Posts Tagged ‘2012’

by Karen Frazier, Managing Editor
Paranormal Underground Magazine

Book: 2012 – The Paranormal Cookbook
Author: Shaun Belekurov
Genre: Paranormal non-fiction
Rating: 4 stars out of 5

What do 2012, creepy clowns, werewolves, synchronicity, cryptids, The Joker and Men in Black have in common? According to Shaun Belekurov, maybe more than we could ever imagine. In the 2012 – The Paranormal Cookbook, Belekurov takes the reader on an extremely well-researched journey through the world of the odd and often unexplainable in pursuit of his central goal – taking another look at the nature of reality. The result is extremely informative, often creepy, and always interesting.

Belekurov, who is a paranormal investigator takes an in depth look at a number of phenomena associated with folklore, explores clusters of paranormal activity in unlikely locations, and shares his theory about why it is that so many of these things may just actually be manifesting in “the real world” and how it all relates to current cultural fears about the year 2012.

Belekurov’s central thesis is well thought out. Clearly this is something he’s been chewing on for quite a while. Some of the phenomena Belekurov explores in support his overarching theories:

-The Mothman Prophecies
-Poltergeist activity
-Cattle mutilations
-The Jersey Devil
-Creepy clowns (*shudder* – a personal fear of mine)
-Movie curses
-Black-eyed children

Could it be that all of these phenomena and more are somehow linked to where we are headed as a society – and ultimately as a species? And is 2012 really the end? Read 2012 The Paranormal Cookbook. Whether or not you agree with Belekurov’s theories, you’ll walk away more informed – and maybe just a little more creeped out.

Do you enjoy Karen’s book reviews? Then check out her new book, Avalanche of Spirits: The Ghosts of Wellington, now available from Amazon.com.

To order a printed copy of this issue, click the “Buy Now!” icon below:

Paul Bradford, new Ghost Hunters International investigator, will sign your copy of Paranormal Underground’s December issue. Check out Paul’s Investigator Spotlight on page 14! Just send a Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope (8.5 x 11) to Paul with your magazine, and he’ll sign and return it to you.

C/O Paul Bradford
Creepy Hollow Gear
P.O. Box 22336
Tucson, AZ 85734

INCLUDED IN THIS ISSUE:

Investigator Spotlights
–Paul Bradford Joins the Ghost Hunters International Cast
–Colleen Quinn-Beltramini Investigates With NESPI

Special Reports
–Will We All Die in 2012?
–High-Tech Oracle? The Web Bot Project and 2012
–2009 Paranormal Year in Review

Haunted Sites
–The Charlesgate Hotel

Haunted History
–Memento Mori: Photographing the Dead

Are We Alone?
–Why Don’t They Believe Us?

Quantum Musings
–2012: Will Neutrinos Be the End of Us?

Personal Experiences
–Diary From a Haunted Hotel
–Tales From the Road: Return to the Old Wheeler Inn
–What Was That? Inside the Live Ghost Adventures Special

Fiction: Featured Author
–“The Turn of a Friendly Card” by Richard Tingle

Paranormal Fantasy Author Spotlight
–Denise A. Agnew

Also
–TV Watch: Ghost Hunters Academy
–Reviews of the Month: 2012 and The Fourth Kind
–Member Profile: David Galvan (PLA)
–Calendar of Events
–Ghost Hunter comic

To order a printed copy of this issue, click the “Buy Now!” icon below:

INCLUDED IN THIS ISSUE:

Investigator Spotlight
–WPRS Strives to Better Understand the Paranormal

Special Report
–So, You Want to Be a Ghost Hunter, Eh?

Haunted Sites
–Paiute Imp

Haunted History
–Fear and Loathing in Salem, Mass.

Cryptids & Mythological Creatures
–Fairies: Myths & Legends

Are We Alone?
–The Green Fireball UFOs in New Mexico

Fiction: Featured Author
–“Rewind” by Ann Smathers

Paranormal Fantasy Author Spotlight
–Megan Hart

Personal Experiences
–Diary From a Haunted Hotel
–Ghost Hunter Case Files: A Haunting in Hopkinton: The Mcneil Home
–Ghost Investigation: Kentucky Farmhouse

Also
–TV Watch: FlashForward
–Review of the Month: Paranormal Activity
–Member Profile: Rick E. Hale
–Calendar of Events
–Ghost Hunter comic

By Cheryl Knight, www.paranormalunderground.net

In just a few days, Paranormal Underground magazine’s December issue will hit the net, and we’ll be featuring the many theories surrounding 2012, as well as recaping the 2009 Paranormal Year in Review.

Our Investigator Spotlights will profile the newest member of the Ghost Hunters International cast, Paul Bradford, as well as Colleen Quinn-Beltramini, an investigator with the New England Society of Paranormal Investigators.

Other departments and features will cover the new show Ghost Hunters Academy, the Web Bot Project, Memento Mori Photography (Photographing the Dead), and an inside look at the recent Ghost Adventures Live broadcast from one of the fans that was a part of the investigation.

So check back soon for our final issue of 2009, the December 2012/Year in Review issue.

Happy reading!

Join our panel as we discuss 2012, the Mayans, doomsday prophecies, crystal skulls, and Atlantis, first by interviewing author of Skulls of Salvation Lanaia Lee, and then later in our panel discussion.

Guest: Lanaia Lee
Moderator: Karen Frazier, Managing Editor
Panel: Cheryl Knight, Editor-in-Chief; Chad Wilson, Publisher; and JD Harrison, Science Editor

by Karen Frazier, Managing Editor
Paranormal Underground e-Magazine

Come debate 2012 Doomsday in our forum!

Is the world really ending in 2012? Is doomsday at hand?

Every few years, a news item pops up that someone has predicted the end of the world. The media reports it, and a few people worry. But most don’t. How seriously can they take these predictions with the mack daddy of doomsday predictions looming in just three years?

And really – how much can we worry about dying at the hands of earth-annihilating comets or nuclear winter when we have pandemics like the swine flu threatening us this very minute AS WE SPEAK?

Yep – it’s a frightening world out there, and if you believe the media, we’re always just a breath away from the total annihilation of our species. Scary, huh? It’s amazing we’ve made it this far.

Stuff happens. Some of it bad stuff. Some of it scary stuff. But it happens whether we are whipped into a frenzy of fear about it or not. Which begs the question – if our worries have zero effect on the ultimate outcome, then why worry?

My father used to give a speech in which he said 95% of the things you worried about last year didn’t happen. 95%! I don’t know how accurate that statistic is, but it illustrates a larger point. We worry. A lot. About needless things. Remember Y2K? What a snooze that turned out to be. Probably a good thing I never built that Y2K bunker.

Which brings me back to 2012. There is a project called the Web-bot project that mines the Internet for keywords and then very effectively tracks coming trends in the stock market. It is almost uncannily accurate in these predictions. Some believe that it has other predictive powers as well. Hind-sight views of the Web-bot project’s predictions have been interpreted as predicting hurricane Katrina, 9/11 and some other major world events. The Web-bot project is “predicting” a world-wide calamity in 2012.

Here’s my question. How could it not? The Web-bot project mines keywords. Have you ever searched through keywords like 2012 and doomsday? Hint: They appear together a lot. If this modern-day oracle is basing its predictions on key words, it probably has picked up on the fearful language out there on the Internet that links keyword 2012 with keyword doomsday.

In his first inaugural address, FDR uttered the now-famous quote, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” Smart man, FDR.

For the sake of argument, let’s say that the “predictions” are true. Let’s say that the world is, indeed, going to end in 2012. Does worrying about that enhance or enrich your life in any way? Does it help you to live with more joy, love more fully or attempt to make a difference?

Fear is an emotion that keeps us from reaching our full potential. It wastes our time and wastes our energy. It causes us to marginalize or discriminate against people who are different from us. It paralyzes us, sticking us in old ways of thinking and destructive patterns of behavior. And yet – look at what we are sold. By the media, by political parties, by our religious leaders and by our world leaders. We are sold fear. Because fear keeps us in our place and allows them an inroad by which they can assume control of our lives.

As a species, we come by fear honestly. Without fear, we wouldn’t have had the instinct to get away from those truly frightful creatures who wanted to make us their breakfast along with a bagel and latte. And certainly, that fear can still serve us – alerting us to immediate danger and causing fight or flight.

But this constant, nagging fear that we live with on a day to day basis – that doesn’t serve us. Instead it limits the big, grand lives we could truly lead if we stopped being afraid. If the world were to truly end in 2012 (and I’m definitely not saying it’s going to happen) – how would your time the next three years be better served? Hunkered down, fearing the end or going out and living the big, bold and fearless life that you have inside of you? I vote for the latter. Live large. That way, when the end of your life comes, there will be no regrets – only the satisfaction of a life well-lived.