Upcoming Events: October and Novermber... and 2014!

I have a number of events coming up this month and beyond if you'd like to tune in or come by. I would love to meet you and hear your stories!
Rob Gutro

Saturday, October 12 at 10 p.m. EDT
Live Radio Interview with "End of Days" Radio show
Rob will be interviewed by Michael, the host - about his books and experiences.
Podcast heard on ninjashoes.net.

Saturday, October 19 Appearance and Talk
Celebrate the Book Festival in Carlisle, Pennsylvania
St. Patrick’s Parish Activity Center
85 Marsh Drive, Carlisle PA 17013
(Cumberland County Pennsylvania.) Easily accessible from Interstate 81.
EVENT DESCRIPTION: Authors, book sellers and resellers, illustrators, publishers, and storytellers will fill a fabulous program of events and booths. Authors, great speakers! Publishing panel, writer's workshops offered! Bring your children to participate in the Alice in Wonderland Tea Party and Celebrity Story Time! Lots of fun, activities, and educational programs. $5 for adults; children 12 and under free! Food, free parking! CONTACT: Lynn Hofer at 717-440-0869 or "lhofer @ frogswitch.com" MORE INFO: http://www.celebratethebook.com/


Thursday, October 24 at 7 p.m.- Halloween Open Mic with Ghostorian Mike Ricksecker!(15 mins.) /Book Signing FREE EVENT Open to Public) Calvert Library, 850 Costley Way, Prince Frederick, MD More information: Robyn Truslow, rtruslow@somd.lib.md.us; Tel. 410-535-0291

Wednesday, October 30 at 6:30 p.m. - Introduction to Ghostly Science and Ghost Hunter Equipment (with Margaret Erlich) -
and a GHOST HUNT with the PRISMD Ghost Group
Baltimore Museum of Industry, Baltimore, Md.
Ticketed event
1415 Key Highway, Baltimore, Md. www.thebmi.org/‎

Saturday, November 2, 2013 -Meet and greet/vendor
"Motivating Spirits" conference talk by Dustin Pari and John Tenney

Holiday Inn Historic Gateway '

333 Front Royal Pike

Winchester, Virginia 22602

 
Friday, November 8, 2013 from 7:00 to 9:00 PM EDT
Rob's Free talk about "Messages from Spirit on Birthdays and Anniversaries
at Inspired Journeys, Jessup, Md.
*Free and Open to the Public**
To register, email:
inspiredghst@aol.comDirections: http://www.inspiredeventsofmd.com/upcomingEvents.html

Friday, Nov. 29, 8-9pm m EDT
Interview with Ryleigh on Club Para Radio
http://www.clubpara.com/

2014 EVENTS

Saturday, January 25, 2014 6:00 PM

Private Investigation of the Benson-Hammond House, Linthicum, Md.
with the Inspired Ghost Tracking Group

http://inspiredghosttracking.webs.com/

Tuesday, February 25, 2014 at 9 p.m.

Guest with host Jim Malliard of the Malliard Report

www.italkparanormal.com/live
Podcast available on ITunes and Stitcher.

814-350-2917

Saturday, June 28, 2014
Frederick Book Festival - Talk / Book SigningsSaturday 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Location: Hampton Inn, 5311 Buckeystown Pike, Frederick, Maryland, 21704
http://frederickbookfestival.com/

A Ghost in an Annapolis Building

 

Audubon Store in Annapolis

   Since I was a kid I've been able to sense Earth bound ghosts or spirits who have crossed over - and I always get a light headache in the back side of my head whenever they're around. Entities are energy and they give me an "energy overload," thus, the headache.  Anyway, while a friend was visiting, my husband and I walked around Annapolis, Md. and I ran into some residents who still live there after one or two hundred years....
  For those reading this from outside of Maryland, Annapolis (on the Severn River, connected to Chesapeake Bay) is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County.  The city was actually used the temporary capital of the United States in 1783−1784! The city was founded in 1649, so there were bound to be some Earth-bound ghosts... and there were.
  While walking around the quaint downtown area, we turned onto Maryland Avenue. It was there that I encountered on man who continues to linger there 80 years after he died.

THE MAN FROM THE 1930s - 

the ghost appeared similar to the man in the middle

   One store we went into was the building that houses a store for the Audubon Society.   As soon as I walked up to the front of the building I got my ghost-indicating headache. The store was on the first floor of this multi-story building, on the left side of the entrance.
  The building appeared to be an old apartment building with shops on the first floor and a doorway between the shops that go into a narrow hallway/lobby with an elevator.

  It was in that hallway/lobby I sensed a larger man, dressed in a 1930s suit with a hat. He passed from a stroke, but this was his building. He owned it. He wanted it and still wants it. My hubby also sensed a presence there as well.
   The ghost was stubborn, and didn't seem to care that he was separated from his other loved ones who died decades ago. Obviously he was materialistic in life and maintained that personality (as we do) in death. Sadly, he was so materialistic that his family doesn't matter as much as owning that building. So, we let him be and walked on. There are some Earth-bound ghosts that simply can't be convinced they need to move on, and if he hasn't learned that in 80 years of lingering in that apartment lobby, he'd likely be hard to convince.

Meet me and I.R.Harris,Author at Baltimore Book Festival Sun.Sept 29

Rob Gutro's first book!

Meet me and famous Adult Fantasy author I.R. Harris, side-by-side tomorrow (Sun. Sept. 29 from 12pm to 7pm) at the Big Baltimore Book Festival!  
http://www.baltimorebookfestival.com/
Tomorrow,  Sunday, Sept. 29th- Come by and say hello to me and my good friend and Adult Fantasy Author I.R. Harris at the Baltimore Book Festival under the Local Author's Tent!

I.R. Harris and hubby

   The Baltimore Book Festival is in the Mt. Vernon area of Baltimore on Charles Street, about 5-7 blocks north of the Inner Harbor.  The book festival takes up about 5 city blocks and has hundreds of authors, speakers and book dealers. 

Rob Gutro signing books

  We'll both be there from 12pm to 7pm doing a meet and Greet/Book Signing
 I.R. Harris is the Author of the Bound Trilogy and the new Legion series- CHECK THEM OUT HERE: www.irharrisbooks.com/‎)
  My books are: "Ghosts and Spirits: Insights from a Medium" and "Lessons Learned from Talking to the Dead." 

Rob Gutro's 2nd book

 - I'm writing a book about pets in the afterlife, so if you've lost a dog, cat or horse, come by and share any messages you may have received from them.

What Happens When We Die? Energy!!!

I've learned a lot about what happens when our physical bodies die, since I've been able to communicate with those who have passed.
  I'm also a scientist - a meteorologist, who believes that science helps explain what happens when we die and it all centers on energy. 
   As I mention in my books, "Lessons Learned from Talking to the Dead," and "Ghosts and Spirits: Insights from a Medium," we have energy coursing through our bodies.
   Think about it. Our thoughts are little electrical impulses.
WHERE DO THE ELECTRICAL IMPULSES COME FROM?  - According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the human brain contains about 100 billion neurons or nerve cells. Those cells have trillions of synapses or connections, and each connection transmits about one signal per second. Some connections (special ones) can send as many as 1,000 signals per second!
  MEASURING THE ENERGY IN OUR BRAINS - Doctors measure the electrical activity in our brains through the technique of Electroencephalography, also known as an EEG. An EEG records electrical activity along the scalp and measures the fluctuation of voltage fluctuations. The changes involtage happens within the neurons of the brain - basically, what happens when we think.  EEGs usually measure 20 to 40 minutes of the brain's spontaneous electrical activity.
    BIG DEAL. SO THERE'S ELECTRICITY IN THE BODY.  Yes, it is a big deal. There's also energy in the body as a result of blood pumping through the body, cells rebuilding and dying off, and the body in a constant state of activity. So, what happens to all of that energy after our physical body dies, and why does it have to go somewhere?
   THE LAW OF CONSERVATION OF ENERGY -In physics, the law of conservation of energy says that the total energy of an isolated system cannot change, it can only be changed from one form into another or transferred from one object to another.
   Although some other scientists (especially those who are not also mediums like me) discount this applying to ghosts, spirits or energy in the human body, I've come to understand that it DOES apply to the energy in the human (or animal) body. The Law also says that energy is conserved over time. Energy can change form; for instance, chemical energy can be converted to kinetic energy.
   HOW DOES THAT LAW APPLY TO PEOPLE? Consider the energy running through our bodies that I explained above. That energy has to go somewhere when our physical bodies die. It can't just "cease to exist." I've come to understand that that energy combines with our personality/consciousness/soul and makes a conscious choice to stay Earth-bound as a ghost (for various reasons) or crosses "into the light" into Heaven/joining the energy of the universe/Valhalla, etc. (call it what you will).

Busy Month of October Events!

October is always a busy month to talk about ghosts and spirits, and this year it's going to be very busy for me. The month starts a couple of days early with my appearance at the Big Baltimore Book Festival!   Hope you can come out and meet me! 

Sunday, Sept. 29th- at the Baltimore Book Festival
under the Local Author's Tent!
Meet and Greet/Book Signing
I'll be next to famous Fantasy writer; I.R. Harris (Author of the Bound Trilogy -www.irharrisbooks.com/‎)
http://www.baltimorebookfestival.com/

Wed. October 2 at 7 p.m. - Speaking/Signing
Butcher's Hill Association Meeting
St. Andrew's Church (Corner of So. Chester and East Lombard). Baltimore, Md.
More information: http://butchershill.org/
Contact: Heather Gorius; President, BHA

Sat. October 5, 2013 10 a.m. - Live Radio Interview
With Ghosthunting Bill Hartley
LIVE STREAM at www.kzztv.com
Broadcast at 970 WAMD-AM Radio, Aberdeen, Md. and
1460 WKHZ-AM, Easton, Md. and 810 WYRE-AM, Annapolis, Md.
https://www.facebook.com/Gmps.Bill.Hartley


Mon. October 7, 2013 at 7:30 pm - Speaking/Signing
West Shore Book Club
Edgewater/Mayo, Md(Private book club)
http://westshorebookclub.blogspot.com


Saturday, October 19 Appearance and Talk
Celebrate the Book Festival in Carlisle, Pennsylvania
St. Patrick’s Parish Activity Center
85 Marsh Drive, Carlisle PA 17013
(Cumberland County Pennsylvania.) Easily accessible from Interstate 81.

Thursday, October 24 at 7 p.m.- Halloween Open Mic with Ghostorian Mike Ricksecker!(15 mins.) /Book Signing FREE EVENT Open to Public) Calvert Library, 850 Costley Way, Prince Frederick, MD More information: Robyn Truslow, rtruslow@somd.lib.md.us; Tel. 410-535-0291

Wednesday, October 30 at 6:30 p.m. - Introduction to Ghostly Science and Ghost Hunter Equipment (with Margaret Erlich) -
and a GHOST HUNT with the PRISMD Ghost Group
Baltimore Museum of Industry, Baltimore, Md.
Ticketed event
1415 Key Highway, Baltimore, Md. www.thebmi.org/‎

Saturday, November 2, 2013 -Meet and greet/vendor
"Motivating Spirits" conference talk by Dustin Pari and John Tenney
 Holiday Inn Historic Gateway
333 Front Royal Pike, Winchester, VA 22602
 Tickets for their event: $55.00- (I'll be in the vendor area)
http://www.spiritwatch.net/#!motivating-the-spirits/c1b42

Great Skype with a Great group: TMPRG

Today, Saturday, August 31,  I had a great Skype Interview/conversation with Bob St. Andre, and members of the Massachusetts Paranormal Research Group. What an amazing and talented group. We shared experiences, theories, and investigation techniques. There's a great diversity in the group, too.  If anyone in central Massachusetts needs paranormal assistance, please give them a call. They're amazing! 
  A little about them from their website:     The Massachusetts Paranormal Research Group is an all volunteer organization. Our mission statement is simply this: We will assist people who are experiencing paranormal activity, events or episodes and provide them with a solution or explanation for their specific encounter while adhering to strict policies and guidelines to protect their confidentiality.
http://www.tmprg.com/

Ghostly Pets of Hampton Court Palace, England

I recently visited  Hampton Court Palace in England, and there are a number of human ghosts there, but there are two animal ghosts that have become famous. While researching this blog, I also learned that one of the kings that followed Henry VIII granted a special position to a certain breed of dog.

A ghostly dog? Cr: Engagget.com

The King's Staircase: Phantom Dog Hangout

Ghost cat  Credit: www.pxleyes.com

THE PHANTOM DOG -According to Hampton Court Palace's book "Is the Palace Haunted?: Palace Phantoms" - there's a dog that has been seen and heard at the King's Staircase in the William and Mary section of the palace.  Queen Victoria had banned all dogs from the palace except "lap-dogs, but this ghostly dog is reputed to be a mongrel dog. No one has a clue if this dog was a pet or a guard dog, but reports from State Apartment Warders (people that work in that part of the building) and others during the 1990s indicated that a ghostly dog had been seen and heard.

A GHOSTLY CAT - The old information center has been reported several times by information center staff and visitors. Especially during the 1980s and 1990s, visitors reported having to step over something and that was a white cat! However, there were no cats in the palace. Here's our Video from 2010 of the location where the ghostly cat has been seen: Hampton Court Ghost Cat Area

Charles II as an infant in 1630, painting attributed to Justus van Egmont

KING CHARLES II THE DOG LOVER- History shows that King Charles II was a dog lover. Under royal decree, King Charles II granted King Charles Cavalier Spaniels (named for him obviously) the ability to go anywhere in Parliment buildings.  The royal decree was referred to as the 'commons dogging charter.' Of course, he was displeased with Parliment, so this was one way of getting at them.  Charles II was the king of England, Scotland, and Ireland and lived from (May 29, 1630  to Feb. 6, 1685. His father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall Palace in London on January 30, 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War.
   It was obvious that he had an affinity for dogs since a painting of Charles II as a child depicts a small dog on his lap, that resembles a Charles Cavalier Spaniel.

As a scientist, I'm always looking for ways to explain or confirm the paranormal. This article from BBC News on July 29 provides an interesting explanation of how the ouija board plancehette moves. I think that some of it is our motion, but some may also be from the thoughts of ghosts and spirits on the other side. I've found that Ouija board use tends to open doors to any type of ghost or spirit- and some of them are not good.  I'd be curious to hear what you think.
Rob 

ARTICLE: How the ouija board really moves

The mystery isn’t a connection to the spirit world, but why we can make movements and yet not realise that we're making them. 


Ouija board cups and dowsing wands – just two examples of mystical items that seem to move of their own accord, when they are really being moved by the people holding them. The only mystery is not one of a connection to the spirit world, but of why we can make movements and yet not realise that we're making them.

Ouija board. Credit: www.ghostgirlparanormal.com

The phenomenon is called the ideomotor effect and you can witness it yourself if you hang a small weight like a button or a ring from a string (ideally more than a foot long). Hold the end of the string with your arm out in front of you, so the weight hangs down freely. Try to hold your arm completely still. The weight will start to swing clockwise or anticlockwise in small circles. Do not start this motion yourself. Instead, just ask yourself a question – any question – and say that the weight will swing clockwise to answer "Yes" and anticlockwise for "No". Hold this thought in mind, and soon, even though you are trying not to make any motion, the weight will start to swing in answer to your question.

Magic? Only the ordinary everyday magic of consciousness. There's no supernatural force at work, just tiny movements you are making without realising. The string allows these movements to be exaggerated, the inertia of the weight allows them to be conserved and built on until they form a regular swinging motion. The effect is known as Chevreul's Pendulum, after the 19th Century French scientist who investigated it.

What is happening with Chevreul's Pendulum is that you are witnessing a movement (of the weight) without "owning" that movement as being caused by you. The same basic phenomenon underlies dowsing – where small movements of the hands cause the dowsing wand to swing wildly – or the Ouija board, where multiple people hold a cup and it seems to move of its own accord to answer questions by spelling out letters.

This effect also underlies the sad case of "facilitated communication", a fad whereby carers believed they could help severely disabled children communicate by guiding their fingers around a keyboard. Research showed that the carers – completely innocently – were typing the messages themselves, rather than interpreting movements from their charges.
The interesting thing about the phenomenon is what it says about the mind. That we can make movements that we don't realise we're making suggests that we shouldn't be so confident in our other judgements about what movements we think are ours. Sure enough, in the right circumstances, you can get people to believe they have caused things that actually come from a completely independent source (something which shouldn't surprise anyone who has reflected on the madness of people who claim that it only started raining because they forget an umbrella).

You can read what this means for the nature of our minds in The Illusion of Conscious Will by psychologist Daniel Wegner, who sadly died last month. Wegner argued that our normal sense of owning an action is an illusion, or – if you will – a construction. The mental processes which directly control our movements are not connected to the same processes which figure out what caused what, he claimed.

The situation is not that of a mental command-and-control structure like a disciplined army; whereby a general issues orders to the troops, they carry out the order and the general gets back a report saying "Sir! We did it. The right hand is moving into action!". The situation is more akin to an organised collective, claims Wegner: the general can issue orders, and watch what happens, but he's never sure exactly what caused what. Instead, just like with other people, our consciousness (the general in this metaphor) has to apply some principles to figure out when a movement is one we've made.

One of these principles is that cause has to be consistent with effect. If you think "I'll move my hand" and your hand moves, you're likely to automatically get the feeling that the movement was one you made. The principle is broken when the thought is different from the effect, such as with Chevreul's Pendulum. If you think "I'm not moving my hand", you are less inclined to connect any small movements you make with such large visual effects.

This maybe explains why kids can shout "It wasn't me!" after breaking something in plain sight. They thought to themselves "I'll just give this a little push", and when it falls off the table and breaks it doesn't feel like something they did.

Article: BBC News Story from July 29, 2013 on What Makes the Ouija Board Move

2 Interesting Books on the Paranormal

Over my summer vacation I read two good books on the paranormal. One was about Earth-bound ghosts and the other was a medium's experiences with spirits (who have crossed over). Both are well-worth picking up.

"THE WORLD'S MOST HAUNTED PLACES" - by Jeff Belanger is a very interesting and informative read. Jeff takes the reader to haunted places all over the world. Recently, I went to Scotland and experienced first hand the "Southbridge Underground Vaults" of Edinburgh, Scotland. Jeff provides a photo of each place, references and interesting stories. The book is subtitled "From the Secret Files of  GhostVillage.com" - and it's worthwhile for anyone interested in the most haunted places on Earth.
-    About the Author:  Jeff Belanger (jeffbelanger.com) is one of the world's most visible and prolific paranormal researchers. Since 1997, the former journalist has interviewed thousands of eyewitnesses to paranormal occurrences. He is the author of a dozen books on the paranormal; the founder of Ghostvillage.com the Web's most popular paranormal destination, according to Google, and a noted speaker and media personality.Belanger is the series writer and researcher for Ghost Adventures on the Travel Channel. He's been a guest on more than 200 radio and television programs including: The History Channel, The Travel Channel, PBS, The Maury Show, The CBS News Early Show, National Public Radio, The BBC, Australian Radio Network, and Coast to Coast AM.


"FOREVER WITH YOU" - by Medium Patrick Mathews was a refreshing read. Patrick has written two books and this is his second (I'm going to read his first soon). I totally agree with Patrick's view of "Heaven" as being all around - and not a fixed "place." Spirits come and go all the time, and can see what we're doing and guide us in daily decisions. Patrick also touches on suicides, religion, reincarnation, spirits, ghosts, and much more. He covers a number of topics that I covered in my books (Ghosts and Spirits and Lessons Learned from Talking to the Dead). I highly recommend Patrick's book and would love to meet him in person.

About the Author -  As a medium, lecturer, teacher and

author, Patrick Mathews has helped countless people around the world with his gift of communicating with those in spirit. Mathews has appeared on numerous national television and radio shows, including the Ryan Seacrest Show, WGN’s Steve Cochran Show, and has been featured on ABC News and PBS. Patrick has also been the featured medium on the hit television shows Most Haunted and Most Haunted Live!.Visit Mathews online at www.patrickmathews.com.

Announcing a Brand New Paranormal/Fantasy Series: In the Lies of Men by I.R. Harris

 My friend I.R. Harris, author of the "Bound Trilogy' has done it again!  She's issued the first in another great series called "Legion." She'll be appearing with me again this year at the Baltimore Book Festival on Sept. 29th  -so please come out and meet her. You can check out her book on-line and I urge you to pick up a copy. It's another AMAZING story that will take you away, and get you involved in the characters that you'll think you've met them in person.  I can't say enough about her writing! - Rob Gutro

Brand New Paranormal/Fantasy Series: In the Lies of Men by I.R. Harris

The Legion Series Book 1

By I.R. Harris; Clint Hardin (Illustrator)

(Createspace, Paperback, 9781480295414, 632pp.)

Publication Date: June 28, 2013

Description

From the author of The Bound Trilogy comes her next epic fantasy series, The Legion.

Fired from the job she loves, with no money and no prospects, Aidee returns to her hometown of Thorne Bay, Alaska to find her footing. A quiet fishing village with a history of Inuit Elder magick, Aidee's little hamlet attracts tourists from around the world who hold a gruesome intrigue for the massacre that occurred in the town. After years of being away she quickly realizes all too soon that she's been expected to return and that she's not the only one still trying to wash the blood of the past from her hands...
TO PURCHASE THE BOOK ON AMAZON: http://tinyurl.com/otsvomz
OR THROUGH INDIE BOOKS :
http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781480295414

About the Author

I. R. Harris is an Adult Fantasy author who considers Ireland to be her second home. She has recently returned to the mountains of Western North Carolina after receiving her MA in Peace, Conflict and Sustainable Development from the University of Limerick in the Republic of Ireland. Harris is constantly drawing upon those experiences abroad throughout her writing process and her love for the outdoors and for travel has inspired her particular advocacy for the dissemination of knowledge through various creative processes. She is the author of two adult fantasy series, The Bound Trilogy and The Legion Series, and she has participated in the Author’s Tent at the Baltimore Book Festival where her Trilogy debuted and sold out. Harris prides herself on utilizing the amazing artistic talent within her North Carolina community and has partnered with local artist Clint Hardin for her current series, The Legion.

 

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