WILLMAR — If you've ever witnessed or experienced something strange or unexplained at the Willmar Educational Arts Center, it's probably not all that surprising to hear that the building could be haunted. Probably not.
“We know there's something here,” said Heidi Steffens, owner of My Spirit Expirence and a well-known paranormal investigator among the spiritual professions.
Mr. Steffens came to WEAC on April 18 to teach a class on the basics of ghost hunting, “Paranormal Investigation 101.'' The class, hosted by Willmar Community Education, brought together about 30 paranormal enthusiasts to learn about the equipment used by Steffens' team and even witness a short investigation in WEAC's Performance Auditorium. did it.
Steffens said he has had a connection to the paranormal and the spirit world throughout his life. At first it was a frightening prospect, no one around her understood or even believed her.
“As a child, I could see people, hear people's voices, and feel things that others couldn't see, hear, or feel,” Steffens said. “So that was really weird to me and really scary.”
It wasn't until his 20s and 30s that Steffens began experimenting and investigating what he was seeing and feeling. She began passing on messages, doing psychic readings for people, and learning about Reiki energy work.
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“It snowballed. The more we did it, the more things happened,” Steffens said.
She went back to school, earned a BA in Foundation Studies and a Master of Shamanic Intuitive Practice from Venus Rising University, and is now an ordained Shamanic Minister.
“This is my job. I'm a psychic and a medium,” Steffens said. “I want to learn about it. I want to teach people what I know about it.”
In the 2000s, Stephens began watching several new television shows that focused on paranormal investigation and ghost hunting. The introduction of the internet also allowed her to expand her paranormal research, and in 2008 she came across the newly formed Minnesota Paranormal Research Association. She attended meetings and found community.
“I found people who understood this and were completely open and accepting,” Steffen said. She also met her husband, Tim Donahue, at the Minnesota Paranormal Research Association.
Steffens soon found himself not only conducting investigations for the Minnesota Paranormal Research Society, but also managing an entire group that now has more than 2,000 members, meeting monthly to discuss all types of paranormal activity. We are talking.
“We help people understand the spirit world, and we use equipment to help them understand the spirit world,” Steffens said.
During Wilmar's class, Ms. Stephens showed off some of the equipment she and her team use during investigations. For beginners, Stephens recommends a flashlight such as a Maglite, a voice recorder, and her K2 meter, which measures electromagnetic fields.
“Three pieces of equipment. That's how I started,” Steffens said.
Other works she presented included a temperature gun that shows how hot or cold an object or area is. Rempod will alert you when something passes through its magnetic field. and Spirit Box, which scans AM and FM radio waves to capture live communication with spirits.
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One electronic device she tries not to use while hunting is her cell phone.
Stephen usually tells people to turn off their phones, or at least put them in airplane mode, before starting anything. Steffens said she has enough trouble keeping her phone charged and doesn't need the mentality of draining the battery.
Investigation teams always carry large amounts of batteries.
“They take energy out of everything if they want something to manifest,” Stefan said.
Steffens said each piece of equipment will be helpful in the investigation, but not essential.
“None of this is necessary for an investigation. You can just sit somewhere and start asking questions and see what happens,” Steffens said. “I like using equipment because I want to prove what’s going on.”
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Steffens advises new paranormal investigators to practice using the equipment so they can understand how the various parts work and what causes them. Going to public or haunted places is a great place to practice.
What's not a good idea, according to Steffens, is to try the spiritual world in your own home because you might run into something you don't know how to deal with.
“You don't use Ouija boards in your home for a variety of reasons,” she said. “And don't go to your friends.”
When investigating, Steffens said he did not go to the location because he believed it was haunted. Instead, she works to uncover the causes of unexplained phenomena, whether they are paranormal or not.
Something as simple as a broken digital clock or water meter can cause people to feel strange, Steffens said. Also, if you suddenly find yourself with a pile of shoes in your living room, first lock your dog out of the bedroom before jumping to paranormal activity.
“It's not for me to say it's haunted,” Steffens said. “Let's prove it.”
Steffens said spirits can manifest in many different ways. Sometimes it becomes a full-body illusion. You can also experience its presence through sounds and smells. That's why it's important to pay attention to small differences when investigating, because you never know what form a spirit will take, she said.
“How they manifest depends on how much energy they have,” Steffens said.
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Over the years, Steffens said he has encountered a wide range of paranormal phenomena, from human and animal spirits to other spirits.
“Sometimes, very rarely, you'll encounter angels. They're not human spirits, so they're different from human spirits. They're a different kind of energy,” Steffens said, adding that demons are even rarer. added. “They are very few and far between.”
Thankfully, no demons appeared on stage at WEAC when Steffen led the class on a mini-investigation of the building. auditorium. There was some movement in various ghost hunting tools, including flashlights that flashed and went off multiple times.
Steffens said he doesn't rely solely on readings from one instrument when determining whether something paranormal is occurring. However, WEAC could be a good candidate for a full investigation, as several different instruments were showing movement.
Stephens and other members of the Minnesota Paranormal Research Society have investigated a variety of locations, from private homes to public buildings, historic sites, and abandoned prisons. Even if the investigation turns up no spirits or paranormal activity, Steffens doesn't necessarily think it was a failure.
“You get to go to places that are part of our history,” Steffens said. “We love supporting history, the good, the bad, and the ugly.”
But most importantly, Steffens does what he can to help, whether it's a person dealing with unexplained phenomena in their home or a spirit that needs help moving forward. It's doing what you're doing.
“We want to help people figure out what's going on and understand the spiritual world,” Steffens said. “I want to help the spirits too.”
