Cameras and all that

Ask anyone and they will either claim to have had a paranormal experience or know a person who has. Ghosts have been part of our human existence since the beginning of time, yet we still spend our lives searching for the ultimate proof that “Ghosts are Real”. And, I guess, I am one of those people.

I have had a fascination with the paranormal since a young age. In fact, my first experience was in the haunted watch-tower of Plas Mawr in Wales, at the age of 10, where my father’s camera refused to work. It worked in every other room bar that one. Yet, it was that one experience that has always led me to take a logical approach. Machinery breaks down for a variety of reasons and of course, it is possible that light or room conditions mean a camera will not function.

The field of investigating the paranormal can be fascinating, with its highs and its lows. I have spent hours in damp, cold underground closes ( old streets ) in Edinburgh, where we have no activity at all to the hidden gems of possible evidence; voices recorded onto Dictaphone, light anomalies and trigger objects that moved.

But there is another side to the paranormal that I feel we overlook and that is those affected by the presence of a ghost. For instance, most calls from a resident will start of with the words “You will think I am crazy.....but” and then their story will begin.

In most cases, it takes a lot of courage for someone to call either a medium or a paranormal investigation team. In one case I had, a couple almost separated due to the problems going on in the house and it took them a year before they contacted us.

And then of course, along comes the investigation team, the medium, the cameras, the equipment etc etc. I fear at times, we sometimes add to the problem and suddenly the whole situation is heightened, certainly for the home-owner. We carry out an investigation and head off.

Mediumship has taught me one thing over the years and that is the need for sensitivity towards people, and this is no different in the field of the paranormal. If I had unexplained events going on in the house, I would want to know one of two things. Does it have a logical explanation and if not, is it something to be scared of !!

If we find a logical explanation, such as noisy heating or natural movement with the house structure, then we have done our job. The resident is much more content in the knowledge that they have an answer to the problems experienced.

If there is no logical explanation, I have long been conscious that a full investigation is often not the answer to the problems.

I have heard of one incident where a group had gone along to a house and said that there was a portal in one of the bedrooms which was causing the paranormal experiences. Not the sort of thing that I would want to hear and the chances of sleeping in that bedroom again or even staying in the house...well,.,,probably not.

Sensitivity has to be the most important part of paranormal investigating. We are dealing with people and it is important that there is a sense of closure at the end of it for that person.

More often than not, I have found that it is a case of the sceptic and the psychic coming together, to investigate a case, long before any paranormal investigation is carried out, if at all. I often work with a person who will speak to the house-owner, long before I step in as medium. They will research the history of the house, the area and even look round for anything that may even offer the slightest hint to a logical explanation.

But if no logical explanation can be found, we can look at the mediumistic element. Who may be causing the problems and why. Often , I have found that there are issues going on in family or there are alterations going on in the house, which cause these events. These may be caused by a previous owner of the house or a family member who has passed over, even long ago. But once again, anything given mediumistically has to be verified, either by the owner or the researcher.

And when it is verified, this is where we often get closure. Nine times out of ten, if the owner knows who is causing the phenomena, and perhaps why, they are much more content. We have an answer and in a number of cases, I have found that the activity suddenly stops.

We are quick to reach for our cameras and ghost hunting equipment, but there is always a person affected by paranormal events. We always need to remember that.