Memory Rocks but Diamonds Suck

Iggy and I went stayed a night at The Stanley Hotel last weekend. It's supposedly the inspiration for Stephen King's book The Shining (even though the intro in the book expressly says it isn't) and the indoor hotel scenes from Dumb and Dumber were filmed there. It's a nifty old hotel, and I would recommend staying if you like that sort of thing.

While you're there, if you want to watch the movie version with Jack Nicholson, The Shining plays in a continuous loop on channel 42 (I think). So apparently I am not the first person with the idea of staying there and watching the movie to see if it creeps me out...and made bringing along the portable DVD player superfluous.

We arrived at the hotel just as the last ghost tour was leaving for the day. We had the option (at 5x the price) to go on the nightly ghost hunt, but alas, we had dinner reservations. So we opted for the ghost tour after a leisurely brunch the next morning.

I learned some interesting things:

• There are different kinds of hauntings. Residual hauntings are like movies played back and don't interact with you. Interactive hauntings can...well...interact with you.


• Ghosts show up as orbs of light on pictures.


• Certain rocks or geologic formations are conducive to residual hauntings. Of course, The Stanley sits on 4 of the best rocks for this. And it has no formal foundation to get in the way, so the rocks touch the building giving the building even more ... receptiveness? ... to residual replays.


• Certain energy (notably magnetic fields) increase the ability of hauntings to present themselves. This is why when F.O. Stanley built his own generator, the place was double primed to receive paranormal activity.


• Lucky for the current owners, The Stanley was a vacation spot. Thus, there are only happy ghosts there because the people who were staying there were rich, happy, and banished the kids to the 4th floor for their entire stay. What better way to relax and party? If I were the current owners, I would blame everything that went wrong on the happy ghosts playing a prank and charge you more for the experience.
  
  You only have cold water? That must be Matilda! She used to do that to the governor when he stayed just to get a rise out of him. I'll check with maintenance, but I bet there's plenty of hot water still for everyone.
  
  You kept hearing knocking on your window? Really?!? Aren't you lucky! That's our most elusive ghost - Hank! He was one of the summer help and he loved to do that on the night of the summer bonfire after all the guests had gone to sleep -- of course he told his ghost story at the bonfire so the guests were subconsciously thinking of ghosts! Isn't that funny -- a ghost of a young lad pretending to be a ghost?

I made up the Matilda and Hank stories, but that rest of that is the truth! If I got some of the other (more serious) details wrong, I apologize; I wasn't taking notes. I was just along for the ride and now can't get the idea of rocks with memories of ghosts out of my head. This made me remember way, way, way back when I was a poor undergrad with no cash and working part-time at a book store. I came across a book that actually said diamonds attract negative feelings. I remember thinking "I knew there was a reason I didn't like diamonds" -- which, if nothing else, sets me apart from 90% of all my female contemporaries. (And 76% of statistics are made up on the spot, right?)

I tried to find that folk lore about diamonds attracting negative energy on the web too. But wouldn't you know that most stuff on the web says that diamonds have good qualities??? But I did find this:

The Hindus believed that a flawed diamond, or one containing specks or spots, was so unlucky that it could even deprive Indra of his highest heaven. The original shape of the stone was also considered of great importance, more especially in early times, when but few, if any, diamonds, were cut. A triangular stone was said to cause quarrels, a square diamond inspired the wearer with vague terrors; a five-cornered stone had the worst effect of all, for it brought death; only the six-cornered diamond was productive of good.

~ The Curious Lore of Precious Stones, George Fredrick Kunz

So at least certain shapes of diamonds are bad luck (be careful when you pick out your engagement ring - no one wants to be deprived of heaven or inherit quarrels, terrors, or gasp! death)! Then I hit pay-dirt on Amazon.com -- this is actually from that book I found back in the early 1990s!

When you hold a diamond, it can feel cold to your touch. This is because of the high thermal conductivity, whereupon it can suck into itself the warmth of your body. It possesses a high psychic energy as well and can easily magnetize into it radiant fields thoughts and actions. Due to this great absorption power, you should clean your diamonds often to rid them of any negative energies that they might have taken in. Soak your diamond for at least an hour in an ionic solution of a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of baking soda, dissolved in eight ounces of water. Rinse well. Your diamond will feel better and shine brighter.

~ Stone Power, Dorothee Mella, p.84

But how often do I need to clean my diamonds? I also like the use of big words like "conductivity" and "whereupon" followed closely by the ultra-technical "suck into itself".

Anyways...I want to believe in ghosts and rocks with memory and that certain minerals/gems/items have power to help me through my day. Or that, like Patrick Roy, stepping over the red and blue lines on the ice helps me play better. Really, I do.


~~~~~
I did some other web surfing on the interesting things I heard on the tour. In case you're interested:
o Orbs are just dust spots on your camera lens Personally I am disappointed with that article. While I don't want to be like the fanatical guy on our tour who kept talking about all the ghost tours he'd been on and the strange things he personally had experienced, I like the idea of ghosts being orbs of light. And even better if they show up on pictures that way. (Admittedly, the fanatical guy did make me interested in going on a ghost tour next time I'm in Las Vegas.)
o Stanley Hotel - Ghost Hunters video
o Geology and Ghosts