Matrixing the Man in the Rock

Matrixing. If you've done any reading/research into the paranormal in the past 10-15 years, you've almost certainly heard this term being thrown around, especially when it comes to analyzing potentially paranormal faces/apparitions appearing on still photos and video. But what exactly IS matrixing?                                                                                                                                                         Matrixing is a term popularized by Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson of The Atlantic Paranormal Society, known more commonly as the stars of SyFy's Ghost Hunters.  However, I prefer to call the phenomenon by its slightly more scientific name:  'pareidolia.'

Pareidolia comes from the Greek words para (meaning faulty, wrong, instead of) and eidolon (meaning image, form, or shape). Merriam-Webster defines pareidolia as "the tendency to perceive a specific, often meaningful image in a random or ambiguous visual pattern."  In laymen's terms, it means the tendency to see faces, animals, and other familiar images in random patterns. Have you ever gazed up at the clouds and thought they looked like bunny rabbits? You've experienced pareidolia. Have you ever sworn your bathtub has 'seen things, man?' You've experienced pareidolia. Have you ever taken a Rorschach inkblot test? Well, you get the picture. 

Many photographs that claim to contain evidence of ghostly or supernatural figures can be explained by pareidolia. If you're unsure whether or not a spooky face could be attributed to pareidolia, try to change up your perception. Turn the photograph upside down. Examine each half of the figure by itself and compare; are there any signs of symmetry (or lack thereof)? Does the image still make sense as a figure when looked at a piece at a time? What happens if you enlarge (or shrink) the photo? Does the image distort to the point where it is no longer recognizable as something familiar?

By definition and popular usage, the term pareidolia is used most often to describe visual phenomenon. However, any of the human senses can be perceptible to pareidolia. We might interpret two unrelated scents as being another scent altogether. As we listen to potential EVPs, we might take missing sounds and even whole syllables not heard by our ears and have our brain fill in to make recognizable words. As a result, a good tip when analyzing EVPs is to NOT tell others what YOU hear, at least at first, and let them listen without bias.

Pareidolia falls under the larger umbrella of the phenomenon of apophenia. Apophenia is defined as "the spontaneous perception of connections and meaningfulness of unrelated phenomena." It was coined by German neurologist and psychiatrist Klaus Conrad, whose research focused on the finding of abnormal meaning or significance in random experiences by psychotic people.                                                                                                                                                                                                The human brain is hard-wired to make sense out of stimuli. We want to find patterns and correlations in an otherwise chaotic world, and there's not too many things more confusing and chaotic than trying to make sense out of the paranormal! It may also be an evolutionary issue. If we can spot facial features of hidden predators, we have a greater chance of survival. Similarly, could we be applying that same principle to our interactions with the unknown?

Whatever the reasons behind the phenomena may be, apophenia and pareidolia are two issues that every paranormal investigator and researcher needs to be familiar with. Luckily, there is no shortage of articles and examples available out there to illustrate just how fascinating these concepts can be.

A great local example of matrixing, or pareidolia, is Fayette County's "Old Rock Head." This unique cliff face (pardon the pun) can be found on Route 21 at Honey Creek, right near the Chimney Corners area, where the Route 60 intersection is located. It doesn't take too much of a stretch of the imagination to see the outline of a man's face in profile, coming out of the rock.  Oddly enough, this isn't West Virginia's only rock face! While its much harder to access and, in my opinion, MUCH harder to see, there's a nearby cliff where, in 1901, railroad workers in the area claimed to see the image of President McKinley appear. Their superstitions of this death omen were realized when news that the President had been shot arrived shortly after. Please see President McKinley's Death Omen blog entry for more info! 

Photo from WV History on View

Photo by Robert W. McKinnon, courtesy of WV History on View

*Bonus Vocabulary Lesson!*

Simulacrum: "An image or representation of something." Simulacrum is sometimes confused with pareidolia, but unlike pareidolia, which happens naturally, simulacrum is when someone intentionally designs something to look like something else. While the rock formation above occurred accidentally, this example in Jackson County, WV, was carved to look that way by Otis Shinn. More information available in this Gazette article.

Know Your Normals

What is normal, anyway? Normal is boring! Luckily, we live in a weird, wacky world where 'normal' is a subjective state of mind! We're also lucky to have a great vocabulary in which to accurately describe all that weird, wackiness around us.

These three definitions represent three different ways to describe the phenomenon that we as paranormal researchers and enthusiasts deal with. Is it truly paranormal, or is it something else?

Paranormal---Dictionary.com defines 'paranormal' as "of or relating to the claimed occurrence of an event or perception without scientific explanation,as psychokinesis, extrasensory perception, or other purportedly supernatural phenomena." The key here is the phrase, "without scientific explanation." So, the paranormal is something that is beyond the normal range of science.

Perinormal---Scientist Richard Dawkins uses the term 'perinormal' to refer to events and phenomena previously thought to have been  paranormal, but having since been scientifically verified as natural.

Xenonormal---According to the Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomenon, 'xenonormal' is "a term for events that, in certain circumstances, resemble the paranormal, even though they are not. They can be called 'xenonormal'. This means 'foreign normal'; in other words 'the unfamiliar but natural'. In many cases, witnesses to apparent paranormal events (and sometimes even the researchers!) are simply unfamiliar with a purely natural phenomenon. The xenonormal covers not only rare, exotic phenomena but also some common ones (that were simply unfamiliar to particular witnesses)."

So as a quick summary, very rarely is any phenomenon truly 'paranormal.' More often than not, what we perceive as paranormal is actually xenonormal---it might seem paranormal to us because we simply aren't familiar with the natural explanation for the phenomenon. That is where continued education, lots of reading, and lots of studying of multiple disciplines really comes in handy for this field. Finally, historically there are lots of examples of phenomenon that would now qualify as being perinormal---before modern science, our ancestors had to try to make sense of the world around them as best as they knew how. What was once considered divine intervention, witchcraft, hoodoo, etc. is common scientific knowledge.

I personally believe that ALL paranormal phenomena will one day be recognized and explained through science, thus reclassifying it as 'perinormal'.  But, that doesn't make it any less interesting or any less valid of an area of study. I just hope that this happens during my lifetime.

Weird Vocabulary: Anasyrma

What the heck is going on in this picture? Read below to find out everything you've ever wanted to know about the phenomenon known as Anasyrma!

According to a Wikipedia article, "Anasyrma is effectively “the exposing of the genitals.” This is a form of exhibitionism found in religion or artwork, rather than a display for arousal, and it always refers to the act of a woman exposing herself. The act of lifting up one’s skirt to display the genitals can be an apotropaic device."

Back during Vampire Week on the blog, we talked about how 'Apotropaic' is a word generally used to mean something that wards off demons and other evil spirits, but is often used to describe the various methods of stopping a vampire. Technically, it is defined as "preventing or intended to prevent evil," and comes from the Greek word apotropaios, meaning turning away from evil. 

I haven't really found out a whole lot of information about WHY or HOW showing one's genitals can scare away evil, but the Wiki article cited above does mention the idea that women are the ones who GIVE life, and thus, are the ones that can TAKE life, and the genital area symbolizes that giving of life. Examples exist in many cultures of women warding off evil, natural disasters, and other unpleasantness by simply lifting their skirts. An article by Yvonne Owens, PhD, contains an excellent assortment of photographs, examples of apotropaic vulva magic, and a deeper understanding of how flashing the lady bits seems the scare the hell out of men (and demons, storms, etc.). 

Whatever the reason behind this behavior, this image is a plate from Jean de La Fontaine's Nouveaux Contes (1674), and depicts a demon repulsed by the sight of a woman lifting her skirt.

So...the next time you're faced with a potentially malevolent entity or demonic haunting, you've got another option for combating the evil!

Bonus Vocabulary: Sheela-Na-Gig

A Sheela-Na-Gig is a figurative carving dating back to the Middle Ages. Primarily found in Ireland, Great Britain, France and Spain, these little cathedral and church carvings depict a nude woman exposing a (usually) exaggerated vulva/vagina area. Like many similar carvings, such as grotesques and gargoyles, these are meant to ward off evil, bad spirits, demons, and even death. 

Sheela-Na-Gig on Church
Kilpeck, Herefordshire
Source: Wikipedia

6 Commonly Misspelled Paranormal Words

One of my least proud Facebook moments was being banned from a paranormal interest page because I told a guy if he couldn't spell the word 'paranormal,' he should probably stop calling himself an expert in the field...

Okay, so I admit that was a little mean of me, but the guy really did have it coming, lol.  And it wasn't just a once or twice typo either...it was consistent.  But still...mean.  Today's blog post, however is NOT meant to be mean.  Rather, its meant to be a light-hearted look at some of the most commonly misspelled words that I personally see while perusing around paranormal related sites and social media.  It might also be a little educational!

1. Paranormal--I have to start with this one since its the word that inspired this post to begin with! Paranormal, which in the most basic of definitions means 'beyond the range of normal experience or scientific explanation' can sometimes be slaughtered when written out.  I've personally made the typo 'parnanormal' a few times, but have luckily caught it before publishing!

2. Apparition--If you see an 'apparition,' then you've seen the ghost or ghost-like image of a person. I see this commonly misspelled as 'apperition,' but there are a few creative alternatives as well.

3. Cemetery--We all know what a cemetery is, but it seems like very few social media users know how to properly spell it, most often replacing the proper spelling with 'cemetary.' BONUS INFO: Do you the difference between a cemetery and a graveyard?  'Graveyard' is a term to denote a church burial ground, while cemetery is more secular.

4. Psychic--Again, if you claim to BE psychic or have psychic abilities, you might want to learn how to spell it properly before you print up a stack of business cards! This one can be tricky, though; if misspelled as 'physic,' a spell-checker won't catch your error.

5. Investigate/Investigation--Many paranormal researchers are also investigators, meaning they get out there and actually do field work, trying to prove or disprove the existence of paranormal claims.  Many paranormal researchers also seem to misspell this word as 'investagate' or investegate.' This is probably one of the more frequent misspellings that I see.

6. Creepy--A lot of paranormal-themed websites, especially on social media, are all about the creepy factor.  Things that are creepy are arguably more interesting than the more mundane aspects of paranormal research. Still, every time I see this word spelled 'creapy' I have to stop and process just what the hell the writer is trying to say. There are even a few Facebook group pages that use this erroneous spelling in the actual title of the page.

BONUS WORDS!

Pareidolia--this is that term that denotes how your brain puts together random stimuli into a meaningful pattern, for example: seeing faces or shapes within the clouds. This is a pretty difficult term to spell, and you don't see it come up in print all that often.  Therefore, while I'm not a fan, I think its completely acceptable to pass up a futile attempt of writing this word and simply use its more common counterpart:  MATRIXING.

Angel--Since this original post, I thought I would add another bonus word because I am not joking---I've seen this word misspelled by at LEAST a dozen people this week. It's pretty easy to call an angel an 'angle,' thanks to typos and autocorrect....but when you consistently misspell it over and over and over again, well, you might just need to reevaluate, lol.

So there ya go with MY top 6 (+2) list!  Please join me over on Facebook and let me know which commonly misspelled paranormal words drive YOU crazy!  You can also hop over there and point out if I have inadvertently misspelled any words myself!

The Mandela Effect

Fiona Broome. Photo by John Hession

Have you ever had the feeling that you were just completely losing your mind? Have you ever been SO SURE about something happening exactly the way you remember it happening that you'd bet your life on it...only to find out later that what you held as the truth for so long never actually happened?

If so, you are not alone.  In fact, this happens so often that it actually has a name...and a rather interesting theory behind why it happens in the first place.  It's called The Mandela Effect.

The term, Mandela Effect, was coined by paranormal researcher Fiona Broome around 2005.  It was borne out of a conversation held that year at Dragon Con--it seemed that there were an overwhelming amount of people who truly remember Nelson Mandela dying in prison.  They remember seeing it on television, reading about it in the papers and honestly and truly believed that Nelson Mandela was deceased at the time.  Obviously he wasn't (Mandela died in December 2013 a free man).  So why did so many people have memories of his death?

The theory Broome puts out is that there are different realities---parallel universes with different timelines and sequences of events.  What may have happened in another reality, dimension, universe or timeline may have inadvertently slipped through to our own, letting a few people catch a glimpse.  Buzz Feed has done one of the better articles on this phenomena that I've seen, and has compiled a lengthy list of examples. Do you remember the Berenstain Bears ever being referred to as the Berenstein Bears? Nope; never happened--they've always spelled it with an A.  Do you remember Tank Man of Tiananmen Square being run over?  Holy crap....I do.  I remember being shocked beyond belief as his body was struck and disappeared under the tank. I can still see his face.  He was so proud and brave and then he was gone, disappearing beneath the tank. I remember seeing news footage of this and having to turn it off because I couldn't deal with what I was seeing.

Luckily, what I was seeing never happened!  When I read the Buzz Feed article, I had to do extensive research to prove to myself that Tank Man did survive and apparently is still alive to this day, living anonymously.  So where did this false memory come from?  Did Tank Man really die in an alternate reality and somehow I managed to see it?

The Mandela Effect has been on my mind a lot these past few days because just like with the Tiananmen Square incident, I've become victim to my own false memories.  While not on such a grand scale as totally mis-remembering an internationally recognized historic event, twice in as many days I have just been completely wrong!  Both times have been about research for this blog.  Back a few weeks ago when I was studying monsters and hauntings associated with the Ohio River, I clearly remember seeing an article stating that the Native American word for the Ohio River translated to River of Good Spirits!  I thought that was so cool!  The Kanawha River's Shawnee name translates into River of Evil Spirits, and I thought that juxtaposition was really cool!  I thought discussing how the two rivers, one of evil spirits and one of good, meet and join at Point Pleasant in a symbolic battle of good and evil would make an excellent blog post.  However, when I went back to link my sources, I could not find mention of the Ohio River being called the River of Good Spirits ANYWHERE!  The article that I'm positive quoted that only stated that its name meant 'Good River.'

Obviously I am a human being and my memory is not infallible.  I was disappointed that my awesome idea for a blog couldn't be used and realized that I had probably just made a mistake...but the feeling that I had read those extra words and made those connections really bugged me.  However, I was able to put it behind me---until it happened again the next day.

I had been on the Skeptic's Dictionary website awhile back and SWORE that I had seen an entry for some type of Effect named after some guy.  This effect was a fancy term for SLI-der phenomena---you know, that thing where people tend to affect street lights and other electronics just by being near them?  I had always hated the term 'Street Light Interference' since it really wasn't that encompassing of the phenomena...and really, was sort of a misnomer anyway since its long been proven that the ballasts in those street lights do have a tendency to go on and off, whether an electrically-charged person is near them or not.  I was thrilled to have found this term, and planned to come back to it.  However, I forgot the name and no amount of searching would even give me a clue that this entry in the dictionary ever existed.  I went through the entire list over and over and couldn't find it. But how could I have been so mistaken?  I clearly remember reading the entry on that particular website and making a note to file it away to discuss later.  Am I losing my mind?  Perhaps the entry IS there and I missed it?  Maybe it was taken down?  Or, just maybe...it was never there to being with, at least...not in THIS REALITY!

So let me know if something like this has ever happened to you.  Hop on over to the Theresa's Haunted History Facebook page and share your story!

The Japanese Ubume

Today's blog serves two purposes:

1. I wanted to add a "U" word to my Paranormal Dictionary page.

2. I've been interested for awhile in creating some infographics.  Infographics are a handy way to quickly share information on Facebook, especially since Facebook isn't keen on outside links.  It's also a handy way to present little chunks of information that don't have enough substance to really warrant a whole blog post.

I'm not 100% thrilled with this specific design, but I'm still experimenting with EASY ways to create graphics using the tools I have and also make them unique in a sea of all the others out there already.  Obviously I'll need to tweak the text and perhaps switch up the background depending on the photo(s) I use, but I'm okay with this as a first try that took just a few minutes to put together.  Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Radiant Boys

Welcome to 2014!  For the first blog post of the new year, I wanted to revive the short-lived Paranormal Dictionary with a post about a certain type of ghost story you may or may not have come across before...Enjoy!

Throughout some parts of the world, most notably Asia, ghosts are classified/labeled according to the circumstances of their death.  One such example of a very death-specific ghost comes from the British Isles...the phenomena of the Radiant Boy ghost.

As the name would imply, the Radiant Boys generally manifest as beautiful, fair-haired boys under the age of 12.  Often described as wearing white nightgowns or nothing at all, these Radiant Boys are said to emit a golden glow about them and if seen, are said to be an omen of ill-luck...and even death.  Why the negative implications of these sightings?  Perhaps its because of how the Radiant Boys are said to have originated.

The concept of the Radiant Boys, while famous in British folklore, probably stems from a class of German ghosts known as the kindermorderinn.  Kindermoderinn are ghosts of children who were murdered by their mothers.  The  Radiant Boys, while little to no actual documentation of such a murder is ever cited in individual cases, are also said to be the products of this type of infanticide. 

Radiant Boy sightings have come from all over parts of England and Ireland, but the most prolific cases come from Cumberland.  Interestingly, Cumberland was settled by the Germanic people in the 9th and 10th centuries, creating a link between the kindermorderinn and the Radiant Boys!  There are a couple of famous stories that get quoted over and over, including an incident from Corbly Castle in 1803.

Corbly Castle, located in Cumberland, was occupied by the Howard family when the incident in question took place in September of 1803.  On September 8th, the rector of Greystoke and his wife were staying the night at the home with several other guests.  Their planned visit was cut short when the rector awoke that night to a terrifying apparition.  Between one and two in the morning the rector awoke to a glimmering light which quickly escalated into a bright flame.  The flame then morphed into the figure of a young boy in white, with a warm golden glow who stared benevolently at the rector before disappearing in the vicinity of the chimney.  No one ever reported seeing the boy again, and the room in which he manifested was later converted into a study affectionately, if not accurately, called The Ghost Room.

While the Corbly tale definitely has some of the criteria of a Radiant Boy sighting, there's one important piece of the puzzle the case is lacking; was this really a death omen or portent of doom?  We're not really sure.  There's no evidence that the rector befell any great tragedy following the sighting, and we know he was alive and well at least 20 years after the event took place!  There are plenty of other stories, some which do reference more malevolent outcomes, such as the sad tale of Captain Robert Stewart, who would later be known as Lord Castlereagh, 2nd Marquis of Londonderry, committing suicide after years of bad luck following his Radiant Boy sighting, but I'll let you research those yourself!

Happy Haunting!

Are you a Touch-Know?

Over a year ago, I started a very small paranormal dictionary, which I named the Paranormal ABC's, as it was not intended to be a comprehensive lexicon of paranormal terms.  For reasons unbeknownst to me, I abandoned that list before it was even halfway finished.  With Halloween coming up, and traffic to my blog steadily increasing, I felt inspired to give this another shot.  Most of these entries will NOT be fully researched articles, but offer just enough info and resources for further study to give you a good idea of some of this field's vocabulary.  I hope you enjoy!

Pam obtains information from touching Rose Red's front door.
She calls herself a "touch-know."

Among the many, many ways that psychic abilities can manifest, one of my personal favorites is the theory of psychometry.  In short, psychometry is the ability of a person to read an object's history through touch.  By touching the object, the psychometrist is able to psychically pick up impressions through visions, smells, sounds, etc.

The actual term psychometry was coined in 1842 by Joseph R. Buchanan and comes from the Greek psyche, meaning "soul" and metron, meaning "measure."  Occasionally, the phenomena is called psychoscopy in order to distinguish it from the field of study in psychology dealing with psychological testing and measurement, also called psychometry or psychometrics.  Fans of the Stephen King work Rose Red may know this ability by another name...the much more descriptive term of "touch-know."

In any event, this definition is great if you are an animist, and throughout the 1800s, WAS a widely accepted theory of paranormal phenomena.  It was even tested in the scientific community as geologist William Denton experimented with psychometric abilities of his sister, Ann Cridge.  In 1854, William wrapped up various samples from his work, and had Ann 'touch' the samples to her forehead.  Ann was able to correctly identify the samples in this manner, based on the visual psychic impressions she received.

In the early 1920s a German doctor by the name of Gustav Pagenstecher studied one of his patients who also seemed to have this unique ability.  He formed his own theory involving the idea that all matter gives off vibrations.  This "vibrations theory,"  which does have scientific research to back it up, is largely the accepted theory of today's psychometrists who are able to pick up these slight vibrations and interpret them.

Those will this ability often find that metal objects will retain the most residual energies, especially those exposed to a high degree of emotion.  That is why, even though I LOVE antique jewelry, I would NEVER wear someone else's wedding or engagement ring, lol.  Way too much emotion there to even risk trying one of the many "cleansing" rituals that are recommended, including simply running water over the object or bathing it in sea salts.  It would constantly be running through my mind whether or not the person who wore this had a happy marriage or not, and whether or not that would affect my own.  Granted, I DO watch too much paranormal themed TV/movies and psychometry, whether they mention it by name or not, is a popular theme, offering a great plot device for characters to obtain information.

I personally have also wondered about the impressions received from such objects, especially those with a LONG history of various owners.  It is my understanding that only the strongest of the recorded emotions come to the surface, so to speak.  To me, that's a little depressing, because maybe someone else's story will not get told because its not as tragic as someone else's who had the object.

I'm linking to a wonderful Paranormal About.com article on the subject, and also encourage those interested to check out the book Haunted Objects by Chris Balzano.  The book, which discusses a variety of haunted objects and theories about how they got that way, covers the haunting of objects through spirit attachments and also discusses psychometry to a degree.  However, there really is no clear distinction as to where, and if, these lines cross or interact...is the psychometrist actually picking up energies from the object itself, or is he/she being influenced by an intelligent entity wanting the story of a beloved object told?  

Let me know what YOU think!  

Psychometry


*Are you a fan of Rose Red?  Find out about the TRUE hauntings of the home where the exterior shots of this movie were filmed!  Thornewood Castle information from Theresa's Haunted History*