THE WEEK AFTER CHRISTMAS CAN SOMETIMES BE A GHOST WEEK.  SOME PEOPLE TAKE OFF UNTIL JANUARY AND SOME PEOPLE WORK. IT IS A TIME OF REFLECTION.  A TIME TO LOOK BACK AT THE YEAR AND THINK, WOW, WHAT THE HECK DID I ACCOMPLISH?  THERE WERE GOOD TIMES AND BAD TIMES AND LOTS OF IN-BETWEEN TIMES.  BUT THAT'S WHAT LIFE IS ALL ABOUT. THERE ARE HIGHS AND LOWS AND WITHOUT THOSE YOU WOULD HAVE NO FRAME OF REFERENCE TO KNOW HOW TO FEEL.  WELL GHOSTS DON'T HAVE A GHOST WEEK.  THEIR "GHOST WEEK" LASTS ALL YEAR LONG.  THEY HAVE NOTHING BUT TIME TO REFLECT UPON WHAT THEY DID OR DIDN'T DO.

I KNOW WHAT I DID OR DIDN'T DO THIS YEAR, AND I DON'T NEED TO MAKE ANY RESOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE MY NEW YEAR.  I GAVE UP MAKING RESOLUTIONS A LONG TIME AGO.  I DO NOT MAKE PROMISSES I CANNOT KEEP AND THE ONLY ONE I HAVE TO ANSWER TO IS ME.  SOME PEOPLE MIGHT SAY WHAT ABOUT GOD? WELL, GOD DOESN'T RELY UPON US FOR MORALE SUPPORT OR VALIDATION.  NO ALL-POWERFUL BEING NEEDS TO BE WORSHIPPED, IT MAKES NO SENSE!  GOD'S EGO IS NOT AFFECTED BY WHAT WE DO, HE STILL LOVES US ALL NO MATTER WHAT.  BUT WITH THAT SAID, HE DOESN'T MIND A LITTLE HELP.  THIS YEAR I HELPED CROSSOVER A FEW SOULS.  IT IS ONE OF THE MOST SATISFYING THINGS YOU CAN DO.  I DID NOT MAKE A DIME ON IT EITHER AND COULD CARE LESS.   I HELPED SOULS WHO HAVE BEEN STUCK HERE REUNITE WITH THEIR FAMILIES AND TO ME THAT IS THE BEST PAYBACK ANYONE COULD ASK FOR. 

THIS YEAR STARTED OUT WITH PROMISS, AND IT WILL END IN PROMISS.  DESPITE THE BAD PEOPLE N THE WORLD, I STILL BELEIVE THERE IS MORE GOOD THAN BAD.  THE HARD PART IS TELLING WHO IS GOOD AND WHO IS BAD.  SOMETIMES ITS EVEN HARDER TO SEPERATE YOURSELF FROM THOSE BAD OR NEGATIVE PEOPLE, JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE KNOWN THEM FOR ALONG TIME.  BUT IT IS TRULY A WISE MAN WHO CAN SAY "I WILL NOT BE A PART OF YOUR NEGATIVITY TOWARDS OTHERS ANYMORE".  WITH THIS COMES A NEW SENSE OF REBIRTH, A NEW SENSE OF SELF, AND A NEW DEDICATION TO NOT LETTING THOSE FEW AFFECT YOUR POSITIVE INFLUENCE ON THE WORLD.

ALOT OF PEOPLE WONDER ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF CHRISTMAS.  I KNOW MOST PEOPLE THINK THAT IT HAS BEEN AROUND FOREVER AND IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE BIRTH OF JESUS AS WELL AS THE GIVING OF PRESENTS BY ONE SANTA CLAUS, HELPED BY HIS ELVES.  WELL CHRISTMAS AS WE KNOW IT IS A CONGLOMERATION OF HOLIDAYS MESHED TOGETHER OVER CENTURIES INTO WHAT WE HAVE TODAY. 
THE ORIGIN OF SANTA AND HIS ELVES CAN BE TRACED BACK TO GERMAN FOLKLORE OF THE 16TH AND 17TH CENTURIES.  IN THOSE DAYS, TRAVEL THROUGHT THE DARK FORESTS OF GERMANIA IN THE WINTER MEANT ALMOST CERTAIN DEATH, NOT FROM THE ELEMENTS, BUT FROM CREATURES ALONG THE ROADS THAT WOULD POUNCE UPON TRAVELERS AND KILL THEM.  THE TOMTIN IS ONE OF THOSE CREATURES.  THEY WERE SMALL MANLIKE CREATURES WHO AT ONE TIME MIGHT HAVE BEEN LINKED TO WOOD MYMPHS AND TREE SPIRITS OF THE FOREST.   THEY WERE GIVEN TO ATTACKING AND EATING THE FLESH OF TRAVELERS AND WERE THE LEAD ELEMENT OF A TERRIBLE MAN CALLED "NACHT RUPERECHT".  NACHT RUPERECHT WENT ABOUT THE COUNTRY AND WOULD PEER IN ON PEOPLE THROUHG THE WINDOWS, SEEING IF THEY WERE UPHOLDING THE TRADTIONS OF NATURE WORSHIPERS.  HE WORE RED(THE COLOR OF BLOOD) TO TERRORIZE TRAVELERS AND IF THEY HAD NOT OFFERED RITUAL SACRIFICE TO HIM, AND THEY WERE "BAD" HE WOULD KILL THEM AND EAT THEM.  IF THEY WERE GOOD, THEY WERE REWARDED.

OVER TIME, THE CHURCH IN ORDER TO BRING NEW MEMBERS LIKE THE DRUIDS AND CELTS INTO THEIR RELIGION, TOOK THIS STORY AND MADE IT INTO A MORE  FRIENDLY ONE.  TO GET RID OF "NACT RUPRECHTT", THEY CHOSE ST. NICHOLAS TO REPLACE HIM AND THE TOMTIM BECAME HIS HELPERS(ELVES).  THE FEAST OF ST. NICK WAS IN LATE DECEMBER AND SO THIS WOULD BE A GOOD CHOICE FOR CHRISTMAS!  IT ALSO OCCURRED SMACK DAB IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DRUIDS WINTER SOLSTICE CELEBRATION THAT LASTED A WEEK! ST. NICK AND HIS HELPERS STILL TRAVELED THE COUNTRY DOING THE SAME THING, WITHOUT THE KILLING.  THE CHRISTMAS TREE IS ALSO A LEFT-OVER FROM THE DRUIDS WHO WERE NATURE WORSHIPING PEOPLE.  SO WE TAKE A LITTLE FROM SEVERAL FOLKLORES AND MIX THEM IN WITH THE BIRTH OF JESUS(WHICH MOST SCOLLARS NOW AGREE WAS IN SEPTEMBER)AND THIS IS HOW YOU DESTROY THE RELIGION OF YOUR ENEMY WHILE BOOSTING YOUR OWN.  SO THE NEXT TIME YOU SEE ONE OF SANTA'S ELVES, REMEMBER THAT HE WAS ONCE A BOOD-THIRSTY KILLER CALLED A TOMTIN!

THE SHADOWMAN OR SHADOW PEOPLE, IS A TERM GIVEN TO A TYPE OF ENTITY THAT APPEARS AS A BLACK SHADOW TO THE HUMAN EYE.  I HAVE ONLY SEEN ONE ONCE, IN THE ALTOONA RAILROAD MUSEUM BASEMENT.  DOUG AND I WERE DOWN THERE AND AS WE TURNED AROUND, I SAW A DARK FIGURE PEEKING OUT FROM BEHIND AN PARTIAL WALL.  WHEN HE SPOTTED US LOOKING HIS WAY HE DUCKED INTO WHAT I THOUGHT WAS A ROOM.  AT THE TIME WE WERE LOOKING FOR AN INVESTIGATOR WHO HAD GONE OFF ON HIS OWN, LIKE HE HAD DONE BEFORE AND WAS MISSING.  I IMMEDIATLEY THOUGHT THAT HIS WAS HIM AND THAT I HAD SEEN HIS BLACK JACKET AND HE WAS PLAYING A GAME WITH US.  SO I RAN(LITERALLY) DOWN THIS HALL TO CONFRONT HIM AND WHEN I TURNED TO GO INTO THE ROOM, IT WAS JUST A CLOSET AND NO ONE WAS THERE!  OF COURSE THIS WAS AS WE WERE SETTING UP A CAMERA IN THAT HALLWAY, SO I DID NOT GET IT ON VIDEO.  LATER, WHEN WE WERE OUTSIDE, DOUG TURNED AND SAW HIM AGAIN(OR ANOTHER ONE?) WALK PAST THE END OF THE BUILDING AND DOWN AN ALLEY.  HE RAN TO THE END OF THE BUILDING AND WHEN HE TURNED TO LOOK DOWN THE ALLEY, HE WAS GONE!  THERE WAS NOT ENOUGHT TIME FOR A REAL PERSON TO HAVE MADE IT DOWN THE ALLEY, SO, WE WERE LEFT WONDERING.

IN NOVEMEBER, WE WERE INVESTIGATING A MANSION IN PENNSYLVANIA AND WERE IN THE BASEMENT DOING EVPS, WHEN MATT CAUGHT A SHADOWMAN ON VIDEO!  HE DID NOT SEE IT AT THE TIME, BUT LATER THAT NIGHT(3AM) WE REVIEWED THE FOOTAGE AND SURE ENOUGH YOU CAN SEE A SHADOW WALK IN FROM ANOTHER ROOM AND STOP IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA!!!!  HE WAS WEARING A BRIMMED HAT OF SOME SORT AND THEN HE DUCKS UNDER THE CAMERA.  THIS IS THE REAL DEAL.  THE CAMERA WAS A  HIGH DEF SONY AND WE WERE IN INFRARED MODE, SO IT WAS SEEING THE HEAT SIGNATURE OF THIS GHOST.  SINCE GHOSTS TAKE ENERGY FROM THE AIR AND CAN MAKE THE SURROUNDING AIR COLD, HE APPEARS AS A DARK SHAPE.  NOW THERE IS NO ONE SHADOWMAN, THERE ARE MANY SHADOW PEOPLE.  BUT NO ONE HAS EVER CAPTURED VIDEO OF ONE AS FAR AS WE KNOW AND THE EVIDENCE WILL STAND UP TO SCRUTINY AS NOT BEING FAKED.  SO IF YOU ARE INTO PARANORMAL INVESTIGATING, REMEMBER TO KEEP YOUR CAMERA ROLLING AND MAYBE YOU WILL GET THE ILLUSIVE SHADOWMAN!!!!!

SOME GHOSTS HANG AROUND BECAUSE THEY ARE NOSEY.  SOME HANG AROUND BECAUSE THEY DO NOT WANT TO LEAVE FREINDS OR FAMILY.  AND SOME HAVE UNRESOLVED ISSUES.  A MAN  WHO BUILT HIS OWN HOUSE AND WANTED IT TO PASS DOWN TO HIS HEIRS IS ONE OF THOSE GHOSTS.  HE IS BEING SELF CENTERED, LIKE SO MANY PEOPLE ARE TODAY.  NOW, HIS CRABBYNESS AND STUBBORNESS IS CAUSING OTHER PEOPLE TO HAVE PROBLEMS.  NOW HIS NEGATIVE ENERGY IS HURTING A YOUNG CHILD.  THATS WHERE WE COME IN.  I HAVE VERY LITTLE TOLERANCE FOR ANYONE WHO CAUSES HARM TO CHILDREN, WHETHER IT IS THROUGH NEGLECT AND NON-PARTICIPATION IN A CHILDS LIFE, OR IN THIS CASE, A MEAN OLD MAN WHO DIED AND CANNOT LET GO OF HIS ANGER.  SO NOW, UNLIKE OTHER GROUPS, WE ARE ABOUT TO DO BATTLE WITH THIS OLD GUY.  WHEN I SAY BATTLE, I DO NOT MEAN A PHYSICAL CONFLICT.  OUR BATTLE WILL BE TO RID THE FAMILY OF HIS NEGATIVE ENERGY, AND THAT MAY MEAN ACTUALLY HELPING THIS GUY DEAL WITH HIS ISSUES AND CROSS OVER.  WHETHER HE WILL GO PEACEFULLY OR NOT IS YET TO BE DETERMINED.  BUT WE DO NOT RUN FROM A FIGHT AND WE WILL WIN THIS BATTLE BECAUSE WE DO NOT GIVE UP!  THE WAY TO BATTLE NEGATIVE ENERGY IS TWO FOLD: 1 DENY THEM ENERGY FROM THE FAMILY, AND 2, USE LOVE, NOT FEAR OR ANGER TO DEFEND THE FAMILY.  SO MANY PEOPLE LIKE THE SPIKE HAIR GUYS GO INTO A PLACE AND YELL OR TAUNT THE GHOSTS.  THIS IS WRONG AND SHOWS A LACK OF KNOWLEDGE OF THE PARANORMAL.  GHOSTS WANT TO ANGER YOU OR CAUSE YOU TO BE AFRAID.  THE NEGATIVE ENERGY GIVEN OFF BY ANGER OR FEAR IS WHAT THEY FEED ON.  WE ACTUALLY HAD AN EVP OF A "BAD"GUY WHO TOLD US WE HAD FED HIM WITH OUR FEARS.  THAT WAS THE DAY I REALIZED THAT MOST OF THESE "BAD" GUYS ARE JUST BULLIES AND THE ONLY WAY TO TAKE AWAY THEIR POWER IS TO STAND UP TO THEM AND NOT SHOW ANY FEAR.  ITS LIKE A DOG WHO CAN SMELL FEAR, THESE GUYS WANT MORE.  SO IF YOU HAVE A GHOST IN YOUR HOUSE, TAKE CHARGE.  LET THEM KNOW THAT THIS IS YOUR HOUSE, AND YOUR TIME AND THAT THEY HAD THEIR CHANCE.  TELL THEM THAT IF THEY STAY THEY ARE GUESTS AND MUST ABIDE BY YOUR RULES AND IF THEY CANNOT THEN THEY MUST LEAVE. BE STERN, BUT NOT ANGRY, IT IS THE MOST EMPOWERING THING YOU CAN DO.  THEN CONTACT A GROUP LIKE US, WHO WILL WRAP UP THOSE UNRESOLVED ISSUES.