There was a slap-fight, yes a real swear-to-God digital slap-fight this past week in the paranormal community online.
Reality “paranormal investigator” stars from scaranormal series started in on each other, after one celeb felt disrespected by being excluded from a big Para-con. And sure, anybody with hurt feelings is allowed, in the social media universe – nay, expected – to post their dismay in that situation, but the vomit emoji was used and that’s where some say this celeb crossed the line.
A blizzard of posting followed, started by the A-listers in response to the offended fellow, roping in his partner, too, for criticism and veiled hints about poor conduct. After the varsity squad stepped back, thumbs exhausted from the sometimes lengthy opinions, personal experiences recounted and private matters darkly hinted, and replies to commenters, the lesser known backup personnel piled on for a couple days, and then like a bad rain storm, it slowed and drizzled into posts from people who had briefly encountered the disrespected stars, and vendors who got a chance to see them across a convention space from which they deduced entire personality profiles, and then fans who, you know, had always heard rumors.
Unreal. This is what we get when we commodify ghosts and the supernatural. Human nature makes us jockey for position in the “community” and the social media world creates a status of “influencer,” to which everybody aspires.
Unrelated but also last week, I counted easily a dozen YouTube psychics claiming to talk to Princess Diana. She must be exhausted. (I think Michael Jackson is a close second in the roster, though.) Talking to Diana is a side shoot of using mediumship and intuitive gifts to make money; and so is ghost tourism, with haunted rental spaces and big companies producing ghost tours.
I wish it would downshift, but that’s not likely to happen. Before all this, if you were interested in ghosts you required an invitation to visit an allegedly haunted place, and that was extended under the assumption that you would be courteous and had a good reputation. And you were usually invited to help, not collect semi-scientific data and give an assessment of the overall ghostiness of the place.
Electronic devices, outside of a tape recorder and a camera, were not deployed. People with an interest in ghosts had to use their own discernment and critical thinking; individual experience, alone in a hall where something you can’t see is walking up behind you, substituted for meters and pucks with flashing lights.
We’ve surrendered, in the age of uncertainty, to machines and devices to reassure us that our impressions are valid. Our culture of influencers – who surely know better than we – has taught us not to trust ourselves.
Ghost investigating was more targeted then, and less recreational. It was quieter, softer, and required much more of the people involved with it. Now increasingly flamboyant and aggressive ghost-hunting has led to increasingly flamboyant and aggressive “ghosts.”
But many of the latter, in my opinion, are created energies, materialized by expectations of those doing the hunting. Just like the psychics chatting up Princess Diana and having her comment on the latest royal shenanigans; in my opinion, if they are tapping into something outside of their own unconscious, it is the energy imprint Diana left behind, orbiting our culture like a thought-form satellite.
October is coming up, and interest in the paranormal is already enjoying its yearly spike. Yes, you can enjoy all the TV shows and conventions, and buy all the gear you can afford for excursions into the unknown, as recommended by your favorite influencer or celebrity.
But do take a minute to seek out and support your local people with this shared interest; the great docents at local historic attractions, local authors collecting and publishing ghost stories, knowledgeable people at your town’s museum and history center. Visit the quirky weird shops with everyday people offering readings, goods, and services, and your hometown ghost tours with minimal budgets but an abundance of commitment and passion.
Put down your phones. Go out there, sometimes, without your gizmos. Open up. And just feel, because that’s where the ghosts are, and they need to know somebody is actually watching out for them.
