The Limits of Paranormal Belief

"Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside the range of normal or scientific explanation or that indicates phenomena that are understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure."

I write about ghosts and hauntings and I obviously have a strong interests in ghosts and hauntings.  When I began writing true ghost stories in my blog a little over a year ago,  I was mostly interested in the folklore and the ghost stories themselves.  Oddly,  I had given little thought to the theory or reality behind the stories.  I just loved the stories.  I had a few paranormal experiences myself involving hauntings, but I had no opinion whatsoever on the world of the paranormal outside of the ghostly.  Over the last year,  I have met so many other people that are interested in the paranormal and otherworldly that I've had to question my belief in all paranormal things.  Of course, the world of the paranormal is incredibly broad and includes ghosts, UFOs, cryptology, esp, witchcraft, faith and spiritual healing and many other topics.

This brings me to my main question.   As people who are interested in the paranormal, where do we draw the line?  As paranormal enthusiasts do we believe in everything paranormal or just one or two things?  I think that line is different for all paranormal enthusiasts.  I also find the line is completely variable.   I've known people who believe in aliens but think ghosts are ridiculous or who believe in ghosts but think Bigfoot is nonsense.    I know people that love ghost stories but think magic and witchcraft is foolishness.    I found this chart on wikipedia.  This survey questioned people as to whether or not they believe in certain areas of the paranormal:
Farha-Steward  Poll  Results for Belief/ Disbelief in Paranormal Topics (Don't Believe is Not on  Chart)

                                                              Believe         Not Sure
astrology                                                  17%        26 %                
channeling                                                  10%           29%
clairvoyance and prophecy                         24 %          33%
communication with the dead                     16 %           29%
demonic possession                                  40%             28%
ESP                                                         28%             39%
extraterrestrials visited Earth in the past     17%             34%
ghosts/spirits of the dead                          39%             27%
haunted houses                                        40%             25%
psychic/spiritual healing                            56%             26%
reincarnation                                            15%             28%
telepathy                                                  24%             34%
witches                                                     26%             19%


Other surveys by different organizations at different times have found very similar results. A 2001 Gallup Poll found that the general public embraced the following: 54% of people believed in psychic/spiritual healing, 42% believed in haunted houses, 41% believed in satanic possession, 36% in telepathy, 25% in reincarnation, and 15% in channeling.   So, it seems that almost half of the population believes in ghosts, hauntings, and faith healings. Almost 65% of those surveyed, either believed in or were open to the possibility of hauntings being real.  However, very few people embrace the notion of aliens having visiting the earth and clairvoyance. 

Lately, I've been drawn to magic and witchcraft as a paranormal endeavor.  As a good Catholic girl,  I was brought up to believe this is evil, so I can't practice it.  But I've enjoyed reading about it and learning about its history.  This is something most people do not believe in within the paranormal realm.   This week I did an experiment, just to see what happens.  I cast a spell.  Of course,  I chose one that called to St. Rafael, St. Michael, and St Gabriel.  This seemed natural to me as Catholics pray to the saints and ask for their intervention often enough.  The spell called for me to light some candles and make three wishes.  One impossible wish, on wish for love, and one wish for business and ask the above angels to help obtain said wishes.  I did so.  Interestingly, the candle for the impossible wish (I wished that Japan would have a speedy and painless recovery) went out almost immediately.  The others burned through the night.  The other two wishes were for my husband (love) and for my next novel to be published by one of the two editors that are currently reviewing it (business).    If it works, I may put a check by believing in magic, if not,  I'll still stay in the not sure column. 

So I ask my readers, where do your paranormal leanings go?  Do you draw the line somewhere or does every aspect of the paranormal interest you?  Are there things you believe in and other things your find ridiculous?    I noticed the survey did not include Cryptids.  I would like to know where interest in cryptids would stand on this survey.  I've been reading  the blog Gummerfan's  Monster HQ lately
http://gummerfansmonsterhunterhq.blogspot.com/ and his articles on cryptids are interesting.  I wonder if that is a lesser believed in area of the paranormal?  So let me know where you stand and where your limits of the paranormal begin and end.

Book Review: The Little Book of Curses and Maledictions for Everyday Use

Curse aren't exactly ghost stories, but their black shadow can hang over many people's lives and spread outwards leaving ghosts behind them.   They dip into the paranormal and remind us that there are many things beyond our control.  They whisper of dark forces and remind us to be very careful who we piss off.  For all these reasons, I couldn't resist this little book.

Dawn Rae Downton's book of curses is fabulous, not so much because I practice witch craft and curse those that give me the stink eye in my spare time, but because it presents old curses and spells like other books present recipes.  It lays them out with an ingredient and instruction list,  all it lacks are the colorful photos of the finished project (cursed man with warts all over his face perhaps?)  It wraps these recipes in colorful jokes and stories that make this a fun bathroom book for anyone whose ever dreamt of getting back at their boss or finding a way to get back at their ex-husband.  It uses wisdom from the Simpsons  such as "revenge is a dish best served three times."  It also lists some of the most famous curses.

My favorite curse in this book is the superman curse.  Apparently,  the  2006 Superman almost didn't get made because of this curse.  Every actor offered the role turned it down.  Problems plagued it from the beginning.  Similar problems have plagued every production of  Superman from the beginning.  From Margot Kidder's nervous breakdown, to Marlon Brando's daughter's suicide, to George Reeves untimely death.  Every Superman ride ever made has broken.  The Ride of Steel in Massachusetts failed injuring several riders.  Who set this terrible curse is motion?  They say the pair who created the comic book character and 1938 cursed Superman after they were swindled out of the rights for $130.

So if you are looking for a recipe for revenge or you just have a wicked sense of humor,  you might want to sneak a peak at The Little Book of Curses and Maledictions for Everyday Use.

Three Caves

I have been trying all week to find any shred of evidence that Three Caves is haunted.  They should be haunted.   Three Caves is located in Huntsville, Alabama at the base of Monte Sano Mountain.  It is, as the name would imply,  three very large caves in the woods.   The caves are man made and were used as a limestone quarry until 1955.  When the quarry closed the land was donated to the Huntsville Land Trust.
Since that time these very accessible caves have become a local haunt for wierdos, wiccans, and spelunkers.  The caves are quite large and go back over a mile into the ground and have ceinlings of up to 40 ft.  Three films have been shot in these caverns.

In the seventies and eighties, the caves were also quite popular amongst wiccans and satanists and were the site of many dark rituals and summonings.  They have also been the site of at least five suicides and many accidental deaths.  Inexperienced spelunkers often crawl into the caves and find that they didn't know what they were up against.  Despite all this, the caves are still used by many nature lovers and urban adventureres.

I have dug and looked and researched and found nothing to indicate that these caves, filled with darkness, satan, ghost summoning rituals, and death, have even a whisper of a ghost.  So this brings me to the question,  if death, darkness, and black magic can't summon a haunting what is it that causes hauntings.  It can't just be the presence of tragedy and horror alone.  There has to be other qualities in the location that create a more suitable location for a haunting.  I have heard many theories about geomagnetic and solar activity and hauntings, but I tend to veer away from these thinking that the supernatural would have its own laws that would not be governed by the rules of our world.

My favorite book is Shirley Jackson's "The Haunting of Hillhouse".  It is the best haunting book ever written and if you have seen the terrible movie made several years ago based on this book, please try to forget the movie.  The book is singular in its subtle and completely psychological description of a haunting.  In this book,  Shirley Jackson says that some places are just "born bad".  She says that the very soil is evil.  I wonder if there isn't a seed of truth in this.  Horrible things happen every day without leaving a whisper of a haunting behind them, but a peaceful death can leave a violent haunting.  Perhaps some places draw these ghosts and hold them.  Apparently three caves isn't one of these places, because no matter how many people call forth the demons of hell in the mouth of these caves, the spirits seem to avoid it like the plague.