The Believers
With Sandy Lakdar
The mysterious and beautiful city of Paris is the home of a lone paranormal team that travels over Europe seeking the truth and existence of a shadow world just beyond our reach. The Believers Paranormal Group lead by Sandy Lakdar and her partner in life and the paranormal Jonathan lead their team with a passion and respect for all the spirits they encounter. The Believers, like so many paranormal teams, have a vision that one day the spirit world will no longer be viewed as “paranormal” but another part of our word that we do not yet fully understand. They are well on their way to achieving that goal. Their television show “The Believers” is entering the second season. It can be viewed on Vimeo. I will admit that it took me some time to start watching the show because I was worried about it being in French and I wouldn’t be able to understand what was fully going on. Sandy has thought about that and goes the extra mile and adds English and French sub titles in every episode. All of The Believers’ team hard work has paid off and they are reaching viewers all around the world and on every continent.
With personal paranormal experiences and a thirst for the truth Sandy took a great risk and quite her day job to focus all of her energy on The Believers team and the television show full time. Her determination has been fruitful. With their independently owned production studio Sandy and the team are able to create The Believers show is able to remain as they envision it; with no corporate administrator breathing down their necks The Believers is able truly show what paranormal investigating is really like: long hours, trekking through unpleasant locations full of mold, decaying walls, and at times angry spirits. The Believers team takes advantage of the latest technology, with digital cameras and recorders. For them using this equipment is the greatest chance to prove to the world what they and thousands of paranormal teams know first hand: that the spirit world is very real. The Spirit World is the true final frontier. Sandy and her team are determined to remove the pseudo science label and inspire serious fully, funded research. I can understand why scientist would be apprehensive to think of the paranormal field as anything more than pseudo science because it is so unpredictable. Even the most haunted of locations can have nights with no activity captured or reported. In addition I would like to note that it is not very scientific to dismiss something without experimenting first. The people of France skeptics and paranormal research is not held in high regard. Also, it is incredibly difficult to get any permits or permission to investigate a location in France. For that reason The Believers travel to the UK often to shoot their episodes as locations and people are more open to the paranormal and those whom dedicate their lives to it’s research. The response from their viewers has all been a positive one.
“We have not had any bad reviews. Those that have taken the time to send e-mails like very much how we shoot it. Our background is already in movies. It is not just editing they [the episodes] is a real documentary. All the time me get response that people see that what do is with honesty and they get it.”
I agree very much with that statement. I have watched several episodes and they are presented in a documentary style format and are very raw in their content. What really strikes me is the fact that Sandy and her team allow their emotions to be shown. Tears are cried freely and fear is able to be expressed openly. Not all paranormal investigation show allow that to be shown or somehow end up on the cutting room floor. The Believers are showing another part of paranormal investigating that the layman don’t always realize. This work is not thrill seeking, it is not always fun, and it can be dangerous physically as well as spiritually.
“At the beginning we were already film makers when the paranormal world came into out lives. So, we [Sandy and Jonathan] as two directors from Paris, decided go to places and see what is going on. At the beginning we didn’t know anything of what to expect. We were afraid like another else would be afraid when all this paranormal stuff was encountered. Now, we are into season two and we feel more strong. We didn’t want to hide this because it shows that this is reality.”
It is not just the raw emotion that is on display that sets The Believers apart from the rest. It is the very human experiences that are had. The connection with the team is not just with the spirits at a location but also with the living, breathing land owners of these locations. For example The Believers teams was able to investigate the infamous Ancient Ram Inn and work with the long time owner Mr. John Humphries. Sandy and the team have a lot of respect for Mr. Humphries and view him as a guardian of the land and the spirits whom reside in this historic building. I wondered out loud with the person chooses to be a guardian of the spirit world or if the spirit world chooses them.
“Maybe not from the spirits of the land, but from a higher plane. The spirits of the spirits see who would be good. I don’t know it’s just a theory but with Mr.Humphries we feel that he is a guardian. He struggled to keep the place up. Such a location would not exist now if he wasn’t here. There is probably a bigger plan higher than the location itself.”
I’ve never heard anything like Sandy’s guardian theory before. When one hears about locations that some people just can’t seem to stay away from as a negative attachment. That a living person’s addiction to a location and the spirits that reside within it are harmful to a person’s life and wellbeing. I wouldn’t doubt that, this is the fact some of the time. What about other cases, like with John Humphries and the Ancient Ram Inn. Mr.Humphries has been through a lot with struggling to keep this historic Inn running and the paranormal experiences he has when the cameras are off and investigators have left.
Perhaps a negative case of the living that are attached to locations of the spirit world can be found in Sandy’s home town of Paris and the ‘Cataphiles.“ Cataphiles are those whom are engrossed with the Paris Catacombs as shown the Mr. Zak Bagans’ special Netherworld: The Paris Catacombs. These catacombs are hundreds of years old and they certainly act their age. There are frequent occurrences of walls and pillars collapsing. These fatal accidents, the risk of getting lost, and the fact that it is very much so illegal to go down into the Catacombs are enough to make one wonder what keeps the Cataphiles coming back.
"I didn’t go to church every Sunday. If I wanted to go, my parent would be like, 'Just go.’ I really was so far away from the Spiritual World. Now, I investigate I realize so many things that I wasn’t aware of before. I am way more spiritual than I use to be and I guess the more I keep going in investigations; the more I will learn more spiritually. The more it will help me to understand. I will learn from my mistakes.”
The Paranormal field can be unnerving as a team more often than not cannot tell what is going on with the spirits at any given moment. However, working in this field has been a very positive experience for Sandy, Jonathan, and the rest of the team. I wondered out loud if they have been in contact with any spirit that could be thought of as dark or negative.
“If we are faced with a negative energy we would try to protect ourselves. To cleanse ourselves before we get back and again ask for our protection. Right now we feel that we don’t have enough baggage and security. We have already been in contact with strong negative spirits and we just made sure that we were protected. We like to use the essential oils and incense to cleanse ourselves. Before we out to a location i prepare essential oils not only for cleansing but to help us be more open to the invisible world.”
The Believers team are growing with each and every day in experience and spiritual strength. They are a growing force in the mysterious world of this field. As their reputation and recognition grow I’m sure that they will be able to expand their locations. Sandy very much would like to come to America to do investigation at the Winchester Mystery House. A goal I do feel is a very possible goal for them to research as they have done such amazing work in a short amount of time. Getting to where they are today was not easy and they had to face some harsh realities of the world we live in. Despite that The Universe seems to be on The Believer’s side to guide them and keep them on the right path. There were times when all wanted to toss their hands in the air and quite. Thankfully that hasn’t happened. The year 2016 is young and there is much more waiting for the The Believes around the next dark corner. Lets take this journey with them