Adventures At The Whaley House

I grew up near the Whaley house. I’m not going to blog the history much, but if you’re here reading this post, you’re probably already familiar with the Whaley house. It’s one of two certified haunted houses in California (the other being the Winchester House in San Jose).

 

As teenagers with driving licenses, me and my friends found ourselves there many a weekend. It’s changed a little. This may date me, but one thing different is there used to be a cool old trolleycar in the yard. There was always someone already on the trolley, or soon to show up, who knew the stories of the house. We would sit on the old seats and listen, and from our seats watch breathlessly the house curtains to see if they moved. They actually never did move, but I’m pretty sure from the stories told, the ghosts inside were busy with duties other than peeking out to scare the voyeurs.

 

Once, while I peered through a door window I did hear something like a hand grasping and turning the doorknob. When I looked, I saw not a movement at all. Still, I ran back to my friends and told them, and truthfully admitted it could’ve been all my imagination. But it was something to keep us hopeful because in spite of the unshakeable feeling that someone was there walking beside you, most of our visits were visually uneventful.

 

Between visits I read books about the famous California haunt. One account is particularly stand-outish. A group of SDSU students studying paranormal had obtained permission to spend the night. I can’t help but wonder if they went in skeptical, but they ended up observing a heavy table floating and walking through the house, kitchen utensils, including knives, levitating and flying through the kitchen, and other unusual sights. Some of the students reached enough conclusion to leave before the night was officially over. I don’t think I’d be too comfortable with flying knives myself.

 

The famous ghost hunter, Hans Holzer, also stayed over at the Whaley House, accompanied by then San Diego celebrity, Regis Philbin, and famous psychic, Sybil Leek. Apparently, they were welcomed to the house by none other than the ghost of Anna Whaley, mistress of the manor, herself. While Hans and Sybil attempted to communicate. an excited and novice Regis turned his flashlight on her ghostly image, and she disappeared. Oh well. Probably the last ghost hunt he was invited to.

 

One night some friends and I stopped by after midnight – we were 17-ish – and we joined several young college kids on the porch working a Ouija board. One of the guys invited me to partner with him on the board. I agreed. The pointer (planchette) slid across the board easily. We asked our invisible partner his name, and got the name Seth. I thought for sure my college boy was moving the planchette, but alas, when his fingers slipped off momentarily, the instrument continued sliding across the board – and I knew I wasn’t moving it! To be honest I can’t remember what more Seth said, I was a little uneasy with it after that. I had been comfortable thinking that it was all a game we were playing. Searching for ghosts was like searching for a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, and then all of a sudden it was not a game. I never touched a Ouija board after that night.  

 

Still I was drawn to the Whaley house. One night I sat outside the window. Suddenly I was aware that I was coming out of a trance of sorts – aware that for the past few seconds I had been listening to a murmur of voices – like a party had been going on in the house, and though I couldn’t make out any words or single out any conversation, there had been many voices, and clinks of dinnerware.

When I came to full awareness I could no longer hear anything coming from the house, but I was left with an awareness that I had gone into a trance state, and been allowed entry into another dimension where life at the Whaley house continues to flow. 

 

My last time at the Whaley house was Halloween, 2005. This was my first time inside. I had two experiences. The first took place a few minutes into my visit, in the kitchen. I was talking with the docent when I felt a cold draft envelope me from head to toe, encircling me like an icy robe. I asked the docent if she had any ghost stories and she said a few minutes earlier a lady had mentioned seeing a hazy feminine figure standing in the corner of the kitchen.

 

Later, while going down the staircase I distinctly felt someone tug at me from the side, encouraging me down the stairs. In NO way did I feel pushed from behind- like someone trying to push me down the stairs. It was more like a child that I had told we were going to go get some ice cream trying to hurry me along in a “Let’s go!” fashion.

 

It’s time for me to go to the Whaley House again. This week or next. I’ll let you know if I happen to have an experience.

 

Till Then!

Gina

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Casper was a Friendly Ghost, But his Uncles tried to Kill People…

Montel Williams + Wednesdays = Sylvia Brown. When possible I watch, because I love some of her ideas. I think that where Past Lives is concerned, Sylvia is spot on target. However, I’ve heard her say repeatedly, “Honey, ghosts can’t hurt you.” I don’t agree with her about that. Not at all.Take Ghost Hunters for example. It has turned out to a very popular show, and reasonably so. Jason and Grant are personable, logical, next-door neighbor type guys, with seemingly good common sense. They’ve paired the unexplainable, with scientific technology, so they can conscientiously debunk unfounded sightings when possible. They go for undeniable evidence and their videos catch a lot of paranormal events, such as chairs sliding across floors, water glasses breaking, closet doors opening and closing, crew member getting smacked in the face – all  by unseen forces. If you’re interested in these kinds of things you gotta love it! At the same time, you’re alerted to a certain level of danger present in ghost hunting.

 Sorry Sylvia, but If a ghost can physically open a closet door, and slide a chair across the room, then it makes sense to me that a ghost can make physical contact with a person. And if a ghost can make physical contact with a person, and if they’re in a horrible mood because you look a little like the drunk driver that smeared them across a highway eight years ago, well you shouldn’t be surprised if you get physically contacted in an unseen-fist-in-your-face kinda way. Just like what happened to that guy in Ghost-Hunters who got bagged upside his jaw by some unseen force, landing him painfully on his back.  This stuff happens!

Worse than this, as I mentioned in a former post, I think long term contact with ghosts can lead to illness and eventually even death. I know you must be thinking I’m pulling this out of my arse, but think about it. We all know ghosts can influence our electrical appliances. You know, change radio stations, turn lights on and off, make our computers go haywire, phones ring and no one is there, drain batteries from our cameras and recorders. That actually happened to me. I invited my ghost hunters group up to my haunted office to investigate. They strategically set up several video cameras, and recorders, which they left overnight. In the morning they came to pick everything up. Upon inspection, they found that each instrument had recorded for approximately twenty seconds before running out of juice. Each one was drained of batteries, even though they had purposely installed each with new batteries. But that’s not big news. Everyone familiar with ghost investigations knows batteries going dead is a pretty common occurrence.

Well, ask yourself this, if ghosts can drain batteries of their electrical supply, can they also drain humans of theirs? You know, tap into the aura and suck away at our energy levels. For many of you, you may be strong enough to carry a spiritual, energetic parasite of this sort. But what if you’re in a spiritually and emotionally vulnerable state – and who doesn’t get that way from time to time? Might the constant strain drive you to negative thinking or worse, mental illness? What if you’re immune system is suppressed, because of age, stress, illness, or medications? Might the persistent drain cause you to suffer more frequent illness, a faster decline? I think it’s not only possible – it’s probable.

But that’s not to say all invisible influences are toxic and negative. I believe we are also surrounded by angelic, healing spirit workers. The problem is, as we’ve all heard a million times, is not knowing which energies are within influencing distance. And of course, (probably) not ALL energies can move chairs, and open doors, and ring phones (though I have to add here that while composing this letter to you’all the phone has mysteriously rung seven or eight times and when I answered it all I got was dial tone…) but the ones that can, and do, though few and far between, can sock you in the jaw if they are so moved.

Confession time. I have been slapped in the face by unseen forces  – twice.  If you watch Ghost Hunters you know Grant has also been slapped in the face (once as far as I know), so I’m not the only one. It’s no fun, and I wasn’t even looking for ghosts either time. The first time I was laying in bed, and whammmm-slap, across the right cheek. It was a physical, audible slap. The sting lasted for several minutes.  I looked around but there was no one nearby to blame except my ex-husband who was in another room at the time.

The second time, I was in my car, alone, at a red traffic light. (My phone just rang again – just one ring. I called my mom and asked her to call me back to make sure my phone is in working order. She did. The call came through. Service is good. This is weird because: A) It’s a business phone. B) It’s never happened before so many times. And, C) I am writing this.)

Anyway – to continue – I’m alone in my car, and I get slapped again! Same cheek. The only other person nearby is a girl stopped at the light beside me in another car. So Sylvia Brown, I KNOW ghosts can “hurt” people.

Of course, then we get into, is it a ghost, or is it a demon slapping and hurting people? Well, I can’t answer that with certainty. Does it matter? My guess is, it’s a demon. But, I also guess that sometimes demons hang out in places where we might seek ghosts, and how will we really tell the difference? A slap is a slap. A sock in the jaw is what it is. Energy drain is weakening to some degree, whether or not it is immediately noticed.

The show Ghost Hunters has fathered many new ghost hunting groups. I used to belong to a good one. The members were genuine, experienced ghost hunters. But sadly, life got in the way and we dismembered. A few months ago I tried a new one – A VERY NEW ONE. There were about 20 of us, and unfortunately for me, though most of the others claimed a healthy curiosity about the paranormal since childhood, and had “felt” weird things, none (including the group leader) had ever really experienced anything solid. Though I felt the new group was sincere in their quest, they were too green for me, so it was my first and last meeting with them. For a few minutes I thought about forming my own group, with people I know, but a halting thought rolled around my brain: maybe ghost hunting posed potential trouble I don’t need at the moment.

This is PART I – The Uncles. I will continue with PART II – Casper, next time!

Till then,

Gina Fox

www.EnterHypnosis.com

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