“Perhaps there may come to us, then, in some such moment a ghostly sense that an invisible doorway has been opened – a doorway which, widening out, will take man beyond the nature that he knows” (Loren Eiseley, The Firmament of Time, page 181 (1972).
I consider my work (both research and fieldwork) in ghost research, as part of my archaeological career, a vocation. I consider this vocation a use of intrinsic capabilities that compels and motivates me to take on a specific performance role that does contain ethical value (and that goes beyond the “ghost hunting triad” of entertainment, ego, and economics), and which fulfills a personal desire to explore outside the traditional boundaries of fieldwork in archaeology. This is a form of “activism”, to focus attention on what still remains of the past in the contemporary present, and to treat it (whatever “it” may be) with dignity and respect.
In this capacity, I constantly monitor myself, abiding by defined rules and roles. These include normative (and ethical) baselines for behavior, thinking, and investigative “attitude” about these possible “presences” in current reality and space/time. This vocational activism does question, challenge, and strive to maintain acceptable (in the context of both the present and the past) particular behavioral standards in performance-based fieldwork. This baseline separates my work from the typical “ghost hunting” trope, which, I propose, is an exercise that destabilizes social engagements with the past, and thus it (“ghost hunting”) identifies a need to change “standard operating procedures”.
This vocation and activism should not be positioned as just another “intellectual fad” or “careerist movement”. It is not an attempt at “ghost hunting” peer recognition, an ego-centric attempt to introduce a particular model of inquiry or a boost to or boast about a particular type of fieldwork (“ghost excavation”). Rather, this website is a series of notes, ideas, and “results” from more than four decades of research and fieldwork in particular locations, and specific spaces, that may be haunted by the continuation of past ephemeral presences (as opposed to object and material remains) in the present contemporary world. ~~ John G. Sabol
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♦Our contemporary world is not centered on what is perceived as reality in the technologically-advanced Western Cultures. Life and death are not defined by Western scientific realities alone. The investigation of an “afterlife consciousness” is not solely verified by electronic means (or measurements). There is more to the world, reality, and life and death than what we read, hear, view, and learn from various mediated forms (including, but not exclusive to, social networks, the internet, TV, film, and paranormal radio podcasts).
Out there, beyond the “box”, the egos, the ethnocentrism, and the “para-celebrity vision”, there’s an entirely different meaning and socio-cultural interaction with the reality of our present-day life. It is one that is grounded in thousands of years of first-hand field experiences. There, quite sensible and perceivable on the surface (“no digging required”), there is an old way of looking at the world and listening to (not merely hearing about) “who” is there amongst us…………….
That journey back to the “old” way continues……………….
Are you tired of the same “ghost hunt” mentality you hear about and see on paranormal reality TV? Are you becoming bored with the same guest speakers at conferences and conventions? Do you want to learn something different about fieldwork, research, and documentation? Do you want to think “outside the box” of the “paranormal”?
We are now booking for speaking engagements, field demonstrations of theory and methodology at haunted locations, and consultations on “spectral traces” encountered at sites. We can talk to your group, organization, committee, etc about:
- * archaeology and ghost research;
- * “ghost excavations”;
- * the anthropology of “ghost culture”;
- * ethnographic installation and the post-excavation “reveal”;
- * differences between historical re-enactment and contextual/resonating cultural scenarios;
- * “ghost script” development and storyboards;
- * the difference between EVP sessions and an Ethnography of Communication” (E.O.C.);
- * material cultural engagements – linking the physical and social sciences (P.O.P. = Participate-Observe-Perform)
We have more than 35 years of experience in archaeology, anthropology, and ghost research; and a significant background in film, TV, documentaries, and theatre.
A Few Simple Words…
This is a website for serious investigations not casual “ghost hunters”. We research “new” cases of interactive past presence and material remains through a layered archaeological sensibility. We test ‘old’ haunting uncertainties through an ethnographic sensitivity. In order to substantiate past “subjective” claims of an interactive haunting, we use experimental field techniques in all our investigations. This helps us improve our methodology and field practices. Ours is a combined research center, test facility, and consulting agency that serve both academic and investigative endeavors. We also offer workshops, seminars, and a “field school” for serious beginners, and those investigators who want to use our theories and field methodology. Please view our list of courses, seminars, and field school options. We are readily available to speak at your event or meeting and we can accompany you on your investigations as a consultant. We do not “certify” investigators, nor do we declare a location to be haunted without extensive and exhaustive research and excavations.
With word, image, and sound this website transfers you to the excavation experience of a trained archaeologist who unearths interactive past cultural presence. It is also an ethnographic journey by an experienced field anthropologist into the many worlds of diverse “ghost cultures”. The past material remains are exposed and manifest through the skills of an actor (with extensive film, TV, and theatre experience), who is immersed in (and enacting) various participatory and performative roles during the execution of cultural contextual scenarios in the excavation process.
We as “ghost excavators”, search for (and uncover) an unfolding time at haunted locations in specific symmetrical socio-cultural (multi-layered) spaces. This involves a trans-cultural experience of excavating various past “ghost cultures”, as the field of excavation itself becomes an ethonographic medium for the acquisition of individual stories, past knowledge, and diverse social behaviors.
This website, and its contributors and investigators, propose the field of “ghost excavation” as a flexible, alternative approach that is critical for the emergence of interactive past presence at particular locations. At these sites of excavation, the past-present- and future occupy one node of symmetrical space. Here, a dialogue of mutual communication is created where beings (from the present) complete (from a continuing past) the interpretation of other beings life and death unite in an emergent future within the excavated spaces of this “ghost archaeology”.
Please contact us at cuicospirit@hotmail.com to set up a booking.
