Halloween-related ethics

Halloween Blog:

So, being a total paranormal aficionado, I thought you might find this interesting. This is the first of its kind that I know of, and was written up by the paranormal researchers at Eastern Paranormal (www.easternparanormal.com). Interesting for our class is the regards to faking séances, invoking evil spirits, or practicing of the occult – we have recently talked about the ethical treatment of a persons body and respective parts – so why not have some respect for their soul ?! Happy Halloween!

Paranormal Ethics
By: Gabreael
January 14, 2006
Dictionary.com's definition of ethics is as follows:

1. A set of principles of right conduct.
2. A theory or a system of moral values: “An ethic of service is at war with a craving for gain” (Gregg Easterbrook).
3. ethics (used with a sing. verb) The study of the general nature of morals and of the specific moral choices to be made by a person; moral philosophy.
4. ethics (used with a sing. or pl. verb) The rules or standards governing the conduct of a person or the members of a profession: medical ethics.

Today I am writing about a disturbing trend that many in the paranormal field are whispering about, that is the ethics, or rather the lack there of being practiced by some groups in the field today. Below is a list of seven practices which should never be tolerated by any serious investigation groups:

1. Identity Theft. Identity theft is starting an organization intentionally with an identical or almost identical name to another well known group or former well known group. This is being done by individuals hoping that this will increase their search engine placement. This is a despicable act. If you know of a founder who has participated in such behavior you should immediately disassociate yourself from that group. It shows their true character. When founding a group at the very least you should do the following when searching for a name:

a. Google the name.
b. Do a "Who is" on the name.
c. Buy your name domain. You can get free domain hosting very often with www.godaddy.com with the purchase of your domain cost.

2. The open participation in a seance in private residence investigations. If a group wants to conduct a seance in the course of experiments for data or lack of data collection OUTSIDE of investigations in a controlled environment that is that private group’s prerogative. However, conducting a seance in a private investigation where activity is occurring is an unethical practice. Simply due to the fact that you open up the home to the possibility of more activity. I have personally witnessed several cases I was contacted on that this was the case. Any TRUE medium/psychic should NEVER need to participate in a seance to retrieve or communicate information.

3. Drinking on investigations. You should never consume alcohol or drugs on an investigation. This includes celebrating at the end of an investigation at that location. Last year I was contacted by someone that had a somewhat intense haunting in their former home that was only made worse three fold because of this sort of behavior. They had an investigation group come in, they had pictures of beer cans and such around during the investigation. The next time the group came back one of their members got a scratch running down their back. The home owner ended up selling the home for considerably less than the going market price because of the increased activity.

4. Provoking spirits. This is where a group comes in and intentionally invokes spirits by provoking them in a negative manner. This is done by making comments like, "You're a coward, I dare you to...." Again I was contacted a couple of years ago by a family that this had incurred in their home by a group. The family ended up having to move because the activity increased ten fold after that. We have some great paranormal photos. Not in one case was provoking used. Speaking openly to them while you are taking EVP's and shooting pictures is fine in a polite manner. It is when a group puts a negative spin on the tone of the investigation the leaves the door open for increased activity in the home.

5. Knowingly posting fraudulent evidence on your website. We have all witnessed groups posting everything from oil painting picture clips to intentionally hoaxed pictures. When a group does this they might as well shut their doors. They have lost all accountability. Evidence posted on your website should be run through a battery of test before posted publicly. Remember! If in doubt throw it out!

6. Affiliation with "Dark Art" practices. I am referring to Satanist, HooDoo Voodoo practitioners and the like. If you come to the realization that one of your members are participating in such practices you need to disassociate them immediately. Because of my deep study of demonology through the years I have been consulted on several incubus cases where Satanic ritual practices and HooDoo practices had been preformed prior to the attacks. You never want to knowingly include such a person in a serious investigation. Often these sort of people have dark entities attached to them that can make a volatile situation even more so.

7. Association fraud. Anyone who has had any kind of media coverage has had to deal with this. We have been contacted and by several former businesses stating that a group has contacted them claiming association with us when they have none requesting to do an investigation at their site. One time they were even stupid enough to put it in an email that was immediately forwarded to me by a contact. This is a deplorable act. We then went on to TOTALLY not recommend this group because of this DOCUMENTED behavior. All paranormal groups should have an "About Us Page" that clearly states who their members and associates are. We know of one group here in Eastern Carolina last year that posted they were conducting an investigation with TAPS on their website. They were not, and rightfully so were totally debunked.