The Machine against the Muggles

I respect other people’s beliefs.  I do everything I can not to disrespect either the living or those that have passed.  However, sometimes paths cross.  Sometimes there is a confrontation; sometimes that confrontation happens in another dimension.

While we were doing genealogical research, we ended up in a Catholic cemetery.  It was old, but it had fresh internments, it also was the Friday before Memorial Day, so I didn’t know if there would be loved ones tending graves.  Again, I work very hard not to offend anyone.  So if my activity was unwelcome, I would have to stop.    I approached the corner of the cemetery, and ask if anyone had something to say.

A chatty woman named Margaret told me that she was “above”.  She then explained to me that she had a “stove” and that something was “lost” and “wasted”.  What popped into my mind was that she was complaining about things that her kids had done.  I smiled.  Some mothers always want to remind their kids of their shortcomings.  Then HE entered the cemetery.  He drove a large SUV; he eyed me with suspicion as he drove by.  He slowed down to study my husband who was busily photographing family graves.  The eagle and American flag on his cap as well as the array of political bumper stickers on the back of the truck told me that he would not support my kind of foolishness.  I realized that Ghost Radar was silent; I found a visitor’s bench to take a good look at my smartphone.  Guess I had bumped the phone and turned off Ghost Radar.  I set it back up set it on the bench beside me; I ask if anyone had anything to say.  When I looked down my smartphone was playing a balloon popping game!   I reset it one more time and asked my question.  I looked up, and saw Mr. SUV standing at the back of the cemetery staring directly at me.  The Ghost Radar was switched off again without human intervention!

My husband asked if I had anything.  I told him “Yes.  It doesn’t like Muggles.”  Just in case there is someone reading this who is not aware of Harry-Potter speak, Muggles are non-magic(k)al  people.  They do not believe in such nonsense.  To be a true Muggle, I add that they also must be against the magic(k)al – including the paranormal.  However, I did remind him that spirit loved to play tricks with electronic equipment.  Having my phone switch to a game, and then having Ghost Radar turned off was also proof of spectral energy.  Perhaps the speaker had a hard time with the device; perhaps the contact was with the Divic Kingdom (the cemetery was in a wooded area).  I told my husband that I would have to do more research.  I didn’t know that would happen the very next day.    

The next cemetery had a very old section, and a newer section.  I hoped we’d be in the old section, but the research was in the new section.  We were basically alone in the cemetery when my husband found family names in one direction while I was pulled in another.  A person who died in their teens told me about “studying”.   A woman told me that she had “raised’ “children” “too”.  A World War II veteran explained to me that he was about “safety” and that he had seen “various” “action” and had “raised” a “flag” while at “sea”.  A set of family graves revealed secrets.  The mother told me that she wanted to know “whether” someone was “lying”.  She then said that she “knew”.   She reminded me that life is precious and that “time” “rushes”.    Again, others drove into the cemetery, and again Ghost Radar went silent.  Two women got out of the car and began putting flags on veteran’s graves.  More and more people showed up to help.  One woman spoke to my husband.  She smiled broadly as my husband pointed out one relative after another.  My husband pointed at me.  She smiled and waved, I returned to favor.  Ghost Radar remained silent.

Why I Play with Moldy, Old Dead Things...

I love Chip Coffey.  I owe Chip Coffey money - he and his psychic kids have helped to save my part of my sanity.  By watching Chip and the kids, I came to the realization that I wasn't a "weird little kid", I was a psychic sensitive.  Not only was I a psychic sensitive.  I still am a psychic sensitive.

I know I'm not alone.  There are probably a lot of people who recognize themselves and their childhood from watching Psychic Kids.  Many of those people have no idea how to deal with the stigma their family or community put on their abilities and experiences.  Some people were stigmatized for religious reasons; some people were stigmatized because they were surrounded by a family who thought the whole thing was nonsense.  Then there the kids like me who had parents who were told that I had too active an imagination, and to ignore me.  Now that flings you right in the middle of the Twilight Zone.  Am I crazy? Am I going crazy? OK, I get it - I'm flat-assed weird.  Weird means you go to the back of the bus in life.  Weird means there are places you can't or don't go because of the panic those places or people bring up inside of you, but you can't control it or you can't explain it.  If you can't consider the psychic, you may be missing a chance for serious self-knowledge.

Now I'm not telling people to use the psychic as a catch-all explanation.  If someone is seriously depressed or if the voices they hear make them do violent things or they have serious periods of disassociation of reality, then these need to be treated as the medical conditions they are.  However, if you were one of those people who remember having psychic experiences, then it's time to revisit your experiences in a whole different light.

This is the main reason I'm out there.  I want other people who watch Psychic Kids as a therapy session to realize that what happened to you means you had/have extraordinary skills.  Maybe your skills still cause you problems.  Maybe it's time to realize that these skills can serve you as an adult; you panic when you're around someone? Perhaps it's time you paid attention.  If you are overwhelmed with sensations, meditation, especially mindfulness, can help you tune things out or turn sensations down (mindfulness worked for me).  Also, there are a lot of communities on the web who focus on the paranormal or the psychic.  Finding someone who has blazed the trail before you can be very helpful.  Again, if simple solutions like meditation don't work, don't be afraid to ask for psychological or medical help.  No one should have to suffer emotional problems - they are about the worst pain you can deal with.

Yes, I have studied my butt off to understand this whole topic.  Yes, I have listened to the experts about guarding and warding yourself before attempting contact.  Yes, I know there are people who think this whole topic is nonsense.  But I do know what I feel and see - and the results I get are usually fascinating.   Next time more ghost adventures........I promise.

What I Learned at the Battle of Black Jack

As I approached the marker, Ghost Radar told me to "avoid".  Avoid what?  The path ahead was well maintained and easy to navigate.  There were a number of historical markers I wanted to see, and a nice 3-board display explaining what had happened where I stood.

Where I stood was in Baldwin, Kansas.  I had driven here to see my nephew (hi, Chris) graduate from college. Baldwin is a very, very small town.  Baker College is its primary draw for visitors; that and the Battle of Black Jack.  On June 2, 1856, the anti-slavery forces of John Brown attacked the encampment of Henry C. Pate.  The battle was a culmination of a series of events that had happened across Kansas.  Businesses were burned, printing presses from the local newspapers had been ruined to shut down the papers; people were murdered and others were kidnapped.  Many historians believe that these events actually were the start of the Civil War.

What had caused all this grief?  Well, the Congress of the US had passed the Kansas-Nebraska act, which told the states to decide if they wanted to enter the union as a free- or slave-state.  All this caused a divide in the citizens.  Both pro- and anti-slavery forces rushed in trying to change minds and establish a culture in favor of one or the other.

As I had travelled down the trail Ghost Radar gave me "refer" "Chicago".  People from the North had flooded into Kansas to make sure that it did not become a Slave State.  I got "look", "angry" and "frightened" - no doubt the energy of the battle and participants lingered.  I also got "situation" "wild" and "complex".  As I look out over the site, I was amazed that even though there was no one killed in battle, the residual energy defined what had happened and what was going on. You read right - even though no one was killed at the Battle of Black Jack, Ghost Radar found something to pick up.  Have the programmers of this app proven something that ghost hunters and psychics have discussed for years - events, especially those filled with strong emotion, have a residual energy.  Is this energy a portal for people who were involved in the event to touch this dimension?  Right now I have more questions than answers.

While slavery was a point of division over 150 years ago, we have a divided nation today. While someone may say that slavery was more a critical or serious issue, all we have to do is look around us today and see people reacting to our current state of affairs with inappropriate, and in some cases, violent behavior.

  Yes, the situation was "wild" and "complex", but are things not "wild and complex" for America right now? Do we want to have a campaign season that goes from nasty words to nasty deeds? All of a sudden, I got a cosmic clue about the word, "avoid".  Can we avoid the division that is causing so much trouble in this country?  I think the Battle of Black Jack is telling us that it would be the smart thing to do.

Dead Relatives - National Veteran's Cemetery, Memphis, Tenneesee

My husband had always liked a good mystery story.  He also is a serious fan of history.  So when his best friend showed up one night for dinner with laptop in hand to show Paul how far back he had traced his family tree, another genealogist was recruited.  Now after Paul got into the hobby, I began to see how we both could benefit.   I investigate the paranormal and he wanted to go visit dead relatives in cemeteries.  Hot damn! Road Trip!

So our first serious foray into this territory was this morning (05/16/12) when we went looking for a dead great-great-grandfather at the National Veterans Cemetery, Memphis Tennessee.  It is beautiful and peaceful.  However, it is filled with tragedy.  I was surprised when I got out of the car that I didn’t feel overwhelmed; so I settled down into that state where spirits can contact me.  I had my Ghost Radar with me, and asked if anyone had something to say.  Realize that this app is automatically set to come on when I turn on my phone.  Last time it spoke was on January 29, 2012 in at Ashley’s restaurant, in Rockledge, Florida a noted hot spot of ghostly activity.  All this time it has remained silent – until today. 

As I made my way through the small limestone markers, it began to speak.  Ghost Radar tries to detect paranormal activity by using various sensors that are on the cell phone itself.  One of the modern theories of paranormal activity is that some intelligent energy (ghosts or spirit) is aware of its ability to influence the sensors on a smartphone. The app interprets certain readings from the sensors.  Intelligence influences the readouts and communicates.  Twenty minutes into the session I had over 15 words.   I was told that there was “activity” and that “you’re pleasant” which, considering I was standing amongst the remains of Southern gentlemen, made me feel honored.  I was saddened to see that many of the graves are of “unknowns”.  I had no idea why there were so many.  But I approached a row and walked over to a grave.  “Do you want to tell me your name?” I asked. “James” was the reply.  A few unknowns down, and the reply was “Johnson”.  Now getting a man’s name once while standing over an unknown grave would be a statistical possibility; walking to another grave and getting the name “Johnson” starts to mess with both your mind and the numbers.

Other communications included “paid, won, any and political”.  Since I was standing in the Civil War part of the cemetery, the communication summed up the War Between the States.  Some paid, some won; some saw it as a situation where any side won and paid, but it was all political.

Then the communication got fascinating.  I got the words “Mississippi, spent, water, swam, darkness”.  Now, I’m fascinated with history from either a psychological or a paranormal standpoint.  However, I could not think of any Civil War battle in Tennessee that fit the description.  However, a review of the brochure from the cemetery answered all my questions:  “Victims of one of the nation’s most tragic maritime disasters – the explosion and burning of the Mississippi River steamboat USS Sultana on April 26, 1965 – are buried here.  At a stop in Vicksburg, between 1,800 and 2,000 Union soldiers recently released from Confederate prison camps boarded the ship.  Shortly after it left Memphis, the boiler exploded and fire broke out on the ship.  More than 1,700 people were killed.”  Another communication Explained.

Most interesting, was on our way back to the hotel.  James wanted to continue to communicate.  His comments about the drive home included “halfway” – when we were 10 miles into a 20 mile drive; “automobile” and “fly” as people flew by us using the Southern “drive it like you stole it” mentally.  I was concerned that James was still “chatting” on my phone.  So I asked him to go back with love and light.  The Ghost Radar has been silent since.