Lambi Dehar Mine - Haunted by mine workers or witches??

                                                

 PHANTOSMIA

-Dr. Rahul Kumar

Phantom odors have always been tied to haunting and ghost stories.  Before sophisticated equipment could measure EMF and voice recorders were picking up EVPs, personal stories of encounters with the supernatural nearly always came accompanied with a particular odor.  Even today, part of our investigator's interview questionnaire always include questions about phantom odors, and any personal experiences involving such are carefully documented.

But why are we so interested in phantom odors?

Many believe that phantom odors are an excellent way for an entity to communicate with the living.  It presumably takes less energy to manifest a scent than to manifest as a visual apparition, make a noise, or move an object in our realm.  Certain scents can also help identify an entity, such as a loved one's favorite perfume or the unmistakeable scent of a pipe smoker's tobacco.

Certain scents may also even help a witness distinguish what KIND of paranormal entity they are dealing with.  According to folklore, some entities manifest a rather set array of phantom smells.  For example, demonic or evil entities are believed to make their presence known with a foul smell, such as sulfur, rotting flesh, and even feces.  Marian apparitions, or visions of the Virgin Mary and other saintly or religious figures are said to give off an odor of fresh roses.  And of course, the entities of once living human beings tend to give off very human smells, such as a favorite cologne or perfume, cooking smells, and the smells associated with favorite smoking devices.

To me, it does make sense that an entity would use scent to make its presence known, as scent is the human sense most strongly linked to recall memory.  Smells can evoke emotions and bring up memories in a way that other senses simply cannot.  However, it is extremely important to note that like all senses, the sense of smell is not infalliable, and all natural causes must be ruled out before a phantom smell is classified in the paranormal realm.

                                      Medical cause of Phantosmia

According to Dr. Hoffman of the Medical Consumer's Advocate, smell is a chemical sense.  That means, when you smell something, your brain is perceiving specific airborne molecules.  These molecules bind to receptors in the olfactory epithelium, which is the tissue that lines the back of the roof of the nasal cavity.  Nerve impulses are generated, which travel first to the olfactory bulb, then to other areas deeper within the brain.  That means, there's a lot of places where things can go wrong along the way...

In the medical world, the term for phantom smell is phantosmia.  Some phantom smells are simply hallucinations, plain and simple, brought on by any number of psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia.  We generally tend to think of hallucinations only being visible in nature, but any sense can be affected by these psychiatric hallucinations.

That said, smelling something that is not there doesn't automatically point to a psychiatric disorder.  Physiological issues are more often the culprit when it comes to phantom smells.  Damage to the brain and anywhere along the "smell route" as a result from sinus infections, injury, medications, dental issues, brain tumor, or temporal lobe epilepsy can cause phantom smells.  Migraine sufferers will often report phantom smells, the more popular being coffee and smoke, right before a migraine, and those with temporal lobe epilepsy sometimes report similar right before an episode.  As it is theorized that phantom smells can stem from issues from both the smell receptors AND the central nervous system, any experiences with phantom smells should be well documented and reported to a doctor as soon as possible.

There's also another facet to the long list of dysosmias (olfactory disorders) that can be mistaken for paranormal activity:  parosmia.  Parosmia is a distortion of smell.  Not as common as phantom smells, parosmia is still something that must be taken into consideration whenever a certain odor is associated with a haunting.  The main reason for this is because of a horrible sub-category of parosmia called cacosmia, where the person will smell fecal matter in place of another smell.  Since foul odors are associated with negative hauntings, falsely smelling a foul odor may cause a bias in perception.

Dysosmias, including, but not limited to, parosmia and phantosmia aren't the only natural explanations for alleged phantom smells of a paranormal nature.  Scent ions are strange little things...they can become trapped in fabrics, masonry, and even wood surfaces to be released months, and even years later with the right change of humidity, temperature, or barometric pressure.  Scent ions also travel in ways that may not make a lot of sense at first.  One major false positive that I've personally experienced is foul odors coming from drains, and even toilets in homes where the water has been turned off.  Neighborhoods and apartment buildings are also exceptionally vulnerable to false phantom smells coming from other locations.

                                         Paranormal Phantosmia

Many paranormal enthusiasts are familiar with phantom smells, mysterious scents that appear seemingly out of nowhere. Commonly reported smells include perfume, flowers, cigar smoke and fire.

It is a common belief that spirits are able to emit heat, sound and light, leading to the use of EVP recorders and infrared thermometers during paranormal investigations. Smells are different, smell is not related to energy in the same way as heat and light and so cannot be as easily explained. Every paranormal theory is met with skepticism and hesitation, but believers often place phantom smells at the sight of residual hauntings, a playback of a past event. Spirits seen, heard or smelled during these events are not spirits, per se, but energy that has been trapped in an environment, to be replayed over and over. (Think a tape stuck on replay)

Traumatic or highly emotional events are often blamed for residual hauntings. (Although many people believe that no amount of energy released during an event would be enough for us to notice smells afterwards.) Residual hauntings are associated with paranormal smells because the scent was there when the original event took place.

Many people claim to have been completely overwhelmed both emotionally and physically after noticing a phantom smell, to be left feeling drained of all energy, particularly when the scent is of fire or smoke, which they claim backs up the theory of emotional and traumatic events.

Many places have phantom smells attributed to them, strange smells of Rose and Lavender have been reported in the kitchens at Bolsover Castle, Derbyshire. Visitors at Bolsover often claim that the image of a woman accompanies the Lavender scent in the kitchens, she is seemingly unaware of those around her and appears to be throwing something into the now unlit fireplace. Rose and Lavender perfume has been noticed many times by visitors to Newstead Abbey, Nottinghamshire. Always in the same location at the bottom of the stairs, although no visual manifestation has been attributed to it.

Smells are sometimes associated with intelligent hauntings, when a spirit is aware of its surroundings and the living people around it. It’s thought that it may be a way spirits try to communicate and make us notice them. In these cases people often smell something familiar- a perfume or tobacco associated with the deceased. Although very rare, transient smells are associated with intelligent hauntings, and people who claim to have noticed a transient phantom scent often also report other signs of activity too, usually cold spots and visual manifestations.

There are other sorts of paranormal smells, too. The smell of sulphur and fetid, rotten smells are often reported and are often attributed to intelligent hauntings and non-human manifestations. (Of course, the concept of non-human manifestations is met with more skepticism than other hauntings)

Smell is a very tricky topic for many reasons, smells can come from unseen but entirely explainable sources, can be absorbed into fabrics and wallpaper and smelled for a long time. Cigarette smoke can often be smelled Months after the smoker has moved away.

Subjectivity is another problem, one scent can be mistaken for another, meaning that the scent from a nearby source may be mistaken for a phantom scent.

Scents cannot be captured and analyzed in the same way that visual and audio manifestations can, and often the smell is not noticed by everyone.

Although scent is generally considered one of the top five signs of a haunting, along with visual and audio manifestations, electrical disturbances and cold spots, for the above reasons it isn’t considered effective when trying to prove a haunting.

So if phantom smells are a part of your suspected haunting, keep a few things in mind: 

1. Get confirmation from another, unbiased source that there IS in fact a smell

2. Document each event

3. GET A MEDICAL EVALUATION

4. Rule out natural explanations

                                               Psychic Phantosmia

What is clairolfaction or paranormal smelling?

Other names: clairolfactory, clair smelling, psychic smelling

A person with the ability of clairolfaction doesn't smell the normal smells that are present in general, but smells energies. These energies are transformed into smell in the nose. The person does smell something that most other people do not smell at the same place. The origin of the energy that is smelt isn't always known. The body or a part of the body (also each organ or tumour) is emitting energy (in the aura/energyfield of the person), what can be received by a person with the ability of clairolfaction. Not only the body or parts of the body are emitting energy, but everything does do that.

Someone who is clairolfaction, smells often only a part or some of the possibilities below. Besides the ways of clairolfaction mentioned below, there are also other possibilities.

What possibilities do exist?

·    Smelling diseases

·    Smelling shortages

·    Smelling the smell of a dead person

·    Smelling a smell of someone who is going to die

·    Smelling that something isn't good/healthy for you

·    Smelling things you see

·    Other?

·    Smelling diseases

When a person with clairolfaction ability, smells a disease by a person or animal, the person smells the (negative) energy that is emanated by the sick organ. Because every disease emanates a different energy, the kind of disease can be recognized. When you smell a disease for the first time it would be difficult to determine what it is.

It is well-known that dogs can trace cancer by humans. These dogs are clairolfaction.

·    Smelling shortages

Every person needs his own basic quantity of food, if the body or mind don't want getting trouble. The quantity and composition of the basic quantity differs from person to person. Each person needs other products. Nobody is the same. The body will function worse with shortages and with to much of certain food. the energy that is needed of a certain product (for example a specific vegetable or fruit) will be present in the aura of a person. The paranormal person can possible smell this emanation in the aura, and the nose of that person will transform the energy of the shortage in a certain smell of a certain product. What rests is a right interpretation what is meant with the smell.

It also occurs that if someone is smelling a product, it means that someone has to much energy of that product in his body and must not eat to much of it.

·    Smelling the smell of a dead person

Every person has a certain smell with himself. People love also some particular smell. When spirits are present in a room, they can make themselves known by a smell. This smell can be connected to a person that past away that loved or had that smell. This smell can't be detected by 'normal' noses.

·    Smelling a smell of someone who is going to die

Some people with the ability of clairolfaction can sense the 'smell of death'. In the days/weeks/months before a person is dying, the energetic body of the person is coming apart from the physical body. With this process some energy comes free, which can be received in the nose which translates it in a unique smell. Other people do not sense this smell. The person who is going to die, appears to have this smell with him.

·    Smelling that something isn't good/healthy for you

Another possible ability of clairolfaction is smelling of something is healthy to eat or not. For example pâté, this has a very specific smell. When the pâté smells different by clairolfaction, it is known the pâté isn't healthy to eat anymore. Another person, who doesn't have clairolfaction, just smells and doesn't find anything strange or wrong about it. The person with clairolfaction ability gets the smell of the product in the nose. With this smell the person also gets the energy of the product in the nose. In this way the person smells the energy of the product.

·    Smelling things you see

Another possible characteristic that a person with the ability of clairolfaction can have is that he smells the smell of something he sees. For example when he watches television and sees the pictures of a stable, he smells the horses. Pictures of seawater and he smells the sea. Or if a person is seen, the smell of the person is smelled in the noise. And so on.