If you listened to our recent Halloween story "Haunted," and you're still skeptical of our skepticism about spirits talking through flashlights, this is for you.
If you have no idea what I'm talking about, go listen to the story here 
After I first heard Dennis’ story, I poked around on the Internet, looking for someone to explain how a flashlight could communicate with the dead. A bit of googling led me to a 21-minute-long video on YouTube that breaks down the particulars of what are known as "flashlight sessions." 
The video was made by a man in Germany named Burkhard Reike. When I called him up, I was greeted with the most incredible sound I have ever heard.

Once out of his cocoon, Burkhard told me this started for him when he was watching the ScyFy show “Ghost Hunters” (I’m assuming you get the gist of the show from the name). Over and over, these ghost hunters would pull out flashlights, ask questions into the air and then - just like in Dennis’ story - the lights would flash on and off.
At first Burkhard thought, eh, they're probably just tapping the table or some sly trick. But then he noticed something: all the different ghost hunters were using the exact same flashlight. The mini-Maglite, two-cell AA, with an incandescent lightbulb. 
So Burkhard bought a couple, brought them home, and took them apart. Now, the thing about these flashlights is that to turn them on or off, all you have to do is screw or unscrew the top of the flashlight. When you do this, two tiny bits of metal come into contact with each other. When they're touching, the electrical circuit is open and the light is on. When they aren't, the circuit is broken and the light is off. Here's an illustration of the inside of the flashlight from Burkhard's video (contact point is on the right-hand side, in yellow):

​(Photo Credit: Burkhard Reike) Burkhard ran through a dozen or so trials and experiments, five weeks worth, and found that this whole trick comes down to one part of the flashlight, the reflector. It's the dome-like mirror that surrounds the light bulb and focuses all that light. And here's how it works: 
When you turn a flashlight on, the bulb generates a bunch of heat and the reflector starts to get really hot. As it gets hotter and hotter, it starts to expand, getting bigger and bigger. Then, if you want to ask some ghosts questions, what you do is you unscrew the top of the light JUST enough so that the light goes off. Now, because the light is off, the reflector starts to cool down and contract until it pushes one tiny piece of metal into contact with the other tiny piece of metal and … BOOM! The light bulb goes on. With the light back on, the reflector gets hot again and starts to expand … and expand … until it pulls the metal pieces apart again. And the light goes off. Then the reflector contracts, and so on. 
Burkhard used a microscope camera and math to figure out that the expansion and contraction of the reflector is basically like turning the head of the flashlight 3 degrees. Cool detail, right?
But, I should say that it gets way more complicated than that - there's oxidization, fritting, molten metal - but the point is, as Burkhard said, "this is by definition something that is normal and not paranormal."
If you want to dive into the deep end, check out his explainer video. He's a good man and thorough.
 ​
​Kielty,M. (2014, October 30). Explaining the flashlight sessions [Web blog post].  
        Retrieved from http://www.radiolab.org/story/explaining-flashlight-sessions/  

Orbs are the most controversial topic in the paranormal field. Bring up orbs and you are sure to start a heated debate. Are they proof of the paranormal or are they refracted dust?  As long as there are orb pictures there will be speculation. However, there have been many skeptical paranormal researchers who have successfully reproduced orbs under controlled conditions that look exactly like those pictures that claim to be paranormal. In the Webster dictionary “paranormal” is defined as “not scientifically explained.”  Therefore, if the average paranormal investigator can deliberately replicate an orb in a picture then by its very definition an orb cannot be considered paranormal in nature.
Still, an “orb-a-phile” will defend the honor of his or her orb pictures to the bitter end.  Usually, they will explain there are balls of light that are seen with naked eye which illuminate from out-of-nowhere, then disappear just as suddenly.  Sometimes they slowly streak across the sky. Other times they will hover in midair.  There is no explanation for this sort of phenomenon and therefore orbs are considered paranormal.

While the reports of these sorts of orbs are unexplainable, they are somewhat rare and pictures of them are hard to come by.  The popular belief is that these sorts of orbs are not ghosts, but balls of excess concentrated energy from the Earth.  While they look cool, they may not be of paranormal nature.
Others believe the anomalous lights are the beginnings of a spirit.  The photographer catches the burst of energy caused by the spirit before it forms into a full body specter.  Why there is no picture of the actual apparition is questionable. How does a photograph pick up the burst of orb energy, but not the apparition itself?

The other point an “orb-a-phile” will argue is that they felt a “presence” of a spirit right before they took the picture and that is when they caught the orb.  Personal experience should never be discounted, and it is a highly intriguing claim.  Was there a ghost standing in the very spot when the picture was taken? Why did the ghost not show up picture?  We will never know until humans become more evolved or someone creates a technology that will be able to undoubtedly track ghostly activity.  In the interim there are many speculations as to why the presence is felt and only an orb remains.  Or rather a refracted dust particle.

The common explanation suggests the spirit (unseen by the naked eye) stirred up the air in the spot where it was standing.  So, you cannot see the apparition, only its effect onc the environment. Still, at the end of the day, a refracted piece of dust will remain a refracted piece of dust, and though personal experience has its own merits, it cannot be considered true evidence unless it’s backed up by something tangible.  Unfortunately, if you pull out your orb explaining it’s the stirred up air of an apparition that didn’t show up in the picture, it might now go over so well.

Whether you believe in these claims or not, the average orb photo can be easily explained away and debunked as dust or moisture.  It’s better to deal with other types of “evidence” that are less controversial and have some merit in the paranormal field.  However, if you want to fight the good fight in the name of “orb-a-philes” everywhere, then snap those pictures and display them proudly.  However, be prepared to be on the end of some heated criticism.

An incubus is a demon in male form who, according to mythological and legendary traditions, lies upon sleepers, especially women, in order to engage in sexual activity with them. Its female counterpart is the succubus. An incubus may pursue sexual relations with a woman in order to father a child, as in the legend of Merlin.[1] Religious tradition holds that repeated sexual activity with an incubus or succubus may result in the deterioration of health, or even death.[2]



Contents  [hide] 

• 1 Etymological, ancient and religious descriptions
• 2 Regional variations
• 3 Scientific explanations
• 4 See also
• 5 Notes

Etymological, ancient and religious descriptions[edit]The word incubus is derived from Late Latin incubo (a nightmare induced by such a demon); from incub(āre) (to lie upon).[3] One of the earliest mentions of an incubus comes from Mesopotamia on the Sumerian King List, ca. 2400 BC, where the hero Gilgamesh's father is listed as Lilu.[4] It is said that Lilu disturbs and seduces women in their sleep, while Lilitu, a female demon, appears to men in their erotic dreams.[5] Two other corresponding demons appear as well: Ardat lili, who visits men by night and begets ghostly children from them, and Irdu lili, who is known as a male counterpart to Ardat lili and visits women by night and begets from them. These demons were originally storm demons, but they eventually became regarded as night demons because of mistaken etymology.[6]

Debate about the demons began early in the Christian tradition. St. Augustine touched on the topic in De Civitate Dei ("The City of God"). There were too many attacks by incubi to deny them. He stated, "There is also a very general rumor. Many have verified it by their own experience and trustworthy persons have corroborated the experience others told, that sylvans and fauns, commonly called incubi, have often made wicked assaults upon women."[7] Questions about the reproductive capabilities of the demons continued. Eight hundred years later, Thomas Aquinas lent himself to the ongoing discussion, stating, "Still, if some are occasionally begotten from demons, it is not from the seed of such demons, nor from their assumed bodies, but from the seed of men, taken for the purpose; as when the demon assumes first the form of a woman, and afterwards of a man; just so they take the seed of other things for other generating purposes."[8] It became generally accepted that incubi and succubi were the same demon, able to switch between male and female forms.[9] A succubus would be able to sleep with a man and collect his sperm, and then transform into an incubus and use that seed on women. Even though sperm and egg came from humans originally, the spirits' offspring were often thought of as supernatural.[10]

Though many tales claim that the incubus is bisexual,[11] others indicate that it is strictly heterosexual and finds attacking a male victim either unpleasant or detrimental.[12]

Incubi are sometimes said to be able to conceive children. The half-human offspring of such a union is sometimes referred to as a cambion. The most famous legend of such a case includes that of Merlin, the famous wizard from Arthurian legend.[13]

According to the Malleus Maleficarum, exorcism is one of the five ways to overcome the attacks of incubi, the others being Sacramental Confession, the Sign of the Cross (or recital of the Angelic Salutation), moving the afflicted to another location, and by excommunication of the attacking entity, "which is perhaps the same as exorcism."[14] On the other hand, the Franciscan friar Ludovico Maria Sinistrari stated that incubi "do not obey exorcists, have no dread of exorcisms, show no reverence for holy things, at the approach of which they are not in the least overawed."[13]

Regional variations[edit]There are a number of variations on the incubus theme around the world. The alp of Teutonic or German folklore is one of the better known. In Zanzibar, Popo Bawa primarily attacks men and generally behind closed doors.[15] "The Trauco", according to the traditional mythology of the Chiloé Province of Chile, is a hideous deformed dwarf who lulls nubile young women and seduces them. The Trauco is said to be responsible for unwanted pregnancies, especially in unmarried women. Perhaps another variation of this conception is the "Tintín" in Ecuador, a dwarf who is fond of abundant haired women and seduces them at night by playing the guitar outside their windows; a myth that researchers believe was created during the Colonial period of time to explain pregnancies in women who never left their houses without a chaperone, very likely covering incest or sexual abuse by one of the family's friends.[16] In Hungary, a lidérc can be a Satanic lover that flies at night and appears as a fiery light (an ignis fatuus or will o' the wisp) or, in its more benign form as a featherless chicken.[17]

In Brazil and the rainforests of the Amazon Basin, the Boto is a combination of siren and incubus, a very charming and beautiful man who seduces young women and takes them into the river.[18] It is said to be responsible for disappearances and unwanted pregnancies,[19] and it can never be seen by daylight, because it metamorphoses into a kind of river dolphin during those hours. According to legend the boto always wears a hat to disguise the breathing hole at the top of its head.[20]

The Southern African incubus demon is the Tokolosh. Chaste women place their beds upon bricks to deter the rather short fellows from attaining their sleeping forms. They also share the hole in the head detail and water dwelling habits of the Boto.

In Germanic Folklore, there is the mara or mare, a spirit or goblin that rides on the chests of humans while they sleep, giving them bad dreams (or "nightmares").[21] Belief in the mare goes back to the Norse Ynglinga saga from the 13th century,[22] but the belief is probably even older. The mare was likely inspired by sleep paralysis.

In Assam, a north-eastern province of India it is mostly known as "pori" (Assamese: পৰী, meaning "angel"). According to the mythology, Pori comes to a man at night in his dreams and attracts towards her. Gradually the victim's health deteriorates and in some cases a tendency to commit suicide generates in him.

In Turkish culture, incubus is known as Karabasan. It is an evil being that descends upon some sleepers at night. These beings are thought to be spirits or jinns. It can be seen or heard in the nightmare and a heavy weight is felt on the chest. Yet people cannot wake up from that state. Some of the causes are sleeping without adequately covering the body (especially women) and eating in bed.

Scientific explanations[edit]Victims may have been experiencing waking dreams or sleep paralysis. The phenomenon of sleep paralysis is well-established. When we are in a dream state, our body induces paralysis to prevent us from acting out our dreams. Malfunctions of this process can either result in sonambulism (sleepwalking) or, conversely, sleep paralysis - where one remains partially or wholly paralysed for a short time after waking.

Additional to sleep paralysis is hypnagogia. In a near-dream state, it is common to experience auditory and visual hallucinations. Mostly these are forgotten upon fully waking or soon afterwards, in the same manner as dreams. However, most people remember the phenomenon of hearing music or seeing things in near-sleep states at some point in their lives. Typical examples include a feeling of being crushed or suffocated, electric "tingles" or "vibrations", imagined speech and other noises, the imagined presence of a visible or invisible entity, and sometimes intense emotion: fear or euphoria and orgasmic feelings. These often appear quite real and vivid; especially auditory hallucinations of music which can be quite loud, indistinguishable from music being played in the same room. Humanoid and animal figures, often shadowy or blurry, are often present in hypnagogic hallucinations, more so than other hallucinogenic states. This may be a relic of an ancient instinct to detect predatory animals.

The combination of sleep paralysis and hypnagogic hallucination could easily cause someone to believe that a "demon was holding them down". Nocturnal arousal etc. could be explained away by creatures causing otherwise guilt-producing behavior. Add to this the common phenomena of nocturnal arousal and nocturnal emission ("morning glories" and "wet dreams"), and all the elements required to believe in an incubus are present.[10]

On the other hand, some victims of incubi could well have been the victims of real sexual assault. Rapists may have attributed the rapes of sleeping women to demons in order to escape punishment. A friend or relative is at the top of the list in such cases and would be kept secret by the intervention of "spirits".[13]

Ghost of the Machine: Sounds in the Paranormal

• 9 Comments
•  June 7, 2013
•  Fatemah Mirza

 
Some of the things we encounter in our lives seem to be simply inexplicable, but our innate curiosity urges us to attempt to explain inexplicable events nonetheless. By experimenting and making educated guesses, scientists have learned that most of the phenomena we once considered unexplainable can actually be explained by using the laws of physics. One superstition that has stood the test of time is society’s beliefs in ghosts.

Nearly every culture believes in some kind of spirit that exists beyond the human dimension. Elves, spirits, djinns, ghosts – whatever you may call them, they have seemingly existed in human culture since the dawn of time. However, scientists at the National Physical Laboratory in England have reason to believe that we people haven’t really been seeing ghosts at all; rather, we have been sensing auditory distortions!

Normally, humans hear sounds that are above 20 Hertz, a frequency of sound. We can only hear sounds that are higher-pitched than 20 Hertz. Frequency is not to be confused with the intensity (more commonly, volume) of a sound, which is measured in decibels. Sounds with low frequencies cannot be heard, but our bodies can still sense them. If the intensity of a sound is high enough, in other words, if it’s “loud” enough, your body will feel it. Think about how a car with a big sound system shakes because of the bass. You don’t hear the music very well, but you can still feel the vibrations (and so can the car).

Research conducted by Vic Tandy, a lecturer at Coventry University, suggests that infrasound can even cause ghost sightings. Tandy knew that that our eyes resonated at 19 Hertz. When he started seeing ghostly grey figures in his laboratory, he began monitoring the frequency of all the laboratory equipment. Tandy discovered that a malfunctioning fan was emitting a frequency of 19 Hertz, caused his eyes to resonate which caused. Once he fixed the fan, the ghosts stopped appearing. He conducted similar monitoring experiments at a supposedly haunted Warwick Castle and detected the same frequency, 19 Hertz. He found that the right frequency can cause not only theemotions associated with a paranormal encounter, but also the visual aspects of one (Pilkington).

Just like other seemingly unexplainable phenomena, ghost sightings have long perplexed scientists. But with the help of some simple monitoring equipment, scientists have been able to unravel some of the mystery that surround haunted houses. So next time you think your house is haunted you may want call an engineer, rather than a sprit medium.

http://mysteriousuniverse.org/2013/06/ghost-of-the-machine-sounds-in-the-paranormal/

Imagine waking up to find you can't move a muscle. It's dark, but you're sure you feel a presence in the room, hovering near your bed — or perhaps sitting on your chest, crushing the breath out of you. This weird phenomenon is known as sleep paralysis, and a new study finds that understanding why it happens helps people feel less distressed after an episode. Believing that sleep paralysis is brought on by the supernatural, on the other hand, makes people feel more unnerved.

Sleep paralysis occurs when the brain and body aren't quite on the same page when it comes to sleep. During rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, dreaming is frequent, but the body's muscles are relaxed to the point of paralysis, perhaps to keep people from acting out their dreams. Researchers have found that two brain chemicals, glycine and GABA, are responsible for this muscle paralysis.

Estimates of how many people experience sleep paralysis vary from 5 percent to 60 percent, likely because of differences in survey methods. Some people find themselves experiencing sleep paralysis frequently, while others wake up paralyzed only once or twice in their lifetimes. The good news is that sleep paralysis is ultimately considered harmless.Night terror

Becoming mentally aware before the body "wakes up" from its paralyzed state can be a terrifying experience, as people realize they can't move or speak. Frequently, these episodes are accompanied by hallucinations and the sensation of breathlessness. Such hallucinations likely gave rise to the myths of the incubus and the succubus, demons that pin people down in their sleep (and sometimes have sex with them). [The 10 Spookiest Sleep Disorders]

People may also sense a malevolent presence nearby or believe they are about to die. Some sleep paralysis episodes come with feelings of falling, floating or dissociating from the body.

These sensory experiences are more likely to distress people than mere paralysis alone, according to the study published online in February in the journal Clinical Psychological Science.   

Researchers James Cheyne and Gordon Pennycook of the University of Waterloo in Canada surveyed 293 people, mostly women, on their experiences with sleep paralysis. They found that people were most distressed after an episode when hallucinations felt threatening and when they held supernatural beliefs regarding the cause of the paralysis.

Thinking away fear

People with analytical thinking styles were less likely to hold such supernatural beliefs, and were less likely to be distressed after experiencing sleep paralysis, the study found. Though the study couldn't pin down the causal relationship, analytical thinkers may be more likely to seek out and believe naturalistic or scientific explanations for the condition, the researchers wrote, while intuitive thinkers might be drawn to supernatural explanations.

"These results suggest that it is not only important for clinicians to be aware of the implications of supernatural beliefs on SP [sleep paralysis] distress but also sensitive to the likelihood that not everyone will accept or experience relief from naturalistic interpretations," the researchers wrote.

The online survey drew from a self-selected, rather than random, sample and relied on self-report, the researchers wrote. But allowing respondents to tell their stories can be important, they wrote, because patients complain that their doctors often dismiss the very real fear they feel when they wake up paralyzed.

Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience Senior Writer   |   March 04, 2013 05:06pm ET

http://paranormal.about.com/bio/Stephen-Wagner-3374.htm

DO YOU HAVE an exact double somewhere in the world? Can a person be in two places at once? There are many intriguing accounts throughout history of people who claim to have either encountered apparitions of themselves - their doppelgangers - or have experienced the phenomenon of bilocation, being in two separate locations at the very same time.

"Doppelganger" is German for "double walker" - a shadow self that is thought to accompany every person. Traditionally, it is said that only the owner of the doppelganger can see this phantom self, and that it can be a harbinger of death. Occasionally, however, a doppelganger can be seen by a person's friends or family, resulting in quite a bit of confusion.

In instances of bilocation, a person can either spontaneously or willingly project his or her double, known as a "wraith," to a remote location. This double is indistinguishable from the real person and can interact with others just as the real person would.

EMILIE SAGÉE

One of the most fascinating reports of a doppelganger comes from American writer Robert Dale Owen who was told the story by Julie von Güldenstubbe, the second daughter of the Baron von Güldenstubbe. In 1845, when von Güldenstubbe was 13, she attended Pensionat von Neuwelcke, an exclusive girl's school near Wolmar in what is now Latvia. One of her teachers was a 32-year-old French woman named Emilie Sagée. And although the school's administration was quite pleased with Sagée's performance, she soon became the object of rumor and odd speculation. Sagée, it seemed, had a double that would appear and disappear in full view of the students.

In the middle of class one day, while Sagée was writing on the blackboard, her exact double appeared beside her. The doppelganger precisely copied the teacher's every move as she wrote, except that it did not hold any chalk. The event was witnessed by 13 students in the classroom. A similar incident was reported at dinner one evening when Sagée's doppelganger was seen standing behind her, mimicking the movements of her eating, although it held no utensils.

The doppelganger did not always echo her movements, however. On several occasions, Sagée would be seen in one part of the school when it was known that she was in another at that time. The most astonishing instance of this took place in full view of the entire student body of 42 students on a summer day in 1846. The girls were all assembled in the school hall for their sewing and embroidery lessons.

As they sat at the long tables working, they could clearly see Sagée in the school's garden gathering flowers. Another teacher was supervising the children. When this teacher left the room to talk to the headmistress, Sagée's doppelganger appeared in her chair - while the real Sagée could still be seen in the garden. The students noted that Sagée's movements in the garden looked tired while the doppelganger sat motionless. Two brave girls approached the phantom and tried to touch it, but felt an odd resistance in the air surrounding it. One girl actually stepped between the teacher's chair and the table, passing right through the apparition, which remained motionless. It then slowly vanished.

Sagée claimed never to have seen the doppelganger herself, but said that whenever it was said to appear, she felt drained and fatigued. Her physical color even seemed to pale at those times.

FAMOUS DOPPLEGANGERS

There have been many cases of doppelgangers appearing to well-known figures:

SISTER MARY OF JESUS

Bilocation seems to be the flip side of the doppelganger coin. One of the most astonishing cases took place in the 1620s. In 1622, Father Alonzo de Benavides was assigned to the Isolita Mission in what is now New Mexico. He was puzzled to encounter Jamano Indians who, although they seemed never before to have met French or Spanish peoples, carried crosses, knew Roman Catholic rituals, had altars and knew Catholic liturgy - all in their native tongue.

Father Benavides wrote to both Pope Urban VII and King Philip of Spain to find out who had been there before him, obviously working to convert the Indians. The response was that no one had been sent previously. The Indians told him that they had been instructed in Christianity by a beautiful young "lady in blue" who came among them for many years and taught them this new religion in their own language. She also told them that white-skinned people would soon arrive in their land. "She came down from the heights to us," the Indians said, "she taught us the new religion, she stayed among us for a time, she told us you would come and to make you welcome, and then she went away. That’s all we know."

Who was this mysterious lady in blue? Father Benavides knew that the nuns of the Poor Clare order wore blue habits and thought there might be a clue there. He found a painting of a Poor Clare nun and showed it to the Jamanos. "Is this the woman?" he asked. The dress was right, the Indians told him, but this was not the woman. The woman in the painting was rather portly, but the lady in blue was young and beautiful.

When he returned to Spain, Father Benavides was determined to solve the mystery. How could the Indians have encountered a Poor Clare nun when they were a cloistered order: from the day they took their vows until their deaths, the nuns never left their convents, much less traveled to distant lands on missions. His investigation led him to Sister Mary of Jesus in Agreda, Spain, who claimed to have converted North American Indians - without leaving her convent. Now 29 and Mother Superior of the convent, Sister Mary said she had visited the Indians "not in body, but in spirit."

Sister Mary said she regularly fell into a cataleptic trance, after which she recalled "dreams" in which she was carried to a strange and wild land, where she taught the gospel. As proof of her claim, she was able to provide highly detailed descriptions of the Jamano Indians, including their appearance, clothing and customs, none of which she could have learned through research since they were fairly recently discovered by the Europeans. How did she learn their language? "I didn’t," she replied. "I simply spoke to them - and God let us understand one another."

Sister Mary is also said to have appeared to Mexican Indians, who said they had been visited by "a very beautiful woman, who used to come down from the heights, dressed in blue garments."

OTHER ACCOUNTS OF BILOCATION

There are many more anecdotes of bilocation, especially of saints, clergy and other religious figures:

• In 1227, St. Anthony of Padua, a Portuguese Franciscan friar, was in Limoges, France on Holy Thursday giving a sermon. During the sermon, he remembered that he was obliged to be chanting prayers with his fellow friars in their chapel across town. Realizing this, he stopped his sermon, knelt on the spot, pulled his hood over his head and became quite still. At that moment, Friar Anthony appeared in the chapel and chanted the prayers as required. When they were done, he simultaneously withdrew from the chapel and raised his head at the church - and continued with his sermon.
• St. Alphonsus Liguori was bishop of St. Agata dei Goti in 1774 when he experienced his bilocation. While in his palace near Naples, the bishop fell into a trance and at once appeared at the Vatican in Rome, in the bed chamber of Pope Clement XIV, who was dying. The bishop assisted those attending the Pontiff and prayed with those present. He remained until the Pope died, then "awoke" back in his palace, able to describe what he had just experienced.
• In 1905, Sir Gilbert Parker, a member of the British Parliament, was attending a debate in the House of Commons. During the debate, he noted that Sir Frederick Carne Rasch was also present, sitting in his usual spot. Yet this was impossible since Sir Frederick was quite ill with with flu and, according to members of his household, remained in bed throughout the day. Apparently, Rasch's double was determined to hear the debate.                                                        

Let me first start by saying there are many opinions on how a home cleansing can be done. I personally don't feel there is any right or wrong way of doing it as long as you feel comfortable with it and you are able to achieve the end result. Most of all when you are cleansing a home faith in what you are doing and asking for is the key.

Home Cleansing Prayer

Spiritual Cleansing of a House or Room - Prayer  Waqar Daniel on Thu 04 Mar 2010, 8:18 pm

Print this prayer first, then use it and pray out loud in every single room or area in a home, place, vehicle, anywhere as needed. May God make home with you in Jesus name. AMEN

"And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new." (Revelation 21:5).
Dear LORD and Savior Jesus Christ, I am a believer and I put my hope and trust in You.

I believe and trust the truth, that you alone have all the power and authority in Heaven and on Earth.

I come to you, asking for the spiritual cleansing of this place, for it to become new and clean supernaturally, so that this place may glorify Father.

In the Name, Power and Authority of Jesus Christ,
my only LORD and Savior, Holy Spirit please move in this house and cleanse it. As a saved Believer, I renounce all my sins, known or unknown to me, that have been committed here by anyone (including me or my family).

I renounce any sinful items ever kept here, I renounce any sinful things that were broadcast here,
I renounce any sinful or evil people who lived here or entered here.

In the Name, Power and Authority of Jesus Christ,
my Lord and Savior, I RENOUNCE any satanic claim attempts on this place, or on those who live here, or on items kept here, based upon these things that I have renounced.

As a follower of Jesus Christ, I bind, rebuke and command any demon, false angel, spirit or ghost trying to make home here. I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to go away and never come back again.

Holy Spirit I trust you to do this work right now.
I claim this place as a place of Christian spiritual safety and protection. I bless this place in the name of my LORD and Savior Jesus Christ.

I ask You LORD Jesus Christ to place your blessing and spiritual protection on this place, clean it with Your Holy Blood, and let it be made as new for me (and my family).

Let only thy Holy Spirit and Holy Angels of Heaven be here with me, in Jesus name. AMEN

How to Cleanse Your Home with Sage
posted by hrossi
Read more: http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/freshliving/2009/07/how-to-cleanse-your-home-with-sage.html#ixzz2u3Hd1Xpq

How to Perform a Sage Cleansing Ritual


1.  Buy a sage smudge stick (mine was white sage and lavender, and I got it at a natural foods store) and find a bowl to hold it over (traditionally, abalone shell is used).  Also set up a cup of water to extinguish it after the ritual.

2.  Open every door and window in your house, and turn on fans if you have them.

3.  Light the stick, and when it catches fire, blow it out and allow the embers to start to smoke (like you would light incense).

4.  Set your intention for each room.  Say a prayer of cleansing.  Laurie Sue suggested, “I cleanse this room of any impurities, negativity, or anything that does  not suit or support the people that live here.”

5.  Walk around the room, waving the sage stick so its smoke drifts into corners, along walls, around windows, and along ceiling lines.  As you do, imagine the smoke absorbing negativity, problems from those who were in the space before you, toxicity, and anything else you want to go away.  See the smoke dissipating and floating out the windows, and imagine that bad energy flowing out of your space, making room for positive, fresh energy.

6.  After you’ve blessed every room, give yourself a sage shower.  Cup your hands over the smoke and “wash” your face with it, then wave it all over your body as you would in a water shower.  Visualize any residual negativity sailing out of your body, out of your home, and into oblivion. 

7.  Extinguish the stick in the cup of water or – if your stick was very small or is almost done – flush it down the toilet.  You can also bury it in your back yard (if you are very sure that it is extinguished).

I have to say that I found genuine meaning in the ritual.  I felt like it made the space ours, it cleared away all of the anxiety and stress of the past few weeks, and left us with the opportunity to say, cleanly, we are grateful for this place.  Our place.  Our home.

Otherwise known as EVP, electronic voice phenomena is the recording of mysterious voices from "beyond." Here's what it is, how it works and how you can experiment with it.Mankind has long believed that it is possible to communicate with the dead. Attempts to do so have been made over the centuries through oracles, séances, mediums and psychics. Today, with a variety of electronic equipment at our disposal, there might be an easier, more effective way. And whether or not the results really are communication with the dead - or something else - the results seem to be quite real. Here's what you need to know about it, how you can hear samples and how you can try it!

WHAT IS ELECTRONIC VOICE PHENOMENA?

Electronic voice phenomena - or EVP - is a mysterious event in which human-sounding voices from an unknown source are heard on recording tape, in radio station noise and other electronic media. Most often, EVPs have been captured on audiotape. The mysterious voices are not heard at the time of recording; it is only when the tape is played back that the voices are heard. Sometimes amplification and noise filtering is required to hear the voices.

Some EVP is more easily heard and understood than others. And they vary in gender (men and women), age (women and children), tone and emotion. They usually speak in single-words, phrases and short sentences. Sometimes they are just grunts, groans, growling and other vocal noises. EVP has been recorded speaking in various languages.

The quality of EVP also varies. Some are difficult to distinguish and are open to interpretation as to what they are saying. Some EVP, however, are quite clear and easy to understand. EVP often has an electronic or mechanical character to it; sometimes it is natural sounding. The quality of EVP is categorized by researchers:

• Class A: Easily understood by almost anyone with little or no dispute. These are also usually the loudest EVPs.
• Class B: Usually characterized by warping of the voice in certain syllables. Lower in volume or more distant sounding than Class A. Class B is the most common type of EVP.
• Class C: Characterized by excessive warping. They are the lowest in volume (often whispering) and are the hardest to understand.

The most fascinating aspect of EVP is that the voices sometimes respond directly to the persons making the recording. The researchers will ask a question, for example, and the voice will answer or comment. Again, this response is not heard until later when the tape is played back.

WHERE DO THE VOICES COME FROM?

That, of course, is the mystery. No one knows. Some theories are:

• They are voices of people who have died. This is why many researchers go to cemeteries seeking EVPs (and often with great success). In this context, the phenomenon is sometimes called instrumental transcommunication or ITC.
• They are from another dimension. It is theorized that there may be many dimensions of existence, and somehow beings from some other dimension are able to speak and communicate with ours through this method. A good question is, however: How do they know English and other languages of our dimension?
• They come from the researchers' own subconscious. It's been suggested that somehow the researchers' thoughts are projected onto the tape.
• Some people believe that these voices are angelic or demonic in origin.
• Skeptics assert that there is nothing to EVP at all - that the "voices" are either hoaxed, random noise interpreted as voices, real voices already on the tape, or voices picked up from radio, cell phones and other such sources.

HOW DID IT BEGIN? A SHORT HISTORY...

1920s. It is not generally known that in the 1920s Thomas Edison tried to invent a machinethat would communicate with the dead. Thinking this was possible, he wrote: "If our personality survives, then it is strictly logical or scientific to assume that it retains memory, intellect, other faculties, and knowledge that we acquire on this Earth. Therefore … if we can evolve an instrument so delicate as to be affected by our personality as it survives in the next life, such an instrument, when made available, ought to record something."

Edison never succeeded with the invention, obviously, but it seems he did believe that it might be possible to capture disembodied voices with a machine.

1930s. In 1939, Attila von Szalay, an American photographer, experimented with a phonograph record cutter in trying to capture spirit voices. It's said that he achieved some success with this method and got even better results in later years using a wire recorder. In the late 1950s, the results of his experiments were documented in an article for the American Society for Psychical Research.

1940s. In the late 1940s, Marcello Bacci of Grosseto, Italy claimed to be able to pick up voices of the deceased on a vacuum tube radio.

1950s. In 1952, two Catholic priests, Father Ernetti and Father Gemelli, inadvertently picked up EVP while recording Gregorian chants on a magnetophone. When the wire on the machine kept breaking, Father Gemelli looked to heavens and asked his dead father for help. To the shock of both men, his father's voice was heard on the recording saying, "Of course I shall help you. I'm always with you." Further experiments confirmed the phenomenon.

In 1959, Friedrich Juergenson, a Swedish film producer, was recording bird songs. On playback, he could discern his mother's voice saying in German, "Friedrich, you are being watched. Friedel, my little Friedel, can you hear me?" His subsequent recording of hundreds of such voices would earn him the title "the Father of EVP." He wrote two books on the subject:Voices from the Universe and Radio Contact with the Dead.

1960s. Juergenson's work came to the attention of a Latvian psychologist named Dr. Konstantin Raudive. At first skeptical, Raudive began his own experiments in 1967. He too recorded the voice of his deceased mother saying, "Kostulit, this is your mother." Kostulit was the boyhood name she always called him. He recorded thousands of EVP voices.

1970s and 1980s. Spiritual researchers George and Jeanette Meek joined forces with psychic William O'Neil and recorded hundreds of hours of EVP recordings using radio oscillators. They allegedly were able to capture conversations with the spirit of Dr. George Jeffries Mueller, a dead university professor and NASA scientist.

1990s to present. EVP continues to be experimented with by a number of individuals, organizations and ghost research societies.

By: Stephen Wagner
http://paranormal.about.com/od/ghostaudiovideo/a/All-About-EVP.htm