Friday, August 22, 2008

Paranormal State & Psychic Kids: Children of the Paranormal REVIEWS

Due to other MySpace sites being deleted because they gave negative reviews or comments concerning the A&E shows Paranormal State and Psychic Kids: Children of the Paranormal, I thought it was prudent to remove them from my MySpace page and put them up over here.

Review #1 Psychic Kids: Children of the Paranormal - The Demon House episode

"Dear Kirbe it was nice to read your coments to my last question as well as receiving your personal e-mail. I hate to do this again but with the wife gone and my children being grown living life on their own now I watch a lot of telly. I recently watched Psychic Kids, children of the Paranormal and was rather chuffed. But one episode troubled me very much the demon house. did it trouble you also?" Your friend in Christ, Jack

This is the hardest response that I have written for Metaphysical Musings. I've gone as far as to pulling it late Thursday, but events in the past 48 hours have mandated that I go ahead and answer this question fairly.

Unfortunately, for both the general public as well as those involved in the field of the paranormal, we are caught up in a cult of personality as well as the need to "crank" things up on many of the current reality paranormal programs. Because the star(s) of the program are so appealing and we want to like then so we blindly accept everything that they spoon feed us. We fear that reality isn't exciting enough to draw in ratings that reality is dressed up a bit with some fictional story lines. This is hurting the public and beginning to destroy the credibility of the paranormal field that so many people have worked hard to legitimize.

I watched all 6 episodes of "Psychic Kids: Children of the Paranormal" at least once, and "The Demon House" episode many times. And I've consulted with others to compare my reactions and refine my opinions.

I do not know Chip Coffey, never met the man, and I'm not going to engage in any personal attacks as has been the case over the past few days by others.

If I'm asked what has been my opinion of Psychic Kids it would be overall good and there are only a few things over the entire series that I have difficulty with. The one primary thing is that every time Chip Coffey first meets one of the children and asks them to perform some kind of psychic skill, the kids are always 100% accurate 100% of the time.

But when it comes to the Demon House episode that's entirely a different matter. The first time I viewed it I could not believe what I was seeing, and with each successive viewing it gets worse.

Now prior to moving on, let me write this in plain English: I get no personal pleasure from this whatsoever. But I have made a commitment to the truth, I've promised to help ALL and I feel that I'm being led to write these words, so I couldn't be what I am if I shirk my metaphysical duty.

So, here is my analysis of The Demon House:

Each episode begins with a statement that "this is a documentary." By definition that means it's to be factual and objective, which implies that events and situations will not be manipulated within either the production or presentation. To both Ryan Buell's and Paranormal State's credit, they do not imply this within their program's description.

The episode opens with a young girl in Houston, Texas by the name of Hailey. She's 12, and lives with her mother, Ileana. The girl sees a spirit of a man that threatens her and brings other spirits that have physically and verbally threatened to harm her. She lives in fear of said violence. The mother claims that there's no help and all this is starting to impact Hailey's life.

At this point in the episode, I feel that Hailey is telling the truth and there is certainly a negative presence in her room and closet that is potentially harmful to both her and her mother.

We then meet Alexa, 14, from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida who claims she has seen ghosts and demons since the age of 8. The family fled 2 years ago from a house that is demonic, and they have been unable to return to it except for brief moments in the daylight hours. Alexa claims, "someone is there and it kinda freaks me out." Leslie, Alexa's mother, states, "things happen." We are never told what events led to the family fleeing nor why she waited for 2 years to seek help for the house. In the background we notice a door is open and Alexa freaks out when a bird flies through the house. We learn that she has had issues when it comes to social adjustment.

Alexa then describes the demon she claims to have seen and says, "It was anger, frustration, and betrayal." She claims to see a shadow run by and she can stand next to it with no impact.

Mom says, "she is afraid to talk about her child's issues due to fear that they will say that Alexa is crazy, take her away, and put her into a mental institution." Which are basically the same fears that Hailey's mother has uttered in her on camera interview.

At this point, if Alexa and her mother came to me concerning this home and telling me that there was demonic activity occurring there, I would be very hard pressed to believe them. And here's why:

Point 1 – A bird flying through the house is not proof of spirit activity, but an open door.

Point 2 – Alexa makes a big effort physically as well as verbally, to sell her story. Point in fact, is when she uses three terms to sell the demon to the audience. This is often done for dramatic reasons within film, TV, and literature.

Point 3 – Leslie never does explain what really happened that night in the home that drove them out. Leaving lots of personal possessions behind and not returning to claim them, sounds as if one of the elements of the Amityville Horror myth is being borrowed. Notice the shiny black countertops in the kitchen and the overall lack of dust and cobwebs.

Point 4 – Alexa claims that a shadow moved across the light, yet we never see anything.

Point 5 – Alexa claims that a demon/dark spirit at one point is standing right next to her and is very upset about her presence. Yet nothing happens. And if you ever suffer the unfortunate opportunity to stand next to a demon, you will physically know it.

Point 6 – Neither Alexa or her mother ever inform the viewers that they are both regulars at new age/psychic conferences within the state of Florida, according to some professionals that I've worked with in that area. This would give them great insight into knowing the terminology.

Now Chip Coffey and Dr. Lisa Miller enter and begin to work with Alexa. Due to wanting to keep this a reasonable length, I'm not going to focus on anything except the demon house and Hailey's fear of the dark presence. An important point is when Hailey brings out the mirror and tells a bored looking Chip the mirror is a portal into the spiritual world and at one time she sees Isaiah, chapter 26 written on it. This passage happens to deal with how God shall protect the righteous but He also shall judge those who have turned to other gods and engaged in destructive behavior.

Chip and Dr. Miller discuss the fear that was at the old house would follow Alexa to the new house. Chip states, unequivocally, that it is something they need to focus on. Now let's stop here.

1. Chip should have taken the time to find out what that Bible quote meant. And taken a look, spiritually, himself, at the mirror.
2. The family moved out of the old house 2 years ago. If the demon chose to follow the family, it would have. This is certainly an issue because the viewer is led to believe that Alexa is its target. So why didn't the demon follow its desired target?

They now agree to take the two girls to the demon house and Chip promises to teach them means of protection and the happy trio set off to the home.

Point 1 – Concerning spiritual protection -- it is not something you learn in a few minutes. There are many aspects of it, which is not something that can be taught in one session, which is the feeling that you get from the program.

Point 2 – I think the reader should be getting my opinion that the demon house is without a demon, and there's nothing there to be afraid of.

The first trip made to the house features Chip, Alexa, and Hailey. Nothing happens, at least on tape. There are no noises, no movement, no voices, no visual clues whatsoever. Alexa claims she smells something bad and that this is supposed proof of demonic activity. Some points to consider here:

Point 1 – Alexa's claim of one demon now has grown to many demons.

Point 2 – Chip, with an eerily lit face, which calls to mind "The Blair Witch Project" movie, begins to toss the word demon around.

Point 3 – Isn't it strange that only Alexa is "attacked" in the van after the demon house walk through?

Point 4 – Hailey states, "all you have to do is say 'in the name of God, leave me alone!' and they have to leave you alone." Which is totally untrue, and if she was taught this on the set, there's somebody there that doesn't know much about demonology.

The show really goes downhill from here and if this wasn't serious, it would make a great comedy hour.

Point 1 – Linda, the demonologist, and her assistant, Beth, don't ask any questions of Chip concerning the case. They let Chip tell them that the house is demonically possessed; therefore it must be demonically possessed. Yet Chip has declared in this show and in Paranormal State that he is not a demonologist or an exorcist.

Point 2 – Alexa and Hailey both affirm that something is going to happen when they go to the house that night and again, nothing does except Alexa says she feels sick.

Point 3 - Telling the kids that they can come to the house cleansing is a huge mistake on their parts. House cleanings are no joke and I've seen as much demonic violence in a house cleansing as in an exorcism.

Point 4 – Linda shows that she is clearly lacking the ability of spiritual discernment when she handles Hailey's mirror, and she is totally condescending towards Hailey when she asks about the angry spirits. Linda just tells Hailey to ask them why they're angry. Maybe Hailey's residence, not being in Florida but in Texas, was too far away to cleanse. Maybe it wasn't in the show's budget.

Point 5 – When traveling in the van before arriving at the demon house, Chip builds up tension by saying, "it knows we're coming and it knows what's planned." Yet again, nothing happens.

Point 6 – Hailey and her mother are told it will be safe to stay outside of the demon house. Demons can come out through the doors, windows, walls, ceilings, and from underground. So standing outside is not a safe place, either.

Point 7 – When they are doing their walk-through, Linda, the demonologist, picks up nothing.

Point 8 – Alexa, again sounds the alarm that the demon is going to do something. Again, what happens? Nothing!

Point 9 – Alexa aggressively tells the demon to leave her alone and suddenly she is free of its presence. Which is about as likely as a pea shooter stopping an oncoming tank.

Point 10 – Finally, the house cleansing that was performed was amateurish at best, simply going through a house and rebuking and putting crosses on the walls is not a house cleansing.

Unfortunately, at the end, the child that needed the help the most left without really spending any time with Chip, getting any guidance from Dr. Miller, or having the spirits removed from her home.

This is like a low-budget action flick that spends the majority of the movie building up the confrontation between the hero and his arch-enemy. And then, at the very end, the showdown is over in mere seconds. We were given the false impression that this was a serious demon, yet it turned out to be weaker than Casper the friendly ghost.

What we have here is hype over substance. Excitement and danger over reality. And illusion combined with delusion giving us a cloudy picture of what really did and did not happen. Every time a show is done like this there's a cost. People see these shows and accept them as being real and they build up their belief systems from that. Then, in real life, they act out what they've seen, which brings me back to my reason why I reinserted this into the Metaphysical Musings blog.

Later this week, I'm flying out to meet with two families whose son and daughter went out on a date, both of the teens are fans of so-called "paranormal reality" TV shows. They decided to go to a graveyard at 3 AM and put to use what they've learned. Four hours later, they both were discovered wandering around in a field in a daze, totally confused and incoherent, and suffered blackouts and changes in personality. Those are all signs of demonic possession. I don't see the reality shows running to these families aid, there will be no cameras rolling, nor ratings at stake.

The demon house was simply an empty house that now has a life of its own via the internet and TV. No one was ever in danger nor could they have been. What was and still is in danger is the truth. It becomes more clouded and more difficult to comprehend as it gets blended with fallacy and half truths. The gullible general public, who seek a greater understanding, end up buying in to a mish mash of reality.

REVIEW #2 Paranormal State - The Dark Man episode

"Maybe you can settle this ..my roommate who just transferred from Penn State and claims to know everyone in the Paranormal Research Society tells me that the dark man episode never left and that he's still terrorizing that family. The Paranormal State show says that he left the family after the banishment ceremony. What's true?" Shannon

I have to side with your roommate in this argument. According to my sources, the Dark Man is still terrorizing the family and it seems that he never did leave.

I'll state this again, for the record. I have nothing against Ryan Buell and his team, never met the man, nor anyone from the Paranormal Research Society. But, if you're going to call yourself an expert, please conduct your investigations like one. And if you're going to call yourself a warrior, please wage the battle against the proper foe.

The Dark Man is clearly a demon and he was in control of the situation from the very beginning. For some reason, Ryan and PRS was led down one false trail after another. I think the culprit was the ego of the entire team.

For those who have not seen "The Dark Man" episode of Paranormal State, it concerns a family on a small farm in Pennsylvania. They had two sons. Chris, the youngest son, died of a drug overdose due to the presence of the Dark Man, an entity he had been aware of since the age of 5. And it seems that the Dark Man has also been terrorizing the family in their dreams, with paranormal activity, and is holding the son from crossing over. I'll try to deal with my issues of the investigation in sequential order to follow the unfolding of the episode.

~ The first error was and is how can they can conduct a haunting investigation with clear early presence of some kind of demonic activity going on and not have an exorcist or demonologist on hand?

~ Their medium is neither on site nor in the same state, but 1,000 miles away in Florida. They are walking around spiritually blind throughout the entire investigation.

~ Chris died due to a drug overdose. That is considered a form of suicide. And depending on the family's spiritual beliefs, that issue was never, ever addressed within the episode.

~ When the team goes on a tour of the basement, they learn that there has been activity there. A woman had her arm grabbed, bitten, and developed a rash. This activity is not the sign of a few unhappy earthbound spirits; this is the sign of a strong demonic presence of one or more demons.

~ They learn that people feel the property is eerie and strange, things had happened on that property but is never explained nor is the history of the property ever looked into. We then learn that a mentally ill man suffering from schizophrenia, [remember that people who suffered from demonic possession are often labeled schizophrenic] killed himself in the pond. He was holding a little box at the time. Suicide by drowning is not a common form of suicide. It has a very strong element of suffering and is not over quickly. And why did the "mentally ill man" choose to die on their property? The demon of the Dark Man must have been terrorizing him, and that's why the mentally ill man didn't come in contact with him until after his death. The Dark Man led him to die on the property, creating an entrance and a blood anointing onto it then his attention was turned on to the child, Chris. Also, the deceased son may have had some mental issues, but this is never pursued.

~ Ryan makes a severe error when he asks Helen, the mother, to determine who the Dark Man is. Ryan is the expert and he should have the skills to make the determination, but leaves that up to an amateur. And this distraught woman doesn't have any kind of knowledge of demonology.

~ Why was there Dead Time at the pond? The family had not expressed any paranormal activity at the pond whatsoever.

~ Why did Ryan not use the Christian rituals to get the spirits to speak, and to get the demons to acknowledge their presence? And if we accept the activity of the spirits during Dead Time, they were very minor spirits, indeed. Nor did they exhibit the kind of activity that you think Chris would be engaging in, which would be to get the investigators attention indicating that he wants to be released.

~ With Chris dead, the older brother is the next logical target with the demon and this is never followed up.

~ Helen should never have been allowed to challenge the demon. And a good medium should have been able to discern it was not Chris that was speaking to her, but the demon of the Dark Man. By her challenging the demon, she in a sense gave an invitation to that demon to come into contact with her. And there was never any indication presented at all about the family's spiritual activities, or lack of.

~ No EVP's at all! Tormented ghosts love to talk and demons need to talk.

~ Eilfie performs a banishing ritual which she assures Ryan has had "some effect in the past." Going into spiritual warfare with a ritual that simply has "some effect" does not generate a whole lot of confidence in a victory. And why did a pagan ritual need to be performed here? Where was the spiritual proof that she had any kind of authority? What was Eilfie's spiritual authority to perform the ritual if it was just being a third generation pagan? That gives no authority whatsoever. Why are Archangels being commanded in a pagan ritual? Archangels give their authority to be commanded by three entities: God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. They are not going to come in response to a pagan ritual. Pagan rituals are fine, but you don't mix religions with your rituals. Furthermore, when Ryan says, "whether it works or not, we hope it brings peace to this family." If the banishment ritual fails to work, the demon is still bound to the property, Chris is still bound to the demon, and the paranormal activity will continue. How could the family find any peace in this situation? And why wasn't a ceremony performed to release Chris, who was being tormented by the Dark Man, who was a tormented spirit, as well, under Ryan's theory. No prayers or cleansing activity is done in the house that Chris killed himself in. Nothing is done to address the demonic activity taking place in the basement. The house and the rest of the property was never cleansed as Ryan had made an effort to do in other episodes.

~ To claim, just hours after the banishment ceremony in the pond, that it was successful is simply ridiculous. All the demon did was cease his activity while they were still on the property and waited to return to his activity when the cast and crew had departed. And my biggest question is why wasn't an exorcist called in to perform an exorcism? An exorcist could have cleansed the house, and dealt with the issues that were still haunting the family.

~ The only expert in this episode that showed any kind of skill was Diane, the grief counselor.

Conclusion: I am not bringing up these issues to embarrass Paranormal State or Ryan Buell, in any way. It is simply my concern, as a full time demonologist/exorcist for the past 20 years, that one cannot simply put together a team, read a few books, attend a few seminars, and call yourself an expert. Because others will come along, mimic your actions, conduct investigations in the same fashion, and end up harming not only themselves, but also innocent victims. And if this was just one or two errors I could easily brush it off as human error. But as I go back and watch more episodes of Paranormal State, and receive ever-increasing concerns from my readers and other Paranormal Investigation professionals who are afraid to speak out, I feel compelled to do the speaking for them.

REVIEW #3 Paranormal State - The Devil In Syracuse episode

"Dear Kirbe it has been many yrs since we last met. I see your still in the field. I retired due to poor health. I would like to ask for you opinion concerning this programme called Paranormal State and the epsode devil in Syracuse was very troubled to say the least. Iif you saw it did it trouble you also?" Your friend in Christ, Jack
Yes, I have seen it. And yes, it did trouble me. It seems that casting out demons and calling oneself an exorcist has become the current career de jour for some reason. And many think that you can read a few books, watch some TV programs and movies, get a mail order certificate and you're ready to go. Which is very far from the truth and I personally am starting to receive cases that have been botched by so-called "professional" exorcists.

But let's focus on the "Devil In Syracuse" case and the errors that were made in it. For those who have yet to see the episode, it concerns Ryan Buell's investigation of a young couple, Teena and Raymond, with two children with claims of paranormal activity in their trailer. Their claims were not out of the ordinary in any way, as claims go.


1. The first mistake I see in how they handled the case is in opening. You don't go in assuming it is demonic activity, and expecting to do an exorcism. The first rule you should live by, if you are a paranormal investigator, is that you rule out the probable prior to embracing the improbable. You need to completely rule out the chance of: ghosts, poltergeists, or possible psychological explanations for the activity or signs of paranormal activity.

2. The carryover from the previous episode of Paranormal State concerning Ryan's involvement with a demon known as Belial. Anyone who has read anything on the subject of demonology should be familiar with this name. Some say it is simply another name for Satan. It's not. Some say that he is the son of Lucifer. That's not true. And finally, some say he was the next in line for Lucifer's job, but aligned with Lucifer and was cast into hell. Which is true. He is one of the top lieutenants and has at least four legions in his personal army of demons to call upon. In my encounters with him he is never alone, which in this case, they acted as if he was. Also, he loves to do tricks such as move objects, rap on walls, and speak in a loud voice. He loves to show off his personal arsenal of abilities. Yet in this case, he shows no activity whatsoever when called on.

3. One myth again made popular is if you speak the demon's name the demon will come. Sort of like a dark version in the movie "Field of Dreams", if you build it, he will come. Demons can only be in one place at the same time, they're not omnipotent, nor can they hear all words spoken.

4. The trailer itself was not placed under spiritual protection when the team arrived. This put not only the family, but also neighbors and the entire investigation team in danger of being attacked and harmed.

5. Yes, it is true that the messy condition of the house, and the depression that was evident within the family can be both a result and an invitation to demonic activity.

6. I have seen every episode of the first season of "Paranormal State" more than once, and in the majority of cases, I have been impressed with Ryan Buell's efforts. But, in this one, I can't say that. In he flipping of the cross incident. Why were there no cameras set up to catch the act of flipping the cross? Why did the family react to the presence, yet Ryan showed no sense or reaction to the presence of his personal demon? A demon who's got the attention of his adversary will never, ever pass up an opportunity to show of their talents. You have to remember that demons are ego driven and will show constantly how reckless and brave they are.

7. Reverend Andrew Calder's activity within the episode was stellar. He did what any authentic exorcist would do when called upon the scene.

8. Why was there a two-week delay in the performance of the exorcism? You gave the demon two weeks to prepare for battle that was not necessary. And if a demon if Belial's level was present he would have brought in reinforcements, he would have greatly increased demonic activity and if the child was the object of his presence he would have made every effort to go after that child. Even the child being baptized within that two week timespan would not have dissuaded his intentions if that child were his final goal. And in actuality, the child's baptism would have increased his interest. For possessing such a person is a mighty trophy to the dark side.

9. Now here is a big issue, which really troubles me. When you step into demonic battle, you must have spiritual authority concerning your position. And you must have moral authority as well. That does not mean just a few forgive me, Lord type prayers, but a complete and absolute confession of all past misdeeds and also a period of fasting of the flesh, no drinking, no drugs, no lust, no sex, no anger, no envy, and no attachment. If not, the demon will most certainly use that against you during the battle. The young couple absolutely had no business being there during the exorcism. And the exorcist appeared not to know nor could he personally communicate with the demonic presence. This is not how it's done.

10. Concerning the husband being "truly possessed." The husband was not possessed at all. Possibly tainted, but not possessed. If he had been absolutely possessed, the possession on him would have lasted hours, days, weeks, or months, and not just a few minutes. He would have also reacted negatively to the placement of crucifixes and rosaries against his body.

11. The family did not have prayers of cleansing done. Nor was the safety of Pat, the houseguest, ever addressed.

12. Finally, the most obvious was never looked at. And more than likely, the paranormal activity was not demonic at all, but psychological in nature. The house was in a disarray, the family was ruled by depression, emotional and financial troubles, and a pending separation was causing huge amounts of stress between the husband and wife. Tension also was evident between the children and their parents. The presence of the houseguest seemed as though she ruled over the family and caused additional tension. The psychic negative energy will build and build until there's an explosion. Things go wrong, people want explanations for it, let's try to distract ourselves from the physical problems and the answer is we have demonic activity. I've had many cases where this is how it happens.

In conclusion, if it had been Belial, he would have come back stronger than ever against Ryan the next time Ryan went out in the field. But mysteriously, he disappears for the rest of the season. I've never met Ryan Buell, nor do I know him. It does seem that his intentions are good. But it does seem that he's picked up the persona of Fox Mulder of "The X Files" TV show fame. "The X Files" tag line was "The truth is out there." Ryan's is "One step closer to the truth." A little bit of shtick is okay. But it should not blind you to the real paranormal.