Sanctuary of the Strange: Tom

Oh where do I start with Tom? During our initial walk through of the Sanctuary of the Strange, one of the owners took us into a room and said "Notice the smell? This is the only room that smells like this, and it doesn't seem to change regardless of what we do. There's also a really weird vibe in here." 

    I immediately picked up on the reason. I told the owner that it was due to the person hanging around in the corner. He is comfortable in this room and doesn't really leave. Later on in our investigation, I learned of this ghost's name and birth date: Tom, born in 1938. I got the sense that Tom was in his late 60's, early 70's when he passed. Austin brought in a REM POD to see if we could get Tom to interact. That was a no-go. Not only was Tom *not* interested in exploring the REM POD's potential, he backed away from it, and complained loudly to me about not only the device, but about all of the other 'stuff' that was in the room. Tom is what's best described as a 'crotchety old man.' Definitely the "get off my lawn" type. He was full of anxiety, which explains the 'weird vibe' that the owner described and I picked up on. Austin offered Tom some candy, and he reluctantly agreed that he liked the orange flavor.

ChatGPT recreation of the scene
in Tom's room. It's not exactly what
Tom looks like, but it's close enough.

Later in the evening, the two other paranormal investigators camped out in Tom's room. They *also* set up a REM POD, hoping to get the ghost that was present to interact. I had popped in to ask them how it was going, and they said they had very little response from the entity there. I told them it wasn't surprising, and informed them about what we experienced and I learned about Tom. I hadn't stayed long, as I was off to go explore more of the facility. 

    The absolute funniest interaction I had with Tom was when I returned again. The two investigators were still hanging out in Tom's room, chit chatting with one another. I walked into the room and heard "There are TOO MANY people in MY ROOM. Get the F*CK OUT." I literally busted out laughing and immediately left the room. This particular room has an opening and a counter top, so I moved to that part of the space and told everyone what I had just heard. The next time I visit the Sanctuary of the Strange, I am going to have to revisit Tom's room and see if I can get more of his story. What a trip he is! 

    

Sanctuary of the Strange: Bobby

I learned the habit of asking my spirit guides if it is okay to go to an investigation from my friend Tom. The morning I visited Sanctuary of the Strange, I asked my spirit guides and was told "Yes. You have work to do there." Having already witnessed and assisted with Earth-bound spirits crossing into the spiritual realm, I knew that meant there were lost souls who needed to find their way home. As I toured through the exhibits in the sanctuary, I walked along the last row and toward the front doors. I felt the presence of a spirit hanging out in the corner. 

    Instinctively I sat down on the floor. Something told me this would be a less-threatening posture to whomever was there. I was joined by my daughter and Austin who immediately did the same. There I met a 6 year old boy named Bobby. I said hello to him and told him my name. I didn't learn a lot about him. He was incredibly scared and just kept telling me he wanted his mommy. I asked him if he wanted help. He said he did and he just wanted to go home. I asked AA Michael to help with him crossing. AA Michael appeared and knelt down next to Bobby. I couldn't hear what he was saying to the boy, but in an instant a portal opened up. 

    In through the portal walked a blonde woman - Bobby's mother. Though I didn't know much about him, I got the immediate impression he was alive in the 1950's based on his mother's attire. She was immaculately dressed in a matching skirt and shirt, heels, perfect makeup and blonde, curly hair. Bobby's face immediately lit up when he saw his mother. She walked up to him, knelt beside him, and talked to him. I saw his demeanor immediately change from scared to calm. As his mom stood up, she embraced him, and said what I could only surmise as 'it's time to go'. She placed her hands gently on his shoulder and led him toward the portal. 

    As Bobby's mother was speaking to him, I suddenly felt something behind me. I turned to see a spirit rushing up toward me, but they weren't aiming for me. They recognized the portal for what it was and were extremely eager to get to it. I watched this spirit 'run' past me - again with whether or not spirits actually 'run' but that's the best analogy I can find - and straight into the portal. I had a sneaky suspicion it was another of the ghosts hanging about named Matt. I'll tell his story in another post. That suspicion was later confirmed when I spoke with Elise. 

    I narrated what I was seeing with Bobby for my daughter and Austin's sake. They both noted my reaction when Matt came rushing past me, and I told them about that as well. 

Witnessing Earth bound ghosts cross into the spirit realm will never get old. I find it one of the most satisfying parts of using my gifts. 

Sanctuary of the Strange: Elise

It's been a minute since I've done a paranormal investigation. Last night I was privileged enough to be able to investigate the Sanctuary of the Strange in Pikesville, MD. You can read about the history of the place on the facility's website. It was an incredibly positive and heartwarming experience. I attended with my daughter and 3 paranormal investigators. The owners of the facility gave us an overview of the place, discussed some of the results of the investigation they did, and left us to it. While we were chit-chatting with the owners, the EMF bell they have in the facility was going off on a regular cadence. I had seen the device used in ghost hunting shows, and always thought it was a farce. That was until I met Elise. 

    There were at least 4 ghosts hanging out in the facility that I detected, and several others out in the graveyard. I'll write about my interactions with some of the others in a later post. Elise hung out in the sanctuary part of the church. Early on in the investigation, I sat in a chair in the sanctuary so that I could get to know the ghosts hanging around. The only info I got about Elise was her name. I learned that she really didn't like to reveal a lot about herself or her story, and was hesitant to get too close to people. Here's a video I took next to the EMF bell, which prior to me walking up beside it, was dinging away. 

As you can see, my presence next to the bell was met with silence. I decided to back away from the bell and stay at a 'safer' distance, and try to communicate with Elise again:

She immediately expressed her pleasure with my distance from her! Several of us continued to communicate with Elise using the bell using yes or no questions. She would ring it if the answer to a question was yes. The bell would stay silent if the answer to a question was no. Among the things we asked her: "Are there other spirits here besides you?" Yes. "Did Matt cross over with Bobby (two other ghosts I met while there)?" Yes. "Do you like it here?" Yes. "Do you want to leave?" No. 

    I later asked my spirit guides to give me more information about Elise since she didn't want to tell us about herself. Austin (one of the paranormal investigators) had a deck of Tarot cards that I used in my communication. There was a lot we learned about Elise. She had quite the sad life. When I asked if it was okay to share her story beyond those of us who learned about it, the bell was deafeningly quiet. I got the sense of sadness and shame from Elise. In addition to learning about her life, my spirit guides gave me a little more about her appearance that I told my daughter and Austin about. Brown, curly hair that was between her chin and her shoulders "DING!." A strong, narrow straight nose bridge "DING!". She was in her late 20's, early 30's when she passed "DING!"

    Needless to say, based on the intelligent responses we got from our interactions with Elise and the fact that I was able to discern her name and some information about her (with the assistance of my spirit guides), I am now a true believer in the use of the EMF bell for communication with ghosts. Elise also was really excited to use the REM POD, though she was too busy setting it off for us to effectively use it for communication with her.