I’ve got to know Nathan from 
A State of Mind thanks to Twitter. You might recognize the name because (a) either you follow his blog too, or (b) you recall @AStateofMind was one of the Best Twitter Followers winners in the HJ Best of 2009 Awards.
Recently Nathan left a comment on one of my blogs (discussed below) that sparked the following exchange. Because I had so many questions, and because he was kind enough to humor me with such great answers, I’m posting in parts for ease of reading.
And, as kind of a heads up about Nathan, I felt this comment from him said it all:
First, big thanks for the opportunity! I hope my English won’t be too much of a problem for you and your readers. OK, back to business.
All I can say is, his English is 5,000 times better than my Polish! (It’s actually 5,000 times better than some people who grew up with English at their first language!)
Okay, so as Nathan sagely put it, back to business…and on to Part 1!
Why A State of Mind? What drew you to the paranormal and made you want to write about it?
I can’t even recall the time before my interest in paranormal. Since I can remember I was always into this stuff, always knew there’s something out there. First, I was draw to psionics – meaning, development of psychic abilities. You know, I was young and stupid, trying to be a hero like in all these movies about supernatural heroes. With time my area of interest became larger, finally growing to general occult and paranormal investigations. A State of Mind first started as my development journal, but with time it grew into pretty big blog discussing many different subjects, from psychic abilities, to occult, to ghost hunting. And it’s getting bigger each day, did I mention we accept guest posts? Anyway, A State of Mind is my way to stay on topic – I enjoy exploring the world of paranormal phenomena, and writing about it keeps me focused. And of course, I have this weird need to share my knowledge with others. Beside, ASoM is my small pass into bigger projects, such as Librarium Parapsychologicum – creating European parapsychology and occult public library.
Wow. That library sounds like a big project, but guess what? I’d put it on my Haunt Jaunts Hot Spots to Hit list!
Okay, so why I asked to bombard you with questions is because on my Dark Side of the Ghost Hunters Effect post you commented “And that’s why I prefer to investigate private houses – I’m not there to gather proofs, I’m there to help people out. Even if I would go to public site, here in Poland no body thinks about earning money on ghost tours, yet.”
First off I didn’t know you lived in Poland. I found that interesting because that’s where my grandma on my dad’s side hails from. Besides an interest in the paranormal, we’ve got that in common too!
Hmm, indeed – “Mroch” sounds very polish. At last now I know how to pronounce your surname.
Bingo! But I still have no clue how to say yours…I’m sure I’d butcher it, so it’s best I not try.
Okay, so besides that your comment sparked a lot of questions from me. Be prepared because here they come:
Are you a paranormal investigator then? If so, what’s your style of investigating? What kind of equipment do you use?
I do investigate the paranormal, yes. I’m a member of small team called ‘Anomalium’ – recently we had some troubles with hosting company and we’re starting our website from scratches, but we did investigate few places :). If anyone of your readers live in Poland and got some information about haunted places, let us know, please!
Anyway, I like investigating alone. I’m like that crazy adventures seeker, I do care about my own safety, but the more knifes fly around, the better! I don’t really into looking for proofs that will have great scientific value. I admire people who do this and I can assure you, they have my full support, and I have no problems helping them, but if there’s no need in getting real proofs, I act upon my own style – imagine it as mixture of Indiana Jones, M.D. House and CSI investigators. My goal is to find out if the haunting really takes place, what kind of haunting is that, and then help – people or spirits. And if there’s no haunting, then why people are faking stuff? I’m the one to find out.
So much for haunting. I also like exploring strange places where weird things takes place and we’re not dealing with any disembodied entities, it’s a way for me to relax…
Relaxing is good. We all need our outlets! But what did you mean by you help people out? How?
Beside investigating the paranormal, I’m also an energy worker. I got some level of extra-sensory perception, and I can use my little skills to release spirits, for example. Although I don’t hear voices nor see things (umm… most of the time, you know, seeing shadows in haunted location is quite fascinating experience!), I understand the mechanic behind sending earthbound spirits “into the light”, with the help of my spirit guide (meet Henry, before meeting him I thought I’m the one with sarcastic sense of humour) I have no problem dealing with spirits in house.
I also help when it comes to dealing with more negative things, like negs (they’re like animals, disembodied astral entities feeding on energies of living beings, humans for example). There are different ways to deal with entities in your house, and I know a lot of them – you don’t have to be a psychic to kick some disembodied a… umm, your blog is read by kids, isn’t it? Anyway, you’d be surprised knowing how much you can learn from books. So yea, you can call me the dirty job guy.
I’m going to end it here for now. But I’ll continue the chat in Part 2, where Nathan shares the beliefs about ghosts in Poland and where to find Polish Haunt Jaunts.
Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.
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I’m more than sure one day you will have a chance to hear me pronounce my name :).
Doesn’t mean I’ll be able to repeat it though! 😉