Residual:
The most common style of a human haunting is a residual haunting. A residual haunting is like having an impression made in time. The entity may seem to be lost in a time warp. The spirit really isn't even there, only the energy is.
In most cases people may here screaming or crying due to the violence factor that may have caused this traumatic event to happen. People may also hear the sounds of footsteps walking on the stairs or through hallways.
Typically the repeated event is whatever the person who left the energy behind did often or an significant event that they remember happening to them. It is almost like it the energy has become part of the dwelling that they once occupied on an every day basis. These haunting styles always seem to happen in the same place every time.
There is usually very little you can do on this style of a haunting except make the family who is having these problems understand what is going on and explain to them that they are in no danger due to the energy not being controlled by the person who left it behind.
There is no actual entity present in this style of haunting, and the energy that was left behind is just like a video playing the same scene over and over again. Eventhough it is not aware that people are there, it can still be a scary and emotional situation to the people who have to deal with it happening in their home.
It may happen every night or every week or even every year. It is the most frequent haunting investigators will come across in their cases. An investigator will tell you there is nothing they can do about this style haunting and they are correct. People need to either except what happens and learn to deal with it, or move on.
-Jason (TAPS)
Negative entity / Demonic:
Demons are one of the known inhuman entities out there. Fortunately, they are a rare occurrence.
They are usually very easy to identify as long as they are not hiding. When it is a demonic haunting you typically notice a revolting stench similar to rotted flesh or sulfuric acid. They often let loose a growl that sounds like it is coming from everywhere at once. They like to make contact by pushing, shoving, hitting, and even scratching. The whole air in the affected area will feel thick like fog and the temperature will drastically change, typically becoming warmer.
These creatures are very strong, unlike human spirits, and they don't mind showing it. There have been cases where people have been thrown through the air and even attacked. Apparently, their main goal is to break down a person's free will in order to make way for possession. This can take days, months or years, but time is of no concern to them.
They have a hatred for mankind that dates back to the days of God and Lucifer. They have lived for millennia and will be here long after we are gone. So, you must understand that though you may be able to get these creatures to leave a dwelling with religious provocation you will never destroy them. They could go to the next place down the road if they choose, most likely they won't because distance is not a problem for these creatures. They could go from Maine to California on a thought.
They can take on any form they wish, but mostly commonly it is a half man, half animal form. They will have the head of an animal, the torso of a man, and the hairy legs of an animal. When they are approached by an investigating paranormal team they may feel threatened and appear in a human form to keep the home from being blessed and stop the use of religious provocation.
During an investigation you need assess the situation more by what happened before you arrived than what is actually going on during the time you are there. Demons are capable of changing form right in front of you from a human form to an inhuman form. They neither male nor female, but then can change that to meet their needs. People mostly see demons as black masses standing in doorways or near rooms. Sometimes they are called shadow devils.
If you feel like you have a demon in your home I would recommend getting help from a well known paranormal group as quickly as possible. Time is of the essence when dealing with these creatures.
-Jason (TAPS)
Intelligent:
In this style of haunting the entity or entities are aware of their surroundings. Most of the time you will find that these spirits are not confined to one spot, they can move around freely. Also, they will acknowledge the existence of human beings and even try to communicate in certain ways.
They are limited in what they can do. Most of the time they only move very light objects but they have been known to move objects up to around 10lbs. They are looking for people to notice them but they end up scaring people a great deal instead.
Usually, between the hours of 11pm and 4am are the times that the entities can more efficiently manifest themselves, due to this time period being the darkest hours of the night. Most of the time are not strong enough to show themselves during the daylight because it takes too much energy to make themselves visible. Think of it like this, if you were to turn on a flashlight during the daytime you would hardly notice the light, but if you were to turn it on in the dead of night, the light would be clearly visible. This is how spirits work as well. If they use too much energy during the day they will be too weak to show themselves at night.
These spirits can be benevolent or mischievous, depending on the reason that they are haunting a location, and there are several reasons. They may be haunting it because it was once their home and they want you to leave. They may be there because they've found that a child is able to see them so they feel noticed and are willing to stay around for this fact. There may be some kind of artifact that they are staying with and following due to some emotional bond with it. They also may be looking for something or someone. They may even not be willing to except that they have died. Whatever the reason may be, they are there and they do not want to leave.
Now comes the hard part, ridding a house of them. They are not inhuman entities which we will get to, so religious provocation will not be effective to rid the area they are in. You are, as they are, limited to what you can do.
-Jason (TAPS)
Poltergeist:
Poltergeist is from a German word meaning noisy spirits. Reports of poltergeists date back to Ancient Roman times.
The activity that takes place will start of with knocks and bangs, furniture starting to move around by itself. Then, the activity will become more intense, manifesting itself through voices and even the appearance of full apparitions. Furniture may slide across the room and beds may shake. Many shows are based on this is a style of haunting because it tends to be the most terrifying and rarest type of haunting that occurs.
Most of the time, in the case of a poltergeist, the haunting circles around a female in her teen years. Some of these cases seem to be caused by the female unknowingly controlling the energy around herself. Some cases happen around people that are stable and in the right mind space.
This haunting is hard to classify due to certain situations. No two are ever really the same. Most of the time you will find that one person in the household seems to be more affected by the haunting than anyone else. It may seem that most of the activity doesn't happen unless that certain person is present. Usually, the activity appears to stop when that person leaves the home. The majority of the time poltergeists are experienced by several people, but again they seem to center around one certain person. This person may be highly stressed as of late or maybe this person has gone through some type of extreme emotional situation. If this is the case, see that the individual involved gets some medical care, and soon afterwards the poltergeist will subside.
When it is not the teenager that is manifesting activity there are usually several spirits in the area. The spirits appear to pool their energy together in order to become strong enough to move larger objects and make more noises. In order to remedy the situation, you need to find the root of their anger so that they can pass over and leave you in peace. On most poltergeist cases they will disappear with out any warning, just as they appeared. Certain times it may stop within a few days, other times it may take years. You may never know the reason that it happened. Most people are just happy to see it go and that's enough for them.
By understanding why it was there in the first place helps you to understand how to keep it from ever coming back again. Knowledge is the key in protecting yourself in this world.
-Jason (TAPS)
Haunted Q and A____________________________________________
There may be simple, ordinary reasons for the happenings in your home. Try to look for logical reasons behind knocking, banging, hot spots, cold spots, voices etc.
Q: Can spirits follow you?
A: It is blieved that they can, they may be attached to you or something that you have ie:an object.
Q: Can children see spirits?
A: Children are more open minded; therefore, they might not know if what they are seeing is a spirit. They are not preconditioned to ignore the unexplainable and really don't understand the statement ?there are no such thing as ghosts?. Also keep in mind that fact and fiction are blurred in a child's mind, so use your best judgement when trying to decide if your child has had a legitmate paranormal experience.
Q: What is so bad about the ouija board?
A: You are giving something beyond our realm control of your motor functions. You are allowing yourself to be manipulated by something you don?t know. It?s not the board itself, you can make a spirit board out of anything, it?s the practice of using it as a vehicle to lower your will.
Q: I was sleeping and I couldn?t move, something was pushing on me what was it?
A: Could have been sleep paralysis. What happens is your body temporarily paralyzes itself during sleep to preventyou from enacting everything that you are dreaming about. Sometimes your body is awake but your mind is asleep and you end up sleepwalking. Other times it works the other way around, your mind is awake but your body is sleeping and you cannot move. This can leave you delusional as, while you panic, your breathing and heart rate does not increase to compensate, so eventually you fallback asleep and all is well.
Common side effects are feelings of being held down, shortness of breath, inability to speak.
Q: How do I start my own group?
A: This requires a group of like-minded individuals, a good sense of safety and responsibility, and common sense. Some people start with a group of friends, some look on the internet for other groups that are already up and running. On our main page there is a link to all our TAPS family members. The TAPS Family consists of established, affiliated groups that you may want to learn from. Click on the ?investigators? link to find one near you.
Q:What is the best equipment to use?
A: We do have extensive equipment, however it has been years in the making, and these things were not purchased all at once. It may take time and saving up a bit to get a good equipment base. However, excellent results can be obtained with the most basic of equipment such as a video camera with nightshot and an audio recorder, either analog or digital. Other equipment you might look to buy are; an EMF meter, thermometer, and cameras, 35mm and digital. Some of these are obviously expensive equipment, so to buy them one by one is ok too. These tools are an investment and need to be treated as such. Be sure to handle your equipment carefully and to store it properly?You want to be sure it will be useful to you for a long time. Always keep a checklist of your equipment, and inventory it before and after an investigation. When deciding on equipment, don't forget to factor in the cost of media (tapes, film, etc.) Many people choose digital to overcome this, while other swear the results are better with the non-digital variety.
Q: How do I get rid of an unwanted spirit?
A: Well, hopefully, with the right knowledge, you won't feel threatened by its presence, but if you are truly uncomfortable with the fact you may have a spirit, and it is the right type of spirit, you can ask it to leave. As a family you need to tell it to leave, to move on. This may take several tries, however it is your home and you need to take charge. Simply say ?we do not want you here, it is time you moved on?.
Q: Why do spirits move things?
A: We cannot interview a spirit to find out for sure, but we guess that they may want to let you know they are there. Simple daily tasks that we perform without even a thought may take a spirit some time to accomplish. You may wake up to a cup being a few feet from where you left it. That may be their way of telling you ?hey I?m here?. The important thing to do is to try and find the sense in the activity in an attempt to figure out what they are trying to accomplish.
Q: How much weight can a spirit move?
A: Iin our experience we've found that what we label as an intelligent spirit doesn't seem to move objecs more than around 10 pounds in weight. This can actually work out to be quite a shove or a grab. A demonic or inhuman entity, appears to be able to move much more than that.
Q: What is a demonic or inhuman?
A: A demonic or inhuman is a classification we use to describe an entity that has never walked the earth in a human corporeal form. Ther are many different types; demons, elementals, angels,etc.
Q: How come I keep seeing a shadow figure out of the corner of my eye, but when I look at it it?s gone?
A: Basically, light entering from the corner of the eye is distorted more than the light that enters the eye from straight on. What you see out of the corner of your eye is simply your mind's best guess at what you would see if you were to look straight at it. Therefore, you cannot be too sure of what you see through the corner of your eye.
Q: Why do you investigate at night?
A: One theory is that if an entity, while manifesting itself, causes any light at all, you will see it better at night with infrared cameras. Yet, if an entity, while manifesting itself, does not cause light, then you will see it at night with infrared cameras. If you were to do this during the day, you wouldn't catch that bit of light, should there be one. For example: if you turn on a flashlight outside on a sunny day it's not going to be discernable at all. But if you turn on the dimmest of all flashlight in the darkness, you will see it very clearly. Also, sound travels further at night do to a phenomenon called sound refraction. Most of all, that is when the reported activity almost always is reported to happen. And, that is when we aren't all working at our jobs, lol.
Q: I see on the show "Ghost hunters" that they are only there a short time. Why not stay longer?
A: Ah, the miracle of editing. TAPS is typically at a location for 12 hours or longer. There have been episodes that they have investigated for two nights but the show was edited to make it look like one night. It takes roughly two and a half weeks to film one forty-three minute show.
Q: Can spirits travel from place to place?
A:We don't see why not. They seem to have the ability to move at their will.
Q: Why can spirits travel through walls?
A: One theory is that they are made up of energy and as you know energy is not solid, giving them the ability to travel through a wall.
From
www.theatlanticparanormalsociety.com
