The Ghost and the Saint

St. John Bosco (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

Not only does Christianity acknowledge the existence of the spirit world, even great saints sometimes experience encounters with “ghosts.” One such saint was John Bosco (1815 – 1888). While a young man, Bosco made an agreement with his friend Comollo that whichever of them died first would give the other some sign as to the state of his soul. As it happened, Comollo’s death came first, on April 2, 1839. The next evening, following the funeral of his friend, Bosco sat sleepless on his bed in the dorm room he shared with twenty other seminarians. At this point, we take up the story in Bosco’s own words:

“Midnight struck and I then heard a dull rolling sound from the end of the passage, which grew ever more clear, loud and deep, the nearer it came. It sounded as though a heavy dray were being drawn by many horses, like a railway train, almost like the discharge of a cannon…While the noise came nearer the dormitory, the walls, ceiling and floor of the passage re-echoed and trembled behind it…The students in the dormitory awoke, but none of them spoke…Then the door opened violently of its own accord without anybody seeing anything except a dim light of changing colour that seemed to control the sound…Then a voice was clearly heard, ‘Bosco, Bosco, Bosco, I am saved.’… The seminarists leapt out of bed and fled without knowing where to go. Some gathered in a corner of the dormitory and sought to inspire each other with courage, others crowded around the prefect, Don Giuseppe Fiorito di Rivolo; thus they passed the night and waited anxiously for the coming of day. All had heard the noise and some of them the voice without gathering the meaning of the words. I sat upon my bed and told my comrades that they had no cause for alarm. I had clearly understood the words; they were ‘I am saved.’ Some had also understood them clearly as I had done, and for a long time afterwards there was no other subject of conversation in the seminary.”[1]

[1] As quoted in: Abbot Alois Wiesinger, Occult Phenomena in the Light of Theology (London: Burns and Oates, 1957) 228-229.

Dr. F. C. S. Schiller on Evidence

Dr. F. C. S. Schiller (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

A mind unwilling to believe, or even undesirous to be instructed, our weightiest evidence must ever fail to impress. It will insist on taking the evidence in bits and rejecting them item by item. The man who announces his intention of waiting until a single absolutely conclusive bit of evidence turns up, is really a man not open to conviction, and if he be a logician he knows it. For modern logic had made it plain that single facts can never be “proved” except by their coherence in a system. But as all the facts come singly anyone who dismisses them one by one is destroying the conditions under which the conviction of new truth could ever arise in the mind.

– Dr. F. C. S. Schiller, “Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research,” Vol. XVIII, p. 419, Society for Psychical Research, 1904.

Test of Hypersonic Aircraft Fails over Pacific Ocean

HTV-2 (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

Apparently the “alien technology transfer” some conspiracy theorists like to talk about isn’t working out so well for us:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/08/vandenberg-launch-hypersonic-vehicle-fails.html

A Thursday morning flight test of the Falcon Hypersonic Test Vehicle 2 (HTV-2) didn’t quite go as planned. The craft is designed to reach speeds of Mach 20, meaning twenty times the speed of sound. The flight on Thursday was planned for 30 minutes, but controllers lost telemetry 20 minutes into the flight. Don’t worry: they say it “likely” ditched itself into the Pacific Ocean.

PIA Conference Presentation – On the Nature of Ghosts

White Noise Paranormal Network

Thanks to White Noise Paranormal Network, you can click on the link below to view my presentation, On the Nature of Ghosts, from the 2011 PIA Conference:

http://justin.tv/whitenoise02/b/291569213

You can also access videos of the other presentations through this link:

http://www.ghostshow.net/pia/

5th Annual PIA Conference a Success

2011 PIA Conference

The fifth annual Paranormal Information Association Conference came to a successful conclusion this past Sunday in Sebring, Florida. The PIA, which began life as the Florida Ghost Gathering, aims to bring together researchers of anomalous phenomena from around the state in order to share ideas, network, and build friendships. Unlike other conferences which largely cater to “fans” of “paranormal” television, the PIA Conference is open only to members of organized research and investigation groups. Another key feature of the PIA Conferences is the fact they are held “at cost” – everyone, including speakers, pays a modest registration fee and no one makes money off the conference. No, you won’t hear the latest “celebrity” speaking about the latest “hit” television show. Instead, you will encounter people with decades of actual field experience in anomalous phenomena research eager to share ideas and information with fellow colleagues. Also, unlike other conferences, the PIA Conference is not limited to merely the discussion of “ghosts,” but includes all areas of anomalous phenomena research including cryptozoology and UFOs/UAPs.

This year’s gathering was held at the historic Kenilworth Lodge in Sebring, Florida. The lodge opened in 1916 and has seen its share of well-known guests, including playing host to a meeting of US governors in 1924. The Kenilworth served as the perfect backdrop for the PIA Conference. The organizers of the PIA Conference hope to establish good relationships with a few historic hotels around the state in order to set-up something of a “rotation” for future PIA gatherings.

The event featured an excellent line-up of speakers on a wide variety of topics. Along with a variety of presentations, another hallmark of PIA Conferences are social activities to encourage networking and the building of relationships and friendships among various teams and investigators. This year’s event delivered in this aspect as well with all of Saturday evening devoted to social activities.

PIA’s organizers understand that the “turf wars” and personality conflicts which seem to dominate the field are not helpful. Their events are dedicated to breaking down those barriers by helping everyone understand we’re all working towards the same goal and we can more easily reach it by working together rather than by working against each other.

If you’ve already attended a PIA Conference, I’m sure you need no further motivation to keep attending. If you haven’t attended, I highly encourage you to do so – I strongly suspect it will only take one time to make you a regular!

Degrees Now Accredited, but Phony as Ever

Step Right Up - Get Your "Degree" (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

As if fake “certifications” in a field for which no certification exists wasn’t worse enough, as if fake “degrees” from fake schools weren’t enough, we now have “accredited” “degrees” waiting to separate fools from their money. I’ve shared my thoughts on “certifications” and “degrees” in paranormal studies in a previous post. I continue to stand behind those comments. There is no such thing as a “certification” in a field for which no objective standards exist. People can certainly receive training in methodology or learn about various theories, but none of this in no way can or should be construed as “certification” or a higher educational “degree.”

However, as if this weren’t enough, I’ve recently ran across “organizations” (which generally consist of one person in his or her home office with a computer and printer – although many are now skipping even the printer and going completely “paperless”) which now proffer their “degrees” in paranormal studies, up to and including doctoral “degrees,” as “accredited.” The only slight problem is that the “accreditation” agency is merely another front organization ran by the same person. In other words, the provider of the “degree” is providing the “accreditation” for the degree.

As with “certification,” this is a complete fraud since, just like real certification, real accreditation involves a third party verifying the academic fitness of an institution’s education offerings. At least one “school” in particular adds ever further fuel to the fraud by claiming that it’s perfectly fine for its own “accreditation” agency to accredit its “degrees” since the “degrees” and “non-secular.” They imply that only “secular” academic programs receive accreditation from third party accreditation agencies. This is a complete lie. Even theological seminaries which clearly offer “non-secular” degrees are accredited by third-party accreditation programs.

As someone who holds a real bachelor’s degree, a real master’s degree, and is working on a second master’s degree, these fake diploma mills really rub me the wrong way. There is a serious amount of work involved in earning a real higher education degree – even honest distance learning programs are accredited by third party agencies – and they receive that accreditation because those programs are found by a third party to be academically sound and rigorous. They are not some guy in his home office cranking out “diplomas.”

Again, as I said in my earlier post, I believe in the right of people to spend their hard-earned money as they chose. However, don’t buy yourself one of these fake “degrees” and they attempt to pass yourself off as the holder of an actual advanced academic degree. And for those of you running these fake diploma and certification mills: shame on you! You leave yourself just enough “outs” in order to be legal, but you are clearly preying on the uninformed, leading them into thinking they are receiving something they are not. What goes around, comes around – all I can say is be careful – being greedy in the material world does not bode well for one’s eternal afterlife in the spiritual world. You might just find yourself as one of those tormented spirits you “certify” people to “hunt.”

Pleasant dreams…

[© 2011 All rights reserved.  This copyrighted material may not be reposted or reproduced in any form without permission.]

What is Help?

At the United Paranormal International website (unitedparanormalinternational.ning.com), a member recently posed an excellent question: most paranormal groups claim to offer clients “help,” but what really is this “help?” The question goes to the heart of paranormal research and is one I’ve been contemplating for some time. What “help” can paranormal groups really offer to clients? I’m sure many will not like my answer: not much.

Groups’ claims of assistance, while generally well-intended, often go far beyond factual reality. Don’t misunderstand me; I’m not saying paranormal groups are pointless. Instead, I think we need to be clear on our limitations. We need to recognize what we truly can and cannot accomplish. I believe the only legitimate “help” falls into the categories of so-called “debunking” and support.

I personally dislike the term “debunking” since it seems to have a negative connotation. Instead I prefer the wordier (but I believe more accurate) “seeking natural explanations for suspected ‘paranormal’ activity.” I think this is one of the most important “helps” a group can provide clients. A legitimate paranormal group should be well-versed in indentifying “normal” things which can mimic the “paranormal,” for example high EMF, faulty plumbing, poor or aging construction and so forth. An important function of a legitimate group involves educating a client on these types of things which at first glance appear “mysterious,” but actually have perfectly natural causes.

The other area of “help” involves support. It’s in this area of “support” where many groups over-sell their ability to “help.” We are dealing with the unknown. The very best we can accomplish is verifying a reported activity has no apparent explanation. However, simply because we don’t find an immediate explanation, doesn’t mean it’s automatically “paranormal.” The best we can do is verify for the client that something without an apparent “natural” explanation is happening. We can reassure the client that he or she isn’t imagining the activity. I believe this is a great service in itself since many times people feel better simply knowing it’s not “all in their head.”

We cannot prove the existence of the paranormal. It bothers me when a certain television program constantly tells people their site is “haunted” (the same show took a much more realistic and cautious approach in its early seasons by claiming only that “unexplained” activity was present). We can document anomalies which point to the possibility of something unexplained happening, however, as mortals, we cannot “prove” existence of the spirit world.

Similarly, we cannot legitimately claim to “cleanse” locations. First, any sort of “cleansing” is a belief-system based activity and not fact. As a belief-system based activity, its success or failure has much more to do with the belief-system of the affected person than with the belief-system of any particular group. Second, if we assume entities in need of “cleansing” are spiritual beings, as mortals in the material world, we are sadly deluding ourselves if we believe we have any sort of power over these entities.

One area of support I rarely see mentioned involves referring people to professional medical assistance. There are numerous medical and psychological conditions which can mimic the paranormal. The Catholic Church refuses to even consider exorcism until a person undergoes a full medical evaluation to eliminate that possibility first. Yet, some groups apparently believe they can handle such things on their own. No amount of “investigation” or “cleansing” will help if there’s an untreated medical condition as the underlying cause. We do no “help” by playing into people’s delusions. Most of us are not medical professionals and we have absolutely no business playing doctor or psychologist, but I believe we do have an obligation to seek this help for those we believe need it.

So there you have it. What help can paranormal groups legitimately offer? They can help clients discover “normal” explanations for apparent “paranormal” activity. They can also offer clients support when activity is discovered with no apparent “normal” explanation. “Cleansings,” “proving” hauntings, even identifying specific “ghosts” I believe all go beyond our legitimate capabilities – at least at the present time.

Hollywood, US Bishops Spotlight “The Rite”

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Zenit recently ran a two-part interview with Fr. Gary Thomas, the official exorcist of San Jose, California. It provides interesting insight into the life of a real exorcist and real exorcism. The movie, “The Rite,” is based on the book “The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist,” by Matt Baglio – which in turn is based on Fr. Thomas’ experiences as an exorcist.

Part one of the interview is here and part two is here.

Note to Directors and Writers: Gore does not Equal Horror

Nosferatu (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

What happened to the horror genera? While a growing trend for the last few decades, it’s now apparently firmly entrenched in the minds of directors and writers (and, unfortunately, many fans) that horror automatically means gratuitous violence and gore.

However, this is a sophomoric and lazy “cheap thrills” approach. “Slasher” films and books have nothing to do with the reality of ghosts and the paranormal. Instead, they rely on shock produced by violence and gore to elicit a reaction.

Starting roughly in the 1960s, the horror genera became less about the story and more about the violence and gore. With the violence and gore taking center stage, as audiences became accustomed to a certain level of violence and gore, the level kept increasing in order to still produce a “shock” reaction. We see the results in today’s “horror” films which attempt to outdo each other in body counts and means to inflict horrific death. Is this really a good situation?

What happened to the good old fashioned scary movie or book in which the horror was largely psychological? Remember the classic Universal movie monsters? Restricted from showing over-the-top violence and gore, the writers were forced to focus on the story. They didn’t have the lazy option of merely showing someone being sawed to pieces to illicit fear. Nosferatu didn’t even have sound, yet remains a deeply disturbing and scary depiction of vampirism.

One of the best horror films ever was the 1963 version of The Haunting.  Amazingly, there’s no crazed, paranormal psychopathic killer on the loose, slashing apart half-naked teens. Instead we’re treated to a highly realistic depiction of ghostly activity. Yes, one character dies at the end, crashing her car after being driven mad by the ghost. Yet we’re never sure if the ghost actually existed or existed only in the troubled young woman’s mind. This film is the stuff of psychological horror – real horror. For what greater horror is there than to be completely uncertain of the reality of one’s own mind?

Is it possible to leave the violence and gore behind to instead focus on the story? We certainly know it’s been done in the past.

The Unblinking Eye

Gorgon Stare

Some are claiming with Gorgon Stare, the Air Force will be able to “see everything.”  Does that include ghosts?  Here’s the Washington Post article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/01/AR2011010102690.html