Earthbound Spirits

What is an Earthbound Spirit?
We a ParanormalUnknown approach the term with this outlook: earthbound spirits, technically speaking, are the disembodied souls of people who have left the physical realm, but not entirely moved on. Earthbound spirits account for a large portion of legitimate haunts.
Note: A common misconception people have is that if it is in a realm capable of being perceived by a living being, that all entities or spirits percieved must be an earthbound spirit.

Why is a Spirit Earthbound?
Firstly, when trying to identify with an earthbound spirit you need to remember that this spirit was and still is a person. They have the same feelings and plight of man, and sometimes more. Most people think that earthbound spirits are prevented from moving on because of "unfinished business". Though this is sometimes the case, there are a number of reasons why a spirit could be earthbound (and a number of people make a living off of identifying the reasons and also by helping the earthbound spirits move on), here we will go over a few of the most common reasons:
-Unfinished Business-
The most popularized reasoning behind earthbound spirits, spirits that stay due to unfinished business are also found in other categories of earthbound spirit, notably including vengeful earthbound spirits. These spirits usually only stay until their business has been tended to and then easily move on.
-Lost-
Some earthbound spirits stay within the immediate vicinity of their death, often when their death is surrounded by sudden or unexpected circumstances. These souls are are usually confused and having trouble accepting or coping with the reality of their death, some may even fail to realize that they are dead at all. These lost earthbound spirits are often vary eager to make their presence known, trying to attract the attention of anyone that passes, especially those who are more sensitive to spirits.
-Vengeful-
What does a vengeful earthbound spirit want? Revenge or vengeance. These earthbound souls are often found in similar circumstances to lost earthbound souls, usually surrounding violent or sudden deaths. But unlike lost spirits, vengeful spirits have a single purpose for staying here and not moving on. They want revenge or to avenge their death, only then would they be able to find peace and move on.
-Guilty-
Guilty earthbound spirits are earthbound due to guilt or regret, usually surrounding suicides, overdoses, or and other accidental deaths. They feel guilty because of their acceptance of the responsibility of their death and the consequences that follow(ed).
-Fearful-
When a spirit realizes their death, and the existance after, some are reluctant to move on for fear of a finality to it all. To some spirits, going to the light symbolizes the end, and officially be dead, not just walking around spooking unsuspecting tourists. It could be the finality, the unknown, or the possibility of being judged or going to hell: whatever is holding a spirit in fear is responsible for keeping it earthbound; fearful earthbound spirits are earthbound by their own fears of moving on.
-The Living Hold-
When people say that you have to learn to let go, they mean it. Literally. This is a term for a particular circumstance. When someone passes, we as humans have a tenancy to cling to what was rather than what it. Death is an odd, and more often difficult, concept to grasp despite experience or belief. Often earthbound spirits will stay until they feel that their loved ones have come to terms with their death and/or moved on, thus freeing them to do the same, but the living hold is what we use to refer to more extreme cases. The living hold is a term we use to describe situations where the living become obsessed with the desceased, going beyond what is seen as the general terms of grieving. You have to remember that these earthbound souls are human spirits, with emotion and empathy; they are not going to want to abandon their loved ones if they do not feel it is right to do so, nor if their loved ones can not learn to let go.
Note: A residual haunt can be an earthbound spirit, even though it's technically not an intelligent haunt. It still feels and is a human soul, it is just unaware of its current condition or circumstance. Some residual haunts have been theorized to be surrounding lost or vengeful earthbound souls.

The Reality is...
...that the likelihood of a deceased loved one haunting you for the sake of it is rather rare; it has and does happen, but it's not as popular of an occurrence as most would like (or tend) to believe. As with any kind of experience that suggests a haunt, we suggest that you try to observe objectively. We have encountered several incidents where people wish to contact their death loved ones so badly that they will start to assign normal occurrences, or other non-related paranormal phenomena, to the presence of the loved one as a means of affirmation. No matter the situation, sometimes the living hold just is not enough and when emotions get involved things always get messy. Earthbound spirits deserve to move on.

If you have had an experience, or are curious as to whether or not you or your home might be haunted, there is useful information in the Hauntings 101 blog.

Source(s):
Shadowlands
Personal knowledge from various research and investigation.

Who is La Llorna?

La Llorona is a fairly common tale in the North America, as if finds it's roots in Mexico, but has reached as far as South America and other countries where Hispanic folklore is more widespread.

The most common storyline goes:
There was a beautiful woman named Maria who wished, to and eventually did, marry. The couple had three children, but as the husband started to work away Maria, who was ignored and eventually cheated on by her husband became quite troubled. So one day she finally snapped and killed her children by drowning them, consumed by a jealous rage when she learns her husband is going to wed the other woman. Realizing what she has done, Maria then becomes overwhelmed by guilt weeping and crying hysterically and eventually kills herself. After a man finds her body by the river with her children and they are buried, the tale of her ghost spread quite rapidly as people heard tales of mysterious weeping sounds. Thats the background, at least.
The theory behind exactly why and where her mournful spirit haunts are rather broad and typically vary, some by topography and other means of geographic reference. Various accounts portray how La Llorona acts similar to the crying banshee, mourning the deaths of people around her, while other darker varieties of the tale foretell of death omens, and even how La Llorona will haunt and sometimes kill people, and children. The tales of her murderous spirit generally are accompanied about how she haunts various topographical entities: near a river or some other small body of water, a small back road or alley, and some even say she will come if you live near a particular variety of tree. Most of the darker conclusions of the haunting story result in drowned children or dead men as La Llorona lurks for revenge against her unfaithful husband.
Typically, the legend serves as a cautionary tale on several levels. Parents will warn their children that both bad behavior and being outside after dark will result in a visit from the spirit. The tale also warns teenage girls not to be enticed by status, wealth, material goods, or by men making declarations of love or any promises too good to be true. Some also believe that those who hear the cries of La Llorona are marked for death.
Personally I have some quite unnerving memories associated with the story of La Llorona. When I first heard the tale, I was about 4 or 5 year old and living in a small town in called Saguache, Colorado. The tale of the weeping (or crying) woman (literal translation of La Llorona) reached my school and scared the heck out of a lot of us. It was the first scary story anyone every told me and the cautious fear of it is one of my earliest memories. Thoughts of La Llorona often left me sleeping with a baseball bat as a means of protection. These days I know better than to try and hit a ghost with a baseball bat, but it just goes to show how this tale has spread and why I would have a particular interest in it. I also think it's interesting to note how the Susan Smith murder case resembles that of La Llorona tale.

Sources:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Llorona
2. http://www.literacynet.org/lp/hperspectives/llorona.html

Hauntings FAQ's

Ever feel as though you are not alone?

Hauntings and contact with the other side has been well documented since the written word. It's man's attempt at the age old question of what happens after death. Whether there is a paradise in the sky, or we are simply here for eternity in a more spiritual form: when some people die, they don't want to leave. This is going to be more of an educational and informational blog and not one of a recent event or news bulletin in the world of paranormal phenomena. Today we are going to cover a few basic questions: How can I tell if I am haunted? What is haunting me? What am I haunted? Whether it is all in your head (common ways to debunk)? What can I do about it?

There is a lot of ground to cover here, so you might want to get comfortable.

How can I tell if I or my home are haunted?

If you have any reason to feel you are haunted, know that you are not alone. We are not trying to tell you that there's not the possibility that you are entirely schizophrenic, but we will say that you may not be all that crazy.

Though most occurrences can be easily debunked, there are a variety of occurrences associated with a haunting including apparitions, EVP, Ectoplasm, voices, high EMF readings, large temperature fluctuations, banging or rapping, orbs... and the list goes on.

What is haunting me?

If you genuinely do feel that you are haunted, there are some simple things you can do to check out the other world around you and help you legitimize or debunk your claim. First off, you need to find out what's going on and identify your symptoms. I speak as though it's some kind of ailment, but in all honesty, most haunts are harmless. You might be surprised to find that it's easy to categorize a haunt if you have an intelligent full-bodied apparition standing beside you, but otherwise it can sometimes be tricky.
There are three basic categories of haunt:
- Residual -
- Intelligent -
- Inhuman -
A Residual Haunt is an unintelligent haunt. Plain and simple. Residual haunts are, generally speaking, a haunt where there is a repeated event or phenomena regardless of outside influence. An unintelligent/residual haunt will not notice the presence of it's fleshy observers, and often will occur around the same time and/or place. There have been many documented reports of unintelligent apparitions and various repetitive events; if you see it and it doesn't see you, it's a good bet that it is a residual haunt. Most residual haunts are as if someone recorded an event or scene and then replayed it on an eternal loop. As mentioned before, apparitions along with EVP's or sounds, are generally reported, but it does not have to be either to be a Residual. Just a repetitive sight, sound, event or unintelligently motivated paranormal occurrence. Generally speaking, you will not have to worry about a residual haunt because they are an unintelligent haunt and not malevolent in nature, occasionally they have been reported to be the cause of property damage. Though not an intelligent haunt, these can be the result of an earthbound spirit.
An Intelligent Haunt is broad category covering everything malevolent and benign from a previous owner to your mom's dead great aunt who just wanted to drop by and say hi. These are spirits or entities that respond to outside stimuli including conversation, provocation, or even just noting the presence of other people or objects in the surrounding area. These can be apparitions, EVP, or any other sight of intelligence or motivation behind the signs of a haunt. Generally speaking, you have to remember that most intelligent haunts are by entities that were at some point human and are now earthbound spirits, so they have emotions just like any other human; they can be angered or joyful, and can be easily affected by their surroundings. In other words, it's not a good idea to pick on a ghost because sometimes they hit back harder.
Lastly, there are Inhuman Haunts. There are two inhuman haunts: Demonic and Poltergeist.
Poltergeist. The word poltergeist is a German word and literally translated means "noisy ghost". For the most part a poltergeist is exactly that, an intelligent entity that communicates through various avenues of noise or the moving of objects (some also attribute asports to poltergeist activity). The down side of discovering you have a poltergeist us that they tend to be rather moody; not necessarily malevolent, but just easily irritated. The odds of one throwing knives at you like something out of a movie are extremely unlikely, but I have seen reports of people having chair pulled out from under them and other similar occurrences. Usually manifested due to children or teenagers and is enhanced by limestone and/or quartz deposits. Some people attribute poltergeist activity to Psychokinesis.
Demonic haunts. A lot of people see demonic and start thinking of Hell, Satan, and any number of other commercial identifications associated with the word. Truth is, these entities are rare and they are mean. These are hostile and resentful, non-human, entities often accompanied by several symptoms; most notable of which is the presence of sulfur or some kind of similarly ill-scented odor. Though little is actually known about the entities origin, it is rather obvious that they would be malevolent in nature, as most Demonic haunts are a direct attempt at possession, though not all are swift and direct about it. Interestingly, some Demonic entities have been known to mimic the signs of a poltergeist. Please note that these are extremely rare and if you believe you have a poltergeist, do not freak out about how we told you that you have a demon in your closet because the reality is that you probably don't.

Why am I (or my home) haunted?

There are a number of explanations for ghostly occurrences. Once you know what kind of haunt you are experiencing, it is fairly simple to identify possible reasons these occurrences are taking place. The best way to find out possible explanations for a haunt is to learn the history of not only your house and/or it's previous owners, but also the history of the land. Of course, there is always home remodeling, invocation, and other obvious ways to provoke an intelligent entity. A history of some form of burial grounds, suicide, psychotic episodes, war, murder, and other extreme circumstances are often found surrounding the areas of genuine haunts.

What are the odds that it's all in my head?

For every person that has a genuine experience with a ghost or some other kind of paranormal phenomena, there are two others out there lying. Unfortunately, such a statistic is taken a great toll on the credibility of various sightings and the possibility of phenomena in society today.
The best way to tell if you have anything paranormal going on is to approach it as skeptically as possible. There is nothing going on unless there is no other way to prove that it happened.There are a number of easy ways to debunk occurrences that people believe to be paranormal, but it can be anything from noisy pipes to a bad camera. Here I will give a few quick and easy ways to debunk some classic occurrences. Keep in mind that not all of these occurrences can or will be debunked and that's where the paranormal phenomena comes into play.

- - Some Basic Debunking - -

Sulfur Smell - There can be any number of explanations other than a demonic haunt for this occurrence, seek them out. In many houses the water smells, I've personally seen this a number of times. It resembles rotten eggs and is often attributed to a demonic haunt.

Drafts/Temperature Fluctuations - check for vents, windows, and other ways for air to enter or travel.
Voices / EVP's - be sure there are no outside influences such as pedestrians, etc.
Poltergeist activity (including Rapping/banging) - A lot of older places have noisy pipes that run through the walls and fluctuations in the temperature(s) of those pipes can cause noises similar to poltergeist activity. Keep in mind that drafts can move doors , shutter, etc. Another explanation for Poltergeist activity is Psychokinesis, which is self-induced.
Orbs - Orbs are often seen as some kind of apparition or spirit. I personally do not believe this. Orbs have also been attributed to the creation of crop circles and have been associated with other paranormal phenomena such as rods, but honestly I have to say that I do not know. I must say that orbs in still photography, digital or otherwise, have no impression on me because of the high tendency for it to simply be dust on a lens or some other kind of film or camera edit or glitch. More often then not, still photographs of orbs can easily be attributed dust in the air or on the actual camera lens.

What do I do if I am haunted?

If all else fails and you find yourself with a genuine haunting, the first thing I would recommend doing is relaxing. If it is a residual, benign, or non-malevolent entity you really have nothing to fear. If it is a malevolest entity, poltergiest, or even a demonic haunt, you still need to relax. These are entities that feed off of negative energy and fear. There are three steps I recommend doing in the case of the latter:
1. Take back your home or self - This is your home, your body, your space. Yours, not theirs. You have the right to tell them to go away and force them to, enforce and empower that right. Sometimes something as simple as asking it to leave will work.
2. Cleanse - If after trying to take back your space or home you are still faced with paranormal phenomena associated with the haunting, there are a number of ways you can cleanse your space. The easiest way is to burn Sage; there are a number of different options available though for various entities and belief systems. If you want more ideas, try Google.
3. Exorcism - An Exorcism, in my opinion at least, is just an glorified cleansing ritual. Popularized by the Roman Catholics, these ceremonies can have more of an impact for cleansing than other rituals because of the faith many people put in the Clergyman, High Priest, Shaman, etc.

Sources:
TAPS
TAPS Glossary
My personal knowledge from various research and investigation.

Wendigo

For our first blog, I figure I will post details and/or information of the infamous Wendigo(s). (AKA: Windigo, Windago, Wee-tee-go, Windiga, Witiko, Wihtikow, and various other variations.)

If you have ever read (or seen) The Village, you can understand what I mean when I say that things are not always what they seem. From the beginning of time, man has created stories, myths, and so forth about the things that live in the dark, the woods, or the unknown lands. The Wendigo is one of these many tales. Generally associated with the dark, cold, wooded areas of northern Minnesota and Ontario, the Wendigo is a well-noted part of Algonquian culture and since had lived on through other Native American cultures and legends.
As with the Witch and Werewolf trials in Europe, Canada had it's share of Wendigo trials in the settler days; such accounts were often well documented.

What is a Wendigo?

The Wendigo's classification has remained debatable, jumping somewhere between the physical and biological anomolies associated with Cryptozoology and a spiritual view ranging from malevolent spirit to forms of demonic possesion.
Theories of how one becomes a Wendigo are varied, but they all resort to one cause: cannibalism. Some believe a human could transform into the Wendigo, while others believed the phenomena to be related directly with possession by a Wendigo spirit. No matter, all cultures in which the Wendigo myth appeared shared the belief that human beings could turn into Wendigos if they ever resorted to cannibalism or, alternately, become possessed by the demonic spirit of a Wendigo.
They were strongly associated with the Winter, the North, and coldness, as well as with famine and starvation. At the same time, Wendigos were embodiments of gluttony, greed, and excess; never satisfied after killing and consuming one person. There is even a satirical ceremonial dance originally performed during times of famine to reinforce the seriousness of the Wendigo taboo.

Can a Wendigo stop itself?

Though most tales recount the Wendigo as being cannibalistic, dangerous, and malevolent, some still maintain that the human spirit can have some impact on the decisions of the Wendigo. That the host can still try to live far from civilization to prevent anyone from gaining the misfortune of becoming it's next victim. Some Wendigo possessed people were said to even commit suicide to prevent hurting anyone.

What does a Wendigo look like?

To paraphrase various complex and detailed descriptions of the creature, the Wendigo is an extremely skeletal creature lacking any real muscular tissue other than skin and bones, it's skin color ranges from yellow to ash gray, and its eyes range from deep blackened pits to glowing yellow eyes. The description varies quite a bit at times; adding hair, fur, fangs, antlers, and other variations, the Wendigo is one truly left up to the darkest reaches of the human imagination. Some groups believed whenever a Wendigo ate another person, they would grow larger, in proportion to the meal they had just eaten, so that they could never be full.
To sum them up: Windego(s) are tall, lanky and are driven by a horribly insatiable hunger.

Is there any recent Wendigo Activity?

A Wendigo allegedly made a number of appearances near a town called Rosesu in Northern Minnesota from the late 1800's through the 1920's. Each time that it was reported, an unexpected death followed and finally, it was seen no more. The latest sighting in Ontario of such a creature was back in 1997 by an American trucker near St. Catherine's.

What our your Conclusion?

Some theorize that the tales of the Wendigo were the result of sightings of Big-Foot-type creatures, which the local leaders quickly took advantage of as a way to repress cannibalistic views of some, thus they created the story of the Wendigo. With this in mind, it is interesting to note that the wendigo legend is restricted to the colder parts of the American continent and hasn't spread south. Some would suggest that this bit of information would encourage the idea that a Wendigo is some kind of fictitious tale surrounding some form of ape-man.
Unfortunately, many people tend to believe that the Wendigo is more of a spiritual takeover, or infection, than anything else. Some stories borderline the theories of Werewolf lore; being if one is bitten that the spirit of the Wendigo infects them with no real cure. My personal opinion is that the legends created some form of Wendigo-Psychosis frenzy, resulting in cannibalistic tendencies in persons who were said to be possessed by the Wendigo Spirit. Though, by that same coin, people could simply be possessed and by that note out of their own mind, which is a troubled mental state in itself. Either way, the northern tales of the Wendigo will live on, deterring canabalists everywhere. Real or not, anything that keeps people from trying to eat me is okay in my book.

Anything else?

Like Lycanthropy and it's obvious associate with Lycans or Werewolves, Wendigo's have an associated mental condition related to the symptoms of the legendary cannibal, known as Wendigo Psychosis. But Windego Psychosis is a coined term and is not recognized as an official mental condition my the APA.

Note: Wendigo Psychosis is also an associated mental condition. (As with the term Wendigo, the associated mental condition has many referenced spellings and alternative terms) It refers to a condition in which sufferers developed an insatiable desire to eat human flesh even when other food sources were readily available, often as a result of prior famine cannibalism Windigo Psychosis is identified by Western psychologists as a culture-bound syndrome, though members of the aboriginal communities in which it existed believed cases literally involved individuals turning into Wendigos. Such individuals generally recognized these symptoms as meaning that they were turning into Wendigos, and often requested to be executed before they could harm others.

Popular Culture Note: Recently the Wendigo has also become a horror entity of contemporary literature and film, much like the vampire, werewolf, or zombie, although these fictional depictions often bear little resemblance to the original entity.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendigo
http://www.prairieghosts.com/wendigo.html
http://dinojoe.8m.com/crypto/windigo.html
Troy Taylor
Trevor Mendham