Subject: [ParanormalFlorida] Last Night's Old Masonic Temple Investigation Report....
Date: 9/17/2005 10:02:49 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time
From: AngelOfThyNight@aol.com
To: ParanormalBuffalo@yahoogroups.com, Paranormalflorida@yahoogroups.com, paranormalghostsociety@yahoogroups.com, ParanormalGhostSocietyConnections@yahoogroups.com, ParanormalGhostSociety@groups.msn.com

Last night was a real thriller and I want to thank Rebecca and her husband who are in charge of Slaughterhouse productions for giving us the opportunity to investigate such an old historical building along with the Deland Jaycees.
 
I must say that when I found out a little bit of history on the building I was quite intrigued. Maybe what is even more odd is that when I first moved here I use to go inside this building to hang business cards and fliers. Figured hell maybe some of them women who do yoga on the second floor would call me up and tell me they need some ghostbusting done lol. Nahhh seriously I always use to have mixed feelings about the place so to be able to get inside to investigate it is totally awesome.
 
This is the second week in a row we have been asked to investigate a location and honestly that really makes me feel good that our organization is starting to reach out to the community.
 
We took this investigation very serious as this time I brought my own recorder its old does not work well but I wanted to cover every angle in this 15,000 square foot structure. With Halloween coming up next month this is really good for us to get a chance at something like this and hopefully draw in some more investigators and attention to our site. Anyhow we left about 8pm a little earlier then usual and so our investigation begins here.
 
Deland Old Masonic Temple
 
We parked and seen a group of people outside it turned out that they were helping construct the haunted house which will be completed and opened starting October 13. The one unique thing about this location is that we do not have to keep it private since Slaughterhouse Productions is having a haunted house here all of you locally have a chance to see how eerie this place is yourself.
 
I took us up a back entrance and into the Yoga Center which I thought was someone's apartment so quickly I had all of us head out and use the main entrance lol. I walked down the long hallway where their was a lions fountain and to the left was a gallery and to the right a bakery. We went upstairs past the yoga center and up some very dark wood stairs to the 3rd floor. I had worn my sunglasses so I had to be real careful going up the steep steps but I made it just fine.
 
I got upstairs and the 3rd floor was fairly dim I guess a fuse had blown but their were a lot of people cleaning the 3rd floor and getting ready to build a haunted house maze type of structure. I met with Rebecca and she went over some history then talked to a few other adults who told me a few tales of their own.
 
Rebecca gave us a tour she showed us the contraption on the floor, a room where supposed executions may have took place with electrocution, and explained to me some of the stories about how bodies were hung by a wood beam along one of the walls. I do believe that their is something years ago that happened here that perhaps was horrible you could just feel a darkness within the building itself besides many different entities around me.
 
I usually am use to not having so many around me when I investigate so at the same time I was sense ghostly energies their were many different human energies or emotions. For example one girl I could sends was totally into what we do with the group and had questions for me but she was to shy to ask me about our group. Another guy was just totally intrigued I could sense he was into what we were doing, another girl thought I was cute sorry being psychic has its benefits lol, and another person their I sensed fear from them. So I had to weed threw all the physical emotions and put myself beyond that to sense out the ghost.
 
What I felt is many of the ghost were hiding their was a dark room with 3 deep closets with many things stored I felt the entities talking to eachother hiding in this room. The room was very eerie it had a fireplace, a couple windows with one that was opened, and a lot of weird junk like a rams head. It looked like at one time this room was used for recreation. Rebecca was still talking with us so I was looking around at the same time then she showed us an old cargo elevator and the studio where one of the recorders often's captures EVP at. My back was turned and Jason spotted a rat behind me running up a cog wheel into a hole in the ceiling. The old gears were fascinating but it seemed the elevator was inoperable at this point.
 
I took some recordings cause I suspected a lot of energy here maybe cause it was near one of the stairwells. Then we took off our own separate ways to investigate. James mentioned when we first arrived seeing a man standing by a contraption under the floor. He said the man had a rope around his neck and eyes. He told me that another man approached him said that he was glad we arrived. While all at the same time he seen a ghostly woman, girl and man. They told him that they were killed by two men cause they tried to help the man that was lynched. The woman was apparently stabbed along with the little girl and the man was shot. But it seemed like the ghost had no problems coming out for us since they knew we were not here to build the haunted house.
 
Their was a balcony which led to a long hallway with a ladder leading into the attic. Also their was a hole in the wall with a secret room also like an attic with lots of wood beams. Jasmine mentioned not feeling to swell about this area. She said she had some pretty bad feelings and did not like it here.
 
Jason and I crawled up the ladder later on into the attic. We found a door and ended up on the roof. I have to admit the activity was very high on the roof. It also was one of the highest points in Deland so I was able to watch all of downtown from above. Jason and I found another ladder leading to even a higher roof so we climbed it. I was in a state of glory like I just won a race so Jason took my photo lol.
 
The roof was peaceful but at the same time we were very high up and so yes we had to be very cautious.  Their are energies very capable of pushing you or bumping into you. We did enjoy the view climbed back down onto the lower roof. Jason and I walked along the edge as the roof sloped down and we came out into a hidden area. I felt kind of watched up here this roof reminded me of something out of a movie like a gargoyle might sit up here perched over the town just watching.
 
I came back inside however and worked my way downstairs James and Jasmine waited for me. It was funny having my spotlight and camera while climbing these ladders just hanging off my arms.
 
I then checked a hatch in the floor which led to a power room then Jason and I lifted up the floor boards and found an area which was hollowed out with a drainage hole. Being an antique shop at one point its possible that they used this to drain finish, paints, and wood stains. I could be wrong but that was my impression. The other one I had was that its possible it had a darker purpose maybe to drain blood if its true about the bodies that were hung in there.
 
I wanted to be locked inside it but I did not want to scare anybody around me so I just took photos, inspected the material, looked down into the hole. Their was a lot of saw dust in here probably came off the old wood flooring. Also near here was a giant archway. The Masonic symbol was engraved into the wood. It looked like at one time a podium maybe an alter was in front of this archway. I believe that this archway was in the exact center of the building almost so yes it was a origin of energy. The walls on the archway had reddish to brown marks that ran down the wall maybe moisture caused the wood stain too bleed or maybe it is something else.
 
Behind this archway were a left and right passage. The left one went into a dark room with a few closets and a cargo elevator the right one went into this room with a fuse box and some other box which looked like a switch to the electric chair. Then to the very far right and left were wood stairs that led to a balcony. The structure was set up very much like a temple would be and I would assume whoever spoke to their followers stood within the archway. I mentioned to the team that the archway may have been used as a portal of some kind it may seem crazy but the architecture here served a purpose what it was remains unknown. But I am on the money that I can tell you. This place had a tainted aura especially near the archway. It made me wonder what were the Masons up to when this place served as a temple?
 
I walked around to the recording studio that one man uses. I heard he wants out of here cause when he tries to record music he gets a lot of EVP. I knocked on his studio door cause I had a feeling he had my recorder since I could not find it. He did then asked me what I was doing I explained to him we were recording ghostly voices then he mentioned how he has had his studio blessed.  By this time someone got the fuse working and all the lights went on ohhhh my eyes the light just was a shocker to me. When you work a lot in the dark that is what you become accustomed too.
 
He gave me it back and I moved the recorder around some various areas one time under the floor board, in the secret room, near the cargo elevator and even in two different closets. I wanted to make sure that I captured something of a ghostly nature. I did take off a few times alone and one time I seen an orb moving in the flash right in the entrance to the dark room.
 
I tried to interview most of the adults during my investigation as one of the ladies mentioned hearing manly footsteps behind her one night. Jasmine also talked to a few people and I was pretty intrigued by the various stories and similarities here. I kept looking up at the ceilings their was many holes above us and these giant beautiful artsy air vents in the ceiling. From my research they said the ceiling here is roughly 16 feet in height but it looked a lot higher maybe twenty possibly.
 
I also noticed the imprint of another archway just like the one we investigated which led to a couple dark rooms. It seemed that the archway had been sealed up and the double door ways had been covered up with plaster and concrete. How you could tell is the seams were visible. I thought maybe we found a secret room but a hole very high up with a T-shirt stuck in it made me more curious to see what was inside was it a room or way to the outside.
 
Jason grabbed the very tall ladder and I climbed it slowly pulling out this shirt stuck in the hole. It was hard to maintain my balance cause we had the ladder leaning fairly steep so I could get close to the wall. I looked into the hole and was shocked it actually was in alignment with a steeple across the street with a very old church one of the first built in Deland. So yes I felt like I was in the movie National Treasure. You must understand that the Mason's were very mysterious type it in on the Internet and their is so much information out their.
 
What I then concluded is that at one time this archway was much like the other and that what was actually covered up was windows which over looked downtown Deland why they were covered up remains a mystery.
 
Jason and I then climbed back up into the attic this time exploring it much deeper. This had to be done very carefully and let me explain why. Their were holes in the floor and the entire flooring was weak, broken, missing wood, missing plaster, etc etc The wood beams across were quite sturdy but you could tell they suffered from rot and some weakening. Jason and I found a series of think planks nailed to various beams which we carefully walked on leading to the room below. We could see others below us as their was a giant hole and Jasmine mentioned everybody seeing our lights through the floor boards above. I am sure others were nervous about us being up their but just remember PGS loves old attics and they love us.
 
I did not even capture any orbs yet the attic was very dusty so that has to tell you something about this place. I think many orbs that we did capture were very real. I did once again talk to the studio recorder he came out pulled me aside to ask me a few things and talk with me awhile more. He seemed pretty scared of what is here and from my perspective I can only imagine how eerie it is some nights when he does his recording and has to leave the building to lock up alone at night.
 
Then James and I visited the cargo elevator and James said a little boy was watching us from this square hole in the wood. We really drew in a lot of curiosity here. I sensed some children ghost here they took an interest in James. He mentioned to me that one of the boy ghost was a bully and tried to push him. They perhaps were just being typical boys. I caught James in a dark room looking at something and their was a lot of cold spots near the center of the room and of course near the secret compartment under the floor.
 
I went back up the winding steps to the long hallway with the ladder leading to the attic. I peaked in the hole in the wall which was a secret room and heard some whispering in the dark. Sounded like little children talking amongst each other I knew they were discussing me. Then I felt another presence and this one perhaps was not the nicest of entities but I felt something rush quickly and breath right in my face hissing. It was like a snarling sound or a sigh. But wow what an enormous amount of energy. Hence my theory that some things here were hiding and that just proved it right their for me. I grabbed James put him up to the hole and he said he seen the shadow of something move real quickly.
 
I did a lot of walking around Jason went up in the attic a couple times and Jasmine was sitting on the job shame shame lol. I do not blame her though it was roughly 100 degrees since heat does rise. We found a giant old turbine or fan up in the attic but it was very old and most likely in operable. At that time we noticed that the haunted house being constructed was coming along. I love going to haunted houses but then again I go to haunted houses every week lol so for me Halloween is everyday.
 
We started to tone down the investigation I took the last of my photos went up on a balcony and noticed many nails pulled out of the wall to about 3 inches in a straight line on a beam. They were very thick old nails the purpose they served I do not know. I also noticed walls with what looked like book shelves once existed. The masons probably had shelves and other things constructed into the walls since it was a temple at one time.
 
We did have a lot of fun though here Jasmine found her fun with a rams head, James met some kids to play with, Jason kept busy exploring every single nook and cranny and of course me I just was intrigued with the entire place. We even had time to take some funny photos for our Para-Comedy page. We also a lot of high EMF readings in areas that Rebecca showed us or told horror tales about so I do believe that something of the supernatural is here within this building.
 
In conclusion to the report as we left we did do a quick walk around on the second floor then the first floor. Even the second floor I sensed some energies as that floor had many halls and dark rooms which were locked up. As we entered out into the parking lot their was a cardboard figure behind a iron gate which looked like a person it did almost fool me into thinking I was seeing a ghost.
 
We had a lot of fun last night and I am sorry about the late report I went swimming today cause I have had my eye on this really cute blonde that has been sun tanning all week lol. So you know how that goes guys:) had to go whistle and daydream..... but seriously I just have had a busy day with my sons so its nice to finally get the report out their. I hopefully will get some sends out tonight as well.
 
We do hope to make a return trip here in a couple weeks.  We will try to investigate the building when less people are around probably just walk threw the haunted house, rooms etc in the dark. We probably will sit somewhere silently and just listen as well as recording some EVP things of that sort.
 
I did study the recorders today as well listening carefully and I did capture a few weird things like a ghostly whistle and then a man talking very southern saying giving it a shot twice. Its as clear as ever and Jasmine also heard it today told me it sounds like a southern man. So it turned out to be a successful investigation. Of course the rough part was focusing cause their were a lot of people their, hammering, moving of wood etc but we took ALOT of photos, a lot of voice recordings in different areas and James seen a few various entities. We did not tell him the history I wanted to test his accuracy and after he seen a ghost with a rope around its neck he seemed right on with the lynching that went on here at one time.
 
We also got free tickets to the haunted house which is totally cool cause Now sometime next month James and I can go here to enjoy it. So a lot of nice things came out of investigating here. See if more people would have showed you also could have gotten a free ticket so being a part of our team has its advantages.
 
But we must also ask ourselves what really happened here I mean the building is as mysterious as some of the ghost that haunt it. I feel their is much more to experience, see and learn about this place. The upstairs was very much deteriorated so its age showed here but so did its ghost which are part of Deland's history more then likely. I think some bad things happened here murders, maybe occult activity, and history as well threw the years. Its a really eerie place! I use to remember going for walks late at night past the building, in the alleys behind it etc who would have ever known it had such a dark history.  Peace
Rick

Subject: Last night's investigation report from  Jasmine
Date:9/17/2005 5:12:21 P.M. Eastern Daylight  Time
From: fireicewitch76@aol.com 
To: AngelOfThyNight@aol.com  

Last  nights investigation was really cool. We had the pleasure again of
being invited  to explore a very old building, this time locally here in De land.
I was so  tired upon leaving Rick's place as I had a pretty tiring day of
driving and  running around, but I was excited to go because not only had Rick
been telling  me that this building had a lot of history but also because his son
James would  be going with us as well. James is such a cool kid, he is also
clairvoyant and I  knew he would be able to see and interact with what ever
might be their. We left  a little earlier then we normally do but it made no
difference and so our  investigation begins at  the.........

Masonic Temple

When we arrived we met a very nice lady named  Rebecca, We all introduced
ourselves and she started telling us about some of  the legends she had heard
about the place. She took us on a brief tour of the  3rd floor (the supposed hot
spot of the building) She spoke of stories that she  had heard of a small
child being crushed to death under the elevator, that the  building had a history
of lynching's and murder, that a possible occult and or  the Masons themselves
had used the building to make sacrifices, & that Ford  motor company had
taken over the place in the 1930's. She was uncertain of most  of the information
so I guess that's why she called us in.

When you get  to the top floor you walk in and it's just a giant room, Rick
immediately felt a  high level of energy upon doing this. I was drawn instantly
to the far right  corner of the room and to the top of the stairs that over
looks the entire room,  the 2 spots that drew me in were completely diagonal
from one and other. I  couldn't wait to go up their and see what I felt.

We were taken into a  room were we were told that possible electrocutions
were done, This seemed quite  odd to me and just not likely. There was a huge
power box and another equally  large box in this room with a sort of a crank on
it, if you were to go on to the  other side of the room there was a huge black
round object, most likely what was  used to either pull a cord through or just
how they wired things back then. It  was defiantly really old probably late
1920's early 30's. The felling I got was  that the room was used to either
power the building or that floor.

We  then went into a larger room, it was a lot cooler in there, THANK  GOD!
did  I mention that the place was well over 100 degrees! When we first got
there I  was already sweating and I hadn't done anything lol...

Anyhow in this  room there were several closets and a lot of miscellaneous
stuff laying around  we were then taken into a hallway and by that was the
elevator that is no longer  in service. We were standing around talking and Jason
spotted a rat, it was kind  of funny to watch everyone gasp. I asked rick for a
flashlight and the EMF  detector and James and I headed off to the upstairs
balcony were I had been  drawn to.

When we were back into the main room James told me that he had  seen a ghost
and that he had been buried underneath the floor. Rebecca had shown  us that
we could actually open up this part of the floor, upon doing so there  was
about a good 6 to 8 inches of extra space also it was made of either a Polly 
resin of some kind, hard plastic or maybe even slate? With 2 drain holes, we  were
told that this is how body's may have been disposed of. James put the EMF  up
to it and got some pretty high readings.

We then went to the upper  balcony. The place had a very church like feel to
it, the staircase was a bit  winding and very old. There were a couple of
holes in the walls and a ladder  leading up to the attic. The impression that I
was getting was that this is were  people of higher power meaning people who
could judge or rule would sit. It had  a very dark feeling to it and I felt that
at anytime I could have been pushed  over the balcony.

There was a pretty big hole in the wall so I stuck my  head inside to have a
look, I was saying hello & James dared me to go inside  of the wall, I told
him to dream on, besides all the spiders that I could see in  there I  just had
a very uneasy feeling, we went back down to find Rick and  Jason to tell them
about what James had seen, and what we had  found.

There were a lot of people their working and setting up because  they are
going to use the place for a haunted house this Halloween. That's  actually cool
for all of you guys because you will be able to go to the same  place we did
so you can see for yourselves how creepy it is. Being there were so  many
people there it was very hard for me to focus in on stuff because of all  the
different energy's that were there, meaning both alive and past.

We  all wound up splitting up at this point, I was off in the large open room
full  of junk, I walked into a closet and was asking for something to show
its self or  give a sign, at one point something was right beside my left ear
and I heard a  very strange sound like a zap, it sounded quite electrical. I
journeyed on and  found the guys.

James had made some friends with some of the children  that were their so he
was off playing. I told Rick to go up to the balcony  because there was a way
to the attic. We all went up there together, of course  they were just dyeing
to get up onto the attic so after a few pic's Jason and  him went up the
ladder and disappeared.

I just kept busy wandering  around trying to zone in. I went back down to the
main area and started to talk  to people and ask questions, I took was being
quizzed and asked about what it is  we do, what I see so on and so on. It was
actually nice to interact, I got to  find a lot of information out and here
stories but most of all I was starting to  zone in a lot better.

I was starting to get the impression of possible occult activity. I felt
that some children were murdered there as well as woman.  I also felt that men in
dark cloaks were present. When I say that the place had  a church like
feeling to it I do not by any means mean a holly church. There was  lighter colored
wood on the floor, basically wood that had not been walked on as  much, it was
in the shape of a rectangle or what I was getting was a possible  alter, this
was also with in 8 feet of the hole in the floor with the drain  holes.

Rick and Jason came down from the attic. Rick had told me that he  had stuck
his head inside the same hole in the wall up their that I did and  something
Hissed at him in his face. I was thinking to myself hahahah! Being he  always
teases me or tries to scare me it was about time he got a taste of his  own
medicine.

We all went back into the room with all the junk and were  taking pic's,
there was a goats head on the table and I just couldn't refuse! I  was pretending
to slip it the tongue and I actually did by mistake ( that was  pretty gross)
I posed for a few more silly pic's and we all split up  again.

I went and sat in the far right corner of the room and starting  talking and
asking for something to talk to me touch me ect. I can not say that  anything
really happened, I sat there for a few min and then I moved  on.

I decided that I was going to go sit by the elevator for a little  while and
see what I could pick up on. Nothing major accord but I did feel l  really un
easy sitting by myself. I had the feeling of being pushed, maybe some  one
died this way?  I don't know I just really did not like being there for  long .

We all met back up in the main room, we did some investigating on  the floor
board that we could open up, Rick took some pictures and again we were 
getting high EMF readings.

I had mentioned to Rick on how I was feeling  and I asked him if he had any
of the same feelings that I was. He told me that  It could have very well been
possible that if any occult type of activity did  happen that the center of
the archway (the center of the room)  would make  a great place for a portal.

Rebecca then pointed out to me that the same  exact design of the archway had
appeared to once have existed on the opposite  side of the room. There were
some holes in the wall & I asked if we could  borrow a ladder because their was
a shirt stuffed onto one of the holes up top. 

Good old Rick climbed away! When he pulled the shirt out of the wall it  was
exactly across from a church across the street.

We took a lot more Pics and pretty much wrapped it up from there. I felt
very drained and I know a  lot of it was from the heat, but I was also very
drained by energy and trying to  focus.

We went outside and took some Pics as well, I noticed a small doll  shop 2
stores over that gave me the creeps so I had to look inside. And then we  all
headed back home.

I would just like to thank everyone that let us  come out and investigate, it
was really cool. I like doing this stuff a lot more  then the ten mile hikes
in the woods, in the dark,......Halloween is coming  soon!! I really hope that
some of you guys will show up to this months meet up  and get to know us all,
and of course Rick's Halloween party is coming up soon  too!!!! WOOOO HOOO be
good people! Till Next  time....

Jasmine
PGS INVESTIGATOR