We live and we die. That's a great conclusion and sometimes we have enough of the live bit to feel ready for the die bit. As this die bit is considered by some to be eternal then it's a good idea to cram a lot of life in during the years you can still do it while self propelled and motivated. The die bit is quite scary and how the light fades from your eyes causes great concern. Will it be a long, slow and painful illness? Will it be self motivated? An exciting moment gone wrong?

As we wait to find out what happens to that light we can only guess by what information has come our way and our own inner voice. It was a few years ago when my inner voice spoke. Yep, it did. It wasn't a speaking voice as such or even words - it was a feeling, a knowing, a familiarity. And the occasion? I was in the vaults of the south bridge in Edinburgh.

It was a ghost walk in the Blair Street vaults part way down the Royal Mile in the old area of Edinburgh. The tour guide went on at length about the ghosts and horror that took place down in the down arched rooms. I could see by the expression on people's faces that they were uncomfortable being in the darkness and hearing tales of poltergeist activity. Nervous flicks of eyes that tried to look calm yet hoping to see all around them for the approaching ghoul.

But I didn't have any of this. It was strange. I felt comfortable and 'at home'. It was though I could be left alone in these bare-brick caverns and feel as though I'd returned from a day at work. I hung back from the tour crowd who hung and the every telling word of the guide and although I could hear him, I was busy absorbing the familiarity of the rooms. Why? I stood there perplexed to this feeling. I wanted to be sensing a touch of fear like the rest of the crowd - getting my moneys-worth of scare. What I got was something far more interesting.

On my return I looked at various regression therapists who advertised their services. But they all wanted to know health details and why I wanted it. Was it for depression, health reasons etc? All I wanted was to find out if I did exist in another life, down in the dark vaults with the other poor souls of old Edinburgh. I didn't want to tell them anything about it in case they used this information to tell me what I wanted to hear rather than it come out 'in another way'.

So I'm none the wiser. I still believe you live then you die. The energy we use in our living bodies fades into the earth and we are no more. Would regression have changed this outlook? Possibly.

I'd like to hear your stories or comments if you have any on this subject.

Lee

I can only speak for myself but what a hell of a miserable year it has been. It started off great with my new job but gradually as the year progressed, death and destruction reigned. Whether that be our young troops getting needlessly killed, numerous celebrity deaths to even family illnesses - all have taken their toll.

But like everything, you live on, waiting for tomorrow to arrive and see what it will bring. As I head into 2010 I know there will be more sadness to come and I dread it happening but like everyone, I'm helpless and unable to do anything about it.

So what do you do? Throw yourself into work,  hobbies or just wait for the bomb to explode? I suppose a little bit of each. That's why for most of this year Hauntedland has not seen much action other than a redesign. I would like to think this will change next year and have loads of new material to upload.

For now, I'm just adding a blog update and some YouTube clips of previous explorations in dark places. Meanwhile I'll ponder my next paranormal activity so long as real life doesn't get too much in the way.

Good luck for 2010.

bye bye

With winter comes dark nights. Now for those who enjoy investigating the paranormal it means you can start earlier in the day instead of waiting until 9 or 10pm. But the reality of the situation has always made me ask - is it relevant what time of day or how dark it is to experience the paranormal?

Surely if there are ghosts lurking about why would they choose the dark hours to come pay a visit? Is there a ghost rule book that states it's night, get out there and get haunting? Or is it that we living humans get a buzz from being in the dark where things are more difficult to see and our senses heightened.

I've been to a few locations both during the day and night and it is really hard to deny that the dark adds something to a location. An often beautiful and scenic location by day can have a complete overhaul of personality once the sun drops and moonlight takes over.

Although my preference for visiting locations at night is based on the psychological aspect of 'that's when the dead come out' and the heightened senses raise your alertness to another level, I also enjoy seeing the places during the day. There have been occasions where I have sensed an atmosphere even though it was broad daylight. But because I can see clearly what is going on around me the impact of fear is completely erased - not that I've ever experienced true fear during the night - though there have been a few occasions where I've had the hairs on the back of my neck stand to attention.

The more ghosts and the paranormal is packaged and sold by companies and media as a product of night time and evil the next generation of paranormal 'investigators' will have an even harder time of seeing through the psychology to the reality below.

Perhaps it is time paranormal groups attempted day time visits to haunted locations as I cant help feeling that a real paranormal experience in broad daylight will be far more memorable than a night time one.

bye bye.

It's sad when mediums to used to communicate become the new platform for spammers and the small minded people who get off on ripping people off or causing disruption.

Twitter has become rife with such scurge. Many attempts have been made to hack my account through phishing messages that get you to log on to a fake Twitter site. Luckily my browser can tell the fake from the genuine but it seems that some people have fallen into the trap.

Now that I'm getting messages from followers asking me to visit this or that great site or seen something about me and to click on the link I know that person's account has been hacked.

Sadly the best they can do is to start all over again but it's so frustrating when so much time has been spent building up a good following.

So, always be on your guard and delete any messages that ask you to follow a link because... Even from people you trusted in the past as there is a good chance it is no longer them sending you those messages.

Bye bye.

Slains Castle - Aberdeen

Just a quick note to let you see a wonderful ruin I visited in Scotland. It's called Slains Castle and it's perched right on a cliff top in Aberdeen.

It is also claimed to be the inspiration for Bram Stokers Dracula! There are before and after photos for you to enjoy - if you like ruined castles that is!

I visited there during the night with my sister. I waited for the sun to go down so it was completely dark, but it never did. The horizon remained semi-light all night! Nice colour sky it was too.

As morning dawned we could see the ruin better. After seeing the pre-ruined state it was quite sad to learn this was quite recently allowed to become this way. As you will see from the photos it was a really lovely place too.

Link to flickr collection:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/leesfoster/sets/72157622650290599/

Link to other information:
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/crudenbay/slainscastle/

cheers