The information below describes the different types of hauntings that you may be experiencing:
Traditional (Conscious) Hauntings - This type of haunting is probably the most accepted type of haunting but is not as common as one might think. These type of hauntings involve a ghost that is an intelligent or interactive type of ghost. This means that they can interact with this world and know what is going on around them. They will try to communicate and are aware when people are around. They will respond to someone who talks to them and when an apparition appears, may even look at someone that calls to them or acknowledges their presence. These type of hauntings are usually connected to the location or a person that is at that location. The interactive ghost is the consciousness of the person that once lived. This means that it has all of the personality, habits and knowledge of the person that lived. What this means is that the person decided to stay behind instead of moving on, whether it was because of a murder, unfinished business, an accidental death, undying love for someone, or many other reasons. Because of the fact that the ghost retains all of the emotions and personality of the living person it once was, there is the potential for there to be benevolent, or peaceful spirits as well as malevolent, or angry sprits. The more benevolent sprits are peaceful and give a sense of "everything's ok". The malevolent spirits give off an angry feel in the air and there is tension and animosity around the area that is haunted by a malevolent spirit. These negative spirits are not evil but are angry. This may be due to their confusion and unsure of what is going on around them. They may also be have been an angry person in life and carried that over in death.
Residual Hauntings - This type of haunting is like watching a movie loop over and over again. These hauntings are caused by energy that has been imprinted on a particular place. Residual hauntings can take place at places where many people congregate such as hotels, sports complexes, apartments complexes, etc. These hauntings are caused when a major event takes place at a location and the psychic memory of that event is left behind after those people are gone. Many times these hauntings are said to have sounds and smells as well as the rare apparition sighting. The difference between a traditional and a residual haunting is that the ghost in the residual haunting is not responsive. You can talk to it and it will not respond. You can be standing near it and it will not acknowledge your presence. This is because is is a replay of an event long passed. This haunting can also be connected to plots of land as well. Residual hauntings can occur even when the building that it once occurred in is gone. There have been reports of people being in the woods of an area whether camping or hunting and then all of a sudden be caught in the middle of a civil war battle. This is due to the psychic energy of that major battle imprinted on that land replaying itself. Evidence of ghosts can be recorded such as EVP, EM readings and photographic evidence.
Poltergeist Hauntings - From the German word meaning "noisy ghost", a poltergeist is centered around a person, usually called an agent. This person is unknowing that they are causing the events that are taking place. While poltergeist activity can take place with any agent, it is more prevalent in adolescent girls during their puberty stage of life. Poltergeist activity is associated with objects being moved and thrown through the air as well as footsteps and rapping sounds. While these sounds are similar to the activity of the previous two types, the activity is coming from a person, not the ghost. The agent is actually causing the events to happen unknowingly. The agent has emotions held up inside due to stress and other aggravating factors. The agent has no way of expressing these emotions so they lash out psychically through the events found in a poltergeist case. When investigating a poltergeist case, there will be no scientific evidence to be found in the form of EM readings, EVP and photographic evidence. That is because there is no ghost. The way to determine this type of haunting is to remove the possible agent and see if the activity continues. This activity is short term, ranging from a few weeks to as long as a few years. Poltergeist activity however averages from weeks to a few months long. Counseling for the agent will often help if not extinguish the activity all together.
Inhuman Hauntings -This type of haunting is not very common. Inhuman hauntings are almost always malevolent beings. The difference between ghostly hauntings and inhuman hauntings is that the name says it all, they were never human. These hauntings fall under a "demonic" category. These hauntings may in fact coincide with possession. Anyone who has ever encountered one of the beings can tell you that it is not a pleasant experience. These usually have to be dealt with on a much higher level such as having spiritual leaders come and assist in banishing the entity. This can be a grueling ordeal. Let's hope we don't ever have to deal with many of these.
