Shadows over Indianola Iowa

Visiting family in Indianola for the holidays, I did not sleep well both nights I was there.

The first night I woke up to what I perceived was a large shadowy figure looking over me. Perhaps it was just watching, perhaps it was praying.

I was just waking, so I don't know for sure if it was really there or not. In any event, if I am waken up suddenly, it's usually for something affecting me externally. By nature I don't wake up suddenly.

The second night I was waken by a dream. I perceive this was a direct attack by the shadow from the previous night. There was no facial forms that I could tell, but it happens so quickly, that I could get a bearing first. If I did, then I could have responded and dealt with whatever it was.

The dream was that I was working with bruce wayne. This was DEFINITELY just a dream, however, I found myself in the living room of my parents house (where I was staying) when I heard knocking on the front door. Someone opened the door and bursting through the door was the shadow. It shot directly toward me and stated "what are you doing here!"

I perceive this as a psychic attack due to the fact that I woke up immediately.

I don't think this was a being that resided in my parents house. On the other hand, there's a lot of circumstantial evidence that would suggest there is a dark presence that exists over the whole town.

If there is such a presence and that it would want to maintain its foothold over a town like Indianola, then it would confront and try to remove anyone who would be capable of removing the presence. It's possible I could do it, but I would have to be lucky more than anything.

I consider myself only to be slightly psychic. That is that I have a fairly good intuitive sense, I sometimes know things before they happen, and I have what some people consider as a rudimentary clairaudient skill. (i.e. I have an intelligent ringing in my ears.)

I would say that I am unrefined in any mental skill. My life has dwelt on the logic and scientific. To advance any mental skill would be to toss aside logic in favor of a more esoteric view. Unfortunately a logical approach is all I am capable of at this time.

I know there are many stories that come from the town, but my understanding is that someone opened a portal to the spirit world on the south side of town and never closed it. Such a portal would have to be open for a very long time to affect the town in the manner that it currently does. The town is much too small for the pure quantity of coincidences that suggest an evil presence. One could blame the lack of response by the churches in the area, but there are so many, one begins to wonder.

Indianola was once known as the "holy city" because of it's stance at one time where alcohol was not allowed where everywhere else did allow it. If the presence is one of a truly evil nature, this reputation only encourages such behavior.

Indianola is not without its share of ghosts and ghost stories. The most famous is the ghost in one of the buildings on simpson college's campus.

Another story is that a ghost hunting group did an investigation and one of the investigators had a heart attack.

Is it for real? I am pretty sure that it is.

Pray for Indianola. It needs it.

You're professionals! Fix it!!!

Just lashing out for a second. Ghost Lab really irritates me at times. Maybe it's how it is edited so that brad is always provoking with a strong voice, or maybe it's their use of tech.

Don't get me started about how ridiculous the video display is just flaunting the fact that they have too much money. What really burns me is the "head cam".

The head camera is a small lipstick camera that is infrared enabled and fits on the ear. Nothing too out of the ordinary, but with any piece of technology it is how you use it and that you know how to set it up.

OMG! They do not know how to set that camera up for brad's head. Does that guy always stare at the ceiling? Probably not. If anything he looks down his nose with his head slightly back. That means that the camera needs to come DOWN.

Every time you see that fricking camera shot, it's ALWAYS showing the ceiling.

You want to be on TV and not be considered a hack, then FIX IT NOW!!!

I do have a little issue with the use of infrared cameras. Actually, I don't get it. The only reason why you'd need to use infrared is to see the world around you when it's all completely dark. In some cases you can actually see a spirit, but if you see the results of other technology, then you'd know that infrared is about as useful as a regular camera. When you get into full spectrum, ultraviolet or even thermal, you run a better chance of catching something.

Maybe I am playing percentages, but usually the best evidence is not from an IR camera.

I suppose that if you're on TV then you want to show your face, but about half of the ghost hunters on tv aren't people that I want to know about.

Now I've probably said this a million times, but what's the point of ghost hunting if after all is said and done that all you got is "yes, you got ghosts" or "no, we didn't find your ghosts". What's the point? What's the goal? What comes next?

Do creepy people become ghosts?

I was thinking about this.

Take your pedophile or peeping tom or sexual pervert. These are an example of the scum of life. Now imagine that they die and instead of going to heaven or hell that they just get stuck. Basically that they are a ghost.

So they're running around doing what they did before without having anyone stop them or notice that they're doing really sick stuff?

Supposedly ghosts watch you all the time. They watch what you're doing when you're seemingly all alone.

Does anyone else find this a little more than just creepy?

What about the uncle or grandparent that was a closet perv? Is that now available to them without a check and balance in the "in-between"?

Supposedly loved ones want to visit us, but in the world we currently live in, there are expectations and rules which we live by, because there's a taboo or line that we just don't cross.

Apparently this is not the case in the spirit world. They visit at all times, hang around for very long periods, and don't let us know that they are there.

Well, that's assuming that we're unable to tell when a spirit is near. I am not altogether convinced that we're not able to detect spirits. That goes back to what I was saying about the "filter".

Lifeless Chicago

Lifeless Chicago is the name of a twitter book I am writing.

I am just getting started in the real time twitter adventure/horror. I am partially inspired by the AMC show "The Walking Dead", but also I am wanting to put a new spin on the traditional interpretations of the bible. The book of matthew has one of my favorite moments in the time just after jesus dies. The dead rise up out of their graves and go into the town.

Are the dead the zombie types? Are they a sign of something to come? Well, you'll just have to follow and find out!

The filter still persists

There is a filter in a brain. Most everyone has it. There are some people that do not.

The veil is definitely in the brain. It's the veil that separates what is easily seen and what isn't seen. It's also in regards to pattern recognition.

When it comes to pattern recognition, you see something, recognize it and your brain just throws it out as being already seen. If you have ever said "that person looks like...", then you're doing pattern recognition.

Autism has a problem with the filter when it comes to stuff like recognition and other things. It's said that when it comes to the puzzle where two pictures look exactly alike and that there are subtle differences, most people find it a bit of a challenge. The autistic person will have those difference come immediately out and see those items instantly.

So when you see these autistic people (and not being an expert on autism, I will defer if this is incorrect) and they are unable to function, there must be some level of the filter that isn't working for them. To them there is no filter. That means every noise comes across as being equally important. Meaning the more sources the noise, the more confusion exists.

Everyone that's normal wouldn't see that as a problem. They filter out things and can concentrate only on one source.

I have some kind of auditory processing problem myself, so in crowded rooms, it sounds like just a bunch of discordant noise. I have trouble isolating a voice due to the overwhelming noise. In a way, I have a bit of a problem with filtering those things out. I know how it feels.

Now, take it to the other end. There's a story where a native was looking at columbus' ships and couldn't see them. Eventually, he noticed the way the waves hit something in the water and saw the ripples emanating from the location. Eventually deduced that there was something there in the water.

Only after then did the native see the ships.

In that case the filter threw that information out even though it was completely new and unknown.

Take natural psychic mediums as a contrast. Here are people who can see the unknown as if it's completely known. So what's going on with their filter? Is it like the autistic who can't filter at all? Or is it a selected filter?

It is like my auditory processing? I don't easily recognize visual differences.

There's a point that I am leading to and it's in regard to an open mind. The older you are the more likely you are to be more and more rigid in your mental processing. So when it comes to being like the native and seeing something new, your filter gets in the way.

And as you try harder and harder to see the truth of what's really there...
The filter still persists.

This is the only time I am going to say it...

We need better christians.

We need christians that instead of rejecting others for their beliefs or "ways of life" embraces them and welcomes them into a relationship with god.

As we come in the presence of god with the innocence of a child, we should also come to one other with no conditions.

We learn there is no reason to harbor ill will against one another as that only festers and burns within us and just makes us bitter.

We must prove that because of our belief that WE ARE BETTER THAN THAT! And we do so by being open, welcoming and comforting.

To do otherwise is to miss the point.

Ghost Hunting With RIP Midwest

I finally went to check out ghost hunting "the professional way". Last Friday I joined the group RIP Midwest http://www.ripmidwest.com in a ghost investigation.

I use quotes for professionalism in the ghost hunting field, because for as many groups there are out there, you have just as many different approaches to the content.

A perusal of the various shows on television are a testament to that, regardless of the fact that they are filtered for tv viewing. How else can you turn countless hours of work and case review into a 30 or 60 minute show?

I digress.

The case that is (and I am aware the investigation is still ongoing) involves a local cemetery. This case is rather unusual for a number of reasons. First of all, it's not usual to have a cemetery considered haunted. Yes, it is the final resting spot for many people, but ghosts usually don't hang around their bodies. Instead they hang around the places where they knew best and the people that they loved.

Secondly, it involves a factor considered in many hauntings... water. The location of a huge supply of water looms over the cemetery. This is possibly a secondary or even tertiary reason for the haunting.

Now if I understood what was being said (meaning, I tend to not hear things... correctly... at times) then the houses that surround this cemetery are also experiencing paranormal activity. I guess if your house was backed up to a cemetery, you'd expect that, but if cemeteries aren't supposed to be haunted, then why are the houses surrounding the area haunted?

There's a lot going on here. We could go into the topographical nature of the cemetery or the fact that the sub ground contents are limestone, but I think you get the picture.

Now before I begin to detail my experience, I do have to point out that in all of the paranormal places I have been that I have felt that there is something out of place. Maybe it's the presence of spirit, or maybe it's something to do with the nature of the area. Lemp Mansion and Bachelor's Grove are the sites I've been to and there's something that sets off something in my head really fierce.

Not the case with this location. I felt nothing.

So me and 11 other guests get out of the vehicles and get a quick crash course in the various implements and equipment to be used. I already had my flashlight, an audio recorder and a digital camera. In addition to that, I got to use the IR laser sighted temperature gun. A nice piece of equipment, but it didn't produce any results. Believe me, I tried.

Another thing I got was a set of dowsing rods. I guess it's because I got one, because when RIP's head investigator Cindi Muntz asked who should get them, they pointed right to me.

I am no expert on dowsing rods, but I actually think the ones I made are just a little bit better than the ones I borrowed. I probably need to place something on the end of my rods so I don't end up poking someone in the eyes, but for the most part, mine are more responsive.

Some of the other devices were a mel meter (measures temperature and electro magnetism aka EM) a simple EM meter, a EM meter with readout, and a pendulum.

I should note that the pendulum was responding in ways that one would usually respond to me. Up and back is "yes", side to side is "no"... etc.

So after handing out the various pieces of equipment, we split into two groups. Half of the group went with Cindi while the other half were led by her husband Brian. I was in Brian's group.

So since the two dowsing rods sets were in different groups, we learned right from the start that the first thing they do in an investigation is to find out via the rods whether a spirit is present, and where they are located. The rods will point out the direction and off we begin a trek. Eventually it led us to a grave site where we asked if this is who we are communicating with and we can pretty much ask any yes/no question. Once we determined the location of the spirit, then we took a series of photographs at the direction the rods pointed.

I should point out that only after the fact did I realize the setting on the camera was set to the lowest it would go, thereby making all photographic evidence (if I found any) ineligible for review.

We spent a bit more time there at that location before rejoining the rest of the group. (actually it's because Brian had to leave)

So at that point people just started breaking off and investigating on their own. It was a little haphazard, until there was a blinking light going off near one group. Basically they had found a spirit and he was quite active.

So everyone slowly began to gather at that location. The dowsing rods were going nuts, the EM box was going off and there was something unusual going on at that spot.

We invited the "spirit" to follow us... which it did.

We then did something that I thought was a "never do ever!" That was to use a ouija board. I guess it was okay, because it was a spirit board, similar to ouija, but not really. There's a difference. Built from natural materials and undergoing many forms of blessing in each stage of its construction, it's supposed to be a preferred way of spirit communication.

The planchette wasn't the normal one you would expect. To me it looked like an upside down pyrex dish with 3 little foam cushions on it to help it slide.

So we did spirit board communication. It wanted a stronger male presence, so some of the girls had to be switched out for guys.

Once it moved, it moved as if it was a glass hydroplaning on water. A smooth effortless motion made possible only through the slightest touch of the... you know. I have no idea what it's called, if it's not really a planchette.

About halfway through the first session (as we switched groups), my mind all of a sudden drifted and I wasn't really there. A quick wake-up and I was back in the game.

If you've ever studied channeling, you know that in order for a channel to take effect, the channeller must secede consciousness to another. This is usually assisted by means of a support group. A simple form of channeling is called automatic writing. It's a process of just scribbling on a piece of paper with only the lightest amount of touch to the pen in the hand. Occasionally a word will form in the scribbles.

Was I about to channel the spirit from the board? Maybe I was just a little tired. I don't really know.

So after switching groups, I got the pendulum and we watched as the 2nd group had their turn. Nothing too out of the predicable occurred, but my mind kept drifting and at one point I was imagining music.

Not just any music mind you, but unique pieces of music with key structures and chords that I am not familiar with via my own abilities or music I've heard.

After the spirit board was completed we did something called an EVP sweep. Basically, each one of us asked one question and then the recorder having recognition technology, would stop recording once there wasn't anything else being said. My question was to the male spirit that followed us. I asked him what color his eyes were.

The answer was... "red".

The creepy factor just went up 100%.

There were some other good questions, but nothing like my question.

We then concluded the night and packed up and left.

In all, it was a rather unique experience. I did learn enough on how to ask questions an how to get a response. Maybe now I don't have to resort to chance when dealing with a haunted location?

A lingering and nagging question is whether I want to do this again or not.

In some regards I do want to. In other regards, I don't know. It's as if I am still waiting for some deciding factor.

Until then, I will try to nurse my spine back to health. I must have blown a gasket or pulled a muscle, because the motion of standing is possibly the most painful thing I can do. A couple more weeks of this and I'll probably need to see a doctor about it.