If you’ve ever taken a deep dive into the world of the paranormal, you may have certainly come across the topic of portals a time or two. The subject of portals has often sparked heated debates on what they truly are, how they form, how common they can be found, where they are located, and if they even exist at all. If you’ve ever pondered the answer to these questions yourself, then it’s time to take a closer look.
What is a Portal?
The textbook definition of a portal is a gateway or entrance, but in the sense of a paranormal world, it’s defined as a gateway to the other side; aka the world where spirits reside. Unless you have incredible gifts, seeing the other side has been deemed difficult or nearly impossible, but has been sensed by mediums, psychics, and sensitives almost immediately as they are approached. With portals, spirits can easily find themselves coming and going as they please through these energy passageways and have drawn paranormal investigators from all over the globe to discover them for themselves.
Energy portals have been detected through thorough professional investigations and have been suspected by locations that have intense activity. Thermal imaging often shows areas of high activity with either intense increased temperatures or a noticeable drop in temperature in a certain area where strange occurrences have been known to exist. Other signs that a paranormal portal is present are:
History of intense trauma on a massive scale (hospital, psychiatric ward, mass deaths)
Excessive Poltergeist type of activity (cabinets opening frequently, increased multiple audible disturbances)
Sense of multiple dark presences (possible demonic activity)
Disorientation, dizziness
Immediately feeling drained or weak
Frequent streaks of light (some lingering, some brief)
Strange consistent sounds (buzzing, humming)
Presence of ectoplasm
Frequently being touched or grabbed consistently
Mists or fogs residing in one particular place
Where do Portals Lead?
The theories on where portals lead are almost endless. While most choose to believe that a portal is a gateway between the world of the living and the world of the deceased, others have taken a darker viewpoint. Some believe that all portals are dark and nefarious since a gateway seems to be an unnatural occurrence. Some theorize that due to the increased spirit activity around them, they are purely demonic gateways to hell.
Still, others speculate that they are actually gateways between two dimensions. This can even go as far as believing that portals are not only interdimensional and connect us to other universes but are used as a means of intergalactic travel. When taken a step further, portals have also been believed to have direct connections to different places in time meaning ghosts or spirits could be us but traveling back and forth from different points in time. Even Hollywood movies have covered this theory too in great detail!
How are Portals Created?
Scientific theories generally state that energy cannot be destroyed but only distributed elsewhere. If our souls or energy doesn’t die with our bodies, that residual energy is said to become distributed to “the other side”, “another dimension”, or “crosses over”. This depends on your belief system of course, but generally, in the world of parapsychology, this is what is most commonly accepted. When this energy is tampered with on a larger scale, portals can then become created.
Even NASA scientists themselves have acknowledged the existence of magnetic portals being present but also short-lived in space. “Most portals are small and short-lived; others are yawning, vast, and sustained. Tons of energetic particles can flow through the openings, heating Earth's upper atmosphere, sparking geomagnetic storms, and igniting bright polar auroras.” These portals are said to be connecting Earth to the Sun. If science can support a planetary object having a direct portal to a star then couldn’t the world of the living have a direct connection to the spirit world too?!
Some feel that people themselves can actually create or open portals as well. How can an average person do so? Well, that depends on your experience, your theories, and even rumors among the believers in the afterlife. Enter the ever-feared, sometimes loved, and controversial Ouija board. Once marketed for family fun entertainment as “just a game”, this board was used to communicate with ghosts or loved ones who had passed on. However, many began to have strange occurrences happening in their homes after multiple sessions and this led to the belief that perhaps using this board opened up a portal or gateway that couldn’t always be so easily closed.
In ancient times, the Mayans believed that certain rituals could be done in order to connect them to the spirits and even to the Gods themselves. This was done through bloodletting, mirror images through reflective surfaces, and even smoking hallucinogenic substances. They believed that through ritual, the worlds could become open to one another, allowing them to gain great insight and wisdom.
Where Can You Find Portals?
Portals can be found almost anywhere. People have reported portals in their homes, in hotels, in graveyards, or even in the middle of bodies of water. Bodies of water? Yes indeed! It has been long said that these energy vortexes can use water as a conduit, making it easier to slip through one world and into another. A well-known old trick of paranormal investigators, demonologists, and psychics has been to use running water in a bathtub or sink, to help spirits communicate or even appear. This lends to the theory that bodies of water may be a more likely place to discover a portal or even possibly have one created.
Some feel that mirrors themselves are portals to the other world. It’s been strongly advised to remove them from your bedroom if you are experiencing spirits in the middle of the night as you awaken from your slumber. Another theory is that placing 3 mirrors facing each other will almost instantly open up a gateway so large that anything and everything will easily find its way through. This theory is also one that speculates the opening to what’s known as a “portal to hell” since a greater opening can allow excessive entities in; including demonic ones.
Other mirror theories that have been passed down have said that if a mirror was present during a person’s passing, that mirror should be immediately removed after their passing, covered up, or turned around. This is said to prevent “dark forces” from taking the soul and trapping it in the mirror itself preventing it from crossing over. Much of this came from as early as the Victorian Era when seances themselves were very popular, especially amongst the wealthier class.
Cemeteries are another popular area where portals are thought to exist. Cemeteries are usually known as “resting places” for spirits but funerals and burials are often symbolic rituals for the dead to cross over to their next destination. This leads us to believe that cemeteries can hold doorways or gateways to our soul's next place of existence.
The same can be said of hospitals. Many have had near-death experiences in hospitals and have claimed to have seen a white light or portal to another place. After coming back, they have described their experience as traveling to another place, even seeing loved ones who have passed, and then returning to their hospital bed. This could explain why even abandoned hospitals hold extreme spirit activity long after their doors are permanently shut.
Are Portals Common or Rare?
Another topic that sparks much debate in the paranormal community, is the frequency with which portals are claimed to exist. People who are heavily haunted often jump to the instant conclusion that there must be a portal present. This however is not always a true statement.
In order to find out if a true portal exists, it’s highly recommended to consult a professional team or expert in the paranormal field. Even among experts, controversy still exists when it comes to making a complete determination. How do you know if it's simply haunted or if a portal has been somehow opened, allowing these entities to travel back and forth? The debate forever continues. Not every haunting contains a portal, but they may exist in more haunted instances than previously thought.
Do Portals Truly Exist?
There are countless books, novels, television series, and movies that go over the many theories and speculations regarding the existence of portals. From the Interstellar movie to the television show on the Travel Channel Portals to Hell, many theories have come to our TV screen explaining what we think portals are, how they work, and where we can locate them. Even the author Philip Imbrogno has appeared on the History Channel, Lifetime Channel, and HBO explaining the theories behind his books on portals.
With so many people in pop culture buying into the many presumptions about these gateways, it’s hard to deny the possibility that we could indeed have a connection to another world other than our own. With the scientific community supporting the existence of portals in general, it leaves many to believe that perhaps there is something beyond our realm of understanding that we just haven’t fully grasped yet. Scientific discoveries happen every day so it’s truly possible that paranormal portals truly do exist. However, it’s also a possibility that we could be experiencing something else entirely.
No matter if you believe in portals or remain a healthy skeptic, the subject of gateways between worlds remains a fascinating subject to tackle!
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