Voices to Visions June 2012

VOICES TO VISIONS

Alice Mary Herden Founder of Dust and Shadows, a Paranormal Investigation and Research Group. Alice is also freelance photographer and graphic artist.

Her experiences with the Paranormal go back to where she resided with her family in Largo. Encounters with the paranormal have been from breathing to a full black mass apparition.

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Richard Senate Ghost Stories Richard has been investigating haunted places since the night I saw a ghost in July of 1978. I have 14 books about ghosts and I have worked as a consultant on TV shows since 1979. I also give tours and do radio shows about ghosts and haunted places.

Articles • Editor Views: Alice Mary Herden • Interviews: Alice Mary Herden • Encounters: Alice Mary Herden * Ghost Stories: Richard Senate • Paranormal Interests: Tara Tomlin • Famous Haunting: Alice Mary Herden or Karen Bashak • Famous Locations: Alice Mary Herden or Karen Bashak

Karen Bashak

• 101-Dictionary: Debbie Chavanne • Paranormal Team: Alice Mary Herden

Article Writer

• Workshop: Cheryl Smeed

Karen and I work together at the same retail establishment for over 5 years. She is talented, smart, beautiful and just a joy! I am so happy that she has time to write articles for our magazine.

• Dust and Shadows: Alice Mary Herden

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VOICES TO VISIONS

Jesselee Lang Concept Artist Jesselee Lang is a superb 3D fantasy-based artist that tells astounding stories through digital art. He lives in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, where he provides design, artwork, and graphics to the web, print, and video game industries. He offers free images for download at his website, and you can find his art spray-painted on the sides of train cars. Jesselee enjoys creating powerful stories, projecting them into a single work of art for others to appreciate. His works put you in the middle of the action.

I met Jesselee through a stock photography site. I enjoy in artistic view and creative imagination. He is a great addition to this magazine. http://www.darkgeometry.ca/

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Tara DeHaven Tomlin Article Writer Tara is my one of my sisters who joined Voices to Visions Magazine to contribute to writing articles. Tara also has experienced paranormal activity at our old house. She resides in Texas with her two boys.

VOICES TO VISIONS Issue Contents

IN THIS ISSUE

All material and information gathered within this magazine are researched and/or solely opinions stated by the writer.

You choose your opinions and beliefs upon your own conclusion with each expressed view or article written.

• Editors Views

Photography Artwork All photography and artwork within this magazine are property of the photographer and/or artist.

Interviews Interviews are conducted via e-mail. If possible, some interviews are conducted in person and recorded.

Our Sponsors Green-Fly Media Merchandising Professionals LLC Action Sales and Merchandising INC

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Fear • Interview Loyd Auerbach • Encounters (kids) Scary Encounters • Folklore Bloody Mary • Richards Ghost Stories Ghost Stories • Tara’s Article Seeing Spirits

Arrowwear USA John and Cindy De Haven Donald and Bobbie Herden Become a sponsor Sponsors donations help with the yearly payment of the website. For more information about becoming a sponsor, please email us at: Editor@voicestovisions.com Special Thanks A special thanks to my husband, Donald Herden Jr. You have been the light of my life and I love you will all my soul. Thank you for being a huge supporter in all my goals.

I could have never lived without you.

Our Magazine is non-profit. You only pay for the printing and shipping at Magcloud.com Voices to Visions: a Dust and Shadows Magazine in association with Green-Fly Media LLC ©2012

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This issue is came from Cognitive Thinking: Frontal Lobe: Fear: Dark: Paranormal: Cold Spots: Goosebumps: Monsters Check us out of Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/voicestovisions/

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VOICES TO VISIONS After my incident, I learned about cognitive thinking and how every perception affects the things you view and interpret. How your brain is trying to understand what your eyes are seeing, what your ears are hearing and your body is feeling. This has a lot to do with the paranormal, especially when you are investigating in the dark. Having a paranormal investigation at night, our perception, cognitive thinking are so over shadowed by what you really are supposed to see and what is really in front of you. It’s trying so hard to figure out what is reality. People might see this differently, but this is just my opinion and my experiences.

Say before you go in your location to do your investigation, you spot certain things, like a doll. It’s just a doll. But when you are in that room, completely dark, what do you think about when you know you are heading towards that room, the doll. Being in the dark and not being able to see what is front on you, your brain is conjuring up all the attribute of being in the dark and a doll. Could your brain pull all the memories, like movies you have seen with a scary doll, and put that into the scenario, and because you are in the dark that will in turn cause you to be scared and your mind is setting into fear. If this happen to me, I hope I never see a clown sitting in a chair!

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Now that would be creepy!

Fear alone can be challenging, but fear can also help you overcome issues that can block your growth. I admit that I am scared of the dark. I refuse to be in a position or anywhere that there is no light. I have a very active imagination and my brain (subconscious mind) can conjure up some pretty freaky scenarios. So to keep myself safe, I do not do anything that would cause me to be afraid.

Is the fear of the dark considered self-conditioned fear? I believe it might be. From watching all those TV show and reading those books when we were younger that might have a lot to do with creating your own self-conditioned fear.

Now as a paranormal investigator having that fear, I guess you would call that normal and very well expected. You do not know what is going to happen and if anything happens you have will experience what is called the fight or flight reaction. Your brain is telling you to either stand still and do not move or run and get the hell out of there.

But how would your self-conditioned fear react if you knew the story behind what paranormal activity is being experienced at that location.

It is important to understand the history of every location you investigate. Go back as far as you can in order to understand the base of its truth. There are so many important factors that might help you with confronting fear. Maybe there is a little child that is still residing there, when other people think it might be someone else.

However doing your research, you know it is not that someone else; it is a little child and with knowing that information could that ease your fear?

There are people that perceive the fear of the paranormal as evil, and that is a fear. However, this is all how you take it. The personality of that person that had passed away goes along with them. So if they were not very nice in their human life, what makes them want to be different in the after-life?

However, is that evp that you caught really the voice of an “evil” person? Those “scratches” you got during a provoking (which you should never do) come from an “evil” entity?

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VOICES TO VISIONS Let me answer those for you.

First what is the fear of ghost? The term is called Phasmophobia. I believe most of us could have that phobia. It is not like we can conquer that fear so quickly like we could if we had an ophidiophobia; fear of snakes.

We can conquer that fear because we actually can see them and touch them. Fear and readjusting our cognitive thinking we can overcome any specific fear, when we can actually face that fear in a desired time.

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Let us talk about those wicked voices that people hear coming from the digital recorders. I do remember the evp my husband and I captured at the jail where he is telling us to “Get out!” That did put a slight fear and humor as well, into us, because he had every right to tell us that. You do not go into a jail and tell them they have been sentenced to be gassed. A great lesson learned. When you do hear these voices over your digital recorder, remember people you are dealing with sound waves, frequency can affect the vibration of the voice you are hearing through your voice recorder or “spirit box”. Is it really a man’s voice that is saying something distasteful, or is it a woman’s, child, or teen voice. A moan could be the only way they could tell you that they see you. So do not interpret right off the bat until you really know the history of the location. * We recently purchased a spirit box, I do have a location in mind that I want to test this equipment out. Any progress will be in our next issue of Voices to Visions. * As for the scratches, well, if you did not know who I was and you start provoking me and disrespecting me, I can assure you that I would have no problem bitch slapping you at any time. Respect me; I am dead for God’s sake!

I do not know truthfully why spirits still reside here in one area of a location. It is easy to come up with an acceptable conclusion, saying that they have unfinished business or looking for something, or just want to stay around, or they fear what is confronting them.

As for Phasmophobia, that is very different. We do not have a receptionist where we can schedule ourselves to experience and face that particular fear. Well we could, but I think that would be staging and most definitely conditioned fear, which we do not want. In order to face our fear, wouldn’t you think it would be wise to have this when we are ready and on our terms?

I truly believe that we are what we bring to the after-life, if there is one. (I have not experienced that so, I cannot tell you that there is one.) If you were a mean, vindictive person in your human life, you might be 100% obligated to carry that with you. Live your spirit as such, and that my friends would be a very sad case. And as for those who are opposite, live your spirit freely.

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The fear just not really knowing the truth can be unsettling. I just have a calm aspect about it; if I go I go.

But I will always have unfinished business. I did have this one dream where I was in my car and I was driving into some really bright headlights, I mean it was bright. I actually put my arm up to cover some of the brightness going into my eyes. Then I heard some people say you have to turn around. Not sure what that is about, but the first thing that came to mind was of course from what everyone else said about a bright light.

How all this plays into the paranormal. Simple, we might fear what we cannot see, things we cannot understand and things we truly are undeniably afraid to accept, our own death. ~alice

VOICES TO VISIONS Loyd Auerbach wrote an article on Fear and the Paranormal back in 1993 for Fate Magazine, that is quite interesting. Mr. Auerbach has been around the paranormal environment for over 20 years and has an extensive background in the field from an educated background. Lectures to commentaries, Mr. Auerbach shared some time with us.

FEAR AND LOATHING OF PSYCHIC PHENOMENA LOYD AUERBACH

Have you had a psychic experience? Have you ever seen a ghost? Have you "received" knowledge of a relative's misfortune, knowledge with no apparent cause? Have you felt a mysterious presence in your home? Have you seen objects floating or flying around your home with no physical explanation? Have you felt like you were floating out of your body?

Have any of these things scared you? Or was the really scary thing the thought of being laughed at by anyone you spoke to about such experiences?

Happy Halloween, everyone. This month is a "ghostbuster's" busiest time with the media, as radio, television, and print media jump on the ectomobile in order to gain attention for their respective perspective on the supernatural, superstitions, and the occult. Halloween has become a holiday for which we all dress up in odd, often horrific, outfits, attend parties with decorations a la

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The Addams Family, and even go to a "haunted house" with our kids (or on our own).

Because of the magical and supernatural overtones, as well as the connection in the basis of the holiday, the time when the spirit plane is closest to the "earth plane" (I prefer air planes, myself), and because parapsychologists are the ones conducting any sort of investigations looking at ghostly phenomena, we of course get tagged to talk about all sorts of things, from ghosts to clairvoyants, from (unfortunately) vampires to black magic.

As I've said before (and will say again), parapsychologists may be interested in occult and supernatural folklore, but we don't do demons, vampires, werewolves, or satanic cults. Parapsychologists study the Mind's (living or dead) interaction on other Minds and on the world around us.

Most of these experiences can hardly be described as "ghastly" or "horrific."

However, even with that said, the media (and unfortunately those uninitiated in the process of really learning about the paranormal) still wants "scary." I can no longer keep track of the number of reporters from all media who have asked me to take them to (or point them to) a place like the "house in THE AMITYVILLE HORROR" so they can video-tape something moving or at the least get some genuine thrills and chills to report on. First, the Amityville hoax notwithstanding, cases like that don't seem to really exist (except in the minds of some selfserving demonologists and exorcists out there who scare their "clients" as much as the experiences probably do, if not more so).

More importantly, if I could take a reporter and camera crew to such a place where things could definitely be taped or photographed, or if any of my colleagues could, why do you suppose parapsychology and field investigations in particular, has such a problem achieving funding? If I could take a crew into a "real" house like the ones in the movies, I doubt anyone in my field would have to worry about funding ever again.

Think about it, media people!

Unfortunately, it's just such an attitude, that this stuff is meant to be scary, that connects so much of it to the Halloween season and may cause such unhealthy reactions to psychic experiences of all kinds.

VOICES TO VISIONS Our culture, but not only just our culture, seems to not only denigrate psi experiences, whether precognitive or apparitional, but to also set up an expectation that these experiences and abilities are something to be afraid of and hidden.

This is, of course, quite interesting from a socioanthropological perspective when you consider that all the surveys conducted in the past have shown such high percentages of people who have either had a psychic experience or who believe in possibility of psi (if not its reality).

So what's going on here? Why are we afraid of ESP and PK experiences? Why do ghosts frighten us so?

We may have to look at these things very separately.

Experiences of apparitions and in haunted houses speak to our very human fears of the unknown and things that "lurk in the dark," hidden threats. Such fears were felt by our ancestors huddled around a fire at night with predators lurking in the dark, ready to pounce. While most of us no longer huddle around a fire for this reason, we still tend to stay in litup areas when walking outside at night in cities, fearful of the nowhuman predators that we may imagine are ready to pounce on us (not without just cause, I'm afraid).

The world we live in has become a scary place. It's been just under a month since I "participated" in something you may have watched or read about on/in the news. In my "regular" job (the one that provides the salary to support my psi habits), I work at 101 California Street in San Francisco for a provider of a legal and news online information service (LEXIS/NEXIS).

On July 1st, as you may know, a gunman stepped out of the elevator on the 34th floor of that building and began blasting away at people working and visiting the law firm of Pettit & Martin. He worked his way downstairs,

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shooting others not connected to the law firm on a few other floors, before shooting himself.

For me and my co-workers on the 25th floor, locked in our office, things were quite tense, though surreal in a way.

We were hearing reports on the radio about what may or may not have been going on several floors above, and speculations of a second gunman. A SWAT team showed up knocking at the back door, and things got stranger (I, for example, was convinced the three voices I heard talking to us through the door were cops, though a number of the others in my office more or less yelled at me not to open the door until their ID could be checked.

The situation started for us at approximately 3 PM and ended just before 8 that night. We never heard any shots, but we were confronted with the reality of the situation watching the ambulances out the windows and dealing with the police on our floor (though I think the cop searching us for weapons before we could leave might have felt even stranger going through my ÒbagÓ of magic effects I had brought to work that day).

For me, "surreal" is the best way to describe it. For others, words like "scary" or "frightening" or "nerve-wracking" might be more appropriate. For me, it further drove home something I have been saying for a number of years: "Ghosts don't carry guns."

The world we live in has become a scary place.

Interestingly, more scary than the "monsters" and

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"ghouls" that our superstitions and imaginations have previously provided. However, we still fear things we can't see or even understand, let alone things we can't comprehend. It's human nature.

As death (and survival of it) is difficult to comprehend for most of the living, remnants, reminders of the living who may now be dead frighten us. We have a hard time understanding their needs, so we can't relate to what they may want from us, the living. That unknown yields much fear, as we imagine all sorts of nasty possibilities.

For me, I look at such experiences with the science fiction fan's sense of wonder. There are unknown things out there, things we still need to understand, to study, to explain. That's a good thing, you know, not a bad or scary thing. The unknown and the curiosity about it fuels the "quest" for knowledge. Ghosts and hauntings are part of that. And in fact, if the disbelievers are correct and these things don't exist as we define them, perhaps an understanding of what really causes people to see and experience apparitional phenomena can bring us as much wonder as the idea of someone hanging around after his or her death.

Until the time that the average person understands and accepts: 1) that normal, average people see ghosts, 2) that these are not rare occurrences, and 3) that one learns a lot by "asking" the ghost questions (certainly more than turning tail and running away), I'm afraid that fear will be a common reaction. Remember, folks, the vast majority of ghost experiences are not going to harm you (you have more to worry about around the clumsiness your own fear may cause you), just as most people are decent folks. Use that wonder and think about the implications of someone surviving the death of the body and communicating with us.

Oh, and stick to comedy and dramatic films like TOPPER, GHOST, GHOST DAD, THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR, and ALWAYS. In my opinion they're so much closer to reality than any horror film could possibly be.

But what about ESP and Psycho-Kinesis? Are we afraid of these abilities? If so, why? This can again be approached on a couple of levels.

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First of all, a good part of the fear in having such experiences is caused by the non-acceptance of psi as "normal." Even though such large numbers of people believe in at least the possibility of such experiences, they have a hard time accepting that 1) they themselves could be psychic and 2) that anyone they know well could be psychic.

Average people have a problem in telling their average friends that they've had psi experiences. Why? Because they think the friends "are going to think I'm crazy." Why? Because society doesn't accept these experiences as part of the "normal" range of experiences.

I assure you, psi is quite "normal." If people would stop worrying about what their friends would think of them if they said they had psi experiences, they might be extremely surprised to learn that those friends have had psi experiences, too.

So, a big part of the fear of psi relates to a fear of people reacting to "unacceptable" behavior.

VOICES TO VISIONS Another part of the fear of psi is that it isn't "normal." One of the reasons my friend and colleague Dr. Keith Harary has negative reactions to anyone calling themselves "A Psychic" is that it sets one up as vastly different than the norm. Such a label can cause others to feel set apart from the majority of their peers when they believe they, too, have such experiences. While many psychics (who I simply consider people recognizing their innate abilities and perceptions more than others, the way good artists accept and build on their creativity do) do talk about everyone having some degree of psi, there are more than a few (who are often not terribly psychic) who promote themselves as "the only one" with experiences and "gifts" such as they describe.

This creates conflict in anyone who has experiences similar to what the "gifted" ones describe. Add to that the often odd or flamboyant behavior of some of these people and you get a person so different as to cause anxiety in anyone who believes he, too, may be like that person. (Note to my "psychic friends": I don't mean you. You know who you are...you're psychic, after all).

Most people really don't want to be "different." Most people want to be normal, or at least socially acceptable in their behavior and skills. Until psi is accepted as part of the norm, people will fear being psychic as they fear being "different."

Finally, there are other fears people may have around being psychic, fears pointed out over the years so well by Dr. Charles T. Tart of the University of California at Davis.

Tart has written several articles over the past decade dealing with fears of psychic abilities, and even about the fears of psi felt by psychics.

Most of these fears relate to the implications and the control of psi abilities. Tart and others such as Dr. Julian Isaacs and Dr. Jan Ehrenwald have pointed out issues of responsibility for the abilities and the phenomena they generate.

For example, if we can affect things with our minds, does that mean we might cause "bad" things to happen? If we can connect with the minds of others, what if we connect too well? What if we can't turn it off? What about invasion of privacy: can remote viewers peek in on anybody they like? Will we lose ourselves if we connect too well with the world around us?

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Such fears, which are often unconscious, may actually help set the limits on psi. They certainly prevent many of us from "being psychic." I believe that the issue of responsibility is the major fear-inducer, especially coupled with a fear of losing control of such abilities were they activated.

People in general tend to shun responsibility for their actions and accountability to the world around them. All too often I have hear people claiming that their behavior or things that happen to them are caused by some higher (or demonic) power...or good or bad luck...anything but apparently their own actions. It's often how people rationalize their behavior and actions as "not their fault" and therefore try to alleviate themselves of "blame" and responsibility.

Psi, by definition, is a faculty of human beings that connects us to our environment on a mental and possibly spiritual level, and ultimately to one another.

Are people afraid of psi experiences because they remind us how interconnected we really are? How our actions and behavior and thoughts affect others and the world around us? Because they remind us that perhaps we do have to take some responsibility for our places in the world? I think so.

I encourage you to overcome these fears. These experiences are normal, whether you want to tell your friends about your own or not. That we don't understand them yet is a rationale for studying them, and that we have so much more to know about ourselves is exciting.

Why I have stuck with studying psi experiences, whether ESP, PK, or apparitions, is because I truly believe we are more than we appear to be, that we are truly part of the Universe at large. I wonder at that thought. And I want to know more.

Don't you?

FATE Magazine: PSYCHIC FRONTIERS: OCTOBER 1993 Permission granted by: Phyllis Galde

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and many more, and even more “occult” books including many on vampires and werewolves. I had been advised by parapsychologists to study some field of science, and after a very brief stint in astrophysics, I found myself engrossed in cultural anthropology and gained an undergraduate degree from Northwestern University in that subject.

In my studies at Northwestern, I was able to focus the topics of many of my papers towards supernatural folklore, divinatory practices, psychic belief systems, and the like, thanks to the guidance of some great professors.

During my senior year, I took a multi-part seminar offered

by John Bisaha and Brenda Dunne at Mundelein College in Chicago. It was there I learned about John F. Kennedy University’s fledgling Graduate Parapsychology Program (from guest lecturer K. Ramakrishna Rao).

Loyd Auerbach ~ Mr. Auerbach, tell our readers about your background in the paranormal field.

Nothing psychic or paranormal brought me into the field, contrary to what most people expect. In actuality, I was watching TV shows from a veryearly age that influenced me, such as Topper, The Twilight Zone, and One Step Beyond. Looking back, Topper probably gave me my first “taste”of ghosts. Early on, I also read lots of mythology and science fiction, and especially superhero comic books.

I was also a bit of a science geek as a kid. Combine all of that, throw in a dash of Star Trek and Dark Shadows, and I think I almost had to discover the books in the library on Parapsychology. I believed then, as I believe now, that psychic abilities are probably normal and untapped. This never seemed a strange conclusion, to me.

In the early 70s, the short-lived TV show The Sixth Sense, coupled with my being able to meet and talk with some NY area parapsychologists (through a neighbor who was the yoga teacher for one of them) pushed me over the cliff and I just had to get into the field.

I read extensively read in the field before college – and by the way I read the academic books by Rhine and others, as well as more popular books by Susy Smith, Hans Holzer

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In 1979, I entered the program at JFK University, graduating with an M.S. in Parapsychology in 1981. I moved back to NY, where I worked as Public Information and Media Consultant to the American Society for Psychical Research in NY City from 1982 to mid-1983.

While there, I helped a little with some of the lab research being conducted by Dr. Karlis Osis and Donna McCormick, and did a number of field investigations (essentially being “mentored” at this by Dr. Osis and Alex Tanous). In addition, through my position, I worked with a number of other researchers in the tri-state area.

Late 1983, I came back to the Bay Area as the media consultant to the Graduate Parapsychology Program at JFK University, teaching a number of classes in the program as well. Once back, I put lots of energy and time into conducting further field investigations of apparition, haunting and poltergeist cases, essentially making that my “specialty.” Over the years I’ve worked with a number of parapsychologists who’s interests have run the gamut from lab research to field investigations. [Note: the Parapsychology Program ended at JFKU in the late 1980s.]

Added to that is my training and experience in magic and mentalism. I began in magic because of a class in the grad program at JFKU dealing with psychic fraud (and what to look out for and how) taught by a local magician. I liked the subject so much I became determined to also become a performer. I mainly focused on comedy magic (both close-up and stand-up) with continuing reading/study in mentalism and psychic entertainment until the early ‘90s.

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During that time, I performed at private functions, and occasionally for the public (including at comedy clubs).

more than 15 years. Annette sadly, and suddenly, passed away in Sept, 2011.

In the early ‘90s, at the (continual) encouragement of the late Marcello Truzzi, I refocused myself on psychic entertainment, joining the Psychic Entertainers Association in 1997 (and becoming President in 2001, through mid-2005).

~ In this month’s issue we are discussing fear and the paranormal, how our cognitive thinking or paranormal cognitive access the fears within us when we are faced with different situations. Even those situations that we tend not to really want to face; for example opening a closet door when there is no light for you to see what is in the closet.

I continued (and still continue) to teach at JFK University to this day, though less and less over the years, and no Parapsychology.

However, in 2005 I started working with HCH Institute in Lafayette, California, and developed a local non-academic program of deep intro courses on different aspects of parapsychological concepts, research and experiences. In 2006, we began offering the courses and program for distance learning -not online, it's an mp3 and text based series of courses which include one on one phone time with me.

In 2010, I was appointed to the faculty of Atlantic University (which is in Virginia Beach, VA), and began mentoring their one online Parapsychology intro course in 2011, which can be taken by either grad students or as a non-credit course.

I've also been involved with numerous organizations in the field since working at the ASPR in NY in the early 1980s.

These days I'm on the advisory boards of the Windbridge Institute, the Forever Family Foundation, and the Rhine Research Center and was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Rhine in early 2012.

Of course, I've written 8 books, my first (ESP, HAUNTINGS AND POLTERGEISTS: A Parapsychologist's Handbook) lauded as the "sacred text on ghosts" (by Newsweek). My most recent is THE GHOST DETECTIVES' GUIDE TO HAUNTED SAN FRANCISCO, co-authored by Annette Martin, a wonderful psychic/medium I'd worked with for

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Could this be an influential fear factor for people that are interested in the paranormal and to those that are not?

Some people certainly further their interest in the paranormal coming from the position of thrill-seeking or from the horror story/film genre, or even express it that way. Let’s face it, we love to be scared, whether it be rides at an amusement park, watching horror films or listening to ghost stories around the camp fire. Such things get the adrenalin going, and it’s understandable what the attraction to “spooky” might be.

Some come in due to a psychic experience (a category that includes encounters with ghosts), wanting an explanation for what they’ve already experienced or even to experience it (or something like it) again.

However, many people approach the paranormal with a very simple curiosity. The phenomena and experiences labeled paranormal are, after all, mysteries of human existence. ~ With dealing with the uncertainties that every paranormal investigator might endure, fear is always the greatest hurdle. In your thoughts, why would someone want to risk facing that fear only to be ridiculed when that fear is actually faced?

Again, some people might want to experience a little suspense and fear. Some might consider overcoming fear important for them.

But I do not agree that “fear is always the greatest hurdle.” My colleagues in and about the field of Parapsychology rarely have any fear associated with our field work, as in the 130+ years since the field has been in existence (the Society for Psychical Research was founded 130 years ago, in 1882). Well, except for potential creepy

VOICES TO VISIONS crawlies (that bit), or issues around the living people in the case.

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misattribution (attributing a paranormal cause to explainable events because they happened in close proximity to a perceived paranormal occurrence).

People also make mistakes of perception in the dark (clearly demonstrated by numerous scientific studies), which is why for the most part actual researchers in the field do not do what are effectively stakeouts in darkness. The rare exception would be a case in which the phenomena is only reported or experienced when all lights are out, and even then there would be a period in the space in the dark as well as a period of observation in the same area with the lights on.

I really can’t speak for the vast majority of folks in the “paranormal community,” since they rarely have anything to do with actual parapsychologists or parapsychological field investigators. But my colleagues are in this because of curiosity about the questions to be answered. ~ As Thomas V Morris wrote: "...I am perfectly aware that the fear of ghosts is contrary to science, reason and religion. If I were sentenced to spend a night alone in a graveyard, <...> I should already know that twigs would snap and the wind moan and that there would be half-seen movements in the darkness.

And yet, after I had been frog-marched into the graveyard, I should feel a thrill of fear every time one of these things happened..."

Would this be more in line of conditioned fear? What are your thoughts on conditioned fear and how that would affect experiencing true paranormal encounters?

People absolutely make mistakes in judgment of a situation, and their perceptions can be quite screwed up by fear. In fact, in most cases we investigate – even the best – we have to look at each reported event/experience separately (as well as the overall case), especially when people are in fear because of the initial experiences.

Misperception is rampant while fear is at play, as is

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~ I strongly believe that the best equipment to capture evidence of spirits are digital voice recorders, video and digital cameras as well as Polaroid cameras. With all your experiences and knowledge, would there be a type of equipment you would like to assemble to capture evidence of paranormal existence?

The best evidence is not from technology – it comes from apparent interactions between people (witnesses, psychics, mediums) who, from the encounters, can provide verifiable information about the apparitions (usually about their time when alive) that they clearly did not know as well as multiple witnesses experiencing the same thing at different times, again when the witnesses had no way of knowing the story or what the other witnesses experienced.

There is a fundamental issue with all technology in that we have laboratory evidence that the unconscious of the living can affect technology via psychokinesis. [Important note: if spirits are affecting the tech, that is also defined as psychokinesis] For example, it’s odd that certain people seem to always get EVPs while for most it’s quite erratic. Are they unconscious mediums? Are they affecting the devices themselves?

As for Polaroid, it IS a better form of camera for investigative purposes simply because there are fewer

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normal explanations for unusual pictures, and even then, the Polaroid company has a history of finding all of those unusual explanations and keeping track of them. The cameras and pictures are also harder to tamper with – though psychokinesis by the living can still be part if not all of the explanation.

Back to your question: there’s no technology today that we have that I can point to and say “that gets evidence of the paranormal,” mainly because we’d have to have some idea of what we’re trying to detect – and we don’t even know where to start. The best we can do is to use environmental sensors to see if there are changes in the local environment that are anomalous but even then, in order to give context and meaning to the data from such devices, you need a person or people present to connect the experience to.

In other words, multiple sensors registering “something” when no one present is having any sort of experience means only that there “anomaly in the environment” and not even a paranormal one. If it happens in some relationship to a reported pattern (based on people’s experiences), that gives context and meaning, and correlation of the data to the reported phenomena.

If you have someone present who can point to an area of a room and say “I see a ghost there” or “I feel something of a presence here,” and that is the only spot in the room with some anomalous readings from the sensors, again you have context and meaning.

My favorite questions to ask have been:

So for me, I’d want a full environmental sensor suite tied into a system that correlates everything together with what people in the same location are experiencing during the sensor sweep, and correlated to past experiences in the environment.

2) What’s it like being without a body, and have you had to learn how to interact with the world and people around you?

~ If you had the opportunity to have a conversation with a spirit, where would you want to have that conversation and what would be the three main questions you would ask that spirit.

Well, those and of course, “where do you get your clothes from?” (but that ties into question #1).

Actually, working with witnesses in cases who were in apparent communication with a spirit, as well as psychics and mediums over the years, I’ve had plenty of time to ask questions.

1) Why do some people see you, others hear you, others smell something, still others feel a presence, and some not have any experience at all?

3) Why are you still here?

---------------------------------------------Main site is www.mindreader.com Courses (distance and local) are listed at www.hypnotherapytraining.com/parapsych.cfm Chocolate site is www.hauntedbychocolate.com

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VOICES TO VISIONS Goosebumps….

You know that feeling when you get scared. Your skin bumps up and you have this overwhelming sensation of coldness in the air.

So what are goose bumps and what causes them.

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Fear brings your blood pressure up, your heart is beating faster, and you are in a freeze motion. For paranormal investigators or even people that have seen a spirit or actually occupying the same space as one, your fear is a learning stage. You remember that encounter and you know if you go to that room or open that closet something you experienced before, well it might just happen again.

I cannot say for sure that I can remember getting goose bumps while watching a scary movie, and yes, I have seen my fair share of those, however, I do remember getting those goose bumps when we are at some locations that are known to have paranormal activity and also places where there is not.

So your body is reacting to that memory, your adrenalin pumps up, your sweaty and fear is setting in. Do you go in there, do you open that door? The fight or flight response kicks in.

It just starts with the feeling, nervousness and getting those butterflies in your stomach. As your brain is trying to make some type of sense of all these sensations and emotions your body is sending to your brain, those goose bumps start popping up.

When we do watch those paranormal reality shows, they show their fair share of personal goose bumps that had been caused by a cold draft in the air. The first conclusion would be that there is a spirit near you or could it be a draft, which depends of what location of that building you are in and other instances ie: window. However, your personal experiences with having goose bumps it can be a little scary.

Goosebumps also called pilomotor reflex. This is an involuntary action your body created without you thinking about it. These goose bumps are created from the sympathetic nervous system. This is a physiological response your body makes causing the tiny muscles attached to your hair follicles contract, usually your arms or back of the neck.

This part of your nervous system is also controls your fight or flight response. Pretty simple explanation, you stand and fight or your get the hell out of there. RUN!!!!!!!!!!!

Amygdala Your brain has so many functions; scientists are just touching the surface of how amazing this organ really is and its capabilities, freaks me out just thinking about it how we actually live. The main focus we are zoning in on is a little almond shaped piece behind the frontal lobe of the cerebrum, the amygdala.

Joseph LeDoux using laboratory rats concluded that this little almond shape piece of the brain was emotional attribute of fear. With using (and this is sad) lab rats as research vessels he conducted what is called fear conditioning.

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Paranormal and Goosebumps

Why? Due to the fact that in your mind your first conclusion would be a spirit is nearby or around you. That would be a conditioned fear. People would of never thought that having goose bumps in a house, building or where every you are standing a paranormal experience, unless someone started that conclusion. I even do that myself, thinking “oh I just got goose bumps, there’s a ghost here”. But I do know better that it could very well be just a cold draft coming from a door, a/c, fan or window.

So, instead of having a first conclusion that if might be paranormal, check your surroundings.

VOICES TO VISIONS Why is this feeling so cold?

Best to answer that question would be Brian Schill.

Brian a veteran in paranormal with over 200 investigations that is attached to a bachelor degree in physics and an author of Stalking Darkness, Brian took time out to answer some questions.

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over 16,000 photos and more than 3,500 samples of EVP and written over 350 investigative, historic and narrative case histories over the last decade. Additionally, for 7 of those 10 years I have taught paranormal investigation classes at 5 local colleges. Between my academic and practical experience I have done something that few, if any, other investigators have done: attempt to explain the mechanisms of how paranormal events occur. Many investigators will try to explain the event itself but cannot explain why the event takes place – the mechanics behind it - and that is where I feel my combined experience has served the paranormal community well. · Since this issue is about goose bumps, share with our readers about some of your own personal experiences.

There have been a few incidents that are at the top of the list when it comes to talking about experiences that I have had on field investigations, but, if we are talking top 3 of all time then I would say that the following are the most memorable: 3. The Library at the Community College of Beaver County.

The IPRF was performing a follow up investigation at the CCBC library and the Health Sciences building – both of which are notorious for being haunted and, to make a long story short, in front of myself, the police chief of Rochester Borough (who is a member of the IPRF) and two other investigators we watched as a book levitated off of a shelf and dropped at our feet. When we examined the book we found it was “For Whom The Bell Tolls” by Ernest Hemingway. Ironic? I'd say so.

· Brian, tell us about your background and how your knowledge in physics applies as an asset in the paranormal field.

In regard to the academic side of my education I have a Bachelor of Science in Physics from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and have studied the disciplines of Electrical Theory, Psychology and numerous other subjects over the course of my career. I have applied each of these to areas of the paranormal that conventional science has not addressed. I feel that applying science to paranormal events removes some of the facade of mysticism from the subject and allows people to understand that paranormal events are simply natural occurrences that are following the order of the universe. On the practical side, as of this interview, I have covered over 500 investigations, analyzed

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2. The 2007 Gettysburg Marching Drill. Pretty much every paranormal investigator has heard about the “Guns of Gettysburg” – the phantom sounds of musket skirmishes and artillery cannonades still resonating in and around Gettysburg to this day, but this... well, this is a little different. During one of our numerous investigations in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania myself and another investigator were out investigating Iverson's Pit on Oak Ridge at 0600 (6 a.m.) when we heard what amounted to a rhythmic chanting in the distance. We had our cameras and voice recorders ready as we thought we would find a small encampment of re-enactors nearby. We walked through the chill of the morning in the misty field and, when we broke through the mist on the summit of the small, rolling hill that is Oak Ridge the sounds abruptly stopped – there

VOICES TO VISIONS was no one there, or anywhere around for that matter.

We were alone. When we reviewed the EVP we recorded during that time, the sounds we heard were on the recording, so we took it to a friend and had him listen to it.

As a historian with a particular interest in the events that took place at Gettysburg on July 1-3, 1863 he identified the sounds we recorded as a regimental marching drill.

Ever on guard, the men who fought to defend their ideals, their country and their lives so long ago at Oak Ridge are trapped at a crossroad in the sands of time – then, now and forever in the process of preparing for battle, an eternal vigilance for a battle that will never come.

1. The Apparition of “Evans” at the PRR Museum.

Unfortunately, the Pennsylvania Railroaders Museum in

Altoona, Pennsylvania has changed management and with that paranormal investigations at the museum are no longer permitted, however, when the previous managers were there Patty Wilson and Scott Crownover performed investigations there frequently and the IPRF was invited to several of these investigations. Scott and Patty seemed to always get good evidence from the museum, which had formerly been the old master mechanic's building for an th old rail yard. During the first half of the 20 century the railroad did not have many of the safety devices in place that they do now and as a consequence there were a great number of serious injuries in the railyards, many of which were life threatening. The master mechanic's building had a triage/hospital for those who were injured on the job and this is where we believe several of the ghosts that

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haunt the museum had come from. Incidents at the museum include spectral big band music being heard, sounds of people working on things, objects moving about of their own accord, cold spots, feelings of strange uneasiness, tension in the atmosphere and of being watched. Other occurrences include a lot of EVP, one of which Patty recorded where she asked “Do you know how you died?” and a voice replied “Steam. Steam burns. Lord, it hurt.” as well as several photos of the apparitions who reside there.

The most memorable investigation I can recall there was th when we were on the 5 floor and I had left my investigation group to switch files on my laptop for some th EVP I was recording. When I got up to the 5 floor nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but as I made my way through the archives to the area where the administrative offices were I noticed someone standing in the doorway of the curator's office.

Although we are supposed to work in pairs or small groups for safety I thought this was another investigator who had wandered away from their group to record some EVP as they were standing against the wall, very still. I tried not to make any noise as I approached as I did not want to disturb their EVP session, but as I got closer the silhouette I saw in the darkness across the room began to become out of focus around the edges.

Thinking that my eyes were out of focus because of the low light conditions I carefully continued to approach, but when I got within 20 feet of the person they disappeared right before me. I called Photo: Gretchens Loch - Paul Metrovich *Patty on our 2 way radios and asked about what I just witnessed and Patty casually replied “Oh, that's Evans. I can tell you some things about him.” So I switched up my rd EVP files on my laptop and met up with Patty on the 3 floor to get more information on what I had just witnessed. This story and many more can be found in Patty's book Ghosts in the Museum.

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radiation however. Speaking strictly from the standpoint of light, and not conductive radiation, we know that IR light on the Electromagnetic Spectrum has a wavelength, which is measured in cm, that is equivalent to th 0.01 - 7x10 to the negative fifth (5 ) power, th the frequency is 3x10 to the twelfth (12 ) th power to 4.3x10 to the fourteenth power (14 ) and the energy is 0.01 - 2 eV (eV - electron volts).

· In you book, Stalking Darkness, you talk about “The third law of thermodynamics”. Explain that theory and how that implies as evidence for paranormal existence.

It is difficult to isolate the Third Law of Thermodynamics from the First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics because they are so closely interrelated but the Third Law of Thermodynamics is of concern to paranormal investigators as it states: “It is impossible to reduce the temperature of a thermodynamic system to absolute zero within the courses of a finite series of operations.”

This idea holds a great deal of relative significance for paranormal investigator because this would accurately point to the reason behind the “cold spots” that paranormal anomalies are notorious for.

Although ghosts have the ability to absorb energy from the local atmosphere through the natural process of covalent bonding this energy absorption is an involuntary life function that sustains their bioelectric field much like cardiac rhythm or respiration sustains life for the living.

Paranormal anomalies, ghosts, are comprised of energy fields and these bioelectric fields, while being actively generated by a living body would generate heat. However, since these anomalies lack a physical body they do not have the ability to generate heat, which is where understanding the Third Law of Thermodynamics comes in.

Most ghostly encounters occur on the infrared (IR) wavelength, which we understand via our sensory perception as heat. This is only true in the case of IR

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What is most important here, from the standpoint of a heat factor is the measurable amount of energy involved. We know that light in any form will produce some form of heat, no matter how slight. However when an area is bombarded with two types of light such as visible light and IR light there will be a measurable difference between the two, especially when they are isolated from each other and not allowed to naturally disperse or integrate as they should. In understanding this basic principle between the two types of light we can note that there is a significant difference between the two as far as energy is concerned. This difference in energy also affects the amount of heat energy within the area of certain radius around the anomaly which is then understood by sensory perception of humans as a heat imbalance, or a “cold spot.” This imbalance in the natural temperature, which is understood to be an imbalance between two different forms of heat radiation, explains why we experience “cold spots” when there is a bioelectric anomaly, such as ghost is in an area.

When a cold spot occurs it presents itself as the physically manifested difference between the expansion and contraction of heat within the various portions of the EM (electromagnetic) spectrum on the physical plane and is why, during periods of paranormal manifestation, that “It is impossible to reduce the temperature of a thermodynamic system – in this case, the bioelectric energy field of a ghost – to absolute zero within the courses of a finite series of operations, such as paranormal manifestation.” It should also be remembered that just because the anomaly exists within the IR field that does not mean that the anomaly is part of the IR spectrum. In this manner they absorb heat from the IR spectrum to rebuild their own energy, as noted above, hence Faraday’s Law of Electromagnetic Induction where, paraphrased, we

VOICES TO VISIONS understand that “…power induces power.” · Besides thermodynamics, is there any other possible explanation for the reasons of cold spots besides the common debunked conclusions?

Of course, there are always other possibilities and variables that could pose an answer to this question, some of which may contain legitimate scientific value and others may be nothing more than an individual’s interpretive subjective opinion, however, I believe that until disproven rd the 3 Law of Thermodynamics is our best possible explanation to understand the phenomenon of paranormal cold spots.

Bio for Brian Schill Brian A. Schill was born in Rochester, PA. on December 19, 1974 and moved to Orlando, Florida with his parents in 1977.

Since an early age I have had an interest in the paranormal, this interest, however, this interest was amplified by paranormal events that took place in my Florida home after my father passed away when I was 10.

In 1992 I took up studies in various electrical fields which would eventually provide a basis for some of my later work in the paranormal research field.

I began serious study of paranormal events in 1998, at which time I joined CFGS – Central Florida Ghost Society.

In 2001 I graduated from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics.

Early in 2002 I founded ASPRI – the American Society for Paranormal Research and Investigation in Orlando, Florida.

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A critical link in the formation of the basis of much of my work where anatomy and physiology is concerned came in 2002 when I received a Technical Certificate from Valencia Community College in the Emergency Medical Technician program.

Later in 2002 I was certified as a paranormal investigator and it was around this time that I discovered the anatomy – physics association between the bioelectric regulatory pulse produced by the heart and the First Law of Thermodynamics.

2003 presented business opportunities so I moved back to Pennsylvania, changed the name of the ASPRI to IPRF (International Parapsychology Research Foundation) and incorporated in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

In Brad Steiger’s 2003 book Real Ghosts, Restless Spirits and Haunted Places Steiger quotes my work on the bioelectric field and the First Law of Thermodynamics (introduction, pp. x & xi) As my research database grew I began teaching parapsychology classes in 2005 at two local colleges, the Community College of Beaver County and Butler County Community College.

In 2005 I began writing for Haunted Times Magazine.

In 2006 Haunted Times Magazine published a first-of-itskind research work I conceptualized and set up that spanned a 5 year period that revealed how astronomical events, such as solar flares, hold more influence of paranormal events than does moon phase.

In 2007 I proposed the Iron Oxide Enigma, a supplemental explanation of EVP phenomenon, to add to the previously recognized theories about EVP mechanics.

Later in 2007 I proposed the first Model of Paranormal Manifestation.

Compiling all of my knowledge on the paranormal I completed and published the book Stalking Darkness: Surveillance and Investigation Techniques for Paranormal Investigators in 2008.

As of 2012 I have investigated over 500 cases of purported paranormal activity including the Pennsylvania Railroaders

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Memorial Museum, the National Aviary, the Titanic Museum and the Vicary Mansion.

numerous topics pertaining to the paranormal and other associated subjects.

Photo: Center Stage - Monaca, PA - Sue Dunlap

I have written 3 manuscripts for college level parapsychology courses and have over 350 historic, scientific and research works available in print and on line through various internet websites

In April 2009 I was named Visionsmagazineonline.com consultant / parapsychologist.

On 4/26/2009 another major discovery took place when I discovered the mechanism for the transition of consciousness from this world to the next. Still in it s developmental stages the theories on the transition of consciousness should prove to be as significant, if not more so, as the connection to the First Law of

Thermodynamics.

To date I have evaluated over 16,000 photos and 3,500 EVPs that contain purported paranormal activity.

I have investigated Cases in United States, Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean and Europe and have had historical, educational and scientific work published internationally in Ghost! Magazine, Fate Magazine, Visions Magazine, Fortean Times Magazine and Haunted Times Magazine I have been a featured speaker at numerous paranormal conferences throughout the northeastern region of the U. S. and also have fulfilled public speaking roles on

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I have had work featured in internationally recognized works such as Brad Steiger’s Real Ghosts, Restless Spirits and Haunted Places and Patty Wilson’s Ghosts in the Museum.

I have consulted for the 2002 Independent feature film eM pleH (Help Me), I was consulted for the developmental stages and concepts for Paranormal State (Liquid Sunshine Media), and for the 2007 Paranormal U television series. I have also had equipment supervisory roles in My Bloody Valentine (2009), The Warrior (2011) and the Three Rivers television program pilot.

Additionally, I was able to contribute evidence to the August 1 and 2 2009 filming of Paranormal State’s Hotel Conneaut episode.

In April 2009 I conceptualized Steel City Bus Tours and by October of that year we launched our first tours specializing in “Pints and Frights” a 6 hour ghost tour aboard a bus that stops a 5 venues for a taste of local beers and a few ghost stories about the site and surrounding area.

Currently I am still active teaching at the local colleges, researching & writing, and working with the IPRF.

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VOICES TO VISIONS Folklore Bloody Mary Ahh.. the olâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; truth or dare game. Admit it, some of you played it and some of you dared it. Crap, we did this in our bathroom at the old house and that house is haunted.

As the story goes, young teen girls would go into the bathroom in the pitch dark, holding a candle (optional) and repeat Bloody Mary three times. After you chant her name a witch would appear and scratch you.

So how did the Bloody Mary folktale start?

There are a couple of versions of this story, so let us start with the oldest.

Back in the times where Kings ruled the land and where the Queens just about had everything they wanted and the people to do just about anything to satisfy their Queen. Queen Mary I of England was said to be called Bloody Mary because she had a number of Protestants killed during her reign as Queen to restore Catholicism as the main religion within their reign.

However, the most common Bloody Mary was that of a witch named Mary Worth, who was executed for being involved in the Black Arts. If you summon her by chanting her name three times, she will appear within the mirror.

What happens after that is anyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tale.

Another Mary would be that of Mary Worthington, who was a young girl that was disfigured in a car accident.

Unable to be accepted she may have died alone and angry.

How she fits in with the mirror, it is unclear.

The fear of this is extremely overwhelming, depending on how the story is told. The more eccentric the storyteller is the better the fear will be embedded into these young kids mind. Seriously, the curiosity of any young kid ages 9-15 can be so dramatic and threatening his or her own safety,

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especially if the kid is in a truth or dare game or being bullied. We do not encourage that at all!

This is more of a premeditated experience. You know what you have to do and you know what to expect. So your mind is going to let you see what you think you will see.

Mirrors have been used throughout time, and we will go into more detail in our next issue about mirrors.

Remember this is Folklore.

Stories told over and over again and with each story told, different versions of this story and any other story told over hundreds of year do change. ~alice

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when the lights would flicker or completely go out for no apparent reason. I still believe this today. I currently live in a house where lights flicker and go out. Shotty electric lines?

Perhaps. But I can’t help but think it is my Mother communicating with me by just saying “Hey! I’m here!”

One website: http://socyberty.com/para normal/10-signs-a-spirituses-to-communicate-withyou/, has some interesting information on how spirits communicate with us.

Seeing Spirits There are several ways people “see” spirits. Some see apparitions, mist, orbs, etc. Some people just have a “feeling” that a spirit is around. Growing up, my Mother was always “aware” of ghosts or spirits. She never made us feel afraid, but more curious. The biggest most profound way she would sense a spirit was around was

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The first two ways spirits communicate noted on this site, is through lights flickering and turning appliances on and off.

When / if you ever experience, take note of what is going on. What are you thinking? What are you talking about? What TV show are you watching?

There just may be a sign someone is just trying to say hi or trying to give you a deeper message. The most important thing is to be aware of your surroundings, listen to your gut feelings and be open to the possibility of spirit communication. ~ tara

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find an example of the yarn here in Ventura County. Is it true? Who knows? You be the Judge.

A Ventura Lavender Tale.

By Richard Senate If you ever drive North Ventura Avenue on a cold and rainy night, and you happen to see a hitch hiking girl in a lavender dress, don't pick her up! It’s a common ghost story and one that can trace its roots to the east coast in the days of horses and buggies. It is a story told in college fraternities and truck stops nationwide. Most believe the ghostly girl is just so much folklore but I was surprised to

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Two young men left Ojai Valley heading for a night of dancing at the Green Mill dance hall off the Ventura Avenue. As they were driving south of the Foster Park Bridge, on the road that is lined by trees, they saw a beautiful girl hitch hiking alongside of the road. She was in a thin strapped dress in the dark of the night. The driver stopped to give her a lift to Ventura, and she climbed in the back seat. She was a dark beauty with deep brown eyes. They invited her to the dance and she accepted. She didn't talk a great deal but listened to them. At the dance the boy’s friends were impressed by the girl.

When one of the boys held her he found she was ice cold. After a time she told them she had to get home, and one of the young men offered to drive her to Saticoy where she lived. He offered her his coat, and draped it over her shoulders to keep her warm. She directed him to a small wooden house and they pulled up and parked. She kissed him, thanked him with tears in her eyes. He asked to see her again and she said it was impossible. With that she bolted from the car and ran up the stairs to the front door of the house. The young man was upset that she had rejected him and pulled away—he was half a mile down the road when he remembered she was still wearing his jacket!

VOICES TO VISIONS He turned around and drove back to the house. The house was dark but he knocked on the door. After several moments he saw the lights come on and the door was opened by an old man. The boy asked for his jacket back.

The old man seemed confused. The young man explained that he had loaned it to his daughter. He became angry and ordered him to go away. He was about to close the door when the boy told how he and his friend had picked her up on the Avenue near Foster Park.

The man told him to wait---he returned to the door with a black and white picture in a frame. It was of the girl.

“Yes, this is the girl,” the boy said as the man began to cry.

“That's my daughter, Maria,” the old one said, “She has been dead for a long time.”

“What game is this?” the boy stammered. “I was with her tonight, not a half hour ago. I kissed her, she ran up the walk to this house.”

“She's dead—she was killed in an accident on the Ventura Avenue,” the man said. “If you do not believe me go to the City Cemetery, in the Catholic graveyard, you can see her tombstone.” He gave him her name and closed the door. The young man was stunned. He drove back on Ventura's Main Street. He stopped at the cemetery, walking among the headstones. His eye caught something in the moonlight, it was something draped over a tombstone. It was his jacket.

When he pulled it away, the stone held the name given to him by the old man. Bewildered he returned to the car and the Green Mill. He was silent all night long.

Was the story true? Perhaps. Or is it one of these accounts that circulate at parties and campfires. I was told it was true, but the man who told the tale is now many years gone to his reward, so too was his friend who picked up the girl in the lavender dress. Still, I have heard accounts of a woman wandering on North Ventura Avenue; some say she wears an old style party dress from the 1940s. Others say she is hitch hiking, looking for a ride to Ventura. Several accounts say she is seen on rainy nights when drivers are inclined to take pity on her and

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give her a lift. The accounts are typical of the classic Lavender Tale from the distinct color of the dress to the coat on the headstone. A little research did uncover a dance hall, called the Green Mill –a popular place when young people danced the night away long ago. What do you think?

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the VC Monsters must be the Billywack Monster of Santa Paula.

It is described as a nine foot tall creature, built as powerful as a WWE Wrestler covered with whitish fur. The monster is said to have the strength of ten men.

Its most distinctive feature is its head. The monster has the head of a ramâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;complete with a set of curving horns! Unlike the Big Foot creature (yes, there have been sightings in Ventura Counties back country) the Billywack monster has a perpetual bad attitude. It is known to attack people and cars, sometimes with a long tree branch (his Billyclub?) What is the history of the thing? Take your pick of legends but all can agree on one thingâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the beast is linked to the long abandoned Billiwack Dairy on Aliso Canyon, six miles west of Santa Paula.

Another element in the story is the genius who built the state of the art dairy and breeding farm, a Swiss immigrant who conceived of the state of the art facility and built it in 1925. It was sold not long after that and closed in the height of the great depression.

Mr. Rubel was later killed in action driving an ambulance in 1943.

The Mysterious Billywack Monster

By Richard Senate Every part of the country has its own special type of monster legend, from New Jersey's Month Man to the sightings of the Sage Ape in Nevada and the Skunk Ape in the Midwest. Ventura County seems to have more than its share of monsters, from the giant fish in Lake Casitas, to the bizarre Monster of Ventu Park Road. But the king of

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The origins of the monster are explained by two stories of which not one shred of evidence exists to confirm any of them.

Story one has the beast created by August Rubel in a bizarre interbreeding attempt. The half-man, half sheep (or goat) creature grew into a terrible monster and escaped into the wilderness of the hills around Santa Paula. Rubel did do breeding but nothing that ambitious or bizarre.

VOICES TO VISIONS Story two has Rubel as a member of the mysterious spy organization called the OSS during World War two. He may have been killed driving an ambulance but, according to this legend he was kidnapping Nazi scientists in a secret operation.

The scientists were doing genetic experiments for Hitler in an attempt to produce a race of super soldiers to make possible the mad dictator's plans to conquer the world.

The scientists were smuggled back to the USA, to Santa Paula, and set to work trying to make an army of supermen for the United States! Unfortunately, the mad scientists were dedicated Nazis and had no wish to help the enemies of the Fatherland. So they sabotaged the experiment by adding the DNA of a sheep! The monster was an almost deathless creature that escaped before it could be terminated. Now he haunts Santa Paula and the site where he was created. Some say he can only speak German. With the failure of the experiment, the military research station was closed and the fate of the scientists still remains unknown. One account has them killed by the monster they helped to make. The story has it that the monster was made in the underground rooms beneath the dairy. There were breeding rooms, that is a fact, and in Somis there was a POW camp for German and Italian soldiers captured in North Africa. They were mostly put to work picking crops, but some say that was just a cover story for their real mission; bizarre genetic experiments!

The story of the monster first hit the media in 1967 when the Los Angeles Times ran a story of a nine year old boy who was scratched by the monsters talons. For a time a number of teens were arrested trespassing in an attempt to encounter the thing, whatever it was. One boy was arrested with a sword be was hoping to use to slay the creature. One story concerns a local High School football team that held a victory party at a local ranch. They did own up to the fact that the owners of the house were away and they were drinking beer, lots of beer. The creature came and at first the students thought it was a

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joke, someone in a costume. One of the team tackled the furry creature and was shocked by its powerful frame. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was like tackling a refrigerator covered in a polar bear skin.â&#x20AC;? he said. The thing then grabbed him by the nape of the neck and tossed him high into the limbs of a tree.

When the boy got down from the tree he hid under his car until the thing was gone. Songs have been written about the monster, a musical play created, an author is doing a book on the subject and a film maker is working up a screen play on the mysterious Billywack Monster. In a recent poll done one Halloween the Billywack Monster was named Ventura Counties favorite ghost. A scan of the internet found reference to the creature in Japan where it is called Biriwakku and listed as an UMA or Unidentified Moving Animal. On the Japanese site they speculate it might be a misidentified bear. I know of few bears with horns on their head, and few California bears have white fur.

The Billywack Monster continues to mystify crypto

zoologists and parapsychologists alike. Fact or folklore this creature is an enduring part of the story of Ventura County.

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While in that house, I get this really uneasy feeling, I am not sure what it was actually from, just an uneasy feeling. I had started my recorder and let it recording while we were strolling through the house. My sister took off towards the outside of the house and I continued to shoot within the house. I decided to sit on the bottom of the stairs since the stairs where roped off and you, I guess, were not allowed to go up there. I do remember from being there before that there were some really neat or shall I say creepy dolls in one of the bedrooms.

I started to get really nervous and my camera was not functioning properly, my shutter was not working and it was losing the charge. I had charged my battery before I left.

I found Debbie and told her I had to go to the car and get my other battery. Got the new full charged battery and put it in the camera and it took a couple of shots and then the battery died.

The Pioneer Museum Since my sister has moved closer to me, we have more time together and share more experiences. She is also interested in the paranormal and had experienced some odd things at our old house. We all did at that old house.

While taking my sister to places where she has not been yet, the Pioneer Museum was one of them. This is a great place to give her a photography lesson.

We took our time around the school house and then we went into the John Overstreet House. This house was actually moved from its original location.

I was going to leave the digital recorder on the steps but for some reason, my nervousness overwhelmed me. I was feeling that I shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t do this. I am standing there holding on the recorder in my hand at the highest step I could reach and I could not leave it there for some reason. I put my recorder in my back pocket and left the house peacefully.

I am not sure if there is anything still residing in the house or if there is something there that might be clinging to a memory.

If you do go there, please be respectful, I do not believe that they are interested in any paranormal groups. Also there are spiders everywhere! ~alice

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Monsters IN MY CLOSET

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you laugh and tucks you safely into bed. Tells you silly bug jokes, plays hide and seek or has tea time with you.

Does it have to be a monster?

Absolutely not, it can be a cool looking creepy robot, or huge rabbit that wears a purple hat or even a green slime slimy thingamajig. You can make your monster any way you like; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s up to you how you want your monster to be. And remember your monster only can do good things.

As you get older, our imagination gets a little deeper and more within a variety of range. Some monsters can get really creepy, or some monsters can get cuter! It really just depends on the imagination of that person.

In a childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s view of monsters under the bed or lurking in the closet has them scared because this could very well be due to something they have seen, heard or read. Remember, even as adults our imagination can be anything we create it to be. It is how far you want to take it.

For the Kidsâ&#x20AC;Ś knowing that there might be things lurking in the closets or under your bed while you sleep be assured that these really are far, far away from you, however there might be those monsters that are there to protect you from other silly things that lurk in the night.

That is why when your imagination creates your monster, you have the control and ability to create it how you want it to be.

What shape, size characters and so forth, it can even be super scary looking but has a great sense of humor, makes

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For instance, when my husband was a young boy, he said that there were lubalubs in the walls. I tend to sleep with my arms or feet covered or not to hang over the bed. I think something might come up from under the bed like a zombie rat and grab my foot or hand. That came from what one of my sisters or brothers told me, thank you very much.

Having fear is like stages; for instance when you are a baby, loud noises scare you. Then your next stage would to understand the characteristic of a monster from someone reading you a book or watching a movie or TV show. Stage three would be more in the creative imagination mode.

And boy oh boy, your imagination can get pretty wild.

Then you become a teenager and you realize that monsters are just monsters, and nothing is going to hurt you, so you can get really detailed in your characteristic of your monster, if there still is an interest in monsters.

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your age you need to prove to anyone but how smart you are not doing anything stupid.

If you want to venture that craving and curiosity, I am not going to guarantee that you are going to experience anything paranormal but just more of your own fear and imagination, I would like to make a suggestion to grab your parents, or sisters and brothers that are older then you and conquer the fear of being in the dark during a ghost tour. If you live in close to Brooksville, visit the May Stringer House. This is a great place to start, for one reason we have conducted a research investigation there and have caught some paranormal evidence. It is such a wonderful, quaint house with a lot of memories and maybe those people that had those memories and passed on are interested in sharing them with you.

On a lighter side; I asked some kids to tell me who their Goosebumps monster would be.

Kayla: a monster that eats blood and brains. Eww!

I am sure most of are likely going to be too busy with your friends, school and other activities.

R.L Stine famous for his Goosebumps stories created a new outlook of storytelling through his books for kids. I believe that the kids watching shows like this and reading these books help mold a creative imagination within themselves. Maybe this is teaching the kids about fear and facing fear, but only in an imaginative surrounding. Having the parents coach that imagination, builds a better structure of trust and honesty.

As for kids, regardless of your age, exploring any abandon buildings or houses, we harshly disagree that you venture out, even if this is a dare from your friends or just to prove that you are not scared. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a stupid thing to do and you could get seriously hurt. There is nothing in this world at

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Christopher: is a half man-half horse with wings, with one big tooth with worms for hair like medusa.

Alia's monster: (Phantom Shadow Man) Indian-tan skin with long hair, blue mouth, red eyes and tongue. That has a creepy weird face shape with old dirty clothes.

Amara's monster: has a pale white face with boogeyman eyes and nose. The lips are purple with a greasy body.

If you would like to draw a monster for us, please send your image to editor@voicestovisionsmagazine.com I will make a gallery just for this!

Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s some ideas: http://www.cruzine.com/2010/07/19/monster-cartoons/

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Credits and Sources:

http://rlstine.com/

Cover page: Photo by Alice Mary Herden

http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/what-happenswhen-scared

Page 4: Illustration by Alice Mary Herden ------------------------------------------------------------------------Page 5: Clown Render by Alice Mary Herden (Nursoda 3D Model)

Special Thanks to:

Page 6: Photo by Alice Mary Herden

* Bonne for letting us use the May Stringer House for this issue cover.

Page 7: Illustration provide by Loyd Auerbach http://hernandohistoricalmuseumassoc.com/ Page 8: Illustration by Alice Mary Herden Page 9: Photo by Alice Mary Herden

* To Mr. and Mrs. Copeland, for their wonderful kids gracing the cover of this issue.

Page 11-14: Images provided by Loyd Auerbach

http://www.horacecopeland.com/footballcamp.htm

Page 16: Illustration by Alice Mary Herden Page 18 -22: Photos provided by Brian Schill Page 23: Photo by Alice Mary Herden Page 25: Photo by Alice Mary Herden Page 27: Photo by Alice Mary Herden Page 29: Illustration provided by Richard Senate Page 31-33: Photos by Alice Mary Herden Page 35-36: Photos by Alice Mary Herden ----------------------------------------------------------Links: http://www.cruzine.com/2010/07/19/monster-cartoons/ http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/voicestovisions/ http://www.myspace.com/loydauerbach/blog http://io9.com/5906432/an-optical-illusion-that-explainsthe-origins-of-imaginary-monsters http://paranormal.lovetoknow.com/Bloody_Mary_True_S tories http://www.snopes.com/horrors/ghosts/bloodymary.asp

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