GHOST HUNTERS

Did God create the universe in seven days? How do we explain such a feat? Well, as this is a physical world, there had to be some scientific and technical tools at hand to birth such a magnificent wonder! We have mostly attached our thinking to the big bang theory as to the creation of the universe, like a sort of nuclear explosion that spread out through an endless void to create spinning planets, orbiting moons, massive stars, and the rest of what makes up our universe.  The simple term "universe" in itself has a connotation of being a noun, a place. Places have a way to circumscribe them, to point and say "there!" But the talk of an infinite universe means no end, no defining boundaries, it is everything and everything within which includes all the dark matter, black holes, as of yet undefined entities, life forms, chemical reactions, gaseous compounds, neutrons, particles, photons.... In other words, the universe is a "collective." I sometimes look at ...

As I'm working on my book The Goddess Workbook: Owning Your Space in the World , I am reminded of how far I've come in the past six years. Those who have been reading the blog have seen the evolution, but it is more than just what I am doing , it is what I am owning about myself. 2004 2016 You can see it in my expression and my body language - the way I'm part of the environment instead of separate from it. I'm embracing life rather than bracing against it. I'm fully engaged in my environment and the dynamics of life instead of posing in front of it! Ways to feel more integrated with the world and with yourself -  1.   Care about others. Genuinely consider their feelings and that you are all part of humanity and share the same feelings, same vulnerabilities and needs. Always keep a humility that you are no better or worse than anyone else - simply human and therefore part of the world's working parts. 2.   Develop your individuality . Following loves, interest...

We strive to understand the universality of the afterlife, but we are as flat as a 2D photograph in our understanding.  Imagine of a photo of you could be you for a day - she/he would go back and be unable to describe the experience of depth, life, biology, thought, smells, tastes, feelings... So much more information than she/he had in a photograph. We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.   In other words, when you think about attending your spirituality last on your to-do list, consider this - you are a spirit with a side order of human, not a human with a side order of spirit. Reports by people who had near-death experiences reports a universal all-at-once/no-time/no-space/all-encompassing feeling of fluidity, belonging, relief, and enlightenment.  They come back often reporting that it was the REAL world and this one is a fake. I am certain that Mrs./Mr. Photograph would say the same to the other photo...

Humans are thinkers. It's a good thing that we are, it has built us nations and social constructs that allow us to help each other and benefit from the process of thought-to-invention. The down side of our thinking is that we often times have issues with new input. Early man might have seen an eclipse and panicked as they assumed the world was ending, Pilgrims might have seen a person having a seizure and freak out thinking they were a witch. We have a tendency to take issue with novel events and especially when we have only one exposure the unknown - religion. Native legends and religious texts, lectures by ministers and rabbis and the like have filled our minds in our youth with magical worlds in which God spoke to people, waters parted, or great rain gods came down and fought on Earth. But, those seem to have been magical times, as we have led lives devoid of these magical things that occurred in scriptures and legends. We have only known the practical day-to-day life of mortal...

Energy Here's how it works. Energy can be loose, dense, vibrating, undulating, variable, rhythmic... it comes in many forms. But, when you feel energy, when you utilize it, your own interpretive process now changes the very frequency of that energy. Two people can have butterflies in their stomachs, but interpret it to mean two different things - the result is two different emotions, two different actions and outcomes. In the case of dealing with the ghostly realm, we get a sensation in a haunted location and what we tell ourselves it means, how we interpret it, creates our emotional reaction and then our very action choices. "RUN DUDE!" Remember that infamous moment? How about possession? How about terror? How about excitement? How about wonder? How about curiosity? How about determination? So many outcomes from the same exposure to energy. It all rests inside of you. You turn energy into emotion and action by what you tell yourself that energy means. ..

Halloween is THE season for most of us into the paranormal realms of study. In fact, in Julie Ferguson's and my book, " Paranormal Geeks ," there is a whole chapter on how geeks celebrate the season and we spoke to lots of geeks about how they do up All Hallow's Eve.  I have always enjoyed special effects makeup and costuming, romance and the colorful moody season of autumn, so costume-designing is my happy place. In fact, I start planning months ahead to piece together just the right look, to either live out a fantasy or put a creative bend on horror. Some costumes are born from your "look." I have red hair and an autumn leaf tattoo, so the concept of being one with the autumn forest is a costume that is appealing. Look at your hair's texture and color, your tattoos, your general fashion look and evolve something that is second nature to you. Here is a prop-oriented costume . Dale the Doll needed a companion and who better than The Human as a fellow dol...

Today, I want to honor one of hundreds of amazing geniuses in the macabre who filled a niche that was innovative, creative, terrifying, and brilliant!  Home Tate was known as the creator of many props for sideshows and attractions. He opened shop in 1945 in the Phoenix area to have a curiosity museum and create displays. He is probably best known for "The Thing" attraction outside of Tucson along the I-10 east-west highway. From far West Texas through New Mexico, you can see the billboards warning you about "The Thing." It was a great road trip attraction.  For $1, you can follow the footprints through out buildings off the gift shop to find unusual displays, leading to the building with The Thing.  (SOURCE LINK)   "Phoenix is still a town where free enterprise can, as a Western saying goes, scratch its own itch. Rugged individual­ism expresses itself in strange and sometimes awesome ways along East Van Buren Street, one of the principal thorough­fares, where a...

Running a marathon of movies with a similar theme on a day off, that is my ideal. Here's just some marathons I put together - depending on my mood. "I can achieve anything" "Wild"  A troubled woman hikes over 1000 miles alone to find herself. Reese Witherspoon "Maidentrip" Documentary of a 14-year-old girl who sailed the globe alone for 2 years. "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty"   A timid man has to find his bravery to quit dreaming and join life in action. Ben Stiller "Under the Tuscan Sun"   A divorcee spontaneously buys a villa in Tuscany and starts a new life. Diane Lane "I Don't Trust the  Neighbors" "Neighbors" On a lonely cul-de-sac, a bored couple get new wild neighbors, but they are a bit off.... Dan Ackroyd, John Belushi "Rear Window" Hitchcock thriller of a man laid up with a broken leg watching a curious neighbor across the courtyard and suspecting him of murder.   Jimmy Stewart, Grace ...

Today's Believe installment is going to be about one of the many hauntings upon the property I grew up on. The estate was built in the 1700s but in the time of the Civil War, taken over by the North for a field hospital and later by the South for the same purpose. As I am doing outdoors para month, this seemed an appropriate subject - (for more stories about the hauntings from the perspective of me and my family - read my award-winning book Growing Up With Ghosts ) The Screaming Nurse   At the Estate in Fairfax, Virginia, where I grew up, there was a creek running through the property called "Pohick Creek," a tributary of the Potomac. I caught a lot of crayfish, turtles, frogs, and even fish from it when I was growing up. It was a great place to play.  It winded for miles through the woods around the estate and I would launch an expedition each early summer through the brambles to walk the creek - literally standing in the creek, walking for miles through overgrowth to fi...