Provocation….is it worth it?

What would your reaction be if someone called you a coward? A bastard? Or a Son of a Bitch? Your reaction, most likely is to punch, kick, shove, or all out wallop the person who said that. As we say in the south “Them’s fightin’ words!”. In the world of the paranormal, especially on television, these words are common place. What amazes me about the entire ordeal, from start to finish, is that when the paranormal investigator is attacked, they are genuinely shocked and appalled at the behavior of the spirits. What did you think the reaction would be? Did you think after you cursed them they would come up and give you a hug?

Now, I understand that by paranormal investigators doing this, they are just trying to get “proof” of their existence. Whatever happened to “Treat others as you want to be treated”? It is my belief that most spirits were once living, breathing people and their personality carries over after they pass. What I mean by this is, if they were mean when they were alive, they will be mean in the afterlife, and so forth. If you are provoking a mean spirit, you will probably get hit, slapped or worse. Even if the spirit is nice, you may still get something that you are not ready for.

With a lot of paranormal groups claiming that they respect the spirits, provoking the spirit is not respect. If the spirit is earthbound, they are stuck in a world we know nothing about. We do not know what their environment is like. I’m willing to say that most of them are searching for some form of help. From all of the “Help” or “Please help us” evps I gotten, I am willing to bet that provoking them is in no way helping them.

Provoking as of late, has unfortunately become a popular practice due to shows like Ghost Hunters, Paranormal State and Ghost Adventures. Don’t get me wrong, I like to watch these shows, but I do not agree with some of their methods. Remember, they are doing the provoking to get ratings, not to help the spirits or a client. Not to mention, when you provoke, your chances of being attacked or bringing something home with you highly increases, especially if the spirit is of more negative intentions.

If you provoke a spirit at a client’s home, you are not professional. If the spirit does not follow you home, the spirit can take out its aggression (that you built up) out on the occupants on the location, which in turn will make their life even worse than what it was when the client initially called you in to help understand and deal with something they already do not understand.

How would you feel if you were not familiar with this field, and a paranormal group came into your home and yelled and cursed at the spirits that you thought resided there? Remember, some clients think that the spirits in their home are family members that have passed. (We have found this not to be the case, but they believe it is at first.) If your clients believe this, you will not only anger the spirits, but you will offend your clients as well.

I know that provoking has long been a hot topic in the paranormal field. I wanted to write this blog to let you know my stance as far as this issue goes. I do not provoke, and I personally feel that if a client calls you in and you end up provoking, you are not professional. I have never provoked and have gotten some great evidence. So I know that you do not have to provoke if you want to get something. I’ve found that you can get great results without provoking. If you do provoke and you do not believe me, try it. Go one investigation without provoking and just see what happens.

This entry is mainly focused at private residence and/or client investigations. If you feel the need to provoke at a well known public location, such as Waverly Hills, for example, you do that at your own risk.

So this is my plea: Please help the paranormal community by not provoking. You are not and you do not look professional while doing this. If you provoke, try to not do it on your next investigation and see what happens.