Category: Protection and Dangers

Psychic skills and sensitivity can be useful during ghost investigations, if the psychic is skilled, understands the risks involved, and maintains appropriate boundaries.

But, simply being psychic — and I believe that most people are psychic — isn’t enough.You need to maintain your psychic boundaries, as well.

It’s easy to be “too psychic” on ghost hunts. If you’re picking up energy from other researchers as well as the ghosts, it can feel like a dozen radios are blaring at once.

That’s where boundaries come in.  They protect you and your team, and can be helpful to the spirits, as well.

Consider these preparations to enhance your psychic ghost hunting skills.

Clear your mind.

Before a ghost investigation, jot down anything that you can think of that you need to do.

Whether you need to remember that tomorrow is trash day, or if you have a book to return to the library, if that thought keeps swimming around your brain, write it down.

Just a few notes may be enough. The point is to reduce the self-talk in your head.

Eat well, but not too much.

Before every ghost hunt, eat a light meal. Include some protein, since it digests more slowly than carbs and will prevent hunger pangs during your research. Never overeat. Whether you get heartburn or just a heavy feeling, too much in your stomach can be a distraction. Likewise, avoid spicy foods if your digestion is sensitive.

Skip dessert. Carbohydrates can contribute to drowsiness or anxiety during investigations.

Of course, avoid alcohol, too much caffeine, and unnecessary drugs.

• Alcohol can distort your perceptions more than you realize at the time.
• Caffeine “jitters” can compound your anxieties during a scary ghost hunt.
• Unnecessary and/or recreational drugs can also alter your perceptions and impair your psychic abilities.

However, if you are under a doctor’s care and should take medications… take them.  Just make sure your team leader knows about this, in case the occasional side effect or a food interaction could affect your investigating.

Also, caffeinated beverages can have a place in your backpack.  After an exhausting investigation, some researchers rely on caffeine to be sure they’re sharp enough for the commute home.  (On the other hand, many teams gather in a nearby coffee shop after an investigation.  They can exchange notes and eat a light meal that refreshes them enough to drive home, safely.)

Note: If you make spirit contact through a ritual of any kind, especially one that uses substances that put you in more direct contact with spirits, make sure your team leader knows about this, ahead of time.

Generally, ritual contact and the use of some substances should be kept separate from general ghost investigations.  In fact, I usually recommend two separate investigations:  One to determine what’s at the site.  Later, a second investigation by those who will make psychic or spiritual contact, to help the spirit communicate and cross over.

“Wash off” the day’s energy, if that helps.

Before an investigation, make a clean break with the energy of that day.

• Some people take a drive with the windows open.
• Others like a hot shower or bath.
• For some, the answer is a few minutes in a comfortable chair with classical music playing, or binaural beats that refresh them.
• Light exercise or a few minutes of dancing can “shake loose” any negative energy you’ve picked up.
• Or, you may enjoy watching part of a TV show or movie that helps you disengage from the day’s activities.

If you need an activity that marks the closure of the workday or school day, be sure to include that, no matter how rushed you are.

Have a partner or coach at your elbow.

Even the best of psychics can become vulnerable.   Always designate a team member to check on you regularly and make sure you’re okay.

• Clearly explain what you need.  Checking on you should not become a distraction for either of you.  Often, a visual check — just a glance to see how you look — is enough. Or, it could be a simple exchange once an hour, along the lines of: “Everything okay?” “Yes, everything’s fine.” “Good. I’ll check again in an hour.”
• The person should know what’s normal for you when you’re working as a psychic.
• The team member should be very clear about what’s not okay.
• If you get into trouble, your partner or coach should be confident enough to act quickly to get help, no matter what you say.
• Your partner should know exactly what kind of help you might need, and how to get that help for you, right away.

Know the risks.

In recent years, many psychics has been deceived by entities that did a really good job of pretending to be ghosts.

As a result, I’ve almost completely reversed my previous policies related to divinatory tools and trance mediums.

It’s not that I’m phobic about Ouija boards, and I won’t flee from the site if someone goes into a trance.  I’ve simply developed a healthy respect for what can go wrong on an investigation.

In recent years, we’ve seen far more frightening things than we did in the 1980s and 1990s.

I’m not talking about angry, territorial ghosts. They’re simply annoying.  Either get away from them or imagine yourself far larger than they are, and tell them to back off.

I’m concerned about dangerous and malicious entities. Whatever those are, they’re not part of ghost research.  So, due to the increasing number of reports like this, I’ve established new rules and recommendations for working in this field.

If you’re going to work as a psychic in a haunted setting, make sure you’re not alone.  Make sure a team member checks on  you, regularly.  And, if things make sure someone is watching you — not taking photos or using an EMF meter or ghost-related app — to be sure you’re safe.

Photo credit: Michal Zacharzewski, Poland

In the past, I’ve talked about the power of salt to repel or block angry and malicious spirits.

I’ve only used salt a couple of times. I think it’s an extreme remedy.  However, I know people who rely on it regularly.

You’ve probably heard the saying, “sow the ground with salt.”

The origins of that phrase seem mixed.  In the past — according to Wikipedia, anyway –  salt was supposed to curse the location.

When I was growing up, I heard that salt was used to bless the ground.

So, those are opposite views of salt.

According to folklore from my childhood — explained by people I trusted — evil spirits can’t cross a line of salt.

When psychics and paranormal researchers use salt, that’s usually the intent: To create draw a line – a physical barrier – between the entity and the people it’s affecting.

(I don’t think salt is strong enough to block something at the demon level, or I’m sure more exorcists would use it.)

In addition, I’ve recommended placing a bowl of salt near a bed where ghosts have been troublesome.

According to feedback from my readers over the past 15+ years, that’s been 100% successful.

In my research, I see many salt references in the Bible.

And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land.

2 Kings 2:21 (KJV)

That’s clearly a healing reference, not a curse.  Similarly, the Bible describes a covenant of salt in 2 Chron 13:5 (KJV).

I’ve read other, very spiritual connections between salt and blessings:

There are frequent allusions to this practice (Jer 34:18). Such alliances were called “covenants of salt” (Num 18:19; 2Ch 13:5), salt being the symbol of perpetuity.—Easton’s Illustrated Dictionary

Salt was used when a baby was born, as well:

As soon as a child was born it was washed, and rubbed with salt (Ezek 16:4) —Easton’s Illustrated Dictionary

In other words, the connections between salt and spirituality are ancient, and most of them seem to indicate a blessed use for salt.  However, older records may emerge and shed a different light on this topic.

Which salt to use?

According to tradition, sea salt will work better than plain table salt.  Don’t feel as if you have to run out and buy sea salt.

In fact, from readers’ reports, table salt can be good enough for use in a haunted bedroom.

I’ve never compared the effectiveness of different salts.  Generally, I prefer to carry sea salt. It’s what I use in cooking, so it’s convenient.

For extreme cases, blessed salt is supposed to be more powerful than salt that’s simply bought at the store and used immediately.

However, if I needed salt in a hurry during an investigation, I’d use any salt that I could get my hands on, quickly.  Later, I might go back with blessed salt.

Blessed salt

Salt can be blessed in different ways, depending on your spirituality.

Start with salt you’ve bought at the grocery store.

If you’re working with a Christian context, you can bless the salt yourself.  Most people seem to gesture in the sign of the cross and use words that announce that they’re blessing the salt in the name of Deity. (Using holy water during the blessing is optional. )

You could also have the salt blessed by a priest or minister.  This usually takes about 30 seconds. A token donation for the blessing is nice but rarely required.  I usually donate between $5 and $15.

Not Christian? I’d still ask a priest or minister to bless the salt.

Are you working with an earth-based spiritual context?  Place a bowl of salt in the window so the light of the full moon shines on it for three consecutive nights.

If your beliefs are related to Voodoo, Vodun, or Yoruba-based spirituality, you may also add a small amount of black salt.

However, only do this if you are completely aware of what black salt does. (That’s imperative.)

If you’re not sure, leave black salt out of the mix.  (Frankly, if that’s your spiritual foundation, several floor washes may provide better protection than the salt, anyway.)

Remember, most of these beliefs about salt are based in folklore and in spiritual traditions.  I can’t promise that salt will work.

I keep salt in my investigation kit but rarely use it.

Even if all it does is act as a placebo — making me feel a little safer around something that troubles me — it’s worth having on hand.