Investigation Tips
Welcome to Anomalous Phenomena Investigations International (API)
Old Dating Systems
A common practice of paranormal investigators and mediums is to attempt to get a ghost/spirit to give not only their name, but their date of birth and/or death. This is all well and good but can prove to be frustrating or ineffectual if one is not familiar with older systems for dating. It can also lead to inaccurate evidence. Those who do not possess a good grounding in history tend to make the mistake of believing that people always reckoned dates in the same form that we use in modern times, ie... 14 November 2006. This is not the case. From the 12th century to the 18th century people would have been more familiar with the use of Regnal years, Roman Calends and Saint's Days/Religious Festivals for recording and remembering dates.
An example of a Regnal year would be: 12th June, 5 Henry V - Which
means on the 12th day of June in the 5th year (1417) of the reign of
King Henry V.
An example of using the Roman dating system: The Ides of March would
refer to the 15th day of March.
An example of using Saint's Days/Religious Festivals for dating: The
day of the Translation of St. Thomas the Martyr in the 46th year of
Henry III - This particular feast day of St. Thomas the Martyr falls
on 7 July. The 46th year of Henry III is from 28 October 1261 to 27
October 1262, which tells us that this feast day occurred on 7 July
1262, in the 46th year of the reign of Henry III.
If you are communicating with a ghost/spirit and seem to be getting
nowhere when it comes to getting a birth or death date, try asking
them in a date format they would be familiar with. We cannot assume
that because they have "passed over" they are automatically familiar
with our current system of dating. It is also possible that they did
not know when they were born or died, especially those of the lower
or peasant classes, who would have had little or no use for knowing
the date or even the year. What is important to us in our modern age
would not have held the same importance for them. It is doubtful if
many people in certain eras even celebrated or recognised birthdays
as a day any different or more special than another.
Using these older dating system could also be beneficial in
determining whether or not someone's claims of being a psychic are
true. A psychic does not need to know or understand these dating
systems in order to pick them up from a ghost/spirit who is
responding to a question about dates.
To read more in-depth information about these archaic dating systems
please visit these sites:
Medieval Genealogy
English Regnal Years
The University of Nottingham
Article written by Cindy Nunn
All material hosted within the entire API website, including photographs, video, audio recordings, textual reports and intellectual property is copyright of Anomalous Phenomena Investigations and/or individual members/founders/associates thereof except where it is understood and acknowledged that the material/intellectual property is owned and/or copy written by other persons in which case the copyright of API is extended to further protect their material/intellectual property.