6-Week Course Covers Ghosts From A To Z
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
Mike Weides, adjunct professor, is teaching the course for a fifth year.
In an interview Tuesday afternoon, Weides said he's been ghost hunting for 11 years, before the public was exposed to ghost-hunting shows on television. He uses scientific methods as well as research in his work.
"I do believe in and I do use clairvoyants, however, I don't make any claims to clairvoyancy," Weides said. Because he's been around ghosts for so long, he said he's developed an ability to sense them.
Clairvoyance is the ability to see or feel the spirit world, he said. Someone who says they are a medium is someone who can communicate back and forth with the spirit world.
In ghost hunting, Weides uses different electronic devices that can help capture "voices" on tape, known as electronic voice phenomenon.
EVPs are classified as A, B or C, with Class A being a voice one can hear with the naked ear without an audio tape being cleaned up first. Weides said he likes to clean up the tapes first so the voices he captures are more apparent.
The voices aren't always in English. They can range from American Indian to German or Italian.
In the past, Weides said, he's also caught a lot of great photos and has had personal experiences with the spirit world.
"A ghost is the spirit of a human. A spirit can be of this world or it can be other worldly energy of something that was never born as a human," said Weides.
He said he doesn't run into very many demons - only three in a 1,000.
"When I encounter a demon, I know I'm in a no-win situation and I turn around and walk the other way," he said.
Demons are rare, he said, but mean-spirited ghosts are more common.
A lot of hauntings, Weides said, are from the residual of an emotion or event. In a residual haunting, the ghost may not know anyone is there. In an interactive haunting, he said, the ghost is aware of you.
The biggest misconception about ghosts, he said, is that "just because it scares you, it must be evil." He said some can be friendly ghosts that are actually trying to communicate with you. Of course, there are mean ghosts, too.
Ghosts can be found during the night or day, he said. They don't come out just at night or during the full moon.
"I love to research old towns and histories of towns. There's a term I call spiritual layering. You can go to any city or town and there's a layering of history there," he said.
Weides enjoys the seriousness of his class, but he also interjects some fun in it, he said. He said he is not politically correct, so he requests his students be at least 18 years old.
He plans to have guest speakers during his classes. One will be a clairvoyant from Fort Wayne. A ghost hunting group from Wabash will speak on the ghost-hunting equipment they use. Weides also hopes to land a guest speaker from one of the ghost-hunting television shows.
Weides said he's had a lot of personal experiences with ghosts. He's done television shows, documentaries and a couple of movies.[[In-content Ad]]"I'm probably the only person I know of getting paid to teach it at this level," he said.
The class runs from 7 to 9 p.m. every Wednesday night for six weeks, beginning May 26, at the IPFW Warsaw center. Cost is $99, and anyone interested in the class can contact the IPFW Continuing Education Dept. The telephone number is 574-269-6562.
"It's non-stop information from 11 years of experience and covering A to Z in the ghost hunter's bible," Weides said.
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Mike Weides, adjunct professor, is teaching the course for a fifth year.
In an interview Tuesday afternoon, Weides said he's been ghost hunting for 11 years, before the public was exposed to ghost-hunting shows on television. He uses scientific methods as well as research in his work.
"I do believe in and I do use clairvoyants, however, I don't make any claims to clairvoyancy," Weides said. Because he's been around ghosts for so long, he said he's developed an ability to sense them.
Clairvoyance is the ability to see or feel the spirit world, he said. Someone who says they are a medium is someone who can communicate back and forth with the spirit world.
In ghost hunting, Weides uses different electronic devices that can help capture "voices" on tape, known as electronic voice phenomenon.
EVPs are classified as A, B or C, with Class A being a voice one can hear with the naked ear without an audio tape being cleaned up first. Weides said he likes to clean up the tapes first so the voices he captures are more apparent.
The voices aren't always in English. They can range from American Indian to German or Italian.
In the past, Weides said, he's also caught a lot of great photos and has had personal experiences with the spirit world.
"A ghost is the spirit of a human. A spirit can be of this world or it can be other worldly energy of something that was never born as a human," said Weides.
He said he doesn't run into very many demons - only three in a 1,000.
"When I encounter a demon, I know I'm in a no-win situation and I turn around and walk the other way," he said.
Demons are rare, he said, but mean-spirited ghosts are more common.
A lot of hauntings, Weides said, are from the residual of an emotion or event. In a residual haunting, the ghost may not know anyone is there. In an interactive haunting, he said, the ghost is aware of you.
The biggest misconception about ghosts, he said, is that "just because it scares you, it must be evil." He said some can be friendly ghosts that are actually trying to communicate with you. Of course, there are mean ghosts, too.
Ghosts can be found during the night or day, he said. They don't come out just at night or during the full moon.
"I love to research old towns and histories of towns. There's a term I call spiritual layering. You can go to any city or town and there's a layering of history there," he said.
Weides enjoys the seriousness of his class, but he also interjects some fun in it, he said. He said he is not politically correct, so he requests his students be at least 18 years old.
He plans to have guest speakers during his classes. One will be a clairvoyant from Fort Wayne. A ghost hunting group from Wabash will speak on the ghost-hunting equipment they use. Weides also hopes to land a guest speaker from one of the ghost-hunting television shows.
Weides said he's had a lot of personal experiences with ghosts. He's done television shows, documentaries and a couple of movies.[[In-content Ad]]"I'm probably the only person I know of getting paid to teach it at this level," he said.
The class runs from 7 to 9 p.m. every Wednesday night for six weeks, beginning May 26, at the IPFW Warsaw center. Cost is $99, and anyone interested in the class can contact the IPFW Continuing Education Dept. The telephone number is 574-269-6562.
"It's non-stop information from 11 years of experience and covering A to Z in the ghost hunter's bible," Weides said.
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