Copper Hoop Planchette

You may remember that we brought you news of the video ITC research being conducted by the French Instrumental TransCommunication workers, Maryse and John Locke in the Winter 2004 NewsJournal. In this article, we bring you the Copper Hoop Planchette the Lockes use in lieu of the usual three-legged planchette.

[From Fodor’s Encyclopedia of Psychic Science: The planchette was invented in 1853 as an offspring of the tipping table. That first device was a triangular board on rollers with an attached pencil that rested on paper. The medium places his or her hand on the planchette, and if it moves, the pencil marks the paper, presumably forming a message.]

The Lockes coordinate information provided via mediumship and the planchette to determine who is in their Video ITC images. As you can see in the accompanying image of Rasputin, in this way, they have had very reliable identification of those who come to them via Video ITC.

Here is their story about the planchette as told by Maryse Locke.

========O========

This is the story of the Copper Hoop Planchette

For a few years, my husband and I have been searchers in transcommunication [an instrumental form of spirit communication], and have developed different ways to communicate with the spirits. I am writing to you from 46 Kms in the South suburb of Paris, France. I am myself half Norwegian from my father.

In June 2002, we received a message from the spirit scientist Allen Cathistok, (a Norwegian who lived in Oslo, and who died ninety years ago) to build a hoop with a microbore copper pipe of 10 mm (~3/8”) diameter. At this time, we did not know what our spirit team had in mind. The first hoop we built had the same diameter as the round solid pine wood table, which is in our experimental room. We left the hoop laying flat on the table.

Some friends visited us a few days after we completed the copper hoop, and we sat around the table it was on to talk. Three of our visitors inadvertently had their hands on the “Copper Hula Hoop,” while talking. Suddenly, to our surprise, the hoop began to move. As if we were hypnotized, we watched this phenomenon.

“It is normal, John is a physical medium! The hoop must use the energy from his solar plexus,” I said. Immediately, the hoop came straight toward me, and banged into my stomach, then it moved and banged also into the sitter next to me, then it went again to the other sitters’ stomach. The hoop was trying to tell us that it was actually using the energy of everybody around the table! It was answering intelligently to my comment!

During the next hour, we were amazed as this hoop moved by small rotations [increments of the circle]. We just kept our fingers gently on the copper surface while the hoop was sliding under our fingers, as if our fingers were electrodes transmitting energy.

When we stopped using it, we discovered that the hoop was completely distorted and was no longer laying flat on the table. We understood, then, that the distortion allowed the hoop to make “bangs” and “knocks” on the table to answer “Yes” and “No” to our questions. It was evident that our spirit partners wanted to communicate with us by means of the Copper Hoop Planchette.

For the next séance, John shortened the diameter of the hoop because it had a tendency to fall off of the table. He joined the ends of the hoop with a wooden dowel and filed all of the rough edges so that it would move freely on the table. Now the hoop’s dimension is approximately 80 cm (~32”) diameter (to be at approximately 20 cm (~8”) from the edge of the table). My husband glued a 23 cm (~9”) long wood skewer, normally used for barbecuing, on the hoop as a pointer. I made a round board out of polystyrene about 25 cm (~10”) in diameter, with glued on magnetic letters and figures that I found in a toy shop. We placed the round board in the middle of the table.

These same scientific spirits and guides are showing their faces on our screen while we are experimenting; they are sharing their knowledge through our mediums, and are communicating with us through our Copper Hoop Planchette, as well. [“…on our screen…” and “…experimenting…” are references to (Video Instrumental TransCommunication that produces images such as the image of Rasputin shown here. Edit]

Once, we had a spirit visitor who was very gentle, but one who did not bring us anything special. We were giving a demonstration of our hoop to a couple of visitors, after having lunch and good wine with them. This spirit, who died in 1967, gave us his name, the town where he used to live and the names of his eight children. He had been a Legionnaire. As his children are still alive, I asked him if he wanted me to contact them. He refused, which surprised me. Thinking that he had not understood my proposal, I reiterated my question, and again he refused. In the discussion, he told us gently that he had been an alcoholic, and that he was sorry about it. Then I understood why he did not want me to contact his family. He might have made a real mess for them. We understood also from this experience that it was we who had attracted him because we drank good wine at lunch. That is why it is important to practice with the copper planchette, before having any meal or any alcohol, to get valid representatives.

Something else that we have discovered is that, during the day, it is mostly the spirits children who are communicating. Our adult spirit friends asked us to communicate with them at 19:00. Another observation is that the energy of the adult spirits is more powerful than is the spirit children’s energy. From the rotation speed of the hoop, one can guess if it is an adult or a child speaking.

The copper hoop moves around the table, by small rotations in order to point to the required letter. To increase the energy, it is best when four people are sitting. When the energy begins to be transmitted into the copper tube, the feeling is like subtle prickling on the back or top of the hands. The spirits are communicating during approximately forty-five minutes, and then they leave us.

Our spirit partners have always affirmed that they were composed of electricity and light. Copper is a conductible material, as gold or silver, but less expensive. It is an experiment in this domain of physical mediumship phenomena which shows, as well as the classical utilization of ectoplasm for materializations, how the spirits can create phenomena with the energy coming from our physical bodies. Three to five minutes of waiting is necessary in order to get enough “stored” energy in the tube for the spirits to make the hoop move.

Our procedure is that we wait until the ring moves, and then ask the name of the speaker. If it is an unknown or unusual spirit, we try to find out if this spirit has something interesting to communicate. If this is not the case, and since the séance will last only forty-five minutes, we try not to lose time and we request a guide who would be able to provide answers to a given topic. Our spirit partners do not know in advance what our questions will be, so the spirit visitors make us wait for about ten to fifteen seconds in order to look for the appropriate guide. To call for a family member, we proceed the same way. At each change of speaker, in the same séance, we get a new “Hello,” which signals a new person. They often use abbreviations. As, for example, “Q,” which means, “Have you a question?”, “N” for “No,” “Y” for “Yes,” etc. They can write our first names with abbreviations also (the first letter or the two first letters). Sometimes, if we have already guessed a long word before they have finished spelling it out, they will not finish. We make them confirm a letter, if the pointer has stopped in the middle of two letters.

We are using a mini-disc recording machine, with a microphone that is omni, to avoid the necessity of letting go of the hoop to make a record of the sessions. This enables us to remember all the messages, as we repeat verbally and loudly each pointed letter, and we say, “OK! Go ahead!” This last point is important in order to give the confirmation we have understood, and to encourage them to continue. Our spirit speakers are communicating in French and in English, according to their nationality. When we have asked a quite complicated question, they may stay quiet for some seconds in order to consult the members of their group. Then the rotation starts again, and they give us their answer.

Someone asked me, “How do the attendees hold the copper circle in order not to be in the way of its rotations? Or do they have to leave it on the table, without touching it?”

My response was, “Using both hands, your fingers must rest lightly on the copper during the session, in order to let the hoop slide under all the attendee’s fingers. You must not impede its movements; you must keep your hands in front of you and separated by about six inches. The CONTACT MUST REMAIN CONSTANT. This is very important in order not to stop the input of energy.”

The Copper Hoop Planchette does not require a person to be a medium, which enables total independence for the people who want to communicate with their family. Finished, are the frustrations of not having mediums available to help the researchers in transcommunication.

For a séance with Copper Hoop Planchette, the type of chairs is important. You need to sit on SOLID WOOD chairs, without cushions. Don’t use chairs covered with fabric, as this type of chairs absorbs the energy before it reaches its goal, on the table. You can also use upright plastic stacking chairs, as plastic isolates. A very smooth SOLID WOOD table is better also.     Maryse Locke.     [Visit the Locke’s site at www.transcommunication.org/  to see the work they are doing today.]

Real Haunting Investigations Being Filmed

AA-EVP members Al Rauber and Garrett Husveth, of Haunted New Jersey (www.hauntednewjersey.com/), recorded six television specials for a new show airing this October, tentatively titled Ghost Story. The premier is on Halloween with a new episode airing once a week after that on the new Scream Channel. Garrett has told us that, “The producers promise to show what actually occurs during an investigation of this type. Unlike many of the shows out there, they did not set up any shots or fabricate any occurrences.”

During the shooting of the first three episodes, the team recorded a lot of audible phenomena.  These were recorded on video tape through the filming cameras and the surveillance system. The noises included footsteps, shuffling boxes, two toilet flushes (a common occurrence at one particular location) and the heavy sounds of furniture being dragged. Garrett wrote, “The producers … were amazed (and terrified) at the EVP and audible sounds we captured.”

Al and Garrett believe that the voices that they record during the investigations are the entities that reside at the different locations. The voices often respond to questions asked regarding the haunting activity, or are recognized by a living person who is still associated with the location being investigated as the voice of the deceased person they suspected was haunting the location.

One building that the team investigated is famous for the sighting of a woman dressed in a white gown. In the very room that the apparition has been seen, an EVP was recorded in a woman’s voice saying, “I’m down in the wall.” The building was built around 1760 and the team admitted to wanting to start tearing walls out, something that they, of course, can’t do.

Garrett wrote, “During our investigations we conduct the typical question and answer EVP sessions. This method does yield results. However, the majority of our EVP voices are ‘jump-ons’—voices recorded as we are logging pertinent information on the environment or structure of the building onto our tape reorders or while interviewing witnesses. Also, we use standard cassette tape recorders. We have tried using digital recorders and PCs in the field but never had any success, so we have stuck to what we know works … standard cassette tape recorders.

“I have equipped the Dell Latitude laptop on the left [in the picture at the left] with an external microphone, Adobe Audition and Cool Edit Pro to convert taped voices to files in the field.

“There is a very important small, silver device next to the laptop. It is an Edirol 24-Bit UA-3FX audio capture device. It is usually used by musicians. There is an input for a guitar or microphone, an output for headphones and a volume control wheel. On the top and sides of this device are numerous switches and knobs for adjusting sample rates, audio filtering and sound effect settings. Of course, I do not use the sound effects features but do use everything else. What is so wonderful about this device is that you can manipulate the recordings via the Edirol UA-3FX hardware as they come off the tape and listen to the manipulated output real time.

“So, before we even convert the recording to a file and open up Adobe Audition, we can do a lot of finessing of the EVP—this is especially helpful with the vague Class C voices. Use of the Edirol helps us to quickly discern what is EVP and what is erroneous noise and drastically cuts down on wasted conversion time to PC in the field. Remember, our time is limited in field investigations usually from two to ten hours. Time is precious in the field, especially during an investigation that is yielding active haunting phenomena. It is imperative in these circumstances to be as unencumbered by the equipment as possible. Haunting phenomena can dissipate as quickly as it starts and we must remain as mobile as possible. Also, I might add, the Edirol is powered via USB bus so you need a PC available in the field to use it. The Edirol plugs into the USB port of the Dell so I can pull EVP off the tape to a file in the field using the Edirol as the capture device.

“Under the black security monitor is a Nakamichi professional tape deck. We use this to make stationery EVP recordings in the field and also to analyze our recordings from the portable cassette recorders. I use an external TEAC ME-80 professional microphone which plugs into the Edirol. The Edirol is connected via audio cables to the back of the Nakamichi deck’s input and output jacks. The ME-80 mic allows for crystal clear recordings. Almost no background noise and it is extremely sensitive (which can be both good and bad).

“On top of the Nackamichi is an Emerson VCR/TV combo which we hook wired infrared cameras into. These cameras also have built in two-way microphones and sound. We record everything coming from the cameras onto video tape via the VCR. We use a few of these setups on overnight investigations, each camera hooking into its own TV/VCR combo system.

“Next to that is a Samsung quad-screen surveillance system. This system holds up to eight cameras and is hooked into a Sony DVD/VCR which is the silver box on top of the Emerson VCR/TV combo. We use four cameras with the Samsung. Each camera is on a 60 or 120 ft CAT3 cable that hooks into the back of the silver Samsung monitor. All the cameras have sound and a built-in two way radio. The video and sound from the cameras is constantly being recorded to video tape for the entire length of the investigation.

“We record using standard cassette recorders with both internal and external microphones. Al uses a Radio Shack and Panasonic recorder and I use a Panasonic. Because the equipment we have on the table is not portable, we will record in different areas of the building we are investigating and then analyze the tape on the stationery equipment. The Edirol and Nakamichi devices will facilitate up to four sets of headphones for simultaneous analysis.”
                       (Photos by Garrett Husveth and Jennie Sharp)

Defining Resonance in EVP Communications

By Dr. Ali Fant

Researchers have noted a requirement of “resonance” between sender and receiver as a vital key to successful Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP), Instrumental Telecommunication (ITC), and Trans-Dimensional Communication (TDC) experiments (Ehrhardt 2000, Macy 2001, Butler 2004). Resonance has been defined variously as “similar interests/desires,” “same spiritual goals/quests,” or “same ideals.” It is only recently that I connected these definitions of “resonance” with the world of nonessential and essential telecommunications.

Nonessential telecommunications is contrasted with essential telecommunications by the desired effect such communications have on the saving of life or property. Nonessential communications harkens back to the 1845 Baltimore-Washington telegraph line when operators would chitchat and play chess between essential communications. Essential communications was defined as “communicating for payment.” A paying customer, although a lesser priority than emergency communications, is more important than idle talk. The latter is nonessential communications, while the former is essential to profitable business operations.

When Samuel Morse opened the first commercial telegraph line, it was four days before the first paying customer appeared. At one cent for four characters, a passing customer paid a half-cent for the telegrapher to inquire the time in Baltimore. This just happened to be one of the “frequent question codes” used by Morse and a reply was soon received. The customer glanced at his watch and grunted approval. Apparently, no one realized that both Baltimore and Washington are in the same time zone (Standage 1999).

While I am not advocating EVP communications for money, it is a historical fact that long distance communications never advances technologically unless there is a governmental or profitable reason for doing so. Like the telegraph and telephone, the multiple uses of any communication medium are not usually envisioned until some time after the invention date. Human nature is slow to accept new ways, especially when the present methods suffice.

EVP communications is very similar to amateur radio (“ham”) communications in perceived importance to the individual. A ham is interested in advancing communication science. Indeed, governments worldwide prohibit a ham from communicating for payment. The EVP experimenter is also interested in advancing communications. And there are strong advisements from both sides of the “veil” against EVP profitable ventures.

The method hams use to establish communications are of two types: directed and general. A directed communication request is addressed to a specific station, location, or authority. A general communication is addressed to the general ham population with no particular person in mind. No one is required to answer this general call. And unless the operator is a well-known personality or at a famous station location, an answer is not even assured. Humans, whether in body or spirit, choose who they converse with in non-emergency situations.

It is not really the technical aspects of EVP that deter widespread public acceptance. It is the human nature side of EVP that encourages or discourages communications. Researcher Macy (2002) calls this aspect of humanity, “the boggle threshold.”

I foresee a time when, like with all human communications, even EVP communications will be regulated by some governing authority. We are in the heady days of trans-dimensional communications like the early wireless experimenters before the advent of wireless regulations and operator licensing. Today, no responsible adult would advocate wireless sparkgap transmissions because they are internationally illegal. The ease of building a sparkgap transmitter with nothing but wire and battery is not unlike the ease of EVP communications with only a microphone and tape recorder in a quite room.

Until the regulatory age of trans-dimensional communications arrives, successful EVP communications will require humans with “resonant” or like interests on both sides of the veil. Amateur radio operators have created standard, international “sigs” to encourage successful communications. Some ideas you might want to use for your next evocation or “baiting” EVP session are:

·   Recorded music recognizable by entity ¹

·   Recorded voice of the pre-death entity

·   Recorded request for the Timestream, Central, or Children Group stations

·   Recorded request for specific entity by name or position

·   Dah dit dah dit  dah dah dit dah           Calling amateur radio operators anywhere

·   Recorded request for the recently deceased

·   * ** *** ***** *******          Prime number beeps used in SETI research

·   SOS or MAYDAY    calling anyone for emergency communications²

When Dale Carnegie authored “How to Win Friends & Influence People” in 1936, he had no idea it would continued in mass production today in every known language. He wrote, “Remember that a person’s name [or voice, in our case] is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” From birth to death, people like to hear their name and the sound of their voice. Hams like to hear their unique call signs repeated by other hams – often. Therefore, try using an endless tape loop recording of the deceased’s voice to draw the person into your space and time. A regular schedule for trying EVP communications will increase responses once an interested entity figures out the schedule. Remember, too, humans and entities have other interests than just communications.

Some entities want to communicate with humans just as some humans want to communicate with entities. Try to provide a service for entities and they will try to help you. For example, humans can help the recent dead to understand they are dead and to move on towards the light. Usually, a brief reminder for the confused entity to remember a loving family member will bring that member to the entity’s side for guidance.

Finally, remember that humans are social creatures and generally want to interact with other beings of like interests. Be polite and kind in all your attempted contacts.

¹ All recorded sounds are played back continuously (with response pauses) with endless tape loop cassette.

² Use this evocation with extreme caution. Not only is it illegal to broadcast it falsely, it might make entities mad if used improperly. All licensed radio/television operators are required to answer this call – on pains of loss of license or even imprisonment.

References:

·   Butler (2004), Tom & Lisa. “From Our Viewpoint,” American Association Electronic Voice Phenomena, Vol. 22, No. 4, pp 1.

·   Carnegie, Dale. “How to Win Friends & Influence People,” Simon and Schuster Publishers, 1936. 1981 edition.

·   Ehrhardt (2000), Rolf-Dietmar. “ITC – How to Avoid Unpleasant Situations,” World ITC website.

·   Macy (2001), Mark. “Resonance – A Key to ITC Contacts,” EVP & Transcommunication Society.

·   Macy (2002), Mark. “Frequently Asked Questions,” 15 February 2002, World ITC website.

·   Standage (1999), Tom. The Victorian Internet – The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century’s On-line Pioneers, Berkley Book from Walker Publishing Company, New York, New York, 1999.

 

Universal Studios Hosts EVP Parties

Universal Studio’s approached us with an idea on how they might market the movie, White Noise, to members of the media in the Los Angeles area. They asked if we would come to Hollywood, California, in July and host four EVP parties for selected members of the press over two evenings. We agreed and found ourselves staying for two days in the “haunted” Roosevelt hotel on the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame. The stars on the sidewalk honor not only movie actors, but also radio, TV, and stage performers, directors, singers, songwriters, and other well-known show-biz personalities. The closest that we got to playing tourist was watching all of the tourists in front of the Chinese Theater while having lunch at Baja Fresh across the street. The theater is where the stars have placed their hand and foot prints in concrete. 

Grauman’s Chinese Theater, Hollywood, California

The EVP parties were held in the Gable/Lombard suite, an impressive two-story, three bedroom suite used by the famous couple. The upstairs bedroom had a five-sided pyramid shaped, wood ceiling and had an exit onto a private deck on the roof just below the well known Roosevelt Hotel sign. It was very art deco

The EVP parties were exciting as well as exhausting. Alissa Grayson, our Universal contact, first showed the movie trailer that will be showing in theaters this month. We were extremely pleased with this ad for the movie as it shows several AA-EVP members talking about EVP. Actual EVP messages are played and only in the last thirty seconds, do they show images from the movie. We then talked about EVP and answered questions. Next came the recording session. Surprisingly we did get some EVP, especially in the first group recording. By the second day we were tired and got only Class “C” voices. It is hoped that attendees were able to hear modulation enough to know that voices were there.

Making a “How to” video for EVP in the Gable/Lombard suite of the Roosevelt hotel

Universal is hoping that, by introducing these people to EVP, they will be more apt to cover the movie and hopefully the phenomena at a later date. We were glad they did not tell us the companies the people represented. We later heard that Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood, People Magazine and others were represented.

The people at Universal have been wonderful, thoughtful and caring, which is something one does not expect from Hollywood these days. While in Los Angeles, they had Laurie Osmond, who had filmed at the conference, work with us on a “How to Record” video that will be placed on the AA-EVP website. Laurie, along with Universal, has shown a sincere interest in the success of the AA-EVP to educate people about EVP.

Research on Mirror Gazing

Arthur Hastings, from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, used mirror gazing under conditions of sensory deprivation in bereavement research. The research was designed to explore facilitated contact with deceased friends and relatives and to collect data on the phenomena, experiences and effects on bereavement. The pilot study with five participants resulted in strong experiences and four apparent contacts.

The main study used twenty-seven participants who went through a three-stage process. First, they remembered a decease relative or friend. Next, they gazed into a mirror in a darkened room while thinking of that person, and finally, they simply reflect on and discussed the experience. Thirteen participants reported contact with the person who they had been trying to reach. Participants noted a variety of imagery appearing in the mirror. They also experienced light, sounds, dialogue, body sensations and even smells. Several participants received very specific messages from the sought after person.

Statistically significant reductions in bereavement responses were found over the entire group. These included unresolved feelings, guilt, sadness, loss, grief and the need to communicate. Participants reported a significant impact on their lives after the study. IONS Noetic Sciences Review number 65 “Consciousness Beyond Death” pg 36.

Korean Film Crew

We had a Korean film crew visit us for a day in August. They were with the Seoul Broadcasting System and interviewed us for a program called Million Dollar Mystery. They came complete with interpreter and filmed for over six hours! They were extremely nice and polite and seemed to have a sincere interest in EVP. Their religious and cultural background was obviously in good agreement with the idea of EVP, as evidenced by the intelligent questions they asked of us during the interview. The producer, who could understand some English, was open minded but skeptical. They asked if they could try to do a recording and we obliged, recording and then downloading the audio from the IC recorder into a computer while they watched. We were able to hear some EVP but were unable to understand the words. Later, we realized that some of what we recorded may have been in Korean.

The team also wanted to film us recording outside somewhere, and as there is no place that is “haunted” and close by, we went down the hill from our house to the Catholic cemetery. Lisa was a little embarrassed to be recording in a cemetery with a camera crew. We thought for sure that someone would come and run us out, but had no such luck. In fact the producer was thrilled with the weather, the green grass, tall trees, blue sky with white puffy clouds and eighty degree weather, and wanted to continue recording there.

When we returned to our home and listened to the recording with the crew, we decided that it had been worth the time spent in the cemetery. We discovered a clear EVP saying, “This is not the key.” We wondered if they were referring to recording in a cemetery, as you can record spirits anywhere. The next EVP was a sad little voice saying, “Help me,” but it was a good EVP and we all were able to hear it and agree on what it said. Our spirit team sure better have grabbed that one and pulled him the rest of the way over to the Other Side!

The film crew had been so very polite and interested, and had asked thoughtful questions through the entire interview. At the end, the Director who was also the interrupter relayed information from the producer saying how pleased he was and that, although skeptical when he had entered the door, he now felt that the voice phenomenon was real. He handed Lisa a wrapped present and in it was a lovely Korean fan with the Seoul Broadcast System logo; a wonderful memento to remember the day. We are honored, as this program will be the first time that EVP is presented on Korea television.

EVP Recording Comforts Family

In July, Karen Mossey’s son, Alex, had his friend, Ben, stay over for the evening. Four weeks earlier, Ben’s brother, Adam, had passed to spirit due to an accident at the age of twenty-three. It was the first time Ben had been over since his brothers passing. Alex and his friends are very interested in EVP and Ben asked if they could sit down in Karen’s room and conduct a recording session.

They all became quiet and Karen turned on the recorder. She asked if those in the Big Circle and on the other side would help Adam give them a message and let Ben and his family know that he loved them. Karen wrote, “We received a remarkable EVP from Adam calling his brother’s name and saying “Ben … love you … I’ll be back.” Ben recognized his brother’s voice immediately and his eyes filled up. ‘It’s Adam,’ he said. ‘It’s my brother.’ He smiled a gentle smile and thanked me. I said it wasn’t me, Ben. It was Adam.’ He called his parents the next day and told them about the message and asked them if they wanted to hear it and they said please. When I dropped Ben back home the next night his mother came to me, hugged me, and said, ‘Thank you so much. You have given me the sign I needed and so much hoped for.’”

Recording in Graveyards

A member asked a question of the group, “Why would Spirit hang out in a graveyard?” This was longtime researcher Erland Babcock’s reply, “… Perhaps they don’t see it as a graveyard. From their position in space and time they could be in New York. I once asked the question ‘Where are you’ answer: ‘We are everywhere and nowhere at the same time.’ That takes a little thought to try and solve. In our world, either you are here or you are not. You can not be everywhere at the same time. Think about it. What is everywhere yet you can not pick it up and say this is so and so. One of many answers: Energy. It is all around us yet it is nowhere. Where are the radio and TV waves? All around us but we can’t grab one and say this is such and such program. A spirit can be any where it wants to be. It will come to you no matter if you are in a graveyard or in a church or in bed asleep. You might consider spirits as pure thoughts. They have almost endless possibilities.

“If you are in a graveyard recording, that does not mean that particular spirit resides in that grave yard. Also if you read the name on the tombstone and try to contact that person, there is no way to prove that is the person that will answer you, as there are many imposters on the other side of the veil that are more then willing to play tricks on you. In my personal opinion spirits do not hang around graveyards; however, they will come there if you call them. They have far more important things to do … Just my thoughts.”

We agree with Erland with the one caveat: it appears that locations of long-time human occupancy are places for which it is easier for entities to communicate.

Babcock’s Photographic ITC

Last quarter, we described how Arthur Soesman of the Netherlands was able to capture faces with a video camera and a bottle that is partially filled with water. He examines each frame of the video, seeking phenomenal features. In effect, he is substituting reflection from agitated water for the feedback noise used in Video ITC. The phenomenal features are often more distorted, probably because of the bottle, but they are impressive.

Erland Babcock has taken up Soesman’s challenge, only he has substituted a digital camera for the video camera. You can see the brown jug Erland found in the accompanying picture. The results have been impressive and continue to improve with each experiment. He told us he is submitting some of his work to an art contest.

We have included a good example above. You can see an arch of reflected light that is not part of the phenomenal images. The arc is rising from the bottom of the picture and more to your left of center. A round-faced man’s chin is just touching the top of the arc. The dark area above that is the man’s mouth and above that are two dark areas, which are his eyes, look at your right ear.

Just to the right of center is a man looking to your left. There is a bright line in the shape of an arc opening to the top of the page above his nose. This is not part of the feature. Just above that arc are his brow line and a well defined left eye. You should be able to make out the man’s mouth, left cheek bone and hair line/temple.

At right is a recent experiment, in which we see what looks like an old, tall man in the background with long hair blowing in the wind to your right. His right ear sticks out from his hair more like a mule’s ear. He is looking toward you but down at the girl. Directly under his chin is a translucent dome hat, in which you can see the head and hair of a little girl facing your right. Hair on the left side of her head is blowing past her left cheek. It looks like her bare shoulders are pulled up, as if hunching down against the wind that is at her back.

Just in front of her is possibly a boy wearing the same type of hat. His chin is sloped into his neck and you can see his open mouth just under his nose that is facing up. He may have a dog in front of him looking at the boy.

These are easier to see in the color version, so people receiving emailed NewsJournal will see the faces better. We should also note that we have worked with contrast and intensity to make the features clear enough to print.

See more of Erland's work at http://aaevp.com/examples/examples_photography9.htm

EVP Experimenters as a Community

I think of an EVP experiment as building a communication circuit across the veil to the “Other Side” in cooperation with my etheric communicators. In effect, a physical/etheric telephone circuit is built for each EVP session.

Of course, the recorder represents the telephone set. Then, there is the willingness to communicate. I must make the effort to pick up a recorder and reach out to the other side. Interestingly enough, I think that I am usually dialing up a public phone situated in a busy etheric intersection, because I have found that there is usually someone who is willing to pick up the phone, but it is difficult to have a specific person answer.

(Coincidently, James Hancock used the same analogy in an email the same day that I wrote this article, only he placed the public phone in a bad neighborhood. It has been our experience that the etheric end of the telephone circuit we build is usually in the more civil side of town.)

Following the metaphysical rules of embodiment, I know that the phenomenal voice needs something physical from which it can be formed so I use a noisy recorder or I supply noise—phone line electricity, if you will.

The telephone line is formed of an energy that comes from my desire to communicate. This physical/etheric energy is the stuff of which auras and morphic fields are made and is probably what is accumulated in haunted locations. It can also be accumulated by groups of people, and that is why the community of EVP experimenters and researcher is so important, because without this physical/etheric energy, the telephone line could not exist.

This is not a quasi religious theory any more than EVP itself is about religion. In recent years, researchers, such as Rupert Sheldrake (www.sheldrake.org) and Dean Radin (www.unm.edu/~asnjoe/fieldRNG.html) have shown some form of group energy clearly exists. We are told by our friends on the other side (www.science-frontiers.com/sf125/sf125p12.htm) that this energy is essential if there is to be communication across the veil.

This necessary energy is known as a “contact field,” and it is felt that rapport, cooperation and expressed respect amongst experimenters builds the contact field while negativity diminishes it for all of us. We see evidence of this in the wonderful success the Recording Circle – Bridge to the Afterlife has enjoyed. Sarah Estep understood this when she formed the AA-EVP. We continued her tradition to openly share what we know about these phenomena and to encourage communication and mutual support amongst members of the community. Thank you for doing your part as citizens of this community.

Tom

Sullivan’s Photographic ITC

Mike Sullivan has also taken up the challenge to find phenomenal features in reflected light. Mike’s technique is to photograph a mirror using a flash. In his still evolving technique, Mike has learned to be very careful of what in the room is being reflected in the mirror, so that mundane items will not be mistaken as phenomena. One of the ways he has learned to control this is to saturate the mirror with light so that reflections of things in the room are washed out by the intensity of the flash.

In answer to Martha Copeland’s question, “How do you take pictures without the flash showing in the mirror?” Mike gave the answer, “These pictures were taken from a distance which keeps the flash from centering on the mirror. I also shoot close up so the flash is in the mirror. This will usually produce smaller images around the flash itself. With a larger mirror you should get the same effect. If you decide to try it, just remember to shoot in very dim light or darkness. I use a small candle which allows me to just barely see parts of the room, just enough to keep me from walking into things. I’m sure you’ll have success if you decide to try it.”

You can see that Mike’s technique effectively substitutes the optical chaos of the intense light from the flash for the chaos of the feedback used in Video ITC. Thus, we believe that the principles involved in Video ITC, Soesman’s brown bottle method used by Erland Babcock’s and Mikes saturated mirror method are essentially the same with similar results.

The first picture offered here is of one of the mirrors Mike uses, as it sits against a fine specimen of the radios he collects.

The second picture is of an apparently phenomenal feature appearing in that same mirror. We have worked with intensity and contrast to make this image clear enough to print. Also, the image tends to have blocks of color caused by image compression, suggesting to us that the quality of Mike’s results will continue to improve.

What you should see is a man visible from the waist up and facing you. In the color version, it is clear that he has a large red ribbon on his chest where his left shirt pocket would be. You can see a bright area just above the ribbon that is his white shirt defined by his lapel. He appears to have a large mustache and might be wearing a derby hat.

Donations

The AA-EVP sincerely thanks these members for their support.

No Fixed Time-Frame for Spirit Encounters

To what extent do spirits return to console loved ones on Earth, and is there a time frame? According to an extensive world-wide survey, almost half of people surveyed said they received visitations after the first year, and one in ten reported that more than thirty years had elapsed. This substantially rejects the idea that bereaved people create their own spirit encounters.

Noted lecturer, author and bereavement counselor, Dianne Arcangel, has conducted the five-year “Afterlife Encounter Survey” which, (1) collected data pertaining to the effects, if any, of afterlife encounters, and (2) in what time frame did the visitations occur. The survey drew 3,000 reports from people in twenty different countries and showed that 1,978 visitations were reported by 1,122 participants. Interestingly, 47% occurred after the first year. As mentioned above, 10% occurred after thirty years. The author writes, “So much for the age-old theory of hallucinations, especially considering that approximately 25% of participants were bereaved less than one year.”

Ms. Arcangel’s book, Afterlife Encounters, is being published this coming winter by Hampton Roads. On her website, www.afterlife-encounters.com, she wrote, “Now I hope we can educate the public, especially skeptics, because if everyone could become aware of what encounters are - normal, healthy, functional, comforting and loving, then they would be understood and accepted…. I hope we can change world-view about this phenomenon.” Ms. Arcangel co-authored Life After Loss: Conquering Grief and Finding Hope with Raymond Moody. Thanks to Robert Egby Parapsychic Journal #20

The Implications of Knowing Personal Awareness Survives death?

By Richard Rowley

With Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) and Instrumental TransCommunication (ITC) we are receiving tangible evidence that ghosts or spirits are real. This is telling us that people we have known, our own colleagues, friends and relatives who have passed on, are still alive somewhere and are able to communicate with us. Previously, we have had to rely on a mental medium to convey to us information from and about the spirit coming to greet us. A good clairvoyant or clairaudient medium can give us descriptions and factual details that can be checked out. There are quite a number of mediums appearing on television around the world, proving to millions that spirits and ghosts are real. But now technology can provide us with direct voice and images. We are not hallucinating. Of course, crisis apparitions, phone calls from the dead, hauntings and poltergeist activity, and near-death experiences will continue to add to the evidence of survival. Victor Zammit, an Australian lawyer, has pointed out that we now have enough circumstantial evidence to prove in court the case for life after death.

See www.victorzammit.com

With this evidence amounting to proof that there is life after death and much more, we must consider the implications of the survival of human personality after death to society at large. What is the general public going to make of the fact that ghosts and spirits are a fact of life and that each one of us has within us a ghost, a soul or spirit, a component which will continue to exist after we have said goodbye to our body? What will it take for our churches and educational institutions to accept this spiritual dimension of existence as a fact? More importantly, how will this information affect reductionist science, which believes that each of us exists only between conception and death? According to this type of reasoning, the sciences provide all the important answers. There is nothing more.

We know that ghosts and spirits are real. In time, each of us will also be spirits. Is society, and particularly science, going to react violently against this information and block it by trying to prove that all mediumship and scientific contact with spirit is fraud?

Religions will have to agree that each individual person, and life-form, is created, guided, protected and surrounded by spirit energy and intelligence, quite independent of any formal religion. And from what the spirits report, there is no organized religion on the other side, once the “reception” areas are left behind! It is obvious to those of us who are mediums, have had near death experiences or have reached higher states of consciousness through prayer and meditation, that there is no death to the mind or personality. We are all spiritual beings, and it was Socrates who emphasized that the most important job for us in this world is to look after our soul.

This being so, there can be no further reason for advocating war, violence, murder and genocide to achieve a political goal. Weapons of mass destruction will be outlawed, since to inflict death on this scale would be a tragic waste of unfinished lives. There is no real death, since the spirit lives on, but each of us has chosen to be here on earth at this time for a purpose. To cut short that life and opportunity, whether by murder, suicide, acts of terrorism or self-inflicted disease, is a futile act, and takes meaning away from existence. All life is a continuum, of which our present lifetime is a minutely small segment. To help us confirm this, if we are not ourselves naturally mediumistic, we can consult a medium or try to reach our loved ones beyond through EVP or ITC. Some of us may have had a near death experience, which will have brought us into contact with the other side. Prayer and meditation may also take us to meet our loved ones in spirit, and the spontaneous appearance of ghosts and apparitions will give us further evidence of survival. Death-bed visions, sometimes discounted by doctors and nurses as hallucinations, are real, and any medium present can feel and see the spirits coming to accompany the person to the other side. When the final moment comes, they can also see the spirit withdraw from the dying body. In the East, and in South America, the genuine priests, swamis, roshis and mystics have their spirit guides and communicate with spirits, just like Western mediums. Perhaps the evidence of EVP and ITC will encourage the Western churches to join with the Spiritualist movement and Psychical Research, and open up to spirit communication again.

While we must be careful how we deal with negative or evil entities or disruptive ghosts, we need to realize that the vast majority of spirits are beneficent and not presences to fear. They are merely folk like ourselves who have passed on. However, there is always the danger of misuse of spirit contact. When a cult turns towards the black arts and a negative personality takes possession of a whole community or country, as with Jim Jones, Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot, the evil energy from the lower spirit dimensions can cause devastating tragedy. Not all the humans who die have benign personalities, and they are not likely to reform just because they are no longer incarnate. If they have a chance to see our weaknesses, they will try to influence us. So our motives for spirit contact are all important, whether we are mediums, or lay people and scientists using EVP and ITC. The spirits can see the color of our aura. If we are self-seeking, so will be the spirits we attract! If our motives are not of the highest, we may attract unwanted mischief and worse.

We will be able to live life to its fullest right to the last moment, but when death comes, whether unexpectedly or through disease, we will not fear it. Doctors will no longer try to delay death indefinitely. Some conditions are beyond repair, and we can continue our work in spirit, if unfinished, or come back for another lifetime in a new body. In the media, ghosts, hauntings and spirit manifestations will no longer be treated as horror movies in a sensational way and with murky twilight-zone music. Television documentary program hosts will lose their tongue-in-cheek skeptical attitude and treat the subject more fairly. Contact with spirit will become natural and a matter of course, treated not with fear, but with humor, as in the old “Topper” movies. The implication is that ALL of us have a future existence when our body dies, so there is no need to fear death. If everyone knew this simple truth, and lived by it, there would be no more selfishness in the world, but loving cooperation.

Psychology and psychotherapy will change as they take into account the life of the spirit. Freudianism, Skinnerism and Behaviorism will lose their hold on Western thought and Jungian philosophy, meditation and psychic science will take their place. The New Age and Human Potential movements will drop many of the fads and become more sensibly concerned with the development of true intuitive and psychic abilities, which will move us away from material possessions and acquisitions towards protecting the environment and living more responsibly.

With regard to bereavement at the death of a loved one, with the knowledge that the spirit lives on, we will not need to extend our mourning beyond the funeral or memorial service. Then there will be a change in the commonly held belief that people only live on in the historical record they have left behind while their person is gone for good, dead and buried once and for all. Paradoxically, the real truth is the reverse of this. The historical record will eventually decay and finally vanish as dust in the wind while the people who once existed on earth, and that will include all of us, continue to exist in other worlds and realities. We will all outlive our gravestone.

[Our thanks to Richard for taking up our challenge to predict how life might be once everyone accepts that they will survive physical death. Do you have a view as to how things will be? If so, expressing your ideas in an article suitable for publication in the AA-EVP NewsJournal and mail it to us, preferably as a computer file or typed page that we can scan.]

Did we Record Marilyn?

It can be difficult to conduct a paranormal investigation with a TV Crew recording your every move. Knowing that we would be working with the Two Four production crew on the British series, Dead Famous, at the Cal Neva Resort at Lake Tahoe, we decided to visit the location beforehand with Janice Oberding to see if we could collect some EVP.

Frank Sinatra loved Lake Tahoe

When we arrived at the Cal-Neva Lodge we decided to go first to the showroom that was built by Sinatra. One could feel a difference in the energy of this room and cold spots were felt behind the curtains off to the right of the stage. Interestingly, this is supposedly where Sam Giancana sat in the dark off stage and watched Phyllis McGurie perform. An EVP was recorded in this location that said, “Were just looking for peace.”

We were given a tour of Sinatra’s dressing room which is now an office for the banquet staff. The employee that invited us in said that she felt the place to be very haunted. We were asking her about the upstairs lighting and sound room, as we had heard that the heavy door often shut for no apparent reason, scaring the crews setting up lights and sound systems for shows. She told us that she would never ever go up there. Lisa’s recorder was on while she thanked the lady for her assistance. On the recording, Lisa can be heard saying, “Thank you very much.” Underneath her voice, is a clearly heard paranormal voice saying, “Please don’t come.” However politely said, it seems obvious someone did not want us in the sound and lighting room!

Next, we sat around a table in the showroom with Janice Oberding, asking questions and recording. Suddenly, the tablecloth moved for no apparent reason and Lisa actually jumped. She said that she felt someone touch her leg and then decided that she must have imagined it. We spent quite a bit of time looking at the air conditioning and other things that could have cause the cloth to move or the sense of being touched, but could not figure out how to replicate the effect. Several interesting EVP were captured during this experience. The first was, “Be careful of Art” and then immediately after that, “He’s a bachelor.” The second EVP made us wonder if someone had moved the tablecloth and touched Lisa’s leg. When we asked who had moved the cloth, we recorded, “This is our chair.”

We went from the showroom to the cabin that was used by Marilyn Monroe. The cabin is small and it is hard to imagine a star like Marilyn using such a small space. The room now sports pictures of the blond star who died shortly after a stay in the cabin. At one time it had an underground tunnel that led to the showroom so that she could move about without being mobbed. The cabin also has a front deck with a million dollar view of Lake Tahoe.

Was it possible to reach Marilyn, we asked? A voice on our tape replied, “That’s true.” Another nameless paranormal voice commented, “We all tried to save her.” Yet another EVP was a male voice saying, “Marilyn.” And then after we call for her, there on the recording is a voice that sounds exactly like Marilyn. It is in that ‘little girl’ voice of hers saying, “Do you want to see a movie?” To us, the voice is the way Marilyn would speak. But as we all know with EVP, it also could have been someone mimicking Marilyn to give us what we wanted. We do not feel that she is earthbound in that cabin.

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross Moves On

Swiss-born psychiatrist and internationally known expert on death and dying, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, made her transition to the other side in August, she was 78. She was known for her groundbreaking book On Death and Dying in which she wrote about the five stages of death; denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance, and for her pioneering work in hospice care.

She often spoke about being helped with her work by “spiritual guides.” She died surrounded by friends and family with children playing in the room. Kubler-Ross who had been paralyzed from a series of strokes is now free from her physical body and will be able to continue her work on the other side. She often said, “Life doesn’t end when you die. It starts.” Her second book written with colleague David Kessler, On Grief and Grieving, is to be released next year.        

Picture from http://dying.about.com

If You Can’t Reach Us

The trailer (ad or preview) for White Noise is now on the Universal web site at www.universalstudios.com. Another will be playing in Regal theaters beginning this month. The one that is shown in theaters this month shows several AA-EVP members. Both trailers include real EVP.

Universal is working on a “How to experiment with EVP” video to be posted on the AA-EVP web site and that should be up by October.

We are receiving between 3000 and 5000 hits a day on the web site and this is generating increased correspondence.

If you try to reach us with a question and we are unable to respond right away, please understand why! We will do all we can to maintain the standard of support we have in the past.

Advertising on the Web Site

You may have noticed that we have added a few commercial logos and search boxes to the AA-EVP web site. There is also a new “EVP Books” page that has links to specific vendors for many now out of print EVP books.

The influx of visitors that has come from White Noise has required us to increase the bandwidth for the site, and we believe that the increased cost can be at least partially offset by the revenue gained from people using the links to purchase books, software and equipment for EVP.

We think we have succeeded in adding usefulness to the web site. So if you need something, such as a book about EVP or a recorder from eBay, consider using one of the links at aaevp.com. The modest percentage from purchases initiated via the links from AA-EVP goes directly to the upkeep of the web site.

Background Sound Sources

There has been a lot of discussion between members on the use of a foreign language radio broadcast for background noise during recording. Alexander MacRae told us that Gilbert Bonner, a Canadian who lived in England, used three tape-recorders playing French tapes for background sound in the 1970s and that “Raudive used VHF radio and also picked up foreign radio stations such as the then Radio Moscow, but without meaning to.”

Using foreign language for a background sound source has been around for quite a while and many researchers have gotten excellent results this way. We have heard some very clear recordings in which it is quite clear that the entities change German, for instance, into English to create EVP messages. However, we have also heard some EVP that we felt was a German (French, Spanish, etc.) word being misunderstood as an English word. Loretta Woodward wrote to the group about one person who had used a German broadcast and shared EVP messages only to have another member who spoke German transcribe the German word for word. He heard no EVP only German. Experimenters must be very cautious and very critical of what they hear when using this method.

Cassette Recorders

Digital recorders have almost replaced cassette recorders and for some people this is not a good thing. Many people, especially in other countries, do not have computers and do not have the ability to listen to recordings through a computer. We have also heard from some members who are not that technical and do not want to use a computer in order to listen back to their recordings. For these people a cassette recorder is still the best device to use and we have been asked what the best cassette recorder is. Carol Barron-Karajohn still uses a cassette recorder and buys a Panasonic RQ-2102 Portable Tape Recorder at Office Max with a counter for under $30.00. This works well for her. As you can see by the picture this tape recorder has the large analog buttons that help when listening back to recordings. Wal-Mart is selling a GE model for under $30 that looks like it would also work.

Jutta Liebmann tells us that few people in Germany have computers and they are also finding it difficult to locate non digital recorders. She says that she likes the Sony TCM 939 with cue/review functions and a tape counter. In doing a search on the Internet, it seems that this particular recorder is sold overseas, but we were able to find one on Ebay. We have also used an older Sony cassette recorder with the same form factor with success.

News about Members

·   Anabela Cardoso presented the evidence for survival offered through Instrumental Transcommunication (ITC) to the Society for Psychical Research (SPR), in May at the Gwen Tate Memorial Lecture. Henry Burton Tate willed money to the British Society for Psychical Research “for the pursuance of such activities as may lead to the establishment of the theory of survival after death.” Tate stipulated that the Society hold two public lectures each year, to be named the Gwen Tate Memorial Lectures and that these lectures be on “the continuing existence of consciousness.”

·   Martha Copeland has been working on a new book that will address her continuing relationship with her daughter Cathy, who is now on the other side, through the use of EVP. The working title is: I'm Still Here. The story is an extremely important one, in that it provides an example for others showing the possibilities available to them to cope with the loss of a loved one. It will show that we no longer need to say goodbye when a loved one passes out of this physical lifetime.

The book will include stories from the “Recording Circle - Bridge to the Afterlife” group of AA-EVP members who record together every other Thursday evening, no matter where they are in the world. It will also provide instructions on how to record EVP. Look for the book this fall. It will be advertised here at aaevp.com and on a special web sight being established by Martha Copeland, and from which you will be able to order signed copies. The web site address is http://evpcommunications.com/

·   Garrett Husveth, Al Rauber and their crew are working on a DVD called Listen. It is being filmed in a very haunted warehouse. The General Manager has reported audible phenomena, like the sound of someone running down the upstairs hall when the place is locked and he is the only one there. Both the night crew and the police have seen an old man in uniform ‘floating’ across the floor with a flashlight late at night. In another incident a forklift driver was driving out of the warehouse when a man peered around the skid of boxes that he was carrying. He was so frightened, he jumped off the forklift. The indentation from where the forklift crashed into a metal support pole is still there. To see a trailer of the DVD visit www.hauntednewjersey.com/listen1.wmv

·   Tina Laurent has been asked by Lord Haddington to investigate his mansion, Mellerstain which is located on the Scottish border, near Kelso. She says that, “There is very strong paranormal activity going on.” Tina will be accompanied by medium Derek Ogilvie and two other well-known psychic investigators. MakingTime TV is interested in making a documentary on the investigation that will take place in October. Tina is also working with Derek Ogilvie at Dover Castle for the Living TV series called I’m Famous and I’m Frightened.

·   Georg Lindström wrote to tell us that the Finnish Spiritualistic Association summer seminar was a huge success. The main speaker was Hans-Otto König who demonstrated ITC, EVP and DRV (Direct Radio Voices). Georg wrote, “He showed us video films of Spirit People, who moved and spoke.” König also taught people to record and did experiments during a workshop. Georg finished with, “Hans-Otto’s results during his thirty years of hard work have been wonderful, amazing, great…!!!”

·   Alexander MacRae, former NASA speech communications researcher, has written a new book about EVP. Its title is EVP and New Dimensions. The book covers the main methods for carrying out an EVP session and then goes beyond that to consider the new dimensions science will have to take onboard to account for EVP. The book will be available either in the traditional printed form or as a download from www.skyelab.co.uk, where more information can be found.

Thoughts from Members

·   Nick Bikkal lives in Tokyo and wondered if the fast pace and noise could make it difficult to get EVP. Ginny Sawyer wrote back. “Nick, today I finally heard from Cathy, my niece, and Janet Manering, my best friend who died suddenly of a heart attack last February. I had changed locations in my house due to my son and his fiancé moving in with me. It seems that every time I change my usual recording area, I have trouble picking them up. Also, when I'm in emotional turmoil, I have trouble receiving an EVP. No matter where you are, you can get them if you don't give up. I have found out that it is the same way as kids who need money …THEY WILL FIND YOU! Martha and I live in Atlanta and its hectic here, also.”

·   VTF Board member, Jutta Liebmann, had been invited to the home of a VTF member who had lost her husband two years before. Jutta wrote, “It seemed difficult for the deceased husband to leave a message on tape, but other entities told us about him. On returning home, I made a short EVP recording, asking why it was so difficult to get a message from the member’s husband and one entity replied that there had been too much grief. I have experienced this as well, that it is difficult to get clear messages in a state of mourning.”

·   Stacy Rawlings noted in the Idea Exchange that, “There have been several documentaries (on EVP) over the years that have included info on the subject, which have not had a profound impact on interest in EVP. The dramatic presentation of the subject in this movie (White Noise), I believe, will be quite different.”

Recording Circle – Bridge to the Afterlife

Group recordings take place every other Thursday at 8 p.m. EST. Information and EVP gotten during these sessions are shared on the AA-EVP message Board, “The Idea Exchange.” If you have not been there yet it is at www.aaevp.com/ideaexchange/. AA-EVP members are in the board with their first and last name and an initial password of: 12evp34.

Anyone can join the recording sessions. All you need to do is join your thoughts and intentions with other members in reaching loved ones on the other side. This is a great way to build a bridge and contact field between members and those working with members from the spirit world. Here is the schedule for this quarter Oct. 7, Oct. 21, Nov. 4, Nov. 18, Dec. 2, Dec. 16, and Dec. 30 and if you would like to add a name of a loved one in spirit to the Spiritual Roster please contact Martha Copeland.

More on IC Records and Sound Editing

Remember that Garrett Husveth and Al Rauber had said that they had gone back to a cassette recorder because they just had no luck with an IC recorder. Garrett wrote in August that he had recorded his first voices ever on an IC recorder after trying over a dozen different recorders. The recorder is an Olympus DW-90.

Shellie Hawkins wrote to us that she had purchase a $20 RCA IC recorder at K-Mart and had been very impressed with it. It will record for up to 12 hours and has different microphone setting. She said that there was no model number.

It has been pointed out to us that there is at least one person on Ebay who is selling the Panasonic RR-DR60 for $1000. Do not pay this kind of money for this device. It is not worth it. Other recorders work just as well!

John Wright wrote us saying, “I have discovered a sound program called Audacity that will process WAV files and remove noise levels. I have tried it out and it is comparable with Cool Edit Pro that I use myself. So I can recommend it to those who do not have Cool Edit, because Audacity is free! You can download it from: http://audacity.scourceforge.net.” [Cool Edit was purchased by Adobe and is now called Audition]

Richard Smith (paratexas.com) came across a free sound editor and wrote, “It has a waveform presentation which allows a drag and drop isolation for selecting parts of your signal, an amplify control and a denoiser process.” It is at www.nch.com.au/wavepad/index.html.

Idea Exchange

One member wrote to us saying, “The Idea Exchange is awesome. It was a brilliant idea. I wish I had joined it sooner.” We hope members will check it out at www.aaevp.com/ideaexchange/. Use the first and last name you gave us and the password is 12evp34. Once in, you