King hosts paranormal gathering

June 3, 2015 · 0 Comments

By Mark Pavilons
A day-long event will bring together some world class paranormal experts in King City.
Mass Mysteria will take place at the King Township Museum Saturday, June 13, from noon to 10 p.m.
Admission to speakers and vendors is $10, admission to guided ghost walk is $20. Vendor tables are available for $50 and includes two admissions.
Organizer Robin Bellamy said she fell in love with King Museum after speaking there several years ago about ghost research. She wanted a convenient locale, and since the Museum underwent a face lift, she knew it was right.
Bellamy’s friend and colleague, John Mizzi, was diagnosed with cancer. He quickly discovered that while he was on chemo he would not be able to work very much. He has his own business, so all of the family income is dependent on “It seemed obvious that I had to find a way to raise money for John with the only skill I really have – lecturing on ghost research. Mass Mysteria was born.”
Visitors to Mass Mysteria can expect one huge thing – tremendous energy!
“The people involved in this project simply radiate. Even the vendors have a natural, loving light that you can absolutely feel by simply being near them.”
On a less esoteric note, however, the day is loaded with amazing, world renowned speakers on a variety of topics that include UFOs, parapsychology, ghosts, cryptozoology and everything in between.
Most of the speakers are published authors, and many have been on television as well.
They will share their knowledge and wisdom, give audience members a chance to ask questions, and be around most of the day to share the fun or sign autographs. Some are bringing their books to sell and sign as well, donating a portion of the proceeds to John’s cancer fund.
Bellamy noted that two of the speakers – one in New York and one in Texas – are unable to be physically present so they are presenting via Skype with a live link so the audience can still interact.
“They are coming because they are generous and caring, and because the attitude of the event is about learning instead of the silliness of reality TV and faking things for the sake of a scare,” Bellamy stressed. Canadian speakers are gifted presenters, entertaining as well as interesting and well versed in their topics.
In the vendor room visitors will find a vast array of items. One vendor makes flower crowns, another creates unique, personalized jewelry.
“We have a psychic coming who will be available for readings. We have things that glitter and things that smell good and things that are good for you. And the speakers will have a vendor table where you can buy their books or have a chat with them one-on-one throughout the day.”
Bellamy said she’s hoping to have the Lions Club run a BBQ.
As darkness falls, guests can join John G Sabol, Jr. escorting guests through the haunted buildings at the museum site. Sabol is donating his time and skills to share the history and the ghost stories of the local area with a lanterned trek through the old church and train station.
Sabol is an archaeologist, cultural anthropologist, actor and author. As an archaeologist, he has documented and recorded the manifestations of past soundscapes at haunted ruins. As an actor, he has appeared in many movies, TV series, and educational TV programming, including the Sci-Fi classic, Dune (1984), and the A&E TV series, Paranormal State. He has written 16 books on his fieldwork, methodology, and his personal experiences on location filming, and his work at haunted ruins around the world.
The King Museum was featured on Rescue Mediums in 2009 and with any luck some of the haunts they interacted with will make an appearance. NONE of the events will be faked or recreated.
“I can guarantee that anything you experience on this ghost walk is genuine. If the ghost walk group is large enough, we may add a second walk. We want the quality of a smaller group rather than 50+ people trampling through, scaring the scary things away!”
Tickets for the walk are sold separately so if you can’t spend the day with them, you can come just for the evening walk. Advance tickets can be purchased on the website.
Guests will get to meet John Mizzi and learn about his extraordinary work with EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena) and get a hands-on look at the equipment he has invented for data collection.
Bellamy is a life-long genealogist, and when she moved to Canada in 2000 she joined a ghost group in Toronto that needed someone to do historical research. She spent many years with that group and discovered that paranormal research was “what I wanted as my life’s work.”
She’s been an independent professional researcher for roughly five years, and does consulting on film and TV and gives lectures throughout Ontario and the U.S.
She also taught a course in ghost research for the Toronto District School Board and still teaches genealogy at the board.
Much of what Bellamy has “uncovered” is that “things we think of as paranormal are often quite normal.
“I’ve seen and interacted with people I thought were ‘normal’ but who turned out to be apparitions. I’ve experienced having a black, hazy mass pass through me. I’ve seen some sort of black, muscular hominid ‘monster’ in the woods just outside of Markham. I’ve even researched the ghost of a monkey!
“I have to say though that my greatest ‘discovery’ is that ghosts have mass. We set up a laser grid and a video camera and filmed something passing through the laser beams solid enough to bend the light but not solid enough to be seen by either the camera lens or the naked eye.”
Humans have always been fascinated by the possibility of life after death or beings we don’t know much about or the possibility of visitors from outer space. Bellamy said hieroglyphics show images of flying men or hybrid birdmen or centaurs. Most religions of the world have beliefs in past lives or angels or some sort of connection to loved ones who have died. Science is starting to discover parallel universes and time travel.
“There isn’t any part of life that the paranormal doesn’t touch. People are curious and want to learn. Paranormal research combines our history and our future into our present.”
To skeptics, Bellamy simply welcomes them to the event.
A true skeptic, she said, believes what the evidence shows. All of the speakers at Mass Mysteria are skeptics.
“We don’t immediately take every bump in the night at face value. But there comes a time when you have to accept that there are things in this world that don’t fit the mold of known science or logic.”
King Township is welcoming this type of paranormal-tourism.
“We were more than happy to accommodate her request as much as possible, given the unique and heartfelt nature of this event. Robin seems to have gathered a lot of support, and we couldn’t be more excited for the event,” said Caroline Bendiner, Cultural Coordinator with King’s Parks, Recreation and Culture Department.
For more, visit www.massmysteria.ca.