Someone on Quora asked me what my "go-to story" was when talking about the paranormal. I had to chuckle a bit because it's more like dozens of go-to stories, although there are a fair number of supernatural stories in there too (for the difference, check out this article).

​Here's what I told her...

It depends on what the question is. If you ask about playing with Ouija boards, I’ll probably tell my cautionary tale how I slapped a makeshift “Ouija board” togetherand attracted an evil spirit that kept haunting me for weeks.

If you ask me about poltergeists, I’ll relate the story how seven years after the first haunting, I was harassed by a poltergeist-type entity.

If you ask me about paranormal experiences with animals, I’ll tell you about my invisible cat, Guinevere, or my spiritual experience with a seven-foot-long iguana named Big Jim.

If you ask me about demons, I might tell you about the time when I saw someone’s face shift and be superimposed by another, and that “person” suggested to make a pact. That is a much longer story, though, which you can read here.

If you ask about temptation by the “Dark Side,” I might tell you about my harrowing experience with the madman in Flagstaff where I almost got killed and ended up among a bunch of satanists.

If you ask about Shadow People and the Hat Man, I’ll point you here.

Or I might talk about the snobbish medium who bit off more than she could chew and was chased out of an old hotel by terrifying spirits. The next day after that event, I saw a nasty little demon-type thing clinging to the back of her neck. When I suggested she might need a cleansing, she freaked out on me… so for all I know, she’s still running around with that thing attached to her.

If you ask me about encounters with the Divine, I might talk about my Tarot reading where I encountered Mother Mary.

If you want to know about angels, I’ll send you here.

Or the time that Spirit gave me a wonderful little nudge to say, “I’m with you; there’s nothing to be afraid of.” You can read that here.

Or if you ask about ghosts, I’ll probably tell you about the ghost in the jewelry store I saw twice and who looked like a regular person… after which I’ve been wondering if everyone I pass on the street is actually really human. Some more ghost talk here.

Or if you ask about dimension shifts, I have stories to tell about that too. One example is the story about a “glitch in the matrix” that I witnessed.

If you ask about fairies, elementals, “miniature wormholes,” mystical places, UFOs, aliens, past lives, and a dozen things more, yes, I’ll have personal stories about those too.

I expect at some point they’re all going to be on Quora or on my blog… or I’ll put them all together in a book.

Yes, unfortunately that’s the case. This is why I dislike The Secret (and similar books) so much: It makes it look like “the Universe” is some kind of brainless automaton—a sort of cosmic vending machine or a big Amazon warehouse in the sky—that will mail you anything you want if you just push the right buttons to order.

This encourages people to give in to their basest urges. It promotes unfettered greed, materialism, and a self-absorbed “Me, me, me” attitude.

I call The Secret the “Atlas Shrugged of manifestation.” Just like Ayn Rand’s tome, it’s all about self-interest, the death of altruism, and a stone-cold stance toward people who don’t have it as good as you (because it’s obviously their own damn fault).

The Secret also tells you that you are God and have unlimited powers. Sure, it says that you should practice gratitude… but then conveniently omits the step where we ask, “To whom?”

If you’re supposed to say thank you, doesn’t that imply that there would be a “you” to address it to? And if there’s no “you,” then why bother? It just doesn’t make any sense.

In contrast, I’m an advocate for manifestation that cares less about your wallet than your spiritual development. It also includes putting God back into the creation, giving him the credit and gratitude he deserves for providing for us and guiding us.

​Making the Creator part of the equation also keeps us humble and saves us from the God complex that The Secret has instilled in so many people.