GHOSTVILLAGE.COM NEWSLETTER #79 - March 17, 2008

Buy Books by Jeff Belanger | Jeff Belanger's Official Web site | Visit UFOvillage.com | Visit us on MySpace

Be sure to forward this on to your friends who are interested in the supernatural!

Click here for The Lost Crown Ghost Hunting Adventure Game
"The Lost Crown: A Ghost-hunting Adventure" is a unique computer game combining a spine-tingling story with today's modern ghost-hunting techniques. The game allows players to wield the tools of a paranormal investigator, and features actual E.V.P. recordings, plus photographs of unexplained entities captured by the creator while researching the game. http://www.thelostcrown.com/


You are receiving this email because you or a friend signed you up at http://www.ghostvillage.com. If you would like to be removed from this mailing list, please see the instructions at the bottom.
View this newsletter online at: http://www.ghostvillage.com/newsletters/Mar17_08.htm
Dear Ghostvillagers,

It's March 17th here at the Ghostvillage.com world headquarters near Boston, Massachusetts, and that of course got us thinking about St. Patrick's Day, beer, Irish lore, beer, legends, beer, faeries, and of course beer. When most people think of Irish legends, the Leprechaun first comes to mind. The Leprechaun is a class of faerie folk that comes from the Celtic traditions in and around Ireland. These little magickal creatures are said to be wizened old men who often hoard and hide great treasures. Though this particular faerie legend is colorful and memorable, it's certainly not unique in the world.

I recall a trip I took to Alaska where I had the opportunity to discuss supernatural legends with a member of the Inuit clan. They too have a "little people" legend in their lore. Like their Irish counterpart, these creatures also have magickal abilities. On the Bahamian island of Andros, there is the legend of a mischievous little folk called Chickcharnies who had red eyes and could turn their heads all the way around. Here in Massachusetts, the Wampanoag Indians believed in Pukwudgies, magickal little folk who could help you or hurt you depending on their mood. And the list goes on and on throughout the world.

Small creatures with magickal abilities, or faeries, are a part of many disparate cultures. These legends still hold their influence over modern-day society, and there are many who believe they not only still exist, but can influence our world. This month on Ghostvillage.com, we're going to dive into the faerie realm and see what we can uncover 'neath the toadstools and peat moss.

I want to say thank you to everyone who emailed in about last month's theme, "Women in the Paranormal." I was overwhelmed with the response, and I wish we had the time and space to have interviewed 100 more women who are out there making a difference in the field. Hopefully more of our female colleagues will contribute articles and editorials to Ghostvillage.com in the future. We always welcome that input.

I've got a lot of projects I'm currently working on that I'm really excited about, but it's work that will be taking up a lot of my time. I'm sorry if I'm slower than normal in responding to emails and phone calls. I also have a lot of upcoming lectures. Hopefully I'll get to meet more of you Ghostvillagers at these great events -- like Ghost Rush in Volcano, California on March 28th. I hope to see all of you (yes all of you) there!

Enjoy the rest of the newsletter below!

Supernaturally yours,

Jeff Belanger
Mayor of Ghostvillage.com



Monthly Contest
Congratulations to Ann Hentz of Methuen, Massachusetts, who was last month's winner of an autographed copy of Jeff Belanger's new book, The Ghost Files, a Ghostvillage.com window sticker, and a Ghostvillage.com t-shirt!

This month, we're doing the contest again, but we ask that you first click this link: http://www.ghostvillage.com/index.shtml#winner. If it says, "The search is on" then we don't have a winner yet and go ahead and send in your answer. If you see today's date and "We have a winner!" that means you weren't the first to email us. Sorry, please try again next month.

On to this month's question: This question can be answered by reading a page on Ghostvillage.com. The first person to reply to this email with the correct answer will win this month's prize.

What is in author Dusty Smith's CD player right now?

Once we have our winner, we will announce them on our home page as soon as possible. Good luck! (Only Ghostvillagers who have not won a prize from us in the last year are eligible.)

This month's prize: We're giving away an autographed copy of Jeff Belanger's latest book, The Ghost Files, a Ghostvillage.com window sticker, and a Ghostvillage.com t-shirt!


Didn't win? Want to buy a copy? Click on the graphic.



Supernatural Calendar
The Supernatural Calendar is the place where thousands will learn about your events of interest to the supernatural world. The service is only available to registered members of the message boards, and it's free! Ghostvillage.com now syndicates our calendar of events so other Web sites can also display these supernatural happenings at no charge! To learn more about installing our calendar of events RSS feed, please visit our syndication page. Adding your own local events to our calendar is more important than ever!

March 20: Jeff Belanger on The Maury Show
March 28: Ghost Rush 2008 Conference - Volcano, California - Jeff Belanger will be speaking at this event
March 29: FortFest '08: Beyond Belief in Baltimore, MD
April 11: 2008 California Ghost Hunters Conference
April 19: PhenomeCon 2008 in Historic Columbus, Indiana
May 15: Jeff Belanger on The Ghosts R NEAR

Who's Who in the Village?
Get to know some of your fellow Ghostvillagers.

>>JimDe<< - member since April 1, 2002

What is your name?
JimDe

How old are you?
30+

Where do you live?
Connecticut, USA

What is your Web site?
Spiritography.com

What do you do for a living?
Computer Consultant

How did you first get interested in the supernatural?
The lure of mysterious phenomena struck me early in my teens... I started reading books on witchcraft, tarot, and ghosts back in the mid-70s. It seemed to fit into the lifestyle I was leading at the time which was focused on girls, guitars, and hanging out with my bros. Eventually, I got involved with séances and channeling and sought to apply all these mystical perspectives into my other interests. There were times during studio recording sessions when we would often stop to perform a séance in the studio in the hopes of channeling the prevailing muse of the evening (aahh the 70s).

I became involved with spirit photography in 1999 on the advice of my friend Jeffrey Wands. The appearances began immediately, and over the years have intensified as well as led into other areas of research and development. Considering the unimaginable hours of dedication and sacrifice (luck?)... I would say that having been recognized scientifically has made it a worthwhile effort.

How do you see the practice of spirit photography evolving in the coming years?
Key areas of improvement have been made in technology, and digital devices are at the forefront of the assault on paranormal evidence both visually and audibly. I think another key advancement is that spirit photography has indeed been recognized by members of the scientific community as being legitimate (though incredibly rare)... and they have published opinions as to what constitutes paranormal activity in photographs. Spirit photography in the 21st century is a visual experience, and I would hope we have seen the last of orb(s) and shadows as we have obviously moved forward in research and results.

Is it possible to own too many guitars?
Geeez, my wife asks me that question all the time... honestly, there’s no such thing as too many guitars (...as long as they’re Gibson). Rock on GV!

Last Month's Theme - Featured Content
Our last month's theme was women in the paranormal. Here's what you missed if you haven't checked in since last month:

Feature: Women in the Paranormal: Donna LaCroix
Feature: Women in the Paranormal: Amy Bruni
Feature: Women in the Paranormal: Ursula Bielski
Feature: Women in the Paranormal: L'Aura Hladik
Feature: Women in the Paranormal: Allison Andrews
Feature: Women in the Paranormal: Rosemary Ellen Guiley
Feature: Women in the Paranormal: Lorraine Warren


Shopping at Ghostvillage.com
Have you checked out our Ghost-Mart and Ghostvillage U.?

Ghostvillage U.: "Professor Paranormal" Loyd Auerbach and the HCH Institute's Distance Learning Certificate Course on Parapsychological Studies is now available through Ghostvillage.com. Ready to take paranormal investigation to the next level? Check out the online courses.

Ghost-Mart:
Digital Voice Recorders: Going for EVP? Think DVR.
Paranormal Books: Ghost-Mart has many of the leading paranormal titles.
EMF Meters: Check out our line of EMF meters from cell sensors to tri-field.
Closed Circuit TV: From inexpensive to the high end, we have them all.


Supernatural Library
Ghostvillage.com's book reviewer, Lee Prosser and the staff have brought you several new book reviews and author interviews since our last newsletter.

This past month's Library additions:

MindLight by Silver Ravenwolf
Haunted Daytona Beach by Dusty Smith [AUTHOR INTERVIEW]
The Weiser Concise Guide to Herbal Magick by Judith Hawkins-Tillirson
Ghosts of Fort Worth by Brian Righi


Ghostvillage.com Advertising Opportunities
Each month Ghostvillage.com reaches tens of thousands of people interested in the paranormal. We offer the most effective and best-valued advertising and sponsorship packages of any paranormal media outlet. Please visit: http://www.ghostvillage.com/advertising.htm for details.

If you're ready to put Ghostvillage.com to work for your company or organization, send us an email to get started.

Recent Encounters
We receive personal encounters from all over the world. Many are scary, some are touching, but they are always profound. If you would like to share your own experience, please click >>here<<. Since our last newsletter, we added the following new encounters:

The Man in My House - Welland, Ontario, Canada
A Haunting Near Channel Road - Sanger, California
Faces in the Mirror - Billings, Montana
Sharing My Bed With a Ghost - Mexico
The Slender Spirit - Pembroke Pines, Florida
Shadows in My House - Ocala, Florida
My Haunted Office - Las Vegas, Nevada
Shadow in the First Baptist Church - Boise, Idaho
The Little Girl's Shadow - Chattanooga, Tennessee
Knocks at 2 AM - Naples, New York
A Possessed Patient - Ashland, Kentucky


News
This is the place to find press releases and news items on paranormal happenings around the world. If you have a news item you'd like to submit, please see our guidelines.

WANT THESE HEADLINES ON YOUR SITE FOR FREE? Syndicate our news! If you have a Web site or blog, you can syndicate our news feeds to your site for free. Join the growing list of Web sites who carry our news by visiting our syndication page.

Ghost Seminar and Investigation at the Lizzie Borden House
Report: Spielberg's Spooky Social Site CNET - San Francisco, California - March 4, 2008 [EXTERNAL NEWS]
Father: Son's Spirit Saved My Life WLWT - Butler, Kentucky - February 27, 2008 [EXTERNAL NEWS]
The International Fortean Organization (INFO) Presents FortFest '08: Beyond Belief in Baltimore
Indiana-S.P.I., EERIE Radio and Crossroads Paranormal Present Indiana-PhenomeCon 2008 in Historic Columbus, Indiana
Ghostbuster Goes After Green Lady! Highland News - Inverness, Scotland, UK - February 21, 2008 [EXTERNAL NEWS]
Chasing Television's Ghosts Broadcast Newsroom - Newport Beach, California - February 19, 2008 [EXTERNAL NEWS]
Local Paranormal Investigators Explore Waynesboro Home - Staunton News Leader - Staunton, Virginia - February 17, 2008 [EXTERNAL NEWS]
"The Lost Crown: A Ghost-hunting Adventure" Goes Gold



Features
Our "Features" section is a place for editorials, research articles, open letters to our readers, and other content of interest to Ghostvillagers. If you have a topic on your mind, agree or disagree with something you read recently, we want to hear from you! For guidelines, click here.

New features added since our last newsletter:

Billy The Kid - by Lee Prosser - March 12, 2008 [COLUMN]
Women in the Paranormal: Donna LaCroix - March 5, 2008
Women in the Paranormal: Amy Bruni - March 2, 2008
Women in the Paranormal: Ursula Bielski - February 28, 2008
Women in the Paranormal: L'Aura Hladik - February 25, 2008
Women in the Paranormal: Allison Andrews - February 22, 2008
Haunted Cape Cod and the Islands - Ghost Chronicles - February 20, 2008 [PODCAST]
Women in the Paranormal: Rosemary Ellen Guiley - February 19, 2008
Women in the Paranormal: Lorraine Warren - February 16, 2008


Jeff Belanger's Upcoming Events
This is the place to find out where author and Ghostvillage.com founder Jeff Belanger will be speaking on the subject of the supernatural. If you're interested in booking Jeff for a conference or other event, please email us for more information.

Events Scheduled:

Ghost Rush 2008 - Volcano, California - March 28-30, 2008
Cape Cod Community College - West Barnstable, Massachusetts - May 30, 2008
Mid-Atlantic Paranormal Conference - Gettysburg, Pennsylvania - June 27-29, 2008
A Weird (Massachusetts) Evening with Jeff Belanger at the Beaman Memorial Public Library - West Boylston, Massachusetts - 6:30 PM - July 23, 2008
A Supernatural Evening with Jeff Belanger at the Dover Public Library - Dover, Massachusetts - 7 PM - October 15, 2008
MASS Monster Mash - Watertown, Massachusetts - October 18, 2008
A Supernatural Evening with Jeff Belanger at the Tewksbury Public Library - Tewksbury, Massachusetts - 7 PM - October 27, 2008
Stanley Hotel Paranormal Retreat - Estes Park, Colorado - November 9-12, 2008
Queen Mary Conference - Long Beach, California - December 7-10, 2008


Hot Threads and the Ghostvillage.com Community
In the past month, hundreds of new people registered for free to join our supernatural discussion! Have you?

If you have registered for our message boards but haven't validated your account yet, it's simple to do! Look for the email that was automatically sent to you when you registered and click on the account activation link in the email (note: some bulkmail filters may block this email, so you'll need to check your bulkmail folder if the validation email didn't immediately come through). There are always great discussions going on in our huge message board community. We hope you'll get involved. It's free to register if you're not already a member. Here are some of the hot topics this month:

Women In Folklore
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showtopic=23063
Which women in the past have helped carve the way ahead?

Personal Encounters
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showtopic=23140
A full-bodied apparition.

Haunted Locations
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showtopic=4012
Not a regular summer camp.

Full Disclosure
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showtopic=23077
Does a real estate agent have to disclose a haunting?

What's In a Name?
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showtopic=23183
Giving ghosts names... what do you think of naming ghosts?

Mortal Sins
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showtopic=23194
The Vatican updates mortal sins.

Spiritography
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showtopic=23170
A person needs help identifying objects in a picture.

EVP
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showtopic=23094
Six EVP from a disused hospital near Dundee, Scotland.

Spirit Video
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showtopic=23052
Ghosts on stage.

Paranormal Media
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showtopic=23056
The new season of Ghost Hunters is on! Discuss the episodes, the locations, the evidence, and the debunking.

A Spirit is Terrifying My Child
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showtopic=23242
Do you have any helpful advice to offer?

Spirit Communication
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showtopic=23172
Questions about death and spirit guides.


Board of the Month -- Faeries
http://www.ghostvillage.com/ghostcommunity/index.php?showforum=27
Discuss the little people, the magickal creatures, and the Fea folk.

Ghostvillage.com Quick Stats:
261,144 Messages in the Town Square Message Boards
20,234 Members in the Town Square
739 "Personal Encounters" published on Ghostvillage.com
948 Paranormal Web sites in the Ghost Links directory
25,318 Subscribers to this newsletter
7,707,188 Total Web site "hits" for Ghostvillage.com in February


Support Ghostvillage.com
Ghostvillage.com is the Web's largest supernatural community, the central place where people come to share their experiences, thoughts, and research. Please help us continue to grow by buying a copy of The World's Most Haunted Places, Communicating With the Dead, The Encyclopedia of Haunted Places, The Nightmare Encyclopedia, Our Haunted Lives, Ghosts of War, The Ghost Files, or shopping in Ghost-Mart. Every little bit helps run our servers and helps the site get bigger and better! Please also click on our banner ads and support our advertisers -- when you do business with someone who advertises with Ghostvillage.com, let them know you saw their ad with us and thank them for the support.

Please email us anytime at info@ghostvillage.com. Your comments, questions, and feedback are always welcomed.


All material is © 2008 Ghostvillage.com
REMOVAL INSTRUCTIONS: To be removed from the mailing list, please go to www.ghostvillage.com/subscribe.shtml or click on the link below.