When does "para" merge with "normal"?

The paranormal factor is a popular subject this time and day. We remember telling ghost stories while sitting around campfires, while most remember this being more of a fantasy world than a real world experience. It seems that every culture has their own folklores and tales of ghosts, those that seemingly flow down staircases and those that lead the wanderer astray through thick forests or swamps, and sometimes those that lend a helping hand to protect a loved one from harms way. Through many different religious backgrounds, spirits have been feared, worshipped, respected and has brought inspiration to many different people throughout the world.

The definition from Wikipedia of paranormal is; the word paranormal consists of two parts: para and normal. In most definitions of the word paranormal, it is described as anything that is beyond or contrary to what is deemed scientifically possible. The definition implies that the scientific explanation of the world around us is the ‘normal' part of the word and ‘Para' makes up the above, beyond, contrary, or against part of the meaning. While paranormal concerns all things we cannot explain, I will kept the subject in this particular article concerning the spirit world.

According to a survey in 2005, only 32% of Americans believe that ghosts are indeed here with us. What makes up the other 68% of people? Could it be they are afraid to cast their vote? Or are they unable to except the fact of what they may have experienced was paranormal activity? I have a hard time believing that they are skeptics and I have a hard time believing this many people are suffering from some sort of a delusional episode.

Some of the first ghost sightings date back to ancient times and can be found in a few scriptures in the Bible. As I was searching around I found the best referenced scripture, Samuel 28:7-19;

7 Saul then said to his attendants, "Find me a woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her." "There is one in Ender," they said.
8 So Saul disguised himself, putting on other clothes and at night he and two men went to the woman. "Consult a spirit for me," he said, "and bring up for me the one I name."
9 But the woman said to him, "Surely you know what Saul has done. He has cut off the mediums and spiritists from the land. Why have you set a trap for my life to bring about my death?"
10 Saul swore to her by the LORD, "As surely as the LORD lives, you will not be punished for this."
11 Then the woman asked, "Whom shall I bring up for you?" "Bring up Samuel," he said.
12 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out at the top of her voice and said to Saul, "Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!"
13 The king said to her, "Don't be afraid. What do you see?" The woman said, "I see a spirit coming up out of the ground."
14 "What does he look like?" he asked. "An old man wearing a robe is coming up," she said. Then Saul knew it was Samuel, and he bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground.
15 Samuel said to Saul, "Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?" "I am in great distress," Saul said. "The Philistines are fighting against me, and God has turned away from me. He no longer answers me, either by prophets or by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what to do."

Through the many, many years of searching for spirits, is it a phenomena that we are not suppose to know about? Could it be there are slip ups and we catch a glimpse of them for a short period of time? Are they here because they did bad deeds while alive and they have been earthbound for that reason? I could ask a million questions and still not get the answer I want. But the thirst for the truth about life after death is something so many are looking for.

Paranormal experiences outweigh actual proof of the paranormal by all means and experiences are not the proof needed. So is this a no win situation? There are still those that will not in any way accept the existence of ghosts. They rule out ghosts by actually being an impression of a psychic energy left behind; Pareidolia - a tendency to recognize familiar objects in random perception; hypnagogic hallucinations - occurs between being awake and asleep, changes in the geomagnetic field which they say could cause your brain to think you are seeing ghosts, the list goes on and on. I seem to disagree that 1/3 of the US population are suffering from these all or most the time.

Our planet is a huge place, we have yet to explore the deepest parts of the ocean, new species of life are found constantly and with this being said if we have yet to find every life form on our own planet, how can we rule out an invisible existence that seem to come into our reality for whatever the reason may be. The merging of paranormal is a task that must be scientifically proven, yet we still do not have a way to sit down and have a face to face conversation with a ghost. Maybe our minds are not completely open or our brain is not developed enough to conquer this task. I do believe that we are getting closer to finding the answers, although it may be the answer some are not looking for.

What would be the right reasons for starting your own paranormal group? The reason I started my group was because of questions I had no answers to, this was a very personal experience I had almost 10 years ago after my dad passed away, although I have had many personal experiences with the paranormal throughout my life. When you experience something that you cannot explain, it leaves you wandering why you were picked to witness such incredible phenomena and why you was the only one to witness it. Could it be fate or just pure luck?

There could be many reasons why you may be the lucky one, or maybe, the unlucky one. I know of several people that have been investigating for years and never witnessed the first paranormal happening. Then I know of some that purely beg for it. I would not recommend taunting spirits to the degree of being a bully. You could be asking for trouble in a way you dont know how to get rid of . Some spirits could be a sign of bad luck, they may continuously follow you around calling out to you and then it could possibly esculate to something worse. When on an investigation I try to follow certain procedures, I treat the spirit as I would treat another living being. Turnabout is fairplay, right?

When I started this group, I had no intentions of trying to make headlines, and I still feel the same way as of now, if we have made any headlines, its because the press came to us, we didnt go to them. I have seen to many out for the wrong reasons. If you are out for thrillseeking that does not look good for the entire ghost hunting community. Be good at heart with only the best of intentions, help your fellow ghost hunting groups out, as we are all in this together for the name of science and proving the existence of these beings are here with us. Who's who doesnt matter in this field, sharing knowledge and insights can only continue to help us get one step closer to finding the answer.