. “Sometimes they are attached to things here on earth. I believe that is what people report as ghosts--disembodied souls still attached to things or people.”

Fr. Patrick said he has had many encounters with this. “As soon as people tell me they are having these experiences, I try to determine the name of the party,” he said. “I want to discern what kind of soul we are dealing with. It could be a soul in purgatory or one that is damned that has not gone to God for judgment yet.”

For the damned, Fr. Patrick said that there is such a thing as hell. “ Only God knows all the opportunities they had and all that they refused,” he said. “I believe I have met some damned souls.” According to him, there is no specific theology that teaches what to do in those cases and it’s a controversial topic. He treats it as he does an exorcism and prays for them to depart.

Over and over again, however, Fr. Patrick said he has found a deceased member of the family trapped on earth that did not have a proper preparation for death or a Christian burial. In such cases, he said these souls can find peace through prayers and Masses being said for them.

“So many souls are earth-bound,” Fr. Patrick said. “God has made us for himself and we shall not rest until we are with him.”

Father Patrick warned people not to seek out ghost hunters that look for haunted houses and come to set up their paranormal equipment. “They start asking for things to show up and taunting spirits to get a response,” he said. “That is actually abuse. It is not respecting a soul that lives there. That’s like setting up cameras where you live and sticking a microphone in your face while you are trying to get your breakfast.”

Instead, Fr. Patrick said we should pray for departed souls. And if someone thinks their house is haunted, they should ask their local priest to help.

http://www.ncregister.com/blog/armst...haunted-houses

[Wildman]

I do not believe in ghosts, but I do believe in the human brain's ability to pretty much make people see, hear, feel, and believe whatever the fuck it wants.

[japeape]

Yeah Sleep paralysis is basically what you do when you attempt to astral travel. You put your body to sleep but your mind is awake. I did it once but freaked out a bit when I think I left my body. Heard weird noises, etc. Then a week later my now wife moved in with her dog and now since I have three dogs, do not have any chance to try it again

Tony Iommi is very much into this, as well.

He said the first time absolutely terrified him, like you mentioned.
But he began to get more comfortable & experimented with it.
He's very much convinced anyone can tap into this if they allow themselves,
and learn how to handle the fear.

[japeape]

Showing itself to you one time to let you know it's there.? Stopping outside your door? Sounds like a call for you to make contact with it - did you try?

That is exactly what i felt.

The first day i moved in, nothing.
The second night, it was saying, I'm here, too.
I'm convinced of that.

I was not asleep or even in the pre-sleep state, i had just closed my eyes.
It purposely made a sound (a creak on the all wood floors, like a weight lifting off it),
which made me open my eyes.

And it was there in the hall, which was lit with a dimmer, and it stayed there for several
seconds and sort of evaporated.
Human form, feminine, but again, the head & feet were like a picture out of focus.
Not mist, but not really there.

But the outline of the body, the dress, the legs & hands, shoulders...
visible like a real person, but it wasn't (or wasn't in the present time).

We lived above a huge attic too, to add an eerie element.

But i sensed it most in the kitchen area, and would get very uncomfortable
in the side pantry, which was quite large, and a room just past the 'fridge.

When i went in there, i felt like something was blocking me, like standing
in the entrance to it, when i was inside grabbing my corn flakes or whatever.

It felt like someone following you, then stopping at the point where you enter
a room.
It was intimidating, because you had to go through it, to get past it.
Just felt weird.

One night, i was trying to sleep, and there was pacing along the hall & whispering.
There was a long hall in the apartment entrance, that ran past my bedroom and my roomates bedroom,
the bathroom & into the kitchen.

I thought it was my annoying room mate talking on the phone, and walking up & down the hall
as he was talking.

I finally got up & went to confront him, opened my door & nothing.
His door was closed, he was asleep (no lights under the door), and the hall was quiet and empty.

I went back to bed and the pacing had completely ceased.

Another time, during the day, my sister brought over tupperware, it was plastic i think, and
put everything on my kitchen table.

Later, after she left, i was watching TV and heard this crash, like an arm swatting every single thing
off the table.
I did not know that at the time, but when i went in, and saw everything on the floor, i realized
that's what happened.

I was very scared the first month, and my brother in law made fun of me.
I had trouble sleeping & it was Summer, but i remember it being almost like chilly Autumn.
It was so weird.

Gorgeous apartment, though.
All original Victorian home.

We even had a dining room.

My room mate was on a Titanic exhibit at the time, this was during the late 90's Titanic craze,
and i was alone in this big place for six weeks.

After a month, the thing settled down, except for that weird pacing incident.

I grew to love the apartment, and was sad when we were forced out after a year & a half.

But i never addressed or spoke to the thing.
I think i said: Settle Down, after the table clearing thing, but it never answered back.
But i felt it, always near or in the kitchen & pantry.