From: To: Subject: [IGHS] Newsletter, April 18, 2994 Deming, New Mexico Date: Sunday, April 18, 2004 11:14 AM ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Remove Link To Unsubscribe from Newsletter: Click on Reply To or send email to ighs-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com for an automatic removal from this newsletter. Mission Statement: The Ghostweb is the official Web Site of the International Ghost Hunters Society. Membership in the IGHS is always FREE. The IGHS is dedicated and committed to the research, documentation, education, and investigation of ghostly phenomena recorded through EVP, digital, film and video photography. The IGHS is a society of ghost believers, ghost hunters, and ghost researchers with over 14,000 members in 87 countries worldwide. Travel Along with Dave & Sharon: Join us as we start our fourth year of RV traveling as we explore America's Most Haunted Sites. We had a dream and now we are living that dream of traveling across this great land in our little house on wheels with our Welsh Pembroke Corgi dog named BooBoo. We are currently investigating haunted sites in the Land of Enchantment. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ International Ghost Hunters Society Newsletter April 18, from Deming, New Mexico Dr. Dave’s Notes: Registration is on a fast track for our Alamo Ghost Conference in June. We do have limited seating so be sure to register early or risk not being able to attend. We are planning some exciting events, excellent speakers who follow the IGHS Standards and Protocols in their field investigations and some hands-on investigations with us after the conference sessions. When the ghost conference is over, Martin Leal offers his walking ghost tour for those who would like to experience the local haunts in and around the Alamo. We will also have a special Inner Circle Investigation on Friday night for those who are experienced in ghost hunting. We have changed the admission requirements for the Inner Circle, so if you are planning on attending, drop us an email and we will update you. We do offer group and military discounts so drop us an email for more information on the discounts. We are looking for good examples of EVP ghost voice recordings for our next Jeff Rense program, if you have some segments, send them our way and we will acknowledge you as we play your recordings. Our next program with Jeff Rense will be on the first Friday of May. The New Age Movement of the 1980s and 1990s suggested that the twenty-first century would be a period of enlightenment, of becoming more spiritual and less materialistic. However this was not the case, as we approached the new millennium, the Y2K soothsayers instilled fear by yelling, “the sky is falling,” as they claimed gloom and doom would descend upon humanity as the clocks around the world struck midnight when our computers would crash worldwide. The Y2K paranoia promoters fattened their pocket books as they hyped the paranoia with media products proclaiming their doom and gloom. Doom day prophets came out of the woodwork to proclaim their visions of the collapse of our civilization. These doomsday prophets did not hoodwink us with their visions of cataclysm. The IGHS remained the light in the darkness proclaiming, “The Sky is not falling!” We discouraged our readers from listening to the doom and gloom prophets, all who were lining their pockets with silver and gold from the sales of their doomsday books, tapes and seminars. The radio preachers talked about the Second Coming of Jesus, how He would return and cleanse the earth of all evil. Their religious followers knew in their hearts that the Second Coming was at hand. Some sold their homes, their possession and waited for the glorious event. They are still waiting. After Y2K, many radio preachers proclaimed that it would happen at the close of 2000 and the beginning of 2001, the true beginning of the new millennium. Guess what, they are still waiting! We had many readers write us and ask how we can remain so calm when so many were running around with like chickens with their heads cut off. Our answer was always the same; history has provided us insights into how people respond at the beginning of a new millennium. The early Christians expected the Second Coming to come within months of His death, when that did not happened, they said it would happen at the beginning of the first century, and then the second century, and the third century and by that time the religious followers simply prayed for a speedy Second Coming in the future. However, not all of the Christians accepted the concept of the Second Coming. The Gnostic version of the Gospel teaches that Jesus never said there would be a literal Second Coming, but the Coming would happen when the teachings were accepted and practiced. It is evident that many accounts found in the Biblical teachings are contradictory when compared to the Coptic and Gnostic text that presents an entirely different light on Jesus and his teachings. This simple understanding allowed us to remove the religious doom and gloom prophets from the equation. The other psychics, mediums, channelers, and remote viewers, were so busy promoting their gloomy predictions that they lost sight of balance, and instead, allowed their imaginations to fuel their fears. We can still hear these doom and gloom prophets on Talk Radio today, but no one is asking why all of their visions and predictions have failed to materialized. In my mind, these doom and gloom charlatans are again trying to peddle their wares as they attempt to line their pockets with silver and gold. The charlatans will always be out there waiting for the next perceived calamity. We have to learn to avoid the extreme, even with preachers and soothsayers. We do live in an age where we have to learn to be careful and watchful, just as citizens of other countries have had to learn to do. Terrorism is a worldwide problem, the fundamentalists of the Islamic faith consider America to be the Great Satan. This does not mean that all Islamic people agree with the actions of the few, just as mainstream Christianity does not agree with radical Christian fundamentalists who used bloodshed to achieve their goals. We need to exercise patience and tolerance to those whose beliefs differ from our own. We become more spiritual when we practice patience and tolerance, when we refuse to condemn others simply because of race, color, creed, or sexual orientation. Spirituality is a state of being; it has nothing to do with membership in an organized religion incorporated under the laws of a State. Spirituality does not mean how much money you contribute to your church, or how many hours you sit in church services. Spirituality has to do with the individual relationship between you and God. It is this individual connection that should be our objective in this life. Our lives will find meaning and purpose when we discover our own connection to this higher power. If you do not stop to smell the flowers, you will not find spirituality. Each of us needs some “quiet time” to ponder our connection to this higher power. How would our lives change if we knew we had six months to live? Would our priorities change? Now consider that at the end of the six months, you discovered that you were going to live longer, but no one could say for how long. You might live for another month, another six months, or another ten years. Would your life be different now than before you were given the six months to live? When was the last time you took time to enjoy a sunset? I know that when we are out in the desert looking for carnelian gem stones, we take the time to watch the little lady bugs that crawl around the green plants. When we take time to watch them and how uncomplicated their little world is, we can gain a prospective on our world. Searching the desert floor for carnelian gem is a slow process as the little gem stones are hidden among the alluvial gravel common to the desert floor. If we walk too fast, we miss the small gem stones, but if we slow down and focus on looking only for carnelian, we begin to spot them. We find some carnelian gem stones are very small, but occasionally we will find a carnelian of great size with beautiful orange or dark red color. Sometimes the greatest rewards are the simply things of nature. For example, for us, walking in the desert with the wind in our faces and the sun on our backs and we are rewarded when we discover the glistening orange gem stones. A recent email to us included a great signature line. It said, “We are not human beings on a spiritual journey, but spiritual beings on a human journey.” As spiritual beings, we still must put food on the table, a roof over our heads and deal with the idiots we encounter along the way. Just because we live in the world does not mean that we have to be of the world. We choose the path we travel each day, just because we encounter pot holes along the way, perhaps those pot holes are there to teach us something. Perhaps we need to learn to slow down, or to listen more and talk less. In the IGHS, we see all of our members as human beings, citizens of this earth, and not by race, color, creed, or sexual orientation. We simply see people who are struggling with their own set of challenges, just as we struggle with ours. We are literally brothers and sisters living on this earth, just as ghosts are the brothers and sisters living beyond the grave in a spiritual dimension that we all will cross over sometime down the road. This life is for us to prepare for that journey by ridding ourselves of unresolved issues or unfinished business that would keep us earth bound. Forgive, heal, forget and move on, these are not just words, but a formula for a better tomorrow for each of us. Dr. Sharon’s Notes: Dave and I do a great deal of work while traveling and find it very beneficial to gain information in different areas. For several weeks, I have been researching the nature of apparitions, the appearance of spirits of the dead in full human form. This research has taken me down a path to new discoveries and has truly enhanced my understanding of ghosts as guides. In the process of this study, I have found that not only do ghosts remain earthbound for personal reasons, such as unresolved issues and to gain the attention of the living, they also serve as guides. This is especially true of deathbed visions, which has been one of the most enlightening aspects of the study I have been doing. Spontaneous visions are those that take place suddenly, without expectation or conscious effort on the part of those having the apparitional experience. By the very nature of this type of vision, the theory by parapsychologists that visions are merely a projection of a persons mind, does not apply. After years of focused, intense study by professionals, the deathbed vision most certainly debunks this theory, as does the research into visions experienced by normal people who are startled by the sudden appearance of a ghost. If we step back into history, we find many popular documented cases of spontaneous visions. Abraham Lincoln saw a double image of himself, one in which he was lying on a couch and the other he was deathly pale and lay dying or dead. Lincoln talked openly about his dreams and visions, which for the time in which he lived, was unusual, indeed. George Washington also experienced visions though he did not speak openly, he did, however, speak in confidence to those he knew would understand and not deem him a madman. Battlefield visions were common. Joshua Chamberlain and his men saw General George Washington at a critical point of the battle in Gettysburg that gave them the courage to continue the fight. General George Patton had a vision on a battlefield in France. Patton was a firm believer in the existence of ghosts. We also know that visions are mentioned throughout the Bible and only when reading of those events, we tend to see the visionaries as gifted men. Saint Paul's vision of Christ on the road to Damascus was one of many visionary experiences. Joan of Arc heard voices of the angels that eventually led her to command the French army. Visions and auditory experiences have occurred down through the ages to people from all cultures and walks of life. There was no requirement that a person be gifted or psychic for an occurrence of this nature to happen. Visions and apparitional appearances of the past and of the future are more common than we might think. Visions have purpose and meaning. They can give detailed information of the enemies’ battle plans or give resolution to someone grieving the loss of a loved one and help to expedite the healing after such a loss. They can give comfort to the living and direction when we lose our way. Books and movies impress in us that ghosts are evil and return to “get” the living. Fear has been instilled in us from our youth, we find ourselves elated to be scared out of our socks, and the adrenaline rush takes us from the mundane to the exciting. Fine elements for Halloween pranks but what about folks having experiences with something unknown in a new home or an old house they have recently bought? Obviously, when things start to happen, the first reaction is intense fear as their thoughts turn to images seen on the silver screen or stories in the horror book lying by the bedside. Demons and evil surround them and they are certain they are in harms way. Our knowledge is limited on the reality of ghosts and the visions of them, therefore, all people know is what they have read in the past or seen in the movies and it is terrifying. We fear what we do not understand. Consider then that ghosts have been a part of the living throughout history and though we know this to be true, we are indoctrinated throughout our lives by science and religion that what exists is evil or just plain fantasy. When a skeptic experiences the paranormal on a personal level their skepticism changes to belief. Visions are still the most extraordinary phenomena of the human mind and are also the most scrutinized by science and society. We fear discussing such an event out of fear of ridicule. Even in these days of modern technology, there are those who label people who have visual experiences as being delirious, schizophrenic, or totally mad. Dr. Raymond Moody, MD, in his book, Reunions states that, “. . . since a growing number of demographic studies show that the visionary experience is a common one in the normal population.” Dr. Moody is just one of many in the medical field that has studied visions and interactions with spirits of the dead, leading many people to find closure they needed to heal. We have many people who write to us, asking how we can justify ghost hunting when they say it clearly goes against the Bible and the teachings of the church. The problem stems from church authorities linking paranormal research with demonic practice. The Old Testament has at least five passages that condemn the practice of evoking the spirits of the deceased. The first thing one must remember is that the research of the IGHS does not evoke the spirits of the dead. By conducting scientifically based investigations with equipment to record changes in air temperature, electromagnetic fields and using cameras and recorders to document events, we do not incorporate rituals, séances, or the use of Ouija boards in cemeteries at midnight. Nor do we use psychic mediums or other means of evocation! The confusion comes when passages from the Bible are taken out of context, where the full meaning is ignored and verses are used individually for the sole purpose of ones biases. When reading more than a single verse, you get more of an overall message and what has been found is that ancient values clash with modern times. As Dr. Moody discovered, overall, the entire chapter where these verses are found, indicates we are all living in violation of scripture. The passages indicate that when God spoke to Moses, He said the following: Two kinds of seeds should not be planted in the same field; no garments made with two kinds of yarn should be worn. You should not shave the edge of your beard nor round off your hair from side to side. You should not tattoo yourselves and if a man commits adultery with a neighbor's wife, they both shall be put to death. Now if we apply the same scriptures as the church does toward ghosts, then no garden could have more than one type of seed planted, or no two kinds of yarn should be worn or you should not cut your hair or trim your beard. You can see how ridiculous these words are today, but in Moses time, they were holy and binding. One cannot pick and choose the verse that they want to apply and ignore the rest, for this is taking scripture out of text! Many people steer clear of paranormal research because they deem the research to be demonic in nature and against the teachings of the church. Yet, I would like to include something more about the nature of how we learn. In my research I have found that the advances in medicine some not from studying the living, so much as from studying the dead. Students of medicine learn surgical techniques and procedures by working on the corpses of those who have died. Plastic surgery is a specialized form of medicine, accomplished first, by doctors performing procedures on the decapitated heads of the deceased in laboratory settings. In turn, they help the living in ways that would otherwise not be possible and this has become a booming business. The study of ghosts is not new to us; it only remains a subject that is considered nonessential, sometimes nonsense. The fact remains that apparitions appear, things go bump in the night, and we fear what we do not know. We fear dying as it means we face the unknown alone, or do we? In the study of near death experiences and deathbed visions, the facts indicate that we do not dye alone. In fact, we are met by the spirits of our deceased family members, angels or other religious figures, or even by a child who is there to take our hand and guide us peacefully from this life to the next. There has been much study done in the past and yet we still have so much to learn, the field of discovery being wide open to those who want to know more about what remains unknown. In our work, Dave and I talk with people of all walks of life, in all career fields that include the ministry. Whether people deny it or not, things are happening and the veil that separates us from the next realm is not as far as we might believe it to be. IGHS San Antonio Ghost Conference on June 19th: Dave & Sharon are preparing their annual Ghost Conference that will be held in San Antonio, Texas on June 19 at the Menger Hotel. The Conference for the third Saturday in June will focus on the ghosts of the Alamo, the Menger Hotel, and San Antonio, ghost photography, EVP recordings, and EVP evaluations. No psychics or mediums will be speaking, as we are a scientific based organization focusing on using scientific tools for recording and documenting the existence of ghosts. There will be a special investigation on Friday night for Inner Circle members. Group and military discounts are available. All events are within walking distance of your haunted hotel and meeting place. Special room rates of $95 at the Menger, just ask for the International Ghost Hunters Special, as long as rooms are available. We will have limited seating due to the meeting room limitations, so do not delay registering with Dave & Sharon. Check out http://www.ghostweb.com/alamo1.html. New Jersey Ghost Hunters Society Ghost Conference 2004 This statewide conference will be held on Saturday, May 15, 2004 in Florham Park, NJ. It will be an all day event (9:00 AM to 5:00 PM) packed with multimedia presentations, author presentations, and great key learnings. All conference attendees are invited to ghost hunt at various haunted locations that evening. For more information or to register, please visit www.njghs.net or email the co-founder directly at laura@njghs.net. Digital Ghost Photography Handbook: Confused about orbs? What are dust orbs and how do they relate to real ghost orbs? Read our 20 page thermal bound book or download the PDF book and discover how digital photography is the wave of the future. We have been using digital since 1994 and we share with the reader, which are the best digital cameras on the market today. We also share what to look for when purchasing a digital camera and provide some protocols to avoid falling into the dust orb trap. Check it out at http://www.ghostweb.com/booklet2.html. How to Record and Analyze Ghost Voices: Traditional techniques for recording ghost voices are outdated and far less successful. Sharon and I have an accumulated 28 years of experience in ghost research and in evaluating ghost tools for field investigations. Along the way, we have discovered many hidden techniques that enable us to be tremendously successful in recording the voices of the dead. Our new book will disclose our time tested techniques in a step by step procedure that is easy to understand and to apply. Check out the book at http://www.ghostweb.com/booklet.html. We ship via Priority Mail through the Post Office, not the slow boat to China known as Media Mail that takes several weeks to arrive at an address. CD Version Home Study Courses: We offer two CD versions, one with the Home Study Course in PDF format that can be read by any hardware or software with the free Adobe Acrobat Reader, version 4 or higher. This option is for those using the Mac Operating system or PC computer with an operating system that is not Windows based. We also offer the second version on the CD as the HTM version for PC computers using Wins95, Wins98, WindowsMe, and WindowsXP. The added features of this CD version, includes color photographs of spiritual orbs, spirit energy ectoplasm, a full body apparition and samples of ordinary airborne dust particles we call dust orbs that fool so many people. The separate Photo Analysis CD is now a part of the CD version. In addition, a printed copy can be made from CD, as in the printed version. We pay the shipping charges for Priority Mail in the USA, International Air Mail to Canada and for an extra ten dollars, we will ship it by Global Priority Mail to Europe and Asia. More information is available at http://www.ghostweb.com/mainhsc.html. Fulfill your dreams: Magic Dimensions We all have dreams that we wished that could be our reality, but we do not know how to make that wish come true for us. In our book, we teach about the magic of having your dreams fulfilled. We show the reader how to open a doorway for a new reality where your dream will come true. Many claim this process is a miracle, but Quantum Mechanics teaches us that our miracles are simply an application of this weird science. Out book can show you how to create that miracle! We share with the reader the magical techniques that create the miracle we seek after in life. Magic Dimensions may be one of the most important books that will change people’s lives. Visit our web site at http://www.ghostweb.com/magic1.html for more info on ordering the book. The ISBN number is 0-595-22032-0 and can be ordered from any bookstore or online at major dot.com bookstores. The online e-book can be downloaded immediately. IGHS T-shirts Available: We are pleased to announce that we have our new IGHS light blue 50/50 screen printed T-shirts available. The two sided printing has a large full size on the back and a smaller size image on the front, over the left pocket area. Limited sizes are available ranging from XL to 2XL. Check them out at http://www.ghostweb.com/tshirt1.html. Life Time IGHS Member Certificate: Instead of renewing every year, IGHS members can now purchase a Life Time Membership for $60 or a Life Time Membership and Life Time Clip ID Badge for $75. This is available through PayPal and through our online Secure Order Form. IGHS ID Badges for Investigations: We have received many requests for some kind of Identification Badge to wear while conducting field investigations. We have created a laminated ID Badge with a metal clip that snaps onto your shirt or other piece of clothing. It says that you are a Registered Ghost Hunter/Paranormal Investigator in good standing with the International Ghost Hunters Society and it has our signatures and web address. Order the ID Badge at http://www.ghostweb.com/id_badge.html. Password Memberships: We offer a special membership in our Ghostweb Ghost Galleries. Due to the size of these ghost galleries, we have to limit the number of people because of the bandwidth consumed by downloading the photos, spirit voices, and ghost videos in this area. If you want to view over 9,000 ghost photos, EVPs, and videos, check out our membership program at http://www.ghostweb.com/pass.html. IGHS Membership Certificates: The IGHS offers a beautiful Membership Certificate. The membership certificate is valid for one year Check it out at http://www.ghostweb.com/memcert.html for more information. Kind regards, Dave, Sharon & BooBoo International Ghost Hunters Society Copyrighted 2004 by Dr. Dave Oester All Rights Reserved. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Our next book is spooky! American Hauntings Investigated, due out in August 2004 Alamo Ghost Conference -- June 19, 2004 -- San Antonio, Texas http://www.ghostweb.com/alamo1.html Dave Oester, Ph.D., DD. Sharon Gill, Ph.D., International Ghost Hunters Society 713 W Spruce, PMB 715 Deming, NM 88030 Web URL: http://www.ghostweb.com Email: MagicDimensions@aol.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~