Orb pics

[Gramayr 123]

Been away last weekend for a short holiday in Edinburgh with my other half and thoroughly loved it (kids stayed with their nan), the main reason we went was to explore the darker side of Edinburgh by doing the 'ghost tours'. Mercat's Hidden & Haunted and the Paranormal Underground tours, the Mary King's Close tour and the the City of the Dead's Haunted Graveyard tour which I personally looked forward to the most. Bit of history about Greyfriers, it is home to 300,000 bodies - the most highly concentrated burial site in Scotland, they started off as sky burials but this was too slow. Cremations were next but locals complained about the stink. After that they chopped the bodies up and boiled the bits in a huge pot - what happened to the cooked flesh wasn't mentioned but the bones were dried in ovens, smashed up and mixed with render/cement/hair etc. A lot of Edinburgh is built using this as mortar. Also blood was mixed with it and then used to cover churches (the pink render isn't from dies in them days) Greyfriers Kirk is brown. The pink render was mixed with fresh urine which burnt the blood. Human hair was used as an insulation inside buildings as well. Makes you look at historic buildings differently.

 

On the graveyeard tour they told us that in the 15 years they have done it (they are the only ones that are allowed to gain access to the prison and mausoleum - it is locked at all other times), in that time over 4,500 people have been knocked unconscious, many more have suffered cuts, bruises and other marks within 24 hours of visiting. It is recognized as the most violent ghost activity case in world history.

 

Greyfriers

 

Immediately outside the Covernentors Prison after visiting the Black Mausoleum (home of the McKenzie Poltergeist)

 

 

 

 

Vaults

 

Might have been caused by someones camera.

 

orb above the tour guide's head.

 

Well, that's a few pics I got (most in the graveyard) my partner got most of hers in the vaults but I haven't uploaded them yet.

[Abhainn 47]

Very cool info and pics. Thanks for sharing!!

[ElizabethNicks 28]

Glad you had a good time ... i have two young ones ...the break sounds great. I have not heard of GreyFriars...I will look it up as your post was interesting. I am Canadian but most of ancestors are from Scotland. Fascinating post!!!

[CelticGypsy 651]

What an amazing time you had. I would surmize that because of all the DNA rendered in Greyfriar's Kirk, it surely is a place of power.

 

Urine, blood, hair, bone... from all walks of life. Great photo's, thanks for sharing.

 

Regards,

Gypsy

[Grymdycche 138]

Gramayr,

 

Somebody's gonna say "I knew Grym would open his yap!" lol

 

I'll be the wet blanket, but I've dabbled in the ghost hunting thing for a while.. I can tell you that anymore, nearly all reputable ghost hunters discount orbs entirely, unless they're giving off their own light and can be seen with the naked eye. They're generally just reflections off bugs, dust, pollen, or rain drops that are too close inside the camera's closest focal range. Even those that seem to have a special hue, blueish or red.

 

Naturally, that doesn't discount anything else about the site though, or your experiences, just that correlation isn't causation and all that. Orbs are a red herring. Beware the colored fish!

 

Some interesting articles on orbs below:

 

http://www.prairieghosts.com/trouble.html

http://www.sgha.net/articles/orbs.html

http://brumac.8k.com/orb1.html

[Cam 249]

Nice orb pics...thanks for sharing.

 

I have two orb pics, one in the personal care home my mother in-law was at, and one in the hall of our recently purchased home.

 

I don't know what orbs are caused by, but I can say that the orbs I have caught on camera were not caused by dust or bugs, and definitely not rain or moisture on the camera lens.

 

Sounds like you had a great trip!

[Gramayr 123]

Hey Grym, I agree about dust, bugs etc - afterall I have a degree in photography lol and am the first to scrutinise my pics (I'm my own worst critic).

I took quite a few pics in there and thought these ones were 'interesting'. Considering I've not caught orb pics before and also considering the location.. Well, I'll leave it up to others to decide :)

My partner got some orb pics in the vaults in the same place on different days - both times she said she felt red hot and said it felt like someone was tugging at her hair.

 

Also, forgot to mention for any Harry Potter fans - J K Rowling spent many days in Greyfriers when she was on benefits/skint noting down names on gravestones. In there are many Potters, Snapes, Lupin and a Magaonagle. Also is one Tom Riddle. The school next door has four houses each using the exact same house colours. They are nearly 100% sure that it is the original Hogwarts.

 

Anyway, thanks for the comments folks and I'm glad you enjoyed the pics :)