Adventures in Ghost Hunting- in my own home! Part 3

Read Part 1 here and Part 2 here. A photo of the black lacquer box is here.


During their first investigation of our condo, Pacific Paranormal Investigations (PPI) found at least 11 EVPs (Electronic Voice Phenomena). To our relief, none of the EVP's are threatening. Most of the voices seem to want to be helpful, or playful. Most of the recorded EVPs were not heard by anyone when they were spoken.

* In the bedroom, an investigator was using a technique called provoking to try to get a response. He yelled at the spirits, accusing of them of being animal abusers (because I had reported that the cat was chasing shadow critters through the home). He said to them that they would probably abuse children if there were any in the house. EVP: (child's voice, shocked)"NO!" The investigator noted here that he heard something. This is the same room where the flashlight came on by itself.

* Twice during the night, recordings of an entity mimicking household noises were recorded. One was the sound of a cell phone on buzz mode, when no one was in the room. Another was caught when an investigator opened the bathroom pocket door, which squeaks. Right after the squeak there is a voice mimicking the squeak. This made us laugh when we heard it. There were also 2 EVPs of laughter.


Most of the EVPs were recorded on a digital recorder that was placed on or near the black lacquer box in our living area. Here are a few:

* When an investigator was using a handheld thermometer he requested that the spirits change the temperature. At this point the temperature drops from 72.3 down to 71.9. He says: "Keep tryin'- seventy-one point nine. Can you make it 70?" EVP:(female voice) "I can't".

* An investigator was setting up HI-8 camera, explaining out loud what he was doing. He stopped in mid sentence. EVP: (female voice) "Do what?"

* One clear (class B) EVP was caught when no one was in the room. EVP: (a rather scruffy sounding male voice) says: "karatsu". This EVP lead to some interesting research. The results were used during the second investigation.

Naturally, after viewing and listening to the PPI investigation results, I wanted to learn as much as possible about our home, and neighborhood. I discovered that our neighborhood was settled in the late 1800's and early 1900's. It was designed to be a Bohemian artist's colony. They even called it "God's Garden" because of the green hills and many trees. Our condominium complex was built in the early 1960's as a retirement community. There was no record of anyone dying in our condo, but there were a few deaths on the grounds over the years. None of the deaths appeared to be connected to the phenomena in our condo. The hill that our complex is built upon contains a rare vein of diorite. This substance was treasured by the ancient Egyptians, Mayans, as well as the builders of Stonehenge. It was used temple complexes, and statuary in ancient times. Perhaps this stone's magnetic qualities contribute to the conditions that allow spirits to interact with the human realm?

I then turned my attentions to the mysterious word "Karatsu". The lacquer box was from Japan, and is at least 40 years old. Karatsu is a city in Japan, but I couldn't find connection between the box, and the city. I then discovered that there is a trickster being in the Japanese Shinto belief system. His name is Karasu! This being resides in a small family shrine in each home. (The shrine traditionally has foxes on it, but cats are accepted as well.) He is an ancestor spirit whose totem is the crow, and he is a guardian of the dharma.  Coincidentally, ravens and crows happen to be extremely relevant in my family's life. I spoke with a friend of ours, who is very familiar with the Shinto practices and this is what he said about karasu: "You either have to ship him back to Japan, or you have to allow him a place in the home." I gave karasu an official place in the lacquer box (which may have already been his home, and how he came to be in our home). Our cats love the lacquer box, and often one of them will spend an entire afternoon curled up on it.

PPI came back for a second investigation in September of 2009. We all wanted to see what changes there may have been due to repairing the collapsed conduit (see part 2). They focused the equipment around the black lacquer box and the bedroom. At one point, 3 investigators communicated directly to karasu in the bedroom. They asked him if he would show them some tricks. When they asked him to turn on one particular flashlight, he turned on a different one. He did this 3 times with three different flashlights!
There was only one EVP found in the 2nd investigation: An investigator asked the spirits if they could change the numbers on the Geiger counter that he held. EVP: (scruffy male voice)"Paintbrush." Maybe he was joking?

Before the session in the bedroom, PPI filmed me doing one of my dharma practices: a meditation. During this time, the home was completely silent for over 30 minutes. Not one instrument registered a change.

At the conclusion of the second investigation, PPI labeled our home "Possible Paranormal Activity/Inconclusive". As with all their investigations, the evidence will remain open for interpretation based on what they learn in future investigations.

After the second investigation, I spoke to any other spirits that might be present. I told those who had been human and died that they needed to pass on. Any other type of being could stay if they would respect the family and protect the home. After this, things became much quieter. We still hear household noises mimicked: a favorite is imitating the doorbell when no one is there. (After being awakened twice in the wee hours of the morning, I told karasu that he can't be waking us up when we sleep unless it's an emergency. I explained I was too sick with my ME/CFIDS to handle it.) During a visit with my daughter, he imitated my daughter's cell phone.We both heard the "buzz" in her purse. She pulled the phone out, but there wasn't an incoming call. We both laughed when this happened.

I wonder about the dreams of fire...probably I was psychically (but unconsciously) aware of the fire hazard. Sometimes I wish that ESP could be more specific! I believe the ghost woman that awakened me with such urgency was kindly trying to warn me of the danger we were in with the fire hazard. I am thankful for her help, even if it startled me at the time. The shadow people my husband & I saw at the beginning of this adventure could have been the effect of the EMF field on our brains. One PPI investigator saw a shadow being during the first investigation, but it wasn't on any of the video footage. They believe the EMFs were affecting him. The shadow people haven't been seen since the conduit was replaced and the EMF field went back to normal readings.