With our Nightmare Before Christmas collection launched, we’re getting pretty stoked for Halloween. And we wanted to get more hands on than just pumpkin carving.
So we’re doing a séance that you can join us for on periscope starting at 9:30 PM Tuesday, October 27th with winner of the “Best Psychic in Chicago” award, Edward L. Shanahan. And what better place to do it than at Whitehouse Post Production house? Oh…did I mention that it was a Courthouse in the late 1800’s where they used to hang criminals? Minor details.
Our séance isn’t until October 27th/28th (join us via periscope!), but we wanted to talk to Mr. Shanahan to learn a little more about him and what we were getting ourselves into…
What’s it like being a professional Medium?
Well I can give you the song and dance that others in this field post online to make themselves seem mystical and all…but most of that is just self-proclaimed hype. I am an average person who has learned to harness an ability that I hope to have others experience.
See, my goal is to have others experience the Spirit World almost as a Medium would, be it the spirits of a location, loved ones who have passed, or spirits I may invite in…and there may be a whole alley of spirits, I have been told.
Yes, supposedly the alley of Whitehouse Post is where the hangings took place. Creepy stuff. But what about the skeptics…how do you feel about them?
I love skeptics, as they usually are the ones who experience it the hardest at one of my Circles of Energy. Then they are confused, as they walked in as a skeptic, experienced something paranormal that their mind cannot accept as being real, and yet a part of them knows that is what they experienced. The Spirit World does have a way of proving it exists and is willing to do so at times.
What’s the strangest case you’ve worked? Scariest?
The living have been proven to be the strangest encounters I’ve experienced (and scariest at times)…including many in this Paranormal Field.
Does being a Medium affect you on a daily basis or only when you’re in a location with a lot of spiritual activity?
Being a Spirit Feeler, as I like to call it, does not affect me daily at all. There are times I may walk into the basement of an old Chicago Hotel, an estate sale, or a location that has activity – then I let the senses kick in.
What else do you do?
I also do Psychic House Parties that includes Spirit Communication Sessions – most of the time for individuals to attempt communications with their love ones who have passed away. I also do corporate events and parties.
Is there more spiritual activity during this time of year? If so, is there some cause for it?
I would have to say the time of year does not matter for what I do and how I do it. But many make the claim that as we get closer to All Saints’ Day (1 November), its vigil Halloween (31 October), and All Souls Day on November 2, what separates us from the Spirit World is thinner.
How do you feel about movies and shows involving hauntings?
The funny thing is, like many paranormal authors of haunted locations, Hollywood has the whole internet to draw their ideas from without ever actually experiencing anything.
Do you move around a lot for your job or is there plenty of activity here?
I have always lived within ten minutes of Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery and all the haunted locations in the S.W. Suburbs. And I have experienced them all, so there is no need to have an obsession with them. Some people only use a location or two to drain it for what will make them known, more so than what the paranormal location can provide.
Heck, I haven’t even bothered with Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery this year, and have made it a point to visit my loved ones’ gravesites more often then a strangers’. I would rather have an encounter with my mother, father or grandparents then a stranger’s spirit. This is what I try to provide for the general public.
Do you dabble in the demonic?
I have never encountered Demonic entity on the Spirit Side, and that includes the most evil place I have ever been to.
I have encountered it in the living, with one who could be called a High Priest in the world of Demonic Worship. The strange thing is I was not afraid. If you believe in the Highest Spirit of the Spiritual World, there is nothing fear, as nothing is more powerful the Highest Spirit. You are protected if you believe in him.
I have not had anything follow me home, possess me or any other person that has participated in what I do in the last 15 years (learn more about Edward Shanahan, check out his books here).
Check out our séance on Tuesday night via Periscope! Download Periscope and follow us @threadless!