Mom's spirit visits Over Thanksgiving Weekend

After Thanksgiving the issue of what to do creatively with leftover turkey is always a challenge. This year, I  did a couple of things and was inspired by my mom (who passed in Dec. 2013). Well, it turned out she made an appearance this holiday weekend, too.
1) Gave leftovers to our guests 

Turkey Soup slow cooking in a crock pot

2) Turkey Pizza!  Whenever I make homemade spaghetti sauce (it always includes turkey meatballs) I freeze the extra. So, used the sauce and meatballs on a (store bought) pizza bread, and shredded leftover turkey on it (We don't use cheese because I'm lactose intolerant, and it's just fat we don't need).  It was delicious!  (There are no pictures of it because when it was ready, we ate it! :) 
3) Made homemade turkey soup with the leftover drippings. After Thanksgiving dinner I put the drippings in a container and put them in the refrigerator. My mom taught me to do that, so I could scrape the fat off the top (fat rises to the top). On Sunday I put the rest of the drippings in a crock pot, shredded leftover turkey, added corn, carrots, and seasonings and let it simmer for about  5 hours. After refrigerating it, the next day I added noodles to complete the soup. 

SPIRIT VISIT! - It's interesting how spirits work. When I was in the kitchen and waiting for the soup to cool, I suddenly thought of my mom and dad's house. A moment later, the cable music channel I was listening to started playing Dolly Parton's "Here you come again," which was my mom's favorite song by Dolly.  - It always brought back a memory to my mom  and I - of the time we heard the song in 1978 and were sitting down and started slapping each other's knees and clapping hands to the song. So, mom was indeed in the kitchen tonight when I was making turkey soup!

Gift Ideas for the Holidays: Medium Readings and Book Readings!

If you or someone you know lost someone they love recently or many years ago, why not give the gift of Spirit this year? 
  There are 2 Types of "Reading" you can give- one by a professional psychic medium like Ruthie Larkin or Barb Mallon - or one of my books about how ghosts and spirits communicate with the living. 

Medium Ruthie Larkin

  Here are the details on all of them!






1) Give a Gift of a Psychic Reading or a Reiki Healing Session with Medium Ruthie Larkin (the Beantown Medium):  Gift certificates are available for private sessions: http://www.beantownmedium.com/

Medium Barb Mallon

2) Give a Gift of a Psychic Reading with Medium Barb Mallon at  http://www.barbmallon.com/
For Gift Certificates: http://www.barbmallon.com/#!store/ctm6

3) Or any of Rob Gutro's books on Spirits and Ghosts:  http://www.amazon.com - Rob Gutro's Author Page
a) Pets and the Afterlife (2014) - How pets communicate from the other side, and why they're able to see spirits, a dog's ghost investigation, 3 mediums and their spirit dog communications and more
b) Lessons Learned from Talking to the Dead (2012) - Answers to questions you may

Author/medium Rob Gutro

have about how spirits and ghosts communicate; the author's experiences on ghost investigations (with picture proof of a ghost); An amazing treasure-hunt like journey in Mediumship proving messages and more
c) Ghosts and Spirits (2010) - The author's first book. Journey with him as he begins developing his abilities in haunted places, and messages from his dad's spirit and his puppy's spirit and more. 

Part 2: Q&A from Anne Marie for Rob Gutro, Medium/Author/Ghost Tracker

Back in September I gave a talk at a VFW post and there were both ghosts and spirits there. I received a lot of great questions from Anne Marie C. after she read the blog post I wrote about it, and this is part 1 of that Q and A:
Q: Can you see whether the spirit is a positive or negative energy?

A: Good question. I can't see the negative or positive energy, but I feel it. Negative energy- such as that emitted by an Earth-bound ghost with a bad attitude, makes me nervous and anxious and even light-headed. Positive energy has no effect on me because it's just like another person walking into the room. I just want to know who they are and why they're there. 

 

Q:  What about the headaches you get? Those were so prevalent during your UK journeys. Does that often come from positive or negative spiritual energy, or does it not matter?

 

A: The headaches are dull aches in the back of my head. I've read that others get the same Exact kind of dull headache in the presence of a ghost or spirit.  It doesn't matter if the energy is a ghost (negative emotional energy) or a spirit (positive emotional energy)- the headache is the same, and it just indicates there's an energy in the room - which could be either entity.

 

Q: Why are they hanging around, still? If they’ve passed onto the next life, would they still be there?

 

A: The spirits that came in were just that- spirits that crossed over. There were no Earth-bound ghosts in the room, but there were a couple in the back rooms!  The meeting was held in an old VFW post, and there are some veterans who have passed that never wanted to leave the happiness of their hall, where they met all of their fellow veterans. 

 

Q:  How are you able to tell the difference between a spirit and an earth bound ghost? Are those that are earth bound sad?

 

A: It's more of an intuitive feeling when it comes to knowing if they're ghost or spirit. At the VFW post where I gave a presentation there was an older veteran who was in fact a ghost. After he died he decided that he wanted to stay at the VFW because that was his second "home."  There was also the spirit of a young vet who visited (the one I mentioned earlier who died in Afghanistan).  I really just know...

 

Q: Can you help them to pass on to the next life? Do they have to be willing?

 

A: I have helped quite a few ghosts cross over - it takes a lot of energy and concentration. However, they DO need to be willing or be convinced. I've had to work with my friend and medium Troy C. to convince quite a few ghosts to cross over. Sadly, there are a couple that refuse to go. In one instance ghosts of two murdered women in a home who insisted on staying to protect families that move in the house. In another instance a woman who lived in a  mansion (now historic place) and loved it so much she didn't ever want to leave and still doesn't!

 

NEXT: Angels and Demons

Thanksgiving Means Those Who Passed Still Sit at the Table

Thanksgiving is not only a big holiday for the living relatives in families, but it also tends to be one of those times when those who passed come to visit, too. Any holiday, special occasion, birthday or anniversary are typically times that spirits of loved ones (who crossed into the light) come to visit us.

  Why do they come on Thanksgiving?  Think about it. Spirits are just the souls of relatives who passed. Like living people, they enjoy gathering with family members and what better time to see everyone together than at Thanksgiving?
  So, this Thanksgiving, if you've lost a loved one, be on the lookout for signs. Whether you find a penny on the kitchen floor, or your electricity does funny things, or you hear a song on the radio that reminds you of your loved one- those are just some signs they can give.
  One Thanksgiving some years ago, my friend Lynn's late brother came to me with signs that she was able to confirm. So, enjoy the day knowing that ALL of your relatives are around you.
  Happy Thanksgiving!
Rob

You can find more information about the signs spirits can give in my book "Lessons Learned from Talking to the Dead":    SUMMARY: Follow Rob on a treasure-hunt-style journey in Virginia as he and others try to explain what appear to be random and obscure words, signs and symbols from a spirit, that all wind up being intensely personal to the spirit.Explore the science behind how they communicate. Learn how to receive their messages, where they appear, and important messages in how to live your life. Rob takes you into cemeteries, battlefields, and historic places. You’ll see what happens to victims of suicide and murders, and how infants and animals pass messages to the living. Featuring: Inspired Ghost Tracking and mediums Barb Mallon, Troy Cline and Ruth Larkin. 

Psychic Source.com Interviews Rob Gutro, Author of 'Pets and the Afterlife

 

Check out the Psychic Source Facebook page to win your own copy of 'Pets and the Afterlife' by Rob Gutro.

Psychic Source.com Interviews   Rob Gutro, Author of 'Pets and the Afterlife'
Source: http://www.psychicsource.com/article/loss-grieving/interview-with-rob-gutro-author-of-pets-and-the-afterlife/7246

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Rob Gutro, author of Pets and the Afterlife (win a free copy--see details below), is not your typical psychic medium. He's a meteorologist who's decided to use his psychic abilities to help comfort those grieving from the loss of a pet. Rob's still working on mastering the ropes of the spirit world, but his goal is to help as many people as possible in the process. He's not a Psychic Source Advisor, but we believe our community can learn a lot from his expertise and warm heart.

 




When did you first realize you could communicate with the other side and what was that experience like?

The experience was startling. I was 13 years old and saw my grandfather materialize.

I was home alone, sitting at the kitchen table drawing, when I saw lights out of the corner of my eye. I looked up and two rooms away in the living room, the lights came together and formed my grandfather in full color. I grabbed the family dog and ran outside where I sat on the stairs for an hour until my parents came home from shopping. My mother wasn’t surprised at all—she had the gift, too. It turned out that my grandfather appeared during the month of his birthday, which is a common time for spirits to communicate.

Why do only some pets come through or send signs while other don’t? What would you tell someone who is desperately trying to reach their pet on the other side to no avail?

Pets, like people, only come through when they have something to tell us. People and pets usually return around the times of birthdays, anniversaries or holidays. They all give us signs—we just miss them—so I wrote the books to educate people on how to see them!

Grief blocks out signs. When we’re desperate to see something, we tend to dismiss things for something more "concrete." Spirits and ghosts use subtle signs because it takes a lot of energy for them to communicate. If people are sick with grief, that's when they should rely on a medium. They should also take comfort in knowing spirits come around from time to time, they're not always with us. They don't belong here because they're beings of energy.

Your book goes into detail about what a pet’s ashes can do. Could you explain this briefly?

Sure. In Pets and the Afterlife, I explain that ashes can act as somewhat of a draw to help bring pets (and people) to you. The physical remains, even ashes, hold residual energy. It's all a good thing because the love we share with them is a positive emotional energy and helps them "power up" to give us signs from time to time.

I will caution that if a relative you weren’t fond of passed and you have their ashes, you may want to bury them! People who were not nice in life are often not the nicest on the other side, although they do usually learn their lessons there and improve. ?

What’s the difference between spirits and ghosts?

This is my favorite question. The words are often used to mean the same thing but they're really not. When we pass, the physical energies that run through our bodies couple with our memories and personalities as an entity of energy. Then we make a conscious choice to stay here on Earth as a ghost, or cross over and join the energies of the universe/Heaven/Valhalla/Paradise (whatever you want to call it) as a spirit.

Both use the same physical energies to manifest or give signs: heat, light, water, electricity. Ghosts draw on negative emotional energy—fear, anxiety, depression, and anger—which doesn't mean a ghost is a bad personality; it's all about location. Spirits draw on positive emotional energy—love, faith and hope—to "power up" and communicate.

Rob is a member of Inspired Ghost Tracking

It’s very interesting that you’re both a meteorologist and a medium. In your bio, it says that you “provide scientific and logical explanations about spirit communications.” Can you give us an example of how this applies? 
You don't have to be a religious person to know there's an afterlife; all you need is science. The law of conservation of energy states that energy cannot be destroyed, only transformed. Think of how scientists measure the thoughts in our brains with little electrical impulses. Think of the energy of the blood pumping in our bodies. Where does the energy go after our bodies give out?  It couples with our memories and personalities to become a ghost or spirit.

As energy, spirits and ghosts can manipulate electricity. We detect them with scientific equipment like electromagnetic field detectors, digital recorders, infrared cameras, and digital thermometers. As energy, they draw energy even from the fast moving molecules of air (warm air) and take the kinetic energy (motion) to slow down those molecules (slower moving molecules of air are colder; that's why we feel "cold spots" whenever there's a ghost or spirit around). Further, we use digital recorders to pick up spirit voices that are at a higher frequency—a frequency that dogs and cats can hear.

I think it's a matter of time until science actually catches up to the paranormal and proves that it's "normal" for us to become entities of energy after we pass from the physical.

What’s one of the most memorable moments you’ve had or felt while connecting with one of your dogs in the afterlife?

After my late dachshund Sprite passed in 2013, he sent us a butterfly. Spirits have the ability to manipulate and influence things in nature, like birds, butterflies, feathers, flowers, etc.   

All summer long, we hadn't seen a butterfly in our backyard, despite having two butterfly bushes. However, after Sprite's passing when we let our other three dogs out in the backyard, a large yellow and black butterfly flew around them for quite a long time and they didn't chase after it (usually they would). The butterfly landed on the grass near them and sat (I took several close up photos of it). The dogs walked around it, as if they were walking around Sprite.  We knew Sprite sent the butterfly.

When I wrote about it later on my personal blog, two friends in different states got a visit from Sprite as they read about his butterfly on their IPads while sitting outside. As they were reading, a yellow and black butterfly landed on them—in Maryland on my friend Jill's stomach, and in New Mexico on my friend Layla's shoulder. They contacted me immediately and told me Sprite's spirit had just visited them and acknowledged that they were reading about him.

What advice would you give someone who can’t seem to grapple with the loss of a pet or find closure?

Know that they are around you. Close your eyes and know that the love we share binds us together forever. Love is an amazing energy and energy can't be destroyed. Keep your mind open, too. Don't discount anything that may be a sign because there's no such thing as a coincidence when it comes to spirit.

Pets, like people who pass, don't want us to be stuck in grief. Although grieving is a natural part of experiencing physical loss, it should not cripple you and prevent you from enjoying life and love.  Our late pets (and people) want us to be happy, to live our lives and to help other pets who don't have homes or the love that our late pets enjoyed. One of the best ways to pay tribute to a pet that passed is to adopt or foster another and give that pet a chance to experience love (and not waste the love you have to give).

---

Barb Mallon's Event: HOLIDAY MESSAGES FROM SPIRIT! 12/13/14

My friend and medium Barb Mallon is holding a special event and it's a great gift to give people missing someone (in spirit) on the holidays. (sadly, I'm unable to attend). Barb says there are limited seats (just 30). 
 
HOLIDAY MESSAGES FROM SPIRIT!Saturday, Dec. 13
4:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Chantilly, VA

 

Do you have family in town for the holidays?  Looking for something unique to do?

 

Join medium Barb Mallon for a very special afternoon of inspiration, validations, and messages from loved ones on the other side!   

This event will also benefit a local animal no kill animal shelter, Friends of Homeless Animals  (FOHA).  Bring something from the list on the event page and get a discount on the ticket price!   We will have special reserved seating for this event - FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE!  *Please register accordingly when checking out.

This event is much like Barb's larger mediumship events; however, instead of an audience of 60 or more, only 30 seats will be available.  This gives participants a better chance of having their own special reading.  We may also have a few of Barb's mediumship students present who may have extra messages at the end of the evening!

This very intimate setting is a wonderful way to experience the process of mediumship through possibly your own reading or through the readings of others*.   Barb will start with a small talk and after the break will relay messages from the other side and guides to those members of the audience she's pulled to. She then finishes with a small Q & A session.

Medium Barb Mallon

Barb strives to get to as many members of the audience that she can get to* during this event; however, keep in mind that those spirit people with the most dominant energy are the ones who will be able to come through. While she will do her best to keep the readings equal lengths, some spirit people have more to say than others. Some readings may be 5 minutes, while others may be a bit longer. 

Please join Barb after the Q&A session for an intimate reception with holiday refreshments, music and tables of holiday gifts for purchase!  Barb will have NEW pieces of her hand-crafted sterling silver jewelry for sale, as well!  To purchase Tickets to Barb's Event: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/holiday-messages-from-spirit-tickets-14297140131?ref=ebtnebtckt
   

PROGRAM: 

4:00 - 4:30 - Introduction

4:45 - 6:00 - Audience readings/Q&A 

6:00 - 7:00 - Holiday refreshments & gift tables

Pets and the Afterlife: Research: Brain Scans Reveal What Dogs Really Think of Us

In my book "Pets and the Afterlife" I explained how dogs learn and behave just like human children, and are thus able to communicate with us from the other side. One of the scientific studies I included in the book was from Hungary.
  In Budapest, researchers at Eotvos Lorand University studied canine brain activity in response to different human and dog sounds, including voices, barks and the meaningful grunts and sighs both species emit. Before this study, we had no idea what happens inside canine brains when humans make noise.
   Here's the article that goes in depth on the study, and also mentions the other study I referenced in the book (from Emory University) that showed similar results.

Brain Scans Reveal What Dogs Really Think of Us

This partner story is part of BrainMic, a collaboration with GE to share the latest advances in brain research and technology.

http://mic.com/articles/104474/brain-scans-reveal-what-dogs-really-think-of-us 

We love our dogs.

In the 30,000 years humans and dogs have lived together, man's best friend has only become a more popular and beloved pet. Today, dogs are a fixture in almost 50% of American households.
From the way dogs thump their tails, invade our laps and steal our pillows, it certainly seems like they love us back. But since dogs can't tell us what's going on inside their furry heads, can we ever be sure?
Actually, yes. Thanks to recent developments in brain imaging technology, we're starting to get a better picture of the happenings inside the canine cranium.
That's right — scientists are actually studying the brains of dogs. And what the studies show is welcome news for all dog owners: Not only do dogs seem to love us back, they actually see us as their family. It turns out that dogs rely on humans more than they do their own kind for affection, protection and everything in between.

• 

  Dogs line up for an MRI Scan

Dogs gathered around MRI scanner MR Research Center in Budapest. Image Credit: Borbala Ferenczy
The most direct brain-based evidence that dogs are hopelessly devoted to humans comes from a recent neuroimaging study about odor processing in the dog brain. Animal cognition scientists at Emory University trained dogs to lie still in an MRI machine and used fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) to measure their neural responses to the smell of people and dogs, both familiar and unknown. Because dogs navigate the world through their noses, the way they process smell offers a lot of potential insight into social behavior.
The scientists found that dog owners' aroma actually sparked activation in the "reward center" of their brains, called the caudate nucleus. Of all the wafting smells to take in, dogs actually prioritized the hint of humans over anything or anyone else.
These results jive with other canine neuroimaging research. In Budapest, researchers at Eotvos Lorand University studied canine brain activity in response to different human and dog sounds, including voices, barks and the meaningful grunts and sighs both species emit. Before this study, we had no idea what happens inside canine brains when humans make noise.
Among other surprising findings, the study revealed marked similarities in the way dog and human brains process emotionally laden vocal sounds. Researchers found that happy sounds in particular light up the auditory cortex in both species. This commonality speaks to the uniquely strong communication system underlying the dog-human bond.
In short: Dogs don't just seem to pick up on our subtle mood changes — they are actually physically wired to pick up on them.
"It's very interesting to understand the tool kit that helps such successful vocal communication between two species," Attila Andics, a neuroscientist and lead author of the study, told Mic. "We didn't need neuroimaging to see that communication works [between dogs and people], but without it, we didn't understand why it works. Now we're really starting to."

Dog in an MRI

Dog waiting to be scanned at MR Research Center in Budapest. Image Credit: Borbala Ferenczy.
Behavior research supports the recent neuroscience too. According to Andics, dogs interact with their human caregivers in the same way babies do their parents. When dogs are scared or worried, they run to their owners, just as distressed toddlers make a beeline for their parents. This is in stark contrast to other domesticated animals: Petrified cats, as well as horses, will run away.
Dogs are also the only non-primate animal to look people in the eyes. This is something Andics, along with other researchers, discovered about a decade ago when he studied the domestication of wolves, which he thought would share that trait. They endeavored to raise wolves like dogs. This is a unique behavior between dogs and humans — dogs seek out eye contact from people, but not their biological dog parents.
"Bonding with owners is much more important for dogs than other pets," said Andics.

Image Credit: Getty
Scientists have also looked at the dog-human relationship from the other direction. As it turns out, people reciprocate dogs' strong feelings. In a study published in PLOS One in October, Massachusetts General Hospital researchers measured human brain activity in response to photos of dogs and children. Study participants were women who'd had dogs and babies for at least two years. Both types of photos sparked activity in brain regions associated with emotion, reward, affiliation, visual processing and social interaction. Basically, both furry and (typically) less-furry family members make us equally happy.

Credit: Getty Images

Dog-lovers have committed a few notable gaffes in interpreting dogs' facial expressions, e.g., assuming the often-documented hangdog look signifies guilt, an emotion that, most behavior experts agree, requires a multifaceted notion of self-awareness that dogs probably don't have.
But, as with family, our instinctive hunches about dog behavior are often correct.
"Sometimes our intuition about what's going on inside dogs' heads is dead-on," said Laurie Santos, the lead researcher at Yale's Canine Cognition Center. "Like, that dogs are seeking out help from us — and that's true based on studies — which is different from even their closest relatives, wolves."
The precise wish or worry lurking in a dog's doleful look may not always be clear. But we can relish the fact that we know our pets love us as much as we hoped, maybe even more. Even if they're not full-fledged children, they see us as family. And to us? Well, they'll always be our babies.

FOR THE BOOK "PETS and the AFTERLIFE SUMMARY: To lose a pet means to lose a child. The love we share with our pets never dies, and the author proves our pets do communicate with us from the other side.
    Learn how dogs, cats, horses and some birds have the intelligence and ability to send signs to the living after they pass.
    Take comfort in knowing our pets are around us from time to time and recognize the signs they give. Learn how they wait for us when it’s our time, what a pet’s ashes can do, and the difference between ghosts and spirits. Learn how and why living pets can sense entities. Follow one of the author's dogs on a ghost investigation.
   Read how spirits of the author’s 2 dogs and dogs from three other mediums communicated with them from the other side. Read about spirit cats and how a ghostly dog rescued a girl.
    The author also volunteers for Dachshund and Weimaraner rescues and has several dogs. 
ON AMAZON in PAPERBACK AND KINDLE: Click here for Amazon Link to book 

PART 1: Q & A from Anne Marie with Rob Gutro, Author/Medium/Ghost Tracker

Back in September I gave a talk at a VFW post and there were both ghosts and spirits there. I received a lot of great questions from Anne Marie C. after she read the blog post I wrote about it, and this is part 1 of that Q and A: 

Q: Could you actually SEE the pets and people there?

A: Yes, I actually could see pets and people in the room.  I had to look again around the room to be able to describe them!

Q: Do they look different than people standing in the room? How so?

A: When I see ghosts or spirits in a room they look somewhat clouded or misty sometimes. Most times I see them in my mind and can sketch out exactly what they look like.

Q: Did the humans have any message to convey?

A:  The human spirits that were there didn't have messages that I could tune into, because I was concentrating so much on what I was trying to convey. It's just like trying to listen to someone in the audience talk softly to you when you're giving a speech!  

Q: Were those spirits able to reach the persons they came to see, do you think?

A: Yes. During my talk at Inspired Ghost Tracking, there were a couple of people who got through to the people in the audience that they needed to.

- One was a younger Vet, though, who fought in Afghanistan and died there. He was from the local area and was just "visiting" at the VFW because of the energy of the people that drew him there. He wanted his family to know that he was okay on the other side (but they were not there).

Q: How often do you think we have spirits around us that aren’t able to convey something to us?

A: Spirits are around us only from time to time, and mostly go unnoticed unless we are involved in a traumatic thing, like an accident where we walk away and we can't explain why we didn't pass.

- They also come around on birthdays, anniversaries and holidays.

Q: Does this require an effort on their part that is often too difficult for them to muster up the energy for?

A: It does require a LOT of effort on the part of a spirit to get enough energy to give a clear sign or message. Especially when the grief of a living person tends to block out those signs.

  

Q: Does it frighten you when you see them, or are you just used to it at this point?

A: Not scared of them at all!  In fact, all of the visitors were spirits that came to try and connect with people in the room. They were all people or dogs and cats that lived before in the physical. Now they're just in the spiritual, and they're there out of love. So, yes, I'm used to it! 

Pets and the Afterlife #38 in Amazon Supernatural Books!

Thank you to all of the folks who have read and recommended my book "Pets and the Afterlife" to help grieving pet parents know that their beloved pets are still around and communicating.  Yesterday, Nov. 20, the book reached  #38 in

Supernatural Books on Amazon.com!

• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #61,804 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #38 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Religion & Spirituality > Occult > Supernatural 
   

SUMMARY: To lose a pet means to lose a child. The love we share with our pets never dies, and the author proves our pets do communicate with us from the other side.
    Learn how dogs, cats, horses and some birds have the intelligence and ability to send signs to the living after they pass.
    Take comfort in knowing our pets are around us from time to time and recognize the signs they give. Learn how they wait for us when it’s our time, what a pet’s ashes can do, and the difference between ghosts and spirits. Learn how and why living pets can sense entities. Follow one of the author's dogs on a ghost investigation.
   Read how spirits of the author’s 2 dogs and dogs from three other mediums communicated with them from the other side. Read about spirit cats and how a ghostly dog rescued a girl.
    The author also volunteers for Dachshund and Weimaraner rescues and has several dogs.

A Look Inside the Haunted Eastern State Penitentiary

Inside Eastern State Penitentiary. Credit: E. Campion

Recently my friend Ed, who is a talented photographer, took a trip to walk though Pennsylvania's very haunted Eastern
State Penitentiary. It's open to visitors during the daytime and to get information and tickets, see below). Meanwhile, take this opportunity to learn about Pennsylvania's most infamous penitentiary that has a number of ghosts.

    ABOUT THE PRISON:  Eastern State Penitentiary was once the most famous and expensive prison in the world, but stands today in ruin, a haunting world of crumbling cellblocks and empty guard towers.Known for its grand architecture and strict discipline, this was the world’s first true “penitentiary,” a prison designed to inspire penitence, or true regret, in the hearts of convicts. Its vaulted, sky-lit cells once held many of America’s most notorious criminals, including bank robber “Slick Willie” Sutton and Al Capone.

Ed's photos (which you can buy):  http://escampion.zenfolio.com/easternstatepenitentiary

Gargoyle at Eastern State. Cr: E.Campion

HAUNTINGS: As early as the 1940s, officers and inmates reported mysterious visions and eerie experiences in the ancient prison. And the ghost sightings have only increased since Eastern State was abandoned in 1971.

VIDEOS: Several Ghost Hunting Television programs investigated the prison, and you can see on of them here: Most Haunted Live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEIP1lMJquo#t=281

HEAR SOME AUDIO ABOUT THE PRISON: http://www.easternstate.org/halloween/ghosts/audio

MORE INFORMATION AND HOW TO VISIT: http://www.easternstate.org/

Every day 10 am to 5 pm
(last entry 4 pm)
Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day.
Address:
2027 Fairmount Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19130
Phone: (215) 236-3300

Check out the Big Séance Podcast !!

Patrick Keller, host of the Big Séance Podcast is taping an interview with me tonight for his upcoming New Year's Week 2015 show and I'm really excited about it. I thought this would be a good time to remind you of his program- because it's a top notch production and always entertaining and informative. - Rob

The Big Séance Podcast can be found right here at http://bigseancepodcast.com/,  and on iTunes, and on Stitcher. 
 Please subscribe, submit a rating, or share with a fellow paranerd! 
Do you have any comments or feedback? Please contact me at Patrick@BigSeance.com. 
Consider recording your voice feedback directly from your device on my SpeakPipe page! 
You can also call the show and leave feedback at (775) 583-5563 (or 7755-TELL-ME). 
I would love to include your voice feedback in a future show. The candles are already lit, so come on in and join the séance! - Patrick

Patrick Keller

About Patrick Keller, host of the Big Seance

My name is Patrick Keller. Along with blogging and podcasting (bigseance.com), and doing various kinds of paranerdal research here at home, my main gig is being an educator. I am also the founder of the Missouri Spirit Seekers (mospiritseekers.com), a group of paranormal investigators based in both O’Fallon and Lexington, MO since 2010. I am a member of Association TransCommunication (ATransC) formerly the American Association of Electronic Voice Phenomena (AA-EVP).

In the news: New Mexico police catch a 'ghost' on camera

 The following article appeared on-line from a New Mexico Television station (local fox news broadcast). It was from footage in a parking lot for the Espanola Police Department. It was a locked lot and it appears there was a ghostly man walking around. What do you think?  Video and story follow.- Rob


New Mexico police catch a 'ghost' on camera

Published September 26, 2014
SOURCE: http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/09/26/new-mexico-police-catch-ghost-on-camera/
   Next time you see a ghost, ‘who you gonna call?’ For those who live in Espanola, New Mexico, it won’t be Bill Murray and his fellow Ghostbusters, but instead the local police department. On Sept. 20, Officer Karl Romero of the Espanola Police Department was on duty watching surveillance video from around the station when he spotted something strange. What he saw spooked him. In the surveillance footage, a foggy figure is seen moving through a parking lot and through a secured gate.
   “At first I thought it was a fly, a moth, and then I saw the legs and it was a human,” Romero told KOAT.
While not entirely clear, the object in the video that moves across the screen appears to be walking. Skeptics might raise their eyebrows at Romero’s claims that the shape on the screen is something otherworldly, but it is the kind of spectral presence that Detective Solomon Romero said is not out of the ordinary at the station.
   “A lot of officers have seen certain things,” Det. Romero said. “Some officers have felt someone breathing down their necks as they’re working in the briefing room.”
   For those who have watched movies like “Poltergeist,” the question of whether or not the station is built over ancient burial grounds immediately comes up. KOAT reports that the department, which has been at this location since 2006, is not standing over any hallowed ground and no inmates have ever died on the premises.
      That being said, those who work at the station have their fair share of spine-tingling stories. Many of the officers have reported hearing unusual noises in the middle of the night as well as seeing strange images in the building’s lobby that can’t be easily explained.
     Just in time for Halloween season, these unexplained sightings have left many at the station rattled. Is the image in the video a speck of dust, or a visitor from the ‘beyond?’ For Det. Romero, at least, the answer is clear. “I do believe in ghosts,” Det. Romero said, adding that “we’ve had some unsolved murders in the area.”
VIDEO LINK: http://youtu.be/X4mMw0lcEYM

Want to learn more about how spirits communicate? 

 Check out my Book: LESSONS LEARNED FROM TALKING TO THE DEAD: Follow Rob on a treasure-hunt-style journey in Virginia as he and others try to explain what appear to be random and obscure words, signs and symbols from a spirit, that all wind up being intensely personal to the spirit.Explore the science behind how they communicate. Learn how to receive their messages, where they appear, and important messages in how to live your life. Rob takes you into cemeteries, battlefields, and historic places. You’ll see what happens to victims of suicide and murders, and how infants and animals pass messages to the living. Featuring: Inspired Ghost Tracking and mediums Barb Mallon, Troy Cline and Ruth Larkin. 

Lessons Learned from Talking to the Dead for $8.99 paperback and $2.99 E-bookon AMAZON:http://tinyurl.com/q3bhgdeor to Purchase from the CreateSpace eStore:https://www.createspace.com/3824548

Give the Gift of Spirit with the Beantown Medium

What is a Ghost-Sign? It's not Sign from a Ghost!

A Ghost Sign on a Baltimore Building. Credit: Steve C. 

Here's a bit of Trivia that I just learned about from my friend Steve C. in Baltimore. He found out faded signs painted on the walls of old buildings are called "Ghost Signs." Here's an old Coca-Cola sign that Steve photographed on a building in Baltimore. Not a sign from a ghost, but a ghost sign!  

Here's the history of them according to Wikipedia: 
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_sign
    Ghost signs are found across the world with the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Canada having many surviving examples.^[1] Ghost signs are also called fading ads^[2] and brickads.^[3] In many cases these are advertisements painted on brick that remained over time.^[4] Old painted advertisements are occasionally discovered upon demolition of later-built adjoining structures. Throughout rural areas, old barn advertisements continue to promote defunct brands and quaint roadside attractions.
Many ghost signs from the 1890s to 1960s are still visible.^[4] Such signs were most commonly used in the decades before the Great Depression.^[5]



The painters of the signs were called "wall dogs".^[6] As signage advertising formats changed, less durable signs appeared in the later 20th century, and ghost signs from that era are less common.
Ghost signs were originally painted with oil based house paints. The paint that has survived the test of time most likely contains lead which keeps it strongly adhered to the masonry surface. Ghost signs were often preserved through reprinting the entire sign since the colors often fade over time. When ownership changed, a new sign would be painted over the old one.

Conservators today are being asked to preserve the original signs rather than painting over them.

References:

1. Ghost Signs - A Waymarking.com Category
2. see Fading Ad Gallery
3. see Ghost Signs
4. Ghost signs: Old slogans never die in Butte..., The Montana Standard (Butte, Montana). 9 August 2001. Accessed 6 September 2007.
5. Joseph Berger. "Fading Memories". New York Times. November 5, 2005. Retrieved on October 5, 2009. Genovese, Peter (March 30, 2012), Ghost signs: Jersey's commercial history is written large in faded paint on city buildings, The Star-Ledger, retrieved 2012-03-30

A Meditation to Connect with your "Spirit Guide"

I was recently asked for a Meditation to Connect witha "Spirit Guide," and decided since I couldn't find one, I'd write one

up for you.
  A spirit guide is a main spirit that watches over you and guides you. It could be a departed friend or relative or pet, or someone we never met in life. After I did a meditation, I learned that I had two spirit guides. One is an elderly man named "Jason" and the other is a dog.
 

TO START:  Find several friends who will do this with you, and have one person read it:

 Put on soft instrumental music and low lighting. Close your eyes.

Picture yourself in your favorite place in nature away from people like a forest.

  You'll have to open your eyes to read this, or have someone read it to you: 

THE MEDITATION:

Walk through the forest and smell the plants, smell the dew on the plants, feel the gravel beneath your feet. Hear a waterfall in the distance. Continue visualizing that you're walking through the woods and the sun is high but obscured by the tree canopy.

 -  Clear your mind of thoughts and enjoy "looking" at the woods in your mind.
 - the path takes you up a hill. You climb the hill seeing the tree line fall behind you and stop mid way up. There's another path that goes around the hill and you take it. It is there that your spirit guide will be waiting for you around the corner.
 - You feel warmth, peace and comfort. You come to the end of the path and your spirit guide is waiting there.
 Is it a man or woman? Is it a dog, cat or other animal?
What is their name?
 Are they holding anything?
Do they have any advice for you?
- You thank them and turn around. You walk back down the hill, and through the woods, smelling the smells of the forest and enjoying the quiet , knowing you have just met your spirit guide or guides.
Open your eyes and breathe deeply.!

HERE ARE 2 CAN  PLAY ON YOUTUBE WITH YOUR EYES CLOSED: 
 http://youtu.be/ThWh9QIcgdA 

 
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqVh5ICEKk8

INSTRUCTIONS / INFO from other websites:

 http://www.magickal-musings.com/spirit_guides.htm

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-13085/befriend-your-spirit-guide-3-simple-steps.html

Give a gift of "Spirit"- Let others know their loved ones are still around

The holidays are a time when we miss our people and pets who have passed. But that's the time they're usually trying to give us a sign. So, if you know someone missing someone, they may find hope and comfort in my books- to learn how to see the signs that they are still around.

A Veterans' Day Salute and a Time to Watch for Signs

It's Veterans Day - For all of the Veterans who served and didn't come back in physical form, remember that their spirit is with you today and from time to time. They can hear you. Sound and thoughts are energy.

  Especially today, be vigilant from signs that veterans who passed may try to give you, whether it be a coin with the year of their birth, passing, or an anniversary, to a bird that just seems to linger. They may even bring you to a doppleganger, someone that looked like them, to let you know that they're still around you.

*************************************************************

You can find more information about the signs spirits can give in my book "Lessons Learned from Talking to the Dead":    SUMMARY: Follow Rob on a treasure-hunt-style journey in Virginia as he and others try to explain what appear to be random and obscure words, signs and symbols from a spirit, that all wind up being intensely personal to the spirit.Explore the science behind how they communicate. Learn how to receive their messages, where they appear, and important messages in how to live your life. Rob takes you into cemeteries, battlefields, and historic places. You’ll see what happens to victims of suicide and murders, and how infants and animals pass messages to the living. Featuring: Inspired Ghost Tracking and mediums Barb Mallon, Troy Cline and Ruth Larkin.

Coins Left on Tombstones

I found this article about the tradition of coins or other things left on tombstones. This is from snopes.com, and explains how the tradition of leaving things on graves progressed over time.  SOURCE: http://www.snopes.com/military/coins.asp

 

COINS LEFT ON TOMBSTONES

While visiting some cemeteries you may notice that headstones marking certain graves have coins on them, left by previous visitors to the grave. These coins have distinct meanings when left on the headstones of those who gave their life while serving in America's military, and these meanings vary depending on the denomination of coin.

A coin left on a headstone or at the grave site is meant as a message to the deceased soldier's family that someone else has visited the grave to pay respect. Leaving a penny at the grave means simply that you visited. A nickel indicates that you and the deceased trained at boot camp together, while a dime means you served with him in some capacity. By leaving a quarter at the grave, you are telling the family that you were with the soldier when he was killed.
 

 According to tradition, the money left at graves in national cemeteries and state veterans cemeteries is eventually collected, and the funds are put toward maintaining the cemetery or paying burial costs for indigent veterans.  In the US, this practice became common during the Vietnam war, due to the political divide in the country over the war; leaving a coin was seen as a more practical way to communicate that you had visited the grave than contacting the soldier's family, which could devolve into an uncomfortable argument over politics relating to the war.

Some Vietnam veterans would leave coins as a "down payment" to buy their fallen comrades a beer or play a hand of cards when they would finally be reunited.
The tradition of leaving coins on the headstones of military men and women can be traced to as far back as the Roman Empire.

Origins:   Humans have been leaving mementos on and within the final resting places of loved ones almost from the beginning of the species. Excavations of even the earliest graves uncover goods meant to serve the deceased in the next world, such as pottery, weapons and beads.

The earliest known coins date to the late seventh century B.C. As societies began embracing monetary systems, coins began being left in the graves of its citizens merely as yet another way of equipping the dear departed in the afterlife.

Mythologies within certain cultures added specific purpose for coins being left with the dead. In Greek mythology, Charon, the ferryman of Hades, required payment for his services. A coin was therefore placed in the mouth of the dear departed to ensure he would ferry the deceased across the rivers Styx and Acheron and into the world of the dead rather than leave him to wander the shore for a hundred years. In England and the U.S., pennies were routinely placed on the closed eyes of the dead, yet the purpose for that practice was not clear — some say it was to keep the eyes of the corpse from flying open, yet the eyes, once shut by the person laying out the body, do not reopen.

In these more modern days, coins and other small items are sometimes discovered on grave markers, be they plaques resting atop the sod or tombstones erected at the head of the burial plot. These small tokens are left by visitors for no greater purpose than to indicate that someone has visited that particular grave. It has long been a tradition among Jews, for example, to leave a small stone or pebble atop a headstone just to show that someone who cared had stopped by. Coins (especially pennies) are favored by others who wish to demonstrate that the deceased has not been forgotten and that instead his loved ones still visit him.

Sometimes these small remembrances convey meaning specific to the person buried in that plot. For more than twenty years, every month someone has been leaving one Campbell's tomato soup can and a pocketful of change on the plain black granite tombstone that marks the grave of Andy Warhol. The soup can is easy to explain, given Warhol's iconic use of that commodity in his art, but the handful of change remains a bit of a mystery. In similar vein, visitors often leave pebbles, coins and maple leaf pins at the grave of Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson, the man who replaced Canada's Red Ensign with the Maple Leaf flag.

Regarding the 'tradition' of soldiers leaving on the headstones of fallen comrades varying denominations of coins to denote their relationship with the deceased, the earliest reference to this practice we've found so far dates only to June 2009, when it appeared as a web site post. The version now commonly circulated in e-mail appears to have been drawn from it, albeit some changes have slipped in, such as "A buddy who served in the same outfit, or was with the deceased when he died, might leave a quarter" becoming "By leaving a quarter at the grave, you are telling the family that you were with the soldier when he was killed."

Despite the claim of this tradition's dating back to the days of the Roman Empire, there's no reason to suppose that it does. A coin might be placed in the mouth of a fallen Roman soldier (to get him across the River Styx), but his comrades wouldn't be leaving their money on his grave, but rather expending it on a funeral banquet in his honor.

Given the lack of evidence that anyone anywhere is following this 'tradition,' it is perhaps best regarded not as an actual practice, but instead as someone's idea of what should be.

Yet military folk do sometimes leave very special remembrances at the graves of deceased servicemen: challenge coins. These tokens identify their bearers as members of particular units and are prized and cherished by those to whom they have been given; thus any challenge coins found at gravesites were almost certainly left there by comrades-in-arms of the deceased.

It needs be mentioned that not only coins, medallions, and stones have been found on military headstones. In July 2013, a wife of a deceased serviceman discovered another woman's name on her husband's marker in place of her own. Edna Fielden, widow of Air Force Master Sergeant Billy Fielden (buried at Fort Logan Cemetery in Denver 25 years earlier) was shocked to discover the headstone bore the inscription "Dolores" over the legend "His Wife" when she brought her grandchildren to visit the grave.

Barbara "grave mistake" Mikkelson

Last updated:   18 May 2014

Urban Legends Reference Pages © 1995-2014 by snopes.com.
This material may not be reproduced without permission.
snopes and the snopes.com logo are registered service marks of snopes.com.

Sources:

    Buchan, Rebecca.   "Toy Cars and Coins Taken from Toddler's Graveside."

    Aberdeen Press and Journal.   6 October 2011   (p. 3).

    Caswell, Emily.   "Ask Us: Pennies on Gravestones Reflect Greek Mythology."

    The Union Leader [Manchester, NH].   13 July 2011   (p. D36).

    Hamill, Sean.   "An Homage in Coins and Soup Cans."

    The International Herald Tribune.   27 February 2007   (p. 9).

    Hogan, Jim.   "Tokens of Remembrance."

    Los Angeles Times.   27 May 2013   (p. A15).

    Lang, Sarah.   "Coins Gone from Strong's Grave."

    The Lebanon Reporter [Indiana].   11 May 2011.

    McArthur, Douglas.   "A Historical Stroll Through Canada's Prime Ministerial Grave Sites."

    The Globe and Mail.   7 October 2000   (p. T4).

    NBC News.   "Military Widow Finds Another Woman's Name Engraved on Her Husband's Tombstone."

    18 June 2013.

    San Jose Mercury News.   "Fans Still Pay Tribute to Allison."

    The Globe and Mail.   14 July 1994   (p. F2).

Read more at http://www.snopes.com/military/coins.asp#IzcPOg7rCB2iYBPG.99