Posted on 10/23/2004 4:37:00 PM PDT by CurlyBill
HUDSON -- A headless man in a fine blue officer's uniform floats above the Fort Meadow Reservoir day and night, but his ghost is seen only by women.
"The Blue Man," as he is known, is so crisp that the weave of his coat and the gold on his buttons are clearly visible, said ghost hunter and story teller Nancy McMillan.
Another ghost, who some recognize as a former Marlborough mayor, peers up at those on the Fort Meadow Reservoir docks.
"It looks like he's peering up at you from under a sheet of ice," said McMillan, who will lead a free discussion of "Historical Ghosts of New England" on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the First Federated Church Hall at 200 Central St. The event is being hosted by the Hudson Historical Society.
McMillan not only leads ghost tours and writes novels during her spare time, she also heads her own ghost detective agency called "In Spirit." It investigates supposed paranormal activity free of charge.
"I don't see dead people," McMillan said with a laugh.
But her business partner does.
McMillan investigates possible hauntings with a friend and silent partner who is "sensitive," a medium who can tap into spirit energy.
McMillan said she approaches ghost hunting as a science to prove spooky phenomena have natural explanations, like power surges or loose floor boards.
"I'm a skeptic," McMillan said from her home office on Lincoln Street. "I go in more to prove there isn't, rather than there is."
Of the 20 or so hauntings "In Spirit" has investigated since its inception two years ago, only two or three were not explainable phenomena.
One such haunting occurs at Stones Public House in Ashland, well known for its haunted happenings. McMillan said she and her partner recorded evidence of the ghost of a little girl there, capturing her in light images, and recording "Electronic Voice Phenomena" of the girl saying "I am not dead."
McMillan said she would not discuss investigations at private homes and businesses, even if they turned out to be easily explained.
A ghost history could affect the value of a house and how sane neighbors think you are, she said.
"The confidentiality is as strong as if you were doing a counseling session," she said.
McMillan, a psychotherapist and non-denominational minister, said he has always been drawn to help people. Her investigation of the paranormal is simply an extension of that desire and her interest in the afterlife.
She began thinking more about life after death when she was ordained by the Universal Church.
"People would ask me, where do I go after I die?" she said. "Nobody can really answer that question, it's a matter of faith."
McMillan's first ghostly encounter took place in the historic Wayside Inn in Sudbury 17 years ago, when a mysterious presence visited her in the night.
McMillan was writing a romance novel at the time, and chose the picturesque inn as the book's setting.
Then, laying alone under the covers in the middle of the night, "I felt someone standing next to me," she said. "It was just like someone was there, looking down at me."
McMillan frantically turned on the light, she looked under the bed, she looked in the closet. She found nothing.
After climbing back into bed, "I felt a touch on my cheek and the name John came to mind."
To her surprise, another guest had had a similar experience, and the innkeeper said "John" was a former proprietor who liked to check in on the guests from time to time.
McMillan would not necessarily determine the Wayside Inn harbors a ghost on that experience alone.
"Is there evidence? That is the key word," she said.
McMillan's ghost-detecting kit includes infrared video cameras, digital cameras, tape recorders and electromagnetic field detectors to record ghost activity.
Before "In Spirit" sets up the equipment, McMillan's partner interviews the clients about their experiences and the history of the house, and asks them to keep a journal of the activity. Strange occurrences are easily explained when they take place at the same time or during the same weather conditions, McMillan said. Then, "In Spirit" researches the property and its history through town records.
The vast majority of haunting are tricks of light and shadow, hallucinations, peculiar atmospheric conditions, geological or electromagnetic influences and animal noises, according to McMillan. Some are pranks and others could be displaced psychic energy.
Most people have suspected a haunting or know someone who has seen a ghost, McMillan said.
"I think a lot of people have experienced this, they just don't want to let people know."
McMillan, as well as "In Spirit," New Beginnings S.O.U.L. Clinic and the Tree of Life Spiritual Center, can be reached through nancymcmillan.net.
It was really neat. None of the floors were flat on the second and third floors. It felt like you had to walk up a hill just to walk in the room. You had to be careful walking in the hallways because you'd hit a dip and sprain an ankle. Then my husband spent nine months with a gash on his head because he kept banging his head walking through the doorways. He's 6-2 and kept having to duck. Then there were spiders, don't even get me started on those! They actually had kneecaps! Yuck.
Anyway, it was the creepiest house I'd ever lived in. There was a whole portion I wouldn't even go into if I could avoid it.
So sKerry paid a visit??
you hit the nail on the head!
Thanks tons for your kind words.
May God's richest love, provision, safety, intimacy be with you and yours.
bttt... thanks curly bill.. will catch you later. good read. Hudson (not Ohio?)
When I was young, and my family was watching "Laugh In" on the tv, I was off doing my things (not big on sitting for long periods of time), I thought of my dad's dad, out of the blue, and began crying. My mom and dad were concerned, turned the show down to talk with me.. sure enough phone rang, and my dad's dad had just passed away. Alongside Lawrence Welk, Laugh-in was one of my Papa's favorite shows. My Papa had been ailing, and it is possible the scene on laugh-in going on that very minute was one I knew would make Papa laugh, too. Afterwards, I was comforted knowing my Papa had died from laughing! :)
Hope you didn't order the smoked ham.
A 700 yr old house in the US?....maybe Mesa Verde.
Are their any Anasazi ghosts reportedly out there or were they all consumed in the Dulce Wars?
I agree. In your example, it would lead the people involved to have faith, more faith, and total belief in God and Jesus which would negate Satan's intentions. It would be a losing gambit for Satan.
please add me to your ghost ping list. thanks in advance. :)
Hopi Villages easily.
Possibly even Santa Fe
Here's a question for you.
We know God is a God of the Living. We know of the person of the Holy Ghost also referred to as the Holy Spirit.
We know Scripturally that salvatio and regeneration are considered foolishness to the unbeliever because they are spiritually discerned and until salvation, we are dead or separated from God in the spirit.
Now there are plenty of unbelievers out in the world who believe in spirits. They probably are demonic or separated from the Living God, but I've always associated those ghost stories as a method of unbelievers to account for the spiritual domain as they might encounter upon it.
My question then becomes, what is the range of the spiritual domain when placed into context of body, soul and spirit,..from a Scriptural point of view? Then how does that place the pagan point of view into perspective?
CVENGER:
My question then becomes, what is the range of the spiritual domain when placed into context of body, soul and spirit,..from a Scriptural point of view? Then how does that place the pagan point of view into perspective?
QX:
Not sure I understand your questions well.
1) What is the range of the spiritual domain? All that is.
In the context of the body? I don't think Scripture speaks to that. Some who claim to see auras--and I've learned that perhaps authentic Believers can by Holy Spirit see such things--that it MAY not be only a new agey sort of capacity though I certainly see any new agey thing as counterfeit . . . anyway--some who claim to see auras would probably say that the spiritual domain around the body only extends inches to maybe a foot or 2 depending on whatever variable.
I can't really respond well to the issue of in the context of soul and spirit either because the Bible is not at all clear about such things. If we consider the soul, soulishness the mind--perhaps it's rather limited while we are in our body.
But I certainly think that our spirit has at least some capacity to tap into God via the spiritual real with or without our conscious awareness. God seems to pretty much require our conscious assent, permission, authority, though. There is certainly plenty of evidence of things being passed down to the 3rd and 4th generation without the permission or authority of the person in the 3rd or 4th generation. And such can need deliverance; firm resisting the enemy until he lastingly flees etc.
And, that the spiritual realm is evidently limitless--not only in the 3-4 dimensions that we know but in any dimensions that are.
In my understanding, demonic forces can speak into our minds as certainly can Holy Spirit
THOUGH various Calvinists and Hyper-Calvinists deny it and seem blind to it. I guess they think God would leave satan and his demonic forces such access without allowing Holy Spirit to have similar access--a truly amazing silliness to me.
I believe that demonic forces can inhabit bodies/minds/spirits at least in the sense of residing within and exercising an unusual degree of control over the person and the person's choices. The Blood of Jesus and prayer and fasting on the part of several earnest believers may be necessary to deal with such.
I also believe that demonic forces can hover around; follow around and essentially be pretty persistently harrassing toward given goals. Such experiences can seem fairly closely similar to resident possession because of the degree of influence. But, it's usually more of a continuum from a little to a lot than is possession.
I don't think I have a whole lot to share more than the above. If you can think of a different way to word your questions or have more questions, I'd be happy to try and respond better.
Blessings,
bump
.
would you please add me to your ghost ping list.
Thanks,
p
Could you add me to your ping list please?
Thank you in advance.
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