The News (New Glasgow)

Food, and spirits, and ghosts, oh my!

I got to join a paranormal investigat­ion

Growing up within walking distance of three different graveyards and frequently spending time among the gravestone­s, reading the names and dates, it's no wonder that I grew up believing in the paranormal.

When I saw that The Monarch was partnering with Soul Seekers Paranormal for an event called Food and Spirits, there was no question about wanting to reach out for an interview to preview the event.

Before speaking with Tonya Steinborn and Amy Murphy, the women behind Soul Seekers, I looked at their social media and realized that I had been following their accounts for a while.

While talking to them, they offered me a spot on the guest list to experience the event. I couldn't wait and kept telling my husband how excited I was to go ghost hunting leading up to the event.

FOOD AND SPIRITS

When I arrived at The Monarch, I was greeted by one of the owners, Kevin Stewart. Asking me if I was “here to get spooky,” I knew I was in for a fun night.

When registerin­g for the event, I was given three dinner options. I chose the pesto brown rice pasta with roasted veggies, and it was delicious!

I also had blueberry lemonade, which was the best lemonade I've had in a long time. The staff was super friendly and accommodat­ed any dietary restrictio­ns of the guests.

After dinner, we headed up to the top level of The Monarch, where Amy and Tonya had their gear set up. After going over some safety procedures, like using the buddy system and being respectful of those around us who we could and couldn't see, it was time to start exploring the grounds of the monarch and marina.

INVESTIGAT­ING

We broke off into smaller groups, and I first ventured over to a storage shed near the back of the property. Each group got a kit with an electromag­netic field (EMF) reader and some “Cat balls.” The EMF readers measure the electric field around you. For example, if I put one next to my phone, the light bar on it would light up, and when I moved it away, it would go back to “baseline,” which is one green light.

Cat balls are plastic balls that light up when touched or moved. The theory is that spirits can put energy into these devices and make them light up.

We didn't get anything over by the shed with the EMF and cat balls, so when Tonya came over with the spirit box, we gave that a try.

A spirit box is a box that runs through radio frequencie­s at a high speed but in reverse. The theory behind the spirit box is that if you hear words come through, it's the spirits trying to communicat­e.

We were getting a lot of French coming through the spirit, and luckily, one of the other guests at the event was fluent. She took over and translated what was coming through.

SPEAKING TO SPIRITS

We ended up hearing the

name “Rick” several times and figured out that he was making fun of us because we couldn't understand him.

I laughed and said, “At least we're not the dead one,” which may have been a little rude, but Rick started it.

We talked to Rick for about 20 minutes before continuing to check what other groups were doing.

Quite a few people were sitting on the docks with Amy, including Mary Stewart, the owner of the Monarch. They believed they were communicat­ing with Mary's mother.

We decided to use a device

called a “dead bell.” It is a bell you would find on the counter in a shop, but it is hooked up to a sensor; the idea is that if a spirit walks past, it will cause the bell to “ding.”

We set up the dead bell facing the river, so there was no way one of us could set it off. Amy started asking questions like, “Is this Mary's mother?” Ding.

I think everyone's jaw dropped when we started getting dings in response to questions we were asking.

It was definitely one of our more active devices throughout the night.

ESTES METHOD

We used so many devices throughout the night, but the activity we noticed most was coming from the dead bell and the spirit boxes.

We headed back upstairs to The Monarch, where we got set up to try the Estes method.

The Estes method is a sensory deprivatio­n method of communicat­ion in which the person “going under” is completely void of sound and sight. Noise-cancelling headphones are put on the person, and the spirit box runs through the radio frequencie­s backward.

With sight and outside sound removed, it's supposed to be a bit easier to decipher what is coming through, if anything, on the spirit box.

Quite a few of the people at the event went under to experience the Estes method. They all got similar responses from spirits around the Monarch and the Marina.

Until it was my turn, I put on the blindfold and the headphones and got ready to listen to anything that came through the blaring static, but nothing came through.

I'm not sure how long I was sitting there, but there was no abnormal sound, just constant radio static.

Amy and Tonya explained that sometimes, spirits have people that they don't want to talk to, and I happened to be that person.

I went into this event as a strong believer in the paranormal. However, I found the experience of getting nothing through the Estes method disappoint­ing and made me question my beliefs.

Despite that, with all the other evidence we got through the night, witnessing others talk to spirits was amazing.

I am so grateful that I was able to experience this, and Amy and Tonya's lightheart­ed environmen­t keeps things from getting too serious and spooky.

It truly is feel-good investigat­ing.