Paranormal Thrill Seekers

Over the past several years the paranormal field has been flooded with new groups springing up every day at an astonishing rate. With new shows popping up every season, it seems to have encouraged many people to explore the unknown. Although these shows have really opened some doors it has also created a nightmarish reality for clients looking for real help and for the people who are dabbling in the paranormal as a hobby.

First off let’s examine the shows themselves. All of these shows that are currently on television have been produced by people who have never ever been a paranormal investigator or actually researched the paranormal. These producers are out there to entertain and have no idea what it actually is like to be a paranormal investigator. All of the paranormal teams receive emails from producers looking for locations. They are very quick to fly out to a location and interview clients without following any protocols or concerns for their actions. I have personally received complaints of location producers interviewing clients with negative hauntings in their home and making false promises to help them. Of course they leave and all hell breaks loose in the client’s home and they never hear back from the producer. These shows are out there for ratings, nothing more than that. They are happy to exploit the teams for personal information on case files. No team should ever give up client information without contacting the client first. Even then it makes me question the teams themselves and wonder if they are media hogs wanting their 15 minutes of fame. These producers have no morals and are happy to exaggerate, exploit and stage evidence in order to gain more ratings.

Now let’s take a look at the type of investigators these shows are inspiring. Remember when watching these shows they are for pure entertainment purposes only. Too bad this has been the only education that new investigators receive. So many young investigators follow their lead without seeking any training or education. The biggest pet-peeve that I personally have with this is the fact so many feel that provocation is the best method of investigating hauntings. They never stop to consider the fact that most hauntings are people, human and deserve respect not belittling vulgar comments. So many of them are thrill seekers and nothing more. Very few of them analyze audio or do evidence review. They live in the moment and have no care for actually being a productive part of the paranormal research.

The other nightmare that has stemmed from these new teams is the chaos of them working on private cases. Most of these teams are not out there to help but thrill seekers wanting to push the limits. They have no understanding of types of entities and have no care what their actions will result in. I have personally been horrified with the stories my clients and even other investigators divulge to me. The most recent one was from an investigator who openly told me that they brought an Ouija board into a client’s home just to see if it worked.  The thing that made this even more horrifying is that I personally told this investigator the ground rules months ago, which they broke every one of them without ever thinking what it would cause for the clients or themselves.  This just sickens me and boils my blood to no end.

These shows also hardly ever talk about dangers within the paranormal field. Most new investigators don’t ever stop to consider there are dangers in this field. Of course there are the obvious dangers of hazardous conditions of the locations but there are also other dangers. When going out to investigate there is protective measure that should be followed. The biggest danger is taking a hitchhiker home. Every investigator has the possibilities of developing an attachment, even when you follow the rules. Attachments happen often within the field but mostly with hot headed newbies who tend to challenge entities then find themselves up a creek without a paddle. Over the past year I have received five new clients that are actually investigators themselves. It just makes me cringe! It is all fun and games until they find themselves in a situation that they have no clue on how to resolve.

Another danger is the lack of education and narrow minded individuals who have no clue about the types of entities. So many of these people only classify entities into either human or demonic. Mainly this occurs due to television. So many shows throw out the word demonic for ratings and the scare factor.  These teams have only used television as role models and  never consider elementals, thought-forms, psychic vampires, and parasitic entities to name a few. There are many different types of spirits but so many jump to the big D word, Demonic. Personally I do believe in demonic spirits but over the many years of investigating there is not one case I would ever label as demonic. Let’s face it; on the food chain we are pretty low on the totem pole, only ants to such ancient entities as these things Television has flooded the minds of many people that their homes are demonically possessed. This has created a nightmare in itself. There are certain methods in identifying what type of entity you are dealing with but, most of these newbies have no clue on how to do so. The cold hard fact, if you can’t identify the type of spirit, you can’t resolve the problem.

Now let’s look at how to identify the type of team you are searching for. This is especially vital if you are suffering from a hostile haunting:

1. What is the mission statement?

1. How much experience do they have and what are they considering as experience? Watching television and reading books is not considered experience.

1. Look at the team itself and each investigator. What is their paying professions, educational backgrounds and read their bios if available. Make sure they are not letting just anyone into their team. Also it very important to see if the team does a background checks on each of their investigators.

1. Does the group have a formal set of investigation guidelines and rules? Are they requiring each investigator to attend seminars and other forms of training? Do they have liability disclosures and client contracts? This can indicate how serious and professional the team is.

1. Are they going to public investigations or holding meet-up groups? Note: Any group that is willing to take anyone on any person wanting to explore the paranormal is not a real team. They are only meet-ups, a group of people out for the thrill of it.

1. One major problem in this field is self-titling. Anyone can earn the title Reverend or Minister by purchasing it through the Internet. Authentic means they have theological training through either a college or a church. Also note the newest addition to these self-titles is the term demonologist. True demonologists have spent many years in a formal educational system studying theology and the occult. Most people who hold these titles on Facebook are self-titled and not authentic. This can actually make the problem worse than better, so be careful.

1. Do they charge for their services? Never ever pay any team to come out to investigate or preform a cleansing. This is a major red flag… No one can ever guarantee to rid your home of spirits.

1. Guaranteed services: Again no one can ever promise to rid your home of spirits. Also remember not all spirits need to be removed. Only small percentages are considered hostile and most are misunderstood due to television programs creating fear and terror.

1. Get references if they are available. If not you can also Google the team to see what others are saying about them and to perform a background check.

1. Examine their website with a fine tooth comb. Especially pay attention to their evidence if they have it available. If they have clips or videos of them investigating are they using provocation? Are the disclosing private information? There are many teams out there that are happy to post a picture of your home all over the internet without ever thinking of privacy.

1. What methods do they follow? Are they 100% science based or spiritual? If it involves a private case that needs help it is best to have a mixture of science and spiritual aspects. Also make sure the group is not 100% male or 100% female. There should be an equal balance.

Lastly, it is up to the client looking for help or the person wanting to join a paranormal team to make sure the team is reputable. There are no governing authorities over the paranormal field. This makes it even more important to do your research beforehand. With so many new shows coming out has only created a side show carnival of thrill seekers. Be careful and educate yourself before ever becoming involved with any team. Always remember the television shows are only entertainment and there is a lot of exaggeration and staging involved with them.  They are only out for ratings and not out to educate the public.  Eventually I do believe there will be some sort of governing body over the paranormal field but until then it is essential to do your research and don’t buy into the television hype!

BY Krystal Porras

Thanks for stopping by!

Lisa