Many of us are either in lockdown, working from home and at the very least having to practise social distancing. It means that we are spending a lot more time at home. One of the unexpected side effects is that according to social media, many people are reporting they are noticing heightened 'paranormal activity' in their homes. Let's look at the different reasons this could be happening.

Many of us are either in lockdown, working from home and at the very least having to practice social distancing.  It means that we are spending a lot more time at home.  One of the unexpected side effects is that according to social media, many people are reporting they are noticing heightened 'paranormal activity' in their homes.  Let's look at the different reasons this could be happening.

Are you unknowingly making your own poltergeist?

A 'classic' poltergeist haunting consists of things like knocking, objects being moved, open and closing of doors, bed shaking, putrid smells, objects being thrown, stone and rocks being thrown at windows, puddles of water appearing mysteriously on the floor, fires starting from nowhere, scratching and physical assault. It usually starts slowly with knocking or stones being thrown and seems to amplify over a period of time. It is quite common in these accounts and stories for the activity to occur at night when the individual is in bed causing them to lose sleep.

A popular belief in parapsychology circles is that it is actually caused by a form of psychokinesis in pre teens (usually females). It is put down to a physical expression of trauma and who has more trauma than a hormonal pre teen. I am going to extend this further to look at the people that are usually reporting this kind of activity and asking for help from investigators. Usually when you are dealing with a private case, there is always more to story and more that meets the eye. Sometimes there has been some sort of break down in the family, a death, someone is depressed, the house is in disarray - the list goes on but they all have one thing in common. They are all suffering from some kind of trauma.  We are in a time where people are having to do things they have never done before.  Many people are used to going out, and that is a luxury we don't have anymore.  A lot of people have lost their jobs.  People are struggling with money.  We in general are in a headspace where we don't know what the future holds.  We are all experiencing feelings of grief of a life we once had and fear of an uncertain future.  So is it possible that being in this negative head space is projecting the energy outward and causing these things to happen through an unintended act of psychokinesis?

Are we noticing things we do not usually notice?

A lot of people are not used to spending so much time at home.  In fact not only are we spending so much time at home, because we are unable to go out, I know I am finding my washing is all done and my housework is tended to.  I have a lot more 'free' time on my hands which I know many of us have used to watch shows like 'Tiger King' (and OMG!).  When you are spending this time less distracted, you might start noticing the sounds that you wouldn't normally notice, especially if you are used to being out during the day.  It is almost like you are living in unfamiliar settings.  The is a phenomenon called 'The New House Effect' (something I cover in my book Stuff Paranormal Investigators Need To Know).  It is where a person moves into a new environment they are not familiar with.  The creaks, the bumps, the electronic noises are all foreign and very easily mistaken as something potentially paranormal.  It would be even more unsettling to hear these in your home because you feel like your know your house pretty well.  That is why it would be pretty easy to hear an unfamiliar sound and think that something is happening.  It then brings into play a concept called 'frequency illusion or the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon).  When we think about something, we start to notice it more and more.  For example if you think about a red car, suddenly you will start to see red cars everywhere.  It is because a red car has suddenly become significant to you.  So suddenly you are starting to hear all of these noises (that would normally be occurring you just don't notice it) but because you are now paying attention and almost looking to hear this sound to maybe validate your point, you are going to hear and notice it more.  

Of course you could flip this in another way and argue that now that you are home with less distraction and less 'noise' from the outside world that you are finally open to listening or noticing things that have been trying to get your attention all along.  It is food for thought.

Power of suggestion

Of course the power of suggestion can play a huge part.  Many of the people that are reporting this increase in paranormal phenomena are for the most part paranormal investigators.  As a paranormal investigator, I too am pretty frustrated that I can't go out and investigate.  I am missing the paranormal.  Like many of you, I am trying to fill that void by ingesting as much paranormal content as I can.  Maybe on some level some people want the paranormal so badly that they are convincing themselves that they have something happening at home.  Maybe they are reading a lot of the things like I have been seeing online where people are saying they are noticing a spike in activity at home and think that it must be happening with them as well.  I am not saying that it isn't happening.  I am not investigating people's houses so I can't tell you what is happening.  I guess for me, I am not interested IF it is happening, I am more looking at WHY it is happening. 

The one thing I really would not encourage is that if you do think there is something happening at home, don't 'investigate it'.  By that I mean don't break out the spirit box or the recorder.  Whatever it is that you have going on, doing this will 'feed' it.  Even if it something that you have convinced yourself is happening, investigating it is going to fuel it and you will continue to notice it.  If it is some sort of energy you have unknowingly created yourself, investigating it will fuel it.  If it is a spirit coming to say hello, investigating it is likely going to heighten activity because you are now taking notice.  The one thing that many people will tell you when it comes to dealing with private cases is that often they find themselves in trouble because they are 'investigating' things at home.  The people can become obsessed with it and no matter if it is psychological, psychokinetic or a real haunting, investigating it is going to see things increase.  If this happens and it gets to a point that you are out of your depth, no one can come and help you.  They are stuck at home too.

Are we more vulnerable?

On a spiritual level, many people believe when we are weaker or emotionally unsettled, we could be more prone to attracting something paranormal.  In another perspective, some see it as spirits coming forward and either protecting or comforting us.  A lot of paranormal investigators are used to a certain style of interaction where they expect activity to be 'negative'.  This is particularly common in people who only investigate places like prisons or asylums.  You forget about the positive interactions.  It could just be someone popping to offer comfort or say hello knowing that you are not too busy to notice them.

It is a pretty crappy time for us all and in a lot of ways it doesn't really surprise me to hear this is happening.  I personally feel like we can project our emotions outwardly.  Those who are empaths would agree because they literally feel it.  As humans on a basic level feel empathy.  It is something everyone is capable of regardless whether you are sensitive to the paranormal or an empath.  It would be fair to say that the emotions out there at the moment are erratic, stressed, sad, scared and a whole lot more.  Being in a closed space for such a long time with these emotions building could potentially cause this energy.  So how can we avoid it?  Open your windows and doors.  Let in fresh air.  If you do decide to burn sage in your house, you have to 'smoke out the bad' and 'replace it with good positive energy'.  You have to replace that negative energy with positive thoughts or it is just going to be a cycle where it happens again.  Part of it will involve trying to change your mindset.  Try to focus or find the positive things (which admittedly can be hard at the moment but they are there).  We are all very much missing the paranormal at the moment.  Channel that energy into something creative.  Write a journal, connect with your peers, create videos, vlogs, read and research.  There is so much you can do to channel all that pent up paranormal frustration without having to worry about your very own haunting.  Stay safe, stay calm, and please .... stay at home!

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