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What is a haunting?
A haunting is a repeated manifestation of strange and inexplicable sensory pehnomena - smells,
sounds, tactile sensations and hallucinations - said to be caused by ghosts or spirits attracted to a certain locale.
The term "haunt" comes from the same root word as "home". Typically
a haunted location is the former home of the deceased or the spot where the deceased died. Haunted sites also include
places that apparently were frequented or favored by the deceased and sites of violent death. Other hauntings are aimless
occurring without explanation.
 There is no general pattern to a haunting. Some phenomena manifest
periodically or continually over durations that may be short - a matter of days - or long, going on for centuries. It
is assumed that most hauntings involve visual appartions, or ghosts of the dead. Apparitions are associated only in
a minority of the reported cases, most hauntings involve noises, such as mysterious footsteps, rustlings, whisperings, animal
sounds and howlings, thumps, tappings and rappings, smells, especially of flowers, perfume, burned wood or rotting flesh/matter,
tactile sensation such as a cold prickling of the skin, cold breezes and feelings of being touched by an invisible hand.
Some hauntings feature poltergeist activities such as rearranged furniture, stopped clocks, smashed glassware and mirrors,
and the paranormal movement of objects.
People who have experienced hauntings sometimes experience negative emotions at a site, including anger,
fear, and even hatred. They may also sense a presence of evil. Other hauntings seem to involve friendsly or benigh
ghosts. Some hauntings also feature phantom animals, such as pet dogs, cats, and horses which are
seen, felt or heard in familiar spots. Objects also can be sites that are haunted.
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Why do hauntings occur?
Why or how some hauntings occur is still something parapsychologists
are researching and investigating. There have been many explanations. Some believe, such as Frederic W.H. Myers
(who founded the Society for Psychical Research) that most hauntings are fragmentary and meaningless, bits and pieces of an
energy residue left behind by the living after their deaths. Others propose that hauntings are recordings of energy
that take on personalities to people who are psychically sensitive. That may account for some of the diverse experiences
but others it does not.
Some theorize that hauntings are a form of psychometry. An object appears to absorb
and retain the vibrations of it's owner, and manigests impressions when the object is handled by a medium or psychic.
Houses could also retain memories of psychic impressions. A house could invorporate the thoughts, acitons, and feelings
of it's former occupants, which would manifest as a haunting to the psychically sensitive. Others theorize something
called "deferred thelpathy" that there exists a "psychic ether" a bridge between mind and matter that impregnates all matter
and space. Certain thoughts and events are impressed upon this ether and stay on it for long periods of time, sometimes
even years. When tragedies occur, the psychic conditions are created and lasting impressions result. A sensitive
person coming into contact with a haunted house might connect telepathically with these thoughts and emotions that are being
replayed as hauntings.
All objects have a psi field that exudes from them. A person who is sensitive can sometimes
contact and read the impression of a house from it's psi field during a haunting. But this is also felt by some who
have no or little psychic ability so it also has it's criticism.
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 How can you tell if your house or place is haunted?
Before you jump into action, concerning Entities/Ghosts make sure that you indeed have a ghost
around you. Remain as calm as you can thinking in a logical way and not cause hysteria. The first thing you must
do is to see if there is a logical explanation of what you think is going on. Starting with yourself ask the following
guestions.
1. Do you feel stressed? If so, try to remedy the situation and get the stress
level down.
2. Are you taking any medication or prescribed drug? If so could it be contributed
to any side effects?
3. Could that strange tapping or knocking be a result of air in the water or heating
system?
4. Could the scratching you are hearing coming from the walls, ceiling, skirting or
elsewhere be a mouse or a rat?
5. Could the voice or faint noise you are hearing coming from the walls be the result
of your next door neighbors tv, radio, or hifi? Remember dividing walls can be thing.
6. Is the creaking or any other noise due to the house settling, expansion, or contractin?
7. Are there any troubled teens in the house?
8. You or anyone else ill or been ill?
9. You or anyone in the house known to have emotional/mental illness?
10. Has anyone on the premises been spell casting, using ouija/spirit boards any seances
etc.?
 What happens if someone claims to have a ghost in their property
or you know of a place? Or you are shown a photo of what someone or you believe to be a ghost? A place where ghostly
acticity is present? What should you do?
Here is a few simple hints to what you should do...
Find out all you can about the history of the locale. Newspapers, town historians, WWW
and books can be helpful finding folklore or hard facts about the site. The books and web pages dealing with this type
of info is enormous.
No Trespassing on private property. Respect all "No Trespassing" signs posted always
get permission beforehand.
Only undertake an investigation if you have the right mindset, the experience and the ability
to approach it with a neutral approach.
The first state of an investigation is to gather all the facts relating to the case by interviewing
the witness, checking out the site of the alleged haunting and looking for possible natural causes that could be causing the
problem.
Be aware of hoaxes and beware that you don't become part of a hoax or part of mass hysteria.
You will be carrying out your research on the other people's property, it is therefore wise
to take out public liability insurance to cover all eventualities.
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