Legend Tripping

What is legend tripping?
Legend tripping (AKA: Ostenstion) has become a popular modern day pastime by avid folklorists, intrigued anthropologists, and everyone from the average adolescent to the skeptical. However, the theory of legend tripping has been around for years, even Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, which contains several accounts of adolescents visiting allegedly haunted houses and caves, is a good example.
Legend tripping has recently been popularized by shows like Ghost Hunters, Ghost Hunters International, Weird Travels, Most Haunted, Paranormal, etc. Note that legend tripping is not necessarily ghost hunting. It can result in ghost hunting, but you do not have to have the equipment required for effective ghost hunting in order to go legend tripping.
Legend tripping is a term used to describe nocturnal pilgrimages to a places that have alleged scenes of some tragic, horrific, and possibly supernatural event or haunting. Ostensive definition was coined by semitotician Umberto Eco, designating communicative events in which speakers substitute actions for words. (For example, putting a finger to the lips called for silence.) The term was then applied by Linda Dégh and Andrew Vazsonyi to refer to ways in which real-life actions are guided by legends.

Where to go legend tripping?
While the stories that attach to the sites of legend tripping vary from place to place, and sometimes contain a kernel of historical truth, there are a number of motifs and recurring themes in the legends and the sites. Abandoned buildings, remote bridges, tunnels, caves, rural roads, specific woods or other uninhabited (or semi-uninhabited) areas, and most importantly, cemetaries are frequent sites of legend-tripping pilgrimages.
Legend-tripping sites typically stand in relatively isolated and rural areas that are nevertheless easily reached by automobile, outside of major population centres. For the legend to propagate, first, the adolescent pilgrims must be able to get there and, secondly, the odds must be good that they will be alone when they arrive.
There are a number of literature sources for legend tripping information. Some places often associated with legend tripping here.

What to do while legend tripping?
Once the legend trippers arrive, they spend some part of the night there, and perform the ritual if one is prescribed as a means of daring and testing the evil spirit that haunts the place. The rituals are varied; in legend trips to cemeteries, there is usually a specific grave that the legend attaches to, and sometimes a tombstone that must be climbed, stepped on, sat on, or moved. As they retreat, they interpret any strange sounds, shadows, events, or dreams as evidence that the evil spirit has in fact been adequately tempted. Sometimes the grave is said to have the power to "heal" itself; if a legend tripper returns to the site, and the tombstone has been restored to its original position, the legend has been confirmed. Using ghost hunting experience and equipment can be quite helpful during the investigation.

If you do choose to go legend tripping, please observe these basic tips:
- NEVER GO ALONE. Stay in groups and never lose sight of one another. No one goes it alone.
- DO NOT TRESPASS. Contact the current owners or local representative in an effort to schedule your event and avoid trespassing. It is not cool to trespass and it is illegal. Always keep your ID on you do that you may verify your legitimacy.
- BE AWARE. Always keep an eye out. Watch your team, time, weather reports, temperature and surrounding. Hazards can come out of no where and you must keep on your toes.
- SHOW RESPECT. Show respect for your hosts, your team, the location and those legends or haunts that are said to be associated with them. The last thing you want to do is burn a bridge.
FURTHER TIPS AND GUIDELINES CAN BE FOUND UNDER GHOST HUNTING TIPS.

Have fun!
ParanormalUnknown

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.