Not saying this is the case in your circumstance but I have seen people fake being a sensitive just so they can fit in.

I wouldn't go so far as to use the word fake........But I agree with fitting in, being able to be different, or special....

I find the ones who truly fake are in it for the money........

But I will admit --- I not believe in the whole sensitive, medium thing...........

I would suggest that amateur sensitives have a variety of reasons for believing in their abilities ----- Most claim to have had an experience early in childhood, one that has 'no other explanation' other than being paranormal. Really? As a child they would have the knowledge to discount an normal causes?

So -- to the OP --- stick with what you got, a good base of reasoning and common sense.........

Yeah, as they say, careful what you wish for......... I guess then you'd be a good source of some of the information I am pondering-Why are they strangers, and not our loved ones? Is that because only some people become what they are? Or maybe we all do, but some some stay earthbound for various reasons and need help crossing over? I had read this wonderful article on the Association Transcommunication website (http://atransc.org/theory/surv.....thesis.htm) and thought I had finally found a reasonable hypothesis for what happens to us next. The only problem is that it does not explain why only a small number of people seem to haunt earth, not all the people in history (by the way, check that website out if you haven't already!). That's funny what you said about being woken up at night, people in my group complain about that to each other all the time: "And so I sat up and told her KNOCK IT OFF, I AM SLEEPING HERE!!!", lol. Although I suppose it would get old, I think I'd want to talk with them all night, the hell with work! For starters, I'd ask "Do you know why you are here?", "Can you go wherever you want?", "Can you communicate easily with others like you?", "Does time pass for you as it does us?", "Do you believe in God?", "Are you with people that lived long before you did?", "Do you have moods?", etc, I mean I could just keep going. Or, I wonder is it more strained than that, where you get a little across here and there, like the EVP's?

I'll have to check that website out when I get a chance. I must say, I don't really like talking about my experiences like they're "fact". And I've always tried to be very logical when dealing with whatever information I've collected as a sensitive. One thing I believe to be true is that many spirits are not earthbound, but visiting spirits. Visiting from where? I don't know. I believe in Heaven, Purgatory & Hell. So to me, it would probably be one of those places. To someone else, eh, maybe they're visiting from Boca. I have been able to tell which ones are which- mainly because earthbound spirits tend to be way more curious with me than the visiting ones, among other reasons that I won't go into. And that's not to say that visiting spirits don't communicate.

The only other thing I realized about the spirit world is that I don't like it. I barely feel comfortable going grocery shopping- crazy drivers, rude check out clerks, overall mean people... the spirit world is exactly the same, only they're invisible. You can't even look them in the eyes. There are con artists all around us, and there are con artists in the afterlife. I've come in contact with nasty spirits(angry, violent, mentally ill) who won't move on and dealing with them is awful. Clearly there are decent people, too- it's just so shrouded in darkness, and when I really open my mind to what's out there- all I've found is an overwhelming world full of more than I can handle.

As for your questions- clearly you would make a better sensitive than me lol. However, "talking" to them isn't that easy. When I was a child it was free conversation. Now that I'm older I only get impressions in my mind with the occasional disembodied voice that I hear outright. One of the best experiments I did was go on a hunt, and have a friend with a microphoned recorder & headphones point it in whatever direction I "felt" someone, and say who I felt they were (ie young man or old female). The results were amazing. What the voice recorder caught completely matched the identities of who I felt. However, it really is overwhelming to me to open myself up like that. It's amazing, and frightening. I feel small enough in this world without another world to add on top of it.

Not saying this is the case in your circumstance but I have seen people fake being a sensitive just so they can fit in.

That wouldn't surprise me. For me I always felt like a freak. It's definitely not something that makes me think "Wow! This 6th sense really makes me feel like I fit in!" All it's ever done is left me with more questions, really. I really do think that being 'sensitive' is mostly about having a really strong intuition more-so than anything. And as far as I'm concerned, if you're really looking for evidence as a team, relying on psychics or sensitives is not the way to go about it. We are, after all, only human.

As a sensitive, I've got to say, it's not all it's cracked up to be. Being a "beacon" for the supernatural has it's ups and downs- and the downs aren't anything I've ever liked. Growing up I constantly had to deal with going over friends houses, which in my area tend to be old with lingering spirits. Without fail, anytime I was over the activity was always heightened. I could "see" these people in my mind and hear them- but you have to understand, while spirits often are human, they're also strangers. And like the living, they're not always happy or pleasant to deal with. And the nasty ones really can make you feel awful, drained and sick. I'm a pretty stubborn person, and it doesn't go over well when some nasty spirit is making me feel things I don't want to feel.

Then I constantly had to deal with being woken up by spirits- which was fine to a point when I was single, but try having to explain to your new husband why you're talking to an invisible person in the middle of the night- or having your new husband jumping out of bed because they start tugging on his blankets and humming to him.

It got to the point that I finally had to set parameters with the spirit world because I just couldn't keep up with it, and honestly didn't want to. Now I just tap into it when I want to, which isn't often. Sometimes it's still hard to block it out, but it is nice being able to go places without being constantly bombarded by the other side.

Yeah, as they say, careful what you wish for......... I guess then you'd be a good source of some of the information I am pondering-Why are they strangers, and not our loved ones? Is that because only some people become what they are? Or maybe we all do, but some some stay earthbound for various reasons and need help crossing over? I had read this wonderful article on the Association Transcommunication website (http://atransc.org/theory/surv.....thesis.htm) and thought I had finally found a reasonable hypothesis for what happens to us next. The only problem is that it does not explain why only a small number of people seem to haunt earth, not all the people in history (by the way, check that website out if you haven't already!). That's funny what you said about being woken up at night, people in my group complain about that to each other all the time: "And so I sat up and told her KNOCK IT OFF, I AM SLEEPING HERE!!!", lol. Although I suppose it would get old, I think I'd want to talk with them all night, the hell with work! For starters, I'd ask "Do you know why you are here?", "Can you go wherever you want?", "Can you communicate easily with others like you?", "Does time pass for you as it does us?", "Do you believe in God?", "Are you with people that lived long before you did?", "Do you have moods?", etc, I mean I could just keep going. Or, I wonder is it more strained than that, where you get a little across here and there, like the EVP's?

Again, thanks for your time, there are a lot of paranormal sites and forums out there, I can see I made a good choice joining this one.

I agree, it is nice to be successful at investigating. I had gone into this warned and fully expecting I'd spend long, boring nights not getting anything, and instead had my mind blown on the very first night. I've gotten some wild recordings on almost every investigation since then, enough to know positively we are not alone. This by itself has opened a wealth of questions, like am I ever truly by myself, or do we constantly have company? And is it our friends and family who have passed, or souls I never knew? Do they help me somehow or just watch? I wish I could sense who and when they were with me, if at all. Maybe it's only when I go to an active location, and I'm truly by myself when I'm elsewhere?

I guess what bothers me about my lack of ability to sense them besides the privacy issues, is the fact that as convincing as the EVP stuff is, it's still just a voice. So I have this knowledge that they are out there, but they are still only voices to me, not actual ghosts. I want to experience seeing them with my own eyes. I want to know for sure, and, as they say, seeing is believing. The touch on the back was perhaps the most reassuring that this is no joke, someone touched me when I asked for it, and there was no one near me to do it. That is undeniable.

The other bigger reason is that I've heard sensitives are like a beacon, ghosts see them and gravitate towards them, because they know they can be acknowledged. My strongest EVP has been captured while in the company of these people, and I guess I'm a little nervous that without having them there, I won't be able to get the same results alone.

On the other hand, I have heard if you "make appointments" with them and record on a regular basis, they seem to go nuts and can't wait to talk to you?

"Nowhammies", I think your "visits" are fantastic, and I would love to have a chance to do that on my own. The questions I would have for them!

As a sensitive, I've got to say, it's not all it's cracked up to be. Being a "beacon" for the supernatural has it's ups and downs- and the downs aren't anything I've ever liked. Growing up I constantly had to deal with going over friends houses, which in my area tend to be old with lingering spirits. Without fail, anytime I was over the activity was always heightened. I could "see" these people in my mind and hear them- but you have to understand, while spirits often are human, they're also strangers. And like the living, they're not always happy or pleasant to deal with. And the nasty ones really can make you feel awful, drained and sick. I'm a pretty stubborn person, and it doesn't go over well when some nasty spirit is making me feel things I don't want to feel.

Then I constantly had to deal with being woken up by spirits- which was fine to a point when I was single, but try having to explain to your new husband why you're talking to an invisible person in the middle of the night- or having your new husband jumping out of bed because they start tugging on his blankets and humming to him.

It got to the point that I finally had to set parameters with the spirit world because I just couldn't keep up with it, and honestly didn't want to. Now I just tap into it when I want to, which isn't often. Sometimes it's still hard to block it out, but it is nice being able to go places without being constantly bombarded by the other side.

I agree, it is nice to be successful at investigating. I had gone into this warned and fully expecting I'd spend long, boring nights not getting anything, and instead had my mind blown on the very first night. I've gotten some wild recordings on almost every investigation since then, enough to know positively we are not alone. This by itself has opened a wealth of questions, like am I ever truly by myself, or do we constantly have company? And is it our friends and family who have passed, or souls I never knew? Do they help me somehow or just watch? I wish I could sense who and when they were with me, if at all. Maybe it's only when I go to an active location, and I'm truly by myself when I'm elsewhere?

I guess what bothers me about my lack of ability to sense them besides the privacy issues, is the fact that as convincing as the EVP stuff is, it's still just a voice. So I have this knowledge that they are out there, but they are still only voices to me, not actual ghosts. I want to experience seeing them with my own eyes. I want to know for sure, and, as they say, seeing is believing. The touch on the back was perhaps the most reassuring that this is no joke, someone touched me when I asked for it, and there was no one near me to do it. That is undeniable.

The other bigger reason is that I've heard sensitives are like a beacon, ghosts see them and gravitate towards them, because they know they can be acknowledged. My strongest EVP has been captured while in the company of these people, and I guess I'm a little nervous that without having them there, I won't be able to get the same results alone.

On the other hand, I have heard if you "make appointments" with them and record on a regular basis, they seem to go nuts and can't wait to talk to you?

"Nowhammies", I think your "visits" are fantastic, and I would love to have a chance to do that on my own. The questions I would have for them!

You sound a lot like many people I know /smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':blink:' /> And it definitely looks like you've found a great niche in paranormal investigating.

I'm of the belief like some people are just better at things than others and we all have different things that we're good at. Being sensitive is definitely one of those things. I do think that sometimes the more people become in touch with being around ghosts the more they can learn some of the "feelings" that go along with sensing a spirit, but that won't necessarily make them a full blown sensitive. Either way, it sounds like you're very successful in your searches, and that alone must be very gratifying!

As for the little child asking for mommy, that could be a residual haunting. Some event that is recorded and playing over and over again. We don't know how exactly they are caused but many believe, myself included, that it is not a trapped soul but rather a trapped emotion.

As for God, that is up to you and God.

Wow, I must first of all admit I am a little taken aback with everyone's kind and timely responses to my post, thank you. As for why I investigate, it initially was to try and validate a gut feeling that the evidence, TV shows, and stories I heard were real, and not fabrications. The only way I could do this was to gather my own evidence, where the possibility of deception is not applicable. I think the show "Ghostly Encounters" on Biography was what really got me fired up-here were average, honest looking people simply sitting in a wooden chair and telling fantastic stories of hauntings. It started to become my dream to go on an investigation, and when I moved to Raleigh at the end of 2009, I started looking around for groups. I went on a training case, and by the end of that night, my life was changed forever to say the least. At the start, I was determined to approach this with a detective's eye, trying to see if there was any obvious debunking I could do. That wariness was quickly replaced with the shock and excitement that, yes indeed, it is all true. I also wanted to share this revelation with my best friend, my Father, a scientific-minded retired electrical engineer who would openly scoff at the ghost hunting shows I tried to get him to watch with me. He has an innate distrust of TV/media, and told me "When you get your own EVP, send it to me". I don't think he ever imagined that over the next few months, he would be getting dozens upon dozens of them. At first, he had an possible explanation for everything, but as the evidence became more and more obvious, he started realizing it is undeniable. The kicker for him was the clip I sent where someone asks the deceased Woman to please touch one of us, and suggests it be me. The response before she even finished her question was the recorder in my hand jumped as if someone had flicked it with a fingernail, and a correspondingly loud "pop" heard upon playback. He kept asking "are you sure there's no moving parts in that?", lol. The other two incidents were when I was touched in the back after being asked to, and finally, a class A EVP of a small child asking for his Mommy repeatedly, while we were talking to each other, oblivious to the cries that were in the very room we were in.

After that, my reasons changed a little bit. I love sharing the EVP's with family and friends, because they know I would not lie to them, and therefore I am blowing there minds, but I figure the skeptics who look down on believers as simpletons are not worth the time and energy to try and persuade. In fact, it makes me smile, because when I'd read their often degrading and even insulting comments about believers I knew in my heart that they are the idiots, the sheep. So, I started not trying to prove it anymore, and just try to get better at each investigation I did. My focus has changed to wanting to learn more about this. A million questions started coming to mind- does this mean there is life after death? Quite likely. Does this mean God is not real, as in why would a little child who died be stuck forever asking for his Mommy (in a room full of people who don't even answer) instead of going to Heaven? So now my aim is to try and learn all I can about this, and also develop ways of truly conversing with them. I am also going to shift my style of questioning from a slightly demanding "make a noise if you are really here with us" to a more friendly "I know you are here and I want to communicate with you". In short, stop thinking of them as scary monsters, and more like fellow human beings.

Sorry so long winded, and thanks for your responses.

This is a progression I am somewhat familiar with. I've had paranormal experiences on and off throughout my life (lived in a spooky old haunted place in my early 20s), but I've always still really questioned those early experiences. When I first formally "ghost hunted" I did what I'd seen others do - asked the basic questions, etc. I was lucky enough to have a group share a very interactive place with me where I've been able to develop relationships with the spirits there - so the way I communicate has changed a great deal. It's a conversation now, and most definitely not one-sided. I go there to learn about them because they are human beings. Disembodied humans, sure, but humans just like you and me. We play music from their time period for them, bring them whiskey and cigars, tell them what's happening in the world, bring toys for the kids. It's visiting now, not investigating.

As for proving - I never expected I'd be able to prove anything to anyone. For a while I did want to prove something to myself so I could know I wasn't crazy during those early experiences. Now that need is off the table, too - so I just do it because I love it.

After that, my reasons changed a little bit. I love sharing the EVP's with family and friends, because they know I would not lie to them, and therefore I am blowing there minds, but I figure the skeptics who look down on believers as simpletons are not worth the time and energy to try and persuade. In fact, it makes me smile, because when I'd read their often degrading and even insulting comments about believers I knew in my heart that they are the idiots, the sheep. So, I started not trying to prove it anymore, and just try to get better at each investigation I did. My focus has changed to wanting to learn more about this. A million questions started coming to mind- does this mean there is life after death? Quite likely. Does this mean God is not real, as in why would a little child who died be stuck forever asking for his Mommy (in a room full of people who don't even answer) instead of going to Heaven? So now my aim is to try and learn all I can about this, and also develop ways of truly conversing with them. I am also going to shift my style of questioning from a slightly demanding "make a noise if you are really here with us" to a more friendly "I know you are here and I want to communicate with you". In short, stop thinking of them as scary monsters, and more like fellow human beings.

Sorry so long winded, and thanks for your responses.

I have zip, zero, zilch see/hear things, and have only had a few feelings and getting up there in age. I used to think there was something wrong with me, seriously, after being with people who are having experiences. I have caressed who I am, maybe it's an age thing.

My daughter and I have both had NDR's and are paranormal rocks, ( nothing has changed for us) while my other daughter seems sensitive.

I think we are all good at something, and maybe not having the see/hear things is a good thing, and will lead to a better investigation, imo. /smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' />

My husband is like you. He seems impervious to all of it. He's had technical things happen that are undeniable - but as far as any kind of a personal ghost radar - he has zip, zilch, zero.

I have a little bit of ghost radar - but I don't necessarily trust it. For me, it's tough to know if it is the situation sort of getting to me, or if I am indeed feeling something. Sometimes it will happen in conjunction with someone else's personal "ghost radar" going off and sometimes it will happen in conjunction with a noticeable phenomenon like a disembodied voice, EVP, sighting, etc. That gives it a little credence for me - not a lot but at least it seems like confirmation that sometimes my "ghost radar" works.

I've done nothing to develop it. It is just there, and it's hit or miss. Mostly miss.

If you find a method that works well for you with expanding your natural abilities in this area, please share it, I would be very interested.

Andy

I bet if you ask your friends in the group, which talent they rather have, they much rather have yours. Getting evidence and hearing disembodied voices is way cooler then feeling something. It might have been that taco from Taco Bell.

Welcome to the forums by the way.