The Spooky Craft of Ghost Hunting

Ever had something strange happen to you that you can't explain? Do you wake up at 3am for absolutely no reason? Have you ever experienced that feeling of being watched when you are on your own? Well, it might be time to do a spot of ghost hunting.

Humans have been searching for proof of the afterlife for a good two and a bit centuries. The Victorians especially were very into their spirits, ghosts and ghouls. In the UK, they actually made the use of an ouija board and talking to the dead illegal in 1922 because of safety concerns. This law technically still stands as they did not revoke it. So yes, wanna break the law in the UK? Go ghost hunting.

So where do you even begin if you want to embark on the Spooky Craft of Ghost Hunting? Here are a few tips to get you going, and you don't need all that fancy equipment to do so:

Location, Location, Location.

Firstly, you want to choose a good location that you sense might be haunted. Traditionally, people go to hotels, restaurants, bars, pubs and anything that has been in the public space for a while. This is because a lot of different people with different energies are constantly rotating in and out of the doors.

Pubs and hotels especially seem to be a hot spot, because they are spaces where people are celebrating or having fun, but can also be a place of conflict and sorrow.

Funnily enough, graveyards, although they appear to be spooky, they often aren't actually that active compared to the locations mentioned above. People believe this is because spirits would rather spend time where they did during life, not hang about in the space where their lifeless body is resting. This doesn't mean, however, graveyards can't be haunted. It is just more likely to be less of a hotspot for spirits than other locations.

Research. Always Do your Research.

The most important thing, after you have selected your ideal location, is to do research on the place. Most ghost shows begin with a bit of a historical context run down why or how this place became haunted in the very first place. When was the location first established? Who built it? Did a huge event happen there, like a fire or maybe even a loss of life?

Remember, it's not always going to be something terrible, but unfortunately, in most cases, it tends to be.

Who knows, you may uncover a mystery or even end up solving one!

Ghost Hunting Team

You never want to go to these places alone, not because it's scary, but let's say you chose an abandoned tavern that is known for its spooky activities. If you were to go into this place alone, and no-one knew you were there, and god forbid something bad happened to you, like a weak floor board or an open lift shaft, who is going to know where you are? And what happened to you?

Sometimes when ghost hunting we get so caught up in trying to find proof of the paranormal that we forget that our life is delicate and precious, and forget to protect ourselves, whether from our surroundings or something millions.

So that's one thing. Another thing to consider is the people you chose to go ghost hunting with. You need to trust everyone in your pair or group. I always recommend taking a skeptic with you because they tend to be the comic relief when everyone gets a bit too creeped out. They add a sense of rationality and logic to the group, rather than just jumping straight to the "it's a ghost" conclusion.

By adding a skeptic in the group, your evidence is going to be more rounded and concrete, so yes, take a non believer with you, because there is nothing more funny than seeing someone who doesn't believe question everything they thought they already knew.

Protection - Physical and Spiritual

One thing you need to make sure of, which I touched upon in the last section, is to protect yourself. My advice is if there is someone who doesn't want to go on the ghost hunt with you, that person should be your dedicated outsider. You let this person know what time you are starting your investigation and what time you aim to be done. This way someone will always know where you are at all times, and therefore if anything was to happen you have someone to get help if needed, this is very handy especially if you chose a mine or a cave as your location as these places are naturally dangerous spaces.

Then there's the spiritual protection. Not all places are going to be infested with demons and unhuman entities, but if you stumble across an area such as this, you want to make sure; you have something green with you, as well as the sage. Green represents your heart charka and there is nothing more strong that the power of love, as corny as that sounds. It is powerful, so bring something green, even if it is just a pair of socks. You can always do protection/calming circles to ground yourselves when you feel a bit too spooked out. It is meditation. It works.

White salt is also a classic tactic for protection. Lastly, bringing snacks also helps. When you eat, your brain instinctively thinks you the area you're in is safe. This goes all the way back to our savage like behaviours. So chewing gum helps if you're feeling anxious.

Equipment

You don't need a lot of fancy equipment to capture evidence of the paranormal. Sometimes just a simple torch can do the trick. Also, mobile phones these days are full of cool apps that can also detect ghostly apparitions. You can unknowingly capture an Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP) just from recording your hunt on your phone. Also, you'll be surprised at how many things just lying around at home can capture this sort of evidence.

If you happen to have an old Polaroid lining around, grab it and take it with you. They still use these cameras as a way of capturing orbs or unsuspecting shadows. Although, if you want to invest in some equipment, there are lots of people who sell their old tech on places like Facebook Market Place, Vinted and many more. Sometimes there's tech that was intended for something completely different and has been claimed by ghost hunters.

There is always the Estes Method, which allows you to become a medium and gain some really cool evidence. You may have seen a lot of youtubers and paranormal investigators do this method, because it really is as effective as it seems.

I do not recommend getting a ouija board, however, there's just something about them you should avoid. I know some naturally scary people who would dare touch one, so why the hell would you? It also scares me that these 'games' can be bought in toy stores. As if children aren't suspectible to that side of the realm enough.

If you do end up using one, do so under caution. You have been warned.

Understanding the Evidence

Okay, so you think you've got some evidence and now it's time to process what you may or may not have captured. I recommend doing this the morning after, or at least after a good night's sleep. You want to distance yourself from what you have caught so that when you do look at your evidence, you can go in with a fresh set of eyes.

You want to be aware of main three different types of energies:

1. Residual: is the type of energy on a loop. A broken record, if you will. You know when people say if only the walls could speak? Yea, that type of energy.
2. Intelligent: can be spirit or some other type of energy (good or bad) that can activity engage in a conversation and respond to your requests on command, for example knocking immediately after you politely asked the spirit to do so.
3. Egregore: is the one people seem to least know about. This is the type of haunting that occurs because people believe the place is already haunted and bring their own energy into the building. Take, for instance, a haunted attraction. People from all over go there with certain expectations. Eventually, that energy manifests into its own type of haunting, as people continue to feed into this energy. Theme parks are a great example of this. Remember, your emotions are literally energy in motion.

Having this awareness will enable you to understand what type of energy you have interacted with and therefore allow you to look at your evidence a bit more clearly. Allowing people who didn't go on your ghost hunt with you (the outsider) can also help to understand what you have actually captured. Everyone has different perspectives, and through this, you can pick up things you may have missed. Similar to when you let someone proofread your work before submitting it. Another pair of eyes always helps.

Now that, believe it or not, is a very quick overview of basic ghost hunting. Everyone has their own way of doing this, and their own methods. So you need to find what works for you.

Always remember too:

• Be careful
• Be respectful
• Don't ever go alone

Good luck in this spooky season, and if you are brave enough to go ghost hunting, hit me up, I would love to see what you discover!

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And as always;

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