Beyond the Scope of Normal

“It's easier to dismiss ghosts in the daylight.”

-- Patricia Briggs, fantasy author

Fantasy author Patricia Briggs wrote, "It's easier to dismiss ghosts in the daylight."  I wish I could believe that, but most of the paranormal I've encountered have been in daylight and I've had one hell of a big problem dismissing them.  Whether it's a cold spot or a heavy feeling at the top of some stairs in old Victorian houses, or a shadow figure I spied while lying on top of the bed reading a book.  Then there was the spirit of the previous homeowner who would take his afternoon constitutional around the house.  I hadn't heard him until my dad laid a concrete patio, at which point the tap, tap, tap of his cane on the new concrete would announce his coming.

I enjoy the paranormal.  I suppose my mind is opened to accepting what others might experience and then dismiss.  I am fascinated by it.  I love to visit old cemeteries, as well.  A woman informed me of an older, small cemetery on the outskirts of town she thought I would enjoy visiting.

 I took a photo in the cemetery that looked normal enough until I enlarged the background.  Even at the great distance, when I enlarged the photo the headstones were relatively defined as solid stone, yet there were two pillars of fog that I couldn't account for.  Enlarging them further I was amazed to see a woman's face in the left column.  I sent the photo to the woman who had told me about the cemetery and she was tickled to see I had captured a man and a woman.  What?  She informed me of the man's face in the right column.  Even then she had to point out the bright patch as his forehead, and the brow ridges, nose, and wide mouth to follow.  How I missed all that yet saw the woman's face is all about my mental focus, I suppose.

I am critical of anything I can't understand.  I try to debunk most things that don't make much sense to me.  Military intelligence was good at teaching you to think out of the box, whether you were trying to get in or out of one.  The problem is similar yet different.  I took my original photo back to the cemetery and returned to where I stood to take the photo.  I also brought the same camera.  It was about the same time of day.  I took more photos, then I went to look at the two foggy columns.  They weren't foggy.  They were two six-foot marble obelisks about six feet apart.  I looked to see if a woman was buried in one and a man in the other.  Reversed!  A woman was buried in the right and a man was buried in the left.

When I returned home I went through the same procedure of enlarging the photos.  I had two undeniable photos of marble obelisks.  Even as far away as they were, you could tell.  So, what had I captured the first time?  I don't know.  I have taken award-winning photos.  My hand doesn't shake from photo to photo.  For me, it is beyond the scope of my rudimentary understanding.  For me, it is paranormal.  It is what it is until it isn't, and then it will be what it is... again.

One last offering from an investigation I undertook at the Blue Rose Mansion, here in town.  I was taking photos, trying to capture anything of Leddy, the spirit if a young girl who died from yellow fever, in her room at the top of the stairs, in the mid-1800s.  I told her I was only going to take two more photographers, so if she wanted me to return she would have to get in front of my lens so I could see her.  The last two of 23 photos looked like this:

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

- Hamlet (1.5.167-8), Hamlet to Horatio

Editor's Note

(Re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider an alternate viewpoint. 

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and while engaging in peaceful and constructive discussion, in an arena of mutual respect, concerning those opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience, and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 22 years with the United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. He spent 17 years, following his service career, working with the premier, world-renowned, Institutional Review Board helping to protect the rights of human subjects involved in pharmaceutical research. Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As the weapon for his war on intolerance he chose the pen, and wages his "battle" in the guise of the Congregation's official online blog, The Path, of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He currently resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteers as lead Chaplain and Chaplain Program Liaison, at the regional medical center.