Selected queries from Holbrook Paranormal Site Investigations.

Dear Mr. Holbrook:

Q: What is a spirit mimic and how dangerous are they? My friend who’s into the supernatural swears one of these entities is miming her cousin because it’s like she’s not quite exactly herself in small ways. For example, she uses weird language on occasion and has been dressing contrary to her usual style. As far as I know neither my friend nor her cousin uses drugs or has any mental problems. I don't think my friend is imagining things but she is getting concerned. I told her she should stop investigating the paranormal but she will not. This has been going on for about a month. That’s all I know about it. I've never heard of this type of thing. Anyway, how do you figure out what's really going on and if so get rid of this type of situation? I'm getting tired of listening to it. Thank you for your time. Louise, ID

A: I had to look up this term because I was not familiar with the term spirit mimic. I found the term in a Brad Steiger’s book, "Shadow World: True Encounters with Beings from the Darkside". In chapter six, "The Enigma of Spirit Mimics", he tells of a being or an entity that impersonates a man or woman in order to experience the full range of human emotions. He writes in his book, "I have come to term these entities Spirit Mimics". So this is a name he uses to identify a particular phenomenon not necessarily the entity its self. Think about it, there are many entities that can mimic a human and interact with us on a personal level. One comes to mind that could fit the story that you sent a doppelganger, except it is an evil double for the most part. Looking at other entities that may act as a double there is a Vardoger from Norse mythology that is a ghostly double that is seen doing the actions of a living person before the actual person does the action. There is a "Ka" from Egyptian mythology that is a corporal entity that has the same memories and emotions as the person that it is imitating. You could call these entities Spirit Mimics if you did not know that they are called a different name. They could be the same type of entity or different entities all together that could double as a human. Most of these entities are seen for what they are because of the person that is being doubled is seen at the same time or see their own double. There are entities that can cause a person to start acting different, there are not doubles that affect the person. An attachment like a low astral entity or ghost can cause a person to act differently over time. It is like a mild possession, the entity slowly influences the victim by weakening them first till their defenses are down. If the person in question is a paranormal investigator then an attachment would be at the top of my list of things to look for. You can have an attachment for a while before it starts to try to affect you, so it is a good idea to get cleared mentally and spiritually. From what I have read if it is some type of entity that is impersonating someone you can tell by their eyes that they are not the real person but an entity. This holds true for someone that is possessed or under the influence of an entity, the eyes will be soulless. So it may be hard to tell if it is a double or the person possessed especially from a third party. Investigation into the possibility of a double requires a lot of face time with the person in question. In most cases of a double the real person may never meet up with the double. The double may try to isolate the real person from their family and friends to weaken their defenses so they can take over their life or at lease ruin it. So it is hard to determine if a person is being attacked by an entity like a doppelganger or if it is an attachment type of entity. I do not suggest taking any action against the person or entity for the victim of the situation unless it is requested by the victim. People have been known to change in ways that they cannot emplane when they are working though something in their life. You can support them by asking if they need help or an ear to listen to their problems. If they say that they have not changed run tape when they using the weird language, you can take pictures when they are dressing contrary to their style. Sometimes simple things like this will help the person that is thought to be a victim to see what you are seeing. I hope that you can pass on to your friend that an actual double is very rare and that attachment can be removed. I hope that this helps you to help your friend with their problem.

Q: I am sure you are familiar with this piece of what I call "Humorous Reason" but I am curious about it. I would like to know about your experience or opinion regarding what the supernatural has to say about keeping a glass of water by one's bedside to keep spirits away. It seems to be that the rule of thumb is that spirits don't like water. I have probably seen this premise presented in about a dozen horror flicks where the bedside water glass always seems to go crashing to the floor before the spooks move in! Where did this idea originate? Thanks, Jason N.J.

A: It is interesting that you have noticed that film makers have used this in their art to be an image or omen or things to come. In some of my folklore readings I have come across several different things dealing with water and a bed. Most of the old wives tales are remedies or ways to keep from having an ailment. For example, keep a bucket or pan of water under your bed to keep from having night sweats. There is also keeping two buckets of spring water under your bed to keep from having bed sores. There are many different ones on the same line as these two, but what I believe you are looking for is something else. I have read that in Hoodoo a glass of water by the bed is intended to capture any spirit that comes to the sleeping person in the bed. Each morning you are to pour out the glass of water to rid yourself of the spirits. This is much like what a dream catcher of the Native Americans is intended to do with spirits and dreams. This is not surprising to me because Hoodoo is a mix of African, Native American and some western folk magic. It is a folk magic that has its origins from these but is not limited to these cultural groups. Many different superstitions or folk traditions have their origins in what many call Hoodoo but may have come from other folk magic traditions or root-work. Legends say that a many different nasty supernatural entities cannot cross water. So let’s see what roll water has in a more elemental manner- Earth , Fire, Water, Air- the four elements that the ancient Greeks said were the base substances of the universe. Chinese philosophy has it a little different -Earth, Water, Wood, Fire, Metal- but Water is still there as it is in all life on earth. Water has been recognized as a needed substance for life as we know it, we all have bodies that have the same major ingredient-Water. It is on the very short list of base elements that can transform in to the three states-Liquid, Solid, Gas. Why have I stated this, because water is life, with water there is death. Let’s look at some other thing before we go too far in to what I believe. Most of the religions that I have encountered use water as a purifier, cleanser and ritual catalyst in one way or the other. Different religions believe the same basic thing about water, that water can cleanse or purify someone or something. What are they cleaning off the person or thing with water? We are not talking about something being dirty and needing to be washed. The cleaning is in the spiritual realm of religion not the physical. The water is used to wash away sin, evil, sorrow all things that would could affect life or the afterlife. I am getting in to what I believe again but this what I have felt for years about why water works. Water is life, life in its purest form, there is no evil or impurities in it unless we put them there. Water can be a catalyst for so much spiritual work that some believe it has spiritual powers by itself. I can see why, it sustains life and brings on growth in nature. With water being such a big part of life and the fact it can cleanse the spirit we can hypothesize why a spirit would not like water. First with it being such a big part of life and the living a spirit or ghost would want it, but they could not have it in their realm. This could be why a regular spirit would knock over a glass of water. Next is again based on water being such a big part of life that an evil entity would not want the water near them because it would be reminded of what it could never have -Life. Holy water can be used against an evil spirit also so the spirit may associate any water with holy water. We know that movies and TV will use some of what may be facts but will twist it for entertainment purposes. There is a spiritual link to the use of water as a talisman, cleanser and a weapon in the history of folk lore and religions. In the question at hand I hope that I have helped to answer your question without too much Hollywood hype.

Q: I recently watched a movie which brought up the premise about repetitive existence and reincarnation. Both circumstances evidently take place after death. Either the person reincarnates into a whole new situation of being OR the soul can get caught up in a type of situation like that which Bill Murray portrayed in "Ground Hog Day" where the last life experience is repeated over and over. Can this really happen? I thought there might be some validity to it since there have been recorded instances of ghostly circumstances that repeat over and over again usually on the anniversary of death. I would be very interested in what you have to say about this. Also, if this can be true, then how could those souls be released from the situation? Thank you for your time. Edward, ME 　

A: First I would like to say that my beliefs on this come from many years of paranormal investigations and my own personal spirituality. So let’s first look at reincarnation: The rebirth of a soul in a new body; a person in whom a soul is believed to have been reborn. The belief in reincarnation is in many different religions and there has been many books written about it also. The way I look at it is that the life that I am living now is like a school to learn lessons and help teach others some of the lessons that I have learned. So with this in mind, when my soul was reincarnated in to this life was it to learn these lessons or was it random? I think that God or the Universe will work with a soul to get the lessons that the soul needs to graduate. Just like in school you start at one grade and work your way up till you graduate from the school. This is when you hear people say that someone is on a higher spiritual level, like in a different grade at school. What happens after graduation? That is a good question that I can only guess at what will happen. Some say that you go to another school, a different existence that is not the same as your life now. Some say it as another type of being or in a different dimension, I don’t have any opinion on this but that there could be a higher existence. Keeping to this premise you may reincarnate in to the same situation if you did not learn the lesson of that life. This is not to say that you will be caught in a groundhog day, but that you will have the same life lessons to learn again till you get it right. So I do believe that you can relive a situation or a type of life over and over till you get it right. There is also a belief that if there is a part of your life that you need some type of closure to that before you reincarnate you may revisit it before you reincarnate. This will not occur on the earth plane but in a place that is between this world and the next. In accordance with the situation that needs work it could be a purgatory or like a groundhog day in an alternate existence. This would be a summer school for the soul so that you could go on to the next grade without repeat the last life lesson. Some may even look at this as a punishment that has been imposed on the soul and it is trapped in the replay. This is not the same as a residual haunting, but in some ways it is the same. A residual haunting is a replaying of an event that had happened in the past, like an old movie. There is no awareness of anything being different than when the event happened, it is just the trapped energy replaying the event. There is two different beliefs, one that say that the soul is trapped in the loop and the other is that it is the events energy that is replaying. When looking at the residual haunting you will have to discern which is true to the haunting. If it is a soul that has not moved on and is stuck in a residual haunting you may be able to affect the replay in some way. If it is just the energy of an event replaying over and over again then you will not be able to affect the replay. If it is a soul that is trapped then you can help it to move on but if it is the energy of the event then you may not be able to do anything to stop the replay. You can try to clean the energy of the area or clear the area that has the residual energy, but this may not be that easy. With residual haunting you are not looking to help a soul to move on. The event that happened in the past has a life or an energy of its own and in such it will not have the same energy rules that a normal haunting has. The rules that I am talking of is the ones that govern souls, an event may not have any souls attached to it even if it looks like it does. Just because you see a spirit or several spirits it does not mean that they are souls attached to them. It is just a replay of an event and the players may not be there just their image. The event is the haunting not a spirits or ghost. If it is an anniversary type of residual haunting and you want to release the soul from the situation, then you need to find out what happened first. This is when you will research the event with historic records and interview anyone that may have an insight on the triggering event. Then you would determine if it is a movie or if the player is there, so that you can interact or not with the ghost. Just because you cannot interact with a spirit does not mean that it is a residual haunting. You have to remember that just because you see them they may not see you or even know that you are there. This is because they exist in a different form of existence, that we may only get a glimpse of because we are living. Not all spirits know that they have passed on to this existence so they may not even consider that something is different from the day they passed. You have to observe the entire situation and if there is any deviation from one event to the next. You need to see if there are any changes that occur, this may take many years if it is a event that happens yearly. Just because it is a yearly event doesn't mean that it is a residual haunting. Clearing a yearly event may take several days not just the day that the event happens. Don’t think that every type of haunting can be cleared or released by doing a clearing of the area that the haunting occurs. Sometime to help release a soul from a haunting you may have to help it to complete a situation like the return of an item to its rightful place. This is where your research and interviews will come in handy in helping you to understand why there is a haunting. But as I said sometimes a residual haunting is hard to clear or clean up because as time has passed there may be no way of completing the situation. Each and every type and individual haunting is different and have their unique rules or reasons and have to be handled accordingly. If we are (as I believe) here in this life to learn the life lessons that are put to us and help resolve any karmic debts that we have accumulated over our many lives. Thank you again Edward for your question and I hope that my point of view on repetitive existence and reincarnation will help you to answer your questions. In doing this I hope that I have helped you to acquire your own point of view on the topic or at least a starting point.

Q: I just read a true story about an experiment with a pendulum. This story took place in 1959 and has to do with the US Navy. It said that in a room full of naval officers (as witnesses), a civilian using a pendulum and several maps of the world, identified the location of the entire US submarine fleet and the location of every Soviet submarine in the world. I would like to know what you think about pendulums. Are they really that powerful because if they are, it seems they might also be dangerous? Thanks, Tommy, WI

A: Sorry-but I am not familiar with the case you wrote about, so I can’t say with any conviction if the civilian was using the pendulum as a tool for scrying the locations of the subs or to assist in remote viewing their locations. If the person was scrying with the pendulum then we are talking about a medium type of scrying. This is very similar to the Ouija boards that almost everyone is familiar with from our child hood and movies. So just like the Ouija board the person with the pendulum is asking for help or guidance from the spirit world. This is the dilemma I have with doing this, who or what is giving you the information? The tool in its self is not a problem, I know of a crystal healer that uses a pendulum to see how the energy is flowing on a person that they are working on. But with all tools they can be used in ways that seem harmless but are just the opposite in the long run. Most tools in the world or metaphysics have the ability for being very powerful it is all in accordance to how and who is using them. Think about spies trying to gather information, if they find what appears to be good informant they will take their word for things that may be half-truths or misleading lies. A good thing to remember is that anyone can be wrong and they may have an agenda that is not good for the person asking the questions of the pendulum. I know some out there will not like my opinion about the uses of a pendulum but this is my opinion and I am sorry if it upsets you. If the civilian in your story was using the pendulum as a tool to assist in remote viewing then we are talking about he was using it to help him focus on an area on the map with his own clairvoyant abilities. The United States in 1972 had a program codename "Scanate" that researched remote viewing and the name changed to "Star Gate" in 1991. The CIA was involved and the DOD and many other agencies considering the time and money spent by the government they were getting some results. Tommy to answer your question "yes" they are dangerous, but with all tools that are out there to be used they are only dangerous if they are misused or used without caution and discernment.

Q: I was just wondering if you have any experience with EVP or Electronic Voice Phenomenon. If so, is it really as dangerous as they make it out to be in the movie White Noise? Thank-you, Lynne, NH

A: Electronic voice phenomenon is said to be a spirits voice that is manifested on an audio recording. EVP is a subcategory of instrumental trans-communication (or ITC), which includes all electronically recorded phenomena, including telephones, televisions, computers and specialized audio equipment. Interest in EVP apparently began in the 1920's in an article in the Scientific American and the perhaps the first documented case of EVP was in June of 1959, so this is not a new idea. I have used tape recorders (before digital came out) on some of the investigations I worked with only one very faint voice that I could not rule as an EVP due to some of the people on the investigation were in the area of the recorder. With the new technology that has come out and more people using all sorts of recording devices as tools in investigations of the paranormal there will be an increase in the information that will have to be gone thru with a discerning mind. In the movie "White Noise" the important thing to remember is that it was a story of what could happen. The players in the movie were drawn in with half-truths and bits of hope by evil entities till they were devoting all their time and energies to listing for a message from the other side. They opened every type of channel of communication with no direction just hoping to make contact. They did not use any discernment to view the information they were receiving till it was too late and the trap was sprung. When viewing information of a paranormal investigation or just in day to day life we need not to jump to conclusions without looking at all the possibilities of what we could be seeing or hearing. On the program Ghost Hunters they show that everything captured on film or tape needs to be put to several test before it is taken on face value. Going back to the movie, if the spirits of good people can be recorded then why can’t the spirits of bad be recorded also? The tools used by the modern day paranormal investigator don’t discern between good, bad, malignant or benevolent spirits or entity it is up to the investigator to take all the information and make a decision based on all the facts (with instinct included) of the case. To answer your question Lynne "yes" if you were to do as the players in the movie did EVP’s could be dangerous. The thing to remember is that with all types of communications if you hear me I most probably hear you so be cautious and do not let the quest for proof or contact rule your life.

Q: I am the mother of three small children ages 2-6. My husband and I do our best to raise them in a loving and safe environment. I recently read a book by psychic Sylvia Browne called PHENOMENON. In one of the chapters she states that when a child has nightmares or night terrors the child is actually, "recalling or revisiting some horrifying trauma from a past life." This is disconcerting to me and I hope you can shed some light on this for us as my six year old has occasional nightmares that seem to be rather pronounced. They don't bother him afterwards but he often says that he is someone else in these dreams. The dreams are not repetitive and have different settings, action and characters. Other than that he is happy and healthy and does well in school. The pediatrician just seems to shrug it all off so I thought I would seek a more spiritual answer. Thank you. Angela, DE

A: I can understand your concern for your children’s well-being in this regards. I am sorry that your son is having some nightmares, I hope that I can shed some light on past-life dreams. First I want to say that I am not familiar with Sylvia Browne’s book Phenomenon, but from what you have said, she said that when a child has a nightmare that it is actually recalling or revisiting some horrifying trauma from a past-life. I partially agree with this and feel that some of the nightmares could be past-life memories. I believe that past-life memories are in our subconscious and that it is in our sleep that we can sometimes access these memories. Our dreams are the subconscious playground where we process things that the subconscious and conscious mind have picked up during the day and from our past. We process things that we do not even know that we have been subconsciously thinking about or have seen. In a dream we can connect the subconscious and conscious mind with symbolism and images that we may not recognize with our conscious mind. I believe that children have more access to past-life memories in their dreams because of their lack of memories in the present and that they are more in tuned with their imagination. Past-life memories are not bad unless there is a reoccurring memory that oppresses the playground with its memories so that it affects our lives. From what you said he was not bothered by them so it sounds that you and your husband are doing a good job in providing a save and loving environment. I believe that we are the sum total of all the persons that we have been in our past lives. This is not to say that what we do, or the decisions we make in this life will not influence who we become, but it is more like we have a foundation to grow from in this life. Unfortunately the foundation may have some of the bad memories that can influence us through our subconscious. A good example of this could be the fear of flying, the fear of tigers or any fear that there is no reason for in this life. These can become a problem in this life if we do not learn to overcome the fears that are from our past lives. Getting back to children’s dreams and past lives, sometimes a nightmare is not a scary or as disturbing as we may think it is just different than our perception of our life. In our past lives we have been many different people and we could have been a different sex or race than we are now and this makes for a different perception of the world. A child dreams a dream that is made up of memories from this and past lives combining the two in to one dream. This dream in itself could be disturbing to a child that is in their early stages of their own identity. The way to keep this from causing problems is to provide a loving and safe environment for them to grow. In doing this you are helping to shape their identity so that the confusion that they may have over their identity is diminished with their well-defined place in their family. There is some stones or crystals that may cause more past-life memories to surface and there are some that can help. You may want to see what stones or crystals he has in his room to see if any of these may be the type that could facilitate or be a catalyst for past-life recall. Here is a short list of some of the crystals and stones that I know that can be used in past-life regression; Andalusite or Chiastolite, Blue Apatite, Green Apatite, Cavansite, Celestial Quartz, Dioptase, Galena, Goethite, Black Kyanite, Merlinite, Snowflake Obsidian, White Phantom Quartz these could possible cause your son to have more access to these memories than he would if they were not present. This is not to say that if he has one of these crystals or stones that when it is removed that his past-life dreams will end, but it could help. You may want to think about looking into a dream catcher, a protective crystal or some other protective type of item for his room and explain that it is there to help make the bad dreams go away. With you talking to him about these dreams and continuing to provide him and your other children a safe and loving environment, you are doing what is needed to help him. I hope that I have help you to understand your situation and have provided a little insight on past-live dreams so you can better deal with their impact on your family.