Catch Mystic Ghost on Halloween

You can catch interviews with Michelle and I, of Mystic Ghost, on Halloween!

We'll be on the radio for the morning drive show on WBAP 820 AM, and we'll also be live on TV in Waco, on KWTX CBS News channel 10, Halloween morning.

Happy Halloween!

Something Spooky at the VFW

Sunday night, Mystic Ghost was invited to a local VFW post to settle the question once and for all as to whether or not it was haunted.

Staff had reported seeing the spirits of children and old men, and one man even fired a service pistol at a ghost there years ago, injuring nothing but the wall, of course.

A bartender reported a decorative plate on a stand flying off its shelf in an unnatural arc and landing far forward of where gravity should have placed it. The VFW had its own collection of ghost photos, ready and waiting to show us.

It all sounded very intriguing, and we made plans. When we got there, it got more interesting. The building, dating from 1929, was in use as an insane asylum until 1962, when a few renovations were made and the VFW began using it.

We think we found the electro-shock room, and expereinced everything from doors opening of their own volition to being touched when alone. Brad and Chris above are in the hallway where the door opened on its own. A couple times.

Oh yeah. And we think we have video of actual communication with orbs. Michelle will get it posted soon.

The Jett Building

Gabriel, from 95.9 The Ranch FM, was kind enough to open the studio for us and Lance of WBAP 820 AM on Tuesday night. He's not afraid of no ghosts...and a good thing, because that's certainly one haunted studio! It's housed in the Jett Building, former bordello, also once home to a train depot and a chocolatier.

Rumors abound in the building about the ghost of a suicidal woman--perhaps a prostitute? Sightings have also included an older woman, perhaps the madam of the house coming to find out where her girls have gone and, fittingly, a cowboy.

Michelle DePaul and I represented Mystic Ghost, along with with a fellow ghost enthusiast, Mike, and while we didn't see any full formed apparitions that night, we did see shadows move in the corners, and Michelle was touched. Twice. Once while she was debating the air currents in the room, trying to account for anomalous video on the quad monitor, she felt a breath of air on her neck--was it a soft indication that Michelle was wrong about the air causing the movement on video? Could it have been the breathy affirmation of a long-departed spirit?

I experienced what felt like a finger tracing a line along my collarbone, but we'll have to wait for the video to see if anyone else was there with Michelle or I.

Michelle and I did a short Q&A on the air Tuesday at 95.9, and the ghost hunt segment will air on 820 AM the morningsof the 31st of this month at 5:45 AM and 7:45 AM.

Whether the pink orb was the ghost of a prostitute, I can't say, but the photo was taken in a disturbing portion of the basement, and the temperature, according to our digital thermometer, dropped six degrees while Lance and I were trying to capture EVP there. It was near an electrical fuse box that's been reported to swing on its own. Maybe our pink orb wanted some time on the air.

Full investigation details will be posted at Mystic Ghost. Hopefully, we'll have EVP and ghosts on video to share. We had eight video cameras set up on three floors--if there was a ghost in the building, I think there's a good chance we'll have caught its presence.

The Color of Orbs

It seems like lately, orb photos have invaded every nook and cranny of the internet. You can buy calendars full of them at Lulu, search ghost investigation sites for them, even buy books instructing you on how to take them.

I don't think the debate as to whether they are an environmental side-effect of camera flash will ever go away, and so I'll not get into it here. Suffice it to say I believe both natural and supernatural sources can cause orbs to appear in photos, and the photographer must be aware of any natural concerns before claiming the orb is a ghost.

That aside, I'd like to talk about the color of orbs, and what that color could mean. I've read tons of theories online, and there's really no definitive answer. Some say color is indicative of mood, some say intention, some say level of spiritual elevation on the other side.

Classic color-symbol interpretation would say that red equates with anger or passion, yellow with honestly, blue with calm and tranquility, purple with royalty or spiritual awareness. I've even heard claims that photos of red orbs are actually demons, and I'll leave that to the religious folks out there. Personally, I don't think demons exist. Even if they did, don't they have more nefarious tasks to complete than showing up in a ghost hunter's photo?

Michael Newton, Ph.D., in his book, Journey of Souls, thinks on the other side we appear as balls of colored light, the color being designation by level of spiritual attainment. The closer to God, or the Great Spirit, and all. Newton comes by his knowledge through past-life regression, a practice he used to sneer at, until the results of his own research left him no conclusion but to believe.

He says that the majority of souls on the other side will appear white, and that white represents the lowest level of elevation over there. Souls that endlessly reincarnate into the same circumstances, not reaching for goals of betterment and goodness, remain white. The next color up on the spiritual plane is blue. These are the guides that help the un-advanced through their journeys of learning and understanding. Blue souls of light would be like teachers or team leaders. Yellow is more advanced, and purple more still. This fits with the classic color symbols, and also explains why most orbs are white.

Most of us are spiritual novices caught up in the material world, and our color upon reaching the other side and popping back over here for a visit reflects that.

So who then is this blue orb I photographed at The Jefferson Hotel, in Jefferson, Texas? Is this a guide from the other side, or simply a calm, tranquil spirit mugging for a photo op?

The Haunted Calvert Hotel

I may have mentioned this before here, but Halloween weekend I'll be in Cavert, Texas, at the historic Calvert Hotel, with Mystic Ghost and Trana Mae Simmons. Trana and Belle will be conducting a ghost seminar of sorts, and I'll be reading tarot cards. The highlight of the evening will be when Trana and Belle gather us all together in the hopes of all of us experiencing some paranormal activity.

With the event scheduled the Saturday before Halloween...well, let's just say I don't think we'll be lacking for ghostly company. Legend and lore marks Halloween as the time of year when the "veil" between the realms--earthly and spiritual--is the thinnest and most easily breached. In fact, this is where the whole idea of masking your identity on this night springs from: the wish to hide your identity from lost, wandering ghosts. Google or Wiki up the Celtic tradition of Samhain for more information.

I've never been to Calvert, but Trana has, and she's put up a web page about her experiences there. It's well worth visiting, and our trip looks sure to produce some proof positive.

More about the event at the Mystic Ghost site, and the Calvert Hotel info.

Catch Mystic Ghost on the Radio!

It's that time of year again, when the world pays attention to all things spooky. WBAP News/Talk 820, the Dallas/Fort Worth ABC affiliate radio station, has asked Mystic Ghost to do a ghost hunt with them next week.

Next Tuesday, Michelle DePaul and I will see if we can document a haunting in the Jett Building in Fort Worth, now also the home of Radio Ranch. The Jett Building has a rich history, serving train service to Dallas and more recently, Jamba Juice. Legend has it there's a ghostly woman in the basement. Will we find her?

More details to follow as they become available.