Oh goody goody gumdrops! One of my favorite subjects - thank you Alisa!

...and as Yoda wuold say.."much I have to say on this!"

OK, here's the scoop...EVP'S can be absolutely wonderous, but heed my warning -YOU MUST BE CAREFUL! I've learned that sometimes in trying to contact life on the other side, we unintentionally leave a door open for just about any thing to come through. If we are not careful in stating exactly what or who we wish to connect with, sometimes our "door" more resembles a "clown car" - you intend to hold the door for one, & a stream of "clowns" come runnin on through!

So to avoid this, I always do a meditation before an EVP session. First, I ask Source to protect me while on my journey. Then I meditate. After meditation I like to sit silently to listen for feedback. I've always believed that prayer (whatever you want to call it...talking to Source) is how you ask Source, & meditation(being silent & listening) is how you recieve the answers from Source.

After that I light a candle(it is said that spirit is attracted to fire, but does not notice, or respond to artificial light from their various dementions). I then state the entity or entities that I wish to contact,& ask that only positive energies follow behind, if there has to be any uninvited guests crashing our session. Once that little technicality is out of the way, I sit in a quiet room w/just a lit candle and my handy dandy recorder. TIP: Digital voice recorders are GREAT!- Don't own one yet,but aspire to one day.)

Once you press record, state out loud who you want to hear from. Say that you are there & ready to recieve messages, & as corny as it sounds - state that you come in peace. Get into a comfortable position, & GO!

You can ask specific questions, or you could leave the forum open, & just wait to hear what comes through. I like to ask specifics if I'm dealing w/ an entity that I already know. I have had many sessions in my house where I've reached my mom since she's passed. HELPFUL TIP: When asking questions, always remember to pause in silence for the answer to be 'picked up' clearly. I have learned in the past, that it is quite easy for 'us' to monopolize the conversation, when we can't audibly hear the answers out loud. What you end up getting, is a full recording of you blabbing through the whole tape hearing overlapping responses, that sound too mixed in to correctly define. So ask - then be quiet for a moment or two.

I would also recommend lighting some sage, or a smudge stick to keep the positive energy comming in, & the negative energy going out.

Another way of performing an EVP session is to just leave a running recorder in an empty(of people)room. Still ask for protection, don't lite the candle, still state who or what you want to communicate with, don't lite the sage, or just smudge the room first. But don't leave the candle or sage burning after you leave the room. And go to bed. When you wake up & listen to your tape, you won't have to worry about your voice 'over ridding' spirit voice, bacause your voice won't be on anything but the beginning of the tape.

I use both methods.I have found success with both! It is truley amazing what can be caught.I have heard many different voices on my recordings. I have also heard music - when there was none playing. I have heard cries(before I learned to ask for protection from the neg.entities),laughter, singing,breathing,clapping,coughing & my mother's voice saying "It's me Jame"-as that's always what she has called me.

I've asked for a sequence of audible knocks to be duplicated after I myself knocked first. My knocks were duplicated - knock for knock!

I've caught my mom saying "Too slow" on one of my recordings. I had asked her on the tape why her voice sounded so low & was so hard to understand in previous recordings. Imediately her voice popped in saying "too slow". It took me a few minutes of listening to that phrase, until it hit me that there were buttons on the back of my recorder that allow you to listen to your tape in normal speed, high speed, or low speed! My recorder was set on normal, which allows the recording to be heard on the frequency we opperate on normally, wich kind of drags etheral voices out to almost a slo-mo roll. Once I switched the button to high speed, I could better understand her words in all my EVP'S. Thanx ma, good lookin out!

BTW, the recorder I have used for every EVP session is the radio shack palm recorder that used to be her's! After she died I traveled to VA to collect some things from her apartment, in her office I found the recorder sitting on her desk. I don't know exactly what she used it for, but there it was in plain view - so I took it right away, knowing exactly what I intended to do w/it. I think her "too slow" message was because she was already familiar w/that specific recorder, & knew what I was doing wrong!

...just like a mother eh? "No,no, no - you're doing it wrong!"

I wish I had a way to share these recordings w/all on this site who are interested, but I wouldn't even know where to begin. I think I lack the equipment, & I know I lack the knowledge. I Know that although I own a brand new Dell Inspiron, it does not have a memory card slot for photos, so I assume I need something similar to load voice recordings. I've been told That all I need is some peice of hardware that plugs into my computer, but I don't know what it's called, or if I need something in addition for audio.

For now ,I guess I'll just have to verbally share - but I will check around & see what I can do to get the ball rolling on getting my collection on this site. If any one has any suggestions or knowledge on that, please feel free.

Here I will point out some helpful reminders for EVP sessions:

1. Always clear your mind of all negativity before an EVP session so not to attract any negative entities. I suggest a prayer or meditation just before each session.

2. Always ask Source for guidence & protection during your EVP session, so uninvited guests do not show up.

3. Sage or smudge sticks are helpful in keeping the neg energy at bay, while allowing the positive to come through(but best if never left burning unattended).

4. Lighting a candle or many, can act as a fog horn or lighthouse for a spirit. They love fire it is said, & move towards it like a moth to flame.

5. State your purpose out loud, - 'who' or 'what' you would like to hear from. And be diligent in laying a boundry that only the entity you're addressing responds, or that only positive entities respond.

6. Remember that if you're going to ask questions, pause in silence long enough to let the answer be picked up clearly.

7. KNOW your recording device, as there are tools on some to help you better hear & understand your recordings.

8. Make sure that you have a very quiet setting during your recording session. This isn't mandatory, but helpful in not picking up foriegn sounds that might confuse you, i.e. barking - cars - trains - out door voices, things like that make it very hard to distinguish voice on the tape. For this reason I peform all my sessions at night when the whole house is shut down. With kids in bed, no tv's on, no wash running, and the heat or CA turned off. This way all you hear is the white noise on the playback, and the white noise of your recording is where you will find the voices.

9. I've found that in some cases it is best to put the 'free walking' pets in a sepperate room. Sometimes in just their moving about the house, they cause interference in the recording. But on that same note, sometimes you can tell just by the reaction of your dog or cat, if something in spirit is in the room trying to communicate. So it's really just a personal preferrence. Guess it really depends on how wired your pet is.

10. And last but not least, Please ALWAYS BE RESPECTFUL, to these entities. I don't care what GHOST HUNTERS do on tv, it is wrong to disrespect, confront w/negativity, or provoke other entities for a reaction. ON ANY LEVEL! They are souls...just like us. They are us, and we are they. Realize that whatever harm they caused while alive here on earth, most have since moved on. Even some of the most evil people on earth have souls (yes Alisa, even Dubya - although I've claimed he doesn't). And most of these souls have taught or learned the lessons that they came here for. They have returned home and are again whole. And they are sometimes not at all what we remember them as, in their negative skin - here on earth.

Other souls that haven't yet let go of the negativity that they caused on earth - those are the ones to steer clear of! DO NOT PROVOKE THEM, as those souls haven't made it home yet, & are a bit peeved at this & in general. I think one day they'll return home to be healed & whole again, but until they make that choice, I believe they remain in the 'in between' as the mean "ghosts" that people report all the time scratching at them, or chucking objects at people & such. At any rate, treat them like you would real people, invite the ones you know & trust, & nevermind even bothering w/ the strangers & negatives that seem unsafe. But always be polite, respectful, & careful no matter who or what comes through.

Oops, An ammendment to the above - When a door is opened, it must be closed! After each session please verbaly close your door. Say out loud that the session has ended, give your thanks, & make it clear that the door is now closed, & until asked, no one is to come through. I find that they do indeed comply.

If diong an EVP session where you are absent when the tape stops, like leaving it in a room while your sleeping; State verbally at the beginning of the session ,'when' the door is to be closed & access denied. For example, " Upon the 'click' at the end of this tape, the door is closed to all in spirit, until I contact you again." They also seem to comply with that method. Then you can sleep sound, knowing that at curfew - they will be gone!

If you'd like to leave that door open, skip that last part, & instead ask Source to protect 'you & all' who live in that house during the time the door remains open, as this invitation can include just about anybody, or anything to come on through. I would only suggest that you try this method if you are strongley in touch w/your higher self & source. It can get crazy, but is fascinating to observe, as the activity then becomes more obvious, at any givin time & will start to be heard in 'real time' as a "disembodied" voice, rather than just on recording devices as EVP's.

The equipment you choose to use is solely up to you as an individual. You can use anything that records & plays back. But I would reccomend using something that allows you to adjust the speed in which you listen to the play back, like I described above.

I hope that this has inspired some reunions from the other side! I wish all success on your journey - be safe - be curtious - & be well. Bless all