Hauntings

      The term "haunting" refers to a house or area where apparitions (spirits of the dead; ghosts) have been seen repeatedly. These sightings are often accompanied by other phenomena, such as strange noises/voices being heard and objects moving about on their own, where no normal means can be found to have caused them.
      There are two possibilities in a haunting. The first is that the actual spirits of dead persons are lingering in a house or area for reasons of their own. Civil War battlefields are often good examples of this type of haunting.
      The second possibility is that the house was the site of many dramatic events, such as abuse and/or murder, and the emotions of those events have been "recorded" by the home's electromagnetic field. The events are then later "played back" for the house's new, living occupants. Psychics can be very sensitive to this form of haunting, able to play back events and see them at will. The best way to tell which type of haunting one is dealing with is to note whether or not one can interact with the apparitional forms. If the ghosts can be engaged in a type of conversation, they are usually the spirits of the dead. If they do not react to living human stimuli, they are usually recorded events, for these types of apparitions are simply portions of the past being played back in the present.
      Hauntings can often be mistaken for poltergeist disturbances because the two phenomena share several factors. In a poltergeist disturbance, no apparitions are actually observed. Objects are seen to fly about of their own accord, often in unusual trajectories (even turning corners); lights flicker and explode; and sometimes even matter appears to pass through other matter, such as the eggs that passed through the closed refrigerator door in the case of Tina Resch, of 1984. In these cases, the movement of these objects is not caused by invisible spirits, but by a living human being with psychokinesis. Psychokinesis (formerly known as telekinesis) is the ability to move objects with the power of the mind. Often, psychokinetics have no idea they are the origin of the phantom movements of objects around them. They are often in a state of inner turmoil, and their emotions are simply being projected onto the world in this manner (this is why the centers of poltergeist disturbances are usually adolescent teenagers). A poltergeist disturbance will usually stop once the person at the heart of it seeks an outlet for their emotions.
      When objects in a home begin moving about on their own, there is one more possibility to consider, although it does not represent a true haunting; in some instances, these disturbances can be caused by a case of demonic possession. A living person is usually at the center of this possession, but sometimes a house can be demonically possessed also. This type of "haunting" mimics real hauntings, except that the occurrences have a sinister, wicked edge to them. Furniture will appear to "walk" about the house with an intelligence all its own. Family pets will seem to speak or sing in the presence of family members. Black clouds of mist moving through the house serve as the witnessed apparitions. Loud noises in the form of rappings and scratchings inside the walls will be heard, along with frightening, foul-mouthed voices. These voices and rappings can often be communicated with; in several cases taken on by experienced demonologists, they have set up a system of rappings (knock once for "yes," twice for "no") so the demonic presence could answer questions. Finally, in some instances, the demonic apparitions will become violent with living beings - some demonologists, priests, and/or exorcists have actually been struck by them. These examples are only the tip of the iceberg. For additional, even more horrific illustrations, one should refer to the work of demonologist Ed Warren and his wife, psychic Lorraine Warren.
      Demons choose houses and persons to "haunt" (possess) based on the energy that surrounds them; if they seem vulnerable to evil, they make fine targets. This is why homes where violent events have taken place are often the sites of future demonic possession.

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