Our Motto:
"The Living before the Dead, the Facts before the Fiction, the Mind before the Heart"
What does it mean?
The Living before the Dead
In plain English, it means that our aim is to conduct a paranormal investigation where we consider people involved, their safety, health, their opinion and their needs before the need to satisfy our curiosity or the "demands and wishes" of those responsible for a haunting or paranormal events.
Some might think that a "spirit's" sulking and carrying on, throwing objects and stomping around with a huge chip on their dead shoulders about their property they no longer possess (for obvious reasons) should have people move away or live their lives tiptoeing around something that no longer qualifies to have a drivers' license. The rules are simple, the dead should have NO WORLDLY DEMANDS of the living. They don't need it.
Of course we humans overreact at times or behave with disrespect towards memories and the dead but given everyone the benefit of the doubt we can change and understand to a certain degree. The reason for research, interviews and spirit profiling is to try to understand the reason for events after we rule out any other rational explanation for the haunting (eg. noisy pipes, stressed residents etc) If it is reasonable we try to propose a way of living with the paranormal to the people involved. You might be surprised to know that there are a lot of open minded and well wishing folk out there who are more than keen to help if only they could communicate. However, we (the living) do not possess the supernatural powers of a poltergeist or disgruntled spirit to cause them any headaches, drive them insane or to frighten the living "heevie jeevies" out of them, nor we can cause any more damage to their mental or physical health for the simple reason that they are already dead.
So, in a nutshell, if its causing harm it should GO.
The Facts before Fiction
We at GHA embrace both mythology, the love of folklore/urban legends and science.
To offer a proper investigation we apply both traditional methods of ghost hunting and use the high technology equipment available to us. While it sounds thrilling and exciting to fly off with the fairies and other ethereal beings said to be present at a location it is just as satisfying and thrilling to get to the bottom of a mystery and find a rational explanation for events. Most people are harmlessly under a genuine belief that their place is haunted and (presuming that they are not after profiting from the "haunted reputation" of a dwelling ) you cannot blame them.
At times simply the belief in a well know legend can put people in such a state of mind that they would be convinced that noises and elements around them are being controlled by supernatural beings. It would be deceitful to ignore evidence found to prove a rational explanation to events, especially if residents are distressed or feel they are in some sort of danger. There is no need to create new legends and myths and most people curious and rational enough to accept a simple explanation.
We simply do everything to try to prove a worldly cause for sightings, noises and poltergeist but ready to accept the things that go bump in the night if they choose to appear as well.
There is no place for sensationalism or naivety while hunting ghosts. Knowing that either way is a great help will keep any investigator firmly on the ground but recognizing paranormal events at the same time.
If we find nothing unearthly at a place,many times what is left behind after all is something that is just as beautiful on its own and a phenomena that was always around and just as worthy of recording and keeping it for the future generations:FOLKLORE. Sometimes the truth is more interesting than fiction.
The Mind before the Heart
When we describe the paranormal we describe a certain type of energy that every entity carries whether it is dead or living, whether it has ever walked the Earth before in human form or not. We, everyday people, are not that much concerned about energy and most of us don't feel it necessary to know everything about it to carry on with our daily life.
However some of us are very sensitive to these energies and most of us whether we acknowledge it or not or whether we call it something else or not we experience it regularly. You feel the tension of a frustrated or angry person just by standing next to him in a line or the sadness and hopelessness of a depressed soul you come across.
Ghosts and spirits are of raw energy and if they are trying to communicate with the living they use energies around from the athmosphere or from people who can provide them with similar energies of their own (laws of attraction and magic) It is all fine and illuminating if we are talking about an angel flocking around us and we can bask in its glory of bliss with a grin on our face.
Most Earthbound spirits however have a reason of staying around and behaving badly and in many cases they are a blast of bad energies without the protection of a Faraday cage.
Desperation, rage, pain, anger, hopelessness, sickness, misery abandonment, confusion, the need for revenge etc. These are just examples of different reasons and the unfinished business that could keep a haunting active and a soul wondering around.
All of us are capable to protect ourselves from bad energies and psychic attacks and when researching the paranormal one practically is asking for interaction with these energies. Mind before Heart simply means that always have your feet planted on the ground and protect yourself from any bad influence. Keeping a cool head is as important as knowledge.
Following our motto we also have to follow our code of ethics, not only for common sense or legal reasons but this is also our way of "keeping our part of the bargain" when we talk about the dead.
GHA Code of Ethics
All paranormal investigators and personnel conducting investigation while representing Ghost Hunting Australia understand and agree with the following Code of Ethics and Conduct
- To provide a FREE of charge community service to those in need
- To offer our services to individuals regardless of religion, spiritual belief, race or background
- To conduct every investigation with respect to individuals' experience, local customs and/or local laws
- To carry out each investigation with the outmost tact, professionalism and available resources
- To inform individuals involved of the outcome of the investigation whether it is inconclusive or paranormally active.
- To offer spiritual guidance and advice if needed or if the experience exceeds our expertise to refer the person/s involved to those who can provide the appropriate help whether it is medical, spiritual or other.
- Not to disclose any information of the investigation, conclusion or the background of location or people investigated to third parties without the prior knowledge and permission of individuals involved.
- Not to lead any individuals into beliefs or conclusions regarding the paranormal or a haunting without proper investigation and analysis.
- To always look for the most logical and realistic explanation behind every experience reported and to conduct an investigation with our available technical equipment before declaring a place haunted.
- To carry out all investigations with respect to resident's privacy and property.
- To report all damages(if any) to property owner
- To behave in a civil and professional manner at all times
- Not to use questionable divination aids or practices during investigation, such as "Ouija boards", necromancy, auto writing or Tesla rods/generators.
- Not to take any untrained or uncleared individuals to any investigated location or anyone who is not involved with Ghost Hunting Australia
- If at any time during investigation we feel that anyone present would likely to be unsafe or unwell the investigation is to be aborted in a safe and professional manner. Likewise if the person who authorized investigation wishes to withdraw his/her permission to investigate the premises all investigators to respect the decision and vacate the location.
- No field investigator , adviser or trainee investigator is to approach anyone for a second observation or interview on any premises, or conduct an investigation without previously discussing it with the lead investigator/s of GHA and gaining the permission of both GHA and people at the location.
- No surveillance equipment to be left at the investigated premises after closure of investigation without prior permission and knowledge of residents/owners of the dwelling.
- Every person is responsible for their own safety and obeys safety procedures and cautionary measures appropriate to the premises. No investigator is to engage in a dangerous practice or unsafe investigation while on location nor to use any unauthorized methods of paranormal research.
- All investigators and persons involved in an investigation to report any injuries and incidents that they believe have or possibly endanger the safety or well being of the public, themselves or any other person present.
- All investigators to understand that at any time they are part of a team and behave accordingly.
- No investigator or lead investigator is to conduct an investigation ALONE at any time.
- All investigators of GHA are to provide Police Clearance if requested by GHA before being permitted onto location or to be able to attend briefings where confidential information is discussed.
- A lead investigator of GHA has the authority to refuse any investigators to partake in a field investigation without any reasons given.
- No investigator to be allowed on location without induction and reading and agreeing with the code of ethics.
- All members of GHA to comply with the confidentiality agreement not to release any information discussed or obtained at GHA.
- All investigators involved to inform GHA lead investigators of any finding during investigation and release all equipment and data collected to GHA at the end of each investigation.
