Hello and thanks for reading my article. I've been a paranormal investigator / Spirit Hunter for years, I'd like to share with you the ten things you should never do in an investigation.

10. Never Trespass – I can definitely say from experience when I was younger, following the rules will help the community to which they respect and support. Also keep out escape from jail or heavy fines. Always check to make sure that no one owns the place and if so, obtain permission from the owner .. Also, never break an entry in one place.

9. Never litter, especially when someone owns the place, respecting the property of the person is not just one, but a spirit will help you to be respected. Always leave the site as you found it and cleaning the chalk or any electrical wiring staples that can be left behind. If you make a mad community can not continue as if what you do.

8. Do not go alone-A site can be dangerous and not have someone at your side is more. If you happen to fall from an apartment weak or injured in some way to have someone nearby to get help is a necessity. Even if there is a ghost hunter.

7. Do not go to a site on the first night always go somewhere on the first day, this allows the building to check and make sure it is safe. If there are some dangerous places, such as holes, weak floors, protruding nails and so on. the flag with dark tape glow in the well. Also, the creation of its equipment during the day will make the process much easier.

6. Avoid using strong odors Perfume/Cologne- cover up odors can be seen in rare spirits. Avoid showering right before going into an investigation or not to use strong-smelling shampoo.

5. Always make sure you did not forget anything, I always have an organized list of what kind of security and save, print and then when I go on an investigation. You can also add things to the list to a specific inquiry. Conduct several checks to make sure they have everything, this can seriously delay the investigation and make you miss something important.

4. Always have batteries and backup tapes "You can never have enough batteries and / or tapes. I suggest checking eBay or wholesale market and buy in bulk, if you plan to do several ghost hunts. I have a backup that has nothing more than batteries and tapes and on top of my checklist.

3. Never enter an area you feel comfortable if a place is in a bad neighborhood, or feel that the structure can not support your weight or what you can do very uncomfortable just trust your instincts and leave the situation. Despite being in an uncomfortable position is part of the threshold of work around the world is different, do not let peer pressure dictate their decisions!

2. Do not forget some ID "Sometimes it can be mistaken for a teenage burglary, drug addict, prostitute, nothing good overall. And if you do not have identity and proof of the paranormal investigator may terminate at the station. Although it is likely that the time to show them what I was doing is still a residue of time.Another definitely speak from experience.

1. I always tell someone where you are, if you're hunting be sure to tell many people, but at least one person exactly where you are and how long you plan on being.

Thanks to technology, many people have an almost scientific method of locating and contacting ghosts. All you need do is a search in its local search engine for "ghost hunting" to see the number of sites dedicated to all sorts of gadgets and gizmos that are considered all the necessary equipment for the intrepid ghost hunter. I prefer a simpler method myself.

The detection of ghosts is something that can make use of the inner psyche alone. Now before you dismiss what I say hand to consider these points:

• Have you ever known who was at the other end of the phone before I answer this?
• Have you ever known that something strange or dangerous would happen and it does?
• Have you ever experienced déjà vu?
• Have you ever been thinking about an old friend or relative and then get in touch from scratch?
• Have you ever had an uneasy feeling the first time they enter a strange house?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you may feel a ghost. All you need do is first to be quiet, calm and quiet. Tune your mind inwards and exclude the first levels of sound is heard (birds, cars, children, anything like that). Next listen to the sounds of the house makes – appliances, creaking joints, windows and stuff blows. Now hear sounds below the initial home of the sounds he hears.

At first you may have trouble hearing anything, but focusing on their inner calm, sit down and think that the top of the head is fully open and emits a brilliant white light. The head part has a higher chakra and is simply to inform you of the lies paranormal – all have one. Now you can play at home.

If you feel some kind of presence do not jump or get angry – after all that is what has been trying to do, right? If you feel uncomfortable in any way, just imagine the white light completely surrounding you like a giant bubble and I promise you will not come to any harm. You can take a step back from its investigation at any time you do well the resident ghost or any damage to yourself at all.

The best place to do this is to practice at home first. Obviously, there are ghosts in every house otherwise society is more accepting of them, but you may be able to adjust to his house and collect the energy that is stored there – the emotions expressed in the house can sometimes persist for centuries later.

Be careful, have fun, protected by its own highest spiritual energy and you might be surprised at what you can find out about houses in your area.

~By Bill Stone~

There are many different attitudes, and styles that people have in the paranormal field when it comes to how they go about investigating or hunting for the unexplained. Two very distinctly different styles usually get classified together, and confused not only by “armchair ghosthunters”, but by those of us working in the field as well. What I’m referring to is the difference between Ghost Hunters and Paranormal Investigators… And there IS a big difference.

One is more work, while the other is more play, and BOTH take their jobs WAY too seriously.

I am the founder of a Southeast Michigan based group called Beyond Paranormal Investigations. We investigate reports of paranormal activity in private homes and businesses. We investigate. We’re not “Ghost Hunters”. Granted, every now and then, we’ll go on a ‘ghost hunt’, but it’s not what we would consider to be our teams purpose. It’s just something fun to do.

Ghost Hunting
Ghost Hunters do exactly what their name implies. They look for ghosts. PERIOD. This is the one, obviously that I would consider to be more ‘play’ than ‘work’. Please don’t get me wrong. Me saying that it’s ‘play’ is not a putdown, and I’m not knocking ‘Ghost Hunting’ in ANY way when I say that. Play and recreation is just as important as work if you plan on leading a healthy life. We need it or we’ll go insane. I call ‘Ghost Hunting’ ‘play’ because it’s simply too much fun to consider it otherwise.

Ya gear up. You go out into the graveyard, back in the woods, or an old building (with written permission from the owner, of course), and you look for anything you can find that’s remotely spooky, or unexplainable. While you’re there, you get goosebumps, your hair stands on end, and many of us get freaked out, or scared.

It’s not ‘Paranormal Investigation’, but there’s certainly no wrong in it.

Here are some points about Ghost Hunting, and/or Ghost Hunters. I’ll let you guys decide what you believe to be a false stereotype, and what’s really the truth.

The Good
1. Ghost Hunting is a fun & PERSONAL pursuit that is often done with a lot of heart by those that are involved with it. This is how we all start out. Looking for ghosts is a good thing, and SHOULD be encouraged.
2. Ghost Hunters will employ everything they can think of from cameras, Ouija Boards, dowsing, rods, EMF detectors, and mediums to find ghosts, or the unexplained.
3. There are no rules, or laws in Ghost Hunting. You can do whatever you want, or whatever your imagination can come up with to find what you’re looking for, and YOU decide if you’re successful.
4. The thrill of victory is felt more often with Ghost Hunting. Because Ghost Hunters go into a hunt with such an open mind, more often than investigators, they come out of it with experiences that they will never forget. Coming from someone who has experienced this stuff first hand, I gotta tell ya that there’s nothing like it. If you haven’t experienced anything paranormal, or unexplained, you better get out there.
5. A Ghost Hunt can be a great precursor to an actual scientific investigation. A ghost hunting team goes in, and helps a more scientifically minded team decide if it’s worth a second look.
6. In Ghost Hunting, the spiritualists & spiritual methods get their due. Because mediums, Ouija Boards, psychic abilities, and dowsing rods have no scientific credibility, and are completely invalid when it comes to scientific investigations, many investigators simply ignore them. They fail to realize that in ‘Ghost Hunting’, these things are worth their weight in gold.

For example, assuming that a Ouija Board actually does what we’ve all been told that there’s supposed to do, if you use it correctly, it’s POSSIBLE that you can actually summon a ghost or paranormal activity AT WILL.

If it works, as a Ghost Hunter, you’ve done your job. You’ve found them!

Controversial? Yup.

Dangerous? Yup.

Fun? I think so!

Can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs, right? Well… Ya can if you use the ones that come in the carton, but those ones taste like butt.

The Bad
1. Ghost Hunters DO NOT look for facts. As stated before, by definition, they look for ghosts. More often than not, they WILL find them, whether they exist or not.
2. Most “evidence” captured by a Ghost Hunter is often based on his/her opinion, or perception (or Extra Sensory Perception)of what they believe it to be, but will not be backed up by anything solid, or factual. Unfortunately, it is usually met with resistance, and not taken seriously in the field.
3. There are no rules, or laws in Ghost Hunting. I know I already used this one as number 3 on the ‘good list’, but theres a flipside to that coin. If there are no rules or laws, there are no standards. A LOT of Ghost Hunters will call any old dot, or blemish in a picture, ‘a ghost’. Why? Because there are no rules. They can say anything they want. With no rules or standards, things captured, and opinions are all over the place. In a field without rules or standards, religious zealotism, and half brained pseudo-scientific theories have already become commonplace and widespread. There’s no consistency in any of it.
4. Many Ghost Hunters have simply watched too much TV, and have jumped on the bandwagon. As someone trying to navigate & drive that bandwagon, that’s how I see it anyway.
5. Ghost Hunters often employ mediums, psychics, and sensitives in their work. This in itself, as stated before is a positive thing. There is an underlying problem in this however. If you’re planning on using someone with any sort of Extra Sensory Perception you need to somehow make sure that they are the REAL DEAL. That’s a hard thing to do. It’s hard to find the real deal in a field where you can go to any paranormal based website message board, and 90% of its members CLAIM to have these abilities.It’s very hard to know who to trust, because it’s POSSIBLE that a few of these people are accidentally exaggerating about what they beLIEve their abilities to be.

The Ugly
1. Lets talk about the 2 thousand pound elephant in the room. Many ghost hunters are nuts! As stated before, Ghost Hunters are very passionate about their ‘work’. When we paranormal geeks get together, it’s not like an investment bankers reception. Have you ever noticed that paranormal studies IN GENERAL seems to attract some of the LEAST mentally stable people on the planet? Bankers reception? It’s more like an orgy of psychos. Combine the lack of mental, and emotional stability with the passion, and add a little bit of a cause that they can rally behind. Hijinks ensue.
2. The Ghost Hunters good open mind that was once a positive thing becomes a negative. There are a lot of different viewpoints in the field. Many of us disagree. When we disagree, we believe that we’re right. Sometimes that belief in being right remains, and fills our egos to the point that we can NEVER be wrong. This makes us closed minded to possibilities.
3. I mentioned a Ghost Hunter with an ego in number 2. Throughout this article, I’ve talked about spiritual belief, and having a passion for ones work. This is a very bad combination. This is someone who goes on their Ghost Hunts and find what THEY would consider to be CLEAR ‘evidence’ of the paranormal based on their own beliefs and opinions. These beliefs and opinions are followed like a religion. Their ego makes it IMPOSSIBLE for them to be wrong about it. They then go to website after website showing everyone their glorious evidence. When someone questions the validity of what they’ve captured, even if it’s done in a friendly way, they take it as a personal insult, and start a fight about it. I’m not making this up. I’ve seen it a THOUSAND TIMES. People are creepy. I’ve SEEN hijinks ensue.
4. Sheep. Many Ghost Hunters, are sheep that just follow the leader. Usually it’s the person mentioned in number 3 because their voice is the loudest. They take the zealotism of said leader, and rally behind their flag, contributing nothing of their own to the cause, yet going out of their way to tell the world how great their leaders are. It happened in the 70’s with Ed & Lorraine Warren, and it’s happening today with TAPS, and a few others.
5. WAY too many Ghost Hunters THINK that they’re actually Paranormal Investigators, yet in true Ghost Hunter fashion, they have no consistent standards. Orbs, fog, or even smoke from a cigarette will be submitted as paranormal evidence by these guys. They take pictures of faces they see in a pattern in the bark of a tree, in the granite of a tombstone, or even a reflection. The problem is, Paranormal Investigators WANT, and NEED for their evidence to be torn to pieces, and scrutinized over. It’s the only way that they can feel like they have something worth looking at and lasting. In most cases this particular Ghost Hunter allows their ego, and personal belief to cloud their judgment when it comes to their captured evidence. The scrutiny that Paranormal Investigators take as a necessary and enjoyable part of the job becomes too much for the Ghost Hunter to take. Hijinks ensue.

Now that I’ve offended a lot of you with my observations, ya gotta know that this was designed to get you to think, and HOPEFULLY want to discuss some of the things I’ve brought up here. Maybe you agree with it, maybe not. It wasn’t meant to call anyone out. And of course NONE of these things apply to ALL Ghost Hunters. It’s just something that I haven’t seen discussed by intelligent people in an open forum… Yet.

Alright… That’s Ghost Hunting. What about Paranormal Investigation, and Paranormal Investigators? They’re a completely different animal than a Ghost Hunter. That’s another story altogether, and a brand new can of worms.

Stay Tuned!

Bill Stone
Founder
Beyond Paranormal Investigations

If you’re interested in continuing on to the second part, PLEASE CLICK HERE!

Note: This article was written to be published on Ghostamongus.net, and was also published here.