The Brave Mortal's Guide to Ghost Hunting

by Alex Matsuo

  I could go on to say that there is no right or wrong way to ghost hunt. But, there actually is. I'll get more into that later in the book. For now, we need to address the elephant in the room; why does a ghost stick around?

  Questions like these have inspired people to look for answers as to why this phenomenon happens. Most want to have that clear proof of the afterlife. Can you imagine what this world would be like if we were able to prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that ghosts exist? While we may not be able to settle the debate of what a ghost is at this moment, we can discuss theories as to why a ghost may want to stick around.

  These are the conventional and most well-known reasons for a ghost to stick around:

  Unfinished business

  Delivering a message to a loved one

  Fear of crossing over

  Feeling trapped by another person unable to let go

  Unfinished business seems to be the most popular reason for a ghost to be hanging around. In my experience, I've also found that a lot of entities are afraid of crossing over. Granted, I'm not sure who exactly wrote the rules of the afterlife as we know them, so I can't comment on whether crossing over is a good thing or not. I've had many psychics tell me that once you cross over, you're able to return to the physical world and visit loved ones. But the ones who are usually hesitant to cross over are the ones who may not have been good people in life. In other words, they are afraid that they'll end up in hell or some other eternal punishment. I understand that this opens up a whole can of worms when it comes to religion. I won't go into that yet. At least, not into the first chapter!

  Many people assume that ghost hunting started in the early 2000s with the inception of the TV show, "Ghost Hunters." While that show may have influenced today's ghost hunting practices, it is far from the inspiration of the practice.

  In order to fully understand ghost hunting as it is today, we have to turn back the hands of time by a few thousand years. We have to become anthropologists and look into the roots of communication and spirituality. From the time man became aware of the presence of a deity, they have worshiped, offered sacrifices, and attempted communication.

  According to Sir Edward Tylor, animism is one of the oldest religions, if not THE oldest. Animism is the belief that all objects, whether animal, inanimate, etc. has some sort of spiritual essence. It is the idea that other things have souls other than humans. One could even argue that animists struggled to see the difference between animals, living beings, and what we consider to be "things."

  With this in mind, we can argue that animism might have had a hand in what we consider to be paranormal culture. When you remember that people believe objects can be possessed or haunted, the idea of animism does not seem so far-fetched. With the Annabelle craze making people nervous around dolls, and people trying to attach their essence to beloved jewelry, perhaps the souls that animists believe to reside in inanimate objects are a manifestation of the human soul.

  In modern society, being religious or spiritual is common, and animism is relevant even to modern-day beliefs. For example, in Japan, people describe an immense respect for material things. A certain celebrity became famous for her decluttering ideas and to only keep the things that "spark joy." According to some, if you choose to get rid of things in your home, you must thank each object before putting it into the donation box or throwing it away completely. Even the simple business card exchange that has become famous has a very spiritual basis. For one, when you hand your business card, it is always facing the customer, and your card is always under theirs. As you interact with the customer, the cards are always on display. This is because the business card is considered to be an extension of the person. The card possesses a part of that person's spirit.

  In the Shinto religion, there is the concept of yaoyorozu no kami, otherwise known as "eight million gods." This is about as far from monotheism as one can get. Where do eight million gods go? Well, this means that there is an infinite number of places and material things in which the gods can dwell. The belief that sacred spirits inhabit nature while other gods dwell in simple things like rice, household cooking items, etc. is why you'll see that the Japanese treat everything with respect. Why am I talking about this in a paranormal book?

  For thousands of years, people have enjoyed a good ghost story. Like other narratives, our earliest ghost stories were passed down as an oral tradition. Eventually, the popular ghost stories were written down. Pliny the Younger seems to be one of the only sources of ancient ghost stories, which we will get into in Chapter Five. Given that Greek mythology implies a belief in Hades, the River Styx, and more, the story-tellers must have believed in the survival of some sort of consciousness after death.

  Some of the most vocal and active spirits I've encountered are those who want their stories to be told. Perhaps the fear of being forgotten is a fear worse than death for many of us. For example, consider how many people lived during the American Revolution. Think about it, and then ask yourself, how many of them do we actually remember? We can see that one way to get "immortality" is to become famous. Is it the only way?

  Even since the earliest tales, we seem to have the same formula for a good ghost story. The ghost stories of today follow a pattern very similar to the stories told before, whether the story is presented as real or fiction. With so many consistencies, we have to wonder if spirits, afterlife, and the idea of an eternal consciousness are due to an element of truth, or are we just so taken in by the same myth that it has become a common belief?

  With this in mind, hauntings don’t happen without reason. we have found that paranormal activity always has some sort of catalyst at its start. Something as simple as the presence of a new person in the house, renovations, or a new object being brought into the house, can trigger a disruption in the energy of a space. Essentially these disruptions shake up someone's life somehow. Or, in this case, their afterlife.

  Man-Made Ghosts

  To further complicate the definition of a ghost, some believe we can actually create our own ghosts. This goes back into the idea of energy. One of the most famous cases of a man-made ghost is known as the Philip Experiment, which was conducted by the Toronto Society for Psychical Research. Researchers wanted to see if they could create a ghost. In 1972 in Toronto, Ontario, a mathematician by the name of A.R.G. Owen and a psychologist named Dr. Joel Whitton oversaw a parapsychological experiment that would change the paranormal field forever. A group of brilliant minds who were members of TSPR, which included a former MENSA chairperson, got together and created a character through what we only know as a "purposeful methodology." Then, they tried to communicate with that spirit through a séance. Dr. Whitton was mainly present to observe while Owen was there for guidance.

  The group's first task was to create a character and then make up a fictional biography of said character. They created Philip Aylesford. Philip was an aristocratic Englishman who lived in the middle 1600s. He was born in 1624 and was knighted at the age of 16, thanks to an early military career. He had a wife named Dorothea, who was the daughter of a nobleman. His wife was known to be frigid and not very friendly.

  Then, Philip's story gets very interesting and very reminiscent of a soap opera set in Oliver Cromwell's time. He fell in love with a dark-haired Gypsy by the name of Margo. Philip was so smitten with Margo that he brought her to live on his property by the stables, and the two had an affair. Eventually, cold Dorothea found out about Margo and accused her of witchcraft and trying to steal her husband. Philip was cowardly and didn't come to Margo's defense. Poor Margo was found guilty of witchcraft and was burned at the stake.

  Philip was so stricken with grief and remorse that he often paced around his Diddington estate. One day, his body was found at the bottom of the battlements after committing suicide. He was only 30 years old. This group even used their artistic talents and created a portrait of Philip.

  For over a year, the group got together and meditated on Philip; they discussed his life an
d tried to visualize him in as much detail as possible. This was in a fully lit room. Sometimes, a presence was felt in the room, but no one could attest that it was Philip they were sensing. Many people take for granted just how long this process took.

  Eventually, the group decided to change their methodology for establishing communication and agreed to try a seance. They sang songs and had pictures of a castle that Philip might have lived in. They dimmed the lights and created a classic environment for a spooky seance. This ended up working. The group got their first rap on the table. They would ask "yes" or "no" questions with one rap for yes, and two for no. Apparently, this spirit answered that he was Philip when asked.

  The group met frequently and used multiple tables. The tables would move side to side on thick carpeting, and, in some descriptions, would even stand on one leg. I had the pleasure of seeing one of the tables in person in 2017 when I was attending the Ghost Excavation Conference in Bedford, Pennsylvania in 2018. The table was your typical folding table with metal legs and plastic cover. Anyone walking by it would assume it’s unremarkable if they’re not aware of the history. Underneath the table were signatures from all of the participants in the Philip Experiment as well as a few paranormal celebrities who got to use the table.

  Philip was able to do tasks on command, like dimming the lights and creating cool breezes. The activity was so amazing that the group then held the seance in front of a live audience of 50 people. Philip wasn't shy in that setting either. This public seance was actually filmed, and the footage can be found online. The group did have a goal of getting Philip to materialize, but this never happened.

  Regardless, the results of the experiment were considered to be a success. TSPR decided to try the experiment again with a new group of people. In just five weeks, the new group created and made contact with a fictional character named Lilith, who was a French-Canadian spy. The experiment was once again repeated a few more times and even included a character from the future. The experiment even reached as far as Australia, where it was called the "Skippy Experiment" after the character they created, a 14-year old girl by the name of Skippy Cartman.

  I can't help but wonder what happened to these characters after the experiment was over. Did the groups just abandon them? Or did they do some sort of closing session? Were the characters left to wander? Did they fade away? Excuse the expression, but from what I understand, the groups "ghosted" on their characters and moved on.

  In the case of the Philip Experiment and subsequent experiments that followed, this was a man-made ghost that adopted an identity and traits that were given to it by its creators.

  Tulpa Phenomenon

  The Philip Experiment is not the only case where an entity was created by people. In Indian Buddhism, the belief is that the "mind-made body" is the "fruit of contemplative life." The mind-made body was how a figure like Gautama Buddha was able to travel through the heavenly realms. If this sounds like astral projection to you, I would agree--they have a lot in common.

  Tibetan Buddhism has a concept where they believe in emanation bodies, basically something created from a person. A common belief is that the next incarnation of the Dalai Lama can already be seen through emanation and that that people living today could be emanations.

  From there, theosophists took these concepts and developed the idea of a Tulpa. The Tulpa is a creation of the human mind, and it can eventually gain the ability to act independently from its creator. If someone wants to create a Tulpa, they create the concept in their mind and then treat it like a living person. The idea is that the Tulpa will eventually morph and manifest into its own independent being. However, because they are created from thoughts, a Tulpa is never fully finished.

  Some believe that perhaps ghosts are actually Tulpas or some sort of man-made experiment like Philip. As much as I want to get on board with this idea, I can't. Because creating something like Philip or a Tulpa takes an immense amount of concentration and thinking, I believe it would be particularly difficult for one person to create the ghost.

  However, I do wonder if we are occasionally participating in one long-term Philip experiment, especially when investigating at famously haunted locations where we are given regular and well-rehearsed stories about specific people.

  Residual Hauntings

  Here's my theory: I believe that we can expel a lot of energy, even without realizing it. Have you ever walked into a room after an argument took place and you can feel the tension? Even though the people present seem fine, you can tell something is off. Like the term, "You can cut the tension with a knife," we know inside our souls that something is wrong.

  I believe that this energy can remain in a place if the area isn't cleansed. Have you ever walked into a place where someone experienced trauma? It doesn't have to be something as dramatic as walking into the Lizzie Borden House. It can be walking into a hospital. A lot happens in a hospital. Not only is life born, but it also ends. As we know, death is a lot like life in the sense that each one is different. Not everyone will have a peaceful death. Some may leave this Earth in a much more traumatic way.

  Plus, add in the energy of those visiting the hospital for some sort of trauma. I doubt someone is going around smudging or making rounds to cleanse the place regularly. That energy remains. Even if you feel uneasy at a hospital, this may be coming from your own personal experiences that your energy is working around. In short, energy is key in the paranormal.

  One (flawed) theory, known as the Stone Tape Theory, suggests that the things around us can store emotions and energy. From trees to the ground, to structures, and more, these material items of the Stone Tape Theory are "recorded" and then "replayed" under the right conditions, as if Mother Nature became the biggest recording studio we have ever seen.

  You may have noticed that I said it was a flawed theory. For one, finding a source for the Stone Tape Theory has been difficult. The term seems to have become famous and validated thanks to modern paranormal culture. I don't believe this discredits the theory necessarily, but if someone tries to tell you that this theory goes back decades, you will want to ask for their sources. Well, the concept goes back quite a bit, but the name itself is fairly new.

  In 1972, the BBC aired a drama called "The Stone Tape." Without going into explicit descriptions, an electronics company goes into a house to do work. They encounter an apparition of a young woman on the stairs. Not everyone can see or hear her at first. The theory is then mentioned that the stone blocks of the house stored images and sounds from a traumatic event. Hence, creating a paranormal experience.

  For decades, many people have believed in this concept, even if they didn't call it the Stone Tape Theory. In the 1961 book, "Ghost and Ghoul," by Thomas Charles Lethbridge, he mentions a similar concept, but again, he never names the theory. He examines the idea that memories and emotions can be stored in inanimate objects. He goes on to further say that cells can resonate and vibrate, thus explaining memory transferences. If you're curious about Lethbridge's background, interestingly enough, he left the field of archeology for paranormal research.

  Lethbridge cites a professor of Oxford University as his source for this concept. Price was a professor of logic, ironically. In his time, his belief in the paranormal may not have been seen as logical. Yet, some of the greatest minds of our time like Charles Dickens and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle believed in the unknown. Price also served as the President for the Society for Psychical Research at one point in his life. In an SPR publication from 1938-1939, Price's presidential address was titled, "Haunting and the ‘psychic ether’ hypothesis." In this address, he made the claim that objects carry memory traces. If someone were to touch one of these objects, that person would have a "retrospective experience." Price went on to say that these experiences were not supernatural. Instead, we are experiencing the emotions and memories of what once was.

  If you're familiar with antique collecting and its complicated relationship with the paranormal, you'll know that there have
been countless cases of antiques being tied with paranormal experiences. Television networks have created TV shows from this idea. People have become celebrities based on this idea. Artifact hauntings are well known in the paranormal community. Could this be related?

  In this way, we can connect the belief of yaoyorozu no kami, or "eight million gods" that I described earlier. I explained that the etiquette of business card exchange was important because the card was seen as an extension of that person. Indeed, the yaoyorozu no kami belief is that items have three sources of the spirits that inhabit them:

  The person that made them

  The person that uses them

  The materials from which things are made

  This would explain why something sacred like your mother's wedding ring possesses part of her spirit. This is why so many believe that the spirit of an artist is in their work. This would explain why so many antiques are believed to be haunted. Even something as simple as paper would possess spirit because it was made from trees.

  But this also begs the question: if memories can be stored in objects and our environmental surroundings, can consciousness be stored too? This does sound a bit futuristic, especially since there are rumors that scientists are seeking ways to upload human consciousness onto a computer, thus living forever as some sort of machine.

  Story Time: This is one of the more humorous stories I have to share when it comes to meeting other people and learning their theories of ghost hunting. I didn't have the most positive experience with this person since he was vying for a spot on my ghost hunting group, and he didn't get it. He didn't take the news well. But, with this story, you might understand why I didn't accept him on the team. He was adamant, and I mean willing to lay down his life, that you could electrocute ghosts. To be fair, our brains do function with electricity, and right now mainstream ghost hunting goes with the thought that ghosts can alter electromagnetic fields.