Case Study: 0322.2011 My Hauntings

I have taken the time to rewind and reread some of my postings and I felt that I have not gone in depth as into why I am so interested in paranormal studies. I felt that much of my posts has been histories and examples of how science and paranormal studies correlates, which is ultimaltely my goal of my blog. For this post I would like to raise the curtains in exposing why paranormal studies to me is so fascinating. Recalling from my first blog I did mentioned that I too also encountered events in my life which I consider to be paranormal, at least I felt it was. This transbyered me to be interested of the paranormal in hopes that I may find a conclusion, a closure if you may to what I have experienced. I am not in attempt to debunk what had happen, for what I experienced to me seems real enough where I am left haunted yet interested. Tonight's posting is my case --Case Study: 0322.2011- My Hauntings...

I was born in Hong Kong, raised here in San Francisco since the early 1980's. We weren't too wealthy, sheltered in a small apartment by the hills of Chinatown on Jackson St.
 


Although the apartment was small at least it brought my family closer for we needed one another due to the lack of friends, family, and community. The apartment was old, but it's all we could afford. It was a few steps away from Chinatown, so it was convenient for my mother and father's commute to work; and since we only spoke Cantonese, it was the best community for us where we felt safe and comfortable. With this being said, despite the many rumors of how weird and much paranormal events had occured around our block, we still chose to stay. My father had two jobs, one in the break of dawn and another until dusk. One evening he was dismissed from work a little earlier than usual. As usual he would walk the same path home, through the dark ally of Mason St, cut an immediate left on Jackson St, and proceed up the unforgiving hill. It was quite late, even though he was dismissed early from work. Usually at that hour there is no one to be seen on the streets except his shadow. As he was walking, glaring through the mist of fog with the dully lit street lights tired he was he saw a figure of a man walking before him. My father slowly paced behind the male figure, mind his own business and thought nothing of it. By the middle of the block my father accidentally kicks a set of keys, the noise so familar he thought the keys belonged to him, but it did not. The only other person on that block was the other male, therefore my father approached him and asked if these keys belonged to him. According to what my father said, as soon as the male turned to my father's attention, the description of this male's face was unforgettable. He was extremely pale, with bags as if he has not slept for days. He answered in a settle tone that the keys did not belong to him then proceeded to walk. My father was quite shocked of his appearance which gave him chills where he just threw the keys to the ground and watch the male walk away. They both finally made it  to the top of the hill. My father unlocked the first gate to the apartment as he stared towards the male and watched him proceed across the block up to another hill. My father shut the gate then opened the second door. He then walked up the stairs one flight after another. As soon as he reached the second flight he saw that same male walk before him. My father was shocked for he was the only person who entered through those doors. As well he did not recognize him being a tenant of the apartment. It was a small apartment which consists of only six units, so everyone knew one another. This male was an exception where my father had no idea who he was or lived. My father not too closely followed the male up the stairs and strangley the male never turned around. By the fourth flight which was the last flight my father hid himself in the corner so the male would not see him. In about a few seconds my father walked up the fourth flight and noticed that the male was gone. Shocked, scared, and confusion, raced through my father's mind where he sprint his way back home. Through a regular conversation between my father and our neighbors, they mentioned that they have also encountred of this strange male presense. As curious as I was of this incident I was fobidden by my parents to ask any more questions about what happen and if it had reoccured. This is one of my earlier paranormal events, although not occured to me, still left a mark which led to my curiosity of the paranormal.

This is only one out of the few that I will share for now. I will disclose more in my future postings. I will leave you thinking and have you build your own curiosity as I was am still today. Perhaps you might want to share some of your paranomral expereinces...

Case Study: 0315.2011 Invisible Horizon

" we are entering in white water, nothing seems right, we don't know where we are, the water is green, no white," Legion Magazine, 1962,

" they flew to Mars," Sand's article, 1952.

These quotes were taken from articles written to the accounts of missing  vanished individuals and vehicles beyond what we know as Bermuda Traingle, or some might suggest..."The Devil's Triangle".   

 According to the map, Bermuda Triangle is located near the Atlantic coast of Miami and Puerto Rico. This part of the ocean is well known not just for its mystery, but also serves as a port for many commerical vehicles and cruise ships. The name "Devil's Triangle," I am certain rings a bell to many of us, maybe through movies, news, documentaries, or personal research.

My first contact with this subject was when I was in 3rd grade while filtering through my encyclopedia. Recalling from my readings many moons ago, as mentioned earlier this "triangle" dwells near the Atlantic coast. The encyclopedia mentioned that many ships and planes vanished in thin air as soon as they arrive close to the southern ports of this mysterious sea. Ships that sail within that "twightlight zone" never ever returns. Investigations and research has been conducted for the past years as well many assumptions has been made, but none are solidly proven. This stirred my curiosity of this topic in which I hope through this posting I may also capture the attention of yours. Perhaps you can also share some of your knowledge in reassuring my facts and curiosity.

So how did Bermuda Triangle live up to its reputition as the Devil's Triangle? There has been countless talks and rumors of the events pertaining to this mysterious part of the sea. However, I feel that the history has not  been mentioned as often as it should. The search and mystery of the triangle has tickled people's mind since the early 1950's when a short article was written by George X. Sand, titled "Sea Mystery at our Back Door." Although the article was written during the 1950's, it is said that one of the first few ships to have ever fell victim to the triangle was vanished between 1780 through 1824, warships such as the Hornet, Wildcat, Wasp, and General Gates. All of these ships were reported missing by the US Navy. Have these ships really vanished in the triangle? Who would ever know? The sea is quite massive, but for it not to be discovered until today leaves a question mark in my mind. To mention a few more, one of the most famous disapperance is the U.S.S. Cyclops. This ship vanished in March of 1918. What makes this more significant is that 309 men were boarded on this ship whom has also vanished. You may argue that perhaps they were ambushed by pirates. Bodies were destroyed, dumped into the ocean and that all the riches were stolen, thus washed awayed the evidence of this crime.

To counter that argument, I propose to you an extraordinary vanish which occured in  December 5th of 1965, Flight 19. At 2:10pm five US Navy planes were authorized to set out for a  overwater navagational training flight. The planes took off from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. About 4:00pm the leader among the five planes radio the base claiming that he was uncertain of where they were. The compasses where malfunctioned, as well much of their communications were unclear due to static, bad frequency, and interference from radio stations. All radio connections were soon lost thus limited their communication with the base. The planes were never discovered ever since. Several assumptions has been made where possibly the planes forced landed into the waters. Or that the fuel ran out, therefore crashed into the waters. Last but not least, possibly the weather played a significant role in contributing to these plane's vanishing act, but there were no reports of bad weather of that time and area. An extensive search was conducted right after this incident, a patrol plane was set out on the 5th of December as well at 7:30pm in searching for the five vanished planes. The patrol plane never returned, lost, undiscovered, and vanished just like the others.




We have just brought back the history of the few disappearences a little closer to our fingertips. Let's take a step further into the triangle and discover what researchers suggest might have caused the vanishes. One theory majority of the researchers all share is that they suggest the triangle consists of strong magnetic field. This magnetic field causes interuptions to all navagating tools such as the compass. With that being said ships and aircrafts would be lost due to the lack of directions. Another theory is that the planes which flew into the triangle was lost, tried to fly their way out, unfortunately ran out of fuel which resulted their lives. So many speculations traveled through the mouths and ears of these researchers and audiences where they claim that a giant octopus had devoured the entire ship along with the missing passengers.

All in all there are hundreds and hundreds of reasons one can state at the same time be debunked. As for myself I only belive what I witness and encounter. Though I must admit that the triangle does stirr my attention and curiosity where sometime I wish to visit the "Devil's Triangle" and see what dimension I landed on or possibly meet a friend from the other side. I have heard of many valid and intelligent reasoning behind all these vanishes. However, it still tickles my mind to the other unsolved factors, ships and planes vanishing with no distress calls, traces, or wreakage.

 http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq8-3.htm

Case Study: 0309.2011 Communicating with the dead.

"Curiosity kills the cat." I am sure this phrase is often said or heard from many of us. I would believe that this phrase matches well with the case study of this evening. Recalling from case study 0305.2011 I mentioned a few devices, EMF and EVP readers in which paranomrmal researchers use to study and investigate the paranormal. I promised to reveal several more devices used by them. This device in particular is not widely used by them, but widely used by those who are curious; curious of the dead, supernatural, enitites, or just curious in general.

Quji Boards- also known as the talking board or spirit board,  is a flat board marked with numbers and words such as yes and no. The origin of Quji boards derived long ago in the mid 1800's. In Hydesville the birth of mediums were born where two sisters Kate and Margaret Fox claimed to be in contact with the dead. Medium or Mediumship is the practice of speaking or contacting the angle, dead, spirits, or entities through seances. Kate and Margaret's discovery of channeling with the dead bloomed throughout Europe and United States. Since then mediums became popular for people wished to communicate with ones who has passed. One method that was widely used then for communicating with the dead was table turning. The medium would sit at the end of the table along with others joining fingers and would wait for the spiritual world to contact them. The table would tilt and wobble thus cause letters to fall  which  then becomes a form of communicating with the spirit. The letters would spell out answers to their questions.

Attenders would find this method too time consuming, therefore other mediums designed improved devices that would be less noisy and time staking. After table turning then came along the Planchette. The planchette was designed by a French medium named M. Planchette. A planchette, based from wikipedia is a heart shape flat piece of wood that moves on a  piece of board to spell out messages. The planchette we know now is similar to what wikipedia described, but the early planchette contained a pencil attached to the center of the device. Planchette's Quji boards uses today has a plastic piece in the center which identifies the letter it points to. That center piece replaced the pencil because it was too hard to keep the pencil still while communicating with the spirit.

Over decades this "game" has been passed on from culture to culture. Quji boards as I described earlier bloomed in the mid 1800's in Europe and United States. However, in other cultures such as the Chinese, Quji boards was widely used in the 1100 BC. The Chinese called it fuji, also known as planchette writing. Fuji was popular in the Song Dynasty where the Chinese would use a stick placed in a craddle of sand, prayed to the spirit in which they want to contact and began their communication with the dead. This method was soon banned in the Qing dynasty, however is still widely known and used today.

Now that the brief description and history of the Quji Board has been told, there are some stories I want to share with you. After the story is told it is your choice in believing or disbelieving....





A friend of mine and a few of his friends were playing with the Quji Board one Sunday evening. The game was entertaining said's he and for that reason he wanted to play again, but this time alone. His friends were sitting at the corner of his bed while he settled himself on the table by the window. He placed his hands on the planchette and for the first few minutes he repeatedly asked for the spirits name, but there was no reply. Almost five miutes has passed and he was about to dismiss the game all of the sudden the planchette began to move. He was thrill more so than spooked. He asked for the spirits name, but the planchette could not rest onto a single letter. but just kept shifting from one letter and number to another. He asked if the spirit was at the presence of his room and it replied yes. He asked since you are unable to tell me your name is it possible that you may show me a sign of your presence. You may knock, whisper, or create a scene. The planchette stopped moving. And for a minute he stood still anticipating for a sign. There was no sign, therefore he was at the verge from removing his hands from the planchette. All of a sudden he felt a touch which skinned acrossed his hands that was still placed on the planchette. He felt a breeze to the right of his ear. As shocked and surprised he was he did not let go of the planchette. His friends saw the astonished look he glowed and inquired of what had happen. He ignored their questions and asked for the spirit if it is okay that he may let go of the planchette, for that is one of the rule of thumb when playing with the Quji board. The planchette slid off the board and the game had finally ended. He then told his friends of what had happened, and of course many disbelieved him.

A number of my highschool friends gathered one night in playing with the Quji board. My friend lived by the beach in the Sunset district of San Francisco. I was told that there was at least eight people attending the game. So all proceed by placing their hands on top of the planchette. I can argue that this was sure coincidence, but as soon as one of them asked for the name of the spirit the nights went out in the room. Everyone was shocked, scared, and amazed of what just had happened. The lights in my friend's room does not consist of any switch. She had those light where it is only activated when you clap. I was told that during the game no one had clapped. It was only silence that kept them company. So the question is how would the lights go off if no noise or clap was made. Brave soilders they were they continued the game despite of what had happened. They asked several questions such as facts about her birth place, etc..and all answers were accurate. You can argue that somone might have been pushing the planchette, but the lights going out is questionable.

Rather then providing stories of my own here are clips of other known encounters of the Quji.

Final note, there are several rule of thumbs when playing with the Quji board.

1. When you are in contact with the spirit, before you ask any questions, remember to ask if the spirit likes the sun or the moon. If it likes the sun you are in good shape. If it likes the moon, try not to play, for I have heard that if it likes the moon...it could be evil and it would not allow you to end the game.

2. Never abruptly remove your hands from the planchette, always ask to be excused.

3. When you end the session/game always wait until the planchette slides off the board before you may remove your hands.

4. Do not make the spirit angry.

Case Study: 0306.2011 Ex.or.cism

                                      

Exorcism- religious practice in evicting demons or other spiritual entities from a person or place that is believed to be possessed. Possessed- spurred or moved by a strong feeling, madness, or supernatural power. Some may agree that judging through a "possessed" individual's appearence, he or she may not be possessed but only suffering from abuse, stress, drugs, or even psychological issues. The controversy behind exorcism has caused many to argue whether it is a proven fact where it may heal a "possessed" individual or is it only in the mind where there is the demon that dwells in the "possessed". The fact that there are no concrete evidence or data compared to medical studies raises the attention and curiosity of others. The story behind Anneliese Michel is a true life event which highlights this question. Her story has lingered for the past years whether you believe in the demon or not. For those of you who has not heard of Anneliese Michel, a movie was produced not too long ago, Exorcism of Emily Rose in which much of its content was based on Anneliese's experience with the demon. The story behind Anneliese to say the least was a misfortune where a young talented girl raised by a loving yet strict Catholic family in a Leiblfing, Bavaria encounter what some might agree that it was a possession of the demon or some might argue that it was an epilepsy. Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder. Anneliese's first signs of possible possession symptoms occured in 1968 where in the middle of the night she found herself paralyzed. Her tongue and arms locked restrained from any movements as well she had a difficult time breathing. These symptoms would come and go unexpectedly. Her family seeked medical help and through diagnoses, doctors claimed that she was suffering with epileptic. One sign of epileptic are seizures in which was one symptom Anneliese dealt with most often. Anneliese was placed in the hospital in hopes of recovery, but little did she expected that her horror has just begun. In the hospital she would see apparitions of demonic figures. These experiences haunted her and caused her to become more withdrawn and quiet after her departure from the hospital. Her family finally decided that since medical aid was not much of a help; they placed their hopes into the hands of God in resolving Anneliese's struggle. Father Alt was one of the priests who have heard of her case. After several careful examinations, interviews, and observations he requested the bishop's permission in performing an exorcism. Permission was granted, and so Father Alt was accompanied by few more priests in assisting him with the ritual. The exorcism was performed on several occassions from 1975 through 1976. At that point her life was placed solely into the hands of the priests not through her doctors. On July 1st of 1976 at 6:00am Anneliese Michel passed away due to starvation and dehydration. For during her possession, Anneliese claimed that the demon would not allow her to eat. Her death stirred the attention of the media. Her incident was brought to court where the priests who had perform the ritual was sentence to prison for 6 months with 3 years probabtion, plus fine.

When you hear the word exorcism, some might associate the term with the Catholics or Christianity. In reality exorcism is among many religion. For example, Shaman may visit other worlds/dimensions to bring guidance to misguided souls. As well Shamans have the ability to perform rituals in driving evil spirits away from those who are ill. This is very much similar to Anneliese Michel's case of possession. In other cultures such as the Chinese there are Taoists who as well perform rituals in driving evil out from those who are possessed. I would agree that different cultures have their unique methods such as prayers, tools, and beliefs, however at the end all of them serve the same purpose. Whether you believe that Anneliese Michel was possessed or not, still remains a mystery. It is evident that her symptoms do seem similar to epilepsy. However, if it was epilepsy why would doctors claim that they were unable to help her? The family as well Anneliese decided to place their faith into the hands of God, therefore should we respect their decision?