Paranormal Book Club: Guidance notes

16th September 2022. Reading Time: 3 minutes General, Paranormal Book Club. 613 page views. 0 comments.

In this paranormal book club, we are looking at what I consider to be two must have books for anyone involved in paranormal investigation.

In a field that is widely unregulated, there seem to be a lot of said and sometimes unsaid 'rules' of paranormal investigation. Maybe they are things you have learnt along the way. Sometimes they are ideas from paranormal reality television shows. While there is a lot of the same thing that people do on paranormal investigations, often they don't quite have a grasp on the how or the why. They simply do it because it is how others do it or how they were told to do it. The Guidance notes written by Steven T Parson and published by the Society of Psychical Research bridge that gap by providing a very comprehensive and detailed series aimed to guide those investigating the paranormal with all of the information they need to not only investigate claims of the paranormal, but how to interpret them in a meaningful and controlled way.

Guidance Notes for Investigators of Spontaneous Cases: Apparitions, Hauntings, Poltergeists and Similar Phenomena by Steven T Parsons

These guidance notes are intended to be helpful for those who seek to investigate Ghosts, Apparitions, Hauntings, Poltergeists and related phenomena. These are generally referred to as being spontaneous phenomena as they normally occur without warning, as such they cannot be predicted or prompted.

Since the earliest times, countless witnesses have attested to experiencing apparitions or other ghostly phenomena and thousands of buildings and places have gained a reputation for being haunted, To ignore or dismiss these accounts would be foolish, to acknowledge them as proof without question or study would be equally so.

Published by the Society of Psychical Research, it is a small easy read, but full of valuable information that is fantastic for those wanting to conduct their own investigations. It is even a good refresher guide for those who have been investigating for a while.

While exploring the different categories of what a ghost is and how to label them, it also explores things like ethics, witness testimony, planning an investigation, setting up equipment, how to research a case and many more vital areas. For those wanting to really take their investigation to the next level, this is a comprehensive guide that will be really beneficial.

Links:

Society For Psychical Research: https://www.spr.ac.uk/book/guidance-notes-investigators-spontaneous-cases-apparitions-hauntings-poltergeists-and-similar

Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Guidance-Notes-Investigators-Spontaneous-Cases-ebook/dp/B0888TT8K4

Using Equipment: Guidance Notes for Investigators of Apparitions, Hauntings, Poltergeists and Similar Phenomena by Steven T Parsons

These guidance notes are intended to provide helpful information and practical guidance to all those who use equipment to support their investigations. They are also intended to help the investigator to obtain the maximum usefulness from their equipment and from the data they collect whilst using it.

In a follow-up to the previous guidance notes, this version tackles the subject of equipment. It is a much thicker book with lots of useful information that gives a very detailed and comprehensive overview of the use of equipment in a paranormal investigation. While investigators use devices to measure things such as EMF, this book goes into detail on how to not only measure such things, but considerations to be made as well as how to interpret the data, what equipment to use and how to use it. I particularly took the chapters dedicated to photography and the analysing of EXIF data. It was explained in a way so much better than I could ever do and included things I hadn't even considered. Simply put, I have gained so much knowledge and even pointers from this book that I can apply to my own investigations.

Links:

Society For Psychical Research: https://www.spr.ac.uk/book/using-equipment-guidance-notes-investigators-apparitions-hauntings-poltergeists-and-similar

Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Using-Equipment-Investigators-Apparitions-Poltergeists-ebook/dp/B09JZMT1K9

We know as a paranormal community there is no regulation in the paranormal field. There are however organisations such as the Society For Psychical Research that are very well respected for the protocols and the way they approach paranormal research which is why I take notice when they endorse and publish something like this. Even the most seasoned paranormal investigators will benefit from these books and I would go as far to say that they are a must-have as a part of any paranormal investigator's library.

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