I belong to a group called Dakota Paranormal Investigators http://dakotaparanormal.com/. The following is what I experienced on my first case with them.
Case #1 Investigation 1
Small town ND
12 July 2008
We were called in to conduct an investigation at a small town local business. Employees had been complaining of being afraid in the basement, feeling like they were being watched and occasionally feeling as if they were touched.
- The investigation site – from historical files.
The building that this business was in had been built a bit over 100 years ago and abutted an opera house that burned in the early 20th century. Local legend has it that this was once a mortuary. This was fueled by the fact that there is a lift type mechanism in the basement that would allow items to be brought up to the first floor.
We focused on three areas that night; the basement, kitchen area and garage. On our initial walk-through we tested the electromagnetic fields with the EMF and KII meters, making note of any unusual fluctuations.
I was most drawn to this old mirror in the garage. It reminded me of something one would see on a washstand with a basin. The mirrored glass was old, cracked and dis-colored in areas. The woodwork though was still lovely with dovetails, and no nails. There was a noticeable energy about it, and I found myself thinking that if I were to touch it would my hand go through that glass. For some reason I felt like it would.
We never really caught anything substantial that first investigation. There were surely some unusual occurrences but they were all more of a personal nature.
Though two of us could swear we heard ragtime music on a gramophone in the kitchen. It was not caught on any of our recording tools.
What happened to me after this first investigation is what threw me, and lead to the second investigation.
- The investigation site as it is today.
However, I will say, I knew leaving that it had never been a mortuary.
POST INVESTIGATION
One of the first things an investigator does is crash and burn as soon as they can. It can be rather hard to do so right away if one is all pumped with what occurred during the investigation or itching to go thru their evidence.
What follows are the raw notes I took on what happened to me after.
13 July 2008
Slept from 4-9 am. Dreamed of a WWI doughboy. Not enough to recognize a person but flashes of uniform, military life, a weapon discharging, screaming, smoke fear and writing letters.
Noon – 3:00 pm.
The dream happened again. Same soldier. Strongly feel he is American. Ragtime music.
Emailed Marie* to find out if there is any tie to this small town and WWI.
16 July 2008 @ 6:39 am
The dream came again. Vague impressions. Definitely WWI, probably the Western Front. He’s American; the glimpses of the weapons and uniform are consistent with WWI and the USA. He is early to mid 20’s. Hair color is light. Perhaps a sandy blonde. At least medium height, decent build, though a bit on the leaner side.
The view is like ‘live’ shots like in an old, scratchy black and white movie with no sound. There is some action – in brief spurts. Feel percussion. Smell and see haze of smoke. Chow time. Bunking down.. A dirty hand writing a letter though I cannot read it. Gentlemen hanging around talking though I cannot hear what is being said. Somewhat surreal as I feel like I am part of the action but am not. Chest feels heavy and I feel like I am moving in slow motion or trying to walk thru a river of black tar.
Sometimes I am ‘in’ the soldier then standing outside. Wake up and I feel like I lost something.
20 July 2008
Still dreaming of him – definitely feel he was in the war. Still snippets of information though. Combat had to cause his death. Though he will not show me. Why can’t I see his face? Seems wrong to just give me bits and pieces. Makes me feel like I am crazy.
27 July 2008
Dreamed about him again. Same snippets of information. He is stating to feel like an old friend.
01 August 2008
Still the dreams. Did I tap into something or did he find me? I know I am right about the time period and his death due to combat.
On a side note: the site was never a mortuary. It has been a lumber yard, hardware/feed/grocery store but never a mortuary.
12 August 2008 @ 3:15 am
He died. Snippets again followed by chaos, and the stench of combat, and pain, and screams. His hands are bloodied and someone is calling his name C? or C? He died but not right away. Not during the time I dreamed. Maybe from his wounds later? I hurt all over like I have been ripped apart and I want to puke.
8:20 pm
Marie found something that listed WWI casualties for the state. There is a list and pictures. Too afraid to look.
13 July 2008
I looked at the list and there is one C name that matches what I heard in my dream. I am not ready to look at the pictures.
- CJ – the man from the dreams.
15 August 2008
He was back again up to the wounding. I looked at the pictures and it is him. CJH. We need to go back.
Note: CJ was born in Blufton, MN 14 March 1892. He was a grain buyer up until he enlisted in the Army July of 1917. He served in Battery A, Field Artillery i.e. the Rainbow Division. Offensive Engagements he fought were: Auisne-Marne, St. Mihiel, and Muese-Argonne. Defensive engagements were: Champagne-Marne, defensive sectors of Luneville, Baccarat, Lorraine, Esperance, Souain, and Champagne. Death was due to wounds received in battle and occurred approximately 26 October 1918. He was 26 when he passed. That same year his mother lost her husband, and one of his elder sisters to the influenza.
Case #1 Investigation #2 15 August 2008
We went back armed with a name to see what would happen.
Things happened. Increased activity included the sounds of boxes falling when none had, unexplained cold spots, electromagnetic jumps on the KII, a shirt tail being lifted and the sensations of being touched. Three EVPS were caught. Multiple people saw a dense shadow the shape of a person walking when there were no car lights etcetera to explain that.
In addition, four people saw, what appeared to be a face trying to form in the kitchen. It was at the same time and I do not feel it was a figment of our collective imaginations.
When this happened I could not move. First I felt choking sorrow. I wanted to go to my knees and just cry. Then there was a pressure around my waist, as if someone had slung an arm around me, and I then found myself leaning against the sink counter. The entire area looked hazy to me and I flashed in and out. Then I felt happiness. It was not coming from me. I think he is happy someone finally sees him.
We did catch one quite intriguing evp at the end. We were packing up our equipment when a member of the team felt something definitely tug at his shirt. He, unfortunately, cursed. What followed was another member making ribald remarks that were equally politically incorrect. When listening to the playback there was the sound of someone whistling a catchy ragtime tune.
Thoughts and Afterwards
16 August 2008 @ 8:33 pm
The dream started as it always does. I am not going to reiterate or describe those images again. This one went beyond his ‘wounding’. I felt CJ slip away – which tells me he did not die immediately after his wounding but probably, lingered.
In this dream I felt him leaving his body. Tendrils of him disconnecting and floating upwards staring down. It sounds like a rehash of every near death experience related but in the dream it felt real, and right. And wrenching. The struggle at first to hang on and then just a gentle easing as one reaches the realization that this was it. There is no more CJ in the physical sense. Stillness.
Then the dream skipped even further forward to the kitchen of this business. I was not there but he was watching the others. He tried to make them see him but they cannot. He reaches out to touch them and he is not sure if they can feel him. He won’t go to the basement as he does not like it there. He avoided us the first time but when I asked, “Were you in the military?” he became interested.
He wants Ned* to call me up from the basement. He knows he can reach me. He tries to show us his face so we will know him. But he cannot seem to make it work and feels badly that he has upset me. So he slowly withdraws back to just watching and hovering.
The problem with dreams is the fact that they are dreams. They cannot be proven as viable contact. A person can say, “I dreamed the towers would come down” and be lying through their teeth after the fact.
Dreams are also very subjective. Was I ‘seeing and feeling” what I wanted to in that building? Was it pulling from my sub-conscious desire to communicate with a perceived anomaly? Or did I really touch another being that others cannot see?
If one follows the theory that dreams are subjective, and manifestations of sub-conscious wishes, or needs, then how do I reconcile this with the fact I started dreaming about a WWI soldier out of the blue? I can honestly say that, though I often ‘dream’ of soldiers and war, WWI has never featured in any of them.
- The mirror.
How do I factor in the repetitive nature of these ‘dreams’? How I felt like I had been active and not actually sleeping? A dream that shows the wounding and the knowledge that this lead to his death? If these dreams are a product of imagination how could I flesh him out as a person with a face towards the end and THEN find a face that matches? The face of a young man who died almost fifty years prior to my birth. I have never seen this picture before. Or were the images in my dreams more general then I thought and I filled in the lines?
But why would I hear that specific name in my dreams?
However, if one discards the series of dreams, then one would have to discard the identification. Which would then beg the question, “Why did this name provoke activity on 15 August?”
What is it about a pizza place that would hold this energy there? The town itself is quite a rich history and perhaps the land itself holds energy that brings things forward. I believe the past does not merely imprint itself on the human psyche but on what surrounds us as well.
He was a grain buyer before the war with family living in that area. This building was a hardware and grain store during that time. There is a possible tie.
The mirror. That mirror is what started it, and I keep thinking he looked into it once or twice or more before he left the states. The first dream started with a hazy face in that mirror.
Maybe there is some kind of portal.
I know that what I experienced was real. I know that what I dreamed really happened.
I know that CJ visits me sometimes.
It does not matter to me what others think. This was real.