The Paranormal Seekers pride themselves on providing afterlife awareness.
They're an investigative team based out of Durham region that looks into ghosts and hauntings, specializing in haunted locations.
Connecting with those who have passed on is a skill that the members of the team, led by founder and lead investigator Rachel Cross, often discovered early in life.
“Growing up I was surrounded by ghosts, stories, activity and experiences,” Cross said.
“My grandparent’s house was haunted and they would share stories all the time about the weird things that happened. As I got older, I would then visit the library and take out as many books on true ghost stories that I could find. I never realized that I was skilled in this field until I started the team and executed our first investigation.”
Team members often don’t release their last name due to the nature of their work and desire for privacy away from the profession. Lisa I. is the team medium and Paula T. is the infra-red camera specialist. Another investigator, a researcher, photographer and sensitive and tech specialist help round out the team that was founded in 2004.
“As a medium, I have had my abilities my whole life,” Lisa said.
“I took classes to help me interpret the messages I was receiving.”
The group says there are a lot of misunderstandings about their line of work. There are believers and skeptics, but that doesn’t bother them. In fact, they often see those who are weary of the paranormal as a good thing.
“We like to debunk the common idea that ghosts, spirits and hauntings are ‘evil’, Cross said.
“Being skeptical is a great thing. It allows you to take a look at everything without jumping to conclusions. The Paranormal Seekers aren’t here to force you to believe. We post our evidence and our stories so that others can take a look and formulate their own thoughts and ideas. We welcome healthy skepticism.”
Lisa and Paula echo Cross’ sentiment about skeptics.
“It’s not my job to make you believe. I can give you proof and validation of life after death, what you do with that information is up to you,” Lisa said.
Paula added that some come in skeptics and leave believers.
“I don’t try to make people believe in what I do. They have a right to not believe as I have a right to believe. But saying that, we have made skeptics believers,” she said.
Cross and her team are set to make an appearance in Cambridge at McDougall Cottage Historic Site on Oct. 15 at 7 p.m.
The team will be telling stories and showing off the tools they use to investigate the afterlife.
There are even a few former and current spots Cross would love to look into around the city.
“The Preston Springs Hotel would have been on top of our list if it was not, sadly, demolished,” she said.
“The Galt Little Theatre (Cambridge Community Players) is another location that we would love to investigate. We would be honoured to investigate any historic locations in Cambridge.”
Cross hopes the work her team provides value to the communities they visit.
“I feel like this service is important to the broader community as it digs into the history that makes them who they are,” she said.
“Good or bad, it’s history and it should be something that we learn from. Eventually the stories and identities of those from many years ago will fade away. If there is no one around to remember who these people were, then they die a second death.”
To learn more about The Paranormal Seekers visit theparanormalseekers.