How Does A Spirit Box Work (DUMMIES GUIDE)

Have you ever taken an interest in the world of paranormal research? If so, it can be a little confusing to figure out where to begin. There are many ways to get in touch with spirits or ghosts, the primary being the use of a Spirit Box. Many have tried to get in touch with the other side in countless ways, others are just starting their paranormal contacting journey as a hobby. So where do we begin? Some people feel, by purifying a space with sage and lighting candles, they are likely to communicate through the flames or with small containers of water.

Ouija boards are seen to be another effective way to get in contact with the spirits. They do this by gathering a group of friends and convincing the spirit to spell out the answers using the letters on the board. Others think that only certain people are closely connected to the spirit world. These people are called mediums, and people believe this is the best and the safest way to speak with the deceased.

What is a Spirit Box?

To many, a spirit box can be the most fascinating way to be in contact with the spirit world. Many feel that using a spirit box or any other means of technology is the most unearthly way to be in contact with spirits. This is a small handheld device which, unlike the sound of its name, is not used to catch spirits or ghosts! Instead, you expose the spirits to a selection of radio waves. They can then use these waves to communicate with us! This is where the fun begins!

How does the Spirit Box work?

A Spirit box can also be commonly referred to as a ghost box. It is a machine that is used to pick up any verbal contact from the ghosts or spirits. Most are picked up by Am/Fm radio signals, usually on handheld radios. They do this by disabling the part of the radio that stops at a particular frequency. As a result of this, the radio will jump from one station to another, often bouncing between three and four frequencies, in under a second. Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) recorder is known to be commonly paired with a spirit box. This is so researchers can piece together and replay the answers provided by the spirits after they have been questioned.

EVP is believing that when spirits try to contact the physical world, they cannot transmit a message to us in the physical world, using only one singular frequency. Instead, to get a message through they have to jump through many infrequent wavelengths, to then communicate with us. After asking a question, a researcher should allow some time for a response. At this time, the spirit box should crackle and jump between the frequencies. Every researcher should use an EVP recorder close by. This allows you to play back the audio from the spirit box. This allows the audio to be analysed intensely to help phrase out any words or phonemes that we communicated from the other side.

When was the Spirit Box Invented?

Contacting the spirits and ghosts is something we as humans have been trying to do for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Until the 20th century, it was not possible to record the voices of the spirits. In the 1950s, there was an American photographer named Attila Von Szalay. He believed that he would capture the voices on a reel of tape by setting up a microphone in a nearby cabinet, and seeing what sounds he was able to pick up. Szalay claimed that he heard slight noises that a human ear alone could not comprehend. He believed these would be the voices of disembodied spirits. Szalay’s partner Richmond Bayless went on to write a book about their experiments. It was titled “Phone Calls From The Dead”.

The most common boxes used in the modern world started from a creation made in 2002 by Frank Sumption. Sumption was just an amateur in the world of ghost researching and was an EVP enthusiast. He was the first to hypothesize that people could contact ghosts and spirits in our real-time in the Physical world with the help of an AM radio receiver. The result of this was the device getting referred to as “Franks Box.” Other researchers might call it a “Modern-day Ouija board.”

Pareidolia and Scepticism

One of the biggest downsides to the spirit box in this modern day is that we as humans like to look for patterns or commonalities in all that we try to do. We will always try and make sense of anything abstract. This means we will turn anything into something we can understand or recognize. This is the same for Phenomena, we call this Pareidolia. If you have ever looked up at the clouds and seen an animal, seen a type of food that looks like a face. These are just examples of Pareidolia. It’s the tendency for us to look at a shape or an object and perceive it as something we recognize.

When we apply Pareidolia to EVP, we can see why this could cause issues. We might convince ourselves we hear certain words or phrases because we don’t understand or want to hear white noise, crackling, or static. We want to know what we are listening to! They say that the hardest part of EVP is ensuring that we do not fall victim to our human nature to hear what we want when listening back to a recording. Not falling into the Pareidolia trap is much harder than figuring out what setting you would like to be in or what questions you should ask.

How do you use a Spirit Box?

Now we know that Pareidolia is a common problem when trying to use a spirit box. How do we use one to speak with spirits? If you have a spirit box that has no built-in recording device, the best thing to do is place a recorder near the spirit box. Smartphones would even work! Try to avoid putting it too close, as this may cause interference with any messages relayed from the other side! Once recording, start asking questions. That is where the fun begins!

There are a few things to keep in mind. When using the spirit box, keep your mind open and be patient. Time limit your sessions to 10–20 minutes and allow around 30 seconds for the spirits to answer. When asking questions, be sure to speak to the spirits, like you’re having a conversation with somebody in person. Do not whisper or put on a funny voice, as you want it to feel like a normal conversation.

After your conversation with the spirits, take the time to listen back to the recorded conversation. If you felt you made contact during the conversation, focus on that part of the recording. Rule out any Pareidolia or background noise, if you can. If whatever you have left seems like an answer to a question. You may have just made contact with the spirit world.

Apps for Android and IOS

In our modern-day, popular spirit boxes such as SBox, P-SB7, and the Ovilus have recording features added to them. To help with EVP playback, making things much easier for the modern-day researcher. Variants of spirit boxes have different features. Regardless of how much you are willing to pay or which spirit box you choose. We recommend that you start with a ghost box phone app! It is simpler (and cheaper) to use! There is a wide variety of ghost box apps to choose from. Ghost Box apps are available on both Apple and Android devices.

Many may be made for shock value or even just for the sake of it. Many use the internal features of your phone, making it extremely helpful for many paranormal researchers. Apart from the apps replicating the idea of a spirit box, these apps can sometimes detect possible electromagnetic fields, record video in night vision, and can pick up on small vibrations that may be a sign of paranormal activity. For best results, it may be beneficial to splurge for a physical spirit box or EVP recorder. If you’re unsure if this will be a hobby for you, then an app is a great place to start!

Do I need to be careful with a Spirit Box?

It is unheard of that spirit researchers are harmed when using a spirit box. You need to be alert and wary when speaking with any spirits. Performing this practice shows you how close the dead are to the living. The crossing over of the spirit realm and our realm is just a reminder of our mortality.

Remember that the spirits were once people, just as we are in real-time. They are not just voices to be heard or ghouls. The spirit on the other side may have been a child or even your relative. If you tend to have negative energy, then speaking with the spirits is not for you, as the negative energy you give. It will then be mirrored in the spirit realm. Stay positive, stay open-minded and be patient! You will then most likely get a positive response.