What’s the worst that could happen?

Welcome to Homespun Haints, the podcast where guests tell us about the true ghost stories they’ve experienced! On today’s episode, we speak with fellow podcaster Carrie Caulfield Arick of Yaya Podcasting and Just Podcasting. Carrie has been haunted her whole life, and has seen some truly spectacular apparitions. Seeing spirits as just a part of life, she says, as she edits all the EVPs out of her podcasts.

Listen to “Episode 42: What’s the worst that can happen?” on Spreaker.

Episode Summary

We think of a haunted house as usually being an old house…but Carrie lived in the same 1960’s DC house her entire childhood, and she encountered what seemed like many entities within those walls. Who was Aunt Bessie? If she’s a former resident who passed away, why is she still in Carrie’s childhood house? One night, Carrie decides to turn the lights out and have a séance to try to contact her to find out. What’s the worst that could happen?

Process Video of a haunted microphone

Episode Show Notes and References

How to Throw a Séance

There are right ways, and there are wrong ways, to throw a séance, according to Lauren McCarthy of W Magazine. The very fact that this article appears in W just speaks to how mainstream the desire to commune with the dead has become. In Carrie’s case, it seems she did things the wrong way. We won’t give any spoilers in case you haven’t listened yet (please do—click on the audio player above). Let’s just say sometimes, be careful what you wish for.

If the séance goes well (or goes awry), can a human and a ghost have a positive ongoing relationship? Here’s an old thread with some hilariously serious advice, if you’d like to try. (Hey, if things go well, you can also have an ongoing sexual relationship with a ghost, apparently. We explore this concept of ghost sex in a Patreon episode.)

What are Ley Lines?

If you drew straight lines between historic landmarks and spiritual structures (think Stonehenge), then you would get a series of criss-crossing lines known as ley lines. This rather new concept, developed in the early 20th century by Alfred Watkins, describes straight lines of spiritual significance and energy that ancient people used to determine the locations of their most sacred structures.

In pop culture, ley lines appear in both the new and old Ghostbusters movies as creating the vortices of paranormal energy that cause mayhem to break out in New York.

Want to read more about ley lines? Or, have you considered creating your own ley line map to see if your house is located on one? We mentioned it to Carrie in her interview because many believe vortices—portals into other worlds—occur where ley lines intersect.

Until next time, have a spooky day!