Skeptophilia (skep-to-fil-i-a) (n.) - the love of logical thought, skepticism, and thinking critically. Being an exploration of the applications of skeptical thinking to the world at large, with periodic excursions into linguistics, music, politics, cryptozoology, and why people keep seeing the face of Jesus on grilled cheese sandwiches.

Monday, June 6, 2011

How to get rid of bagpipe-playing ghosts

One of the downsides of writing about nonsense is that you become the target for more nonsense.  Recently I have received email links for Spirit Rescue International, and also had ads show up for it on Skeptophilia and on my Facebook page.  The link showed a picture of a scared-looking woman, looking over her shoulder, and had the tagline, "Escape the Fear."  So of course I clicked on the link, which undoubtedly explains how these people find me.

Spirit Rescue International is apparently sort of an SPCA for ghosts.  Its leader, Irene Block, is "in touch with the spirit world:"
Irene's compassion not only lies with the spirit but also with the client. The technique she uses comes to her directly from her spiritual helpers/guides, so no one clearing is alike.  Everything Irene knows has been taught to her since an early age by the spirit world. She refuses to learn from people or from books, believing this would contaminate her knowledge.
Who are these spirits, you might ask?  Apparently, they can be demons ("malevolent non-human energies") or earthbound human spirits.  About the latter, Irene explains:
You may call it a ghost, but that is not so. A ghost is a memory or residual energy that replays itself over and over, like a battle taking place in a field or a Scottish piper playing his bagpipes on the battlement of some Scottish castle. An earthbound spirit was a person who is now deceased. A spirit whose mind and consciousness have moved to a different vibration to that of ours. For some reason they have not moved on to the next stage after death, and need to be led to the light. Most of us believe that when we die we will automatically go to what some call Heaven or the next stage in the spirit world. This is not always so, we all have free will and have three choices of what we do next.
So, a ghost and a spirit are different because ghosts play the bagpipes and spirits don't?  If he tried to bring his pipes with him, at least it's clear why he didn't end up in heaven.

What evidence does she have that all this is true?  Well you should ask.  On her "SRI Evidence" link (here) we hear some garbled sound recordings, and see some blurred photographs with fuzzy light blobs on them.  That's enough for me!  Ghosts exist!  Bagpipes and all!

So, now that we've accepted the existence of ghosts and spirits, what do we do about it?  Irene recommends a three-pronged approach; (1) assuring the spirit that it is loved; (2) convincing the spirit that its business here on Earth is concluded; and (3) telling the spirit that it is causing problems by attaching to a place, or a person who is still living.  If that doesn't work, it's time to bring out the big guns, and chant, "St. Michael the Archangel, Prince of Light, wield the Sword of Truth and cut those etheric cords void of love and veneration."  At that point, the spirit will have no choice but to pack up and move on to "a higher dimension."

Upon reading further, one finds that she doesn't even have to enter your house in order to perform "spirit clearing:"
Irene has an astounding ability to clear hauntings and attachments from her location in the UK, either using her abilities to remote view or visualize in any part of the world. Her furthest distance yet was evident with a client in New Zealand - 11,500 miles away! The people she has helped have never met Irene in person; merely, she has been the supportive voice at the other end of the telephone.
Fortunately, with such a strenuous job, she doesn't work alone.  She has help from Alswell and GreenMother in the US, from Bella in New Zealand, and from Elven in Australia.   (Elven is described as a "psychic artist," whatever that means.)  I don't know about  you, but I'm feeling relieved just knowing that GreenMother is on the job.

I tried to find out on the website how much all this would cost, but it's not mentioned anywhere.  I suspect that crass topics such as money would not come up until much later, until you had registered with SRI, filled out the "Client Information Form," and so on.  But I can say with some confidence that the great likelihood is that you'd pay hundreds, possibly thousands, of dollars to avail yourself of SRI's services.

I know that heaping scorn on hucksters like the "SRI research team" is probably pointless, that anyone who seeks out their services is extremely unlikely to read Skeptophilia.  I know that there have always been, and always will be, gullible people who will spend large quantities of money on charlatans, scams, and quack cures, and nothing I say will stop that.  However, when I receive links like this one, I just have to respond.  It may be an exercise in futility, but I can't help myself.  Like the bagpipe-playing ghost on the battlement in Scotland, I just have to keep playing the same tune, over and over.

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