A friendly messenger

20th March 2024. Reading Time: 8 minutes General, Paranormal Investigation. 2057 page views. 0 comments.

When you walk through a door to a room of people, one of the most natural things we do is to greet each other. Do you greet a spirit if you are trying to communicate? What do you say/do? Here is what the LLIFS readers had to say!

"An open door is a welcome that makes a stranger into a friend"

When you walk through a door to a room of people, one of the most natural things we do is to greet each other. "Hello ... How are you?" In technical terms, it is called a conversation opener, however, for many it is instinct and just plain manners. Some greet with a hug and kiss, others with a handshake. Sometimes a nod and a smile are all it takes, but the sentiment is the same. In any culture, a greeting ritual is an essential communication skill used across many different cultures. Two people from different sides of the World who do not speak the same language can still greet each other and show a sign of mutual respect. When talking about the paranormal, there are many different theories as to what a ghost could be. One of the more popular theories is that it is somehow the consciousness or soul of a person who was once living. It means that respect should be shown when there is communication with what you believe to be a spirit. Even if that is not what you necessarily believe a spirit to be, I do think that a certain element of respect is required. Simply put, if you are in a room wanting to communicate with something or someone, yelling obscenities at what might be someone's grandma is just in bad taste!

I want to retouch on a story I have shared many times and one that I tell at Black Rock House when we do a tour. In the living quarters is what people believe to be a spirit called Annie. There is a lovely energy in there and some really strange things have occurred in that room that we have been unable to debunk. What made it even more remarkable was after many years of communicating with what we believed was this spirit that we had no historical information on, a family member came forward and sent us historical information (not knowing about our Annie). It was historical information he had traced down that he thought Black Rock House might find interesting as the address was mentioned many times of his Great Great Grandma. Some of the information was very close to home with the kicker being her name was Annie. Now of course it could all be a coincidence, but it makes a lovely story to tell as to what we like to do what we do and that is to tell people's stories. The stories of people who may have otherwise been forgotten by time, yet deserve to have their stories told. The volunteers at Black Rock House love the story of Annie so much that out of respect, every time they enter her room they greet her "Hi Annie". If there is a cleaning day they will ask if they can move things around her room. They buy her things for her room and ask her if she likes them. It is a lovely gesture and a sign of respect. Whether or not there really is a spirit called Annie in there, they are honouring her presence and I think that is beautiful.

So in the 'spirit' of greetings, I put out to LLIFS followers how they like to open their sessions when they want to communicate with spirits. Do they introduce themselves? Do they just sit there? What do they do? Here are some of the answers:

Rosemary Coates
I introduce myself and request that it's ok for me to be there and IF THEY LIKE to try and communicate with us.

Lisa Flatman
We introduce ourselves and explain why we're there and the reasons. They have the option to chat or not and we ask that the ones who don't wish to speak to let the spirits who do want to through.

Peter Ellis
I haven’t conducted an investigation but i feel that we should always think of it as if we are entering someone’s house/home. Respect, politeness and introductions should be the first thing on our list.

Dave Man
I try to talk to them as I would a living person. I tend to kick it off with asking if anyone there wants to have a chat, and explaining the chosen method of communication. I then introduce myself and ask their name. The line of questions I prefer to ask is about their everyday lives and things that most people are passionate about, family, sport, favourite food.
I once did a spirit box session at a country town cemetery where Radio reception is near non existent, I asked if there's anyone there that wants to talk. I heard what do you want. I said I want to learn about your story and your history, would you mind having a chat, No.... go away.
So I apologised for disturbing them, thanked them for tolerating me and I packed up and left.

Melissa Fabian
Before I head to a site I always spend a little time in meditation reaching out to spirit at the particular venue. Just like you would phone a friend to let them know you’re on your way over. At this point I set the intention for my visit so they “ know in advance”. (I know, very human of me considering they already know before it even say it, but we won’t go down that rabbit hole????)
When I get there I always knock on the door letting them know I’ve arrived and ask to come in.
When there I ask them all how they are and let them know what I’ll be doing and if they’re happy to just watch or would like to join in and help me with whatever it is I’m trying to achieve that night.
I’ve always been really successful with this approach. I’ve always had some interaction, no matter how big or small, I’m always very honoured by it

Kenda Elise
Some combination of the following:
“Hi, my name is Kenda… I record voices of Spirit… I have the greatest respect for Spirit… I’m not ignoring you, I don’t see or hear Spirit like a Spirit medium does — I’ll be able to hear what you’re saying if you speak into this device with the red light… If the idea of talking upsets you, please recede and allow someone else to come forward… If you have a message of great importance for ME, for MANKIND, or for ( ____ ), please go ahead and give it… If you like what’s going on here or you don’t - if you have an opinion on anything at all, I’d really like to hear it“
*(Right at first, I’ll walk around a place knocking a bit and asking Spirit to try to repeat… Testing the waters, so to speak… It’s a broad-stroke method, yes - But it works if Spirit wants to connect and is capable of doing so - Starts things off in the right direction)

Theresa Rivers
When we enter a building, home etc, we always knock first then enter, say Hello and thank them for allowing us into their home or place. We always introduce ourselves before any session. Normally we speak to the spirits we know to be where we are like an ongoing conversation. There are always the usual, ‘Is there anyone here with us’ etc but we try to talk to them as though they’re alive, so to speak.
We ask the usual questions and the conversation flows to whatever they answer with. We even had spirits talking about loving eating Pancakes. That was fun lol
We have asked for knocks and such.
When you don’t know someone you ask the normal questions like where did you grow up, how old are you, were you married etc. You’d be amazed at the responses you get sometimes. Especially trying to communicate with kids. I have a porcelain doll (she is new to my ensemble) and the responses we’ve gotten from her. Wow!
I may have gone off topic but I hope you can use some of that lol

Spirit Hunters Ontario
We always say hello and introduce ourselves. We often times I will knock before entering a building. We explain what we are doing and why we are there. We ask if it's ok for us to be there, we also ask if they would like to speak with us. We always leave it up to spirit whether they communicate or not, it's on their terms. And we explain the equipment we have and the old school techniques we will be using so hopefully they will understand there is nothing to nervous of. ~Judy

Michael Lossau
We always introduce ourselves and say why we're there.

Scott Buchanan
I like to just treat them like I would anyone else. I say hello, introduce myself, thank them for joining me, ask who is here, ask them to tell me about themselves, sound interested, ask them to talk with me, make a noise so I know they are there, touch me so i know they are around, show themselves, what ever feels right for them.

Crypto Paranormal Investigations
During any communication attempts, we always start with introductions, each investor states their first and last name and we usually voice our intentions.

Mystic Jewelz
I always knock on the door and introduce myself and anyone with me, and go from there

Jeannine Elliott Kelly
Hello Is anyone here with me? Can you tell me your name?

Lisa Clarke
Before I do anything I say hello to them spirits and the building.

So now it is your turn! Tell me in the comments, what do you say/do at the start of a session?

Cover Photo by Lennart Wittstock: https://www.pexels.com/photo/low-angle-view-of-man-standing-at-night-316681/

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