Monday, August 19, 2013

Location, Location, Location



Article from CPS Paranormal

Business Establishments

If you are trying to get into a certain place to investigate, don’t be afraid to ask. Build a friendly relationship with the owners. Become a customer. Talk to them or ask about them every time you go. Build up trust and get to know them. Listen to their stories. Tell them where you have investigated and what you have found. Sell yourself and your team.

Historical Societies

Most of these places are fairly easy to get into. Just bring money or offer a donation to them. If you are trying to get in there all night, that maybe a little harder, but same things goes. Build a friendly relationship with them by taking a historical tour of the place. While on the tour ask questions about possible ghosts or paranormal activity there. Then mention who you are and who you would have to talk to about doing an investigation there.

Exclusivity for a Location

CPS does not have or does not want any exclusive rights for investigation of the same property. Reason number one; we are very busy with investigations all over, and do not have the time to keep going back to one certain location. Reason number two; Plain and simple, it would get BORING!!!!

The Clients

Our cases come to us by word of mouth, other investigation teams, website, phone calls, and from members within the group. In any of these situations the Case Manager gets involved and becomes the focal point for the client. The Case Manager communicates everything to the client from the very beginning all the way through the end and stays in touch with them for a while after the investigation and evidence reveal has been done. This eliminates confusion and builds a strong rapport with the client.

Client Rules

There is always certain client criteria that must be met anytime CPS does an investigation. There are some rules that are NOT set in stone and are made that way for special purposes. When all of the information is obtained from the client and their family/friends as to what is going on, it is evaluated and categorized. If it seems like there is a malevolent or possibly an unfriendly spirit present, then we have all family members leave before we investigate. If it is deemed that the paranormal activity seems to be located around a certain person then we will use that person during one or two sessions to see if that is the case.

In all cases; access to the entire house, and doing a full night investigation is of the utmost importance. There are several reasons for this; we bring an arsenal of equipment with us so setting up and tearing down takes time. Time is needed to plan different strategies and trigger items to test out, as well as where and how to employ them. We are not there just to ask questions like some groups. We have developed certain methods and strategies that take time to plan and set up but these methods have been proven successfully time and time again to actually bring about paranormal activity within a building or residence if it exists.

As far as showing up at a residence and a whole pile of people being there for the investigation, then CPS would not do it. We are there to give the client answers. In order to get those answers, we need to control the environment as best as we can. This would be a waste of time and not in the best interest of the client. This is also emphasized to the client as part of the criteria that they need to meet in order for CPS to investigate.

Client Honesty

So far CPS has not had a problem with client honesty. It is much easier to drop an investigation if you are trying to hoax us then it would be to evacuate your house for the whole entire night and let an investigation team like CPS go through every nook and cranny of it. I feel tricks of the mind and client fear play a bigger part in the role of wasting an investigation teams time than a hoax does.


Fear and the Client



Article from CPS Paranormal

If your group is contacted via a phone call or the web from a client, it is really not a question of is the client afraid; rather to what extent. Let’s face it, a lack of understanding what is going on and fear is what initiated the phone call.

Although some feel it is the first step for the client to take, I disagree. Usually the client has been having unexplained things happening for awhile and talking to friends and family about it before making the call; making a call to a paranormal investigation group takes a lot. So with that said; you must first decipher the intensity of the fear and what is causing it while showing concern during the initial call. You also have to make a snap decision on how to handle this particular client. Every call is different and so is the situation and the level of fear. Remember, noises are just noises until fear set in. Hearing stories from friends about others with a spirit in their home, or just being alone at night all add to the fear factor. So, if you decide to run over there right away, the client may get more fearful, thinking it is an emergency. If you don’t run out there, they may feel you are not concerned about their situation.

Allow the client to take control of the call. Be a friend, try to calm them down and soothe them. Get the information and facts that you need from them during the call and offer them suggestions to try (depending on the situation). Let them decide when you should come over for the initial face to face and have a look around to get a game plan started. If it is a couple of days till then, call them everyday and see how things are. Just knowing there is someone out there that is going to help them, brings the level of fear down. Make annotations about how severe the clients fear is. When you do finally figure out what is going on, take that initial level of fear into consideration when revealing your findings to the client.

Team Mate Fear

There is actually two parts to a team mate getting scared.

  • First if it happens during an investigation, remove the person immediately from the situation. Then you have to figure out why it happened or basically what was the reason. Hell today everybody wants or thinks they are a paranormal investigator, even those afraid of the dark. Not funny, but true! Yes it does happen. So with that said, find out the reason. If the reason happens to be that they were being singled out by a spirit, assess the intensity of it. If they wish to continue on later, or if it is a seasoned investigator, re-introduce them to place being investigated (not necessarily the same room) and let them continue. Do not make that decision for them though. Like falling off a horse, get back on.
  • The second part of this comes in after the investigation and the investigator goes home. It always is a possibility to bring home an attachment. There have been many, many times that this has occurred or investigators thought that it may have occurred. This is not an uncommon feeling or occurrence, it does happen, in fact it happens a lot. Unfortunately this type of situation is primarily dealt with the investigator on a personal level. He or she does not want to tell team mates of this fear for different personal reasons and does not know exactly what to do about it. It can be a very devastating situation.

There is actually is a group out there who deals with problems of this type. If anyone needs this type of help contact CPS at cpsparanormal@yahoo.com and I will gladly get them to get in touch with you.

Over Your Head

CPS deals with cases that a lot of other groups would consider over their heads. You have to know your groups abilities. Making the move from the hobbiest level upwards and finally reaching the professional level in the paranormal field comes with a lot of different experience in many aspect of investigating. Unfortunately, having close calls with these types of situations is part of the learning process. Learning the tell tale physical signs of knowing exactly what is going on around you is a start. Being able to regain or take control of that situation separates the men from the boys.

Refuse or making it worse

Let me start by saying that usually when I go into a place for the initial visit with a client: after I leave, all hell breaks loose. Several times my phone rang even before I got home about things going on at the clients home since I was there. I give the client fair warning that this may occur. That truly depends if it is a spirit or a ghost.

Let me explain that first. A spirit is intelligent, a ghost is residual. In most cases if there is a spirit present, they know you are coming and they know you are there. They know who you are and why you are there. So it depends on the spirit if it gets worse or not, not you.

If you are not experienced enough as a group, then ask another more experienced group for help. Don’t be proud, but tell them you want to allow one or two members from your group to see how they operate and deal with it. After all it is your client and you want to do what is best for them, but also you do not want to walk away from them. This is another way to get more experience for the next time and move forward.


Do Demons Exist



Article from CPS Paranormal

Some of the Theories:

They are fallen or dark angels. Cast out of God’s realm, (Heaven).

They have tried and tested God’s power (Rebelling).

They were angels who tried to mate with humans....

  • Incubus... male demon
  • Succubus... female demon
  • Cambion... The offspring of a demon/human consummation.

Thus they were cast out for their actions.

Some Facts:

There is a list of know demons and types.

  1. Fire Demon - resides in our upper atmosphere and supervise the other five demons.
  2. Aerial Demon - Live in the air, considered the most dangerous.
  3. Terrestrial Demon - Nature devil, they live in the forest.
  4. Aqueous Demon - Live in lakes, oceans, rivers.
  5. Subterranean Demon - Cave Dweller
  6. Heliophobic Demon - Has a fear of light, possibly where the vampire legends came from.

In order for a possession to take place, the person must submit themselves to it (give permission). A person in direct line of offspring may also submit their direct descendent. Mother or Father offering their child.

In most cases, Satanic or cult rituals were used by the person or parents/grandparents or on the property. The activity surrounds the person, not the property. It is directly feeding from them and their energy.

The ultimate goal for a demon is to gain shape or form: ie possession. Unfortunately they feed from the person’s energy and eventually use all of it up, resulting in the person’s death. They feed from pure hate, not just negative energy, pure hate.

When it comes to deciphering the difference between a malevolent spirit and a Demonic spirit the client interviews and property inspection should give an investigator a clue as to what they are dealing with before doing the investigation. If you feel that it could be a malevolent spirit or worse, don’t be afraid to ask questions and inspect the whole property. Would you jump into a body of water from 20 feet high without knowing how deep it was or if their were any objects in it?

Cases

There has been two different cases that CPS has had some involvement in.

  • One was in NJ. This case involved a woman and her partner who separated after years of physical fighting and arguing. When the new partner moved in with this woman, unknown physical assaults starting taking place upon her. There was information from the woman that her and her original partner did in fact use a Ouija board on several occasions and had a pentagram painted on the floor in the home. CPS is still helping this couple and it is on going. Is it a demon? ... Could be!
  • The other case came to CPS from California. A woman’s boyfriend has been being attacked and physically assaulted almost on a daily basis. At first she thought he was lying and doing it to himself for attention. Through further questioning and certain steps CPS told her to do and try, we were able to ascertain that he was NOT doing this to himself. Video evidence of him sitting in a chair watching TV actually showed live on video cut marks appearing on him and him feeling them happening during an argument with her. This was referred to a known and reputable demonologist.

Demonologist are like psychics. If you need any further explanation of that statement refer to CPS’s article on psychics either here or on our site... www.cpsparanormal.com in the article section. If demons and possessions are RARE, how many experienced Demonologists do you think are out there?

So do you need a Demonologist with you to do an investigation? If you have a case that you feel may in fact be of a Demonic nature and you have little or NO experience in doing this type of investigation, why put yourself or others in your group in that type of situation. It is NOT worth it. DEMONS ARE NOT SPIRITS!

Most people who think they have a demon problem are actually WACK-O... Not mentally stable. You don’t want to have to deal with or get into this type of situation. Refer your case to a reputable Demonologist and ask permission for yourself or your group to take part in it to learn. CPS is fortunate to have two of the top demonologist in the country to call for such cases. John Zaffis and Adam Blai.

In order to have an exorcism performed there are a lot of stringent psychological evaluations that have to take place with the client and their family. Background checks for not just the family but also the grandparents and friends, also full blown out property inspections. It takes years and a boat load of evidence in order for the church to even look at the case. When the sanction of performing an exorcism is granted, it doesn’t happen like in the movies. Most exorcisms take a long time to do. It is repeated again and again till the demon is finally exhausted. This can actually take months or years and each time is physically and mentally exhausting for the exorcism team.

What is a demonologist?

Someone that study’s and catalogs demons.

  • A Demonologist studies every kind of recorded demon through history. The demonologist must go threw endless texts and sometimes travel great distances to find literature (mostly religious material) of human intervention with demons.
  • When you encounter a demon you must know as much about it for the next time you either encounter it or come across it.
  • Cataloging includes origin, gender, ethnic background, what religion it exists in, what geographical area in the world it mostly exists, sketches. Cataloging is the most important job of a demonologist because it differentiates all the demons.
  • A demonologist knows how to bring a demon out, he knows how to speak to the demon.
  • To become an approved demonologist you must be some kind of clergy.

Exorcism is mainly the rite of driving out demons from possessed persons. Exorcism is mainly performed for demonic possession which is totally different spiritual possession. The Roman Catholic Church and some Protestant denominations such as the Pentecostals practice exorcisms. The Protestant churches refer to the practice as "deliverance ministry" where gifted people drive out demons and heal while they touch the person’s with their hands, called laying on of hands, and pray over them.

Technically, exorcism is placing the demon on oath or invoking a higher authority to bind the entity in order to control it and command it to act contrary to its own will. In some incidences there may be more than one demon possessing a person.

In the Christian sense this higher authority is Jesus Christ. This act is based on the belief that the demons are afraid of Christ. The belief itself is based on scripture. Coming from the sea of Galilee Christ entered the land of the Gerasenes. He was immediately met by a man from the tombs cut into the mountains of the area. The man was said to be possessed of an unclean spirit. Nothing could bind this man, not even chains. He lived in the mountains, crying, and cutting himself with stones. But, so it is told, when seeing Christ approaching, the man went to him seeking help. The unclean demon immediately recognized Christ, and Christ recognized the demon. Christ, then, summoned the spirit to leave the man, and asked his name. "My name is Legion," answered the spirit, "for we are many." Once the demons left the man, Christ sent them into a nearby heard of swine who then jumped in to the sea and drown. (Mark 5:1-13) Unlike other exorcists, it is believed, that Christ did not exorcise because He did not need to call on a higher authority since He Himself was that higher authority.

Now, not only did Christ exorcise demons, or unclean spirits, but he gave the powers to his disciples.

The Catholic Church has a procedure out-lined rite of exorcism which is set forth in The Rituale Romanum.

During the ritual usually salt, representing purity, and wine, representing the blood of Christ, is present. The victim is to hold a crucifix during the rite. The exorcist is encouraged to use holy water and relics, usually pieces of bones from Saints, and recite Biblical scriptures and other prayers.

The greatest danger to the exorcist is becoming possessed by the demon himself. This is the reason why the exorcist must feel as free of sin as possible and feel no secret need for punishment. Otherwise, the demon can easily entrap him. The priest best suited to be an exorcist as being a man of good physical health, being of middle age, routinely going about his normal pastoral duties. He usually is not brilliant or engaged in teaching or research. Although, there are exceptions. Exorcisms usually take place in a location where there is a definite connection between the demon and the victim. ie victims bedroom or residence. Exorcists rarely choose to work alone. Three other people usually assist the exorcist. One is a junior priest who has been trained in exorcism procedures. He monitors the exorcism, helping the exorcist when possible not to be distracted by the possessive demon. Others can include a medical physician and a family member. The most important thing of all is that the exorcist and his assistants be physically strong and relatively guiltless. None must have any secret sins which the demon can use against them. In some incidences the demon may shout out the sins of the exorcist or his assistants attempting to shame them and ruin the exorcism.

Although all exorcisms are different in proceeding there are similar stages they follow:

  • The Presence: The exorcist and his assistants become aware of an alien feeling or entity. Attempts or actions of the evil spirit appear to be the victim’s. The exorcist’s first job is to break this Pretense and find out whom the demon really is. Gaining the entity’s name is most important.
  • Breakpoint: The moment when the demon’s Pretense finally collapses. This is usually a moment of complete pandemonium. There evolves a scene of panic and confusion, accompanied by a crescendo of abuse, horrible sights, noises, and odors. The demon then turns on the victim, speaking of the person in the third person.
  • The Voice: Also a sign the Breakpoint, the Voice (of the demon) becomes "inordinately disturbing and humanly distressing babble." The demon’s voices must be silenced for the exorcism to proceed.
  • The Clash: As the Voices die out there is both a spiritual and physical pressure. The demon has collided with the "will of the Kingdom." The exorcist is now in direct battle with the demon, urging the entity to reveal more information about itself so it can be controlled. As previously mentioned, there is a connection between the entity and the victim’s resident. The entity wants a place to be in, or it must return to Hell. An existence out of Hell is what the demon is fighting for.
  • Expulsion: In the supreme triumph of God’s will, the demon leaves in the name of Jesus. All present feel the Presence dissipates, occasionally with receding noises and voices. The victim may remember the ordeal or may not recall anything that has happened.

The ritual of exorcism is more cautiously employed by the Catholic Church at present than it once was. When reviewing the conditions for demonic possession that were once listed one can easily see many of the symptoms are those of epilepsy, hysteria, schizophrenia, and other psychological disorders. So priests are cautioned to be as certain as possible the person is truly demonically possessed before performing the ritual.

The typical Hindu exorcism practices consist of blowing cow-dung smoke, pressing rock salt between the fingers, burning pig excreta, beating or pulling the victim’s hair, reciting prayers or mantras, and offering gifts of candy and other presents to get the evil or troublesome spirits to depart from the persons.

The ritual employed in Shamanism is that the shaman enters a trace during which he attempts to discover the cause of the victim’s trouble. Frequently the cause is thought linked to a dead person. The shaman then is said to travel to the lowerworld to speak with this soul. He then knows the cure of this victim’s affliction, or may even bring back the soul to cure it.


Alternative Equipment



Article from CPS Paranormal

Complete Paranormal Services (CPS) considers all high tech equipment to be normal investigating tools. These would include any type of camera (IR, Thermal, Full Spectrum, Motion detection or Digital) etc. All and any type of audio recording devices. Any measuring device (Trifield and EMF metes, K2s, Ion counter, Geiger counters) Etc. Other types of equipment also (Motion sensors, Frank's Boxes, White noise generators, Ion generators, pucks, Ovulus, Dowsing rods) and so on.

Basically, when it comes to Paranormal Investigations every tool that is used should be considered (thinking outside of the box). To this date there is not one piece of equipment out there that is designed especially for ghost hunting. All of the instrument that are use were actually designed for another purpose, but they seem to work for detecting paranormal activity in certain instances. Unfortunately none of our high tech gizmos and gadgets have a 100 percent hit rate. In all actuality the voice recorder has the highest percentage rate in helping investigators make a determination of whether or not a particular place or area seems to have paranormal activity. Even using the most sensitive high tech equipment in the world does not come with a guarantee that spirits will come out of hiding if they are there. This is where real (thinking outside of the box) becomes your most valuable tool.

True (thinking outside of the box) alternative tools are called Trigger Items.

Trigger items are used in conjunction with high tech equipment to "Trigger" an event, or cause a reaction. This reaction will be visible, audible, or measurable to the investigator on the equipment being used. They are to be used with an intelligent haunting, they have no affect on a residual haunting. There is no set boundaries for these items, they can be anything. The item or items being used have to be meaningful to the suspected spirit. Even when using these, thinking outside the box is important. Example: Instead of using a round pencil (that can roll away) use a flat one or a curved one. Place a piece of paper below it and mark exactly where it lays. Don't put it by a door, window or walkway where breezes can effect it. Place small items inside or hanging from a glass or Plexiglas enclosure and out of the wind. Keep trigger items camera view all the time.

In order to use these tools and techniques correctly an extreme amount of knowledge about a spirit is necessary. Our Case Managers spend a lot of time doing this type of research. Using trigger items also give you a better selection of questions to ask during EVP sessions. These alternate tools don't measure activity they create it. Learning how to use these items can increase paranormal activity and put the odds in your favor for capturing it. Don't just.... Let it Happen..... Make it Happen.

THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX.