What happens when investigators go to sites where paranormal events are reported and the investigators decide to irritate or provoke a spirit into acting out, into manifesting or they try to force a spirit into showing itself through provocation? The short answer to this question is that the consequences of provocation will vary depending upon the spirit or entity being dealt with or it will depend upon the source of the activity and how irritated the entity becomes. It seems to be a growing trend among some investigators when it comes time to investigate a location to make an effort to provoke a spirit into action through harsh or vulgar words and taunts.
First of all, it’s important to realize that when you are “rattling the cage” of some unidentified spirit, you really have no idea what this spirit may be capable of doing. Even if you conduct a full interview with a client and find out about activity that has been going on in the home, you can’t know for sure how a spirit or entity will interact with you on site, especially if you provoke it to anger. To provoke something means to literally stir up or arouse the spirit/entity in an effort to incite resentment or anger, to irritate, to abrade, to aggravate, and to vex the spirit/entity.
What happens after investigators have concluded their investigation and they head home? If the spirit/entity remains at the location, chances are the investigators have now left the clients with a pretty aggravated spirit. Then what? How will the client deal with the rapid increase of activity and the acceleration of potentially violent activity if the spirit has been provoked? It seems somewhat callous to stir up trouble just to get a spirit to manifest so that investigators can gather information or so that they can witness activity on an active site only to leave the client’s with a potentially troublesome paranormal mess later on.
The truth of the matter is, provocation is unnecessary in a site where there is legitimate paranormal activity. If a client is already contacting you and complaining, a good percentage of the time the activity has been going on at a location for quite a while and has reached the point where it is either accelerating or simply spiraling out of control. To provoke something that is already causing chaos is not only unnecessary, it’s plain foolish and unwise. At minimum, a client’s paranormal problems may multiply; at most, the spirit responsible for activity may attack investigators or the people living in the home or the spirit or entity may decide that the individual’s that have provoked it make for an excellent target.
Angering a spirit is not the way to collect evidence, to get proof that paranormal activity is occurring, or to force the source of the activity to prove itself. It is far better to behave in a fashion that is totally respectful of the forces that are being dealt with than it is to stir up the anger of an entity. A good thought to keep in the back of your mind at all times are the wise words of Confucius: “When anger rises, think of the consequences.”
