Concordia students say they experienced the paranormal world when a psychic visited before mid-semester break.
Christopher Moon, a self-proclaimed psychic medium and paranormal researcher, came to campus Oct. 15 to explain to students his work and take them on a ghost hunt.
Moon began the adventure by giving a presentation in the Centrum. He gave students a chronological look into his experiences as a child and how he came into his work.
His presentation made students laugh when he talked about his skeptic father and scream out loud at his story of being attacked by Andrew Borden, the father of alleged ax-murderess Lizzie Borden.
Once his presentation was complete, roughly 50 students followed him to the theater for the ghost hunt. The theater is, according to Concordia legend, the home of Al Gersbach, the “theater ghost.”
Moon first used a recording device to see if there was any electronic voice phenomenon that could be gathered. Once that was completed, he sat on the edge of the stage and students gathered around him as he opened his Telephone to the Dead, a communication device that supposedly lets one hear the voices of spirits who are speaking.
Not only did Gersbach come through the Telephone, but so did many other spirits.
Scott, a six-year-old boy, came through and confessed to being the culprit behind some of the moving props from theater productions. He has been at the theater the longest.
A few students asked Gersbach specific questions. One asked if he liked the light that theater students left on for him.
“I can’t turn it off,” a man responded through the device.
Moon later explained that it is easier for spirits to turn things on than to turn them off. He suggested that the students leave the light off and see what happens.
Luke Fitterer asked if Pam Jolicoeur, former president of Concordia College, was there.
“Hello, hello!” a woman’s voice said.
Fitterer said he asked because it was a way to verify that the whole experience was real.
“I could definitely hear her,” he said.
The students gasped at the woman’s response. Nearly everyone was visibly shocked, including Katie Englund.
“Some of the things I heard came through so clear,” she said.
Englund, a junior, is the special events commissioner for Campus Entertainment Commission. She planned the event along with co-commissioner Luke Fitterer.
“We’ve never done something like this before, but I think campus responded really well to it,” she said.
She explained that she was not sure how the campus would receive the event because of the affiliation with the ELCA and whether or not that would cross some borders with people.
“He didn’t really talk about anything demonic… but some people do feel uncomfortable,” she said.
The event itself elicited discussion about death and faith, as well as the presence of spirits.
“I don’t know if I believe in it,” Englund said. “I haven’t figured it out yet.”
Stephanie Halvorson, a freshman, had a similar response.
“I’m trying to decide what I believe,” she said. “It’s hard to grasp something like that.”
Halvorson said the whole experience relates to Christianity.
“You can’t see God. You can’t feel God, physically,” she said. “I want to take away that there are other things present when you don’t know (it), when you can’t see it.”
Most of all, the experience seemed to create a sense of unity in the students who went.
“We were all huddled around this wooden box trying to talk to a ghost in the dark, with people you probably haven’t talked to,” Englund said. “At one point I looked over and I didn’t know anyone sitting by me, but we all had goosebumps.”
The people that were at the event found it hard to explain to others what happened.
“Only the people that were there understand,” Halvorson said.
Mykayla is a senior from Avon, Minnesota. She is a multi-media journalism major. When she isn’t working as a Student Manager in Anderson Commons, she is surfing the internet, drinking coffee, socializing with friends and going to concerts. Her favorite bands are The Wonder Years, Breathe Carolina, A Day to Remember and Man Overboard.
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