Monday, November 26, 2012

Misunderstood religions, religious symbols


Before we start  this section: I am not affiliated with any of these religions.   I am a Buddhist and believe in the right for people to practice whatever religion they choose. I in no way endorse any of the religions I may speak of in this blog. My intention is simply to bring forth information that doesn't usually see the light of day.

Pentagram/Pentacle:

                                           
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If you watch television, the instant they see this symbol everyone accuses the owner of the establishment of having practiced satanism.
What some of you may not know, that this symbol has been around well before Christianity, and was used widely by most religions.
Christianity: Emperor Constantine used it as his personal seal and amulet.

-It was also referred to as the star of Bethlehem.

-It was used as a symbol of protection when enclosed by a circle.

-Used to symbolize the star which led the three wise men to Jesus.

-Was used by the English warrior Sir Gawain as his personal symbol. It represented the Five Knightly Virtues: Generosity, Courtesy, Chastity, Chivalry, and Piety.
From protection to representing nature, to the golden number, the five elements and there are many, many more meanings.

It wasn't until the inquisition that the Christian Church deemed this as evil in order to flush out all the witches and Pagans. It was around this time, that the inverted Symbol started to be taken by the more evil sects, as before some symbolized this as winter the opposite of the upright meaning summer.

 Neo-Paganism is on the rise when you see one of these symbols today (even inverted), it doesn't mean the person is a satanist. To a Wiccan (good witch) this represents nature, and some still use it as protection. This has become one of the larger religions in the US today.

Witchcraft:

The same is going to apply for "Witchcraft", Pagan, Wiccans consider themselves good witches as they do have spells they practice. When people hear the word witchcraft- Oh no! Evil is lurking! I have several friends that practice Wicca, and they are some of the nicest people you'll ever meet and are very open about what they practice and why.



Swastika:

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It doesn't mean what you think it means. We can't let Hitler's misuse of this symbol ruin it forever. This ancient symbol was used widely by many religions as good luck, good existence,  represent the four powers of nature or by the Sumerians as a symbol of the Sun. India still uses this symbol today as a symbol of good luck. Ancient Buddhists have this symbol embedded in a lot of their holy statues as well.  This was such a holy symbol that Christianity also considered adopting it.

There are many "Pagan" religions, symbols that are misunderstood. I must confess while I can discuss this all day, I would encourage those of you that are truly interested in the paranormal and home blessing, etc to do your own research. Most of you will find that the mainstream makes things seem a lot worse than they actually are. To be a well-rounded investigator or even just for general religious tolerance, actual research into all religions is recommended.


Roy Weedmark is the owner of Paranormal Discord. Paranormal Discord is an attempt to poke fun of the dysfunctional world we call ghost hunting.







Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Skeptic?

Skeptic?

Hello friends, today I feel the need to address the Skeptic non-skeptic topic. This can really split a group of you dont know how to address it, Every time you have a group of people together there are always going to be differences of opinions, and the best groups and people learn to respect all opinions.

If you're like me, you try to keep an open mind, but approaching a case I try to debunk everything and research what I can't explain. I respect everyone's thoughts whether I agree with them or not. As much as I want to believe everything in this field, my scientific brain won't let me. But, even I can say this to all skeptics: Just because you can't explain it or see it, doesnt mean its not there. Take nature for example. You're sitting in a grove of trees, thinking how beautiful it is. What you dont see are all the insects crawling around eating each other, birds building nests, and all the little things that happen to sustain those trees. When you're outside, you can;t see them but you're surrounded by all the energy and sound waves created by traffic, electricity. Just because you can't see things things happening or floating around in the air, doesn't mean they're not there. Just because you dont understand or cant see what mediums see, doesnt mean it's not possible.

But to Paranormal Investigators. You give skeptics more and more ammo. Take shadow figures for example. Sitting in the dark on an investigation, you see something moving. Do you really? Be aware that yes there may be something there, but sitting in the dark really plays with your eyes. Why not turn the lights on? If there are truly shadow figures, wouldnt you see them with the lights on? This is the kind of ammo given to skeptics. So the same goes for you. If someone is a skeptic and happens to rip apart your evidence, don't get upset. This is not a proven Science. 

In reality, I am one of the biggest skeptics you'll probably meet in this field, but I keep an open mind. To discover, further research and help those in need is why I'm here. If I closed my mind off to these things I'd never get anywhere. So when those you know or even those in your group say they've seen things, etc please dont automatically shut them down. If we did that all the time, we wouldnt have half the technology and spiritual expertise we have.

Roy SMFP-Managing Director/Team Lead/Webmaster
www.setmefreeparanormal.com

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Friday, November 9, 2012

Avoid Pitfalls of Equipment

Popular ghost hunting equipment. Made popular by TV. We all own some of this equipment. I do believe it has a place in this field, the only problem is that we totally rely on unsubstantiated equipment. This is what is called the Assumption method. Were assuming this equipment does what it says it does.

We can use this equipment to help assist with our investigation but because it is not scientifically proven to detect ghosts, we cannot totally rely on it. There is no proof that ghosts use electrical energy or leave cold spots. EVPs: I know this might make some of you upset. Although I have also captured voices on my digital recorder, there is no evidence these are spirits or ghosts. EMF detectors: these devices are used to detect energy output. Really calibrated to be used to detect the ranges in a dwelling, we assume that if it goes up when there is no energy that its a ghost.

The only pieces of equipment you can really use would be a camera, and camcorder. These could show hard evidence if a shadow figure shows or something moves. Even your eyes can play tricks on you if youre sitting in the dark. You will see shadows that aren't there. Then you're going to tell everyone about your personal experiences sighting shadows that weren't there. This would lead to claiming someplace is haunted when it indeed may not be. Even hearing things can play tricks on you as you may think you hear voices when its a ice maker.  I think the worst piece I've ever come across is the Ovilus. I understand the attempt to relay electrical signals into words, but more research is needed before I believe this can be used. Most of the time it spits out random words that people string together to make a sentence. You've seen these used on TV, and maybe even in your own group. There is usually one or more that does this, which again can lead to calling a place haunted when its not.

If all evidence is based off this equipment, the scientific community will never take this field seriously. We need to constantly trying new things and experiments. All it takes is to modify a piece of equipment marginally. Changing a flashlight to a touch lamp, or coming up with new ways to use whats already out there. Try investigating during the day, or leaving the lights on at night. This would eliminate seeing shadows that aren't there. It may not be as creepy, but it also gives a better chance to debunk the claim being able to see what you're actually doing. The more we know about the history of the equipment we use, the brighter the future may be as we can use the equipment properly and advance it the way the original inventor may have intended it. Read the history of EVPs. You may then realize that while the SB7 can be a good device, maybe a short wave radio that was used in some of the original experiments would be better. Instead of skipping through radio frequencies, all you really need is white noise on one station. This can even work with TVs.

Every time I'm asked what equipment someone should buy, I tell them a camera camcorder and some common sense. So let's keep this in mind when investigating and remember what they equipment you have actually does. Remember that TV is not real life, if it was we'd be able to jump from building to building, and always defeat the bad guy in style and get the girl.

Roy SMFP-Managing Director Set Me Free Paranormal
www.setmefreeparanormal.com

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Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Differences ghost hunting and investigating 11/7


To start, I would like to discuss the paranormal investigator, ghost hunter difference so people aren't confused, or even those of you interested in becoming investigators. There is a difference between the two. As most of you have come across this or our website because you have watched Ghost Hunters, or Ghost Adventures, or any other of the numerous ghost TV shows.

A Ghost Hunter is someone who is just interested in seeing ghosts. Whether just to prove to themselves that they do in fact exist, or to try and score themselves their own TV show (which I would estimate most people fall in this category). People in this category don’t usually last as long due to the fact that it can take a long time to see a "ghost" or "spirit". So most of the people here will pay to go to the places they see on TV hoping to see and hear the same things they did on TV. Well, I hate to disappoint anyone, but nothing is what it seems like on TV.  Much like reality TV if you really got to see Kim Ks life, you wouldn't watch because it’s not exciting to see. So they jazz it up for TV to get you to keep coming back week after week. Meaning, sometimes they create voices, or objects moving to make it seem like they caught something when in fact there was nothing. I would say sometimes it’s the equivalent of watching paint dry. You might investigate the same building several times and get nothing. Then, hey you catch an EVP or hear or see something. It is a very hit or miss field.

Sure Paranormal Investigators or researchers can also be trying to satisfy their curiosity of life after death, but  also there to help those plagued by the unknown. Researchers are also here to help further the field and develop better technology to better assist in communication. As some call the field assumption based investigations, researchers hope to turn this into a fact and proof based field. When I say assumption based I mean we are assuming ghosts are orbs, or EVPs are ghosts, or Ovilus work, etc.

Investigators are the ones who take emergency calls from businesses and families suffering from the paranormal in their lives. They respond in the hopes they can first debunk and then help the family. They collect evidence and decide whether or not there is something there, and then will go from there. I myself am a skeptic. I go into every investigation looking to debunk first.


To those looking to become investigators, please be aware that this is filed is nothing to take lightly. Even in a very commercial haunting, ghost can attach themselves to you and follow you home. If you are unprepared, they can really affect your life. While this field can be exiting, it can take a long time to get into a group. If it is something you are really interested in, do research, and stay the course and eventually you will find what you are looking for.



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