OCCULT VIEW

Santa's Christmas Orbs

Above are pictures taken at a Christmas party in a previous year, combined into an animated image.  That is I in the Santa suit.  And swirling around the Christmas tree are a bunch of orbs.  An invasion of holiday spirit orbs!

Sometimes I get drafted to be the Santa.  And drafted is the right word because it gets hot and uncomfortable wearing that suit.  Being Santa is not easy; it takes more then a hearty “HO HO HO”.  Beforehand I ask the parents for a list of who has been naughty or nice for the children so I can praise each child for doing something nice, or become a disapproving Santa if the parents need Santa’s help with their behavior.  It is a clever trick and the young children are shocked when Santa actually knows their stuff.

Under the Hot Santa Suit

Back to the photos; the pictures above of Santa have orbs.  Orbs in a picture really don’t prove anything paranormal.  Orb photos are a dime a dozen.  However, there were several pictures taken with orbs, one after the other.  Combined as an animated GIF, I was surprised to see what appeared to be the motion of the orbs.  They seem to be circling the center of activity.  Curious.

Let’s play with the possibility these orbs could actually be genuine spirits, ghosts visiting this home a few days before Christmas.  Where did they come from and why where they here?
 
These photos were photographed at a home which was practically a new house.  There should be no reason this residence would be haunted; there wasn’t any history to warrant that.  So why are these orbs there, again on the remote chance these were reflections of the spirit world?  I have a couple of theories.

First idea…one of the children may be the cause of the effect.  There is an idea children are the cause of the mysterious poltergeist phenomena.  Perhaps one of these children is the source or a magnet for paranormal activity.   Could a child’s emotional state, when encountering the famous Santa, create paranormal manifestations?

A second theory is possible.  From personal experience I believe in wandering spirits.  There are ghosts of the dead, restless and wandering the earth, who are not attached to a surrounding as most ghosts are reputed to do.  Such wandering ghosts would react like the living and be attracted to festivities.  Imagine ourselves as a ghost, and how we would behave if we were invisible and immaterial.  Ghostly passer-by’s might have seen a party and joined in. I think this happens far more often then anybody imagines.  If such was the situation, wandering ghosts are harmless and they’d soon move on elsewhere.

Shaman used to wear ceremonial costumes to attract the attention these wandering spirits.  Something out of the ordinary was used to catch the eye of spirits like colorful costumes, ceremonial dancing, and drumming.  Perhaps my Santa suit did the exact same thing.  Shaman Santa!

Christmas Ghost Orbs

Halloween Party Orb

Orbs can be the result of many things; a camera’s flash reflecting off dust, raindrops or some shiny surface.  Yet from my experience, on rare occasions an orb could be something more, perhaps the reflection of an invisible energy, or even paranormal.  Is it possible to tell if an orb is natural or that rare instance of the paranormal?

It would be great if there were some clues that might hint an orb is more then just an orb.  There are many clues when an orb is a trick of the camera.  A strong clue orbs are only natural are when many orbs appear in a photo.  That is very likely a cloud of dust at work.  Take a flash photo in the rain and you’ll see for yourself.  If a reflective surface is reflecting the flash, guess what, that orb is nothing.

If detecting natural orbs are fairly easy, is it possible to assess if an orb is more then natural?  That is tricky.  Most orbs seem to be flat, pale and “lifeless” and so they are.  The more intriguing orbs seem to have a feeling of solidity to them.  Even at best nothing is ever really conclusive.  The best, maybe only clue is the context in which the orb appears.  What is happening at the time and what is its significance? 

Here are examples of orbs that seem interesting even if they are only tricks of the camera, taken at a Halloween party at a nightclub.  There are so many possible sources of reflection that nothing can be trusted.  Yet examples with interesting patterns emerge. 

In the photo above it looks like somebody is pointing at the orb…only coincidence?  Then there is an orb that seems too symmetrical with concentric circles.  Finally a jolly green giant has an orb over his shoulder.  It is hard to imagine these orbs are anything other then an optical effect.  Yet in my imagination I like the idea spirits visited a costume party.

At the bottom is an orb taken at daytime in a cemetery.  This cemetery had a reputation for haunting.  Orbs taken without a flash in the light of day are pretty hard to catch.  Daylight orbs get my attention.  Another intriguing clue would be if an orb were partly covered by something so that it could not be an optical effect.  Then again anybody could digitally manipulate any photo, so nothing can be trusted unless we took the picture ourselves.  In the end encountering the paranormal is really a personal experience. 

Daylight Cemetery Orb

An orb over mom's favorite couch

Since my mother passed away,  I’ve been wondering how much I should write about her death.  It is appropriate for someone to discuss such a personal event in a blog?  This question especially comes up when I have some pictures.  Yet, I think exploring the possibility of existence after death is something important for everyone.

My mom had her favorite place to sit at home.  It was a comfortable couch in my parent’s living room.   She would sit in the same spot listening to the radio or watching television.  When I stopped by to visit, I often saw mom sitting on her couch.  When she got ill, she spent most of her time on the couch, even napping on it.  Finally, my mom could not get up off the couch without help.  When my dad could not help her anymore he had her taken to the hospital.   After a short time in the hospital, she died of her cancer. 

Sitting Orb

As the days went by I tried to spend as much time as I could with my dad to comfort him.  One such time I brought my camera with me.  I thought to myself…could mom still be around watching over us?  Both mom and dad knew about my blog devoted to alternative spirituality and the paranormal.  Mom would ask about my blog.   She did not know much about computers and the idea of a blog didn’t make much sense to her, but she was interested.  I thought maybe mom wouldn’t mind if I tried to get a picture of her, if she chose to visit home after her death.

I took some pictures around the house, mostly at the places she spent most of her time.  To my amazement, I caught images of orbs around her favorite couch (picture above).   Now, in themselves orbs don’t prove anything as there are many natural explanations for them.  But sometimes it seems as if orbs can be a manifestation of an invisible energy.  The merit of such photography depends on the context.  Capturing these orbs where my mother used to sit sent a chill up my spine. 

Orb by brother

My brother entered the room, and I took his picture.  Then I asked mom, if she were around, to give my brother a hug.  I took another picture and now it had an orb right beside him.  I immediately showed the image to my brother, who normally scoffed at such nonsense, and even he was taken aback by that.  Here is that picture.

Was my mom still at home, watching over us, before her decision to depart the world forever?  Her family and home were her life, and if she did linger, home would have been the place.  Not long afterwards, my father had a personal experience.  While he was in the basement working on his PC (and wide awake), he saw a moving column of bright light accompanied by a powerful scent of lavender and flowers.  The scent reminded him of the perfume my mom wore as a young lady.  He was a skeptic before, but not so much now. I don’t know if these pictures really mean anything, but I like the idea they might.  

As I post this today, it has been one month since my mom died.  Below is a picture of mom on her couch during happier times.  I miss her.

My mom during happier times

Chicago's Field Museum Orbs

Orbs taken in photography are sometimes thought to be the result of paranormal forces.  It is easy to believe in this when we capture orbs at a cemetery or a supposedly haunted house.  It confirms our suspicions!  But what about when we capture intriguing orbs in the strangest of places?  For instance, a strange place to photograph an orb would be a tourist spot.  Here are some pictures of orbs that I caught in very public places.  If these same orbs were photographed at some mysterious destination, we might be willing to suspend disbelief and think something odd is going on.   Take away the mystery and we only have optical effects.

Above is an orb photographed at a balcony in Chicago’s Field Museum of National History.  The two images were taken within seconds of each other and you can see the people below walked a few steps.  One picture is normal.  The next picture…ORBS!   Amazing!   Astounding! Is the museum haunted?  The idea appeals to me since a museum is full of old bones and mummies and ancient artifacts.  Sort of like the “Night at the Museum” movies.  Nah, I don’t think so.  Still, maybe a museum of history is not the best example.

How about the Chicago Auto Show?  Below is a pair of photos taken at the McCormick Place convention center where the annual Auto Show is held.   Vivid blue orbs!  Well, is the Chicago Auto Show haunted?  That’s really hard to imagine.

If we look at all our family photos, and look carefully for orbs, we’ll see an orb here and there.  They are not overly common, but they are not really rare either.  I still believe it is possible for an orb to be a reflection of the paranormal.  How do we tell if the rare orb might actually be something more then an optical effect?  I think the only way to even guess is the context of the situation.  Does something else happen along with the orb being photographed?  An example would be if an orb responded to a verbal command. 

Otherwise orbs don’t prove anything.  For ghost enthusiasts, photographing an orb is fun.  To never photography anything would take the steam out of the hobby.  Thinking maybe we photographed the real deal keeps the imagination wondering.

Chicago Auto Show Orbs

Orb at the floor

I will recount a genuine ghost hunt.  For ghost enthusiasts the chance to investigate a true haunting is very rare.  It really is a privilege.  Most famous, publicly known hauntings have ceased being haunted long ago.  Nearly every haunting is a private affair and rarely attracts any attention outside of the individuals involved.  I got a chance at a combination of both.  I think these are important stories and need to be recorded.

It was March of 2002.  Jamie was a ghost enthusiast, and he invited me on what we loosely call an investigation.  I use the term “enthusiast” instead of “ghost hunter” because ghost hunting suggests a professional enterprise, and there is no such thing.  I believe there are no experts concerning the topic of ghosts.  We can only hope to be at the right place at the right time. 

In Jamie’s words, “Well the tentative ghost hunt I mentioned is on. We have a location. It’s at a private location with the owner’s permission near the former site of Victorian house antique shop. Victorian house is a well known haunted spot with lots of activity. I am going to contact the owners of the Victorian house and see if I can get permission to get in there too. The house now is standing vacant. If anyone is interested in going. I require an rsvp on this one and a debriefing as it is at a private site.  Jamie”

This supposedly haunted location was a Victorian style building near downtown Chicago, an antique shop that has long since been closed.  It had a reputation for being haunted.  The facts are hearsay.  It was built around 1880.  The story was four people died in an attic fire.  Another story concerned a woman murdered at this shop in the late 1800s.  Customers have reported hearing strange sounds and witnessed apparitions in this shop.

I met Jamie and Jason (another ghost enthusiast) and two ladies who I did not know outside the closed Victorian Antique shop.  We were not entering the actual store.  It was closed and the owners had no interest in entertaining visitors.  But the apartments opposite to this shop were a different story, and Jamie got an invitation to investigate from one of these renters.

We were invited in.  The residents of the apartment were interested in discovering what was happening.  They were experiencing a haunting phenomenon.  At first they looked at us with some skepticism.  But Jamie had a friendly, unpretentious southern demeanor that was disarming.  Right away we wanted to know their stories.  Why did they invite us here?  What was going on?

A young man and woman lived in this apartment.  Outside of their stories of odd sounds, footsteps and doors that closed by its self, I vividly recall the young lady’s story.  Late one night the lady of the apartment got up from her bed and went into the kitchen, and she was absolutely startled to see a man sitting at her kitchen table.  She was stunned.  He was smoking a cigarette, and he seemed very depressed, with his head was laid low.  He looked up at her sadly…and vanished.  She was unnerved by this experience, seeing a stranger in her apartment.  Except she had experienced other unseen people existing in this apartment.  She called him the “sad one”.  There were others.  She said that this spirit was not associated with the others…not popular.  The other spirits hanged together. 

Intrigued, we took out our cameras.  Jason had an EMP device.  Myself I preferred a film camera figuring a film’s negative offered physical evidence.  Jamie had his digital camera and right way he caught orbs.   Orbs are frowned on, and properly so.  Most orbs are nothing, yet they are not easy to get…random chance. But when we are in a haunting situation and orbs are photographed left and right, it is time for a serious heads up.  Jamie showed the tenants the orbs on his digital.  The guy started off skeptical, but when he was saw these orbs on Jamie’s camera he became immediately interested in what we were doing. Maybe his girlfriend’s experiences were not only in her imagination?

Above is a photo I took of their entrance door.  There are obvious orbs by the door.  However, what I think is remarkable about this film photo is the tiny orb by the floor.  There is a small glob of light and below it is a ring of light, as if the orb actually reflected the camera’s flash on the shiny floor.  I include a picture of their cat for perspective on the reflective nature of the floor, and what I imagine was captured.  Could a flash capture the actual physical reflection of an orb?

We wandered around their apartment, with their permission, taking pictures and listening to more stories. I was attentive to the details of our “investigation”. I did not know the two ladies who joined us.  They were of the pagan faith and suggested they could talk to the dead.  Mediums.  I thought to myself…uh-huh.  Yeah right, ok whatever. On the other hand I had an open mind. 

Jason and myself both experienced cold spots.  There was no breeze whatsoever.  I looked at him and he looked at he and me said,”did you feel that?”  It was truly a physical coldness…as if something cold passed through you. Contact.  We were in the real thing…this lady’s story was not only her imagination. 

I did my usual tarot card layout as a means to attract the attention of any spirits.  In this place it was not necessary.  The layout is still interesting. What do the cards say about this haunting?  The final card is…Death.

While the mediums were talking to the spirits us guys were doing our “scientific” guy-thing, taking pictures and measurements with EMF meters (electromagnetic radiation detectors) and recordings for EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena).  Science?  Not really.

Everybody gathered in the living room as the mediums began to talk with the lost haunted souls.  I listened carefully.  Were they the real deal or only pretenders?  The ladies said there was a terrible tragedy in the past.  And there were a number of spirits here; it was not a solitary haunting.  They also thought that not all the tragedies happened in the antique shop.  They just congregated here, and there was an anchor spirit that drew them here.

They said there were maybe five spirits present.  Three women and two men.  One of the spirits did not associate with the others.  He was in the grip of a deep personal darkness and could not move on.  Another was a young woman who was deeply in love and died.  They spoke of  one of the girl ghosts.  This ghost thought Jason was cute. They said this ghost was sitting on Jason’s lap at this very minute!  As Jason was sitting in a chair both Jamie and I caught these photos.

Orb sitting on Jason's lap

Jamie took a photo of an orb buy Jason’s left leg.  Jamie’s photo is remarkable. This orb seems to have physicality, like a blob.  My picture taken a few minutes afterwards shows another orb hovering by Jason.  Notice that the wall’s shadow is cast on the orb.  What the @%#@!  An orb photo becomes more then an orb photo depending on the context. 

The two ladies said we needed to free these lost souls.  They began using smudge sticks.  They lit the smudge sticks and let the smoke flow…and spoke to the lost souls…go home…go home and  “Be free.”   They talked directly to these souls asking them to let go of any hurt or tragedy. Whatever tragedies held them, don’t let any other spirit hold you back.  They went room to room with their smudging. 

We left, and I considered our ghost investigation as one of the most unique experiences I’ve ever had.  It really sparked my interest in the paranormal to a new level. 

Here is what Jason wrote us afterwards:

“Hi. This is Jason. From the Victorian house. Just wanted to thank all of you for coming out to this place and sharing the knowledge and helping. That picture from the living room is amazing!!!  There can be no other explanation for those orbs! And they are exactly where she said they would be. Thanks ladies too, for sending them home.”

We have many other intriguing photos from this visit, but since they include people in them and we need to protect people’s privacy, I can’t post them. 

Here is Jamie’s ghost website, Jamie’s Chicago Gangsterland Ghost Page at http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Shadowlands/2007/ and he has a Yahoo Group for local Chicago ghost fans, ChicagolandGhostClub

An Orb and myself in the corner

Ghost hunting is a fun hobby.  It is a nice way to socialize with people from different backgrounds who share this common interest.  It’s a great excuse to get together, hang out and share ghosts stories and unusual experiences.  The best place to for such social ghost hunting is at a haunted pub! 

Once a small group of us ghost enthusiasts went to visit the famed Red Lion Pub in Chicago.  This pub is called the most haunted pub in the city.  It is right across from the Biograph Theater where gangster John Dillinger was shot down in an alley.  The over 100-year-old building had a history of being involved with the Chicago gangsters of the 1940s.   Here is a link to the Red Lion’s website that tells about the fascinating history of the pub: http://www.redlionchicago.com/history.html

Second floor at the Red Lion

The stories about the Red Lion Pub concern multiple hauntings.  The stories of ghosts include a young cowboy, a blond guy, and a bearded man-in-black. The most enduring ghost story involves the ghost of a young lady.  Some stories suggest a beautiful young woman had died (was murdered?) in an apartment over the pub.  Other stories say she is a flapper from the 1920s.  Most convincing are the stories of a mentally challenged woman who lived and passed away at the building.  These hauntings are said to occur on the pub’s second floor.

Tarot reading for the dead

The stories of the manifestations include sightings of vanishing people, objects moved in closed rooms, voices heard when no one is present, cold spots, invisible touches, the scent of a powerful perfume, and ladies getting locked in the women’s restroom…and then released after a few minutes with nobody around.

The evening our group arrived at the Red Lion Pub, we immediately went upstairs where the haunting is said to occur.  Luckily it was empty so we were able to take photos without attracting attention.  Not that it mattered.  We are not the first to visit the pub with ghostly intentions.  We all shared our stories and speculated about the pub and the nature of whatever might be present.  When a ghost story involves what seems to be multiple spirits, that is really baffling.  Solitary ghosts make sense, but what to make of multiple ghosts?  We could only speculate that spirits gather together, just as the living does.  Maybe ghosts like to socialize as well?

I did a tarot card reading, not for the living, but for the dead…for whatever unseen might be present.  There actually is logic involved in tarot card readings for the dead.  A tarot reading in a public place immediately attracts attention.  I have done readings for people at social gatherings as something fun to do, and it always gets noticed.  If it attracts the attention of the living, why not the dead as well?  The dead probably don’t pay

2nd floor women's restroom

much attention to ordinary activity, but something new and unique might pique their interest…and perhaps allow us to take their picture!  Looking at the cards I laid out, using the celtic cross method, I noticed a strong element of tragedy in the cards…very apt for the situation. 

As the evening got late, other people eventually came upstairs and we put our cameras away.  Of the pictures we took, the most intriguing picture was taken by one of our lady comrades.  She took this picture in the second floor women’s restroom.  This is where there were reports of women getting mysteriously locked in the lady’s restroom and then released.  It is a picture of multiple orbs in a swirling pattern.  The most persistent haunting story involves a ghostly female, and it is of note this photo was taken in the women’s restroom.  Mere coincidence?

Myself under the Red Lion

Wildcat Canyon

Above is a friend’s picture from a winter visit to Starved Rock State Park in Utica, Illinois.  He knew of my interest in anomalies and showed me this photo with a strange pink glow at the bottom of the Wildcat Canyon.   He mentioned he’d heard that someone had died falling into this canyon.  I thought it might only be an optical effect, but because he mentioned someone died there, I thought I’d look into it.

Starved Rock Park is a beautiful destination, but as it’s name suggests, it had a grim beginning.  Its name comes from a story from the 1700s.  In a conflict between Indian tribes, a band of the Illinwek fled to this rock after being pursued by another tribe. Trapped on top they were held under siege, and eventually starved to death.

Orb at Starved Rock Park

I visited Starved Rock Park last summer myeslf.  I even got an orb photo.  One thing I noticed was how precarious the paths were.  There are few railings, and some very narrow walkways along the canyons and precipices.  We had to really pay attention to where we were walking.  We stayed there late, almost too late as the sun was started to go down.  Deep into the park, I realized we’d better get out of there fast.  To be trapped in the park at night would be putting our lives at genuine risk.  One misstep could lead to disaster. 

Over the years Starved Rock has been the scene of terrible tragedies.  Most infamous was the brutal 1960 murder of three vacationing women at St. Louis Canyon.  Here is a Time Magazine article that describes the terrible story.   http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,826120,00.html

Every year at Starved Rock someone falls after wandering from the trail and suffers injury or death.  Most recent was a 21-year-old graduate student who leaned against a branch, which broke, and he plunged to his death 80 feet below down the Pontiac Canyon.
http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2008/sep/03/local/chi-starved-rock-death_03_websep03

In 1991 a 13-year-old boy died after falling 30 feet down the Aurora Canyon while playing with other children.
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4059683.html

In 2006 a 14-year-old boy fell 65 feet to his death down Wildcat Canyon after climbing too close to the edge. 
http://mywebtimes.com/archives/ottawa/print_display.php?id=259279

In 1999 an 8-year-old girl fell to her death down Wildcat Canyon.  The sad story is at this link: http://www.geocities.com/starved_rock/warning.html   (Geocities no longer hosts websites, so this link as gone away.  It had some really interesting information and I will try to contact the individual who owned the site and ask if I can post some of their information.)

Update:   There has been a new tragedy at Starved Rock State Park.  The body of a 53 year old woman was found at the park’s river trail at an area known as Eagle Cliff.  A curious quote: “Investigators do not believe the woman was a victim of foul play and do not believe she had an accident that led to her death.”  This story is below:
Starved Rock body identified as missing Evanston woman
February 7, 2010
Is Starved Rock haunted?  Is this picture above a reflection of the tragedies at Wildcat Canyon?  Does something still linger there?   When young people die it creates a powerful influence on our surroundings.   It’s awfulness creates a residue.  Lets hope it really is only a trick of lighting.   Otherwise Wildcat Canyon might be a well of souls.

I was at a restaurant/bar located in an old hotel one Saturday night.  It was late and the restaurant itself was empty, and the patrons were slowly drifting away as the last call approached.  On my way to the restroom, I looked down an empty section of the restaurant.  I had a camera with me to take some pictures and I decided to take a picture of the empty seating area.  The right side of the wall had a mural on it, and all the tables were all empty.

Days later when I checked out the pictures, I noticed one picture I took at the restaurant.  It was the one taken of the empty area and it had something strange in it, like a vapor.  I thought that odd, there was nobody around.  Then I looked at this picture again more carefully…and I was startled. This apparent smoke did not follow a random pattern of what would seem to be mere smoke.   The smoke seemed concentrated in the center with tendrils of vapor emanating from it. 

I looked even more carefully, and I was almost shocked.  Suddenly I saw in the mist… a face.  Not a caricature or grotesque, but with a symmetry to it.  Closed eyes opposite each other…a nose, a chin, a mouth with lips.  And the face even had an expression to it…as if someone were drifting asleep, in a dream state, with a hint of a smile.  If you can’t see this, I traced out what I saw to make it more visible, side-by-side without the tracing.

I was determined to return to the restaurant and to take more pictures around the same time, hoping to capture something else.  Again I took pictures in the same area (with the same mural on the right wall), and I got a picture with orbs.  There are several orbs, and an orb by the mural had the same pale blue color similar to the color of my previous photo.  It seemed like the orbs were stationed over the tables, as if a congregation of ghosts were seated at the tables when everybody else had left. 

What to make of this?  Maybe they were former, now deceased patrons of the bar, or just wandering souls, gathered here when people left to experience something like being alive?  And maybe my picture of the vapor was a close-up of an orb taken by accident, showing details normally invisible.   Perhaps I was at the right place at the right time, and this orb apparition was right in front of my camera. 

Are ghosts real?  Throughout history people have had countless experiences with ghosts.  I’ve known people who had their own personal experiences.  These stories are true; the ghost experience is real.  The real question is…what exactly are ghosts?  Are they only a common type of hallucination? 

The occult view has its own theory of death.  According to occult theory, all living things have an ethereal body double that matches our physical body.  The ancient Egyptians called it the Ka.  Today we’d call it our aura, or chi, or life force.  This ethereal double is not our mind or soul, but seems to be the conduit or interface between the soul and physical reality.  Maybe it’s the pathway wherein the spirit and brain connect; where spirit, matter and the quantum force of electro-magnetism interact inside our neurons.

When we die, this ethereal double is separated from our physical body.  During near death experiences, this is the experience of observing one’s body and surroundings.  It does not have to be a death experience; there are stories of crisis apparitions, someone in deep distress can suddenly appear to loved ones far away.  Since the ethereal double (or ghost) exists inside of time and space, it is able to observe and interact (in a limited way) with physicality.  It is interesting that ghost phenomena can be largely interpreted as manipulation of the electromagnetic force, albeit with a purpose.

However, when separated from the physical body, the ethereal double cannot long survive and the double/ghost itself will “die”.  What follows is the part of the near-death experience where the deceased enters the tunnel of light.  This is the passage from our world of time and space and matter, into the endless world of Spirit beyond.  Shedding of our double, the soul forever departs our universe for whatever is after. 

ORB

Sometimes, after death, a person does not want to move on.  It could be because of some turmoil or tragedy, tasks left undone, regrets, or entrenched attachment to this world.  In their ethereal state, they might even think they’re still alive, but in a somnolent dream-like state.  Ghosts seem to attach themselves to a place, replacing their attachment to their body.  Their degree of self awareness will affect if and how they interact with our world.  Many ghosts are invisibly sleepwalking around us right now and we’d never know it. 

FENCE ORB

In my Jan. 14 ‘09 blog, I wrote about a friend’s true near-death experience.  He did not get to the point of seeing a tunnel of light.  But he did encounter other ghosts in the hospital.  By examining these near-death experiences, we get valuable clues about how the “other side” works.  For instance, it seems ghosts can communicate with each other.  I’ve been to a haunting investigation where it seemed that multiple entities inhabited a location.  I suspect that ghosts might be drawn to others of their own kind.  Who wants to wander bodiless alone?  And a more powerful ghost might attract a following of other lost souls, even dominate them.  As time goes by, the ghost will lose its original human shape and eventually end up as a circle of ethereal energy…an orb.  

In my opinion, once a soul leaves it’s “ghost” behind, it leaves earth for good.  Can a medium contact the dead?  Maybe a medium can whisper to earthbound ghosts, but not the ghostless dead.   However…it just might be possible for our loved ones, outside of the circles of time/space, to contact us.  Someone with mediumistic abilities once told me that a man and a woman were watching over me.  She described my grandmother, but as a beautiful young woman, and deceased friend with uncanny accuracy.  I like the idea.  Maybe, just maybe, our loved ones do watch over us.  When the dead enter their tunnel of light…their loved ones are there waiting to greet them.  How did they know to show up in the first place?  They must know what we are doing!

Orbs.  The very idea brings a snicker.  Dust photographed by a camera’s flash is assumed to represent a disembodied entity.  Yeah right.  When I was first introduced to orbs in photos, I thought to myself…uh huh…yup…and what is that supposed to be?  Can there really be anything at all to orbs in photos?  Most of the time its only dust.  But  just maybe, not every time. 

It was a chilly autumn night when I was hanging out with my best friend in his backyard.  There would not be many more nights to sit outside, and we were taking advantage of one of the few evenings left to spend a Saturday outdoors.  We were listening to some blues CDs, lots of Muddy Waters.  We’d enjoy our favorite mutual pastime…fine cigars and homemade martinis.  We had our cocktail shaker and a bottle of Gray Goose. 

As for cigars, that is strictly a personal preference.  My friend likes stronger cigars, I prefer milder ones.  My friend and I never smoked cigarettes, but we like our cigars.  A cigar requires a commitment of time, at least half an hour.  So cigars are a meditative experience. 

We sat and talked all night about many things with the blues playing in the background.  Eventually the topic turned to my interest in the paranormal.  I mentioned orbs.  My friend…snickered.  Yeah right, he said.   I tried to explain that sometimes there is an energy that the lingering dead exhibit, perhaps related to electromagnetism.  Since I had my digital camera with me, I said lets try an experiment.

It was 2 am, the perfect time.  We were in a neighborhood in Chicago, and usually there is a constant noise all around.  But at 2 am, things grow quiet, even in the heart of the city.  We could have been in a rural area; the air was still.  And 2 am is also the point where the sun’s energy is the faintest, where the earth’s magnetic field is least affected by the sun.  I suggested we invite any nearby spirits to join us at our gathering.  We spoke out loud offering our earnest companionship to any wandering souls, to join us for some music during the witching hour.  

After a bit, I walked around and took pictures at random with my camera.  And sure enough I was capturing orbs in a number of photos.  These orbs seemed to wander about, and as they were floating around and I tried to track them.  I showed my friend the photos on the camera’s screen, and suddenly his skepticism turned into interest.  Maybe some wandering souls heard our music, when all else was quiet, and was attracted to the “only place in town”“ We continued to talk to “whatever” might be around, invited them to hang with us, enjoy the music, and we even gave a martini toast to it.  Then my friend said to me…”Dave, hurry…take my picture.  I feel someone behind me…something is there.”  He smiled as I took a picture.  I was amazed when I got pictures of an orb standing right behind his head.  The second picture was even in motion.  I thought…what are the odds?

Then again…it really could have been only dust.  And cigars and martinis.