{"id":4991,"date":"2011-04-01T01:10:51","date_gmt":"2011-04-01T06:10:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/content\/?p=5076"},"modified":"2011-03-13T21:09:03","modified_gmt":"2011-03-14T02:09:03","slug":"paranormal-path-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2011\/04\/01\/paranormal-path-15\/","title":{"rendered":"Paranormal Path"},"content":{"rendered":"

Imaginary Friend?<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is a theory, occasionally a controversial theory, that the
\nparanormal, ghosts, entities, etc, are best seen by children and animals. \u00a0Why
\nis this?<\/p>\n

Children and animals are very \u201cpure\u201d.\u00a0 Most do not know what a ghost really
\nis. The best way I can explain this is to imagine a filter in our brains that
\nwill tell us what is \u201crational\u201d and what we see is reality and what we do not
\nsee or cannot make sense of therefore cannot exist.\u00a0 The words \u201cThere is no such
\nthing\u201d are rarely spoken unless a reason is brought to our attention.\u00a0 The older
\nwe get the more that filter develops and pending on the upbringing, that filter
\nmay stay strong.<\/p>\n

A perfect example can be given from personal experience.\u00a0 Several years ago
\nI knew a man who lived in New Mexico at the time.\u00a0 He called me once very
\nconcerned.\u00a0 His daughter, who was about 4 years old at the time, seemed to have
\nan imaginary friend.\u00a0 This is a common thing with children but what separated
\nher friend was the fact that it was only present when her father was not in the
\nroom.\u00a0 He could hear her upstairs laughing and playing.\u00a0 He would hear full
\nconversations between his daughter and her \u201cfriend\u201d and what worried him most
\nwas when she told him her \u201cfriends\u201d name.\u00a0 Not a common name and nothing a child
\ncould think of.\u00a0 He searched through all of her books and checked online for
\nanything resembling the name she spoke, but nothing could make the connection.
\nHis daughter soon began to have days when she was scared and crying because her
\n\u201cfriend\u201d was angry.\u00a0 The experiences continued until they moved from the home.
\nThis definitely turned him into a believer in the paranormal.
\nHow many children are seeing ghosts on a regular basis but are afraid to
\nsay anything due to no one believing them. I always try to keep an open mind.
\nWhen children tell me they have an imaginary friend or see something we cannot,
\nI ask questions like \u201cDo they have a name? \u00a0Do they speak to you? \u00a0What do they
\nsay? \u00a0What do they look like?\u201d\u00a0 Do some research to see if there is anything
\nthat could trigger the child\u2019s imagination, is the \u201cfriend\u201d similar to any
\ncharacter in a book, game, movie, or television program?\u00a0 Usually information a
\nchild would have no way of knowing is also a good indicator it may be more than
\njust part of playtime.
\nAnother common theory is an animal\u2019s ability to see spirits.\u00a0 We know that
\nanimals have extremely sensitive smell, hearing and sight.\u00a0 There have been
\nseveral stories of an animal\u2019s strange behavior.\u00a0 Cats that focus on an area of
\nthe home such as a staircase or a spot in a corner that appears empty.\u00a0 Some
\ndogs have been known to growl or become very fearful at something that we simply
\ndo not see.<\/p>\n

I have worked with animals for well over a decade and have heard several
\nstories regarding pets and the paranormal.\u00a0 Animals will never develop that
\nfilter, they can never tell themselves that something isn\u2019t real or doesn\u2019t
\nexist.\u00a0 My own beloved Siamese has moments of intense focus on empty areas or
\nshe will hiss and growl at what appears to be nothing.\u00a0 This is when I grab the
\ndigital recorder and begin an EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena) session.\u00a0 If you
\nbelieve the animal\u2019s behavior could be due to the paranormal, and they obviously
\ncannot tell us what they see, try getting a digital recorder.\u00a0 Go to the area
\nthe animal seems to be most focused on and begin to ask questions as if someone
\nis in the room with you. \u201cWhat is your name? Where are you from? What are you
\ndoing here?\u201d Give enough time for a response, and make sure there is no outside
\nnoise like traffic, television, and radio. You can try an EVP session anywhere
\nyou believe there is paranormal activity. \u00a0Once you have completed your session,
\nplay the recording back, listen carefully and see if you hear responses. These
\nsessions may not guarantee results every time, but it is great practice for
\naspiring ghost hunters.<\/p>\n

Yes there are times when a child\u2019s imagination can run wild, or our pets
\nshow little personality quirks, but these are just some tips and tricks to try
\nand separate what is real and what is child\u2019s play.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Imaginary Friend? There is a theory, occasionally a controversial theory, that the paranormal, ghosts, entities, etc, are best seen by children and animals. \u00a0Why is this? Children and animals are very \u201cpure\u201d.\u00a0 Most do not know what a ghost really is. The best way I can explain this is to imagine a filter in our brains that will tell us what is \u201crational\u201d and what we see is reality and what we do not see or cannot make sense of therefore cannot exist.\u00a0 The words \u201cThere is no such thing\u201d are rarely spoken unless a reason is brought to our attention.\u00a0 The older we get the more that filter develops and pending on the upbringing, that filter may stay strong. A perfect example can be given from personal experience.\u00a0 Several years ago I knew a man who lived in New Mexico at the time.\u00a0 He called me once very concerned.\u00a0 His daughter, who was about 4 years old at the time, seemed to have an imaginary friend.\u00a0 This is a common thing with children but what separated her friend was the fact that it was only present when her father was not in the room.\u00a0 He could hear her upstairs laughing and playing.\u00a0 He would hear full conversations between his daughter and her \u201cfriend\u201d and what worried him most was when she told him her \u201cfriends\u201d name.\u00a0 Not a common name and nothing a child could think of.\u00a0 He searched through all of her books and checked online for anything resembling the name she spoke, but nothing could make the connection. His daughter soon began to have days when she was scared and crying because her \u201cfriend\u201d was angry.\u00a0 The experiences continued until they moved from the home. This definitely turned him into a believer in the paranormal. How many children are seeing ghosts on a regular basis but are afraid to say anything due to no one believing them. I always try to keep an open mind. When children tell me they have an imaginary friend or see something we cannot, I ask questions like \u201cDo they have a name? \u00a0Do they speak to you? \u00a0What do they say? \u00a0What do they look like?\u201d\u00a0 Do some research to see if there is anything that could trigger the child\u2019s imagination, is the \u201cfriend\u201d similar to any character in a book, game, movie, or television program?\u00a0 Usually information a child would have no way of knowing is also a good indicator it may be more than just part of playtime. Another common theory is an animal\u2019s ability to see spirits.\u00a0 We know that animals have extremely sensitive smell, hearing and sight.\u00a0 There have been several stories of an animal\u2019s strange behavior.\u00a0 Cats that focus on an area of the home such as a staircase or a spot in a corner that appears empty.\u00a0 Some dogs have been known to growl or become very fearful at something that we simply do not see. I have worked with animals for well over a decade and have heard several stories regarding pets and the paranormal.\u00a0 Animals will never develop that filter, they can never tell themselves that something isn\u2019t real or doesn\u2019t exist.\u00a0 My own beloved Siamese has moments of intense focus on empty areas or she will hiss and growl at what appears to be nothing.\u00a0 This is when I grab the digital recorder and begin an EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena) session.\u00a0 If you believe the animal\u2019s behavior could be due to the paranormal, and they obviously cannot tell us what they see, try getting a digital recorder.\u00a0 Go to the area the animal seems to be most focused on and begin to ask questions as if someone is in the room with you. \u201cWhat is your name? Where are you from? What are you doing here?\u201d Give enough time for a response, and make sure there is no outside noise like traffic, television, and radio. You can try an EVP session anywhere you believe there is paranormal activity. \u00a0Once you have completed your session, play the recording back, listen carefully and see if you hear responses. These sessions may not guarantee results every time, but it is great practice for aspiring ghost hunters. Yes there are times when a child\u2019s imagination can run wild, or our pets show little personality quirks, but these are just some tips and tricks to try and separate what is real and what is child\u2019s play.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":77,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/77"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4991\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}