The Challenge of Seeking Support for Candle Face’s Victims
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Time to read 5 min
I went to my first Paranormal Fest at the Black Swan Inn, hoping to find people in person who'd take Candle Face seriously. A few did, a team called Paranormal Journal who "run towards the knocking," and I got my first psychic reading, though it landed as vague as these things do. But most of the community still backs away when I say her name. Eleven months in, I keep coming to the same place: maybe I have to do this myself, with my readers, and stop waiting on help that isn't coming.
September 22, 2024
Yesterday, September 21, 2024, I attended the 7th Annual Paranormal Fest at the Black Swan Inn in San Antonio. It was my first time at a paranormal festival, and I genuinely enjoyed it. The event was filled with speakers and booths, a mix of authors, paranormal investigators, psychics, and mediums offering their services.
One of the best parts was meeting a group of investigators from Paranormal Journal. They seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say about Candle Face. I explained that most of the investigators, psychics, and mediums I’ve met online haven’t been interested in Candle Face or in helping me with the Lost Souls. They seemed surprised, given the kind of work I’m trying to do. I mentioned how many groups I’ve seen on YouTube run at the first sign of something knocking, which prompted one of the Paranormal Journal members to chuckle and say, “We run towards the knocking!” That got a laugh from everyone. I replied, “Everyone says that,” which led to even more laughter.
Despite the humor, there was a seriousness in their eyes, something I’ve only seen from the Houston-based team GenX Paranormal Investigations. They stood there listening to me, studying me, giving me the sense that maybe I’d finally found a San Antonio or Austin area team willing to help with the Lost Souls.
Feeling hopeful, I wandered the venue and spotted a psychic at her booth. I approached her and asked for a reading. She was enthusiastic until I mentioned Candle Face and the Lost Souls. The moment those words left my mouth, her expression shifted, and she told me she likely couldn’t help. I thanked her and moved on to another psychic who, to my surprise, stayed interested even after I mentioned Candle Face. She agreed to a reading, my first one ever.
The nearly 30-minute session was interesting, but everything she said seemed vague, almost like it could apply to anyone. Readings work that way. They can be taken broadly, which is part of what makes them feel personal and accurate. Still, hearing her say things out loud was comforting, like seeing a familiar view from a slightly different angle. I didn’t catch her name, but her CashApp listed her as “Victoria Doane.” I’d recommend her to anyone interested in a reading. She was kind and professional.
She gave me permission to record and post the reading: https://youtu.be/bVIqrdC1rP4
Still, I kept thinking a psychic reading might not give me the specificity I need for the Lost Souls. I’m not dismissing the field. I just think I may need a different approach for the answers I’m after.
Several psychics, including Victoria, have said I have latent mediumship abilities that need refining. I’ve heard it before. Maybe I need to stop relying on the paranormal community and develop those abilities myself. The thought of doing it all alone is intimidating, though. My interactive investigation was meant to involve others, to invite people to participate and help free the Lost Souls. Still, finding the balance between doing the work myself and handing it off has been difficult.
That’s the core problem: how much should I rely on others, and how much on myself? It’s been only 11 months since I started asking for help, but the paranormal community I’ve reached out to has been hesitant, scared, too busy, or not serious about the work. Maybe it’s time to rethink the plan and sharpen my own abilities. If I truly have mediumship potential, then maybe I should explore that path more seriously. I’ve found a way to start.
This Saturday, September 28, 2024, a small gothic café and boutique in San Marcos called Triple Six Social is hosting a Mediumship Bootcamp. The description reads: “Unleash your inner mystic with our Mediumship Bootcamp, a powerful day intensive designed to sharpen your psychic abilities and deepen your connection with the spirit world.” It sounds like a good fit. But then I wonder: do I really need this? After all, the Lost Souls who come to me are clear as day, speaking straight to me without ghost boxes, Ouija boards, tarot cards, or crystal balls. While others in the paranormal community rely on those tools, I seem to reach these communications without any aid. Lately, I’ve been experimenting with different ways of connecting to the Lost Souls, relying more on direct communication through visualization and deep meditation, and I get clearer impressions when I shift my focus that way. It’s not a perfect science, but it’s a start. If I can refine this approach, maybe I won’t need the traditional methods at all. Maybe I should be teaching the class instead of attending it. I say that in jest, of course. There’s always more to learn.
I’ve also been dabbling in remote viewing. I connected with a professional remote viewer named Stacey Tallitsch through the Get Haunted Network, and he suggested remote viewing might help me with the Lost Souls. Intrigued, I enrolled in his beginner’s class. It’s been fascinating and harder than I expected. For example, I discovered that what I see during remote viewing is often the opposite of reality, which is something I still struggle to adapt to. Maybe I need to modify the process to fit what I’m trying to do, the same way I’m adjusting my mediumship.
I asked Stacey if he’d be willing to use his more advanced remote viewing skills on the Lost Souls, but no help has come, from him or from the dream interpreters, psychics, and mediums I’ve reached out to. That’s why I went to the Paranormal Fest: to try my luck with the Texas paranormal community in person. But here I am, back at square one, relying on myself and sharpening my abilities while I wait for others to join in.
I’ve said this many times before, but I still find myself drawn to the paranormal community, asking for help where none has come. I’ll keep asking, but I have to accept that help may stay hard to find. Maybe I’m meant to do most of this work myself while relying on my readers to support me with research and clues.
Candle Face is closing in, and the Lost Souls are counting on me to hear their voices and make sure their stories are told. I’m determined. Determination without results won’t bring them peace. And so far, I don’t have many to show.
Arthur Mills
Arthur Mills served for more than two decades as an Army Intelligence Warrant Officer, specializing in piecing together what others missed: patterns, threats, enemy intent, and clandestine activity. He trained intelligence professionals, built threat models, and briefed commanders and world leaders on global threats and battlefield strategy. After retiring from the military, he moved into private investigation, focusing on missing persons, human trafficking, opposition research, and domestic terrorism. He holds a degree in Counter Terrorism Studies.
He has been writing books since 2006 and is an award-winning author. He publishes under his own name, though much of what he has written has appeared under pseudonyms. Readers may already know those titles without knowing they are his. The separation is intentional. His books invite readers to interpret what is hidden, and so does the way he publishes them.