ParaUnity is a term that is used by many to indicate something along the lines of we are “all in this together”. I have no problem with fellowship, respecting my fellow investigator, and finding commonalities among others in the field. Respect is an important part of what we do. I believe that we should respect the locations, those who resided in these locations, and each other.  I respect that we all have different ways of investigating and many of them are valid. I also respect that we all have different ideas about what we are searching for when we investigate. I do have a problem with people using the idea of paraunity as a blanket term to avoid judgment for their actions.

Things I can’t respect include people who lie, abuse the dead, are disrespectful to locations, conduct investigations that are potentially harmful to those involved (living and dead), make outrageous claims just to get attention, and various other actions that fall under the heading of “unethical behavior”. In my experience, these are the individuals who shout about paraunity the loudest. They don’t want anyone to tell them how to conduct their investigations and blame other teams for being bad community members when their unethical methods are questioned.  

I want to respect everyone in the community and I think paraunity could be a good thing if I could actually trust people to do the right thing. I can’t. Maybe I’m just cynical but I’ve seen too many people take advantage of the dead, lie to clients, over sensationalized things, and even conduct harmful investigations. If you are shouting “Demon” before you do your investigation, I am not united with you in this quest. If you are using negative terms to describe the dead, you and I are not on the same team. If you are provoking in a client’s home and leaving them with the fallout, I am not with you. 

I also believe that somewhere along this road, we need to agree on a methodology for researching paranormal phenomena instead of the hodge podge mess that we currently have. We will never be taken seriously as a scientific pursuit as long as we continue to argue over the best way to conduct investigations. This is no easy task. Many have tried to lay the groundwork for consistent processes but sadly, three things stand in our way.  

1) We are not to the point where we know enough to fully commit to one way of doing things.

2) We are not working together to share information in order to figure out what is or is not working. Real and honest conversations need to happen. 

3) Some people are too proud to change the way they work so we can accomplish #2. 

I hope that someday we will find a way to agree on a general direction but until then, we are likely going to continue in the manner that we have for the last several years. Maybe someday, paraunity can be used as a means to share information in a way to inform and direct the community in a united path forward. A path with real goals, methods, and procedures. It would be amazing if we had conferences instead of conventions and really talked to one another about what we are doing and why. Instead of glorifying “paranormal celebrities” or attempting to become celebrities, we could talk to one another without getting offended and make some progress.  

So, if I don’t shout “Yay, ParaUnity!” along with everyone else, it’s not because I don’t respect the collective effort of people in this field. It is because I question why we even need a label. Do the right thing by your clients, the locations, the dead, and the field of paranormal investigation. 

Until next time, Happy Hunting!