The problems with clearing a haunted house
There are two major problems when it comes to investigators and/or mediums who tell you they are going to clear your home or business of ghosts.
The first problem is they don’t seem to understand the dynamics of a haunting. The majority of haunted locations rarely have one spirit, but rather many. These many spirits, some good, some bad, maintain a balance. The balance can be slightly off thus the reason the owner has called in a paranormal group or medium in the first place. Imagine you are out for the evening and your teenagers are having a party which is getting out of control. You come home, walk in, shut the music off and demand everyone leaves. The first to head for the door are the polite respectful ones who don’t want any trouble. Then the ones who couldn’t care either way depart. You are relieved, except you didn’t notice that really bad one hiding in the shadows brooding. The team or medium tells you job well done and they go home. Now the real trouble is about to begin, the balance is gone and this leftover bad guy has nothing to stand in his way. Your house is now his playground. Good luck trying to get some good spirits to return, it is not going to happen.
A full in-depth investigation should be done first to account for ever spirit in the building and to find out exactly what you are dealing with before any acting is taken. Try to use conflict resolution techniques and find some common ground before you begin evicting spirits from your home or business. There is a reason it’s called an investigation, there are so many factors to consider that could be causing the haunting, a real investigator will spend the time to learn everything they can before making any type of decision.
The second problem is that a lot of mediums and or paranormal groups will charge money to do a clearing. This practice is not acceptable, The Searcher Group like many good paranormal teams will never charge for their work. It’s unethical, remember when dealing with the unknown there is no guarantee. No one and I mean no one can be 100% sure of what they are dealing with or even how many spirits may be there, let alone their intentions. We have seen a lot of rituals that have made things worse but nothing that has worked 100%.
Every situation is different and most of the techniques or rituals used are like painting with a very broad brush. The other thing is according to the law under the Criminal Code of Canada, section 365 this falls under fraud.
Everyone who fraudulently
(a) pretends to exercise or to use any kind of witchcraft, sorcery, enchantment or conjuration,
(b) undertakes, for a consideration, to tell fortunes, or
(c) pretends from his skill in or knowledge of an occult or crafty science to discover where or in what manner anything that is supposed to have been stolen or lost may be found,
is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.
Fraud
Section 361 defines a false pretence:
(1) “A false pretence is a representation of a matter of fact either present or past, made by words or otherwise, that is known by the person who makes it to be false and that is made with a fraudulent intent to induce the person to whom it is made to act on it.”
(2) “Exaggerated commendation or depreciation of the quality of anything is not a false pretence unless it is carried to such an extent that it amounts to a fraudulent misrepresentation of fact.”
The point is the study of ghosts and life after death has been ongoing for about 150 years, we are still no closer today at proving that either exists. We have a great deal of witness testimony and some really good information that would suggest that ghost may exist, but no absolute proof. So when the law looks at people who charge for something that is not recognized as real there is an opportunity for legal action, especially when the seller used fear to motivate you into paying.
When looking for someone to help you with a paranormal situation, ask for references; see how they handled previous cases. Find out what options they suggest and be sure that they are committed to staying on the job until it is resolved, at least to the best of their ability.
If they tell you it will cost you to have any of the work done, walk away and start your search again.