I am part of an organization of self-professed “experts” coming from every field imaginable, though we do have an admissions test to pass. We answer questions posed to us from the general public at no charge. I am classified as an expert in the paranormal, and the people who come to me usually fall into several categories. Some are obviously delusional, others are simply imaginative, a few are testing me, and then there are those very few who I feel are having real paranormal experiences. Most of these people are desperate and want or need immediate answers. I try to give them answers and, if you were to look at my ratings, find I am quite successful. Again, I do this at no charge.

I take great care composing all of my answers. My goals are to be accurate, to not induce undue fear, to be factual, and to not let my beliefs on a subject cloud the facts, as much as that is realistically possible. This approach has worked well for over 350 questions over 5 years. And I have never charged a penny. As a volunteer I have agreed to answer a certain number of inquiries in a very narrow time-frame. I do all of this, again for free.

Many of these people have come back to me, thanking me for fixing their families, fixing their lives, and giving them a new perspective on the death of a loved one, or of their own mortality, and for this I do get something in return, I get an immeasurable sense of satisfaction.

Anyone who gets in to this field with any notion of becoming rich, or even making a decent living, has not done their research. This is one of those industries that exist because the people involved love what they do. They may want to do it for the thrill (a very small portion), they may do it to help others, and they may do it to exorcise their own personal “demons” from some paranormal event that happened to them. There are many reasons why people choose this field as either a hobby or a profession. Money however, is not usually one of them.

Recently, in this magazine, I read an article that made me really think about the outrageous proposal of asking for monetary compensation when performing a paranormal investigation of a private home or dwelling. In the following paragraphs I would like to present a more realistic, less materialistic viewpoint.