York: Ghost Tales from the Most Haunted City in Europe

York has a lot of ghosts. In 2002, the International Ghost Research Foundation said it was the most haunted city in Europe, with 504 hauntings within the confines of the ancient walls.

Founded by the Romans in 71AD, the city's violent and volatile history – including Viking invasions, the Norman Conquest and the Civil War – makes its ghostly legacy easy to understand.

The Minster, which stands towering over the city, is said to be haunted by Seamus the dog, whose barks echo through the halls at night. Legend has it that Seamus and his stonemason master worked on the Minster when it was being built. Other workers did not like the pair so one night decided to brick Seamus in behind a wall. With his master unable to find him, Seamus died alone terrified in the darkness, his barks never answered.

In one of the houses behind the Minster, another ghost wanders the upper floors. A family that had moved into the house quickly became aware of a strange presence. A crying sound would come from the children's bedroom upstairs and people who entered would be overcome with feelings of sadness and regret.

The girl had lived in the house in the late 14th century. Just six years old, her

parents had died from the Black Death in the family home. Fearing she too had the disease, the child was locked in with her parents' bodies by locals. However, she was not infected and after the doors and windows were boarded up, she slowly starved to death all alone.

Rachel Lacy, a paranormal historian from York worked in the Haunted House, on Stonegate, before it closed down just a few days ago. As a paranormal historian, she used to lead ghost tours of York and has researched ghost stories from the city for many years.

Explaining why York was so haunted, she said that before the Romans arrived about 2,000 years ago, there were early tribes that had kept the land as sacred ground. "Then the Romans came and built a great city on sacred site. Maybe they disturbed something much earlier," she said.

While working in the Golden Fleece, one of York's most haunted pubs, Lacy said she and many other members of staff saw ghosts or experienced paranormal activity. "The Fleece is weirder than anywhere I've ever worked. I've heard a lot of stories from different people. I saw things there that I've never seen anywhere else."

Staff members told stories of seeing their colleagues walking through rooms only to later discover they weren't there or had only just arrived. People heard furniture being moved around when alone in the pub, while others heard their names being called.

Discussing her favourite ghost tale from York, Lacy said she had personally interviewed Harry Martindale, whose story about the Roman soldiers walking on their knees is one of the city's most legendary.

Martindale had been working at the Treasurers House where a Roman road had been discovered in a cellar. He went down on a broken ladder and began work. However, as he came to the end of his shift he heard music coming from the wall he was leaning on. He fell down and scrambled into a corner, when he saw Roman soldiers emerge from the wall and march down the road. He could only see to their knees – however, when they walked over the hole to the Roman road, he could see their full legs. He could hear them talking, but could not work out what they were saying.

"Now I could see them exactly as I can see you now, they weren't no wisp of smoke, they weren't whirly, you know, the atmosphere didn't change, they were human beings as came out of the wall except they were dressed as roman soldiers," he said. 

Martindale's story gained legitimacy after describing several aspects about the Roman soldiers' clothing that he would not have known at the time, including how they laced their sandals, their tunics and their shields.

Lacy said that although a number of popular ghost stories in York have been corrupted over time, there was a great deal of evidence and sightings to support the city's ghostly reputation. The Haunted House has now been bought by a property development group which plans to refurbish and rent out the house.

She said that after Haunted House closes, they will be working to purge the property of ghosts through rituals, including the spirit of a girl cursed by her own mother in York Minster. The girl had been betrothed to a boy living next door. However, she was caught sneaking out from his house and the moral police dragged them to court.

After being questioned, the pair supplied contadictory stories and she was cursed. She ended up marrying a different man who turned out to be "incredibly violent". After trying to flee, he caught up with her during an Easter Parade and beat her so severely doctors believed she would die. However, her ultimate end remains a mystery. "The court records stop before the story ends, so either money changed hands to make it go away, or the documents were lost. But the last documents with the husband's name showed he had married another woman, so she either died or he killed her," Lacy said.

"I can't think of a better reason why she would haunt the house."

Ghost City: China Property Agency Launches ‘Haunted House’ Database

From flimsy fixtures to pestilential pipes, Beijing apartments generally come with one defect or another. So who needs an angry ghost added to the equation?

To help potential residents suss out whether their apartment might be prone to supernatural visitors with axes to grind, one Chinese property agency has created a database cataloging unnatural deaths—murders, suicides, etc.— that have occurred in Beijing homes.

According to an analysis posted on a site operated by China’s Ministry of Justice, no clear law exists that requires Chinese landlords or would-be sellers to disclose, say, a particularly brutal history attached to an apartment. To be sure, there’s precedent for buyers who weren’t aware of such a past to gain compensation through the courts if they feel duped. In one 2011 case, a buyer surnamed Wang ended up being awarded about 60,000 yuan after the seller failed to make clear that a previous resident had committed suicide on the premises.

Still, the site warns, caveat emptor.

Enter the haunted-home database. Such databases have also been created in cities such as Hong Kong and Taipei, where residents likewise have a strong aversion to homes with violent histories. In Hong Kong, for example, such homes are meticulously documented. Traditionally, they have been sold for discounts of as much as 30% and are particularly popular with expats, who agents say are less superstitious and disturbed by such pasts.

A report carried in the Beijing Youth Daily said that the Beijing-based database, created by property agency Home Link, currently features 900 entries. The paper said the database was created after the agency had run into a number of sticky situations in which customers learned about a violent death in their home only after a deal had already been finalized. The company didn’t respond to a request for comment.

As China’s housing property prices have zoomed upwards in recent years, Zhou Yinggang, director of the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Center for Hospitality and Real Estate Research, said that while the database might be intended to assist potential residents, its information could also be helpful for investors. In Hong Kong, which in years past has experienced a meteoric property rise, some investors who might be priced out of other segments of the market have deliberately targeted haunted apartments, he said.

“This could help create a market for alternative investments,” Mr. Zhou said. “Some haunted homes are in pretty good neighborhoods.”

Either way, buyers can take comfort from one thing: Much of China’s housing stock is new enough that the odds of anything very sordid having previously happened in a particular apartment are comparatively slim. Nearly 80% of all of China’s urban housing stock is just about a decade or so old. By contrast, in the U.S., about 85% of housing was built before 2000.

School Classes Suspended Over ‘Evil Spirits'

A case of mass hysteria has hit a school in the Philippines involving more than 20 teenage students.

The incident took place at Isaac Lopez Integrated School in Mandaluyong City and started when a Grade 8 teacher observed one girl fainting while another stood up and started to act strangely towards her unconscious classmate, prompting staff to restrain her. Later the same day several more students started to act in a similar way, some convulsing on the floor while others exhibited uncontrollable bouts of hysteric crying.

Things eventually got so out of hand that parents were coming to the school to pick up their children and the principal had no choice but to suspend classes for the day. Some of the students were allowed to return home while others were taken to a nearby church and blessed in the belief that it would rid them of evil spirits. An officer in charge of the school believes that the incident stemmed from a group of students who had visited a graveyard and conducted a seance beforehand. "They might have invited the spirits [to possess them]," he said.

"Classes were suspended Thursday at Isaac Lopez Integrated School in Mandaluyong City after around 20 students aged between 12 and 16 started acting strangely - screaming, crying, fainting and convulsing - prompting claims that they were possessed by evil spirits."

Information About Ghosts, Spirits and Other Energies

Information About Ghosts, Spirits and Other Energies

There are many times when a person dies suddenly or with unresolved issues so powerful that the person does not fully crossover into the light or complete the journey to their place of origin. They, in their energy form, remain in the earth or material plane of existence. In this condition these ghosts or earthbound spirits may opportunistically or accidentally attach to a property, a house, or the energy field of a person. When this occurs, the host person can experience influences of the attached earthbound spirit.

Thoughts, emotions, addictions, or strong habit patterns, even physical feelings of the earthbound spirit (such as arthritis or other ailment) may filter to the host person or any of the occupants of the house or building. Since these influences from the earthbound spirit or spirits come through the energy field and brain of the affected person host, this person cannot usually tell the difference between their own thoughts, or feelings and those of the earthbound spirit.

Earthbound spirits are just that, spirits bound or trapped in the earth plane of existence. There are a variety of reasons that a person’s spirit may not cross-over and include not feeling deserving enough, or staying behind to protect or watch over loved ones, or they may just not realize that they have died. They do not belong here and after being trapped for some time, they usually make their presence known so that they can be crossed over to complete their journey.

If people become aware of a ghost’s existence, either attached to their home or their own energy field, and decide to do nothing, it is sort of like keeping the soul of a person for a pet. Usually though, the ghost or spirit makes such a significant impact on the lives of the people or home to which they are attached, most people want to help them to move on.

In our experience, the spirits that attach to a property or a person are not necessarily the spirits of people who previously lived in the house, or someone they might have known. Sometimes yes, but more often than not the spirits have come from somewhere else. In some cases, the person died in the same town or city, sometimes it may be in the same state and other times the person could have died somewhere across the country or continent.

Generally, when older spirits attach to a person’s energy field or house, the influence of these spirits can be experienced as feeling old, fatigued, sometimes even feeling arthritis or other old age illness or symptoms. Once any spirits are cleared, the person or their environment starts to feel better. Sometimes this happens right away and sometimes it takes 3 to 4 days to integrate the change in energy.

In all cases, it is important for the ghost or earthbound spirit to be crossed over so that they can finish their journey at this level of existence and return to their appropriate place in the light.

About Negative Energies

We first need to recognize that all energy comes from one source and there really is no source of evil. However there are supernatural energies that can affect us in a negative way. Like ghosts and spirits, when they attach to our energy field or that of our home, these negative energies can affect our thoughts, emotions, feelings, beliefs and thus our actions. Have you ever felt angry or depressed for no particular reason? Well this could be the influence of a variety of negative energies.

Negative energies can enter and attach to our energy field when we are experiencing a strong negative emotion such as fear, anger, guilt, shame, etc., or when we experience an emotional or physical trauma. Depending upon the number of attached energies and the length of time they have been attached to our energy field, they can significantly magnify our own negative thoughts, feelings (fear, anger, guilt, shame, etc.) and destructive beliefs, thus reinforcing them in our behaviour and our lives. These energies can also interfere with or block our positive thoughts and feelings.

Negative Energetic Imprints
After energetically healing a number of different properties, we realized that a house or land can often require the removal of energetic imprints, in addition to or instead of just the removal of ghosts and spirits.

Energetic imprints could be left behind by not only the recent occupants but also by those that lived in the house or on the land before them, possibly for generations before. These energetic imprints can be felt or perceived by the new occupants or others entering the home or building, especially those who are energetically sensitive. Have you ever felt uneasy or uncomfortable when you enter a building, a house or a particular room? Have you ever experienced the feeling of being angry, or anxious upon entering a home?

Negative energetic imprints can be due to neglect, abuse, or deliberate damage by previous occupants and other circumstances. Negative energetic imprints can also be left behind if there has been a great deal of fighting in the house, physical or emotional abuse, drug or alcohol abuse, or even just the constant bickering of siblings or couples. No matter the cause, negative energetic imprints need to be removed so they do not negatively affect those living in the house.

Negative Thought Form Energy
In situations where a person holds strong, emotionally charged thoughts, or beliefs, and holds them for a long period of time, they can create a separate energetic form that connects to their energy field and reinforces the negativity. This energetic form which is sustained and magnified by the originator’s own energy, besides drawing upon their energetic resources, it can affect the person’s energy field or the energy field of their environment in a negative way.  A thought form energy (thought or belief) can also be held for a shorter period of time, however it would have to be driven into the subconscious mind of the person so it would have a strong impact, or a high degree of acceptance by the person and be imprinted on the host’s psyche as being true.

The source of Thought Form energies are generally from the person’s own self talk and can attach to their own energy field or that of their home. We create thought form energies all the time, either intentionally or without even realizing it. Have you ever harshly judged yourself, spoken negative words about yourself, such as “I am so stupid” or “I am such an idiot”?  If these types of statements are repeated often enough and said with a strong emotion, you create a thought form which is negative and harmful.

Adversarial Energies
Adversarial Energies are in opposition to our growth and development as human and spiritual beings and are therefore adversarial in nature. These negative energies create adversity in our lives by magnifying or energizing our negative thoughts, beliefs, emotions and as a result our actions. Some adversarial energies attach to and amplify the negative feelings of Ghosts and Earthbound Spirits. When people die before their time and stay behind, they as ghosts or spirits can still feel anger, frustration, hate and sadness, particularly when they realize that they are trapped in the earth plane.

Curse Energies
In our society today we give little attention or credence to what we call curses. A curse is a powerful energetic thought form with a specific purpose that is directed or focused on a particular person, or place, which then affects their energy field, and therefore their life. Any strong negative thought held long enough toward someone, or a negative thought that is highly charged with emotion can become a curse in the life of that person. A curse can be intentional where one person wants to direct harm to another, or, a curse can be unintentional, usually in the case of a spur of the moment, emotionally charged, experience between two people. Good intentions can also become a curse when they interfere with the receiver’s life in any way.

A curse is a two-way street since it always happens at the expense of the one who creates the curse because they have to feed it energetically to keep it alive. Since a curse is essentially non-material energy it can survive and be active for generations down family lineage.

Belief In Ghosts Is On The Increase

A recent study conducted in the UK has reported a steadily increasing trend in paranormal belief.

The results suggested that up to 52% of the population believes in the supernatural, a figure that represents an increase from two similar studies conducted in 2009 and 2005 that saw a result of around 40%. One in five people were also said to have had a paranormal experience at some time in their lives.

The rising interest in the paranormal has been partially attributed to the recent surge in ghost hunting TV shows such as UKTV's "Most Haunted" which both generated high viewing figures and divided opinions in equal measure.

Programmes showcasing the controversial abilities of spiritualist mediums combined with a rise in the number of ghost tours around the country have also helped solidify the idea of ghosts and hauntings in the public consciousness.

"It could be that in a society which has seen economic uncertainty and is dominated by information and technology, more people are seeking refuge in the paranormal, whereas in the past they might have sought that in religion," said Dave Wood, chairman of the Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena.

"We have felt that a belief in UFOs has been declining for some time. I think a belief in ghosts is easier to sustain. Most people will know someone they respect who claims to have some sort of experience. That is no longer the case with UFOs."

Paranormal Investigators Confirm Poltergeist Possession of Microwave!

The couple experienced a spate of problems with the device. Image Credit: CC BY-SA 3.0 Apoltix

Homeowner Bill Michaud says, “It started with random beeping. One time it went off like the food was done, and when I looked over, the damn thing was still going and said 6:66.” Unfortunately for Michaud and his family, this spooky occurrence was just the beginning of a long, kitchen-appliance nightmare.

“We found [the microwave] in the attic when we moved in a few months back. Didn’t have one, so figured, ‘what the hell,’ might as well try it,” says Michaud. “I tell you, the thing heats up the food real nice. Sometimes it beeped or turned itself off in the middle of cooking, though. Then really weird things started happening. It zapped at food as if we were putting shards of metal in it. I couldn’t figure it out.”

His wife Betty adds, “It turns on by itself. It turns off by itself, too. It’s like it’s messing with me. No matter how many times I popped the door shut, the minute I leave the room it pops open again. One night, really late, I walk into the kitchen and I’m about to open the fridge, and the microwave door flies open, lighting the whole kitchen up in a horrible, scary lightning-blue color. It’s like it wanted to electrocute me.”

The Michauds contacted the Kansas Ghost Hunter group right away. Founder Kevin Young was eager to study both the microwave and the entire home in general.

“The Michauds didn’t want to go without a microwave, or risk upsetting the spirit by taking it out of the house. We obtained permission to stay the night and study the phenomena in its natural environment,” said Young. “My wife, who is also on my squad, is highly empathic. As we warmed up TV dinners in the microwave, she sensed a presence. As soon as she mentioned it, the microwave started beeping repeatedly. The door flung open, and my Hungry Man dinner went flying across the room. We pressed the off button. We unplugged it. It beeped several times after we cut off the power. Of course our digital recording became corrupted, which often happens when there is such strong energy.”

Young called in paranormal investigator, and self-proclaimed authority on mechanical-possession, Carl Richards. He believes it is not a ghost, but a poltergeist that takes possession of the microwave.

“I followed the situation that the Michauds were facing from the beginning, as they posted their disturbances on Facebook. I keep an eye on all local ghost-hunter hobbyists and groups,” said Richards. “The EMF readings confirmed this supernatural manifestation is a poltergeist. I have seen poltergeists occupy washers, TVs, electric heaters, but this is the first time I have seen microwave possession first-hand.”

When Richards was asked if the Michauds should get a new microwave , he advised, “It is important to remember, the malevolent presence does not strictly ‘live in’ the microwave. Getting rid of the machine will not solve the problem. It has the ability to travel throughout the electrical wiring in the house.”

“It is best not to engage the being,” continued Young. “Try not to be fearful. Always remain calm. If you’re facing a poltergeist in your kitchen devices, just ignore its outbursts, and it will not be able to feed off your energies.”

Betty Michaud agrees with Young’s advice. “I think he knows what he’s talking about. It didn’t start getting really bad until we paid attention to it. Now we just ignore it like we would ignore a child’s temper-tantrum, and it still randomly shuts off or zaps from time to time, but nothing really serious. It still heats up our leftovers like a champ, too.”

Source: Empire News