Undisclosed location, Central Victoria, Australia "Do actions speak louder than words?"

On the weekend of the 8th and 9th of November, the team headed off to a private location in central country Victoria. An intriguing location, deep within the goldfields and one that we had investigated before. The team were looking forward to a well-deserved and much needed weekend away, as we had just completed back-to-back ghost investigations the weekend prior and the team were emotionally, spiritually and physically exhausted. A private investigation on Halloween followed by a two night, off the charts experience at Moe meant that we were in desperate need of some quality rest and relaxation. 

Well, even the best intentions can go astray. 

As it turned out, two of the team couldn’t make the weekend, so with myself and Alle not there, Matt Amanda and Jacquie had the entire location to themselves…..this blog is a personal recount of their experience and as they rated this investigation in their top ten of all time, it is one very intriguing read. Yes, you read correctly, top ten!! 

Friday night was always going to be a wind down night, it had been a busy couple of weeks and we just wanted to debrief and unwind. We had all experienced personal struggles during the hunt the weekend prior, which for some, left us tired and emotionally drained for days after. So a quiet, relaxing drink with good friends, was what we all were looking forward to. We arrived at 9.30 pm, about two hours after our anticipated arrival time due to all three of us getting lost. Our GPS had taken us off the beaten track and led us on a wild goose chase, so a drink (or two) was definitely on the cards.

As the night turned into morning, we spent many hours laughing, singing and there were even a couple of dances. Two of the team there that weekend had been there before and were rather familiar with the location, the sounds and the layout. This was my first time at this location and I found the place to be warm and comfortable. 

Although we were not officially investigating that Friday night, we did have some devices set up around the room. We did get a few hits on the K2 meter, but we decided not to pursue them any further, as we had planned to just relax and do a thorough in-depth investigation on the Saturday night. It was the perfect night...…with perfect company and a perfect location.

Did our music, singing and dancing rekindle memories and remind the spirits of what this old hotel was like in its hey day? Did our laughing and singing, with not a care in the world, provide the foundations and set the scene for the perfect storm?

The weekend was absolutely freezing and with no modern luxuries like ducted heating, we tended to stay in the front room where we had the wood fire burning, providing us with warmth and comfort. Saturday was just a lazy day; a day where we sat by the fire and just talked. We were so excited to be investigating that night, that we found ourselves talking repeatedly about what we were planning to do. 

It’s funny though, as the day turned into night, the place changed. It was not a bad or dangerous feel, just different. Our senses were definitely alerted and there was a feeling of being watched or followed. Just off the main hallway was the ladies parlour and when Matt and Amanda walked through the space, they both became dizzy in exactly the same place and at exactly the same time. I wasn’t with them when this happened, so they called me in and asked me do a walk through of the space to see if I felt anything.  At exactly the same place in the room where they felt dizzy, I felt cobwebs and the hair on my body stood up. There was definitely something in this room and it definitely was trying to get our attention. 

As is normal practice when we do investigations, we like to introduce ourselves to any potential spirits, with the aim of making the investigation more personable and relaxed. We follow up with a generic question of "if anyone is here that would like to communicate with us, please come forward and make yourself known".  

WELL ...... the floodgates opened and we were taken on the most magical investigation. 

We found we only needed to use basic equipment for this investigation. The spirits appeared to understand how to communicate quite effectively using the K2, Ovilus and the EDI meters. Was this because these were the devices we used with them on our previous encounter, or were they just intelligent spirits who knew how to communicate?

We turned the Ovilus on and to be honest, it did not shut up for the entire investigation, When we downloaded the log for the night, there were 3060 words said through the device.  The Ovilus works through monitoring changes in the electro-magnetic field (EMF). Theories suggest that spirits are able to manipulate these fields to communicate. To reduce any anomalies in the use of this device, we used the Ovilus concurrently with K2 metres and the EDI metre. We were able to validate the interactions by requesting that all metres go off simultaneously, or by asking the spirit to light up just one. All of our requests were met with precision and in a timely manner. 

At times the Ovilus would respond in words which made sense or validated a question that we had asked. For example, we would ask if they were happy and the response would be "am not" or "you are wrong". We were totally blown away!

The Ovilus would give words describing that the spirits were feeling sad or lonely and based on the decades of investigations that we have done, both individually and collectively, we do believe we made intelligent contact with a spirit. 

Our line of questioning led us to believe that we may have made contact with someone that was possibly a slave to a European family. Naturally, we will need to do a bit more digging and research to validate that interaction. 

The other notable and rather interesting observation was that Mrs A from Moe may have possibly joined us that weekend. Her name came through on the Ovilus multiple times and the word "van" was listed at least six times either just before or just after her name. Knowing the history from Moe, we assured her she was safe and that we were happy for her to remain with us until we figure out how to help her. So that story will be continued.......

We all felt like we were seeing shadows moving around the hotel. We kept seeing things in our peripheral vision, but it was not until we all simultaneously gasped on the sight of seeing a shadow move into the front bar area. What are the changes of three separate people imagining the same shadow, in the same location at exactly the same time......very unlikely I would imagine. Our minds were blown!

As the night progressed, the spirits seemed content to answer questions by moving the K2 meter to red and the EDI meter to blue. In conjunction with other device activation, vibrations were picked up on the EDI meter and we experienced 5° temperature drops. The ladies lounge, where we had previously felt dizzy, was now a haven for spirit communication.  

As Saturday turned into Sunday, Amanda was becoming more and more concerned about a shadow man that she had seen. He was making her feel rather unsettled and a little uneasy. Was this the same shadow person that we had all seen earlier that evening?

We decided to have a break and regenerate. We were chatting casually about Amanda’s concerns when all of a sudden the Ovilus says "Alone soon bed". What the? As you can imagine, this did not sit well with Amanda who was becoming increasingly tired and was a little nervous about retreating alone to the bedrooms and the back of the property. With her emotions on high alert, she decided to sleep in the lounge room on the couch whilst we continued our investigations.

To be honest, I was feeling really excited, but also a little bit scared (and at times a little bit more than a little). The property has a long central corridor or hallway with a myriad of rooms leading off to the right and to the left. I kept getting disoriented and naturally, the toilets were miles away from where we were investigating. So it was a long walk to the other end of the property each time I needed to visit the ladies room.

Matt and I continued to investigate in the ladies lounge with varying energy levels and interactions from the spirits. We  set up the MelMetre, which is one of my favourites due to the authenticity of the device. The alleged spirits were making the MelMetre spike to 6.5 on call, which left us rather impressed. 

So just to give you a bit of an understanding of where we are in the property. There is the front, with a large central corridor. Starting at the front, there is the front bar to the right which leads into a ballroom. To the left is the lounge and dining rooms, where Amanda is asleep on the couch. You walk down the hall about five metres and there is a heavy wooden door. Through the door is a hallway off to the left and a doorway on the right which leads to the ladies lounge. Off the ladies lounge, further right is the Cobb and Co quarters, a hallway and the coolroom. 

So, Matt and I were sitting at the table in the ladies room doing our investigation, when all of a sudden the door that was closed (due to Amanda being asleep) starts to open ….. of course the door is creaking as it opens. We are talking movie worthy creaking noises! This damn door just starts to creep open .... and ever so slowly.

Matt quickly shone his torch onto the door as we totally expected to see Amanda walking through,, but no ..... no Amanda! The door just opened about a meter on its own! Yes, on its own! Needless to say my heart jumped out of my chest and Matt was on toilet duty for the rest of the night as I was too unnerved to walk the long corridor on my own. So what had come through the door? Was it the shadow man once more?

So feeling a bit creeped out, we chose to regroup and set up the SLS Kinnect (stickman) camera and see what came through on this device. We moved into the bar area and immediately picked up a small figure sitting on the bar. We instantly thought it was a child which the Ovilus immediately confirmed by saying “little”, followed by the name David. 

Intrigued, we decided to investigate this further. We continued to scan the room and it was not long before the child took off and a huge spirit appeared on the device. He was so tall. He just stood there, leaning casually against the mantle over the fireplace. I can only assume he was looking at us. He moved between the mantle and the bar, just leaning or at times, tapping his foot.  I have attached a picture below so you can see how big he was. We did a quick scan of the ballroom and the ladies lounge, but the device only indicated that spirits were socialising in the front bar area. The Ovilus continued to generate words and in the early hours of the morning, my name started coming through this Ovilus, which was rather amusing. Saying Matt or Matthew proved too hard though and made a joke that the word “saint" was close enough. 

So after investigating the front bar, I had an overwhelming sensation to point stickman out through a front window towards the main street. It's the early hours of the morning, in an abandoned old hotel, in pretty much a ghost town. I do not know what I expected to see in the darkness, but low and behold, there were two characters out the front,  that we can only describe as possibly drunk . It was rather hilarious as they were on the ground and looked like they were trying to get up..... rather unsuccessfully I might add. 

As our batteries drained we once again found ourselves in the lounge where the fire was still roaring and Amanda was sleeping peacefully.

Our basic devices were still on and we were still having conversations through the MelMetre, K2 and the Ovilus. We then noticed the word "monument" had come up a number of times on the Ovilus, so with a quick google search of the local area, we found that a monument had been erected only 750 metres from the hotel. We asked the spirits if they needed us to go and see the monument. Instantly they responded with strong red K2 hits. So being good paranormal investigators who love a bit of mystery, off we went (on foot and at 2.00 am in the morning) to find this monument.

The monument was to recognise soldiers that served in the wars from the local town. We thought best to wake Amanda and tell her of our plans, of which she looked at us with crazy eyes and went back to sleep. 

So, off we went, walking up the main street at two am, on this cold, windy and drizzly night. A few hundred metres up the road I did question why the hell we didn't drive? We had a good laugh and an even bigger laugh when the Ovilus said the word "puddle", to be shortly followed by Matt stepping in a large puddle.... he really must learn to heed warnings from the spiritual world. 

We arrived at the monument, took a quick photo or two and walked back to defrost our frozen bodies by the warm fire. 

Looking at the photo we searched for any matched names that had come through the Ovilus. Given that the monument only had initials plus surnames we were anticipating any success. But then we see the name Bright on the monument. Bright had come through the Ovilus ten times prior to us taking that walk. We then asked if the spirit Bright was with us. The K2 went to red and the MelMeter spiked, we knew we were on the right track.

On investigations, time can slip away and before you know it, the sun is dawning. It was 5.30 am and time for us to retire to our beds. It had been one huge night and our adrenalin was flowing and our minds racing. 

Were the spirits finally happy to tell someone their story? What had we unearthed? Who was this shadow man? So many questions still to be answered....so many stories still to be told. 

As my mind began to settle and sleep started to take over, I heard a thump in the distance, what was that sound, was it a door? The floorboards in the hallway began to creak and I could hear little ticking noises. I got up and turned on my light and looked around.....but nothing. I politely said that we will talk again soon but they were not welcome in my room as it was time to sleep…. and for the first time in my life, this investigator slept with her light on!

With all that happened that weekend, with all that we saw, heard and felt, we are ready and will be armed for our next investigation in this amazing hotel. 

Amazing, right?

All I can say is, I can not wait to go back to this phenomenal location and learn more about who or what roams there. Is the shadow man the same one my son saw on our first visit there. Who are these spirits....so many questions that need to be explored. 

Oh and by the way, the monument of Adam and Mary Gleisner which was desecrated and then removed, has been repaired and returned to the cemetery - another mystery right there!

Holy Trinity Church, Moe, Victoria, Australia

On at least four separate occasions, we have investigated the Holy Trinity Church at the Old Gippstown Heritage Park in Moe, Victoria. Why, you might ask? Because the activity and evidence has been extraordinary, the story riveting and the intrinsic push to help those who cry for our help, undeniable.

It all started when reviewing evidence from the church on a public investigation. The priests quarters, just off the main altar section of the church, included everything from noises, growls, screams, knocking, orbs, heaviness and electronic device activation. Over a number of weeks, our investigation, including, but not limited to, the ovilus, gave us names repeatedly, including Mr D and Mrs A.  Research into the church indicated that these names were significant in the history of the church. We made connections with a young boy Mst R who claimed he, and another boy, were trapped in the church.

So armed with months of research and evidence, we went into the church numerous times to build the story, make connections, join the dots and validate our investigations. We questioned the entities on their actions and confirmed that there were two boys locked up in the church who wanted our help. We told the boys that we would do everything we could to free them, but with that..... other entities were not happy and they did not shy away from making their feelings known!

It was during the thinning of the veil that we continued our investigation of the church. We anticipated the night would be a thorough exploration into the depths of the unknown.

Well.....you would not believe what we encountered when we entered the vestry that night!

We do not know if this was by accident, deliberate, or an oversight, but there were three mirrors placed in the room to form an energy vortex or portal. For some, you may think this is a load of rubbish, but for others, there is a strong belief that mirrors may provide a portal or region where the physical and etheric planes merge. It is alleged that a spirit portal allows free access between the physical world and the spirit world. Now that can be really scary for someone who is totally into this theory, but for me, it presented a great mystery and a challenge. What I can say though, that if it was set up deliberately for that purpose - I am astonished and totally dismayed that it was left open the way it was.

For this blog, I can only tell you what I experienced personally and give you my interpretations, insights and opinions of the occurrences. I will provide any evidence or theory to support or debunk what happened, but the thought of a possible portal left open on Halloween and in the vestry, where there had already been an abundance of activity, was something I was going to take rather seriously, whether I believed in or not - just in case!

So first of all, we blocked the portal and exit points. I had seen my mother do this a number of times when I was younger, so I used the same approach. It was only a hold and short solution, but essentially we tried to maintain any spirits within the vestry until we had time to figure out how to close the portal. It can be rather technical to close a portal once it has been activated and we were unsure of how long it had been opened and what entities may have passed through and hence may be roaming about the church and the park.

After we blocked the exits from the vestry, we did a quick scout of the park to collect baseline data. We simply wanted to assess the energy levels and to identify any activity hot spots. One thing that I noticed, and given that I have visited the park a multitude of times, was the lack of energy in the bottom half of the park. It was still....eerily still. It was like an energy wall was drawn between the church and the solicitor's office, essentially dividing the park into two halves. The bottom half - quiet, still and empty. The top half, blanketed in total darkness, blacker than I have ever seen with the air dense and heavy. Was the wall's intention to keep something in or something out? Who knows?

As I, along with two others, walked up the main street to the right of the solicitor's office, you could not see one metre in front of you. Never, EVER, had it been this dark in the park. You could not distinguish the outlines of the buildings or trees, it was disorientating and rather intense. It was still, eerie, heavy - almost like a blanket of blackness had fallen upon the park. I felt like I was being watched from every angle. I am not usually one to feel fear, but I was shooting my torch over at the buildings, totally expecting to see a figure standing there, staring intensely at me....but of course, there was nothing. Now that is not to say there wasn't something or someone there, just I did not see it.

I have drawn a map below to try and make sense of what I am explaining.

What was even more interesting, was that one of the empaths investigating could not walk up the path towards the church, which I will refer to from here within as the 'wall'. When she reached it (unaware that I had identified this as an energy wall), she began to feel nauseous, nauseous to the point of vomiting, she experienced heart palpitations and could not push through the wall. This experience did not happen just the once, but three times!

I myself, very rarely feel sick or nauseous on investigations, but I must admit, walking through this approximately two metre wide energy wall, made my hair stand on end, you could feel the charge in the air and my stomach had a little queezy momentary lapse.

Given my theory on this wall, I asked a fellow investigator to grab some dowsing rods and walk with me. Without telling him what was going on, as we hit the wall, he said "can you feel that?" I asked him for more details. He stopped and said "I feel static on my arms and tingles through my body". He stopped dead in his tracks. His dowsing rods then moved parallel with the direction of the energy wall, mirroring my dowsing rods and similar to what you would experience with dowsing rods on a ley line or water source, like a stream. As we pushed through the wall, the rods returned to straight ahead and he stated that the tingling was now gone.

With my mind on overdrive, I tried to develop explanations as to what had occurred. I tested, retested, took readings and used EMF devices to detect the strength and source of the energy wall. I came to my own conclusion which I will elaborate on a little later.

We left the church and the temporary block and investigated the Bushy Park Homestead area with the auto board and a few devices. It was during this time that one of the investigators, who had been with the empath at the other end of the park, came and retrieved me due to the empath not being in a good way. It was at this time, the investigator called on myself and a practising witch, who was also investigating that night, to cleanse and protect those present there tonight. That was the last bit of investigating the empath did, as she fell into a deep sleep for the rest of the night. Was she affected....or.....did she just have a bug? Who knows? But given the extremity of the evening - there was definitely something going on.

We returned to the others to collect them so we could move onto the church. Matt, one of the investigators who specialises in video production, had entered the church first and quickly retreated to tell me that when he approached the vestry he observed a mist whirlpool moving up towards the ceiling. Now, I have only ever read about this phenomena and actually have never seen one with my own eyes, but I knew exactly what he was talking about. Some believe that the white whirlpool is the spirit vortex to the fifth dimension. As I had done an exit block, the energy in that space would have been electrifying!

When I finally arrived at the vestry, I did not see the whirlpool, but I did sense the strong energy emanating from the small room.

We set up the Ouija Board at the entrance to the room. Now for many, they do not like the Ouija, but for me, I don't mind it and to be honest, I have had validating experiences with it. Whether it is subconscious muscle force or actual interaction, I am yet to know or make a decision on, but for now, I am happy to use it in my investigations as another tool.

Myself and a number of guests began with the board. The energy, knocking and shadows were intense. We made contact with a spirit of whom we asked them to spell their name....A....M....A.....

We generically questioned whether they resided there and eventually were taken down the path regarding the two boys that we believe to be trapped in the church. The responses were definitive and matched all our research from the past few months.

Exhausted, a fellow investigator took over the board. Again, we asked the entity to spell their name...A....M....A.....within seconds it dawned on us, it was the spirit of Mrs A that we had made contact with on many prior investigations. The woman was seeking our immediate help - her responses were urgent and with purpose. She stated that she had the two boys with her and wanted to move them to safety, but did not have much time. We asked her the boys' names, and they matched what we had when we made contact with one of them through the youth counsellor in the solicitor's office.

It was all beginning to make sense.

We set up a crystal and asked Mrs A could she take the boys to the light of the crystal, she said no, but explained that she could show the boys how to get there themselves. After a moment and without prompting, the planchette moved about the board, went behind the crystal and pushed the crystal to goodbye. We asked were the boys safe - yes was her response .... their energies captured within the crystal. We asked her if she was safe - she said no, but it was not time for her to go. She asked us to hurry, with such desperation and then said goodbye.

I collected the crystal from the board. It began to pulsate in my palm, almost like it had a heartbeat. We took the crystal to the other end of the park to the Shearer's Shed. It is here, with the help of the team, that we held a ceremony and released the crystal to the white light. Now this may sound weird, but as we were doing this ceremony, we could hear lots of voices surrounding us, murmuring and whispering ....we could feel their energy, we could feel something or someone watching us. Even as I am typing this, I have goosebumps all through my body! Was this a farewell, had these spirits come to see these boys off, to ensure their safety to the other side? Were these the same spirits who had watched me walk up the main street? The same spirits who made a wall of protection?

All of a sudden I had this vision in my mind, had Mrs A brought all the spirits with her? Had she asked for help from the other side? Had spirits crossed through the portal to help her, the boys, us? Was the energy wall made up of spirits to block a predator's path and protect others whilst certain spirits were not there - maybe they were trapped on the other side of the park or in the vortex, or had they been blocked momentarily by me? Whatever the case, we did not have much time. As I released the boys' energy, you could feel it move about you, watching you, thanking you - it was intense, like nothing I have ever experienced!

We then returned to move about the park - the energy wall was gone!

We knew though, that if we had succeeded in what we set out to achieve, there may be one or more very angry people!

Now I was not there on the Saturday night, but the team has told me, angry, was an understatement!

The team has regularly made contact with a spirit named "Mary" and when the team were up investigating the Out Kitchen in Bushy Park on the Saturday night, Mary clearly communicated to them via the Ouija "close the portal". The team quickly responded to this and moved to the church to close the portal and do everything they could to protect themselves and others. They used all their energy, knowledge and skills - but they do believe they were successful in their aim.

But, only time will tell!

Now to add a new dimension to the story. Mrs A had communicated through the Ouija that she was not safe and was threatened and abused, but it was not her time to go. We knew there was a possibility that an entity or two would be furious, and I am sure Mrs A knew this too.

The following weekend the team were doing a private investigation many a mile away from Moe. When at the private, one of the team members, coincidentally the same one who was doing the board at Moe, could sense a female spirit very close to her. Not quite an attachment, but close. During that investigation, the ovilus repeatedly said the words "van" and Mrs A's name. Had Mrs A escaped in the van with our investigators and sought refuge with us? Very probable given what may have occurred at Moe. Such a frightening experience, but if this is true, what a courageous and strong woman Mrs A was and is!

You may read this and think what a load of BS. I totally get that! I would too if I was reading this, but all I can tell you is what I experienced, felt and heard on that night. It was insane, intense and something that I will put down as an experience that I can not yet explain.

Using psychometry readings in your investigations

Being able to discover facts or information about a building, an old photo, a toy, or any other inanimate object would be a great asset when undertaking paranormal investigations, don't you think?

Knowing any facts about the history of a location or information about an object, can often validate evidence collected from paranormal investigations, including apparitions or voices. Spiritual theorists believe psychometry may provide the means to find the facts or answers to these questions.

Psychometry is the most common term given to the alleged ability, or the extrasensory perception of, being able to discover information or facts about an event, person or inanimate object, simply by making physical contact with the associated objects. The theory is, people are made up entirely of energy and this energy leaves an energetic or psychic imprint on the objects touched. For humans still living, we refer to this as their aura, and for those that have passed, these psychic imprints may manifest, present as residual hauntings, or simply stay imprinted in the inanimate object. The knowledge embedded in the energetic or psychic imprint is then transferred to the person holding or touching the object. People who can perform this skill are often referred to as 'empaths'.

Have you ever picked up an item, touched a person or object and experienced a Deja Vu moment, an overwhelming emotion, seen an image or even had a thought which seemed random and not related to your current line of thought? If so, you may be in fact experiencing this extrasensory perception ability of psychometry.

So how do you know if you have this skill? Can you learn it?

Well, the answer is yes, with practice.

There are some identifying features or situations that will help distinguish whether you may be inclined to perform psychometry, or at least identify that, with practice, you may be able to develop the skill of psychometric reading.

The most common ways to identify if there is a predisposition to reading an object's energy or a possession of psychometric ability are:

• you avoid touching old metal objects, especially items like chains, gates, shields and swords as metal objects tend to hold more energy and hence, you feel 'different' when you pick up older metal objects
• antique stores make you feel uneasy or give off a weird vibe or feeling. You may find yourself getting fidgety, uncomfortable and you do not want to touch any of the items or furniture that is on display
• you find it difficult to own used furniture and feel uncomfortable around it or sitting in it
• you feel uncomfortable in a room or space with too many objects, or a space that is cluttered, especially if the room is full of older vintage or antique style items
• you feel the urge to sage cluttered spaces or rooms in older homes
• you can not wear or buy used or second-hand clothing and hated the 'hand-me-downs'
• you do not like looking at old pictures or you feel overwhelmed and emotional when you look at them
• you can not wear pre-owned jewellery or feel the urge to cleanse any used jewellery that you have or wear  
• second hand or opportunity shops make you feel overwhelmed and uneasy and you do not usually buy items of a second-hand nature
• you feel the need to wash your hands after you have touched or picked up a second hand item 

Don't feel disillusioned if you are comfortable with some or all of the above, you can still develop the ability of psychometry through determined practice. With the right amount of concentration, empathy and focus, you can learn how to, and improve your ability in performing a psychometric reading.

So, to improve the skill in psychometry, I strongly suggest working through a regular routine. It may take months before validated and accurate readings occur, but once skills are honed, this will be a valuable asset to use when investigating. Even the most experienced readers have inaccuracies, but what is imortant, is to keep trying and improving the number of accurate readings to that of 

• Set up an EVP recorder, or have someone scribe responses
• Wash and dry your hands thoroughly. You want to ensure that no energy is left on your hands that may interfere with your reading. 
• Rub your hands together to create friction, warm them up and create static energy (this can be tested by placing your palms parallel, about a centimetre apart and sensing whether you feel a sensation, like a denseness or energy between your palms)
• Centre yourself by taking deep breaths and relax
• Close your eyes and focus on your senses. What can you hear, see, smell and taste?
• Move the focus down to your hands and the energy within your hands. 
• Pick up the item you are wishing to read.
• Imagine the object is an extension of your hand. Shift your awareness to the object and the object only. 
• Open yourself up and allow emotions, memories, images and thoughts to enter your mind
• Ask yourself questions in your mind or out loud
• who was/is the owner of the object?
• show me the emotions, memories and experiences the owner had while using/wearing this object.
• is the owner still alive or have they passed?
• Say out loud any impressions and thoughts that come to your mind. Say anything you see, hear, feel, smell or taste.

If you are reading a piece of jewellery or photo, the owner may be able to validate your responses for accuracy. With time, emotions, memories, thoughts and impressions will become stronger and more detailed. 

Best items to start working on psychometric ability are:

• Jewellery (preferably someone you are not close to, so that you can test your reading without bias)
• Metal objects like swords, platters, shields, chains, family heirlooms
• Photos
• Diaries, books
• Homes, especially the walls in old buildings
• Furniture, armchairs, desks
• Toys, dolls, blankets - toys can contain information about emotional and mental states, especially if the child has a favourite toy that they kept with them all the time

Remember, psychometry is meant to be fun and with practice, can be an effective, interesting and no cost tool in your paranormal investigating repertoire of methodologies. 

Using a plasma dome for paranormal investigating

Paranormal Theory suggests that spirits need energy in order to manifest or communicate with the living. In many investigations, attempts to raise energy levels result in investigators, myself included, opening themselves up by giving permission for spirits to use their personal energy. Now this may be convenient at the time, but it is not ideal, as by opening yourself up and giving permission for spirits to take from you, you may find yourself with an outcome that you would rather not wish for.

To avoid any unwanted attachments, it is possible to raise energy levels using a scientific approach. The first is by using an EMF pump, but another way, is to use a plasma dome or ball.

So, could a child's novelty toy be used to investigate the paranormal? Well, the answer is yes ..... definitely.

The plasma dome is a clear glass sphere that is filled with a mixture of various noble gases, but mainly neon, and with a high-voltage electrode at the centre of the sphere. When the voltage is applied (power plugged in or from batteries), a plasma is formed within the sphere. The plasma filaments extend from the electrode to the outer glass sphere, which is an insulator, giving the appearance of beams of coloured light. When this occurs, a radio frequency is emitted which may interfere with other devices, resulting in readings, or in the paranormal world, false positives.

I would suggest doing a few simple experiments to understand the capacity and strength of your plasma ball before you start using it for investigations.

Working out the dome's radius of effect

• Place your plasma dome in the middle of a table or room. Turn you plasma ball on. 
• Place a K2 meter next to the plasma dome, you should be receiving orange to red hits on your K2, depending on the strength of the ball. 
• Slowly slide the K2 away from the plasma dome until you have a solid green hit. Measure this distance (this is your radius of effect)
• Trial your radius of effect by moving the K2 meter around the circumference of an imaginary circle (where the dome is the centre of the circle), to ensure you are accurate with your radius of effect. 
• Randomly move your K2 meter in and out of the circle to validate the level of emission. In other words, move it closer to the dome until you get orange and red hits and then back away from the dome until the meter is green. Once you have validated the radius of effect, use this as a reference when investigating and do not place any other devices within that radius, as you need to ensure that the radio frequency emitted does not interfere with any of your other devices. 

Also, a good understanding of how conduction works is vital in getting the best out of your plasma dome. If you place your right hand on the plasma dome and then your left hand on the K2 meter, you should be able to conduct the electricity through your body, which will be shown by a reading on the K2 meter. This is important to note, just in case you touch the dome and then move close to or pick up your K2 meter.

How to use the dome in an investigation

There are a number of ways to use a plasma dome in an investigation. The one that I find most valuable is to use the dome in conjunction with an Electronic Voice Phenomena Recorder (EVP). By placing the EVP near the dome, entities may use the dome's energy and the emitted radio frequencies to manipulate the frequency to communicate with us. The EVP can register a wider pitch range, from 7 Hz to 50,000 Hz, whereas average human hearing will only register sounds from approximately 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz. This range obviously changes based on age, exposure and ear damage. What this means is, the EVP may pick up sounds and voices that the human ear can not. 

A second method is asking any spirit entities to come and touch the plasma dome. As when a human touches the dome's outer shell, the coloured beam would form an arc from the centre electrode to the point of contact. In theory, this should work if a spirit entity touches the dome or pulls energy from it. 

If an arc is visible and you have your dome situated within the validated radius of effect, then you can begin to eliminate or debunk possible causes of the arc. In this circumstance, the arc may be related to paranormal phenomenon and as an investigator you would begin to request that any entities touch the dome on the left, and then on the right or on one side for a yes, and another for a no. If the dome responds positively, then you may have a possible spirit communicating with you. 

Whenever you are investigating with a new piece of equipment, ensure you practice with the device before you take it out with you. Learn how it works, how it responds and how it interacts with you and any other devices or equipment you may use. 

Use the dome in conjunction with an EVP, K2s (or any EMF meter), an ovilus and a video camera for best results. 

From my experience the dome works best when young spirits are present or in one where voices or growls are often heard. 

Good luck with this fun, cheap addition to your investigation kit. 

To Ouija or not to Ouija - Ouija Board Session at the Old Kilmore Gaol, Kilmore, Victoria

I find it very interesting when you investigate the same location a number of times, especially when you are exploring it with someone new or even someone who has never investigated that particular location before. You try hard not to let recent experiences influence your current investigation and not to overshare activity in a particular area, but then again, those past experiences and insights are what helps to build the story that you are piecing together and often it is the past activity that you rely on to validate responses or to identify with whom you are communicating.

If I know that I will be investigating the same location a number of times, I will often employ old school techniques like scrying, trigger items, pendulum work or Ouija, mixed with the more contemporary approaches to investigations, like the use of electronic devices or recording equipment. This way, I can ensure I do not become bored with the investigation and are using multiple sources to build an evidence base to validate any activity experienced.

Now, everyone has a different opinion on Ouija Boards and many of these opinions are based on very little evidence or experience and are formed based on the myths told by the overly exaggerated story-tellers. When I ask people why the think Ouijas are demonic or bad .... nearly all of the responses are simply ....NOOOO they are not good. I follow up asking if they have actually ever undertaken a Ouija Board session and the answer is unanimously .... NO, never .... and I never want to!

So where have these opinions formed..... they have formed on the basis of stories passed down through others. Through social media, through parents, through exaggerated stories of friends who know friends who once did a Ouija, through the whispers and innuendo, the gossip and the hear say.

But......

A Ouija Board is no different to any other form of spirit communication, whether it be a pendulum, a K2 meter, an ovilus, a set of dowsing rods, or even when you say to a spirit....I give you permission to use my energy ..... all of these methods give permission to the spirit world to come forth and make themselves known, to communicate to the living who reside in the physical world. So do these people who have such strong demonic opinions of Ouija Boards have the same views regarding holding a K2 meter, or using a pendulum, or even holding their hands out and inviting a spirit to touch them.

No! Why?

Because many people have not been educated on what they are about.

I personally do not have an issue with using the board. I researched them, learnt how to use them properly, how to open and close a board session and how to stay in control. Being in control is the key, being strong, assertive and respectful.

So, let me walk you through this amazing Ouija session at the Old Kilmore Gaol.

It was well after one in the morning and a lady, who was rather sensitive to the spirit world and her young adult son wanted to engage in a Ouija session. So I, along with another lead investigator took the two guests to the cell area. We set up the Ouija and opened a session.

Not long into the session, a spirit contact was made. The spirit continued to respond to this lady, stating that it was here to talk with her. The spirit spelt out her name, her age along with that of the lady, all of which resonated accurately with this guest. Now, I had never met this guest before that night, so unless she was saying things were accurate, when in fact they were not, or had lied about her name and that of her children, then I would say this was a pretty authentic experience.

The main storyline of the session was that a relative had passed and there were financial concerns over inheritance and divorce. The session gave guidance to this guest and clarity on actions. It was clear and concise.

But.....at one point the spirit whom we believe had come with the guest dropped out and you could feel a very strong presence enter the cell.

Quickly the Board shifted energy and the spirit made it clear it wanted to speak with the young male adult who was engaging in the Ouija session. We asked the spirit if he knew this young man. No .... was his response. We then asked the spirit why he wanted to speak with him? His response was of a sexual nature.

Knowing this was a gaol for men and homosexual behaviours were not uncommon, we quickly asserted to the spirit that this was not the intention of the session and that the young man was not interested nor consenting to any of that behaviour and he was to immediately leave the location.

The planchette moved to goodbye.

The Board stayed silent for a few minutes until the energy lifted again and it felt like the female was back to communicate with our guest.

The session continued for a few more minutes until the guest was satisfied she has gained all she needed to know.

We closed the Board down and left respectfully and peacefully.

It was so interesting to feel how one spirit just vanished, while a strong, dominant spirit took over the Board. It is so important to be assertive and in control and confront what is presenting itself to you when you are undertaking a Ouija session. And if in the off chance that you feel you are not, then close the Board down immediately.

J-Ward Asylum for the Criminally Insane (The Investigation)

The second half of Saturday night was spent privately investigating J-Ward Asylum for the Criminally Insane .... and insane it was!

After a wonderful supper of pizza, garlic bread and drinks, the Lantern Ghost Tours hosts, Natasha and Richard, informed us that we had free range of the entire facility. Yes, the ENTIRE facility. We could not contain our excitement and were eager to get stuck into our investigating. When I refer to we, I was lucky enough to be investigating with ghost hunting friends, Amanda from ALM Paranormal and Matt from ARK Paranormal.

So after setting up our sleeping bags in the West Wing (Hospital Ward), we returned to the dining room. Within moments we heard banging on the perspex windows which divide the dining room from the main cell block. The three of us looked at each other and said "What was that?" It took us a moment to realise the windows were made of perspex. We tried replicating the sound and then debunking how it may have happened. What we concluded was the sound was definitely the perspex being banged on and we could not debunk was how it may have occurred. There was no one in the cell area and we were the only people in the dining area. Interestingly, another investigator Jenni also caught this sound numerous times on her EVP recorder and while she was sleeping. You see, Jenni had set up her sleeping bag in the dining room and whilst she slept, left an EVP recorder going all night. The sounds of the perspex banging on her EVP at 5.30 am, were exactly the same sounds we heard live at 10.30 pm. Very interesting!

Well, with the night off to a great start, we formally began the night with a live feed in the grounds and then a live feed to the @ParanormalVic Facebook page of the downstairs area in the old kitchen, the stairwell off the kitchen and the Governor's bathroom.

Oh my....what an experience!

This area was the creepiest space I have been in for a long time. A dark underground cavern.....cold and eerie. It was almost impossible to imagine it ever been inhabited. The kitchen with its stone walls and floors, with bars for windows and no real natural light. It was like a dungeon! There were two huge wooden doors, one which lead out to the sunken well and external stone staircase and another which led the the frightfully petrifying stone stairwell.

In this space we had significant K2 hits and a feeling of heaviness, but nothing else worth noting was recorded live.

But when we reviewed the EVP, video and audio footage, we had voices come through, including demonic growls and a deep male voice stating 'Kill' in the kitchen and 'Bash her' in the stairwell. Once in the bathroom, there were other inaudible voices in the bathroom, all of which were not heard live when in the space.

The growl was terrifying, it sounded like a beast who was not happy with us being in its lair, and although I do not believe, or should I say, have not yet experienced, an attack from a demonic beast, I can tell you one thing....if ever it was going to happen, this would be the place!

That growl was horrendous and when listening to it, absolutely scared the living daylights out of me.

What the???

Can't wait to go back!

Well, we were in the downstairs 'dungeon' for well over an hour. Our live video showed the attachment to Matt and the uneasiness with females being in the space. If you look at the picture above, I was standing to the right of this end of the bath, with my back to the open door to the stairwell where we had 'Bash her' said, Matt was in the left back corner and Amanda in the right back corner. Both of them had K2 meters which were getting consistent hits. Matt was touched a number of times and it was obvious the entity had a liking for Matt. Now given this was a male prison with well documented non-consensual homosexual behaviours, was there a connection due to Matt being a male?

In the end we moved out due to Matt's growing uneasiness. Before we left, we had to ensure some white energy to insist the entities stay within the space they were confined.

On reflection, I am so glad we did, because who knows what may have eventuated if we had not.

From here, we moved back upstairs to the dining area where Richard, the lantern ghost tour host, joined us as we moved over to investigate the Turnkey Master's Quarters. According to Richard, this space had not been investigated before and had only been recently refurbished. The space had three rooms, a kitchen and dining area to the right, a storage room and then a bedroom to the left. We went in the bedroom and set up the spirit box. We did a silent box with Richard on the headphones. He became very agitated and uneasy, fidgeting in his seat and appeared very uncomfortable. When this happens, we remove the person from the box. What was apparent was that a male spirit was coming through and every time a female asked a question, he would tell them 'No' or would be very rude and berate the female. What was interesting is, Richard, or the person on the headphones could not hear who was asking the question, or even what the question was - they have noise cancelling headphones on and could only hear the choo choo choo white noise of the spirit box and its underlying communication. The name that came through repeatedly was Jason. There was also a female, Elaine, that came through. This definitely warranted further investigation.

Am I skeptical about the spirit box? Well at the moment, I am open to it. Given that the person could not hear the questions and did not know who was asking the questions, or even know when they were being asked (as they were also blindfolded), you have to have some level of ....could this be true? When you transcribe the questions and responses and many of them are so in sync, it does get you wondering if this is a valid and authentic method of communication. Over time, if historical names, dates and events are validated, then this will definitely increase the credibility of this type of device.

So, to test this theory of hatred towards women, we gave the headphones to Amanda. The session began as normal, but it wasn't long before the voices Amanda heard through the spirit box began swearing at her and telling her 'No, not you", 'Go away' plus a plethora of expletives. What did come through was an overwhelming sense of a strong dominating male who had little if any respect for females. What could this imply - well I do not want to speculate!

From here we moved across to the Warden's Quarters and investigated the downstairs reception room. There was definitely some activity in the space, but was limited to tingles in the legs, K2 hits and catball activity in the room. We did however hear distinct footsteps in the hallway outside the room. In future, it would be interesting to do a deeper investigation here with a video camera and EVP in the hallway, as it definitely sounded like someone was walking up and down.

After this, we returned to the dining room where we then moved into the Hospital West Wing. Matt and Amanda were already in the space when I arrived as I had to visit the bathroom. When I opened the door, their faces were focused down the hallway and their eyes wide opened. "Shhhh, Lib....listen". So I stood....frozen.....not knowing what I was expected to hear.......and then after about a minute, I heard......footsteps, about ten of them, then a sound, which sounded like something on wheels, then a door being rattled. What the? I quickly looked towards the direction of the sounds and the door to where I believed it was generating from. It was at the end of the West Wing corridor to the left, only about five metres from where I stood. The door led into a caged in walkway and out to the shower block. I said....'ok, someone is out there', I quickly moved to the door, opened it and looked down the dark and eerie cage way.....nothing. I walked over to the shower block.....nothing.  I looked through the other door to the right....nothing.

I returned to Matt and Amanda who said that the exact same had been repeated three times prior. Exactly the same at about five minute intervals. So we waited.....and sure enough, a few minutes later......footsteps, trolley sound, door! It was unbelievable! So loud and so distinct!

Unbelievable!

What is even better, we have it on video audio. Our EVP's and most of our cameras malfunctioned that night (another story in itself), but there was one camera which picked it up. It was facing the other end of the corridor, about 15 metres from the door in question and around a small bend in the hall. I have put the link here for you to listen. Given that the microphone was facing the other way and was a good fifteen metres away from where the sound was - you can imagine how loud it was in real life.

This would have to be one of the loudest residual hauntings I have ever heard. It was absolutely mind blowing!

Trolley Noise EVP in the West Wing

By this time it is after one in the morning and some guests had moved off to bed in the cells, whilst the team, along with a few other guests moved up to the second floor cells, past the gallows and to a room at the end of the building. I am unsure what this space may have been back in the day, but it is currently like a conference room. The hosts informed us that many guests become nauseous in this space and females had vomited and felt threatened. So yes, we were going in there!

We set up the spirit box in an attempt to channel any entities. A few investigators had a go, including Natasha, a host, myself, a new guest named Aiden and the other host, Richard. What was clearly apparent was whenever a female was on, they were swore at and berated. If a female asked a question, they were told, no, not you, go way, you heard me....piss off. This investigation was interesting with some information documented for future investigations and follow up.

After about an hour near the gallows, we moved down to do some live ten minute challenges. Four groups went out to do a solo or pair challenge with a live feed back to base. The spaces included the Governor's Bathroom, the Police Lock Up, The Art and Craft Room and the Turn Key's Quarters. All spaces were uneventful. By the time we finished the challenges it was close to four in the morning.

What was noticeable, was the whole facility was uneventful from about three in the morning. No sounds, no banging, no trolleys, no voices.

At about five am we rolled out our sleeping bags on the very clean and super comfy mattresses and nodded off into dream land. We awoke at about seven, did a walk around, packed up and left by about eight.

Given the high amount of activity in the beginning of the night, I would ensure all the cameras and EVP equipment was set up early, I would investigate downstairs, the West Wing and the dining room early. On this visit, we did not investigate the chapel, the yards, the shower block or any of the cells. Given that, I would say J-Ward has at least another two overnight visits from me at the very least!

It was mind-blowing, eerie, creepy, horrific and absolutely fantastic!

I am back in February 2020 to continue the story.

J-Ward Asylum for the Criminally Insane (Ghost Tour)

Saturday night we were hosted by Lantern Ghost Tours at J-Ward Asylum for the Criminally Insane, and let me tell you, it was absolutely awesome.

This night and the blog has been broken into two posts - one for the Ghost Tour and one for the Investigation. Why? Simple. The amount of activity to write would warrant a short story!

So let's start with Part 1: The Ghost Tour

The night began with brief introductions and a walk around the museum style entrance foyer, which housed interesting artefacts from both J-Ward and Aradale Asylums.  Everything from arts and crafts, to syringes and electric shock therapy apparatus.

Our hosts Natasha and Richard gave us a brief run through and then after about fifteen minutes, the group moved into the newest building, the West Wing. The West Wing was where medical patients who were less threatening and more stable were accommodated. There were approximately ten single cells off a long hallway. Here we stopped for about twenty minutes as we attempted to connect with the matron who regularly patrolled this hallway. We had several hits on the K2 meters and I (and other guests) felt tingles through the lower part of my legs.

At the far end of the hallway and off to the left was the shower block. This block lay twenty metres from the West Wing through a caged walkway and to the right of the hallway was the entrance to the main cell block. The cell block was a double story building with approximately twelve cells on each floor. The ground floor had a refurbished chapel and although the stories were interesting, no activity was noted. The cells have images and stories on display regarding notorious inmates and they are well worth the read. We moved upstairs to the gallows, where we were informed that J-Ward was the site for three hangings, before descending back down to the ground level and moving outside to the exercise yard area. Originally there were four separately fenced yards, where as now, one fence stands separating the Pool and Arts and Craft building from the rest of the yard space. The yard is pretty much untouched with original fences, tables, benches and gazebo. The dreariness, the lack of colour, nature or life, is unnervingly apparent.

The guide Natasha, moved us over to one corner of the yard where three plaques were attached to the bluestone walls at approximately waist height. These plaques were dedicated to the men whose bodies stood buried deep into the wall. Notice I use the word 'stood'. These men were not laid to rest. Instead they were buried standing up, never to rest, facing north, so never to see a sunrise or sunset, embalmed in lime and encased between the bluestone layers. It was also at this point, the smoothness of the bluestone was pointed out to us. Patients would come to the yard and to this wall which basked in the suns rays. They would rub their straight jacket buckles against the warm bluestone bricks, heating the metal buckles and in turn, heat their jackets and warming their cold bodies. Over time, the rough exterior of the bluestone had worn down to a surface, smooth as porcelain.

We then moved through a small gate in the wall which connected to a separate yard. A set of external circular stairs led us down to an underground cavern ..... the original kitchen. In this kitchen it was alleged there were up to five spirits haunting the dark and dreary abode. Three children, a German cook and the Governor. The Governor who died on the steps to the bathroom and then fell in the doorway where he took his last breath.

Here we had a number of K2 hits and a few people claimed that their hands were touched or their hair was played with. Off the kitchen was a hallway and a stone staircase .... cold, dark, ominous and heavy. No writing or words could explain this space, so I have included the image. It was one of the most terrifying spaces I have ever seen.

We returned to investigate this space later in the evening and captured video and electronic voice phenomena of potential demonic entities and I have shared those experiencs in Part 2: The Investigation.

From here we moved up the stairs which led back to the museum foyer, where we gathered for a documentary and interview by Mike Willisee in the 1970's. Seeing real patients, pacing, swaying and lying in the yard ..... waiting their lives away, was just so very sad and I was totally overwhelmed with empathy, sorrow, heartache and disgust, all at the same time.

One particular patient George, who believed he was the Queen's brother, spoke candidly about the murders he committed, his life and his 'eye for an eye', where he engaged in self-mutilation and gauged his own eye from its very socket. Due to George being such a threat to others, he was caged in his own private yard for safety. His peering face through the bars was spine-tingling.

To see someone so mentally ill and the life he had ..... I just can't explain it. It was just so very, very  sad.

Criminally insane patients who castrated themselves, amputated every finger and toe from their own bodies, or even those who had autism, were committed to a life in the Asylum. What I find hard to fathom is this type of treatment and facility was active into the 1990's - just thirty years ago. Unbelievable!

After supper of pizza and drinks, we moved onto our individual investigation.....now this is where it gets interesting and leads to Part 2 of the blog.

Would I return to J-Ward for another tour and investigation - well, I have already booked for one in the new year! Need I say more....

Old Gippstown Heritage Park, Moe, Victoria, Australia

Old Gippstown is an amazing park and it never fails to disappoint. In amongst the plethora of suspected activity, there were two events that happened on the weekend that I want to share with you. These two events were different to anything I have experienced there, or anywhere for that matter, and to me, so definitive in nature, that I have found them both very difficult to debunk.

The first series of events occurred in the Old Theatre on the Friday night. The team were investigating the theatre with a number of devices, including K2 meters, a ghost meter pro, spirit box, dowsing rods and a laser grid. We had the laser grid set up facing the rear of the theatre and the metres were on the floor under the screen.

We appeared to be having intelligent communication with the ghost meter when all of a sudden there was a large bang as the laser grid fell from its perch. Now to get this in context. The tripod was balanced on the back of one of the chairs. The chair had a 10 degree backward slant and the weight of the tripod was also to the back of the room. It had balanced there rather undisturbed for at least fifteen minutes.....then bang. It was so unexpected that one of the team let out a frightening scream.

The thing is, the laser grid landed to the front of the chair and to the right, at least one metre away. How on earth did the laser grid land there? From our reenactments, debunking strategies and questioning, it was virtually impossible to have it land the way it did, unless we pushed it from the back quite aggressively, or picked it up and threw it.

When we went back to our 'spirit' on the metre, the spirit claimed that he had thrown the laser grid as he did not like it on in the theatre. Totally makes sense when you think about it.

After that incident, the spirit continued to communicate. We used a spirit box to see if he could talk through it with us. I am using the pronoun 'he', as during this investigation the name 'Johnno' came through very clearly on the spirit box, when we asked 'What is your name?". No other communication was detected through the box that evening.

The spirit seemed eager to communicate using the ghost meter pro and actively responded with yes and no to many questions. The questions were asked in different contexts and worded in opposing ways, yet the spirit always communicated with the same yes or no response. Given this apparent intelligent communication we tried an experiment where we asked the spirit to go and touch one of the investigators. First David, then Celia, Alle, Jacquie and so on. Each time he would respond, yes I will touch, the ghost meter pro would go off, the dowsing rods would move in the direction towards the relevant person, stop on that person and then they would feel a touch on their leg.

Yes - you heard right......a touch!

And this happened over and over again, at least five times with different investigators. Amazing right!

The whole raw footage is uploaded on our Facebook page @paranormalvic and on the @Beyond the Veil Ghost Hunts page, so feel free to see this with your own eyes!

The second event is one that still has me questioning. We were in Calajero in the wee early hours of Sunday morning. A small log cabin to the north of the park (pictured here). Prior to this evening, we had not investigated in there at all.

I was standing in the log cabin looking out through the gaps in the back wall logs towards the main road, about 60 metres away. There was enough light outside to make out silhouettes of trees and buildings, when all of a sudden I see a shadow. A shadow with the shape of a head, but then a large humped style body mass - sort of like a semi-circle with a head. It moved from my right to my left, behind a tree, then out the other side and disappeared behind Ashdale House.

Firstly I thought it could be a person walking on the nature strip outside the park, but it did not seem to be that far away. The shadow seemed closer and bigger than that, plus the shape was all wrong.

So, as some of the team walked over to Ashdale House, I watched them through the gaps in the logs to see the shadows which were formed. The shadows were all wrong and not in the same place. So off I went to figure out the location of what I had seen. I worked out it was between a tree with a metal structure and a wagon. It moved from the back of the shearers shed and moved towards Ashdale House.

Not sure what I had just experienced, I entered Ashdale House with caution, only to feel a constant pull from outside.

I went out onto the porch and continued to feel like something or someone was out there. I walked around the verandah, down the sides of the House, out to the garden and back again. It was an eerie feeling, one that was new to me.

After the brief investigation some of the team members did in Ashdale House, we walked out the back of the House, back past Calajero and down the main street of the town towards the southern end of the park and the location of Bushy Park. The park is about two hundred metres from end to end. As I walked up the street, I felt a sense of uneasiness. Not quite fear, but definitely one with a heightened sense of anxiousness. Once at the end of the main street, where the road veers to the left for Bushy Park, or straight ahead to the old coach houses and miner's cottage, I could sense someone watching me....following me. I turned my torch on and flashed it around the various parts of the park, to see what was there. I don't know what I expected to see, but I could feel a presence.

This stayed with me as I walked through the old stables at the end of the property and around a 1900's miner's log hut and over a small bridge which led through to Bushy Park, the home of Angus McMillan, our serial killer. When I first arrived at Angus McMillan's house, I stood about twenty metres to the right of the homestead and clearly heard footsteps, followed by three distinct clicking sounds, which to me, sounded like the door latching on the homestead. I went to the entrance and tried the door handle. It was the exact same sound!

Had a spirit ….. had Angus, been following us through the park that night, seeing what we were doing, stalking us? I think maybe!

Given that he was an expert in exploration, tracking and bludgeoning his victims to death - I do think this shadow, this entity, this spirit which was following us, could be him.

But let us wind the clock back six hours and see if we can join the puzzle pieces together. That evening, the team had embarked on a number of individual challenges to different parts of the park, that we do not normally investigate. Each pair of investigators went out on a fifteen minute hunt. One team, seasoned investigators of the Beyond the Veil Ghost Hunt team, went up to the Old Miner's Cottage, their hunt was streamed live on Facebook so you can see and hear what they experienced. Footsteps circling the hut, saddle bags moving and a real sense of unrest. When they returned and shared their experience, Matt, another investigator, went up there to lay out some video and EVP equipment to see if we could capture anything. Whilst up there, he too heard footsteps and felt uneasy. He saw something, a shadow, jump out at him through the bushes and then suddenly it was gone.

To add to this story even further, when driving home after the investigation, I shared this experience with a fellow investigator Rod, who also believed something was out in the park that night. He too felt uneasy, heard the door clicking and felt a weird sense that he was being followed - interesting now isn't it?

So what was out stalking and hunting us in the park that Saturday night and into the early hours of Sunday? Was it Angus? Was it the Bishop from the church who we feel is predatory in nature? Was it the boy who we heard crying out for help and bagging on the doors through the EVP in the church? The projectionist from the theatre.....or was it the frightening tentacle orb from last investigation?

Whoever, or whatever is stalking us, is getting closer and louder. It is obviously not scared of us....maybe it is just waiting for the right time to show itself and maybe ….. just maybe ….. attack!

Bundoora Park, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia

Saturday night we joined the Australian Paranormal Society (APS) to investigate Bundoora Park Farm. The site is set up with a number of different activities, but for the investigation we were focused on the twentieth century heritage village, which comprises of a number of relocatable structures. 

Let's begin the night at the very start. We entered the grounds of Bundoora Park Farm to be immediately confronted with locked gates. It was pitch black with only the headlights from the car illuminating the road which was fully surrounded by bushland. It was eerie and cold.

A four wheel drive pulled over on the other side of the gate and a tall, heavily built man disembarked his vehicle and walked slowly towards our car. He was dressed all in black and was holding a torch which dimly lit his face. I was not sure if this was the right place, so I wound down my window. He questioned "investigation?" I said "yes". He then stated in a monotone deep voice "I'll unlock the gates, pull up over there and I'll lead you in". It was like I was entering a highly secured, secret underground bunker.

We drove through the gates and waited for him to lead us up the dark winding path to the village. That in itself set the scene for the night's investigation. I was excited!

After a very brief five minute introduction and history talk, we began the investigation part of the evening by splitting into two groups. All guests had been on ghost tours or investigations previously, so with no newbies in tow, the guides hustled everyone to their first destination.  My group was led by a member of APS and a medium as we followed them into the villa. This was a cottage style dwelling with a long hallway down the middle. The main part of the dwelling had four main rooms. Lounge and dining rooms to the left and the main bedroom and child's room to the right. The back of the house had an open space and a kitchen off to the right.

We congregated in the dining room, where the guide had previously set up an EMF pump, K2's, spirit box and EVP recorder with speaker. He began by explaining the equipment and then moved onto the EVP. He asked each member to ask a question and then wait about ten seconds in between questions, to give the spirit time to respond. At the end of the questioning, he played the recording back through the speaker to see if we could decipher any audible responses. Nothing.

He then moved onto the spirit box. This swept through a number of frequencies, a number of times. There were no clear responses heard over the white noise.

The medium then alleged to pick up on the spirit of a young boy about 3 or 4 years of age. She claimed he was playing and hiding under the table. This interaction lasted a number of minutes and it appeared the boy was communicating using the K2 meter. The medium and a number of guests claimed to feel a cool breeze. I felt nothing.

It was at this time that I sensed a female spirit with the name Mary, Maree or Maria. The spirit kept telling me she needed to speak with John. I thought this was odd as the original owner of the homestead was John. I thought nothing of it as I believed I had been influenced by the brief history we received on arrival.

As the group interacted with the alleged child spirit and the K2, this nagging in my head was getting stronger. "I need to talk to John. It's Maria, tell him I am here". This was going over and over in my head to the point where I developed a headache. I interrupted the group and said that what I was about to say may be irrelevant, but I am sensing a female spirit (fiftyish) that is nagging me to speak to an older gentleman named John. So I asked the guide if they have had any experiences with what I just said. It was at this point that the older gentleman to my right said that his name was John and his younger sister's name was Maria. I gasped and instantaneously my headache was gone. I said, I don't know what is going on, but she wants to talk to you. He then directed his questioning to the spirit and asked out loud "what are you trying to tell me?".....nothing. This was very odd and rather confronting. The story deepens later...…..

We then did a shout out, where the group yelled "HELLO" three times. The EVP recorded this session and we listened back to the recording to see if Maria had communicated, but nothing.

We then had five minutes to walk around the house to see the other rooms. It wasn't enough time to do any investigative work, it was just enough time to see what was in the other rooms.

Our group then moved over to the school house, where the guide had set up an EMF doll. They also had a K2 meter, EVP recorder, a laser grid and an ovilus. The guide explained each piece of equipment and handed them to guests to hold. The ovilus was given to John and was constantly giving out words, but I do not know what they were and I did not check the log. At one point, the guide asked the spirit his name and it did respond accurately with "Jim".

There was an occasional hit on the EMF doll and no hits on the K2.

This is where the John, Maria situation comes back. The nagging spirit was back in my head asking me to ask them about the migraines and the old lady who died of the heart, breathing issue. I felt like the spirit was saying if you ask them that - they will believe. This is what was going on in my head. It was so frustrating....getting louder and louder to the point where I couldn't think about anything else. So again, I say, look I am just going to say this as it is.

Someone has an issue with really bad migraines - John's wife (who was sitting next to him) says, I have debilitating migraines. Ok.

And there is an older lady who died of a heart issue, but it was more the breathing - John says, my mother.

Now this is getting freaky. I also stated that John was there with his two daughters and a niece.....don't know how I knew that - but it was correct. I guess it was all validation.

I then concluded with, Maria needs to talk to you. End of story......weird huh?

We then participated in an old school technique called the human pendulum. A group of guests stood up and formed a circle holding hands. We welcomed any spirit into the space and asked them to make it known who they wanted to communicate with. One lady then stated she was swaying and had felt cold around her legs.

She then moved into the centre of the circle and relaxed. The group then asked yes no questions of the spirit and the guest would rock forward for a yes and backwards for a no. I know this sounds staged, but when you see it in reality and see the movement that the guest does and how distinct it is, you do find it hard to debunk. Naturally it raised questions of authenticity and I could not help but reflect on the unconscious muscle force theory. I did find myself questioning whether it was genuine.

The responses were related to the young spirit boy whom was alleged to have followed us from the house. He stated he was cold, was an only child, was four years old and was happy living there.

I am rather intrigued with this old school method and will definitely trial this so I can validate genuine non control or influence.

After this, the entire group moved into the chapel where we experimented with a ghost box. This did not produce any results, so we moved the ghost box into the house and set up in the lounge room. There were a number of responses, but nothing that seemed to make sense at the time.

We then closed with a grounding ceremony.

The investigation was different to other public tours I had been on. This one was very well structured and moved through three spaces with about 45 minutes in each space. It felt really short, sharp and directed. It was suited to people who had an understanding of investigations as it exposed them to a new level of equipment that the amateur ghost hunter may not own or have used. Equipment such as an ovilus and a ghost box, given that they are relatively expensive pieces of equipment to purchase. It was not an investigation where you go off and do your own thing or sit around and wait and listen. With about 45 minutes in each space, which includes a talk about the equipment, a shout out, an EVP recording and a listen back, there is not much time left to explore.

Although there was not a lot of activity on this investigation, it was very interesting to learn two new strategies in the shout out and the pendulum. I will definitely try both of these at upcoming investigations and would highly recommend this investigation to others who want to see this equipment in action.

Oh by the way - the image is of the Chapel and those two graves are horse graves......yes horse graves!

All in all ….. a great way to spend a Saturday evening.

Private residential home, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

There are many people who think their home is haunted. They may see, hear or feel things that they themselves could not explain. Other times, their imagination works overtime and many of the so called experiences could be explained or debunked.

The house which I was asked to investigate, has been owned and lived in by the same sceptic owner for near on forty years. Children have been raised there, friends and family have lived there, but one unexplained common phenomena, that has been bantered around over the years, is the sighting of a lady apparition in the front bedroom. Residents and guests have claimed to see her shadow move through the hallway and in and out of the front bedroom. There have been cold chills and unexplained noises.

So Saturday day and evening, I, along with the owner, her daughter and a family friend prepared to investigation the allegations. We sat in the kitchen where I explained what we were going to do for the night. I showed them the equipment I had brought along - it was like a Tupperware party but with paranormal goodies instead (business idea right there). The equipment including dousing rods, K2s, laser grid, spirit box, EVR, ghost meter, parascope, old-school trigger items, a camera and video equipment. For everyone, except me, this was new to them.

In the late afternoon, we walked around the 100 year old home to get a feel for its energy. The front room was definitely at least 5 - 6 degrees colder than every other room in the home. Within moments I felt the denseness of the air and the K2 meter was activated. We set up trigger items which included balls and dolls, along with a video camera. We decided to stay in the room for about 45 minutes and just sit and listen. Interestingly, the daughter felt a cool breeze move from the window to the door numerous times. The owner played with the K2 meter and the daughter and friend began to dabble with the dousing rods. There was definitely some credible crossing of the rods which responded to similar questions in the same way. We did capture a mist like image on one of the cameras.

After a bit of an introduction, we retreated to the kitchen to talk about the experience. The catball was left in the hallway about 10 cm from the door, on the floor boards. After about 10 minutes, and out of the corner of our eyes, we saw that the catball had been activated. It only happened the once. We had a K2 meter on the kitchen table which was heavily active, responding to questions and appeared to be attempting to communicate with us. What was interesting, is the daughter and mother had stated that the spirit had never gone past the hallway, ever. It moved in and out of the room and to the entrance of the next room, but never the whole length of the hallway or into the kitchen. Was this a different spirit who was activating the K2 on the table? I would say yes!

After dinner we moved back down the hallway to find the catball on the carpet runner. Yes it had moved. MOVED.....about 10 cm and up onto the runner.  Realistically, someone may have kicked it when walking out of the room earlier, but it had not activated then and no one recalled kicking it. It only lit up that one time for the whole night, when we were at dinner - had the spirit come out of the room to see what we were doing? Possibly.

We continued with our investigation in the bedroom using the K2 meters and the dousing rods. The responses we received alleged the spirit was a female lady who had lived there and that she enjoyed living there. She liked looking out the large bay window to the busyness of the world. She liked the fire place and felt that the room was too cold now that it was not in use. I personally had numerous tingles and did sense only the one spirit in the room. We attempted to use the spirit box and laser grid, but with no success. The owner validated at the conclusion of the investigation that she had bought the property as a deceased estate from a German lady and that the owner had closed up the fireplace in that bedroom. She was unaware whether she had any children, although we did have numerous hits stating that the spirit did in fact have children.

From here, we moved into the formal reception room which was opposite the bedroom. The feeling was different. Not sure how, just different. The owners said that they have never sensed her in this space, but we thought we would investigate all the same.

About 15 minutes in, we had hits on the K2 and the parascope. The daughter and friend were still using the dousing rods. Then all of a sudden the daughter was overcome with intense emotion and after some questioning and interaction, it was concluded that the spirit was that of her male friend whom had taking his own life late last year. The daughter had been carrying around considerable guilt and I believe he was there to help her heal and for closure. The interactions were very emotional and I believe genuine. He was answering questions which only she would know and they were accurate. At the end of the investigation, the owner told us that he had lived there for a number of years and this room was his bedroom! Was this the spirit that had been attempting to communicate with us in the kitchen?

We have some interesting video footage of the K2 meter in the reception room. In the footage, the green light, which was always on, can be seen going on and off in the video. From where I was sitting, I could see it was green (or orange or red) all the time, but the camera had it going on and off regularly. I believe the spirit was moving between the camera and the meter, with his shadow stopping the light being seen by the camera. It was intense.

Due to the high level of emotion, we retreated to the kitchen to gather ourselves and have some dessert (carrot cake to be exact). We talked about our experience before closing our investigations with a quick good bye in each of the rooms.

The owner who was a very strong sceptic stated that she believed something was captured there that night. She said that due to me not knowing the history or the stories, the equipment responded with accurate answers. She has asked us to return again.

Langhorne Homestead, Altona, Victoria, Australia

The Altona Homestead was built in the 1850's and is situated in Logan Reserve, about 50 metres from the Altona Beach shoreline. Imagine being in the mid 1800's, standing in the bay window staring out to the ocean, watching and waiting for your husband to return, with the sounds of the ocean reminding you of how isolated you are. The flicker of candlelight or moonlight shimmering through the gum trees must have been so eerily peaceful. It is hard to imagine, and even more so, given that the homestead is surrounded by a bustling community, with shops, restaurants, bars and people. But once inside, you blocked the sounds of the outside world and immersed yourself in the artifacts that filled the homestead.

And so the night began …...

We entered the beautiful bluestone and brick homestead into an entrance foyer. To the left was the main bedroom of Sarah Langhorne, to the right, the reception room. Straight ahead is a hallway and a door. Off the hallway were the bathroom, the child's bedroom and a large room (currently used as an office). The door off the foyer, led to the dining room and off this was a small library and through the library was the kitchen, which was the base for the night.

We all met in the kitchen where the two guides gave a five minute introduction and a brief history of the spirits who were alleged to roam the homestead. They went through some equipment they had on offer, which included K2 meters, dousing rods, a spirit box and a set of parabolic earphones. The guides then said we were free to explore the homestead and if we needed their assistance, to just ask.

Great I thought, off to do my own paranormal investigation. I love that!

I teamed up with a friend, who had brought his teenage daughter along for her first extended paranormal investigation, and moved quickly into the main bedroom. This bedroom was alleged to have a number of spirits, including a woman who had died in the bed during childbirth and that of Sarah Langhorne. We set up a video camera, a parascope on the bed, a few K2 meters and a catball on the wash stand. We then invited anyone to come forward. After a few minutes, the parascope lit up and the catball began to respond with what appeared to be intelligent communication. This only lasted about five minutes because the other guests began to talk rather loudly, laughing and moving noisily through the homestead. In reality, we were talking about an entrance foyer with five investigative rooms off it, and 17 people (2 guides and 15 guests) moving through a relatively small area, so noise was always going to be an issue.

We did have a video camera set up in this space, so we are hoping that once that is analysed, there may be some notable evidence from this room.

It would have been beneficial for the guide to talk about investigation etiquette. There were many times throughout the night that you could not investigate due to the noise of some of the guests.

From the bedroom, we moved into the bathroom where it was alleged a man had drowned in the tub. Unfortunately nothing.

From the bathroom, we moved into the child's room next door. They were alleged reports of children playing in this space, so we set up a few trigger items, the camera and the catball. We spent a considerable amount of time in this room, not because of activity, but because there were always people in the reception room and the dining room was a thorough fare through to the base (kitchen) and we had already investigated the bathroom and the main bedroom.

However, we did get some activity in this room. Mostly mild sensations, cool breezes and tinglings and on the second return to this room, my friend felt headachey and the room felt 'different'. We spent over forty-five minutes in this room, in total. One couple had stated that when they were in there, they felt something touch their legs.

By this time we were one and a half hours into the investigation and the house seemed to quieten down. We found out that some of the guests had left the tour. So with a few less people in the house, we moved into the dining room. We set the parascope up on the table and a few triggers elsewhere in the room. We did feel energy in the room, albeit mild, and we did have a few hits on the parascope, but nothing on any of the other devices.

From here, we returned to the main bedroom and tried a few other investigations with the other couple from earlier. We made a circle of energy and invited the spirits to come and communicate with us. The couple commented on cool breezes and being touched in the back whilst the other felt like she was being pulled towards the window. The room felt more charged and there were definite tinglings, but none of the devices were activated.

There was still an hour to go on the tour, and I must admit, we did consider leaving, but we thought, no, let's try somewhere else. So we went down into the office area. This area definitely had a different feel from the rest of the homestead. This may sound funny, but it felt masculine, and we referred to the spirit we encountered as male, whereas everywhere else in the homestead, we had subconsciously referred to the other adult spirits as female. We had some trigger activity on the parascope and the K2 flashed to orange multiple times. There was a dense, heavy feeling. It was probably the most active, besides the experiments in the main bedroom.

With half an hour to go, we finally got the reception room to ourselves. All night, others had set up camp in the reception room, sitting around on the couches, talking or using the spirit box with the volume up quite high. After a while, that white noise does your head in. It was used quite extensively by guests and guides this tour and it echoed through the homestead. I was surprised, because most of the reading I have done on spirit boxes stated that you should always do a protection 'spell' before using one and then only use it for five to ten minutes at a time, with a closing 'spell' at the end, to ensure spirits go back to whence they came. I do get the attraction of this piece of equipment and I do use mine, but we record the session and unless the whole team is in the one room, we use headphones.

We sat in the reception room and listened to the last of the guests say their goodbyes. We realised everyone else had left the tour, except for us.

Nothing notable happened in the reception room, so we packed up and went to find the guides to say goodnight. At the beginning of the night we were concerned that three hours would not be enough time to do an in-depth paranormal investigation, but it was more than enough, given the low level of activity we experienced.

The guides were lovely and most hospitable, but some of the guests were loud, with a few of them doing an investigation for the first or second time and whom did not understand etiquette. This definitely deterred from our experience, but it was still an enjoyable evening.

As for a paranormal investigation, it was a great one for newbies or children. It was not scary or confronting. The rooms were well furnished and there was no need for a torch. There was a toilet and a well lit kitchen to retreat to if need be. The company provided some great equipment for guests to dabble in and there were enough rooms to practice your investigative skills.