Ok I agree that episode was total BS, but the "Pagan" girl as you put it wasn't even actually a Pagan, I have been a Pagan for over 14 years, and I can tell you she was not, I don't know what she was saying or even chanting, It didn't sound like anything I know or have ever heard. Hell my Fiance has been a Pagan by 10 years longer than I and even she says that girl is full of it.

I've been watching the new episodes. Interesting how they approach
evidence they capture. I have to admit one thing I enjoyed most about
the analysis of this show is how Chip Coffey would show up in the
talkbacks. Good old Chip.

I can't defend the show on any level that than it's a
nice way to spend a few quiet minutes in the dark with a cold beer and
bowl of popcorn. In a wierd way it reminds me of staying up late with
my pop watching black and white reruns of the old Twilight Zone and
Outer Limits.

Oh yeah, and can you believe Ryan sold out? (how many are in your circle??? Hahahahahahahahaha)

excpet that it's on A&E.

Jef said:

excpet that it's on A&E.

It's on the Sci Fi channel for me. It's also listed on Sci Fi's website as one of their shows: http://www.scifi.com/ghosthunters. In contrast, A&E's website does not list it as one of their shows: http://www.aetv.com/allshows.jsp.

This thread is about Paranormal State, not Ghost Hunters — for the record. (It is in the Paranormal State forum.)

Brenny, I didn't watch the past two weeks of PS, I'll try to catch up later this week and see if I can get some posts on those eps up on the site.

I like PS, I really do. I think it is entertaining, I
don’t take it as seriously as I take GH, of, course, because they don’t even
try to be scientific. But that’s not wrong, it’s just different. A different approach,
different methods, different cases (not only ghosts, but curses, etc). Besides, usually

it is a lot scarier than GH, and I love a scary
storie…

I don’t think they are all they could be. It would be really
better if they would take more effort in debunking or gathering evidence. I
like the use of Chip, although I think he dramatizes things too much (I hated
him in the Mothman case). I think he is amazing some other times, like the one
about the dogs, with the dog buried. And being true that he does not know anything about the cases
(as they say in the show and he said himself here), it is truly amazing.

Oh, and Lorraine
gets to my nerves too (oh dear, oh honey….)

Dragon Silverwings said:

Ok I agree that episode was total BS, but the "Pagan" girl as you put it wasn't even actually a Pagan, I have been a Pagan for over 14 years, and I can tell you she was not, I don't know what she was saying or even chanting, It didn't sound like anything I know or have ever heard. Hell my Fiance has been a Pagan by 10 years longer than I and even she says that girl is full of it.

What she was doing was some version of calling the quarters or basically summoning the archangels. Since they seem to rely pretty heavily on Michael there's some sense to that. Isn't that the one where someone had died at the lake or something? I don't remeber why she was in a boat unless they were striving for the 'Mists of Avalon" feel.

Let's be fair, unlike GH, PS has not made any claim to be scientific. They do imploy some technology yes, but no scientific approach is even implied.

I too find the show being neatly produced and offering some nice drama, but is entertainment first and foremost. The problem however is that really gives a bad taste concerning the clients who are shown on tv. People who believe to experience what is shown in the show should be taken seriously and their claims investigated seriously. Not be chopped meat for a docu-drama to promote a zealous college student with ambitions. They are people and deserve respect.

As for the religious overtones, the problem with them is that they actually belittle the serious question and research of ghosts, and turn them into a question of theology and metaphysics rather than science or well, humanity. They also imply that the existence of ghosts equals the existence of God, which is a rather sketchy assumption, The fact is, it might be the quite the opposite. It also implies the presence of entities that conform to and actually is representations of religious morals. Implying those morals to be superior and universal. In short, it implies a lot of things that confuse matters. I think it is a great disservice to any serious research into paranormal phenomena. However I am not surprised it's there and that it is important for Ryan and others, if nothing else as a comfort, but I wish they could keep it for themselves and not repeat the mistakes and outright harm that the Warrens are guilty of.

The problem is not religion itself, the problem is when religion becomes a basis for claims and conclusion and the methodology. It mixes the whole field up and hinders any serious discussion. Sure, people can perform whatever rites they please to comfort and protect themselves from claimed ghosts, but don't mix research with belief. And with belief I incorporate paganism, or whatever crowleyian stuff the girl in the show does. In short, religion makes for bad science, but good science makes room for religion.

To do so is a disservice to both the field, the clients, the phenomena and frankly disrespectful. GH might be culprits of many sins, but they sure as hell try to keep religion out of their investigations. How many demons have we seen on GH? None. How many demons on PS? I've lost count. That ought to tell us something.

Well, some might argue, but this is just tv and we only see fragments of all the work TAPS and PRS do and again, it's just tv, just entertainment. Well, yeah, but there is a field where these do operate and they are seen as representatives, whether they want or not, and have a responsability to the field for the appearance and understanding of their work in the general public. And to advance and improve the field at large. There is a serious question underlining all this, and it deserves to be treaten accordingly.

Dragon Silverwings said:

Ok I agree that episode was total BS, but the "Pagan" girl as you put it wasn't even actually a Pagan, I have been a Pagan for over 14 years, and I can tell you she was not, I don't know what she was saying or even chanting, It didn't sound like anything I know or have ever heard. Hell my Fiance has been a Pagan by 10 years longer than I and even she says that girl is full of it.

Elfie has made a post on this on The Craft section on the Penn State website. I believe its in the Question and Answers section as a few Pagan/Wiccan had question regarding this - some not so polite.

I believe judging the show on a 20 min time frame instead of an hour is pretty harsh and what we saw on the Lake was 1 min clip from something that took her much longer. Lack of time for something that would have been interesting to watch, tbh.