Had a question come through today which I want to address. We need to look after the living as well as the dead and some of the things that can be important are not visible to those off on ghost tours or your own paranormal investigations. Too much equipment might look awesome on YouTube but it may be harmful to people. Please read and be aware that some participants may wear pacemakers. Some paranormal investigation equipment can potentially interfere with a pacemaker, especially devices that generate electromagnetic fields, strong radio frequencies, magnets, or electrical pulses. Anyone with a pacemaker should treat ghost-hunting equipment cautiously and ideally get advice from their cardiologist or the pacemaker manufacturer before participating. Higher-risk equipment can include: EMF meters with strong active transmitters or modified coils Tesla coils or Jacob’s ladders used for theatrical demonstrations Spirit boxes / sweep radios held directly against the chest for long periods. High-powered walkie-talkies or radio transmitters Magnetic trigger devices Homemade “energy” devices or experimental equipment Devices using pulsed electromagnetic fields Static electricity generators Strong magnets used in trigger experiments The biggest concern is electromagnetic interference (EMI). Modern pacemakers are well shielded, but strong or close-range electromagnetic sources can sometimes: temporarily disrupt pacing, trigger false readings, or switch the pacemaker into a safety mode. Common paranormal gear that is usually lower risk when used properly: standard digital voice recorders, REM pods at normal distance, LED trigger objects, cameras, infrared thermometers, motion sensors, and flashlights. But “lower risk” does not mean “risk free,” especially with older pacemakers or people who are pacemaker-dependent. A good practical rule: keep active electronic devices at least 15–30 cm (6–12 inches) away from the pacemaker site, avoid hanging radios or spirit boxes on a chest lanyard,

Because, I have just found a disturbing link between what cults try to sell their followers and what some paranormal investigators are also doing, as the amount of demonic entities they seem to find at each haunted site keeps ramping up to another extraordinary level. My goodness its a miracle we aren't all possessed. Or are we????? Some cults tell their followers that portals exists where demons come through to cause havoc on Earth. Yet some paranormal investigators on You Tube tell you the same thing. How strange? Why? I decided to ask this question of myself after watching a number of videos about cults that still exist today. I want you to think critically every time you hear the words 'portal' and 'demon'. Because paranormal investigators are still throwing them around like its the 1600's. The similarity exists because both groups are drawing from the same deep well of human fear, mythology, religion, and the need to explain the unknown — but they often use it for very different purposes. The idea of “portals” is not new. Variations of it appear in ancient folklore, shamanic traditions, medieval demonology, spiritualism, horror fiction, and modern occultism. Scaring people into the need to heal themselves. The language changes, but the concept remains familiar: a doorway between worlds where spirits, gods, demons, or the dead can cross into human reality. What is interesting is how modern paranormal media and high-control spiritual groups sometimes recycle the exact same narrative structure: There is a hidden danger. Invisible entities are influencing people. Certain people have special knowledge about it. Ordinary people are vulnerable. Fear keeps people engaged and dependent. In cult environments, this can become a control mechanism. If followers are convinced demons are constantly attacking them through “open portals,” they become easier to isolate, manipulate, and keep emotionally dependent on the group leader for protection. In paranormal entertainment, the motivation is often different:

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Here are some thoughts about what might a skeptic say and what might a believer say. 1. What counts as real evidence The skeptic will say there is no solid proof. Photos can be faked. Audio can be explained. People see what they want to see. The believer will say experience matters. If ten people hear the same voice, that is not nothing. They trust repeated patterns over lab proof. 2. Electronic equipment vs natural causes The skeptic will go straight to fault. EMF spikes from wiring. Spirit boxes pulling radio bleed. Temperature drops from airflow. The believer will say the same gear is used again and again and gets similar results in certain places. They see patterns, not random faults. 3. Eyewitness accounts The skeptic will say memory is unreliable. People exaggerate. Fear changes perception. One person tells a story and others follow. The believer will say some witnesses have no reason to lie. Police, nurses, guards. People who were not looking for ghosts at all. 4. Haunted locations and history The skeptic will say old buildings creak, shift, and hold sound. Add in suggestion and you get a haunting. The believer will look at the history. Death, illness, trauma, long-term suffering. They see a link between events and activity. 5. Psychological vs paranormal The skeptic will lean hard into the mind. Sleep paralysis, stress, grief, and expectation can all create very real experiences. The believer will agree the mind plays a role, but not every case fits that box. Some events happen in full daylight, wide awake, with others present. 6. Why some people experience things and others don’t The skeptic will say it comes down to personality. Some people are more suggestible or more open to belief. The believer will talk about sensitivity. Some people notice more. Some people seem to attract activity. What can you add to this conversation?

We might think our kids are amazing and 'so grown up' and they beg us to take them on a ghost hunt because they have watched all of the shows on TV and seen all of the movies, but there is an area of duty of care that every tour provider needs to understand before they let allow children to attend. If you run tours, investigations, or anything that brings the public into a dark building with a bit of history hanging off the walls, you are not just telling stories. You are legally responsible for what happens to the people in front of you. That’s where duty of care comes in, and it’s one of those phrases people throw around without really understanding what it means until something goes wrong. In Australia, duty of care is not optional and it’s not flexible depending on the mood of the night. It’s a legal obligation to provide a reasonably safe environment for the people who have paid to be there. That doesn’t just mean making sure no one falls down a staircase. It extends to physical safety, emotional wellbeing, and anything that could be considered a foreseeable risk. That phrase, foreseeable risk, is the one that matters because it covers more than most people realise. Think about what we actually do on a ghost tour or investigation. We walk people through dark spaces where visibility is limited. We deal with uneven flooring, old buildings, narrow hallways, and sometimes confined areas where groups move together. Then layer on top of that the psychological side of things. People get frightened, they panic, they react in ways they didn’t expect. None of that is unusual, which is exactly why the law sees it as foreseeable. You are expected to anticipate it, not react to it after the fact. Where this starts to get more serious is when children are involved. The law doesn’t view them as just smaller versions of adults. Children are considered a vulnerable group because they don’t assess risk properly. They act on impulse, they get caught up in the moment, and they often don’t understand the difference between controlled fear and real danger. That means the level of responsibility sitting on you as the operator increases the moment a minor is part of your group.