Category Archives: Tina R. McSwain

What is Smudging?

By Tina R. McSwain

We recently spoke about “Spirit Rescue”. One of the techniques used in spirit rescue is the practice of smudging. Smudging is a process whereby you light white sage and let it burn. This practice dates back to the earth’s native peoples. While this sage is burning and emitting smoke, you walk around the entire home or business and let the smoke into every room. This is usually done in a clockwise pattern and The Lord’s Prayer is said while walking about.

This ceremony is intended to clear the area of negative thoughts, energy or spirits, and keep them at bay in the future. Other herbs that may be used are cedar and sweetgrass much in the same fashion.

The performer of the ceremony must be of pure heart and knowledgeable in the practice that they are conducting.

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Native American Entities

By Tina R. McSwain

These spirits are as diverse as the many Native American tribes themselves. This is a very broad category that cannot possibly be covered here. My intent is to but introduce the concept.

In this country, some people have had what they consider very real encounters with what they believe are Native American “skin-walkers”. The term “skin-walker” has variable meanings depending on tribal affiliation. While some describe these creatures as something close to a werewolf, others consider them witches with a supernatural ability to transform into various animals. Most Native Americans typically have a positive attitude towards “magic” and its practitioners, but these are thought of as “witches” who have honed their abilities through acts of evil. This twists them into something more than human.

The powers they possess can only be obtained by killing another member of the tribe. This disrespect for the basic morals of tribal society and human decency turns skin-walkers into outcasts. They are feared and hated by the other members of the tribe. It is said that their animal forms are slightly deformed because of their evil nature.

In recent years, some paranormal places have been considered hotspots of skin-walker activity (the most famous being Utah’s “Skinwalker Ranch” or Marley Woods). The otherworldly goings-on include everything from apparitions, cryptid creatures, UFO sightings and cattle mutilations.

Native American culture also brings us the “chindi”, a sort of avenging spirit, released at death to attack those who offended the deceased. Chindi are dangerous, single-minded entities. It is said that even being near one can cause “ghost sickness”; a sometimes fatal wasting away of the infected person.

Many people believe that the phenomenon of “shadow people” is somehow related to Native American mythology. These shadow beings have been witnessed in cemeteries, homes, and even in the vicinity of Indian burial grounds. At this point no one is sure of their exact origins. Some believe them to be evil-natured while others consider them protective spirits. Some even claim they are from another dimension.

In the folklore among many Native North American tribes, appear water babies that are small in human form, and inhabit lakes, streams, springs, and other bodies of water. They are not malicious, but do at times play tricks on humans, and are feared.

There are countless culture-specific supernatural creatures; the more familiar you are with the culture and beliefs themselves, the more you can understand the various entities the people fear.

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The Beginning and the Ending

by Crymsyn Hart 

Some writers find it hard to start a book. The first sentence or the first paragraph can even the worst thing to write. The author has so many wonderful ideas that you have to find just the right starting point. Do you jump into the middle of a scene? Do you start off with dialogue? Do you begin with describing the scene and setting up the reader to delve into the world of the characters that the writer has set up? Or sometimes it is the easier thing for the writer to delve directly into the first chapter and get into the thick of things.

For me, it is easier to jump right into the thick of things. I love that my characters are in the middle of something so the reader starts off with a bang. Of course I then go into the description of my characters and the scene and the story line that begins to unfold. But then again this also depends on how long the work I am going for is as well. If I’m writing something short, then diving head first is a good thing. If I am going for the longer work, then I set up the scene and keep on going. It all depends on the work.

Now it comes to the ending. Endings can go either way. They can be tied up in a neat little bow or they can leave a few loose ends to be extended into the next book of a series. However, I don’t seem to have a problem with the endings. Just sometimes the characters don’t want to end a book the way I want it to. In the romance genre, people expect there to be a happily ever after ending or at least a happy for now ending. Sometimes it’s hard to think of that kind of stretch, but that is what romance endings are for. For the reader to escape into a world and that the endings will be happy. Who wants the couples breaking up right at the very end when they have spent the whole book watching them get together?

Whether the beginning or the ending is the hardest for the writer to put down, it is the author who has to struggle through placing the words and hope that all ends or begins the way the author wants it to.

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Spirit Rescue

By Tina R. McSwain

What is a spirit rescue?  Well, it is exactly what it sounds like.  Helping the spirit to move on to its next plane of existence.  Finding the lost souls and releasing the trapped ones.

There are individuals who have the knowledge, experience and skills to rescue a spirit.  This means that these people actually assist a spirit to move on using a variety of methods and techniques unique to that individual.  This practice also offers a sense of comfort and relief to the home or business owner who has an unwelcome guest in their midst as well.

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The Dreaded Blurb

by Crymsyn Hart

How do you know what a book is about?

You read the book jacket or the back cover. Or if you’re perusing the website of a publisher or a bookseller, then you read the narrative of the book on the page. It has to be brief to describe the nature of the book, but it has to be witty enough to draw the potential reader in. It can’t reveal too much about the plot, but you have to give just the right amount of balance to make it sound intriguing. All within a certain amount of words or space. It’s a writer’s nightmare. Well, at least one of my nightmares anyway.

Yes, the dreaded blurb. How do I count the ways of how much I despise writing you? I think I’d prefer someone shoving wooden splinters underneath my fingernails. Or better yet pulling out my teeth with a rusty wrench. I cringe every time I have to write the 100-150 word description of a novel. Sure, I can agonize over it for days. Sometimes even lose some sleep over it, but in the end, I finally think of the words that I think give a good balance for the theme and the characters.

After all the books that my muses have helped me create, I hate to think of what I need to write. How much do you talk about the hero? How much to put down about the heroine? Will the reader get what the book is about even with the blurb? These are all things that run through my head. And then, after you’ve written the dreaded blurb, the publisher decides it wasn’t good enough ad changes it on you.

If this can help sell books then great, but don’t they know how hard I worked on the description? It hasn’t happened to me more than a couple of times, but it was a little surprising. Although, in the end the blurb was a mixture of mine and theirs. It was okay.

I’ve gotten some great advice from other authors on how to write blurbs. Over the years, mine have gotten tighter and shorter. I wouldn’t say I’m a professional now, but I’ve overcome numerous hurtles. So anyone that has to write a blurb, I wish you luck. Make is sexy. Make it intriguing. Make it brief with that hook that will help you catch many a reader.

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UFOs

By Tina R. McSwain

Unidentified Flying Objects.  Ufology refers to their study.  Persons who study these sightings are called ufologists.  Just as Cryptozoology last week, this category often falls under the realm of paranormal.

Like their counterpart paranormal investigators and researchers, UFOs, aliens, and abductions are catalogued and studied by enthusiasts all over the world.  Many of these are retired military, airline and NASA personnel who have had their own close encounters.  MUFON which stands for Mutual UFO Network is dedicated to the pursuit of answers and has a chapter in every state in the union.  There are international chapters as well.

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The Cryptids

Paranormally Speaking
By Tina R. McSwain

The word cryptozoology comes from the Greek kryptos “hidden” and the word zoology “the scientific study of animals”, meaning the study of hidden animals. Cryptozoology, however, is not a scientific discipline. This category is often placed under the paranormal realm. These are creatures (cryptids) that are rooted in legend, folklore, or perhaps even fact. Some of the more famous (or infamous) you may recognize are the Loch Ness Monster or “Nessie” from Scotland, or a number of other lake monsters such as “Champ”, the lake dweller in Lake Champlain which borders New York, Vermont, and Quebec; “Ogopogo”, the serpentine monster in Lake Okanaganin Canada, or even “Tessie”, the monster in Lake Tahoe.

Cryptids also inhabit the dry land. Take the New Jersey Devil for instance which is located in the pine barrens in the state of New Jersey. The Mothman is responsible for putting Point Pleasant, WV on the map. Every year, the town holds a Mothman Festival. Bigfoot was once only reported out west in the deep forests of Washington, Oregon, and northern California. Today however, Bigfoot has been reported in almost every state in the union including North Carolina. The Animal Planet is currently following a local bigfoot hunter in his quest for the animal throughout the Uwharrie Forest near Albemarle. He is called Yeti in the Himalayas or Sasquatch in the northwest United States and Canada. The chupacabra, “goat sucker” in Spanish, was once confined to Puerto Rico, but has now been reported in Mexico and Texas.

There are cryptids in the air as well. “Rods” are exactly what they sound like, rod shaped unknowns that fly through the air. Some, even having been caught on film, yet rendered no explanation as to their existence. Thunderbirds are another beast of the air, very large birds apparently belonging to none of the species we currently catalogue.

Groups or individuals study the sightings and nature of these entities much like paranormal investigators research and study ghosts. Those who investigate these occurrences refer to themselves as Cryptozoologists.

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Paranormally Speaking from the Con.

Paranormally Speaking
by Tina R. McSwain

This weekend, we are at StellarCon 35 in High Point, NC. We set up our display table and met and talked with many interesting people. They had good stories to tell, and a few questions for us as well. We spoke on two panels. One I would call Ghost Hunting 101, and the other was deemed “Meet the Ghost Hunters”. Panels for you non con-goers are exactly what they sound like…a panel of experts in their field, seated at a table up front and speaking to a room of interested persons.

Now at cons, you meet all kinds; stormtroopers, Jedi, Starfleet, Klingons, steampunkers, pirates, authors, vendors, gamers, artists, podcasters, and some that defy explanation. We conducted a poll on views of the paranormal and got the following results. The Jedi believe in the paranormal, stating that the force can be likened to what we would call telekinesis (moving things or otherwise affecting them with the mind), they also believe in the existence of ghosts, pointing out that many Jedi have returned from the dead to offer advice to their living counterparts. Most notably Qui-Gon Jinn spoke to Obi-Wan Kenobi, Obi-Wan and Yoda spoke to Luke, and even Anakin Skywalker allowed his son to see him on the good side after he died as Darth Vader. Starfleet officers told us that it depended on which planet you were from so they really could not give us a definitive answer to our poll questions. But the Klingons did state that they do believe in an afterlife and believe they must die honorably to enter Stovokor. Should they die dishonorably, they would be thrust into Grethor (their version of Hell). They also told us of a Jatlyn, the Klingon term for spiritual possession. Translated into human speech, it means “the taking of the living by the dead”.

So, yes, no matter what race you are, the paranormal realm fits in nicely at the cons.

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Crisis Apparition

Paranormally Speaking
By Tina R. McSwain

One group of “ghosts” that often goes unmentioned is the “crisis apparition”. These spirits are not technically of the haunting variety. Their appearance is usually a brief single event caused by their death.  This event marks the passing of a loved one. These manifestations  most often occur at night or in the early morning hours. Typically the spirit will visit a loved one either to deliver a positive final message or to bring news of their passing. It may seem to the recipient that they are dreaming.  But this is not the case.  The experience is usually described as a loving and peaceful exchange, not the terror we expect from a haunting. Most crisis apparitions occur within 12 hours before or after the death of the “visitor”. Usually this spirit will appear to only one person, but it can appear to two or more family members as well. Although this type of case would not be investigated by ghost hunters, the reports of this phenomena lend some credence to the subject of ghosts and paranormal activity as it is repeatedly experienced by the general public.

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Poltergeist

Paranormally Speaking
By Tina R. McSwain

The word itself comes from the German language for “noisy ghost”, a poltergeist is just that. This type of haunting is usually manifested by strange knocking noises or banging, and loud movement of objects. This movement of objects can sometimes be violent, such as items being thrown off of dressers, tables, shelves, or walls.  While this type of entity may respond to questions with raps and taps, there is no audio or EVP produced. Also absent is an apparition of any kind.

The key difference between poltergeists and other types of hauntings is the origin of the manifestations. Some believe that an actual spirit is present, but the traditional cause of the disruption is believed to be an adolescent girl from the haunted family. It is thought that some girls, at or near the onset of puberty, can develop a psychokinetic ability. This means that they can move and affect objects with their thoughts by use of mental energy. Whether they are purposely causing the chaos or merely unable to control their powers is a subject of debate.  The activity itself will eventually subside, but it cannot be driven out or exercised.  As the young girl begins to mature and understand the changes in her body and learns to deal with the  emotions that come with that process, the angst or fear experienced at first begins to subside, thus diminishing the activity altogether.

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