Before You Join a Ghost Hunting Group
Jun 12th, 2009 | By Fiona Broome | Category: Ghost hunters guide
There are several important things to consider before joining a ghost hunting group or team.
Don’t assume that you know the group’s policies, beliefs and practices, just because you know someone in the group or you’ve been to a few of their investigations.
These are some of the points to ask about.
- Locations
- Spiritual context of the group
- Investigation and meeting schedules
- Membership requirements
Let’s talk about a few of those.
Locations
What kinds of haunted sites interest you the most? Do you like (or hate) cemeteries? Private residences? Well-known haunted places? ‘New’ haunted locations that no one else has investigated?
Ask what the group prefers to investigate. Also ask if there are any kinds of sites that the group definitely will not visit, and why.
Spiritual context
A few groups are open about their spirituality. All of the members might belong to one church, or one religion.
However, I continue to hear stories of people who thought a group was inclusive when they joined. Then, they realized that every investigation starts with the team holding hands and saying a very church-specific prayer or following a particular ritual.
If all of the members are passionate about one belief system or view, you need to know this before you join. If your beliefs, practices and attitudes are the same (or at least compatible) with the group, that’s great.
If not, look for another group to join.
Schedule
Find out when the team usually schedules investigations and meetings, and whether that will work for your schedule and routines.
For example, do they usually do research at night or during the day? Do they meet on weeknights or weekends?
How long are meetings? How long are most investigations?
Does the group keep a strict schedule? If you value punctuality but the group is more casual — or even consistently late — it may be difficult to leave the group without sounding critical.
If you prefer to keep your own schedule, will it be a problem if you arrive early and stay late, or vice versa?
Requirements
Ask what’s expected of group or team members.
For example, are you required to attend all non-investigation meetings? How many investigations must you participate in, and how often?
Is there a training requirement? Who is teaching and what are their qualifications? Must all team members follow the training advice exactly, or are you free to use what works best for you?
Ask about money. Dues to cover the group’s website hosting (if it’s not supported by advertising or a sponsor) is reasonable. Also, if your team carries liability insurance — a good idea if you’re hosting paid events or doing private investigations — the team may need to share that expense.
However, you should get everything in writing before you join. And, if you have any questions, ask to see the bills or receipts for group expenses. (Some groups show everyone their bookkeeping records during a monthly or quarterly meeting.)
Personalities
An assertive or even boisterous ghost hunter may seem impressive first, but after a few ghost hunts their constant comments can become annoying. This is one of many reasons to go on several ghost hunts with a group before agreeing to join.
These are the most common issues, but there can be others. Some ghost hunters think it’s okay to have a beer or two before an investigation. Others smoke at the site. Some bring their small, fussy children when they can’t find a babysitter. Some ghost hunters don’t hesitate to bring along skeptical or giggling date.
So, before committing to regular membership in a ghost hunting group, it’s wise to spend time with them. See what their interests and standards are.
- [Also, be watchful for scams and con artists. They're a tiny minority, but you should know what to look for. See our supplementary report: Scams and Con Artists.]
What happens if you don’t find the kind of team that you want to join? In that case, consider starting your own group.
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This article is from the fourth lesson in my free ‘Introduction to Ghost Hunting’ course. You can read (and listen to) the entire course online, starting at the Introduction to Ghost Hunting welcome page.
On that page, you can also sign up to receive the lesson notices weekly by email. As a registered student, you’ll also receive a Certificate of Completion after the concluding lesson. And… it’s all free!
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Really, I am tiered while askin the same question with different paranormal researchers. But i could not get any answer for it. – - – - -
My burning question is that – Since 5 years i am seeing always, any where at any time day or night, a particular
type of pattern multiple configuration of black and white ORBS. It appears in the shape of a face of a human with two extended hands. One bright orb within orb. – - – - –
Please note that it is visible to my eyes only. It’s photo can’t be taken nor could be shown the same to any body else.
Please communicate your valuable findings about the orbs.
The configuration of orbs may have some significance or message for you. I recommend drawing or painting what you’re seeing. Then, show it to people who are familiar with spiritual and paranormal manifestations. Someone may recognize what it is, and be able to explain its meaning to you. I would start with people who share your spiritual beliefs, as this imagery may be based there. My personal ‘gut feeling’ suggests that you’re being offered something good, and perhaps an indication of a path that you can follow to benefit all. However, that’s merely a guess and shouldn’t be taken too seriously.
Sketch, paint, or otherwise create the image as best you can, and show it to people close to you who may recognize what it is. That’s the best starting point.
In a very old hotel, a former “Convento” in Spain quite a few years ago I saw a pair of disembodied womens hands appear for a couple of seconds in broad daylight in the hotel room. They moved around a metre or so with no obvious purpose and then moved extremely quickly out of the open second story window disappearing in the process. That night , little flashes of light like tiny lightning flashes kept appearing one after the other on different parts of the ceiling and the top of the walls. The curtains were drawn and the lights were not coming from any obvious source. It was disconcerting but not frightening. I kept note of the hotel and the room number and a couple of years later I wrote to the hotel to say what I had seen. I received a return letter written in quite poor English stating that the hotel had quite often had visitors complain of flashing lights in the room and they had looked into it and had the lights changed a few times which hadn’t made any difference. They had had no other reports of seeing disembodied hands in the room. I suspect this was a ghost. Do you think it’s likely I’m correct?
This is my second query. In the past I have seen 2 things which seem to fit with your description of residual hauntings. One was at a lake where I saw the image of a woman appearing to drown in the lake in about 4 or 6 looped freeze frames. The second one I think is more interesting. As I was riding my bike home at about 10pm one night when I was living in a small town in the Australian desert, I saw a dog I had never seen before which seemed to be coming toward me. As I’m a bit scared of strange dogs I got off my bike to put the bike between me and the dog in case it wanted to bite me. As I walked up to it I saw that it was 4 or 5 slightly transparent looped freeze frames so that the dog was moving backward and forward in a stilted way and moving it’s head up and down. There was no sign of the dog being emotionally aroused in anyway. How does this fit with residual hauntings being related to highly emotional events?
Hello Daisy,
The lights could be ghosts, they could be faeries, or they could be something normal-but-odd. It’d certainly be an interesting hotel to visit for an investigation.
The disembodied hands sound very strange. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered ghostly body parts like that. Oh, we often see apparitions that are just a head & upper body, and the rest of the body seems to fade out gradually. However, just hands… that’s sounds very creepy and unusual.
The part of the story that sounds particularly odd is that the hands left through a window. Usually apparitions fade in and out, or they go through a wall. They hardly ever use windows. In fact, windows seem to be barriers; we have many stories of a ghost looking through a window, but never going through it.
The open window makes me wonder… is there any way someone could have been playing a prank?
Sincerely,
Fiona
Hello again, Daisy,
You’re describing what sound like residual energy hauntings.
We don’t know much about animal ghosts. Oh, there are plenty of documented stories, and I’ve seen a “ghost fish,” as well as the ghostly cat at Lizzie Borden’s house. Neither of them looked especially traumatized or even interested in the surroundings.
However, we don’t know what to look for that indicates why an animal would haunt, and if it follows the same general guidelines as what we look for with other ghosts.
Those are some great encounters, and it sounds like you are very adept at seeing ghostly phenomena.
Cheerfully,
Fiona
Thank you very much Fiona for your prompt response. Sorry to harrass you with questions but it’s nice to talk with someone who knows something about these things. I have never intentionally looked for paranormal things but seem to have come across them anyway. I have a theory that we may all see these sorts of things occasionally but most people either dismiss it or forget about it immediately because it doesn’t make logical sense and can’t be incorporated into way we currently understand the world. Regarding the hands in Spain, I’ve thought about what you wrote to me. It’s possible the hands did not go out the window. I saw the hands move around for a couple of seconds under the vanity mirror and then I saw extremely fast movement heading in the direction of the open window which was in front of where I stood hanging clothes in the wardrobe. The movement was too fast for me to be able to see the shape of what was moving – just a sort of blurred stripe of sudden movement. I had assumed the fast motion would have to have continued it’s trajectory which would have taken it straight out the window. But maybe if it could move that unnaturally fast, it could stop that unnaturally fast? My mother was with me in the hotel room or Parador. Unfortunately she didn’t see the hands. We were both troubled by the little tennis ball sized lightening moving around the ceiling and walls during the night. Possibly not because there was any creepy feeling, but because we couldn’t establish any logical source.
About the dog, could it be possible it is a memory which is not the dogs? The dog appeared to be approaching something or someone which was not visible, lowering it’s head as it moved forward then raising it as the freeze frames moved in reverse. Could it be a memory belonging to the person the dog looked like it might have been approaching? If that were the case, when I stopped and looked at the dog I would have been standing just inches away from where the person would have been which might explain why I didn’t see the person? Though it didn’t look like a cared for pet dog. More like one of the semi-wild dingo x “camp dogs” that co-habitate with people on the Aboriginal communities in the area. One day I’ll go back to the spot and see if I can see it again – and take someone with me.
When I saw the image replay of the woman in trouble in the water it was late at night and I had a friend with me sitting on a park bench overlooking the lake. We both saw the silvery stilted freeze frames on the water….. the woman’s head appears, a raised arm appears next to the head, the arm is now at another angle, the arm disappears, the head disappears, the head reappears………over and over. My friend said “Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” and I just said “Yep”. We watched for a while and then left. We never spoke about it again which I think fits with my theory. Thanks for your thoughts Fiona.
Hello again, Daisy,
The dog could be a memory from someone else, or a memory imprinted on the environment. There’s plenty of evidence of this kind of thing occurring.
We’re never sure why some things seem to manifest and not others. If you see the dog again — especially with someone else — take some photos, check for EMF if you can, and so on. This is a very interesting phenomenon.
That must have been really startling, to see the woman drowning over & over again. I’m glad you had someone with you to witness it. It’s always much better when you see something astonishing, and can confirm it with another person who’s seeing it.
Cheerfully,
Fiona
Hello Daisy,
Regarding the hands: This is very unusual, and it’s something that can only be analyzed by a person who sees the phenomenon. It sounds very, very odd.
Though some spirits can move quickly and then stop quickly, it’s usually just that they move quickly. When it’s time to stop… it’s like the spirit didn’t think that far ahead. The good news is, they can usually go through walls, windows, and other solid objects.
It sounds like a fascinating experience. However, since I wasn’t there and haven’t witnessed anything like it, I have no idea what it was.
Sincerely,
Fiona Broome