Theater Superstitions & the Supernatural

How many of you have heard of a few famous haunted theaters or maybe legends surrounding haunted theaters in your area? There is a good reason for how frequent this phenomena occurs. Theaters are places that generate great passion from the actors which spills out into the audience. The sheer amount of energy created in a building no doubt leaves behind a few impressions or leads the spirits to linger. The paranormal has become so synonymous with the theater many superstitions and traditions revolving the supernatural remain in use today. 

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Don't Turn Out That Light!

Theaters often leave a ghost light left on overnight on the stage. Although it does have practical safety uses the tradition's origin is more rooted in the paranormal. Some believe it is left on to give the spirits their time to perform, but the general consensus is the illumination is to appease the ghost. If the Ghost Light wasn't lit the spirits would cause mischief or worse curse the theater. 

Somebody's Watching Me?

There is a rule in the theater to never ever use peacock feathers on stage. The tip of the  feather's design is said to be the representation of 'The Evil Eye' also known as 'The Devil's Eye'. If worn on stage the feathers will bring bad luck to production causing missed lines, scenery collapses, and lighting issues. 

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The Birth of Tragedy

According to Aristotle, Thespis of Icaria. (which is where we get the word “thespian”, meaning “actor”) was the first actor to ever appear on stage. Men had spoken on stage as themselves but Thespis was the first to appear as a character in a form of the play and this was the birth of tragedy. He is also credited with the creation of theatrical touring. Generally any mischief or mishaps in the theater first get blamed on the ghost of Thespis who is said to travel the worlds theaters causing mayhem. It is said that November 23^rd marks the day of his first performance and being the day he wreaks the most havoc. In order to keep Thespis happy a theater must close it's doors one night a week which is generally on a Monday. This gives actors the night off after a weekend of performances.

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The Play That Shall Not Be Named

“The Scottish Play” or “The Bard's Play” is what theater folk generally call Shakespeare's Macbeth. It is believed that the play is plagued by a curse and uttering the work's title in a theater can bring misfortune. It is said that Shakespeare used real spells he received from a local coven of witches but that the incantations are incomplete bringing on the curse. The character Hecate's, the Goddess of Witchcraft, lines are believed to strengthen the curse when they are spoken. Other theories include that the play itself was an insult to a group of witches and they cursed the play for eternity and that the cauldron initially used was stolen from a witch. The origin of the tale of the curse dates back to opening night when a real dagger was used in place of a prop and an actor died. Other mishaps and tragedy have occurred over the years including injuries, deaths, fires, and a riot. 

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Written By
Associate Director & Photographer
Thames Society of Paranormal Investigations 

Stephanie Sutera

The Do's and Don'ts if you think your home is haunted.

Don'ts-
1- Don't assume everything you see or hear is a ghost. If you assume everything is a ghost. You will walk around your home in fear.
2- Don't yell, provoke or scream at the spirit that could be in your home. It may make things worse.
3- Don't attempt to do your own investigation. Leave that to experienced investigators or ghost hunters. Spirits can become attached to you and then things will most certainly go downhill.
4-Don't ignore that you have a spirit.  Ignoring it, won't make the problem go away.
5- If someone in your home says they saw a ghost, and you don't believe in ghosts. Don't minimize their experience, what they experienced feels real to them.

Do's-
1- Do be a good witness. If unusual things keep happening in your home. Keep a journal of these events. Be sure to include dates and times, other witnesses and what happened. This can be helpful if you have to call in professional paranormal investigators.
2- Do be brave. You do not want to be a victim of circumstance, after all, it's your home.
3- If you do think you have a ghost. It's important to be respectful. Not all spirits are evil. In fact, most spirits are not.
4- Do be reasonable and rationale, attempt to explain unusual events if you can, by natural means.
5- Lastly, do seek help from someone experienced and trained to deal with the paranormal.

Author: Shamus Denniston
Director & Founder of TSPI

The Sound of Spirits:
What is Infrasound and Why Should We Care About It?

“There is certainly a world beyond our normal consciousness from which neither space nor time divides us, but only the barrier of our sense-perceptions.... this threshold is not immovable.” ~William F. Barrett, 1918

That overwhelming feeling that you are being watched; the sensation that you are not alone although no one is in sight; that “6^th sense” that many of us have experienced at one point or another…It can cause the little hairs on our arms to stand up and our heart to beat just a little bit faster. The majority of people believe that there is a world unseen, a spiritual plane perhaps coexisting with our physical world. These feelings however, do not constitute evidence. That being said, they are also not to be ignored. These perceptions originate from something…some stimulus we cannot easily interpret. In a sense, if we cannot easily determine the origin, it may be considered “para normal’, that is, outside the normal experience. As a paranormal researcher, our jobs are to provide the physical evidence to validate these 6^th sense experiences. It is our responsibility to be well-informed of all the potential natural causes of haunted feelings.

Infrasound is sound frequency that is too low for the human ear to detect, falling below 20 hertz. Some natural causes of infrasound include earthquakes, avalanches, and waterfalls. Animals such as whales communicate via infrasound. Man-made producers of infrasound include explosions, diesel machinery, and wind turbines. Researchers who have studied infrasound posit that, although it is below our conscious perception, infrasound affects our bodies nonetheless. It can cause feelings of anxiety, dread, depression, and fear. At the right frequency it can impact our eyes, causing vibrations leading to distortions in vision and hallucinations or illusions.

So if we know that infrasound exists and that it is one potential cause of a haunting, why are we not measuring it? Measuring this low frequency requires highly specialized equipment, as readily-available sound sensors only measure in decibels and cannot account for the ultra-low frequency which constitutes infrasound. Instruments for measuring infrasound are few and far between and are typically quite expensive. However, TSPI is committed to providing the highest-quality investigations to our clients, and our ongoing desire to evaluate potential hauntings in a scientific manner will ensure that we search for a way to measure infrasound in the upcoming years.

Written by Laura Palmese

Investigator & Researcher

Thames Society of Paranormal Investigations (TSPI)

Beware the Lemures

 In ancient Rome, the people of the time believed in spirits called Lemures. They were thought to be benevolent spirits of deceased loved ones who couldn't afford a proper burial and were now restless. If one was not interred, in a tomb or cremated and placed in an urn, the soul could not cross the River Styx which is how the living passed into the world of the dead. These ghosts would come at night to terrorize the living. Although it is a term mostly used in antiquity Lemures are commonly used in tabletop RPGs as well as fantasy based characters of literature and video games.

"Mense Maio malae nubent...They wed ill who wed in May!   

This was such a concern for the Romans that they celebrated  Lemuria, a festival to appease these spirits. It was held on May 9, 11, and 13 and certain rituals would be performed in order to exorcize them. On the first day, the head of the household would rise at midnight barefoot, wash his hands three times, walk around throwing beans over his shoulder while reciting this line 9 times “I send these; with these beans, I redeem me and mine.” The beans were said to be offerings to the Lemures. The Vestal Virgins would prepare salted flour and sprinkle it on animals which would then be sacrificed on an altar and burned on a sacred fire on the second day. Then on the 13 of May, they would throw 30 images of old men from a bridge into the Tiber River. The whole month became known as unlucky due to the festivities and those who wed during the month could bring death upon themselves.

    The Lemur's name was derived from the Lemures. They were given the title due to their nocturnal behavior and slow movements. Although their glowing eyes in the night and their ghostly cries surely are fitting as well. No wonder why they were used in the tragedy of Faust as half undead creatures who bury Faust's body.

Written By Stephanie Sutera

Associate Director & Lead Investigator 

Thames Society of Paranormal Investigations