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May 3 through May 9, 2021

Mercury will move into its ruling sign of Gemini on Monday, making the start of our week brilliant and insightful! Add an Aquarius Moon on Monday and Tuesday, and we'll be inspired to share, seek out, and absorb new information, details, and innovative ideas. Venus will follow suit on Sunday, moving into the sign of Gemini as well. These two planets will “bookend” a week of thoughtful consideration and the ability to embrace new notions and pathways to our goals. The Moon will wade through Pisces on Wednesday and Thursday, adding spiritual power to all the new ideas we are considering, as well as casting deeper insight into why it's time for a major change. An Aries Moon will hang overhead Friday through Sunday, encouraging us to be creative in how we approach life, where even taking a different path home from work or to the store can revitalize our perception and refresh our view of our day to day lives. The theme is “think different!” And doing so might just bring some surprising revelations to our consciousness!

Conducting an EVP Session, by Robin Strom

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

The voices on the audio recorder were both clear and clearly exasperated. The first said simply, "Get out," and then a few seconds later the female voice directed us to, "Get out now!" Both voices were female, and both were caught in an empty room. We had been in the residence for several hours, and she had tolerated us up to that point. But like the house guest that will not leave, we had clearly worn out our welcome

This is why I love EVP (or electronic voice phenomena). Those inexplicable voices are remarkable, provocative, and sometimes simply brimming over with personality. Our paranormal team uses EVP techniques on all of our investigations. But, you don't have to be a paranormal investigator stomping around a haunted asylum to enjoy EVP. So, what exactly is an EVP, and how can you get started capturing them?

A Brief Explanation of EVP
The quickest definition of electronic voice phenomena is voices or sounds caught on recording devices that the people in the room did not hear with their own ears. They're detected by someone only on playback of the device. The question as to how a spirit might be able to speak and be heard on a recording device has long been a contentious debate. How does a spirit record sound on a recording device if they have no mechanisms with which to make sound, no vocal chords through which air is passed, no lungs to pump the air? One of two ways have been proposed. The first is that they imprint their thoughts onto the recording device via psychic abilities. The second is that they mold the environmental noises to their whim in order to create sounds resembling human speech. It has been noted among those who study EVP seriously that the voices recorded, when there are at least two or more recording devices in a room, will show up on only one. Thus, they cannot be accounted to environmental noises alone, because if they were, they would be recorded on all of the recording devices in the same vicinity. Analysis made by experts in voice phenomenon also note that such recordings exhibit a frequency shift that is outside the frequency range of the human voice.

Equipment Requirements
The equipment needed to capture EVP is actually limited. The first item obviously is some type of device that records audio. I tend to invest in mobile, studio-grade audio recording devices that have excellent microphones built into the unit, which also allow me to add extraneous microphones if needed. I have many on my team that buy inferior audio recorders designed to record audio in large classroom or auditorium settings, and the results of these devices can be shocking. The audio is so loud, the pickup so sensitive, that a toilet being flushed one floor down is unmistakable. These devices tend to record as much machine noise as anything else. While this sounds bad, there are some in the paranormal field that contend that the machine noise of the cheaper devices may actually be beneficial, as it adds an element of white noise to the recording, which a spirit may be able to manipulate in order to make a sound. At the very least an audio device should either have SD card memory capability or be capable of USB downloads.

Audio recorders, obviously, are not the only device capable of recording sound. We have caught discarnate voices on video cameras, as well. Computers can also be utilized to capture sound. In the end, anything that can record audio can be utilized. In order to capture EVP, of course, one has to have the capability of listening to the audio recorded. A good set of headphones, plugged directly into the audio recording device, can be utilized for real-time analysis. If doing analysis after the recording session, it is best to use a computer, again a good quality set of headphones and audio editing software. Our team uses the free Audacity editing software; it's extremely user friendly, and the audio can be easily boosted.

White Noise Generators
There are many in the field that believe that the cleaner, more concise the audio recording, the more white noise needs to be emitted into the environment. This would allow the spirit to use the sound in order to manipulate it into recognizable speech patterns. Experts have suggested such generators as running water, fans blowing in rooms, or computerized white noise generators as possible sources of white noise. Still others have staunchly stood by such things as ghost boxes, which scan radio frequencies in the hopes that a spirit can manipulate radio frequency static. Our group does not utilize devices such as ghost boxes for fear that these devices will give false positives.

To date, we have not documented a decrease in EVP phenomena, despite the fact that we have started using better audio quality electronic recording devices, and have not used a white noise generator per se. Then again, our modern buildings are rarely (if ever) without some type of white noise. If not the hum of the furnace in the winter, it's the whine of the AC unit in the summer. Washing machines, dishwashers—any and all of our modern appliances make a constant mechanical hum that we for most part tune out.

Active Versus Passive EVP Sessions
There is certainly a debate among investigators about active versus passive EVP. The active EVP session is when investigators are actively in a room conducting a session. Normally such sessions last about twenty minutes, throughout which time the investigators will ask a series of (normally unscripted, mundane) questions. An investigator might ask a question such as, "What is your name?" Then, they wait in silence for ten seconds in case something responds before proceeding with the next question. The philosophy behind the active session is that the entity or entities wish to respond to the questions being asked. The problem is that if the spirit isn't interested in your line of questioning, they likely will not respond.

When possible, I try to use more provocative questions. (By "provocative" I'm not talking about provoking, which is when an investigator actively tries to anger a spirit into responding—a debatable practice at best. What I mean by "provocative" are questions that are personal and interesting to the spirit.) In order to do this, one needs to have some idea who they're questioning. For example, we investigated an old home that had reportedly served as a brothel during the Civil War. Legend had it that one of the patrons had been a young soldier who committed suicide in the home because he'd been a traitor, or was afraid of being tried for a traitor. One of the questions that I asked that night was, "Did you kill yourself because you were afraid that your fellow soldiers would see you as a traitor?" playing off of the fact that soldiers are supposed to have a sense of honor. Immediately after that question, the team caught on the recorder a distinctly male-sounding voice saying, "Yes." If I believe the spirit to be that of a child, I have been known to tell stories, or talk about things that children like to do. Trigger objects work well. Music from the era you believe the spirit might have lived again can work very well. When we do play music, we keep the clips short, however. We don't want to be playing a waltz for five minutes over any possible EVPs that we've caught.

The passive session is when investigators are not actively asking questions. Instead a voice recorder is left in the environment. Windows and doors should be closed so outside noise contamination is as limited as is possible. Controlling the environment is extremely important. Since the devices are extremely sensitive, voices in another room, or sometimes on another floor of the building, can literally be picked up. The philosophy of the passive session is that a spirit will inadvertently leave a response while it goes about doing what it normally does. I usually begin such a passive session by hitting the record button and then instructing the spirit about what the device does and then setting it down and leaving it record for the rest of the investigation. The scripted tag usually begins with, "This is Robin and it is March 3, 2019, we are in the Seaford house, second floor rear bedroom, and it is 7:15pm. With me tonight are [names of investigators that are with me]." I then place the device somewhere within camera range and I instruct the spirit about what it is and what they should do if they wish to make contact with us. It usually sounds something like, "I've placed a device on the chair over there. Do you see the red light? It will record your voice. We may not hear it tonight but we'll listen to the recording. Please let us know what message you wish to leave the homeowner." I then depart the area and let my recorder do its work.

The debate comes in as to which of these two approaches are better. Many new investigators believe one has to be actively involved in order to receive a response. This is under the assumption that whatever entity or entities are on a property wish to communicate with you actively. I've actually found the reverse to be the case. As often as not, a spirit or spirits seem to go out of their way to actively avoid investigators. It may be that they find the investigative group to be intrusive, and their questions uninteresting. They may have a message to impart, but they're bored with the tenth time that they’ve been asked what their name is. Among the most remarkable EVPs that my group have captured were of the passive variety.

Device Placement
Device placement is extremely important. It should be placed in a position where it isn't likely to pick up extraneous sounds. Case in point: my team did an investigation at an old house. It was myself and two investigators who were new to the whole investigative process. I was busy setting up our four-camera surveillance system. One of my investigators asked me where I wanted her audio recorder to be placed. Off-handedly I told her that I would like it in an upstairs bedroom, and went back to the infuriating process of running cables and setting up cameras. She dutifully took the recorder to the upstairs bedroom. The house was under massive renovations, and there was literally no furniture in the building at the time. Not wanting to set her audio recorder down in construction dust, she instead set it on a window sill, hit record and left. The house was in a residential area, and what the device recorded was every neighbor passing by, all the cars driving by, kids playing on the street. The entire night's recording was wasted. Set up your audio device in a quiet spot, near an interior wall, keeping it away from windows and doors as much as possible. Do not walk about with the device in hand.

Tagging
When investigators move about or make sounds, they should tag such on their recorders with a statement such as, "That was me knocking." Likewise, extraneous sounds should be tagged. For example, if the voices of children are heard playing outside or a car drives by, those sounds should be tagged as well. Investigators should also be diligent about tagging when they enter or exit a space. Such entrances and exits are diligently logged in the investigator's log book. In that way we can chronicle who was or was not in the room when the voice was captured. As I said previously, sometimes voices from another room are picked up, and they may be misinterpreted as an EVP. For example, I have a very soft voice, and the team has countless times picked up what sounds like a soft whisper (which is the way most EVPs tend to come across), and it turns out it was me in another room. If you're performing EVP with a team of people, it's important to caution everyone to avoid whispering. Speak in a normal tone of voice. And when it comes to the integrity of EVPs, the more team members on an investigation is not the merrier. I tend to keep my team very spare on investigations so keep the amount of vocal contamination to a minimum. Silence is golden.

Evidence Review
When reviewing audio, one needs to be very careful to listen to all of the audio, from the moment you hit record to the moment you hit stop. We have found that we get a prevalence of passive EVPs especially at the start of an investigation. The entities appear to be curious as to our intentions, whereas by hour five in the investigation they tend to be as bored with the process as we are. Any possible EVPs are logged in our log books and isolated into smaller clips that are shared among the members. It is important to get several opinions about a possible EVP. For one thing, we want to eliminate any false positives, such as team members in another room, or animal noises that may be misinterpreted as EVP. (Case in point: we did an investigation at a home with several cats. One of the cats made the strangest meow sound I've ever heard. At first, we thought it was a voice, but then we noticed on our video cameras that the sound only occurred when this particular feline was in the room.) Machine noises can be pesky as well. Understandably, it's depressing when you feel you've found the perfect EVP, only to find you've misinterpreted the hiss of the refrigerator. However, it does nothing for your credibility to present a clip that you feel is paranormal, only to find out that it's the resident owl.

The above leads me to my next point: classes of EVP. Obviously, not all EVPs are of the same quality. The founder of the American Association of Electronic Voice Phenomenon, (AA-EVP), Sarah Estep, established a simple, three-step tier system to classify EVPs that is still in use today.

• Class A EVP: These EVPs are of the variety we all dream of capturing. They can be heard without headphones. They are clear and distinct as to what words are being spoken. Without being prompted or told, anyone who hears the EVP will be able to understand what is being said or heard.
• Class B EVP: This is a voice or sound that is fairly loud—still loud enough to be heard without the use of headphones. People with normal hearing will still be able to hear the EVP and interpret it in the same way without being told what the EVP says, if they're told what to listen for. Those who have been trained to listen for EVP will hear the EVP without prompting of any kind.
• Class C EVP: These recordings require headphones to hear. This type of EVP will be faint and will probably come across as a whisper or a soft sound. The words being spoken may not be decipherable. The sound may have a mechanical quality to it. People listening to such would not all decipher the EVP in the same way, or would require prompting to interpret it. Many investigators would disregard this type of recording as flawed. (At best, they'd archive such for future reference, but withhold presenting it.) There is the ever-present danger with this type of sound that it is environmental nature, such as that pesky cat with the weird meow. Beyond a doubt, it is the Class C EVPs that cause the most hurt feelings among investigators. One investigator will distinctly hear someone calling them by name, another will interpret it as machine noise. I always try to keep the TAPS (The Atlantic Paranormal Society) motto in mind: "When in doubt, throw it out." Remember, if you didn't collect an EVP today, there's always next time.

EVP at Home
But, say you don't have a crack team and a haunted site to try out EVP for yourself. With a little discipline, you can conduct EVP sessions at home. Even if the home doesn't have paranormal activity, you can send an invitation out to the spirit world that you wish to communicate, much as people do who experiment with Ouija boards. What you should do is find a time when the home is quiet with as few people in the building as possible. It's best to set up a schedule, so that an entity or entities will know when you're going to be conducting the sessions. You may wish to write up a set of questions. And yes, you can ask for a particular person or persons to make contact with you, such as a departed loved one. Set up your audio equipment, make sure to also wear a good quality headset while recording so that you can hear real-time if and when a voice comes through. You may also wish to review the recordings after the recording session, just to be sure you didn't miss something.

Again, discipline is key. You should stick to your schedule as closely as possible, and realize that it may take many such sessions before you actually capture anything. In the end, however, the voices of the universe are all around us, and you, too, can capture them—if you dare.

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2019. All rights reserved.

I am happily married to a great husband and we have a five-year-old son together. I keep thinking and dreaming about a man I had an affair with before I was married to my husband. I feel like we have some kind of spiritual connection. I can feel when he is thinking about me and I still love him very much. What can I do to break free from him and move on?

Erica

Susyn:

It's normal to carry feelings for people who have touched our lives in powerful ways. Since you are ready to move on and break free of your onetime lover, however, I recommend the following ritual for getting final closure.

For this Ritual to Release a Past Love, you will need: 3 votive candles (1 blue, 1 green, 1 yellow), 1 smokey quartz or brown topaz crystal, amber incense, scissors, 3 pieces of rope or twine 5" to 8" in length, 3 small bowls, purified or filtered water, 3 whole bay leaves, sea salt and 1 red apple.

Begin by placing the candles in front of you. From left to right, place the blue, then the green, then the yellow. Place a small bowl in front of each candle. Fill the center bowl with purified or filtered water. Light the incense and then each candle. Set the three bay leaves in the first bowl and then set the smokey quartz crystal on top of them. Place the apple in the third bowl. Lay the three pieces of rope, scissors and salt container in front of the middle bowl.

Remove one of the bay leaves from the first bowl, sprinkle it with salt, and then drop it into the water bowl. Focus on the blue candle, holding the smokey quartz crystal in your left hand while you focus on the relationship you are ending. This will enable you to release any telepathic communication or compelling thoughts that are keeping you connected to this person.

Next, pull another bay leaf from the first bowl and repeat the process, focusing on the green candle. Continue to hold the crystal in your left hand and meditate on the emotional aspects of the relationship; how it made you feel and what was lacking in the heart aspects of this connection. This will help you release any pent up or lingering feelings you still carry about this relationship.

Third, take the last bay leaf and repeat the process, this time focusing on the yellow candle and meditating on regaining your personal power. When you have finished this process, pick up the three pieces of rope or twine, and one at a time, cut them in half into the water bowl.

With the first cut, say out loud, I sever all communication and intellectual ties with _________. With the second cut, say out loud, I sever all emotional ties with _________. On the third and final cut, say out loud, I sever all spiritual ties with _________ and call my personal power back to me.

To complete the ritual, eat the apple. With each bite, think of one reason you are grateful this relationship is completed. Continue this process until the apple is consumed.

*****

Oceania:

Wow! You're happily married to a great husband with whom you share a son - what blessings! It's natural to feel love for an ex if the relationship was meaningful, but when thoughts and dreams become bothersome, they are no longer reflections of love but rather obsessions: endless mental loops that serve to distract you from the present.

Like drugs, obsessions help us avoid reality, so take an inventory of your inner feelings and external life circumstances and ask: What needs my attention? The answer will be where your true work lies. Once that has been dealt with, your obsession will lift.

Perhaps as a child, you coped with difficulties through fantasies and daydreams; if so, that old habit may prevent you from living fully in the moment. For that matter, the affair you had years ago may itself be an example of you using fantasy to distract yourself.

Don't miss out on today by dwelling in the past. Confidently tackle your present challenges and enjoy the abundant simple pleasures life is offering you. Be the best person, partner and mother you can be. It may be that you need an outlet for your creativity, so consider an art project or some volunteer work.

One way to dismantle an obsession is to scrutinize it. You may be idealizing the affair; swirling memories can seem shiny and bright like hypnotic crystals. Break the spell by reminding yourself, If the affair was meant to grow, it would have! The proof is in the pudding, and this affair ended. You calling it an affair implies there was deception involved, loyalties betrayed or secrets kept. Those facts alone should be enough to taint your glossy memories.

If it was NOT a secret affair, you might consider extending an invitation of friendship to this man. Exes who are not toxic can remain in our lives; the passage of time allows us to shift gears and begin to relate as friends or extended family. Could you and your husband meet up with your ex and his current partner, if he has one? Obsessions tend to dissolve in the bright light of reality.

You feel a spiritual connection to him because you served important purposes in each otherís lives at the time. Thereís no need to break free of the past if you can own it and integrate it, so identify the lessons learned and the purpose the affair served. It may have represented your desire for a loving partner or family, which you found in your husband and son. View the affair as a bridge that helped you get where you wanted to go, and remember that while bridges are valuable, you probably wouldn't be comfortable living on one.

Astrea:

Many times in life we hear, "You will always have what you NEED, but not necessarily what you WANT." Your spirit must have needed to experience the feeling of leaving your human body, and the suggestion in the next chapter of Sylvia Brown's book was all it took to get you there.

Even though you hadn't read it yet, your SOUL recognized the title of that chapter as something it had been seeking, and your soul, knowing that you had that reference to read after your experience, got with it and out you went!

While I don't usually recommend her books, Sylvia Brown has a wide reaching and powerful effect on lots of people. A Gemini like you would be able to relate easily to her writing and put it to good use. Synchronicity - you gotta love it!

I like your description of "getting caught." That's exactly what it feels like, isn't it? One minute you're free and hovering above the room, and the next minute, ZAP! back down into your corporeal form you go!

As a little kid, I loved that "feeling of return." With practice, most of the time we can control that event, but sometimes, when our physical ears hear a distracting noise or something else occurs to knock us back into reality, back we go. With practice you will be able to control your return better.

I find it interesting that you were visiting your mother-in-law and not someone in your own genetic family. Evidently, you and your husband got married for reasons that are even deeper than love. His family's interest in "psychic stuff" will nurture your children in such matters and help them to grow into their own abilities.

You'll never have to be concerned that when your daughter visits them, she'll be discouraged from exploring her own psychic life and power. My parents encouraged me to develop my psychic senses in a time when it wasn't nice to even discuss such things in public. Heck, it's STILL not considered a great topic at the dinner table in some families!

Your kids will get to talk about it ALL and ask questions and read and study. This is going to give them such an edge in life! Talk with your husband about how you want to present this to your kiddos, so that you are united in your approach and ready to tell them their experiences are all natural and okay.

A word or two of warning: Geminis often have difficulty staying grounded in REAL LIFE. Don't get so strung out on your ASTRAL life that you neglect what you're doing here on Earth.

You are at the beginning of a long journey to learn where your power really lies. Try to be patient with this process and take your time.