Sue St.Clair and Matthew Didier's Paranormal Blog

Response to our blog entry entitled Sweeping Away The Ghosts was very positive, and we would like to thank those of you who commented, and the many that emailed directly!

As a result Lynn Tucker one of our resident spirit mediums has offered to create an FAQ page on mediumship, based on our readers questions. Eventually these pages may include input from the other mediums we work with as well.

A sample of one of the questions we received for Lynn through the PSICAN forums:

"I am not sure pushing or ridding a place of a spirit or ghost or whatever you wish to call them is a good thing? First off if they do not wish to leave then are we in our rights to try and force them to ( I say try because I am not sure if we can actually get rid of one that does not wish to leave)? And if this fails would said entity be happy or just ticked off ? I for one would not want to upset a creature that I can not see."

If you have any questions regarding spirit mediumship in general, ridding homes of ghosts, house clearing etc that you would like to see answered ina future FAQ, please leave us a comment below or you can email us directly, and we will pass these on to Lynn.

Cheers!
Sue

Each Friday we will have a look at the stories and experiences that have been related to us over the years that are amongst our personal favourites. These will include Crypto, Ghosts, Hauntings, UFO's, and other strange events that may be considered Fortean, from in around the Toronto, Canada area .... and since they are from our own personal files will likely not be found elsewhere on the web .... enjoy!

The Ghosts Of The Royal Ontario Museum - Toronto, Canada

Our article on the ROM was originally penned in 1998, when the biggest movie event was "Titanic". The Royal Ontario Museum was founded on April 14th, 1912 -- the day the Titanic sank in the North Atlantic.

Two ghosts inhabit different parts of the museum. One is the original director of the ROM, Charles Trick Currelly, whose apparition has been seen wearing a nightshirt and wandering the East Asiatic collections. Staff have reported strange occurrences in this gallery and some have seen the ghost themselves. The other ghost is that of a little girl dubbed Celeste, whose sad little spectre would sit in the McLaughlin Planetarium watching the shows. As Colombo points out in his book, Haunted Toronto, since the planetarium has been closed one wonders what's happened with little Celeste.

The following was sent in by a co-op student who worked in the ROM...

"After the school term ended, I stayed on to help out as a volunteer as I had a semester and summer to kill before university.

Many of the people I worked with kind of wondered about the stories but others who had worked there for years said it was all balderdash.

I should say that I believe in ghosts and always have, so I did think it was possible that something was going on.

The area I worked in consisted of classrooms, offices and a staff room. In the particular hall near these rooms, one often saw "something" out of the corner of your eye... a shape which seemed to be crossing the hall into one of the offices. The doors were all locked and only certain full time staff had keys, anybody else buzzed to gain admittance and that the main door was in full view of and close to the office. No people had buzzed and no doors had been unlocked so the shapes disconcerted people.

One day during the March Break when there were no classes scheduled, I was working on the computer at the back of a large room. I was alone except there was one other employee.

The computer was against the wall, so my back was to the larger part of the room, and the hallway. The other person was in another smaller office and we were alone in the department. As I typed I was concentrating as I wanted to finish before we left for lunch.

I heard soft footsteps behind me, and then a hand landed on my left shoulder. I didn't even look up, I just kept typing and said "Okay, I'm nearly done. Be there in two shakes."

The hand patted my shoulder twice and lifted.

I signed off of the computer and then went to the office where my friend was to find them coming out the door saying, "Sorry, I didn't catch that."

When I asked what they had meant, my friend said that they'd heard my voice in the other office but as they weren't terribly close to me, they had missed what I said. I asked if they had come in and laid their hand on my shoulder and got only a confused look and asked how could they as they was in the other office and I wasn't in there.

There was nobody else in the department, indeed, on the floor and the elevator wasn't working that day, so if anybody had come down to the basement we would have heard the heavy fire doors and certainly nobody buzzed or used keys to enter.

After that encounter another person said they'd actually walked into a figure in the doorway of one of the offices. There wasn't a change in temperature of feeling of the place when I had my experience, but as the entire area is always cold and faintly menacing but we all got used to it."

Our thanks to the witness for sharing this report with us!

Do you have a real life ghost story, an encounter with a UFO, or other paranormal experience/s you'd like to share? If so, we'd love to hear from you! Post your own experiences in our comments section or send us an email. Please post only true life experiences ... we love good fiction, but there are other fantastic blogs out there to post fictional accounts to.

Most of our readers already know that our organizations do not clear or rid homes, offices, or other buildings of ghosts or spirits. However, we do consult with spirit mediums that will. None of the mediums we work with charge fees or money or these services. They believe their gifts come from God, and it is against their faith to profit from their abilities.

Occasionally people do want to be rid of their ghost or unseen visitor, and at that point we ask our consultant spirit mediums when available to take over. Again free of any charge.

Lynn Tucker is a spirit medium with decades of experience. She has performed spirit clearings in the Toronto, Ontario, Canada area successfully, both as a pastor of the Spiritualist Church of Canada, and through the Anglican church.

I asked what if anything people can do for themselves at home, and here is her advice. This method has been used successfully over, and over again and can be performed by any home owner or tenant.

Get one full-sized natural fibre sweeping broom (the kind you use to sweep the house with). You need to be strong in your intentions. Your mind must not have any uncertainty in it.

Go to the farthest part of the home. The farthest part away from the door to go outside. The whole house must be swept, even over carpet.
While you sweep you speak loudly and clearly with authority to the ghost. Sweep in a pace, like you are moving to the beat of music.
With each sweep say this:

"We don't want you here. You must leave. You cannot return. Out! Out! We don't want you here. You must leave. You cannot return. Out! Out! "

Repeat this like a mantra (it is ok if you translate it to any language)

Don't miss any part of the house. Sweep it out until you reach the door. Then sweep out the door. Once you are done, I want you to go to each room. When you go to each room you should light a single white tea-lite candle in each room.

When you do this you must say:

"I light this flame of protection to cleanse my home."

Then with strong conviction you must say:

"This is MY HOME! I am the living and I LIVE HERE!"

You must do that in every room of your home, office etc. Once that has happened you should have some friends over while the candles burn. Invite them over for tea or drinks so living people's energy can fill the space.

The brooms are the next issue. Once you sweep out with them they must be dunked in a bucket of water to cleanse them, and allowed to dry outside before they are brought back into the home. Some people burn them or throw them away. It is your choice.

I find that water is the universal cleanser, so water works just fine.

If you want to smell nice tranquility you can burn incense in the home after, but it is only a cosmetic preference for people to choose.

Ghosts or spirits can be scary, but they do not have the strength of a living human. They can only mess with our minds to make our confidence low. They can freak us out because they shock us. Always remember that we have control over the ghosts, they do not have control over us. Think of an active ghost who is constantly scaring folks, like it is a bully. Stand up to the bully and he runs. He is only a bully because someone bullied him in the past. Be tough with the ghost and they will back down.

Our thanks to Lynn for sharing her methods, and advice with us. Again, the above will work if you follow the directions and are strong in your convictions.

And please remember that if someone asks you to give them money for such a service, "caveat emptor" or "let the buyer beware" churches as a rule do not charge for blessings, or helping others including the spirit mediums that belong to the Spiritualist Church.

This week, historian Chris Laursen takes us to one of his favourite places in his ancestral homeland of Denmark, the famous Kronborg Castle, which not surprising has had its share of recent ghostly incidents.

The haunting of Kronværket
by Chris Laursen

Murder most foul, as in the best it is,
But this most foul, strange, and unnatural.
- The Ghost in Shakespeare's Hamlet (c. 1600)

Standing at the western shores of Øresund, the strait dividing former enemies Denmark and Sweden, is the massive Renaissance castle Kronborg. Walking along the chilly, wind battered battlements, it is easy to imagine Shakespeare's Elsinore come to life. This is the place that inspired the setting for Hamlet, and although the bard's tale came purely from his imagination, ghosts are said to haunt the nearly 600-year-old fortress.

I have been to Kronborg twice, most recently in May 2004 with my Danish friend Mia Zebitz Larsen who toured me through one of my favourite sections, the underground residence for the fortress's soldiers, the Casemates. It is a place that conjures up a typically spooky atmosphere with its cavernous dark passages, stalls and rooms. The temperatures were on average 10°C down there, making it a very difficult place to live indeed. Lanterns were fastened to the walls and natural light poured from holes in the ceiling, guiding us through the complex maze. There were no shortage of startling moments, such as discovering a pair of costumed mannequins (pictured below) staring out a small window. I found myself wondering what kind of ghosts haunted this eerie place.

I wouldn't have guessed that the castle's bright and cheery restaurant was the scene of the significant amount of activity a year after I visited Kronborg. In June 2005, the Kronværket Café and Restaurant opened on the castle grounds and was plagued by a variety of inexplicable ghostly events corroborated by management, staff and castle security.

"Candles starting lighting up by themselves, doors slammed for no reason, table settings were changed around, wine bottles fell from the shelves," waitress Dorte Andersen told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in December 2005.

"When I came back from my holidays, the night watchmen complained that the restaurant's personnel always forgot to blow out the candles so they would burn during the night," the restaurant's manager Christina Gotthard told the local newspaper Frederiksborg Amts Avis. "The staff always made sure they blew out all of the candles, and to prove it, they took the nightwatchmen with them so they could see all of the candles had been blown out. At 3 o'clock that same night, the nightwatch people saw a candle lit in the windowsill."

Other strange events were reported including objects going missing and later reappearing, the ghostly sound of keys in locks, disembodied voices and unexplainable cold spots. Some employees said that could smell dead people in certain parts of the restaurant. "There are more rooms in the restaurant where the people feel they are being looked at. There is a single room no one will go into because it is very scary. Even though they make sure they lock the doors to these rooms, all of a sudden they become unlocked again," Gotthard said.

These unnerving incidents prompted her to call in a well-known local full-time medium, Birgitte Graae, to investigate that September. Birgitte said in addition to investigations of haunted locations, she has also done archaeological clairvoyance and assisted in murder investigations. What she found at Kronborg became reported widely in the international media in December of that year. I wanted to find out from Birgitte herself what happened.

Birgitte told me that the castle, including the Casemates, has its share of ghost stories, and its guards have reported many strange incidents over the years. In her detailed investigation as a medium of Kronværket, which she told me had previously been apartment residences, Birgitte uncovered a great deal of psychic impressions. "When I'm doing sittings with individual persons, it usually takes about three to five hours," Birgitte said. "When I work with haunted places... I can see back in time and how the area and house looked in different times, a sort of history book and map over the place. This is very helpful in the clearing up phase."

Danish clairvoyant Birgitte Graae investigated Kronværket.

The spirits she encountered in Kronværket had resided there for many years. She detailed her communications with these spirits in Frederiksborg Amts Avis. One of the spirits she assisted to the other side was an Englishwomen by the name of Eva McGlean. "She was in a room where the restaurant personnel feel that they are being looked at," Birgitte told the paper. "Eva McGlean was raped when she was 13 or 14 years old by some farm workers in 1670 when she still lived in England. A lot of terrible things happened to her." Apparently, Eva ended up killing a young man who had been making unwanted advances. Although she evaded arrest for the killing and ended up marrying a diplomat in 1706 and moving to Denmark to live at Kronborg, the story became more tragic after she gave birth to a baby girl while her husband was away on official business.

"She went into total depression," Birgitte recounted. "She locked the child away and starved it to death. After that, she buried it in the [dirt] floor."

Ridden with guilt, Eva continued to haunt her residence, which became Kronværket, afraid that she would not be admitted to heaven. "I asked her why she had killed her daughter," Birgitte told the Frederiksborg County paper, "and she said she was so afraid that her daughter would be the victim of the same things that she had suffered herself."

Eva's spirit was not the only one that relayed a tale of guilt and tragic death in Birgitte's investigation into the Kronværket haunting. In the wine cellar, she encountered a German ghost named Mark who in the 1800s who ended up on the run, wrongly accused of stealing from a previous employer. Wherever he went, the false accusations caught up with him. In despair, he ended up hanging himself in a barn, and his ghost has wandered the country ever since. "I gave him the permission to declare his innocence by listening to his story," Birgitte said. These are but two of 15 ghosts Birgitte encountered during her investigation of Kronværket. Since then, she said was able to clear the place and nothing strange has happened since.

The huge wall lining the moat around Kronborg Castle. One of the spirits Birgitte encountered was a little girl who said she fell from the second floor of Kronværket into the moat and died.

Kronværket closed last autumn and a new restaurant, Kronen (The Crown), is scheduled to open there this spring. Will the ghostly incidents resume, or have they ceased for good as Birgitte hopes? Perhaps it is best if the new management of Kronen decide to have flowers on the tables instead of candles and not worry too much if they find doors they had locked wide open.

Special thanks to my Mom, Bea Laursen, for translation of the articles from Frederiksborg Amts Avis, 21 December 2005.

Image credits: Photos of Kronborg by Chris Laursen and self-portrait courtesy of Birgitte Graae.

From Matthew The Double-Decker Bus Guy Didier...

Betcha didn't know that Sue and I are both aviation nuts.

It's true! We love airshows, books on aircraft, even hanging out at the airport when possible! We just love planes.

That said, it goes to reason that when the two worlds collide (and they OFT do...) of our paranormal studies and aircraft, we're really excited...

Now, this seems like a natural marriage when dealing with Ufological things... but how about ghosts?

Well, apparently, ghosts are no strangers to the "skyways" at all... in fact, everything from ghostly passengers, ghostly crew, and even ghostly aircraft have been reported from flight crews, passengers, and pilots alike.

In fact, above is one of my all time favourite ghost-books as is demonstrated by it's worn look... well written and a lot of fun... and a must for ghost enthusiasts and pilot alike!

The late Martin Caidin, the author, is also author of several excellent tomes I have read... such as Samurai! which is Saburo Sakai's memoirs... Japan's greatest WWII ace and a phenomenal human being.

...but...

In my fave book above, it's all about pilots and aircrews and their dealings with ghosts... and the book is a LOT of fun! (Not the least of which is Caidin probably loathing and being ticked at the NON-science of CSICOP/Crime Scene Investigations more than I do!)

That said, I get more than a few people asking about "ghosts in the air"... and although I shoot them to this book (if they can find it... it's difficult to locate and they'll be prying our copy out of both Sue's and my cold dead hands!!!) I like to tell a story that may be frightening to some... but I see it as bordering on comforting... bear with me here...

Eastern Airlines Flight 401, a four-month old Lockheed L-1011 wide-bodied aircraft, was en route from New York to Miami with 163 passengers and 13 crew... when she crashed into the Florida Everglades killing 77 people... including pilot Captain Robert Loft, a veteran of nearly 30,000 hours of flying and Second Officer Don Repo, a former airline ground engineer.

The cause of the crash was the ever sad "pilot error". They surmise that Capt. Loft had engaged the autopilot... and while conversing with the engineer, leaned on the control steering column ever so slightly, causing a small (but in the long run fatal) decent that was not noticeable until it was far too late.

After the crash, for literally months and years, Loft's and Repo's apparitions were sighted on Eastern's L-1011's.

The story goes that salvaged parts from Flight 401 were always aboard the aircraft they were spotted in. Eastern Air Lines CEO Frank Borman said these stories were, and I quote, "crap"... but many Eastern employees say Borman is full of it too.

In fact, over twenty documented sightings have been recorded of these ghosts...

These weren't the standard "nervous nelly" types either... a vice president of Eastern Airlines claims he spoke with a uniformed captain in the First-Class section he was seated in assuming he was his pilot... only to realise after he had been speaking to the late Captain Loft.

One flight captain and two attendants also saw and briefly spoke to Capt. Loft... and were so freaked out by the experience, they cancelled their flight. (How'd you like to be a passenger on THAT flight... We're sorry, our flight has been cancelled due to a ghost sighting.)

I've read where a female passenger became hysterical because she found an "unresponsive" man in an Eastern Airlines uniform sitting next to her, and the man literally vanished from view to not only her, but several passengers who were "alerted" to his presence by her trying to speak to him. She was shown a picture and identified the late Don Repo as that man.

On another L-1011, a flight engineer, half-way through the standrad pre-flight check when Don Repo suddenly appeared and said, "You don't need to worry about the pre-flight, I've already done it." History, sadly, does not record if he did finish the inspection.

Actually, Repo's ghost seems most helpful... he has been seen fixing galley ovens, repairing things below the cockpit, and otherwise looking after planes as he would in life... one time, he appeared to an attendant in the reflection of a galley oven and was kind enough to wait for two other staff to witness this odd apparition... but sadly, alerted them all by speaking directly to them... "Watch out for fire on this airplane." The plane did meet with bad turbulence, but luckily, no fire... the galley was salvaged from Flight 401.

Effectively, the upshot is that Repo's ghost one told another witness who was a captain of a flight... "There will never be another crash. We will not let it happen."

...by the way, after Flight 401 in 1972 until the airline went out of business in 1991, there was not another crash of an Eastern L-1011...

There's unconfirmed report that after one-too-many sightings, Eastern did have a "psychic" come in and clear it's aeroplanes of the "spirits" of Repo and Loft... and anyone else who might be hanging around... but if that's true, it was officially "unofficial" so whether it worked or was nothing more than a "fable" to quell the staff, it's success is unknown.

Did the two unfortunate crew members of Eastern Flight 401 linger? Are they lingering still wherever salvaged bits of the plane are located?

Who knows...

...but the ghosts of Flight 401 make one of the most interesting and intriguing cases in the realm of our study... multiple witnesses, multiple types of phenomena, multiple occurrences... in different places... with a tenuous tie to bind them together... but still more than a little intriguing.

Before I go, however, it should be noted that with Flight 401's ghosts and the majority of the ghosts in the late Mr. Caidin's books, pretty much all ghosts seen aboard aircraft are, in the long run, very helpful... they give crews sage advice, direct lost flights, avoid collisions... and generally seem to look after things... much like real pilots.

In fact, I'd almost feel safer and more secure if you told me my plane was haunted... an extra set of eyes and hands never hurt anyone and seem... well... most helpful sometimes!

Nice subject header eh! No, it is definitely not ours. It belongs to LA Weekly who decided to run an interview that was conducted with Rio DiAngelo, the sole survivor of the Heaven's Gate cult mass suicide on March 22, 1997.

Most of us shudder to remember it, as I believe the largest mass suicide on United States soil. Aside from the obvious, it further drove the serious study of unidentified flying objects into the realm's of the crazy in the eyes of the mainstream world.

So what does Rio DiAngelo have to say 10 years after the horrific mass suicide where cult followers believed that they were going to join a mothership tailing behind comet Hale-Bopp:

“I am alive not because I rejected anything about Heaven’s Gate.

“I am alive because I have discovered something so extraordinarily important to the world that it needs to pass on to you in its most true and accurate form from ME.”

And what did he discover:

“It doesn’t make sense to give up everything. Unless... you know. Unless you know what they knew. And what I know.” Which is? “That DO was the second coming of Jesus Christ. That’s what I’m here to help people understand.”

DO in fact was the lunatic cult leader who inspired the mass suicide. No better than Jim Jones, amongst others who through their own craziness destroy others lives.

Am I surprised by this..well no.

What I am surprised with is why LA Weekly chose to give this person a voice, considering the amount of copy cat suicides that occurred at the time, and perhaps will be inspired by this nutter again.

Your thoughts?

Each Friday we will have a look at the stories and experiences that have been related to us over the years that are amongst our personal favourites. These will include Crypto, Ghosts, Hauntings, UFO's, and other strange events that may be considered Fortean, from in around the Toronto, Canada area .... and since they are from our own personal files will likely not be found elsewhere on the web .... enjoy!

Former Police HQ on Jarvis, Toronto, Canada

The following was sent in by one of our readers...

"I used to work out of the old Police Headquarters at 590 Jarvis St. and although I have never seen anything unusual, several of staff reported unusual events.

The story begins a few decades ago. It seems that on the 6th floor of the building where the Police Commissioner had his decadent office, were his private kitchen, bathroom and a small office for his assistant. Story is that one day a young detective went into the private bathroom and committed suicide.

As the Police out grew the building and moved out, the building was first used by Metro Social Services for one of their welfare offices and specialized units. The Commissioner's office was converted to a boardroom and the whole building was accessible to staff except for the private bathroom. It is unclear if the cleaning staff kept it locked by their own decision to do so, because they claimed sitings of a ghost or because its a decision made by the police out of respect for the young deseased detective, but that door was always locked with only cleaners having a key.

However several staff reported hearing footsteps and doors opening and closing but when they investigated often found no one there. A number of staff reported things on the 6th floor being moved around, such as chairs and drawer contents moved elsewhere when desks were locked overnight. A couple even reported seeing something move by quickly when they followed the sound of footsteps and sometimes (myself included) found the private bathroom door unlocked and wide open in the middle of the day when no cleaners were on site with the keys.

A number of Police officiers I spoke to about this legend while working in the building tell me that they also have heard from police staff that worked there that they had also told of the same unusual sitings and sounds too. The cleaners said that at night when the building was almost empty of staff, they could hear unexplainable sounds and didn't go to the 6th floor after dark as a rule because they couldn't explain it and feared it."

This is the first report we've had of this particular building but we would be interested in hearing more. If you have anything to add, please contact us. Our thanks to the witness!

Do you have a real life ghost story, an encounter with a UFO, or other paranormal experience/s you'd like to share? If so, we'd love to hear from you! Post your own experiences in our comments section or send us an email. Please post only true life experiences ... we love good fiction, but there are other fantastic blogs out there to post fictional accounts to.

The Arizona Governor admitted to witnessing a UFO over Phoenix Arizona in 1997.

In the newscast he admitted to doing a behind the scenes investigation,but admitted to not getting any results.

Asked why he didn't publicly admit to seeing the UFO, he stated that he didn't want to create any panic.

For further information on the March 13th 1997 UFO event known as "The Phoenix Lights" please click here.

Image Credit: Lynne D. Kitei, M.D

The following interesting observation was made on the Slashdot site yesterday by an anonymous reader:

"This week researchers announced that a storm is coming — the most intense solar maximum in fifty years. The prediction comes from a team led by Mausumi Dikpati of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). "The next sunspot cycle will be 30% to 50% stronger than the previous one," she says. If correct, the years ahead could produce a burst of solar activity second only to the historic Solar Max of 1958.`Dikpati's forecast puts Solar Max at 2012. Hathaway believes it will arrive sooner, in 2010 or 2011.`Anyone familiar with the Mayan Calendar? December 21, 2012 (13.0.0.0.0 in the Mayan Calendar) Coincidence?"

Many of our readers here on the Paranormal Blog are already familiar with the fact that the Mayan calendar ends in the year 2012, leading to much speculation about the end of civilization as we know it.

Is it a coincidence that this massive solar storm is predicted for roughly the same year? Who knows, but it is an interesting observation regardless.

Historian Chris Laursen returns with some reflections on his recent trip to Mexico City, a place that was surprising in its fusion of tradition, modernity, wonderful spirit and mystery.

An undercurrent of mystery flows through vibrant Mexico City
by Chris Laursen

There's something about Latin America that ignites my soul. I spent the first week of March in Mexico City on a business trip with a bit of sightseeing added for good measure. It's been very difficult settling back into the grey, blustery Toronto mid-March existence, not to mention the office space.

My former experience backpacking for seven weeks through the Andes, deserts and pampas in Peru, Bolivia and northern Chile in 2001 afterwards fortified my joy for life and convinced me to further pursue a history degree, and I ended up taking many courses looking at the history and politics of the region. In that knowledge, I found I great deal of magic and mystery, a fiery fusion of ancient culture, Catholicism, dramatic adventures and landscapes, dread, horror, colour, beauty and, above all, people who carried forth in strong, elated spirit. Going to Mexico this month reminded me of that incredible history and culture.

Even in my work assisting in the logistics in a conference for television and radio broadcasters, that spirit seemed to permeate through everything. Through the hotel staff who radiated joy and kinship. Through our hosts, two of Latin America's largest broadcasters, who celebrated both traditional and modern Mexico in special events they held for the conference delegates. Televisa held a magnificent dinner with a live performance by traditional Mexican chanteuse Aida Cuevas accompanied by a full mariachi orchestra. TV Azteca put us on open air double decker buses through the colonial heart of Mexico City to the Museum of Popular Arts, a converted historical fire station featuring vibrant folk art from across the country, where La Academia starlets sang modern pop music.

Aida Cuevas, the queen of Mexican traditional music, performed at Televisa Studios on March 6.

The bus ride through the old city was very representative of the many juxtapositions I have experienced in Latin America. We boarded the bus outside of the ultra modern National Auditorium, an angular building that looks a bit like George Lucas designed it for a Star Wars movie. Winding through the heavy traffic, the bus passed contemporary sculptures that dotted a wide boulevard. Locals used the sculptures as places to sit and socialize or get romantic. People, lights, cars, unusual buildings, buses, shouting and car horns infiltrated the atmosphere, charging it with an energy unlike most other places I have been.

Entering the main plaza, the Zócalo, the bus ducked into a side street and picked up a seven-member mariachi band complete with guitars and trumpets. It is hard to relay the surrealism of travelling through the narrow, bustling streets under art nouveau streetlamps, intricate colonial buildings, shops ranging from cheap goods to luxury items, people of all kinds wandering down the streets, stopping to crane their necks with both huge smiles and puzzlement on their faces as the Mexican band blared folk songs atop the tourist bus.

A colonial building lit up during a night tour of the Zócalo.

We stopped at a light to have the bus surrounded by children with candies in their hands. At first glance, these children seemed excited by the music and sight of the double decker bus, but then one of them yelled "money! money!" and it became clear he was covered in the dust of the street. The next day, a local guide told me that they were among the thousands of children, often five years old who lived on the streets of the metropolis, escaping neglectful and abusive homes. It was but a glimpse into the poverty that persists in the city. There was always an undercurrent of the hard life in the street vendors selling inexpensive food and people peddling phone cards, newspapers, flowers and candies at intersections. It was not unusual to find elderly women selling flowers, fruits and vegetables in front of cathedrals alongside beggars - young women with babies, disabled people, grandmothers. With over 20 million people in the Districto Federal, there is much competition for the jobs that are available.

On our last full day in the city, two of my colleagues and I hired a driver, Victor, from the hotel to show us a few places in the city. "I've been driving for ten years," he told me as we walked through the plaza in the historic and wealthy Coyoacan neighbourhood, not far from Frida Kahlo's brilliant blue house. Later, I asked him if people changed jobs often in Mexico City, and he said people stay with their jobs for life if possible because it is so hard to find a new one. This might explain why everyone I met seemed extraordinarily good at their job. With a wife and two young children, Victor worked seven days a week and as many hours per day as possible. It was never certain how many fares he could collect in a day, so it was a great opportunity when he could take visitors around for a full day.

The ruins near the main cathedral at the Zócalo.

The contrasts in Mexico's history are strong in the very heart of the city, especially at the main square, the Zócalo, the "first place" where the conquistadores destroyed the Aztec capital on the lake, Tenochtitlan, and built upon it the massive Metropolitan Cathedral. In the bright sun stood the ruins of the Templo Mayor uncovered by archaeologists, the feathered serpent Quetzalcoatl wending its way along the stone walls.

"The city sinks if we don't get enough rain," Victor told me as we admired the Templo Mayor ruins, "because the city is built on a lake." Surreal images of the city centre descending lower and lower entered my mind.

In such a short visit, it was impossible to do what I would have loved: to find out about Mexican beliefs in ghosts, the afterlife, spirits, monsters and UFOs. The country is replete with such tales and experiences. In the past several years, Mexico has had UFO fever, with videotaped footage of many mass sightings. One of the more curious tapes made by the Mexican military was later convincingly debunked by Captain Alejandro Franz [link: http://www.alcione.org/FAM/], who flew over the area where the video was made and shot flaming oil rigs on the Gulf of Mexico. (Returning from Mexico City, I made videos of these oil rigs visible from 11 kilometers up and was also able to obtain the same effect Franz did.)

I was also in Mexico at the wrong time to experience the popular Day of the Dead festivities in early November. However, Day of the Dead figures were abundant in the Museum of Popular Arts.

Day of the Dead figures in a celebratory pose at the Museum of Popular Arts.

And I didn't feel a need to keep my eye out for El Chupacabra, despite the warnings made a few years back by former Mexican President Vicente Fox in The Onion [link: http://www.theonion.com/content/node/40312].

But I do feel a need to return to Mexico... again and again. It moved me deeply, and I know that the mysteries that do lurk there are exactly the kinds that I'm attracted to. Mysteries nestled in one of the world's most vibrant cultures.

Check out: Aida Cuevas's official website, http://www.aidacuevas.com, and listen to the song "El Pastor" (the second song on the playlist) for a stunning example of traditional Mexican music.

Image credits: Photos by Chris Laursen.

From The BBC:

A quiet night's sleep is not an option for Derek Rogers or his wife - because he turns from a mild-mannered "Dr Jekyll" by day to a "Mr Hyde" by night.

Mr Rogers, 70, from Bedford, has a rare sleep disorder which causes him to become violent when he sleep-walks.

He has destroyed furniture, attacked his wife and injured himself during the night - but remembers nothing.

Sleep disorders can occasionally be the cause of perceived paranormal activity. It is important to ask witnesses for their medical history when a sleep disorder such as sleep paralysis is suspected.

FINALLY (and by popular demand,) I've gotten around to getting you folks some Cafe Press stuff for PSICAN, Torontoghosts, Ontarioghosts, and ParaResearchers... (sorry folks who are with the other groups... but I figgered you can do your own thangs... this took a TONNE of time to whip up everything PROPERLY!) I hope you enjoy it... there's some nice stuff and some pretty goofy stuff too!

Check out this too cute paranormal infant shirt!

Front

And Back

Lot's of fun Psican Pythonesque Swag! Thank you for helping to support Paranormal studies & Investigations Canada!

Another slam dunk of a smackdown today that EVERYONE can relate to not just paranormal enthusiasts. Who are these freaks that try to litter our inboxes with their crap?

As many of you know I moderate the PSICAN Forums along with Matthew, and Heather Anderson. Not a day goes by that all three of us do not have to clear out the database of bogus sign-ups done by spammers.

It's not that they can get past our spam filters, and post their garbage to the board, because they would have to use a valid email addy for that, and reply to it. However, we do have to remove them from the database.

Believe it or no that did happen twice, and the idiots were deleted within seconds of posting. A big waste of their time, and more importantly ours.

So to ALL you spammers out there, I wish you fear, pestilence, the bubonic plague, jock itch, and all sorts of other nasty stuffs like that! Oh, and double that for the governments who still have not banned spam all together yet.

The Banshee

The banshees or the Bean Sidhe (woman of the hills) find their place of honor in Irish folk lore. She is looked upon as an omen of fore coming death to an Irish family. She is often heard late at night as a cry or singing. The cry has been described as "a thin, screeching sound somewhere between the wail of a woman and the moan of an owl"* Although she is often heard rarely is she actually seen. When she is seen though she appears to take the form of either a young woman, a matron or an old woman. This going back to the Celtic goddess appearing as the three stages of a woman's life. either a young beautiful woman, a woman in full bloom of her life or motherhood, and the crone or old wise woman nearing the end of her life or lifes cycle. legend has it that "the banshee can only cry for five major Irish families: the O'Neills, the O'Briens, the O'Connors, the O'Grady's and the Kavanaghs. However, there have been some others; intermarriage has since extended this select list"* She is also said to appear as Bean-Nighe or washer woman. If she is seen as Bean-Nighe she is usually seen washing what appears to be blood from the clothes of the person who is about to die. She is said in most of the legends to be dressed in a green dress with a grey clock over top. Her eyes are told to be bright red and her hair appears as grey and stringy. She is widely believed to be a spirit or fairy that brings the family news of the coming death. As times change and the years go on many Irish families have moved to many parts of the world but the legend of the banshee is that she will never leave the family that she is connected too, So even on the streets of Toronto it may be possible to hear the haunting sounds of banshee as she cries and warns the family.

An interesting report that we received of the Banshee is as follows in the witnesses own words:

"This happened about 15 years ago. (Webmaster's note: We received this report in 2006) My husband was away with the navy and I was alone with our four children. My story starts with me being asleep in bed one night. I was woken up by a loud, eerie wailing noise. At first, in my half asleep state, I thought it may have been a neighbourhood cat but it was so loud that it sounded like it was outside my bedroom door, so I got out of bed and walked towards the hallway in the dark. For some reason I wasn't scared. The wailing now sounded as though it was in the direction of the lounge, so I followed it (just like in the movies) down the hall and through the dining room and into the lounge, still in the dark. It was still very loud as if it was just in front of me but it kept moving as if I was to follow it, so I did. It was a very sad sound. Once I was in the lounge, it sounded like it was coming from outside, so I drew back the curtains and over the road from my house was something I d never seen or heard of before. It was the head of a lady with hair that was about six feet or more across. She was white with a tinge of blue and her hair was blowing slowly about, even though it didn't seem to be windy outside. Her hair looked like it would be if she was floating on water. Her face was the saddest face I've ever seen. She was an old lady and I could see her wrinkles clearly even from the distance I was from her. It was pitch black outside but she shone, in amongst the trees, as though she had a spot light on her. She wailed so sadly, like she was crying for a long lost family member. I pulled up a chair to the window and watched her for a good ten minutes and she slowly faded and disappeared.

I had no idea at all of what I had seen, so the next day I had a look through my ghostie books. I found a picture of what I d seen the night before. I thought it was funny that I d never seen the picture in the book before but didn't give it much thought. She was called a Banshee. Apparently, these apparitions appear to you when someone close is going to die. I'm not a superstitious person but I got scared and was so protective of my children that they got really sick of me.

Three weeks later our extremely healthy family Labrador died from a heart attack for no apparent reason.

I didn't tell my children what I had seen in case it frightened any of them and they were all still very young. Eventually, I forgot about it and about 10 years later my daughter was telling me she had seen a thing just over the road from where we lived, in a different house this time and during the day. When she described it to me, I knew she was talking about a Banshee. Her very favourite cat died not long after she'd seen it!"

Our thanks to the witness (Julie S.) and her daughter for sharing their reports with us.

References

1.*a thin, screeching sound somewhere between the wail of a woman and the moan of an owl" taken from, http://maxpages.com/mapit/THE_BANSHEE , COMPILED BY NOEL O'BRIEN

2.* the banshee can only cry for five major Irish families: the O'Neills, the O'Briens, the O'Connors, the O'Gradys and the Kavanaghs. However, there have been some others; intermarriage has since extended this select list. taken from http://maxpages.com/mapit/THE_BANSHEE , COMPILED BY NOEL O'BRIEN

3. Witness Correspondence

Co-Written By Jennifer Tyrrell and Sue Darroch

Each Friday we will have a look at the stories and experiences that have been related to us over the years that are amongst our personal favourites. These will include Crypto, Ghosts, Hauntings, UFO's, and other strange events that may be considered Fortean, from in around the Toronto, Canada area .... and since they are from our own personal files will likely not be found elsewhere on the web .... enjoy!

Virginia, USA - Death Omen

The following strange encounter was sent in by one of our readers, and they are hoping for some feedback from others who may have gone through something similar or have heard about another report like it.

"An event that took place in 1990 has had myself, and 2 friends curious for some years now.

August 1990, three of us went to Atlantic City. On the way home, my passenger side control arm snapped. I recovered from the skid and safely made it off the highway.

After hours spent waiting for a wrecker that never came, another friend came and got us, sometime after dark. We dropped off the first of our group in Fairfax, VA, then began the trip to our second stop.

We were on a divided highway in Manassas VA, no roadside lights, and tree lined. We noticed a female walking down the shoulder of the road. She was in a long black formal dress, kinda old style. She was weaving from side to side as she walked, so we figured we ought to stop and help.

A curious note is that despite the side to side movement, there was no vertical movement or bounce to her step. In the instant between her leaving our headlights, and when she should have been next to us, she was gone.

The next day, I was in a car wreck that had me in the emergency room for 5 hours, and the paramedics and firemen agreed that I should have been dead given the severity of the crash.

Two years later, in August, the guy that lived in Manassas, and was in the car when we saw the girl was killed in a car wreck.

Another two years following that, the driver was in a car wreck that left him legally dead for 2 minutes, and has walked with a cane ever since.

Nothing bad has happened to the guy we dropped off before we saw the girl.

I am curious as to whether there is some example in some folklore that would match this experience. It could be ruled as a sad coincidence, but there are enough details in this story that seem to resemble a kind of death omen, that I am curious as to if there is some tradition that would fit this episode."

Our thanks to the witness for sharing this report! It is our experience that apparitions or spirits of the dead are harmless, nor is this case a phantom hitchhiker. Any feedback or thoughts will be much appreciated.

Do you have a real life ghost story, an encounter with a UFO, or other paranormal experience/s you'd like to share? If so, we'd love to hear from you! Post your own experiences in our comments section or send us an email. Please post only true life experiences ... we love good fiction, but there are other fantastic blogs out there to post fictional accounts to.

This gorgeous cat pictured above has been identified as a new species

"The clouded leopard of Borneo — discovered to be an entirely new species — is the latest in a growing list of animals and plants unique to the Southeast Asian country's rainforest and underscores the need to preserve the area, conservationists said Thursday."

Full article here.

Another exciting news item from the world of cryptozoology, is there really any doubt that we still have much left to discover on this planet.

Dundas, Ontario, Canada December 7th 2006 approx 9pm

I was sitting on our TV room floor at home, and we have a large window with curtains that faces in the city of Hamilton. We are halfway up the escarpment.

I noticed what I thought was a really bright star. Or maybe a planet, it was so bright. White, and twinkly.I was trying to find my favourite TV show and got bored doing it, so I kept watching the star. After a few mins (10?) I noticed it was in a different position that it had been - I could tell by how close it appeared to our window sill. I then watched it move very very slowly more to the right, then back to where it was.

As it was moving, i noticed a set of 3 very small white lights rotate on the left hand side. It then moved to the left hand side again, in a very slow fashion.

My daughter called out to me so I went upstairs to check on her, she was fine - her movie was over and i turned it back on. I went downstairs about 5 mins later and I could not see the star anymore. This was around 9:30pm.

I thought the object was a star. Then since it moved, I thought it was a new satellite (most of the ones I've seen move very fast across the sky, but this star did not look like a plane, so I thought of a satellite.)

While this was going on, I tried to call my next door neighbour who is a pilot, i tried to call my husband, and afterwards my brother to tell them about the star and I could not get through to any of them. I was not scared, I just thought it was really neat. I remember feeling irked that I couldn't get through to anyone to share the what I saw, so I made a note of it and planned to call Mac's planetarium to inquire about satellites and to get a star map for the winter sky.

Our thanks to the witness for this report!

Historian Chris Laursen is taking some much needed R & R this week while recuperating the affects of a whirlwind trip, and a nasty head cold! Next week Chris returns to us with a further insights into the paranormal and his recent adventures in Mexico. Until next week...here is a "Best Of" Weird Wednesday. Enjoy!

Photos And Survival Of Bodily Death

Historian Chris Laursen looks at two family photos taken in the past ten years that take the debate of survival after death even further. Family photos inadvertently capture the uncanny by Chris Laursen It's amazing what you can capture in photos. Candid moments in life where the personality of those you love shines through.....

Animal Apparitions

Chris Laursen guides us through the midweek with an eclectic exploration of paranormal topics. He is a historian researching how people have related to the paranormal. This week, he offers anecdotes of animal apparitions and contact with pets after they died. Why not an animal afterlife?

A Victorian Murderess

Chris Laursen takes us on an eerie midweek turn as he shares his historical research on how people have related to the paranormal. In his second guest blog, he introduces us to a Victorian murderess whose memory remains firmly entrenched through ghost stories and improvements to child welfare.

Demonic Possession

Chris Laursen guides us through the midweek with an eclectic exploration of paranormal topics. He is a historian researching how people have related to the paranormal. This week, he compares two cases of demonic possession, over three-hundred years apart.

Enjoy your rest Chris, and we look forward to more Weird Wednesdays next week!

No, I did not personally see it, but I did spend a good portion of my afternoon yesterday fielding media, and witness inquiries into the March 11th fireball that was sighted over Southern Ontario.

I only wish I had the opportunity to witness this myself!

Full Toronto Star article on this event, click here.

If you witnessed anything else unusual in the skies last Sunday night, please contact us, confidentiality is assured.

Preface:

As a rule, we and many "ghost groups" have usually done their best to keep the whole history of a site and it's reported phenomena away from observers and investigators in order to maintain neutral observations and keep those actually doing the investigation from being corrupted.

Basically, if you were in a reportedly haunted home where the "possible" ghost was (reported to be) a woman who haunted the kitchen and died in the bedroom, ten will get you twenty that most investigators and observers will flock strictly to those sites and will only be looking for things that match the reported phenomena... possibly missing other and equally important information.

That said, during a recent investigation, a new thought and concept came to light.

Observation:

Most of the "best" (clearest and most easy to understand) collected samples of electronic voice phenomena seem to come in response not to questions, but intersecting conversations with a team not related to anything within an investigation.

This led to the concept of two ideas... both are considered "interactive EVP collection".

Interactive EVP Collection Method One: The concept is two or more investigators (preferably only two) record on a fresh tape. During the session, a series of questions and "related" conversation is said aloud by the investigators. The questions, when possible, are related as closely as possible to the location and people that "might" have been at the site at any time.

Interactive EVP Collection Method Two: Two (or more - but preferably two) read a selection of scripted questions leaving a suitable break for an answer from the possible EVP source.

These two methods seemed to make sense and took the "intersecting EVPs collected" and attempted to swing the situation from "interruptions" to a channeled question and answer period.

These two methods have yielded some interesting results, but nothing that could be absolutely described as two-way communications without question.

Observation - In The Field:

Recently, in a field investigation at a site we'd visited several times previously, we were working with a sensitive who said they had picked up on an entity that, according to the sensitive, was aware of "our" presence. We have the sensitive free reign to allow the entity to communicate/do what it wanted with a minimum of questions from us.

At one point, the entity started "bantering" about his co-workers, the city we were in, and then mentioned some information about a former Prime Minister of Canada... to which, since many of us on site have a decent knowledge of history, a wee conversation broke out about the Prime Minister... to which, the sensitive started acting as a "true medium" and relaying his part of the conversation and interjections.

During this time, an epiphany occurred to us...

Adaptation of a Theme:

Effectively, since recorded history, rumour and idle chit-chat have been probably the most popular activities from "courtly rumours" to "water cooler talk", humans have always been interested in fairly mundane or at least, probably not-terribly important talk about the world and people around them.

Politics, personalities, and genuine "gossip" are all universal.

Using this simple truth about the human condition, perhaps keeping the "history" of a time and place being investigated may not be as good an idea as one would assume... at least, not while trying to collect "interactive EVP".

In fact, working on the untested hypothesis that "ghosts" are creating electronic voice phenomena... and that ghosts are some form of left-over residue of human that once occupied the reportedly haunted spot, then it would go to reason that "strangers" barking out odd questions, regardless of context and possibly asking these questions yards away from the "target" (or "ghost"), then it really is not surprise that there has been limited success with this method.

On the other hand, however, since EVPs do seem to be simply intersecting interjections and many do not seem to properly (with absolute qualifications) answer questions put out by observers/investigators, perhaps we need to modify what's said an why...

Implementation of Adaptation #1 - Interactive/Interruptive EVP Gathering:

With the whole team educated to a degree on the site's history, the possible human entities who may be involved as the "targets" (the "ghosts" - please remember we are working from the aforementioned untested hypothesis) may

be a high suggestion to "spur" conversation within the team about the personalities and functions not only of the site, but of the pertinent time in history.

This may "spark" any "entities" (again, using the untested hypothesis) to wish to interrupt or take part in the conversation as they would be genuinely involved and knowledgeable... or at least able to "jump in with their two cents worth" to any conversations... Ergo: Possibly leading to captured and relevant EVP.

Implementation of Adaptation #2 - Interactive/Interruptive EVP Gathering:

Select a handful of observers and investigators on the site's history, the possible human entities who may be involved as the "targets" (untested hypothesis again) who would then be responsible for doing an "educational talk and tour" with other members of the team. Again, assuming that the "entities" (using the untested hypothesis) should be versed in the topic being talked about and may try to interject meaningfully.

Commonality with Adaptations #1 and #2:

With the possibility of relevant interjection, if this type of EVP is received in quantity with normal EVP collection controls in order (to eliminate the possibility of "mistakes" or "false positives" due to members of the team talking and being "mistaken" for "entities", radio signal bleed through, or any other "natural" environmental elements being taken as possible "paranormal" elements,) it would indicate that...

#1: The original target for EVP collection is aware of the present situation and surroundings enough to comment on conversations therein.

#2: Could be the start of an "entity" wishing to communicate to simply either "catch up" on news or to get their version of things out... thus leading to possible two-way, sentient communications.

...of course, if this method is a failure after a predetermined amount of experiments and actual field attempts...

#3: Will eliminate possibilities for several variations of interactive EVP collection.

Conclusion of Concept...

Although it is still recommended that on an initial investigation of a site that only the bare information be given to the team in order to keep neutral observations from a team possible with as few people allowed to know as much about the whole case and site, if one wishes to pursue these adaptations of interactive EVP collection, they (and either all or a selection of others) would need to be versed not only in the possible identity of an "entity" suspected as being the "target" of the phenomena, but also on the popular figures of the day, the history of the area in which the phenomena is occurring, and enough that, in essence, they could carry on a "water-cooler conversation" with whatever might be at the site.

Effectively, think of this...

Would you be more likely to "speak up" to a person asking you "How did you die?" while not looking in your direction... or would you most likely speak up and join a friendly group of people discussing your favourite celebrity or politician?

If we are to entertain the hypothesis that human consciousness is involved with "ghosts" and EVPs, I would suspect that the latter would be more likely to be effective.

Callander, Ontario, Canada October 9th, 2006 approx 8pm

"As I was driving east toward home, I noticed blinking red light in eastern sky. Object appeared to hover, climb and descend very rapidly. As a flight instructor, I am very used to observing aircraft in flight, this moved unlike anything I have seen. This appeared to climb at several thousand feet per minute vertically, then descend just as fast and return almost instantly to a hover with little or no visible deceleration. After arriving home and continuing to observe the object, myself and the other witness began to drive toward the object in a car to investigate. Parked in a nearby field, we witnessed it continued hovering stationary for approx 5 min before travelling northward at aprox 200+ kms and disappearing over the horizon."

Our thanks to the witness for sharing this report! If you have seen something similar or have further information in regards to this report please contact us.

Reading is a good thing - try it!

This is not directed at you our "irregular" regular readership, we know you can and do read via your often kind and thoughtful comments, and questions. Even those lurkers who keep coming back obviously must read what has been written here or you wouldn't bother.....

No, this smackdown was totally inspired by those "readers" who surf onto our blog entry on the Blue Ghost Tunnel which basically outlines why this location is more urban myth than anything else, and how since it was publicised through the media it has been vandalised horribly and now boarded over.

Yet, at least once a week we get email asking for directions!!!!

Aside from the fact that I have not changed my name to Mrs. MapQuest.com why would anyone who has actually read the article and at least somewhat comprehended it think that we would want to potentially expose this historically significant site to more vandalism. I don't care how wonderful you say you are, and you might be. We still do not know you, and therefore will not be handing out directions.

There, now I feel better! Plus the next time I get a request for directions I'll just reply with a link to this entry.

Cheers!
Sue

Belle River Ontario, Canada - September 26th, 2006 11pm

"While soaking in hot tub with husband after working a long day. We spotted an UFO. It was beautiful and clear with many stars. I spotted what I thought was a satellite (which I have seen many times before). I excitedly told my husband where to look so he could see. It ended up being unlike anything I have ever observed during many years of stargazing. My husband said that he saw it right away. As we watched we saw that it was different. It seemed to be a round light, slow moving, definitely not a plane or a shooting star as it suddenly changed directions. It moved and suddenly and quickly shifted about 45 degrees and kept going and then seemed to disappear(although it could have just gone behind a cloud). We were quite excited about what we had just seen. A neighbour was chatting with us as well but she did not see it. About twenty minutes later my husband had gone inside. I witnessed a sphere of light pass over us unlike anything I have seen before except for twenty minutes earlier. This time what I saw was orangish pink and seemed almost translucent. It disappeared from sight obscured by the tree in my backyard. At this time my neighbour said she thought she saw something. The first object was heading southwest. the second east to west. The neighbours sighting would have been going north. She did not trust her own judgement however and said she was not sure if she saw something or not. I have been waiting to go back outside and see something else. Its been really cloudy these last few nights. I wished I would have stayed out longer last Tuesday I am certain I would have seen more."

Our thanks to the witness for this report. If you have seen something similar or have further information please contact us.

Nobleton ON January 15th approx 11:30pm

The witness writes:

"It was January 15th, about 23:30h, I was northbound on Hwy 400 and I decided to turn left onto King Road towards Nobleton. I continued west on King Rd past Weston Rd, and as I dipped down the first hill past Laskay on my left, I noticed a HUGE light (oblong & blue-white) on my right just half visible above the trees(due to being in a gully) I'm guessing about over the Holland marsh to the north (a guess it could have been closer or farther).

I kept watching it while driving up & down the hills towards Nobleton. At Nobleton, I turned right (north) on Hwy 27 towards Schomburg, it was in front of me, slightly off to the right. I did consciously look at the clock on my dash, it was 23:42h then in Nobleton. It was I guessed slightly north of Hwy 9, or Canal Road, and between the 400, and Hwy 27. I got as far North as Concession 16 (just past Nobleton Lakes Golf Club), when the object gained a lot of altitude (about five times the height it had), then veered left (west), rose higher & disappeared, not quite straight ahead of me. It was I am guessing due to the unknown distance it was from me, a few thousand feet higher than a large jet may be on an approach to Pearson when it vanished. Or I lost it among the stars."

Our thanks to the witness for this report. If you have also witnessed something similar or can add further information please contact us.

Pickering/Ajax Ontario July 31st 2001 9:45pm – 9:55pm

"My friend and I had decided to go to the park as we often do in the summer. She got here around 8:30 pm and we shortly headed out to the lake about 5 minutes or so south of my house. We parked and she and I walked down to the path a further 5 minutes south. We walked west along the path to where we normally go sit and talk. This area is surrounded by heavy woods and not lit. The nuclear plant is just west of here and easy walking distance - I've done it before. I decided it would be better to go back towards the playground, which is to the east and much better lit. Why I don't know just thought it would be safer I guess though we've sat out there before. So we walked to this new location in front of a pavilion and sat on the picnic table facing south with our water and ginger ale and just talked and watched the moonlight play over the lake.

I saw the first light more due south (just to the right of the moon) it caught my eye because it was moving upwards from the horizon very erratically. I tried to keep my eye on it with the binoculars I had with me, but it kept jumping out of view so I had to move my head around to follow it. Then it sort of winked out I guess. I'd estimate this first light was farther out than the other stuff it looked say no more than a fingernail at guessing 8-10 miles. It is difficult in that there was no point of reference to use for distance.

Then say a minute or so later this time to the S.S.E what appeared to be one (maybe more I'm unsure) light/s (white) literally moving up and down the lake, side to side, up and down in no logical sequence over an area of about a foot maybe two in length from our perspective say again 8 - 10miles (no point of reference) out maybe little less. They appeared to be skimming the water. I thought maybe buoys, but never have seen any buoys in that direction nor ever behave such as this!

Then the first large light was spotted (S.S.E towards Olcott N.Y left of the moon at estimate 5 miles no more, maybe a little less – again a guess as no point of reference for distance) orangish red looking ball of light. Then number two appeared, then number three they would appear easy the size of my fist again one would appear than the others sometimes two sometimes three. They moved in a left to right pattern. When they flared up to say from a fist to open hand fingers splayed - three columns of light could be seen illuminating over the water - orangish. At this point through the binos I noticed what might have been a tiny pinprick light to the rear (very red) and I could see that these lights were in fact part of a solid object. This object looked round/smooth , very dark in colour, along the side I was able to view. It may have been a large disc???? The craft appeared to be moving very, very slowly from the right to left or to the N.E towards land. My friend was able to discern this as well with the naked eye although she did not see the smaller red light. Altitude of craft: 1000 ft perhaps - say just under a half km approx. We did not hear a sound associated with it. Now I'm not sure if I heard it or it caught my eye, but an aircraft was approaching from the right/west. It was much, much higher in altitude than the craft say not quite cruising yet. At this point I nearly walked off the bluffs! Okay I was literally in shock! At this time it was as if the lights all went out at once and the craft was no longer visible. It was my impression that it was still out there although no longer visible to us. We waited a further 10 mins (approx) rooted to the spot with no further visible activity and then I got a strange feeling to leave immediately and we cleared out of there very quickly."

Sue's note: There have been many strange sightings made over the lake. An interesting study of these was made by Hugh Cochrane in his book “Gateway To Oblivion” which is no longer in print, but available through libraries.

Our thanks to the witness for sharing this report with our readers!

File this under bizarre:

Serbian vampire hunters rammed a wooden stake through the heart of former dictator Slobodan Milosevic to stop him 'returning from the dead'.

Miroslav Milosevic, no relation to the former president, gave himself up to police who have launched an investigation.

He claimed he and his fellow vampire hunters acted to stop the former dictator returning from the dead to haunt the country.

Full article here.

I was going to include a cheesy vampire image above, but decided against it.

Like I've said here before, and I'll say it again, "People scare me far more than any of the paranormal topics that we write about here."

Weird!

Each Friday we will have a look at the stories and experiences that have been related to us over the years that are amongst our personal favourites. These will include Crypto, Ghosts, Hauntings, UFO's, and other strange events that may be considered Fortean, from in around the Toronto, Canada area .... and since they are from our own personal files will likely not be found elsewhere on the web .... enjoy!

Homeless Shelter, Hamilton Ontario Canada

The following was submitted by one of our readers....

"I work at a homeless shelter in Hamilton. At the beginning of summer this year I had a very interesting experience. I was waiting for my bus at around 5pm it was a bright sunny day and this elderly man passed by me. He had a very distinctive and familiar gait, and he also wore a blue ball cap with some kind of logo on it. This man walked slowly past me (about one ½ meters in front of me) and people were going around him as they hustled and bustled about (this is rush hour after all). This man seemed very familiar to me. I watched him for a few seconds till I looked away at something across the street. It was then I realized that the man I was just watching stayed at the shelter I work in about two weeks ago. While staying with us he had terrible stomach pains and one night we found him on the floor doubled in pain so we sent him to the hospital. This man passed away the next day (I’m not sure what the official cause of death was). So I looked back and I saw him walk behind a bus shelter out of sight (I was about 12 meters from the bus shelter). I walked toward the bus shelter knowing there was nowhere for him to go but the road and I would be able to see that. He was not there; I even walked down the block, knowing he was going way to slow for him to have gotten that far or for me not to have seen him. He just vanished....

This man had no family as far as anyone knew, and he lived on the streets and in shelters...he refused to be put in any home of any kind. As I was not his case worker when he stayed at the shelter, I had only talked to him three or four times, and as far as I could tell he was very secretive about his life. He was around 70 years old and always wore a blue ball cap with a logo of some kind on it.

I truly believe it was his spirit walking the area it knew best. It amazed me how people just walked around him, aware of him but not really noticing him. It was also interesting no one touched him, even in such a big crowd. There was no "glow" or "light" around him. He looked as real as you and me. I haven’t seen his spirit again since that day, but I hope I do."

The above account is similar to others reported by health caregivers the world over. It is also interesting to note that the ‘apparition’ appeared solid to the witness, which is more often than not the case. Our thanks to the witness!

Do you have a real life ghost story, an encounter with a UFO, or other paranormal experience/s you'd like to share? If so, we'd love to hear from you! Post your own experiences in our comments section or send us an email. Please post only true life experiences ... we love good fiction, but there are other fantastic blogs out there to post fictional accounts to.

Spindrift: Spray From a Psychic Sea, by Jan Bryant Bartell

Just picked up this gem a couple of weeks ago, and I could not put it down. Here's what the inside of the dust jacket says about this book:

"It started out as a search for an apartment, changed to a ghost hunt, became a deeper spiritual search that led through the occult and the esoteric philosophies, and concluded with Jan Bryant Bartell's death a few weeks after she had completed this manuscript, which recounts her experiences.

Although it often reads like a Gothic novel, Spindrift is not fiction. It is the true story of a haunting; whether it is the haunting of a house or a person, only the reader can judge. But one thing is certain: when Jan Bartell moved from the first troubled house and into the second, so did the mysterious and frightening occurrences. And, as time went by, the haunting grew more and more macabre.

When it all began, Jan Bartell did not believe in a spirit world, a world she could not see. She simply loved antiques and old houses. When she found an apartment in a town house in New York's Greenwich Village, on a quite tree-shaded street, her troubles began-and they did not let up for twelve years.

But, despite the strange shadows and unexplainable sounds that seemed to occur frequently, all was not terror and dread. Her fears were mixed with curiosity. She wanted to know what it was that seemed to clutch at her in the dark; she wanted to understand what it was that seemed to follow her as she moved about her apartment. So she began to investigate old books of mysterious and esoteric knowledge. She called upon famous mediums and professional ghost hunters to try to unlock doors.

And it came to her like the spindrift that sprays in the wake of a passing ship. Gradually, the spray from the psychic sea became more and more familiar to her and, like a game of Ten Little Indians, deaths began to occur in the house. The first to die was a dog, Jan's own beloved Penelope. But, within twenty-four hours, she was to learn of the death of the first human tenant. Whether by heart attacks, suicide, or murder, the deaths came in rapid succession.

In terror, with nine little Indians gone, the Bartell's moved far away from Greenwich Village. But the haunting followed them. After the completion of Spindrift, Jan Bartell became the tenth."

The book was published in 1973, and depending upon which source you believe, either the author committed suicide or died of heart failure just prior to the book's release.

The "Ghost Hunter" mentioned above is Hans Holzer, and he did write about this case in one of his own numerous books. Without giving too much away, Jan's book absolutely reinforced my opinion of him.

This book is no longer in print and considered rare. I have seen first editions going for outrageous sums of cash on Ebay and other online auction sites.

I purchased my copy through Deb at Aliens & Alibis Books for a very reasonable $13.00 US including shipping costs to Canada via air. Deb has a great selection of vintage and rare books at terrific prices. She is also a super nice person!

Cheers!
Sue

I just love the spooky look of the image above! It is taken from Siberia 2 which is the sequel to the adventure classic Siberia 1. In fact Siberia 2 is already being talked about as having these best graphics of any Pocket PC game. You can check out more stills from the game by clicking here.

The storyline of Siberia 2 promises to be a lot of fun, where mystery abounds, and there are a lot of puzzles to solve. These types of games are my absolute faves and as Matthew can tell you I tend to get lost in them for hours!

If you'd like further info on this game or details as to how you canpick up a copy you can do so by checking out this website. Happy gaming!!!!

Cheers!
Sue

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On January 10th historian Chris Laursen took a fascinating look at two mysterious photos that may show apparitions lurking behind the living. This week, he continues his survey of famous ghost photos by taking us to Bachelor's Grove Cemetery in Illinois.

Bachelor's Grove seeks Single White Apparition
by Chris Laursen

It was the magic moment any paranormal researcher hopes for. On the afternoon of August 10, 1991, Ghost Research Society President Dale Kaczmarek led a group of nine investigators through the famous Bachelor's Grove Cemetery outside of Chicago armed with copies of a hand drawn map, cameras and some equipment. Electromagnetic field fluctuations occurred in various parts of the cemetery, in particular at one spot near an unmarked checkerboard-pattern tombstone. Not only that, several people had a strange feeling about the spot.

"We had a mother and her two daughters there, Paulette Stanek and Jude and Mari Huff. They had a 35-millimetre camera loaded with high
speed infrared film," Dale recalled in a phone interview I did with him. Infrared film highlights images to bring out greater detail, creating a glowing effect where foliage in particular appears very bright. "Sometimes things not visible to the naked eye show up on the film."

Pictures were taken with their camera, as well as Polaroid and regular 35-millimetre film that day, and none of them showed anything unusual. But there was one picture that Jude Huff-Felz took that couldn't be explained. It was taken in the direction of the checkerboard-pattern tombstone and showed what appeared to be a woman sitting on it in a relaxed pose, staring off. To me, her clothes and hair appear to be in the style of the early part of the twentieth century. "There were other people wandering around the cemetery that day, but there was absolutely no one dressed like that," said Dale.

An enlargement of the photo was published in the Chicago Sun-Times and the National Examiner and became the target of sceptics who suggested the photograph was faked. Later, the photo was examined in a Discovery Channel special called Phantom Photographs in which an expert from Eastman Kodak in Rochester, New York said it was simply a real person sitting on the tombstone because it cast a shadow.

The fact remains: not one of the ten people at the cemetery that afternoon saw the woman in the photograph, including the woman taking the photograph and her sister. "I was there. I know nobody was dressed like that. I know no one there faked the photograph. I know there were several other members at the same time taking photographs of that tombstone with different film, and nobody else got anything," said Dale. "I can't explain that photograph.... It was one shot out of thirty-six where anything showed up."

Dale, celebrating the Ghost Research Society's thirtieth anniversary this year (he's been researching things paranormal himself since 1975), is no stranger to coming up with inexplicable images in photography. He has taken several photos that included strange shadows and transparent figures, many of which are featured on the GRS's website. Several photos are e-mailed to him daily, and he's taken the time to document common image effects that are misinterpreted as being of supernatural origin to try and curb the inundation of faux ghostly photos. "It's so difficult to produce an authentic photograph... especially in this day and age where you've got computer programs like Photoshop," he said. "There are a lot of good frauds on the Internet," referring to one that he plans to expose soon on his website. One person was even trying to sell Dale a photograph without even letting him see it, which, of course, he declined.

The photo is made even more controversial by Bachelor Grove's reputation. The birthplace of many urban legends, the cemetery has been frequented by teenagers since the mid-60s. Some say that during the height of the Chicago mob era, bodies were dumped in a stagnant pond near the cemetery. Dead animal remains have been found near the lagoon, suggesting occult rituals.

In The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits (New York: Checkmark Books, 2000), Rosemary Ellen Guiley wrote, "Youthful vandals also began visiting the cemetery, overturning tombstones, desecrating and opening graves and strewing bones about." Today, volunteers maintain the cemetery and post images of vandals (such as the one below) caught in the act to prevent further damage to the 163-year-old burial ground. It's the sad reality of this landmark.

Guiley documented some of the tales spawned from Bachelor's Grove, all textbook urban legends. There is the tale of the young couple parking their car in the woods to make out. They hear a radio report of a mass murdered who has escaped an asylum and is on the loose. The couple decide to leave, but the car won't start. The boy goes to get help and leaves the girl waiting in the car. She hears strange scratching noises on the roof of the car. Later the police arrive and tell her to get out of the car. The girl is horrified to find her boyfriend's dead body hanging from a tree above the car, his throat slit. Similarly, there is another story about a young couple having a run-in with a ghost with a hook for a hand.

Mixed with the urban legends are eyewitness accounts of unusual apparitions, including a black dog, a phantom car and even ghostly monks. The GRS's photo has been connected to the "White Lady" commonly seen wandering the cemetery during full moons with an infant in her arms.

Dale's personal favourite is the appearance of a phantom house. "This phantom house is always seen along the trail as you walk into the cemetery from the side of the road. It's always described in the same fashion: a white wooden house with pillars, a porch swing, even a light burning dimly from the window," he said. "But as you walk toward it, people say it shrinks - it gets further and further away. You can never just step on the porch." Dale's research has not turned up any house ever existing along that road.

Straining actual reports of paranormal activity from the plethora of urban legends is especially hard at Bachelor's Grove Cemetery. Generations of young people going there to get scared might have affected the spooky mood there, not to forget people's general unease in places of burial. No doubt popular culture, ghost stories and disrespectful pranks have coloured the cemetery's reputation negatively. Yet the lady in white remains sitting on the tombstone in a photograph taken one summer afternoon, an inconclusive hint that there is more to behold than mere legends.

Further reading:

Ghost Research Society: http://www.ghostresearch.org/

Bachelor's Grove Cemetery: http://www.bachelorsgrove.com/

Image credits:

The female apparition in Bachelor's Grove Cemetery, Illinois was photographed by Jude Huff-Felz; courtesy Ghost Research Society.

Photo of vandal from Bachelor's Grove Cemetery website.

(Go on, click the image above...and you'll hear the organ from the film...I dare ya!)

One of our regular readers on the PSICAN forums posted the following:

"This is totally meant as a fun post. I'm a bit of a music fan and I was thinking of songs with a paranormal theme or some kind of relationship to something paranormal. My question is this: If you had to choose one song that would be a part of a 'paranormal' collection, what song would you choose?"

I think my own personal favourite would be "Don't fear The Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult, probably because it was used in the first Halloween film.

Here's a few others that were mentioned:

Big Joe and Phantom 309 by Tom Waits

Werewolf, by Cat Power

Strange Days, by John Lennon

Will Smith's Men in Black

People Are Strange by The Doors

Lucifer over Lancashire by The Fall

Welcome To My Nightmare (the Muppets version... HA!)

So how about you? What is your favourite paranormal themed song? Perhaps a few of these might find their way as clips onto the podcast????

Last night Matthew and I had a fairly lengthy conversation about my youth, and how I spent a lot of time checking out various parts of our province on a motorcycle. Those were some pretty fun times and I do hold fond memories of them.

Motorcycle enthusiasts are in a class by themselves, and that is why it is so cool for people from around the world to meet and greet online. Check out the 1st sport bike social networking site, a totally cool online venue that promotes, and supports everything to do with sport motorcycles. You'll find everything from info on safety, customising, purchasing, and racing sports bikes. If you are into motorcycles this website is definitely for you! Just click on the logo above and the link will take you there.

I often say to Matthew how cool would it be to invest in a couple of bikes and travel around to some of the hotter haunts in Ontario!

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Most of you gentle readers already know that both Matthew and I are very concerned about our environment, our own carbon footprint, and the legacy of polluted air that we as a society are leaving behind to future generations.

That is why reading about the prize, which is supposed to serve as a wake up to the airline industry, and it's suppliers to look at greener alternatives, clean-up their acts so to speak by developing new technologies so intriguing!

Air pollution is a big problem, and in my opinion anyone who does not believe that must have their heads in the sand. If the prize forces the development of the first green Trans Oceanic airplane I'm all for it!

It would definitely be a big help in aiding our atmosphere and cleaning the air that we all must breathe.

You can read all about the prize by clicking on the links in this blog entry.

Cheers!
Sue

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"Sphere Shaped Lights"

The town of Deep river, located on the Ottawa River, was established as the residence community for the personnel employed by Atomic Energy of Canada at nearby Chalk River. Over the years reports of UFO activity over both the town of Deep River and the village of Chalk River with its nuclear reactors have been plentiful. "Bright sphere shaped lights have been traveling at phenomenal speeds through the trees and at least fifteen people have witnessed and recounted these bizarre occurrences. Sounds like science fiction ? Apparently all of the fifteen witnesses have seen more than they're willing to say, but all steadfastly refuse to return to the sea." So mysteriously wrote an Ottawa Valley resident Heather Pettipas in "Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind" in Downstream: A Deep River and Area Literary/Art review (1983) compiled by P.A. Carver.

Eris Apparel is a new online shop that specializes in clothing and items for larger busted women who are of an average body size. If you have this body type then you already know how difficult it is to find stylish and properly fitting clothing to wear in regular shops and boutiques. Eris Apparel provides the convenience of secure online shopping with a wide variety of styles and fashion options to choose from.

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As most of you gentle readers who are following our paranormal adventures already know, Matthew and I have been busy little beavers working on, and developing our podcast pilot. One of the areas we are looking into is voice overs for our intros etc. And we want that voice to be smooth and slick unlike our own well... umm.... unique sound.

One of the sites I checked out earlier is My Voice Over Guy the home of voice over artist D.C. Douglas. This dude is not only an extreme voice over talent, but a film and television actor as well. With his stylin' and profilin' sound D.C. Douglas is one hot property and I'd love it if he could do our voice-overs! Don't believe me, just check out his site and listen to the demos. Not to forget to mention he has worked with some coolio peeps like Little Richard and Don LaFontaine!

We are still working out our very limited budget, but D.C. is open to non-union gigs and proposals according to his website F.A.Q, so who knows....

The success of any project such as ours depends on the likeability of it's sound by the audience in my opinion. There is no denying a talent like D.C. Douglas would be a huge asset to this type of endeavour.

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Yes, you read the above correctly and this smackdown is a slam dunk!

"A Romanian priest has been jailed for 14 years for conducting an exorcism that led to the death of a nun who he believed was possessed by devils."

Full BBC article here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6376211.stm

In my continuing research into ritual exorcism it never fails to amaze and disgust me at how many people have died, and continue to die at the hands of exorcists. In the above mentioned Romanian case the young woman involved had literally been crucified. Not only is this practise revolting, it is shocking that in the 21st century it is still going on. However, it is with cases of ritual torture through exorcism popping up in the USA, Britain, and even Canada in the recent past.

The preist involved has stated he will appeal his sentence, personally I think they should throw away the key on this one. The details of this case are not only shocking, they are heartbreaking. No one in their right mind could possibly think that depriving another life of water, food, oxygen, and finally crucifying them is God's work. It is murder.

Very sad....

We have been honoured by Andrea with a blogging award/meme called the Thinking Blogger Award! And it now our turn to bestow this award onto other deserving bloggers!

First here are the rules:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think.

2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.

3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote, here is a silver version and a gold version.

And now on to our chosen winners! And let me tell you it was very difficult to be limited to just five!

1. Life At The Edge - Nicola's fantastic blog! Each day Nicola posts something that not only makes us think about the world around us, but is usually accompanied by gorgeous imagery. One of our absolute faves!

2. The Spicy Cauldron - Andy's blog is another daily read of ours. I cannot tell you how often his blog has made me laugh, cry, want to scream in frustration, smile, and just feel. Thought provocative - simply excellent!

3. The Yellow Dog Granny - No-nonsense tell it like it is whether you like it or not! This is another blog that often sends me into fits of giggles, while forcing me to open my eyes, ears, and mind to the state of things in the USA and globally. Jackie-Sue is not for the faint of heart!

4. Cyber Outlaw - Some of the best creative writing on the net that I have ever come across! Check it out for yourself, but I'm warning you, you will get lost for hours.

5. Odd Things - Dustin's blog featuring scientific and paranormal news, a must read for all who love anything and everything oddly! Another daily read of ours.

Congratulations to ALL of the blogs listed above! Each of you is truly a gem within the blogsphere. No, you don't have to participate in this, but if you do please let us know so that we can check out your own "thinking blog" choices.

Thank you so much Andrea! Your support and kindness has always meant so much to us!

Each Friday we will have a look at the stories and experiences that have been related to us over the years that are amongst our personal favourites. These will include Crypto, Ghosts, UFO's and other strange events that may be considered Fortean from in around the Toronto, Canada area .... and since they are from our own personal files will likely not be found elsewhere on the web .... enjoy!

Private Residence - Norfolk, Ontario Canada

The following was sent to us be one of our readers...

"I live in Norfolk County in a 150 year old plus Victorian house located near the downtown area. When we purchased it, there was much need for repair and restoration so we go to it right away and within 6 years we had completely restored and repaired and replaced virtually everything.

Many things have happened here but I can show you if you like...

Long story short about 6 months ago I was photographing a vintage cream and sugar bowl set. The set is made of ceramic, glazed white and an overlay of silver mirror finishes the look for a nice effect. While taking these pictures I was standing way over to the left of the objects operating my computer, you will see though that the mirrored surface of this set was picking up everything going on behind/beside me. Once I had snapped the picture shown here, I gently guided the cursor back to the upper task bar of my screen when something caught my eye, I looked back at the picture and realized that there was very clearly a woman in a white Victorian dress standing on my staircase, so nicely posed with her one hand on the newel post and her other behind her back. You will clearly see that the 12 inch high wood stained baseboard beside her disappears completely behind Mary's dress.

Its a long story but I do know who she is.

I spent some time playing around trying to enlarge or darken or lighten the actual picture to see if I could see her better. I would suggest to you to try this yourself. If you change the picture to black and white and save it and use it as your wallpaper, you will be 'delighted' to see that her face starts to become much clearer. You can see one eye, her nose and her mouth. Her dress and form and hand also become clearer too.

We have experienced ten years of activity in the house and Mary does not seem to be alone. There seem to be several more presences in the house as well."

Our thanks to our reader for sharing these experiences, and her unusual image with us.

Do you have a real life ghost story, an encounter with a UFO, or other paranormal experience/s you'd like to share? If so, we'd love to hear from you! Post your own experiences in our comments section or send us an email. Please post only true life experiences ... we love good fiction, but there are other fantastic blogs out there to post fictional accounts to.

As I enter into my middle years, meaning I have now attained that 40th birthday milestone I find that I am growing more concerned about natural supplements, food, and diet in general.

Through reading online and spending time in natural health food shops I have discovered Goji Berries. This wonderful super fruit is naturally grown in the Tibetan, and Mongolian Himalayas, and has amazing health producing benefits.

Firstly, the Goji Berry contains more Amino Acids than even bee pollen, more Beta Carotene than carrots, more Iron than spinach, 21 Trace Minerals, and 500 times more Vitamin C by weight than oranges! That in itself is worth checking them out for.

However, the Goji Berry also contains powerful antioxidants, which is something I am personally very interested in along with other immune boosting benefits. I suffer from a rare auto-immune disorder, so therefore am looking for natural means in which to help myself, and enhance my own family's well being.

Goji Berries have long played very important roles in traditional Asian medicine, not only do they enhance immune system function as stated above, they are also believed to improve eyesight, protect the liver, and improve circulation, amongst other beneficial and positive health effects.

If you are interested in possibly purchasing Goji Berries or would like further information on their health benefits you may do so by checking out this website.

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Over the years of studying, researching, and investigating the various topics that encompass the paranormal realm, I have come to the realisation that most of those who show a strong interest in these subjects are also on a spiritual quest so to speak.

Spiritual workshops can be a wonderful teaching tool that can both enhance and enrich your paths and goals to attaining spiritual fulfilment.

There are many online spiritual workshops to choose from. Many are rather dubious in what they offer to those on a spiritual quest.

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to The Lotus Path Workshops. These workshops are run by Betty Malicoat out of beautiful Yosemite, and they offer differing traditions like Tantric Yoga, Tibetan Buddhism, Pranic Healing, and Hawaiian shamanism.

If you believe these might be of interest to you gentle reader, please do visit the The Lotus Path Workshops website, and discover all that Betty has to offer in your quest for spiritual teachings. And if you do decide to visit this lovely website or take some of these enlightening classes please let Betty know that the Paranormal Blog folks sent you. Thank you!

Enjoy!

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Please note that I, the owner of this blog and author is compensated to provide opinions, and reviews of products, services, websites and various other topics.

When I do write a sponsored posting it is usually clearly marked so by it's main category, and/or sometimes within the post itself by either a disclosure badge or a thank you to our sponsors.

Even though I am being compensated for my sponsored posts or advertisements found on this blog, I will always give you a fair and honest opinion of them. I do check each online source provided by the sponsors, and will never post about a product or service that I cannot support or conflicts with my own conscience. In other words, the views expressed here are my own, and will always remain that way. You my peeps are way to important to me for it to be otherwise.

However when providing you with information on a product's claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service you should ALWAYS verify it with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.

If you would like to contact me directly you can do so by either leaving a comment on this blog, and I will respond or via email admin at psican.org

Paedophile freed for Dracula book

"An American historian jailed in Romania for paedophile offences has been released more than two years early because he wrote a book about Dracula."

Full BBC Article Here.

This is SERIOUSLY DEMENTED!!!!

You know what...I'm too ticked off for words...I can't do it....

Catch ya all tomorrow, and watch out for this weekend's Sunday Smackdown, which details more Romanian stupidity.