Thesis Paper

A Saint Cloud State University student shadowed the Search4Spirits team on three investigations and wrote this awesome Thesis Paper on her experiences. It really gives an interesting and detailed inside look at our team and at the profession of paranormal investigations:

The four of us sit in a circle at the client’s round dining room table in the silent darkness. This location is much more pleasant than the last; which required us to sit in the client’s humid shed with the video footage running live, mosquitoes biting every exposed part of us as we breath in a thick cloud of mosquito spray. My notebook and pen heavy with mosquito spray still stick to my fingers after leaving the shed. Several devices are set up on the surface of the table between the four of us; their small blinking lights being the only source of illumination in the otherwise dark cabin’s dining room. At the center of the table sat a plate holding a collection of smoking tobacco; a kind gesture to the spirit who may be a deceased Native American man. Both the client and I show great interest in the little devices upon the table. Lead investigator Mark explains the machines to us; they measure everything from energy to room temperature, all things that could be an indicator of the presence of a spirit. The device of which captures my most interest is assembled from several separate objects and wires held together by two small planks of wood. Lead investigator Russ describes this device as a homemade radio which tunes into the frequency of energy in hopes of being able to contact spirits. Russ takes out an old cell phone and opens an app, connecting the phone to the handmade radio. Russ explains that this phone connected to the radio was an old cell phone of his that he no longer uses or updates, so nothing should interfere or affect what noises the radio makes. He further explains that once the handmade radio is turned on, it will detect frequencies in the area and translate them to us in sound; more specifically voices. In the realm where spirits possess, there is no perception of space nor of time so there could be various voices speaking at once, even those who are not in the nearby area. However, those of the spirits closest to us are heard much clearer and have a much stronger response than those from farther away. He points out that although many voices will be heard, the voices that have clear and logical answers are the important ones as it could be the spirit or spirits occupying the client’s cabin.

With that Russ pushes a button on the homemade radio and static permeates the otherwise silent dining room. Along with the static came a rush of different voices; some simply are obscure, incomprehensible noises while others sound like an individual giving a shout of distress. While the continuous muttering takes place, Russ speaks in a loud voice “Why are you here?” The voices remain in their muttering static state. He then asks, “are you Native American?” A few more gurgles come through the radio but nothing that comes together to make a sensible word or phrase. Russ then asks, “Are you one of the first peoples?” The various voices seem to calm down and a quieter wispy voice very clearly replies “no, no.” This response is not what I expected as we did not yet hear a clear answer from the radio. I glanced between Russ and Mark as they gave each other a nod, as if this is another ordinary occurrence in their everyday lives. My attention then shifts over to the client beside me. The elderly woman has her head bowed down to her hands which are folded together, loudly praying to Jesus Christ.

Following this Russ asks a series of questions; “did you live here?”, “Did you die here?”, “Did you die in the lake?”, “Did you drown?” Russ then asks if it was a boating accident and a deep voice repeated “boat”. Russ, unsure if he heard the radio correctly, repeats his question. The same voice again gives a small answer of which again resembles the word “boat”. Russ then continues on to explain our presence to the spirits “We are here with the light; Jesus Christ! We are here to cross you over.”

“That’s good” a whisper replies. Russ finishes by telling the spirit that if they had anyone to forgive or any sins to repent, to do it now because we would cross them over soon. Russ then tells the spirit he will turn off the radio in three seconds “three, two, one.”

Introduction
In modern American culture television shows, social media, and modern fiction novels about paranormal investigation are trending. Even briefly mentioning that you are researching paranormal investigators can lead to a series of questions from excited friends. Despite this, the general public only sees the outer layer of the practice of paranormal investigation; the popular act of obtaining video footage may be a common scene that pops into one’s mind when thinking of a paranormal investigator. The general public doesn’t necessarily see the motivation behind the practice or how the practice of paranormal investigation intertwines with religious beliefs. Ethnographic studies on the practice of paranormal investigation are very diverse, discussing the overall practice of paranormal investigating (Mencken 2008). Several ethnographic studies argue that there is a strong connection between the practice of paranormal investigation and religion, especially when this comes to those who identify as Christians (Mencken 2008). Further studies show a different argument by pointing out that there seems to be a lack of paranormal interest when one is included in Christianity (Orenstein 2002). I argue that participating in paranormal investigations can strengthen one’s ties to religion.
Thesis

I argue that my research found that paranormal investigators use their religious beliefs to inform how they behave during paranormal investigations.

Methods
In my ethnographic study I used qualitative methods to conduct my research. This consisted of observing the paranormal investigation team Search4Spirits through (1) participant-observation, (2) formal and informal interviews, and (3) gathering data from previous research done on paranormal investigation teams. This study took place between July and August, lasting five weeks. During these five weeks I had accompanied Search4Spirits on three of their investigations that took place throughout Minnesota. I also assisted them in their construction of their soon-to-be official Search4Spirits office. It was during these times that I took detailed notes, typing them up later. The first investigation I was simply an observer. By the third investigation I was participating as much as the investigators; listening to audio taken during investigations and assisting in crossovers (helping spirits travel to the afterlife).

Throughout these five weeks I conducted a series of informal interviews during the drives to our destinations as well as during investigations. The questions in these informal interviews often concerned the equipment the investigators were using as well as the reasoning behind certain actions. I also conducted a single formal interview with Lead Investigator Mark. This interview was done in a reserved library room after the five weeks of research. I audio recorded this interview which consisted of six questions: (1) How did you begin paranormal investigating? (2) How does paranormal investigating affect your daily life? (3) Do you identify with any organized religion? Why? (4) How does your faith relate to your paranormal investigating? (5) How did you begin working with Russ (other lead investigator)? (6) Do you investigate on your own as well? This recording was then typed up.

Lastly, I reviewed ethnographic research done on paranormal investigators by other anthropologists and researchers.

First Investigation
06/29/19 7:00p.m.
I arrive at Lead Investigator Russ’ home in Central Minnesota at exactly 7:00p.m. on the 29th of June. A young girl, looking to be a middle schooler, comes out and directs me to the front door. I walk in and am greeted by Russ as he directs me to the basement where all the equipment is set up and is being prepared for the upcoming investigation. We enter a narrow office-like space. On the left side of the office is a long, high table which had such things as cords and charging equipment on it. Behind the table was a large bookshelf that was the span of the table. Most of the book’s titles that the large shelf withholds refer to topics as searching for spirits, Christianity, and spirituality. On the right side of the space is an industrial shelf which reaches to the ceiling. Much of the shelf consists of small storage units; around five or six of them. Russ shows me the inside of them which holds a variety of batteries, charging chords, and other small parts for their equipment. Above the shelf of storage boxes is a shelf of cameras and tripods, as well as other setups for recording. On the very top of the shelf are duffel bags and other types of storage items for travel. As Russ shows me each shelf, he explains how it’s a big part of an investigation to just charge each piece of equipment beforehand. It can take many hours to charge every piece equipment, as well as charge the rechargeable batteries. If only one piece of equipment was forgotten during charging it could completely alter their investigation.

As I continue down the office, I see another small table before the room wrapped around the left wall to reveal another side. On the second table Russ has several of the items he’s preparing for the investigation. There’s a bottle of holy water, three brands of salt, a bag of tobacco, and a crucifix. I ask Russ the purpose of the salt as he pours Morton salt, Kosher Morton salt, and another brand of salt I cannot recall into a glass bottle. He tells me that the salt is used as a protection against evil spirits and demons. He recalls a time that he had to put rows of salt on the ground to protect a household from a demon, the salt acting as a barrier.

I follow up by asking about the usage of the holy water. Russ explains to me that the holy water is like the salt as they both are used for protection. However, the salt is more permanent than holy water because holy water evaporates after a day or two whereas salt does not. I then ask about the purpose of bag of tobacco. Russ responds that he felt a need to bring it after having a dream of Native Americans once living at the current investigation scene. He further explains that Native Americans often used tobacco as a gift so he often brings tobacco with when he feels the team may be dealing with a Native American spirit.

Russ then sits down at a desk on the other side of the left wall to finish uploading audio and video from the investigation the organization had done last Friday. His desk holds two separate computers or laptops with cameras hooked up to them as they are finishing downloading. Above his desk is a bulletin board with maybe 12 or more business cards of other Minnesotan paranormal investigators pinned along the right side of it. Along with that is a small paper which shows the seven chakras; or energy sources, throughout the body. The rest of the bulletin board looks to be notes and reminders about past, present, and future investigations.

Behind us was another bookshelf, bigger than the one on the other side of the wall. On the top two shelves of the bookcase are bones and skulls from hunting, I assume, and Native American themed items. The lower bookshelves seemed to be completely made up of books about Native American history and lore. Russ quickly finishes the downloads and returns to the bottle of salt where he struggles to shut the cork lid. He asks me to attempt to clasp the lid as he covers a heavy crucifix in a velvet cloth and puts it in a bag for the trip.

It’s around this time that Mark, another lead-investigator for Search4Spirits, arrives and joins us in the basement. He’s tall with orange-ish hair and a short beard. We shake hands and introduced ourselves. Russ catches him up on what we were previously talking about. Mark adds in a story he has when Russ tells him I was asking about the salt. Mark recalls there was one time they visited a household who used a circle of salt to protect themselves from a spirit and then threw the salt they used on the ground into their kitchen garbage can. The household’s automatic garbage can wouldn’t stop opening and shutting until the household took the trash out. Mark tells me that he had to advise the household to not to keep things like that in the home after it had been used.

The two of them then began gathering all the bags in the center of the room that had been prepared for the trip and bringing them to the car. There’s a total of four or five duffel bags, a tote, two card tables, and several other types of bags. We work our way outside with the heavy luggage.

After we pack up the car it’s time for Russ to bless the object I brought for protection. I was unsure of what object I should bring to bless so I tried to bring something like Russ’ Archangel Michael coin. I brought a coin with an angel on it. We go to the garage where Mark had the salt and sage. The two of them closely inspect the coin to ensure that it’s an angel and not anything from the occult. Russ then takes the coin. He first takes the sage that he had lighted in the bowl and wafts the smoke around the bottle of salt to bless the salt. He then holds the coin over the smoke of the sage and recites a few words, asking Jesus Christ to let the coin be for protection. He finishes by saying “by the father, the son, and the holy spirit, I bless this item” and makes a cross on the coin, going from the top to the bottom of the coin and then the left to the right. He tells me that the coin is now blessed and hands it back to me.

After we got out on the road Russ and Mark further explained the investigation we were going to. An older woman had bought a cabin for her family to vacation in. The family had only vacationed there twice due to how uncomfortable the woman felt after seeing a human shaped shadow run across her windows, only to realize it reflected something running in her cabin. She also claimed that her granddaughter saw the door to the upstairs turn the knob and open on its own. The investigators explain that we would set up our base in the shed. They feel that too many members were going to be present for the small cabin and would cause too much noise when we needed the cabin to be extremely quiet for the investigation. Instead the cameras in the cabin would be linked to the live videos we would be watching in the shed and only two or three investigators would go in at a time. The two of them explain that their goal is to figure out the spirit in the cabin and to eventually cross it over or banish it depending on what sort of spirit it is. Russ said he feels it isn’t a dangerous spirit which is why he allowed me, a beginner, to come along.

As we drive along Mark takes out a small note pad and begins reading jot notes he had taken earlier. The notes seem to be all the weather predictions for tonight at the cabin. Mark states that there will be high humidity and a high temp. Also, a chance of a storm. Russ remarks “building storms makes good energy”. I don’t think to ask what he means by that. We soon make a stop at a gas station and meet up with two other investigators who will be joining the investigation. The first woman wears glasses and has her hair pulled back in a bun. She’s wearing a black tank top. We shake hands and she introduces herself as Heather. She tells me that this is the fifth time she is out on an investigation with Russ and Mark. The man with her, skinny with a black hat and white shirt with glasses, introduces himself as Heather’s boyfriend; John. He’s never done an investigation and simply came with Heather. Russ, Mark, and I get back in the car with Heather and John following behind us. While at the gas station Mark had bought Jerky and give Russ and I Jerky and water. He tells me that spirits can drain energy, so it’s important that we all have lots of protein and water.

During the drive Russ and Mark brings up the topic of other paranormal groups in Minnesota, explaining that many groups were just recreational. I ask what they mean by recreational. Mark responds that recreational groups are paranormal investigator groups who investigate for fun but don’t necessarily find solutions for the spirits like Search4Spirits does. He then also adds in that that doesn’t mean Search4Spirits doesn’t do investigations in a recreational manor. Just a few weeks back they had spent two days at an abandoned insane asylum. They used it as a fun way to try new things and test out their equipment. They explain to me that they have never had an investigation so long and weren’t prepared at all. They didn’t have nearly enough cameras for the whole location nor enough batteries. After the first day their equipment had already been of no use due to using up all their batteries.

We eventually arrive at the cabin around 8:00p.m. It’s still daylight outside, but it’s apparent that dusk is upon us due to the heavy clouds of mosquitoes around us. Just as Mark’s small notebook predicted, the weather is indeed hot and humid. Russ remarks that we should work fast to set up before it gets too dark and the mosquitos take over.

The owner of the Cabin comes out to welcome us. She was in her seventies with brownish-greyish hair and small round glasses. She wears a light blue tank top with two-inch sleeves and white capris. She introduces herself and we introduce ourselves in return. The client appears awkward or nervous as she has her hands held together tightly. After the equipment is unloaded, we all have a moment of conversation. She tells us that her family is staying in the neighboring cabin that belongs to her son during the investigation. Russ asks the client if her family knows about the investigation because she had previously told him that she was nervous to tell her husband and the family about the investigation. She says that she had finally told them and that they agreed to stay in the neighboring cabin during the investigation. She tells us that she had asked her son not to make fun of the situation, but her son approved and told her it was a good idea.

After this we all begin setting up in the shed. The team sets up two tables before realizing we forgot their third table at Russ’ home. After a few minutes of debating we are able to decide how to situate the two tables so all the equipment fits on them. We then hook up a large computer monitor in the outlets available in the shed. The team takes various supplies out from the storage bins and sorts it out on the tables. It seems to be a mixture of cables and wires along with other spare parts. During this time Russ and Mark sends Heather to measure every part around the cabin with a piece of equipment I’m not familiar with. I’m told that the equipment is meant to measure the energy around the home. The purpose of this is to know where it’s normal to have energy and electricity in the area so when that area shows hints of energy, we won’t mistake it for a spirit. I feel rather lost at this point or as if I was getting in the way more so than I’m helping because I’m not sure what to do nor do I know how to do anything. Eventually Russ hands me a long extension cord and asks me to travel with it as far into the cabin as I can to see where we can put a camera. The team then brought in three cameras on tripods.

As these were being set up Russ asks the client to explain the story one last time so she can show us the actual locations where the events took place. She points towards the long wall of maybe five windows and tells us that she had seen the human-shaped shadow run from the first left window to the last window on the right. She tells us that she was lying on the couch against the left living room wall getting ready for bed when she saw the shadow run across. It was moments later when she realized it was a reflection of something running in front of her dining room light. She tells us she couldn’t sleep after that. She also states that her granddaughter caught a video of the doorknob turning the door opening completely on its own.

Based off these stories, Russ and Mark decides to set up the cameras in the general areas where the incidents occurred. The first camera is set in the entrance room, pointing through the doorway to the dining room and kitchen where the client believed the shadow of the sprit was. The second camera is in the living room pointing to the dining room, much like the other but capturing a different angle. The third and last camera is again in the living room but points towards the line of windows where the client saw the reflection of the shadow. Russ then sat a box buckled shut on the kitchen counter. The box is metal but has a clear glass cover. Inside the box is smooth sand. The client and I ask what the box is for. Russ tells us that it came to him in a dream that he would need this box now or on an upcoming investigation, he knew it had to be important. The usage of it is for communication with spirits. The hope is that a spirit will use its fingers to make words in the sand as sand is light and easy to move.

After setting up the cameras we all return to the shed. Russ gets out his bug spray and recommends everyone to wear it as the mosquitoes are getting worse and worse with the sun setting. He sprays me down with several layers of the spray to the point where all my clothes and skin is sticky.

On the computer monitor set up in the shed I see the screen is split into four segments, each screen capturing each live camera footage. The first top left screen only reads “loss footage” as no fourth camera was set up. The top right camera shows the entrance camera pointing to the dining room and kitchen. The bottom left camera is the one set up in the kitchen pointing to the living room. The last screen, the bottom right, shows the camera in the living room pointed towards the wall of windows. During this time in the shed Russ begins strapping cameras to his lower chest and forehead. He begins telling the client about the dream he had. He tells her that he dreamt of five Native American men defending their land. They had eaten rotten berries that morning and had gas and was joking that it was barking spiders and were saying other words, but Russ couldn’t make out the words because they were in a different language. The others and I laugh at this and the client asks Russ more about his dreams and continues to us all how she finds this process so fascinating. Russ responds to her questions by telling her that he is in no means a medium, he is just as sensitive as anyone would be in this profession. Also, he states his dream doesn’t mean that the spirit she is having troubles with is Native American, it just means there was once Native Americans in this area. The client asks Heather if she had dreams or experiences, but Heather replies that she has only been on five investigations and she isn’t as advanced as Russ is.

Russ and Mark decide they will do the formal interview with the client by themselves and the rest of us will sit and watch the live camera footage while they do so. This is the first step of their investigation. The three of them soon go back into the cabin and Heather, John, and I stay in the shed as they interview her. I take this time to start jotting more notes down in my sticky field journal. My pen has gotten sticky as well from the spray and I have troubles clicking the button at the top to get the writing tip out because the button was sticking inside of the pen. The shed has lighting straight above us. Behind us was a garage segment with an old car and round tables filled with different things that the family felt they didn’t need in the cabin.

After maybe around half an hour Russ, Mark, and Caroline return. They now will try to talk to the spirits and decide I can join them as it would be beneficial for me research. We leave Heather and John back in the shed and Russ, Mark, the client, and I go back into the cabin. We sit down at the round table in the kitchen with all lights off, the only light is coming from the small glowing machines or the small red lights of the cameras. The client and I are in the chairs nearest to the living room and Mark and Russ are sitting on the side nearest to the dining room wall. In the center of the table Russ has sat down a plate full of tobacco.

On the table between the client and my seats is what Mark defines a Rem Pod. It is a circular object with four different colored lights. Mark tells me its role is to sense energy. He demonstrates the rem pod by putting his hands near it and a small alarm goes off and the rem pod’s lights nearest to his hands light up. He tells me if a spirit was next to it, the rem pod will light up.
Then over in front of himself, Mark shows me what he calls a mel meter. It’s a rectangular box with a glowing red screen. 00.0 runs across the screen and Mark describes those numbers as measuring the energy, much like the rem pod. The difference is on the bottom right of the mel meter screen which shows 74.00 which Mark tells me is measuring the temperature. If the temperature changes greatly it could be the sign of a spirit.

Finally, over in front of Russ is what I can only describe as a radio thing in my notes. Russ describes it as a homemade radio which tunes into the sounds of energy with the help of an app Russ has on his old cell phone which is only used for that app. The radio thing has a bottom wooden piece and a side wooden piece to hold the parts together; a speaker and wires, along with other assembled parts which I am unsure about. Russ turns on his old cell phone and turns on the app which I can’t recall the name of. He then explains to the client what will happen. He tells her that in a moment he will turn on the radio and it will pick up the energy frequencies from the area. It’s important to know that in the other realm; where spirits are, there is no sense of space or time. Any spirit anywhere can tune in to the radio but the nearest spirits to us will be the clearest. He explains that we may understand certain words, however we were looking for intelligent answers or full sentences. With that he turns on the radio.

Afterwards, Russ, the client, and I go back to the shed. Mark stays behind in the dark cabin to sit and “get a feel for the cabin” as he states it. Back in the shed we regroup with Heather and John. On the camera monitors we see Mark sitting quietly on the couch. The cabin is pitch dark, but the cameras have night vision equip and is still able to capture Mark. The client asks Russ what Mark is doing, as it looks like he was doing nothing at all. Russ tells her that Mark is getting a feel for the house; he’s sitting in silence for half an hour, listening to the natural creaking and workings of the home so he will be able to recognize the natural works from the sounds of anything else. He’s also trying to sense the energy or see if he feels anything out of the usual in the cabin. Russ’ sets up his laptop on the end of the full tables and begins analyzing the audio from the session. He tells us it will take him around half an hour to listen through everything and then after that him and Mark will switch, and he would get a feel for the house as Mark analyzed the audio. With that he plugs his headphones in and puts them on, leaving Heather, John, the client, and I to keep watch on the camera monitors. The client notices various small orbs crossing the screens time to time and asks Heather what they are. Heather tells her that many times spirits will just appear as orbs on camera. However, majority of the orbs aren’t seen as a sign of spirits or anything unusual simply because there’s no telling if it’s just a piece of dust that the camera captured. Heather then explains that the orbs that she documents are ones that move through the air differently from other orbs, as well as odd-shaped orbs or orbs that change shape. This is because a house has a specific airflow in it that dust particles follow. If an orb is seen not following the other orbs flow, in this case the right side of the living room camera to the left side of the living room camera, it may be a spirit and not dust. Throughout the next half an hour Heather shows what she means as she watches the screen and will occasionally call to John to grab the clip board beside him to document a potential spirit. She would tell him what time it was in the camera monitor, what camera the event took place in, and what the event was, such as; “10:43:02, camera two, potential orb. Write that down.”

Eventually Russ takes off the headphones and sets them on the table. He then picks up a piece of paper he has scribbled notes on an addresses the client. “Well, whatever spirit is in there seems to be friendly and willing to work with us.” He then explains what responses he heard, which included what we had heard inside plus a few extra phrases we missed, such as the spirit saying “can you help?” at a certain part of the audio. The client seems much more relieved and she sighs saying that she is glad. Russ hands the three of us the scrap paper he had written on and tells us we can listen to it as he goes in to get mark and have a discussion to catch up with each others’ findings. Heather hands me the paper and headphones to go first. On the paper Russ had quickly scribbled down the words he thought he heard and what time in the audio he heard them. A small list that consists of what he had already told us went down the page. There are also several points in the audio where he has written down sounds that sounded like long words but not in English. Russ then tells us these words might be from a Native American who isn’t speaking English so they are worth looking into. I listen into the headphones and hear all the terms Russ had flagged throughout the audio. After my turn Mark has returned and begins analyzing the audio and on the camera monitor, we see Russ sitting in the spot that Mark was previously sitting in in. The client asks Mark if he had sensed anything while in the living room of the cabin. He tells her that he thought he saw or sensed something by the fireplace but nothing bad or negative. He then goes to listening the audio.

After this the two lead investigators decide just themselves will do the next step alone in the cabin. They grab a bag of equipment and return to the cabin. On the camera monitor I see Mark holding two long rods which Heather described as dowsing rods, which a spirit would be able to move. I watch the monitor as Mark and Russ go throughout the dark house with the rods, trying to get energy to move the rods.

This goes on for maybe 15 minutes to half an hour before Russ and Mark return to the cabin and tells us it was time to do a crossover. They said they’ve told the spirit throughout the night that a crossover will be available to it and it better be prepared. They then tell us that Russ, Mark, Heather, the client, and I would be present for the crossover. John would stay in the shed to keep an eye on the camera monitors. The five of us return to the cabin and sit around the table in the dark. I sat in the same spot as before with Caroline on the right and Russ on the left. Heather sits across from me and her and the client move their chairs aside so Mark can pull a fifth chair up to the table.

The setup of the table is slightly different now. The mel meter, rem pod, homemade radio, and the tobacco still remains on the table. However, this time there are two large lit candles, a large metal crucifix, and a binder in front of Russ that holds his script for the crossover. He tells us he will be opening the portal for the spirit or spirits to pass through. He says during this time we have to be focused and visualizing. When he talks about a light, we need to visualize a light. When he says he is closing the portal, we have to visualize a door locked and bolted. Our job is to be one step ahead of him. If he mentions the light, we have to imagine the spirit already in the light. If he mentions closing the portal, we already have to imagine it already closed.

With that we begin and Russ begins reading from his script and the radio is turned on once again to the familiar mixture of sounds. He soon closes his eyes and raises his hands and starts yelling that it is time. “It’s time for you to go! It’s 2019! Let this family have this cabin! Look up into the light! Go into the light!” I look around me to see that everyone around me has their eyes closed and seems to be focused or praying so I do the same with opening an eye every once in a while so I don’t miss anything. Russ then begins closing the portal, telling the spirit he is doing so.

It is around this time that I begin to hear a small voice reciting different numbers on the radio. In reaction to this Russ skips several lines of the script and gets to the ending. He shouts that this is the spirits only chance to crossover and he hopes the spirit has accepted it. He then begins counting down “three… two… one…” and slams his hands together, making a loud clap. We all jump and gasp as the clap startled us and opened our eyes. Russ nods his head and states that he believes the crossover was a success.

The client seems emotional and slightly teary as she says that it had felt very powerful and she felt the spirit crossover. Russ explains to us that he had skipped over a segment of the script because he heard the spirit counting down on the radio and he believes the spirit was becoming impatient and just wanted to crossover already. He explains sometimes spirits go in the center of the people around the area during the crossover, setting the milometer and rem pod alarms off. He feels that today the spirit has simply hung out behind us right outside of the circle rather than in the middle because the alarms did not go off. He then gives us the ok to blow out the candle and turn the lights back on. The crossover took maybe 10 minutes total.

After this Russ asks the client for permission to sage the house to permanently protect the home. The client says she would love that and loved the smell of sage. Russ then tells Heather and the client to go and open every door, drawer, and cabinet in the house. He then gives me a small rectangular piece of equipment to carry around as I follow them. I ask what it was, expecting it to be something for spirts or another machine I didn’t hear about before. “it’s a recorder by Sony” Russ states simply. Then Mark uses a lighter to burn the bundle of sage in a small bowl. It smells kind of musty but not bad. Russ explains that the sage will be used to clean the house of any other unwanted energies. We would very first start at the bottom of the house and then skip to the upstairs, leaving the middle floor for last and ending by the open doorway in the living room. This is to slowly push any energy out of the home if it had not already left.

Mark walks first with the sage followed by Russ with the crucifix. I follow behind holding the recorder and was followed by Heather and the client opening everything around us. We begin in the basement where Mark wafts the smoke of the sage in every opening. Russ then tells the client and Heather to go around and close all doors, cupboards, and drawers that Mark had wafted sage in. during this time Russ is reciting words about cleansing the house, such as “this house is protected by the blood of Christ”. We soon leave the basement with the small table tennis and close the door behind us, then skipping the main floor and going straight to the upstairs where the client had put all the grandchildren’s beds for when they vacation at her cabin. After the upstairs we travel to the main floor, shutting the door to the upstairs behind us. Mark then uses the sage on the middle floor, leaving the doorway for last. Russ then yells for any bad energy to leave the house and pushes it out with his hand. They then quickly shut the doors. Their last step is putting anointment oil on every door frame and the fireplace, using it as a shield for protection so no spirits can enter the cabin again.

During this time the client askes Heather how she can further protect her house. Heather responds that if she feels unsafe, she always calls out to Archangel Michael to protect her home. By this time Russ and Mark have returned and Russ adds in to have a picture of Jesus, especially above the children’s beds to watch over them. The client thanks everyone and is teary. It takes us less time to pack up than it did to unload, and we are soon on the road again.

Second Investigation
07/13/2019 6:30p.m.
I arrive at exactly 6:30p.m., right as Russ is gathering bags for the trip. I help him carry out what bags he has left; the lightest ones because I wasn’t much help attempting to carry the heavier ones. There is much less equipment to pack and bring to the car than the last investigation. As we started driving, Russ explains to me that this investigation is going to be much shorter than the first one because he has already gone to this home before. He explains that the last time he had visited he had identified the spirits in the home but couldn’t cross them over because the children had got home and he didn’t want to scare them. This visit he would do some minimal investigating and then perform a crossover. Before this Russ told me minimal details about this case which he now goes into further details about. He says that the husband of the home was having night terrors of a 10-foot man standing at the end of his bed. Later on his wife, who does not believe in ghosts, had the same exact night terrors. Nights after this their four children would wake up in the night after having nightmares. At one point their nine-year-old daughter’s sleep walking, which she sometimes did, worsened and the parents would wake up to her screaming for her mom. Her mom came to find her still asleep in the bathroom and pointing at the mirror, saying “look at the mirror”. Russ says that the husband of the family had ashes of his passed father in the home above the fireplace which could be causing his father’s spirit to stay or causing other spirits to come in.

Russ also explains that the mother suddenly had an unexplainable illness which could be caused by the energy from spirits nearby. Russ then continues to tell me that two owls would sit in front of the family’s home and look into the windows. He says he strongly feels that the owls are taken over by two protective spirits watching over the home. He then explains the last time he visited the home he had used a device to take the temperature. The temperature was near 80 Fahrenheit everywhere but near the woods, where it was 66.6 Fahrenheit; the devil’s number. This is how he concludes that there were two protective spirits and an evil spirit in the surrounding woods that occasionally came into the home. However, Russ says he feels that the evil spirit wasn’t the devil or the demon, it was just an evil, angry spirit messing with them. He came to this conclusion due to not feeling the presence of a demon.

At some point after this conversation we get on the topic of paranormal experiences we’ve had. I told Russ that a few months back my fiancé and I slept over at my dad and baby brother’s place so we could be there for my brother’s third birthday. My brother liked sleeping in my dad’s room so we stayed in my brother’s room. It was around midnight and we were falling asleep and one of my brother’s toys began making musical noises. I got up and dug it out of the toy box, turning it off. My fiancé sarcastically stated that it must have been a ghost and jokingly said “if you are here, give us a sign”. That’s when another one of my brother’s toys went off, this time it was one of his toys that taught my brother numbers and shapes and sang “come play with me”. I explain to Russ that my brother’s toy box was a mess and his toys could have easily shifted throughout the night which could of set them off. Anyhow, it still creeped me out. Russ nods his head and states that it isn’t uncommon for spirits to communicate through toys.

We finally arrive at the home in central Minnesota at 8:00p.m. on the dot. We drive up a long driveway to a cabin surrounded by woods. We park the car and get out to see a small grey cat looking at us before running away. The client; middle-aged man, well-built with a buzz cut came out and introduces himself. He tells us his wife set up a table in the garage for us and had taken their family to a relative’s so Russ wouldn’t be interrupted like the first time. We first unpack the equipment into the client’s garage. The large space has been taken over by kid’s electric cars, bikes, games, and a small bouncy house. During this time the client tells us that his baby’s toys had been going off. Russ replies to him that we had just been talking about kid’s toys going off and I told the client the story I told Russ in the car.

Russ selects certain things to bring into the downstairs of the home which connects to the garage. The downstairs living room is long and spacious. On the left side is the bathroom, a doorway to the main floor, a boy’s room, and then a girl’s room. Between the doorways is a stone fireplace that holds a wooden cross which adorns a necklace with ashes stored within it. Beside the cross is a photo of the client’s passed dad, just as Russ had described earlier. On the other side of the living room was many photos of the client and his family; him, his wife, three sons, and a daughter.

Russ sets up a second table in the downstairs living room and brings a few select things from the garage table to the downstairs living room table for the investigation. Most of these items are familiar to me from the last investigation. However, there is one new device that looks like an old fancy radio, that’s all I know how to put it. I ask Russ what it’s for and he tells me it’s a geoport; it does the same thing as the homemade spirit radio he has, it just picks up different frequencies than the homemade radio does.

Russ then takes the rem pod, a piece of equipment that was used last time, and puts it in the little girl’s room since the client had told him that his daughter was having such bad nightmares. Russ sets the rem pod down on the bed and walks away. Right away the four different lights on the rem pod begin lighting up and a small alarm-like sound permeates the room. This means the sides of the rem pod are being touched by something with energy, and it isn’t us because we are in the next room. Russ pauses from walking out of the doorway and turns back around to face the girl’s bed with the rem pod on it.

The alarm ends within just a second or so and Russ asks, “Was that you? Did you make that noise?” Only silence follows and the rem pod remains quiet. After another few moments of silence Russ speaks up again, “Can you touch this again? Like this?” Russ then goes back to the rem pod and touches it, making the alarm go off and giving an example for the spirit he believed touched it. He then backs up and the three of us waits for a response. The rem pod remains silent and Russ turns back to us and finishes setting up, deciding that the spirit has said all it wanted to.

Russ and I sit down on the couch with the table of equipment in front of us. The client sits in his recliner chair more to the side of the table. Russ then turns on the geoport. Sounds of mumbles and gurgles come out of the geoport, much like it had with Russ’ homemade radio. However, I notice differences in how the sounds coming from the geoport have much more of an echo and a softer tone than the homemade radio. I also notice that the sounds are slightly spaced out and not all happening at once. Russ forms questions and phrases for the spirits somewhat different this time.

Unlike the last investigation, he is much more focused on protecting the home while still finding out about the evil spirit surrounding the house. He begins by saying that only good intentioned spirits were welcomed into our circle because we were protected by the Lord. He then asks many similar questions as he did at the first client’s cabin, such as asking about the spirit’s past, why they were there, and who they were. He also asks questions that are more specific to this particular case; such as how many spirits were in the home, were the spirits protecting the family, and was there something evil surrounding the home. At this point a deeper voice comes through. I have a hard time understanding its deep tone, but I made out the word “evil” three times. Russ must have heard other words as he quickly yells to the geoport that the home is protected by the Lord and archangel Michael. The more negative comments from the geoport seems to calm down after this.
We then hear a voice say “Bob” twice. The name “Bob” was also brought up using the homemade radio at the last client’s cabin. Russ tells me that he’s heard “Bob” at several investigations, and he wonders if Bob is a spirit guide of his or a spirit that travels with him to use his radio to communicate. The client also mentions that Bob was brought up on the radio when Russ was there last time.

During this radio session the multiple lights on the mel meter begin to blink. Unlike the rem pod, this device makes no noise except for the clicking of the lights. This is the first time I see this device go off. I notice there are five lights that went green to yellow and then to red. Green meant the mel meter was picking up faint hints of energy. The further dots of color, the more the energy the mel meter was picking up, making red the most energy. The lights are nonstop blinking the entire time; much of the blinking comes from green light. The yellow light soon becomes active as well and occasionally the orange light appeared. However, the red light never becomes active. After turning the radio off, the clicking on the mel meter calms down a bit. Russ tells me when he first got the mel meter it never did anything at any investigations and he thought it was useless garbage, but then after a few investigations it began to work. He explains that a few of his devices were like that; like they had to be “baptized” into the profession before they would truly become useful.

After using the radio Russ takes out the witching rods and begins asking questions with them, starting in the living room basement. He asks if the spirits could point with the rods to show him where they are located within the home. There is no movement. We then head up the stairs to the main floor where we enter the kitchen. The kitchen is very long and has a high ceiling. The client and I watch Russ ask the spirits to move the rods to tell him their location in the home, but the rods stay still. Russ then asks the spirits to cross the rods when he says the correct number of spirits that are in the home. He counts up to five, but the rods still don’t move. Russ turns to us and tells us that he feels a spirit is nearby because his stomach is in knots. He turns back and asks the spirits to cross the rods if there is something evil in the home. The right rod makes a fast swing to the left, crossing over the left rod. After that no other questions are answered and Russ tells us that the spirit must have used all its power in that one movement.

After using the witching rods, Russ asks to sit in the home alone in the dark to hear the workings of the home and any other sounds that can be caused by the spirit or spirits. During this time, the client and I return to the basement and sit in the lawn chairs. I ask him if all the equipment had gone off last time Russ did an investigation at his house. The client tells me that last time Russ, Mark, and one other man from the team I didn’t know came. He only had this house for a year, and he wanted to get help for his family. Last time all the alarms went off too. He then tells me all that had happened in their home. Most of it is the same as what was first described to me by Russ. The client then tells me when the owls first started watching his house, he thought nothing of it; they lived in the woods so of course they’d see owls. Once the owls became a common thing he grew concerned and started looking up lore and myths of owls from different cultures. A lot of cultures believed owls were bad omens, so he assumed the owls were bad. But then the family’s pet rabbits would play outside right next to the owls and the rabbits weren’t afraid of them, nor did the owls look interested in eating them. When the client told Russ this information, Russ told him he then believed that the owls were taken over by protective spirits. The client then tells me about the dreams Russ previously told me about. He said he had dreams of a tall shadow man at the foot of his bed. He’s a veteran from fighting abroad so he thought nothing of it because he normally could have bad dreams. He says it had to be a bad spirit though after his wife had the same dreams he did. He tells me how, like Russ, he can sense spirits. Just like how Russ’ stomach goes into knots, the client says since a young age he felt a strange feeling up his neck in the presence of spirits.

Russ soon returns to the garage and fills in the client on how he felt an odd breeze in the client’s daughter’s room which moved the door and curtains. Russ then offers me a chance to go inside to try to sit in silence as he does. He first asks me if I feel grounded. I ask him how being grounded is supposed to feel.

“Well it’s hard to explain. Like, do you feel like your feet are flat and heavy on the ground?” he asks. After spending a moment trying to decide if I feel grounded, Russ instead tells me I can bring in the coin he blessed earlier in the summer. I got my coin from my purse in the car and Russ and I then go back inside. We first go to the boys’ room because Russ had previously gone into the girl’s room. We both sit down on the boy’s bunk bed and Russ hands me a device that detects temperature so I can keep an eye on it. Before going into complete silence Russ speaks to the potential evil spirit that could be in the area and informs them that they can communicate by touching him, but he would not allow them to touch me because I am protected by the Lord. We then sit in complete silence for possibly ten minutes. After this we sit on the stairway between the two levels of the house. I jump when the air conditioner eventually kicks on and Russ laughs at this. There are a few times Russ asks “did you hear that?” and would refer to sounds that sounded like footsteps. We then move to the upstairs living room and sit on the couches in silence for another 10 minutes before returning to the client in the garage. Russ tells him we may have heard a few things, that overall the house was noisy. Russ then tells the client he is ready to begin the crossover.

We all go back into the downstairs living room and Russ sets up his homemade radio, crucifix, candle, rem pod, and melmeter for the crossover. He tells us the same that he had said at the fist client’s cabin; we have to be a step ahead of him. If he said “go into the light,” we are already imagining the spirit went through the light. If he says “the door is shut”. We should already be imagining the door is shut and locked with a crucifix. He then begins and the crossover is nearly identical to the one done at the first client’s cabin. The only difference I notice is that Russ has no script, instead he has a bible and reads a scripture for the evil spirit. From time to time he closes his eyes and raises his arms with his palms upwards as he speaks. When he yells for the spirits to go into the light, he throws his arms behind him, as if he is propelling the spirits out of the house. Majority of the time the client looks as if he was praying, so I did the same.

The crossover is soon finished, and we go back to the garage to get the equipment to sage the home. At the first client’s cabin Russ had held the crucifix and spoke as Mark used sage on the home. This time it was only Russ, so he instead asks me if I was comfortable holding the crucifix and saying, “The blood of Christ is upon this house.” I ask Russ how often I should say it and he tells me to say it as often as it feels like coming out of my mouth. He hands me the crucifix and we begin to sage the downstairs and all its openings. I’m not sure when to exactly say the phrase “the blood of Christ is upon this house” so I instead say it once for each room. The first time I say it, the phrase comes out extremely awkward because I’d never said anything of that such before. We go to the main downstairs living room, bathroom, boys’ room, and girl’s room. During Russ spreading sage he temporarily sets down the small bowl of sage to bless the client’s father’s ashes with the client’s permission. Russ says something with how the ashes may not be used as a portal and that they are blessed by the father, the son, and the holy spirit. Russ then makes a small cross with anointment oil on the small metal necklace that holds the ashes. Russ then does the same with the fireplace and windows; all things that are considered openings to the house. We then make our way upstairs. Before Russ continues spreading the sage, he puts a line of salt at the base of the carpeted steps and at the beginning of the upper floor, apologizing for the mess and telling the client that he can vacuum up the salt once we are done but he must throw it outside right away because spirits may be stuck in the salt. The client tells him that it won’t be a problem. Russ then spreads the sage through the upper level of the house; the kitchen, dining room, laundry room, bathroom, and the client’s and his wife’s room. There is also a crib in the client’s and his wife’s room where their youngest son sleeps. Russ blesses the crib the same way he did the ashes to ensure protection for the client’s baby. He also blesses an old small door where an air conditioner used to be because it’s considered an entrance from outside. We then open the door to the outside on the upper level of the house and Russ spreads the sage, making his way to the doorway and pushing any possible remaining spirits out of the house. After this we begin cleaning up. This cleanup was much faster than the one at the first client’s cabin because we have brought much less equipment for the shorter investigation tonight. After carefully packing everything up, Russ tells us he wants to do one last thing.

We follow Russ outside as he walks to the edge of the deep woods. He shouts to the woods that if the evil spirit is still there and decided not to crossover, there is still time for them to become good. He tells the possible evil spirit that it can still repent its sins and that God always forgives.

After this last step we say our goodbyes and shake hands and Russ and I head home. The car ride is quieter as it is late and we are both tired. Russ comments about how he will definitely need an energy drink tomorrow because he works at 6:00 a.m. the next day. We get back to his home around 2:00a.m. and my ride picks me up and takes me home.

Third Investigation
07/27/19 7:15p.m.
I am dropped off at Russ’ house at 7:15p.m. while it’s still bright and warm outside. Russ and Mark are already here and have packed the equipment needed for the investigation. The three of us get into Russ’ car and begin our drive. I ask the two of them what this investigation will entail. Russ begins by saying that this call is for a young woman that lives by herself with her dog she just adopted. She was getting unusual dreams and her dog would stare at an area and whimper when nothing was there.

Russ paused and asked Mark if he remembers the client’s name. Mark recalls the client’s name and Russ replies “Right, that’s it!”

He then mentions how they had helped this client two years ago by simply blessing and using sage on her home; something she had requested in order to have a fresh start. It seemed that after two years the home was showing signs of needing paranormal sort of work again. The client was about to begin the process of moving out, but since she felt something was in the home, she wanted to make sure the coast was clear for the next household that moved into that home.

Russ then continues to explain how several of the client’s friends had commented on how they felt uneasy or like they were being watched in her home. These comments also were only coming from her female friends. Russ then explains that when he had meditated for answers to this investigation, he had envisioned a middle-aged man with thick, dark eyebrows and eyelashes. He was also explained as having an obnoxious or mischievous look on his face. Russ feels that the spirit could be this middle-aged man and the spirit still had the mind of a young man and could be checking in on all the female visitors.

Russ brings up how he isn’t sure how much to tell the client about what he finds at the investigation. She lives in her home alone besides her dog and he doesn’t want her to be scared or uncomfortable in her own home. He and Mark then talk about how they hope the client’s dog won’t be an interference to the investigation. The two of them reflect on a time when they had an investigation in a family’s trailer which had two cats and a dog. The animals in the home made the investigation nearly impossible as they were loud and created nonstop movement. Even the man who owned them made too much noise playing with his dog during the investigation.

We arrive at the client’s home around 8:20p.m., 10 minutes earlier than planned. We get out of the car with our things and are greeted by the client and her boyfriend. The client looks to be in her late twenties to early thirties. She wears a leopard print tank top and jeans. She’s tan with her hair pulled up and makeup on her face. Her boyfriend looks to be around her age. Along with them to greet us is her dog; Kiki, who runs outside and excitedly zigzags between us all. After shaking hands, we all talk outside for a little bit. Russ tells the client about what he saw during meditation and his assumptions from it. Russ and Mark then tell the client and her boyfriend how the process will work and informs them about the process of the investigation. The client and her boyfriend seem quiet but nod along with what the lead investigators are saying. The client then opens the door for us and leads us to the spare bedroom where we can set up for the investigation. The outside of the house appears very small and simple, but the inside the house looks rather big and especially long. It’s very well decorated with a royal blue themed living room and salt lamps scattered throughout the home. After setting all the required bags in the knitting-themed spare bedroom, Russ asks the client where the most paranormal incidents happen throughout the home. She explains that all her friends who had slept over complained about having an uncomfortable feeling while sleeping in the client’s bedroom. She also brings up that Kiki has a fear of going into the basement and absolutely will not go down there. After learning this information, Mark puts one recorder down in the basement to run for the rest of the night and then keeps one on the dining room table. We then set up a card table we brought in the extra bedroom and put the laptops on top of it. We use the bed as our chair and have all the boxes of equipment behind us on the other side of the bed. After setting up we take the needed equipment; homemade radio, candles, rempod, and mel meter out to the dining room table. The client and her boyfriend tell us that they aren’t going to be present for the investigation. They want to go to an outside restaurant with Kiki so the busy dog wouldn’t disrupt the investigation. They tell us to call them when we are wrapping up and then left. The three of us sit down to begin a radio session. Russ turns on the radio and the familiar voices come on. Russ asks the usual questions; what’s your name? How many spirits are there? Are you male or female? Russ also asks the spirits it’s most prominent features, hoping to get answers about his visions in the meditation session. He then looks at me and Mark and asks if either of us have any questions we wanted to ask. Mark asks, “Why are you here?” and it sounded as if a deeper voice from the radio responded “beer.” During these questions, many other familiar voices we’ve heard from other investigations offer their replies. We also hear names from other investigations; such as the name Bob. Russ and Mark tell me that some familiar individuals might follow them around on their investigations because they liked being heard on the radio. They refer to these people as their fan group. Russ then counts down from three and turns off the radio.

From there Russ takes the recorder from the dining room table and plugs it into the laptop in the spare bedroom. We decide that I and Mark will stay in the spare bedroom and go through the audio of the radio session while Russ sits in silence and darkness throughout the house. Mark and I put on headphones and begin listening to audio. Any parts that sound like words or phrases are played several times through before we decide what is being said. Mark plays a segment three times through and then asks me what I hear the voice saying. Most of the time we agree on what we think we hear and there are a few times our thoughts on it vary and we write down both phrases we believe we hear in the notebook where we document what we thought we heard and what time in the audio we heard it. A variety of voices speak through the radio. One that gave strong answers was a very quiet voice that I assume belongs to a young woman. Another very clear, present voice was a strong male voice we hadn’t heard on the radio before. This voice comes across as very sarcastic; all his responses were all swearing and at one part when Russ asked, “what’s your most prominent feature?” the deep voice sounded as if it responded “puss” or “pussy”. There were other times several voices over lapped and they sounded as if they were speaking very clear phrases, but we couldn’t make it out due to all the voices speaking at once. Russ comes in right as we are finishing up listening to the audio. He tells us he had been in the basement and heard noises from above him, but he believes it was Mark and I making the noises as we accidently move around the table. We test out this theory and found it true that the flimsy table moves as Mark writes on the paper upon it. We note to try to keep the table still while writing. Russ and Mark then switch roles. Mark goes to sit in the client’s dark bedroom and Russ sits beside me. He doesn’t observe Mark and I’s notes too much because I assume he wants to hear the recording for himself and make out the words and phrases before looking into Mark’s. Russ does the process like how Mark did it; listening to a phrase several times before deciding what it is saying. Russ seems to pay attention to the same phrases Mark did but hears them slightly differently. He also picks up on words or phrases Mark and I missed earlier. Only after deciding what he hears for himself would he go back and look at Marks notes to see what Mark heard.

After Mark returns it’s decided that all three of us will sit quietly in separate rooms to ensure complete silence. Russ hands me the camera as something for me to do as I sit alone. Russ goes back down to the basement, Mark sits in the living room and I sit in the main bedroom. It’s extremely dark at this time, but my eyes adjust fast to the lighting. I sit on the edge of the client’s bed with the camera propped up in front of me. It’s quiet except for the train passing by which rattles the home. At some point I hear splashing from the bathroom across from the room, it sounds like a dog drinking toilet water.

During this time is when the client and her boyfriend arrive home. I hear the front door open and Mark greets them from the living room couch. Russ returns from downstairs and I walk out from the room. The client’s boyfriend seems surprised as he says, “it’s so dark”. Russ replies to him by saying that all the work is done in the dark. The two of them seem surprised and ask if they had interrupted us. Russ tells them that we are just finishing up and that they can be present for the crossover if they’d like. The client tells us she will keep Kiki in the car until everything is done and packed up. With that the five of us sit around the four seated table, the client and her boyfriend sharing a seat across from me. Russ lights a candle and turns the radio back on. He tells the couple that the different voices in the radio don’t necessarily mean all these spirits are in the home. There’s no time or distance in the realm where the spirits are located so most of the spirits that are responding through the radio can be from anywhere. With that he begins speaking the lines he always speaks for a crossover. However, this time it’s slightly different. Russ doesn’t speak to or about the Lord and Jesus Christ and instead focuses more on sending the spirits into the light. My guess is that he does this because the client and her boyfriend don’t appear religious. The other two households we went to were strong Christians and had crosses decorating their home. This home has no such decorations. During the crossover Russ closes his eyes as he often does. Mark looks downwards and the client and her boyfriend focus on the candle or radio.

The crossover soon finishes with Russ counting down “three, two, one” and clapping his hands together, turning off the radio. He then allows everyone to go around and turn all the lights back on. The client and her boyfriend ask us what we all heard on the radio earlier and what we found during the investigation. Russ sums up that there were small sounds throughout the night and we picked up phrases on the radio, but overall there is nothing bad or harmful in the home. It may have just been a mischievous spirit which has hopefully crossed over now. The client lets Kiki back into the house and she zigzagged between us all, bringing us her toys. Russ then brings out the laptop with the downloaded recordings on it and allows the client and her boyfriend to listen to the sarcastic voice we consistently heard during our radio session. During this time Mark and I go back to the extra bedroom and begin packing up all the equipment. At this point I’ve learned what equipment goes where and can help with the packing. We load the car and the client and her boyfriend thank us and say their goodbyes. Before leaving, Mark asks the client where a graveyard is in the area as there is known to be a big one around the vicinity. She directs us to it and we leave.

We reach the graveyard and roll down all the windows to listen to the commotion in the area. Mark comments “this makes the 12th graveyard I’ve been in this month.” After this, we begin heading home and Mark asks me if this is my last investigation with them and if my research is done. I tell him that my research is pretty much summed up and that I don’t have much required left to do. Russ then asks if I’d ever want them to call me about upcoming investigations. I tell them that I liked coming along on investigations and that I am open to continuing to do so. My school year will be busy, but they should feel free to contact me if they have a nearby investigation or analysis they wanted help with. They ask when I would officially write my research paper and I tell them that it will be done more near Christmas time and that I will sent it to them for them to read before it will be finalized.
We soon reach Russ’ home and I get in my own ride and thank the two of them for the opportunities they’ve gave me and to feel free to stay in touch.

Discussion Through my period of research I’ve recognized that the Search4Spirits paranormal investigation team uses their spirituality as a motivation and a tool to assist them in their investigations. Not only does it help them solve investigations but it also assists them in bringing both clients and spirits to peace with their individual situations. Throughout these three investigations I noticed that Search4Spirits work hard to give the clients a sense of comfort while performing investigations, often through spiritual routes. Often times the clients who followed a Christian or catholic belief appeared more relaxed or expressed the feeling of making the right choice when choosing Search4Spirits to investigate their property. Calling upon Jesus, god, and Archangel Michael not only helped Search4Spirits crossover spirits but also brought peace to religious clients. Using religious tools also assisted in investigations. Such things as the crucifix, the bible, and holy water were used in the process of crossing a spirit over and protecting a home. Not only did these tools assist Search4Spirits in crossovers and protection but again, these religious tools also brought a calmness to the religious individuals involved. This pattern brings to mind a statement once make by lead investigator Russ; “We help both the living and the dead”.