Halloween Event: Shawn, Christian, Sandra, and Bob on Showtime! Video

Halloween Event: Shawn, Christian, Sandra, and Bob on Showtime! Video

In April, 2003, Salem Witches Shawn Poirier, Christian Day, Sandra Mariah Power, and Ouija collector Robert Murch appeared on Showtime’s “Bullshit!” with Penn & Teller. The disbelieving duo ridicule everything from bottled water to near death experiences, but it’s all in good fun and we enjoyed participating. Here’s a montage of just our appearance. Read more …

Halloween Event: Festival Of The Dead History, Photos and Videos

From their earliest beginnings, humans have had to face the great mystery of death. Over time, the wise learned to understand and honor this most profound of the rites of passage, guiding their peoples to understand these mysteries. They knew that even in the brightest of life’s moments, Death’s face would be peering from just beyond the shadows, waiting to leave his calling card. Death is humankind’s great lover, who courts and pursues us with a conviction no mortal lover is capable of.

Throughout history, humans have been led in a dance with death that is both fearful and romantic. Digging through the tomes of religion, myth, anthropology, folklore, and literature, we find the grim examples of death’s shadows cast over all cultures like the shrouds within dusty sepultures. Read more …

Halloween Event: Voices Of The Dead - Spirit Communication October 24

Saturday, October 24, 2009, 1pm to 5pm at the Hawthorne Hotel
Join Ghost Hunter Ron Kolek and Psychic Medium Maureen Wood, author of the forthcoming book “Ghost Chronicles,” for a four-hour workshop on spirit communication where you’ll learn to listen for the voices of those on the other side.

Explore time-honored methods of spirit communication:

• Automatic Writing:
• Ouija Boards:
• Spirit Dowsing with Pendulums (every guest will receive a pendulum to take home!)
• Table tipping and rapping

Learn the methods of today:

• EVP
• Shack Hack Communicators
• Electromagnetic Trans-communication Devices

For thousands of years man has attempted to reach out in an attempt to find the spirits of the dead. The leaders of empires, countries, corporations, and even the common man have employed a variety of methods in their attempt to reach the “other side”. Many tyrants, most notably Hitler and the Nazi’s utilize these devices and techniques in their quest for power and world domination. Gazers, oracles, psychics, and astrologers became trusted advisers to many leaders, who would never make any significant decisions with out consulting them.

This seminar investigates these methods of communicating with the dead and the results obtained by those who use them. Tarot cards, dowsing, mirror gazing, spirit boards such as the Ouija Board, and newer techniques such as EVP’s and electronic recorders are all discussed in this seminar. How do they work? Are their any inherent dangers in their use? These are just some of the questions answered in this intriguing seminar as we separate the myths from the facts. Be part of several experiments in attempt to communicate with the other side. Can we speak to the dead, but more importantly, can they speak to us? Come and find out!

Saturday, October 24, 2009, 1pm to 5pm at the Hawthorne Hotel
Voices of the Dead is held in the library of the Historic Hawthorne Hotel, a haunted hotel featured on the Sci Fi Channel’s show Ghost Hunters!

Get Your Tickets Now!
Tickets are $75 per person. Seating is limited so reserve your tickets below using your credit card! Ticket Sales are Final.

More info and tickets sale: http://www.festivalofthedead.com

6 Terrifying Tales of Halloween: Ouija Attacks Dogs

Ouija Attacks Dogs

Halloween often inspires people to break out their Ouija boards, even if the “talking board” has been sitting gathering dust on a shelf the rest of the year. Bea and her friends Ingrid, Anna, Lara and May decided to experiment with the board one Halloween night some years ago in Bea’s large house in Australia.

Bea’s parents were away on business, and her brother and sister were visiting an uncle in South Australia, so she and her friends had the house to themselves for a sleepover. Naturally, sleep was the last thing on their minds. Anna, who was really into séances and the paranormal, suggested playing with the board, which she brought with her.

“I have two Pomeranian dogs, Muffy (tan) and Shadow (black),” says Bea, “and my friend Ingrid has a white Pomeranian called Hayley. “Muffy, Shadow and Hayley, along with Anna’s dog, Ernie and Lara’s two dogs, Archie and Rosie, were all in the backyard and we hadn’t heard a peep out of them for about an hour.”

Read more …

The Ouija Board: Is It Really Evil?

MENTION THE USE of a Ouija board to a paranormal research group these days and you’ll get a lot of head shaking and statements about “opening portals” and “demonic entities”. Mention it to religious fundamentalists and you’ll practically see them shudder and back away on shaky legs, as if the board was created by Satan himself as a means of enslaving human souls.

How did the Ouija board and similar “talking boards” get this reputation? Is it deserved? How is it different than other methods of spirit communication?

The talking board has been around for well over 100 years. Its most popular incarnation today is the Ouija board, marketed by Hasbro. There have been many editions over the years and several imitators, but the concept is always the same: a board on which are printed letters and numbers; a planchette or pointer that spells out answers to questions when the users place their fingertips on it.

Marketed as a toy, the Ouija has been a best-seller for decades. When I was a kid, it was seen as a harmless, if mysterious and somewhat spooky diversion. It was especially used around the Halloween season when thoughts turn to ghosts and the unknown. We never took it very seriously, however. If it did spell out answers, each user suspected the other of making the pointer do it… or maybe – just maybe – it was moved by g-g-g-ghosts! But we never had the notion that it was controlled by demons.

This seems to be a relatively new idea. Where did this literal demonization of the Ouija board come from? I can’t say with 100 percent certainty, but I think this idea came from (or at least was popularized by) The Exorcist, both the book and the movie. In this work of fiction, pre-teen Regan tells her mother she’s been using the Ouija board by herself, conversing with someone named Captain Howdy. Shortly thereafter, she becomes possessed by the Devil. Read more …