Common Signs for Ghosts

The most commonly heard sound is that of someone walking, frequently associated with this sound is hearing a door that opens or closes. Upon investigation there is noone on the premises.

Although less typical, reports of 'seeing' a spirit or being 'touched' are the next most often reported incidents.

Smell is often associated with spirit activity.

I hesitate to list smells and their associations for fear of influencing anyone's perceptions of a situation.

However if you are associating smells with spirit events don't be frightened, this is pretty common too.

Here is a short list of some common events that happen in a, haunted house:

*Seeing shadows move around.

*Hearing footsteps in a vacant room.

*Missing keys or other small objects.

*Lights, televisions, radios etc. being turned on when off, or vice-versa.

*Household animals staring intensely at nothing or acting unusual.

*Doors and windows being locked or unlocked, shut or opened.

*Being touched when no one is present.

*Often active hauntings have distinctive smells associated with them.

*Areas within the building that have notably colder spots.

 What is a Ghost?

The word Ghost can be defined as the spirit, soul or energy of a deceased human or animal. These beings tend to act is if they were still alive. The spirit of a person or animal tends to hold on to a moment or place in time that does not allow them to go on. This is not limited to their homes, offices, gravesites, or place of death. Sometimes this is a person or animal who has experienced a sudden, unexplained or tragic death. An example of this would be a child who has died and would remain in the house playing and going on with their daily routine.

Is My House Haunted?

Just because you hear strange noises in your house late at night doesn't mean that your house is haunted. Many times, those strange noises can be explained, even a door that opens by itself can sometimes be logically explained. This is when you, the homeowner, needs to experiment.

Attempt to get that door open or try to make the strange noise happen again. How can I do this, you ask? Well simply try anything that you can to replay the "haunting" event, including jumping on the floor, running, or any other typical occurrence that happens daily. If the sound you keep hearing is behind an appliance make sure it isn't a fan or any other electrical component inside the appliance.

Yes, sometimes that unexplained noise or event can be easily explained. Now, if you've tried everything and you still can not recreate that event, you may have a haunting.

Still, there is that possibility that you have missed something simple. Call a friend or neighbor and explain the problem and have them try to recreate the event.

If you still can not make the event happen again and it has occurred more than once, I suggest you consider having paranormal investigators do an Investigation, in most cases they work for free.

The Fear Factor:

I once read an analogy that I feel best explains how spirits become attracted to specific sites or to certain people.

I would like to share that with you here in hopes that it will help you understand the fueling of a haunting. Ghosts are basically fields of residual bio-electric energy. All electricity follows a circuit! Psychic energy, though it operates slightly differently than the electricity that runs your toaster or television still follows a patterned circuit.

Just as when lightening strikes a tree, there is no physical circuit that can be observed with your eyes, but science knows that the strike will generate from the most intense source of energy build up and then reach out for the nearest object. Once this energy has found the closest object it will strike and follow it, until it's energy is expended or grounded.

The energy required for a haunting also follows a circuit, but whether this results in a one time manifestation or a repeating or cyclical event will result in it's energy source.

When we are frightened, our bodies have a magnificent response that science has termed "Fight or Flight".  We know that during the fight or flight response we become supercharged to either "fight off" the threatening offender or to "run" like hell.

Either choice will be in our best interest so that we may escape or protect our lives. Spirits can then use this high power fuel that we ourselves are providing, for their own purposes.

Just as they draw energy from the atmosphere which results in the famous "cold spots", they can draw energy from this high octane fuel that fear provides. It is easy to understand from this, that if you always respond with the fight or flight panic, you will be setting up the scenario for repeated manifestations.

Knowledge is the key to desensitizing fear. There are many great websites out there that offer information and knowledge, it is not my purpose here to explain all that. Rather, I am focusing on working with you as an individual to eliminate your fears and maybe teach you some practical ways of dealing with a haunting.

One Time Events:

Are just that, an event that happens once and then it is over! There are many reasons some we do not understand that may trigger a one time event. A frequent occurrence is to see a loved one at the moment of their death.Other reasons may be an anniversary, an emotional family event such as a wedding or a funeral, perhaps the birth of a child. You must also take into consideration - electro-magnetic fields, or maybe a violent storm or a lunar phase.

Although we may never, and most likely will never know what caused the event, it is sufficient to just accept it and move on.In most other cultures these events are a part of everyday life, and one would be considered "blessed" to have experienced it.  In our culture it has become a dreaded thing, associated with fear and panic.

Repeating Manifestations:

With repeating manifestations, most usually start out as knocking, rapping or hearing someone walking. A little noise here and there, or maybe something appears lost but basically pretty doggone uneventful.

At this stage, most folks do not push the panic button nor do they believe they are being haunted, instead they rationalize the sounds away. Many times after a few episodes it goes dormant.

But in a situation where stress and tension can be common place, the manifestations may escalate particularly if there are teens involved. Please keep in mind, that Poltergeist activity is NOT a haunting - but is associated with the turmoil associated with adolescence, and is a whole different topic for another discussion.

Emotional energy can also cause an entity to temporarily deviate from its circuit and pattern of haunting, appearing in rooms and areas where previously it had not been observed. Emotional energy is theorized to be an entity's primary power source although the manipulation of and integration with electro-magnetic fields can also be assumed to be a source of their manifestation abilities.