Practical Guide for the Investigation Site: Part 1
Setting an Assembly Area
As an investigator, when you arrive at a site, whether it’s a farmhouse on the edge of nowhere or a house in the suburbs, the first order of business is always the same: establish an Assembly Area.
This is a procedure I learned from my time as a US Marine, and it applies here. The intent is - if you are planning to patrol a potentially hostile area, you need to have a secure area to make your final preparations. This provides the team with a secure location to start the mission and return to after the mission. You know this area is clean of influence because you secured it.
This is where you do your final checks: Do you have all your equipment? Everything have full batteries and backups batteries, spare SD cards if the memory on devices is full? All gear silenced so you dont here rustling and clanking from a team mate when trying to record EVP? If you need to get something, you have a secure area, all your team and gear is stage, and a pair of runners can go get whatever was forgotten. Its human nature, it happens, and thats why we do these checks.
Run through the mission order and task assignments. It sounds repetitive but it is a well documented human phenomenon - the “bystander effect”, or also “diffusion of responsibility.” How many times have you seen that troupe on tv - the important thing that critical for the task…and everyone thought someone else was going to bring it. So run through it all so everyone hears it, acknowledges it, and failures can be corrected bfore going on the mission. Does everyone know what their responsibility is - who is monitoring the EVPs, the cameras…We never operate alone, so who is paired together. What sectors of the location are going to be investigated by which team. Run through this all at the AA, because again it is human nature.
Security: The Foundation: Salt, Iron, and Intention
You a primarily securing your Assembly Area from is paranormal intrusion.
I will never forget the episode of A Haunting "The Possessed" (Season 3 Episode 8). Mary Vogel, a seasoned paranormal investigator and team leader with the Virginia Paranormal Investigative Society, leads her team in probing reports of strange activity at an abandoned farmhouse in rural Virginia. While exploring the property alone, she discovers evidence of past satanic rituals in an upper area of the outbuildings. This disturbs a powerful demonic entity.
After the team wraps up and leaves, the demon attaches itself to Mary and follows her home. She starts experiencing violent nightmares, physical attacks that displayed as scratches and bruises, and auditory hallucinations taunting her faith. The possession escalates: Mary becomes increasingly aggressive and unstable, lashing out at her young son Josh, her fiancé, and her sisters—tormenting them with outbursts, threats, and eerie behavior that frightens the family.
Realizing the supernatural cause, Mary's mentor—renowned demonologist and paranormal expert John Zaffis—steps in. He arranges an intense Catholic exorcism ritual, confronting the entity directly. Through prayers, holy water, and commands in Latin, the demon is finally expelled, allowing Mary to recover and rebuild her life.
This is a chilling example of what can happen, and why a secure location away from the investigation sight but not all the way back to your bedroom is important. You do not want anything following you home.
The Setup
First, the Assembly Area should be away from the investigation location. If you are in a residential area, use an adjacent building within walking distance, or even a parking lot with all your vehicles. If you are in a rural area, set up off the property. I like to use a minimum of 500 meters - roughly quarter of a mile - from the investigation sight as a minimum. My preference is to not be able to see the investigation sight from the Assembly Area - that can be on the other side of a hill and out of sight of it, or several rows of houses between your setup location and the investigation sight. If your investigation site is a house, you can set up in a building at least a quarter of a mile away. If the investigation sight is a larger area - a farm complex with all the included barns and outbuildings and property- you have to set your AA farther away because you can not be certain where the paranormal boundaries are. You do not want to be in range of the thing you are investigating. If it is attached to the site, you do not want it able to hitchhike back in your car.
Also, you do not want people walking through your Assembly Area. So you cant set up in a Starbucks. Your area needs to be secure. In a busy area this can make it more diffcult to find a good spot, but remember: people walking through your area are a security concern. You do not know what they carry with them, and the more spiritual energy that comes through your perimeter, the less protective it will be.
Now you need to set up your perimeter security. This is important. This is what stops a hitchhiker from following you home. We use the materials and rituals that have worked across centuries and cultures.
Intention: The act of laying a ward is as critical as the materials. Move slowly, stay aware, and visualize drawing a line between safety and everything outside it. Your intentions when doing something matter as much if not more than the act itself.
Salt Lines: Lay a continuous, unbroken line around the inner boundary of your space. if you have a room in a building, draw a perimeter line around the occupied portion of the entire room. If you can also make an outer perimeterIf- do that as well. Salt will stop spiritual beings from crossing the line laid. The inner line prevents spiritual beings from coming into the room with you, the outer line gives the added security of not allowing them through the outer wall - possibly giving you more protection from observation or allowing them entry into the building even if they can not interfere in the room with you. Any equipment that is staying in the AA during the operation can have an additional salt ring around it. If you are outdoors, build small mounds rather than thin trails to resist wind or moisture.
Iron Boundary: Drive iron stakes or nails into the ground at the four cardinal points - as a minimum. If time and space permits, create a perimeter boundary of iron. My preference is every 3 paces put an iron stake if I am setting up on open ground outside, or if setting a perimeter around a building every 3 paces, at each corner, and on either side of each window or doorway. If the soil is too hard to set a stake in the ground, or if you are in a place with pavement and the HOA would frown on it, place an iron item - like a horseshoe - near each point instead. For the interior of a room, set your iron on either side of every doorway and window, at each corner, and every pace distance around the perimeter of the room.
Holy Shield: Whatever your personal belief system, the most dangerous encounters are when you run into a demonic presence. Ghosts are not dangerous, fae can be but are also vulnerable in many ways. Demonic influence needs to be protected against as the priority in every situation. Your Assembly Area needs to have a crucifix visible from every exterior entrance and interior entrance, preferably one that has been blessed in the holy rites. When we set up, we use an Iron Cross over exterior doorways (this covers the iron over threshold step from before as well). You can hang rosaries from door handles and windows to cover every entrance. This is also a good time to point at that when chosing your Assembly Area, chose a place that does not have many doors, windows, or avenues of approach into your space - you have to secure them all. If you are outside, you can hang holy crosses around your perimeter and have a prominent one displayed inside the wire.
You also need holy water at your entrances. This is for the team to use on entering and exiting the Assembly Area. Special care is taken on returning to the AA at the conclusion of a mission. Each team member will take turns annointing every member of the team, whether they left the AA or stayed behind in support. This is not a witch hunt, but a cleansing to wash away any potential hitchhikers.
Final Layer: Brass: This is the simplest to install - a brass bell at the entrance you plan to use. You do not need a perimeter of brass bells or chimes, just one at the threshold your team enters or exits through. Ring it when you leave and ring it when you come back. The sound of brass dispels illusions and glamours, and causes fae spirits to flee. You could also bring a trumpeter, and give a blast from your horn at the start and end of each hunt - but brass wind chimes are likely easier and more friendly to the neighborhood.
Deactivation and Respect
When you leave a site, take it down deliberately. Sweep up the salt, and remove iron from the soil, rebottle your holy water and take down the crucifixes with respect and reverence. Leave no open wards—they can attract what you meant to repel. Anything can be corrupted.
-Turtle