#115 Psychic skills, cemeteries & sensing energy in places: Melissa Ferrazzano interview

 Have you ever wondered what it is like to live with psychic abilities every day? Well, today you are in for a treat, I am speaking with Melissa Ferrazzano, psychic medium, paranormal investigator and dedicated cemetery worker. Melissa shares the struggles of living with psychic abilities as a child and teen, what it is like to work as a burial coordinator and how she uses her keen mediumship skills during paranormal investigations to unpack the occurrences in haunted locations. 

MELISSA'S CONTACT DETAILS:
MEDIUMSHIP READINGS: psychicmediumautumn.com
PARANORMAL INVESTIGATIONS: phantomdetectives.org
https://www.instagram.com/phantomdetectivesllc/

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Transcript

Anna: [00:00:00] 

Hello again, and here we are at Perfectly Paranormal, episode 115. My name's Anna Schmidt, and I'm here every week to share with you true paranormal encounters and information about devils, demons, and dark that no one else talks about. You are in for a treat. I have psychic medium, paranormal investigator and dedicated cemetery worker Melissa Ferrazano here with us today for an in depth interview where Melissa shares what it's like to live with psychic abilities since childhood, working with departed loved ones in burial and using her mediumship skills during paranormal investigations.

So let's get into our interview with [00:01:00] Melissa. Melissa, how are you? 

Melissa: I'm fantastic. Thank you so much for having me. Oh look, Joshua Ches, who is part of the team Phantom Detectives LLC in Pennsylvania. Yes. He was really insistent that we get together and we talk about what we do. Because I do the paranormal work.

You do lots of different things that you're going to share with the listeners in a moment. You're also a cemetery worker. I saw that on your Instagram page, so I'm really interested to hear about what you do. Yes, 

Melissa: it's interesting where life takes us because I'm telling you, it literally just fell in my lap.

This job just literally fell in my lap. So I'm going to put that in the category of unexplained because it's not something that I sought out to do, but. Do you know anyone who would like to work in a cemetery? I said sure, count me in.

Anna: So what does your job entail when you're working in a cemetery? And have you had some rather [00:02:00] interesting paranormal experiences while on the job? 

Melissa: I am a burial coordinator. And I take care of the whole process from top to bottom. It's very interesting work. I love the environment, of course. But I will say it certainly is not easy because you're the best way I could describe it to people is you're constantly planning.

So just like somebody would be like a wedding coordinator or they just very much enjoy planning parties. In my case, I help to plan funerals. So I do a lot of research. I handle a lot of old documents, which is really super cool. Some of these deeds that I research are over a hundred years old, so I get to see what families have purchased over a hundred years ago, and it's up to me to find out what's available for them.

And what's funny is how much they've spent on burial plots a hundred years ago. Because now, they go for a few thousand [00:03:00] and people will buy plots for a family of eight and they spent like 130. So I'm always tickled by that. And I know times were different back then. And it's, so like I said, it's challenging work.

And believe it or not, I do a lot of mechanical work. I have to see if space is available. I have to use a lot of tools to see if there's anything underground in order to bury folks. And I measure and I'm there for when the digging crew arrives. So I get to see the whole excavation process. And I meet with funeral directors, and I'm one of the last people that get to see that person, being lowered after their family says goodbye, and when they fill the ground.

I'm pretty much there for the whole process. So it's interesting, but like I said, it can also be very challenging, but I do love it and it makes me happy to help maintain the historic cemetery where I work as well, just to make [00:04:00] sure that it isn't being swept away with time, because there was a time before me and the current board had come in that it was neglected and it's very sad.

So I'm very happy to have my hand in making sure that It's well kept, and honored, and that whole spooky aspect because it isn't extremely old. It's only from 1872, which I know is old enough. You really feel like you've stepped back in time. And somehow I was called to do it. So 

Anna: So you're a psychic medium, so you do readings for people. You're also part of a very well known paranormal investigation team, which is Phantom Detectives LLC. So as you're working as a cemetery worker and you're pumping out that vibe of psychic medium, do you find sometimes that the plots you're working on, that you've actually got the deceased spirit? Is the spirit of the person there watching what you're doing?

Are they talking to you? Do you see them? How do you connect or [00:05:00] notice that the paranormal is around you? Do you see, hear, feel? Yes. 

Melissa: What I describe to people is, when you receive information from the spirit world, we have internal senses, just like we have external ones. So when you see, hear, feel, and you're tapping into those senses internally.

So I don't physically see the spirits, with my eyes, it's more like I receive the information. So clairvoyantly, that's how we see the spirits internally. We psychically feel the spirits. That's clairsentience. That's your feeling, internal hearing. It's you'll receive messages, but not audibly, not.

Not from the outside, it's more inside. So you're putting all of those messages together to get that picture, to receive that information. And when I go into the cemetery, especially in the older section, you just really feel like you're visiting an entire [00:06:00] family. And I won't even look at the gravestones.

I'm not saying, okay there's a gentleman present here and this is his wife. You literally just walk in there and I feel like I'm just bombarded by the spirits. And I really feel that they're very happy that there's somebody there who really honours and appreciates them and wants to maintain that final resting place.

I feel like I've just walked into their realm, I've walked into their world, and I've walked into a different place in time. I've walked into the Victorian era. Yeah, I just feel like they're just around me constantly. And I'm so used to it, I'm so used to it being a part of me. That it's just it just comes naturally like it doesn't scare me or frighten me.

It's just so natural, second nature I guess, that's the best way to put it. But I'll tell you what, I want to say the scariest, not scariest, but probably the most unsettling place is our office. I walk in there, and I remember walking in there for the [00:07:00] first time and thinking, Wow, this place gives me the creeps.

And what's funny is that the office is brand new. So it isn't like an old spooky little office, but there's something about the energy there that's different. And I don't want to say it's negative, but I feel like it's more like being guarded. And I feel like an older gentleman is present, and he's very he's the head guy in charge, and yeah, he has a pretty strong demeanor.

So it's definitely an interesting place. 

Anna: I actually wonder if he wonders why a woman is doing this particular job, because if he's from the late sort of Victorian or further back, it's like women are at home cooking and looking after the children. Why is she doing a man's job? Like some of the old thinking can be a little bit limited.

I wanted to ask you, as a child, when were you first aware of your psychic abilities? I can imagine it's been something that you've probably had since birth, but when, as a youngster, did you first start, seeing, hearing, feeling, getting [00:08:00] that clairvoyant feeling? 

Melissa: What's interesting when I was a child is that it started off with me physically seeing spirits. I would see them in the middle of the night, and I don't know why that is. I don't know if it's because the world is quieter, and that's when they can reach out to you. And I remember as a young child in a home that I grew up in, a young child was connecting with me. It frightened me. It really frightened me.

And even if this child's spirit did not mean harm, As a young child, we don't know what is going on, and we don't know how to process that information. I remember trying to explain what I was seeing to my parents, and they just chalked it up to my imagination. They didn't take it seriously. The unfortunate thing is that, therefore, I grew up keeping these experiences to myself.

Because if it was chalked up to my imagination, as I was told, I treated it like my feelings weren't [00:09:00] valid. What I was experiencing was not valid. So therefore, it's just not to be talked about. So I just, I knew that there was something different about me. I knew, even as a teenager, that, that ability was there.

And I would just do everything I could to tune it out. And it wasn't really anything I felt like I could talk to, with anyone, not friends. Nobody. And it's funny because I remember in my teens, I would sleep with the lights on, and I look back and I'm like, how on earth did I spend a few years with this bright light in my face?

How did I sleep that way? 

Anna: I was the same. I slept with my light on until I was like 14, and my dad would come and turn it off because he was very electricity conscious. Then he'd go and I'd somehow would automatically turn it on because getting poked or prodded or someone touching your hair in the middle of the night or your face creeps you out as a child.

And I was the same. I didn't have anyone I could talk to when I'd like to know when, and the listeners I'm sure would [00:10:00] like to know when was your coming out and actually owning it, acknowledging it, starting to work as a psychic medium, feeling like you could just express yourself. And not worry about what people think about you.

Melissa: The interesting thing is, as my teen years went on, and I entered adulthood, I just thought, now I knew that I had this ability, but I just thought maybe it just isn't as strong, and maybe it's gone away, and I'm just living life and not giving it any attention. I can remember roughly 10 years ago, waking up in the middle of the night, and there was a woman, a spirit of a woman staring me in my face, and she was so happy that I saw her, and I let out this scream, and my husband, he, we've been together for many years, and I scared him.

Can you imagine being in a deep sleep, and then your wife just lets out this scream? And he says, I don't know what happened, but I've never ever heard you scream like that. And I said I woke up to a spirit of a woman staring me in my face. The funny thing is I [00:11:00] remember that day I had a family function to go to, and I was so shook up by that experience.

And one of my relatives said to me, you look like you saw a ghost. And I thought you're right. And what's interesting is from that time on, I continued to have that experience again in my adult life. And just as a child, I didn't welcome it. I didn't like it. It frightened me and I thought I need to figure out how to make this go away.

But one day I said, you know what? I think the best thing to do is to stop fearing this and to learn to embrace it. And once I did that, I realized that this is a part of me. That's when I took it a step further and decided to figure out what was going on, how I was receiving this information, and how to work with it.

And that's what I did. I started studying under different spiritual teachers and one who is more well-known in the [00:12:00] paranormal community is Cindy Keza. who was on the Holzer Files and various other paranormal shows. So I was one of her students. Cindy, I believe, continues to teach those interested in mediumship.

She was one of the people that showed me how it all works. And I became more confident and, again, more accepting instead of fearing this. Because really, there is nothing to fear. I feel that the spirits were just trying to tell me, Hey, you have this ability. And when they know that you could see them, I think that they flock to people who have this ability, and I do believe we all have this ability, but those who really have it more strongly.

You're like a you're like a lighthouse. You're like that blinking light, in the middle of the dark. But yeah, once I learned, started to learn about it and embrace it, that's when I found that I could tap into who was around other people, their loved ones. And then I started giving readings. It was a slow process.

Again, learning about it and accepting that it's a part of you really makes you [00:13:00] feel at peace about it. It's been quite a journey. It really has. Now I'm doing it on a on a paranormal team. I love what I do, and it's always interesting, it's always interesting what we find at these locations, and what I tune into yeah, it's been quite a road.

Anna: Exactly, and I think a lot of people, like you were saying, the lighthouse type thing that you were explaining. I see it as like a vibration, like everywhere I go, I don't need to go to the supermarket or, down to the petrol station and someone follows me home because they want help. We're just putting out that vibe.

It's this person who can help you and they just seem to know. I wanted to ask you, how you came to be working with Joshua Chairs? And is it Ray, the other man that you work with on the team? You're close to Rick. Rick. Sorry. I apologise, Rick. How did you make that step into working with psychic mediumship, but then going into doing paranormal investigation?

Because they're similar, but they're [00:14:00] different. And what sort of experiences do you have when you're doing your paranormal investigations? Because I've seen on Joshua's Instagram page that you've had headphones on and you've been listening to some of the experiences. Can you describe to the listeners, people who haven't experienced spirit connection or other energies, as we know they're all out there, when you're doing paranormal investigations, can you tell us how you experience it?

Melissa: The interesting thing going back a little bit is, so when I started to embrace these abilities, and because of my own experiences growing up, I've always been fascinated with Paranormal World and I would watch all the various shows on TV, Ghost Hunters, all of them. I loved when they would have a medium as a guest on these shows.

And what's interesting is I would see if I could tune into maybe something similar that the medium was picking up on while they were investigating. And it's funny because [00:15:00] sometimes I would say there's a man in that location. And then the medium would say there's a gentleman present here. And I was like, Oh, he's saying the same things.

So when Joshua found me and that's what happened, I guess that Joshua may have also taking a class from Cindy because Cindy teaches various things. He saw that I was one of her students. I don't know if it was like through a Facebook page and he also saw that I lived in his area. And he was looking for a medium to join Phantom Detectives.

So I was just delighted to be asked. Here's the interesting thing that I found that I was able to do, and I'm not sure if this falls under remote viewing, but Our very first investigation was at a place called the Selma Mansion and it's in Pennsylvania. And a week before we went on that investigation, I started having visions of Abraham Lincoln for some reason.

And I said to Joshua, I said, I don't know anything about the place [00:16:00] because I'm supposed to go in there blindly. Do not do any research because you want it to be authentic. And I said, but I have no idea why Abraham Lincoln. Would have any connection to the place and he says, you're right. And I said I can't be right.

Why would he have any connection to this place? It makes no sense. It turns out that Abraham Lincoln's wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, her grandfather had owned that mansion, and museum. And my jaw hit the ground because I didn't know this. No, no prior knowledge. So that was I guess one of the first indicators that I could be good at this.

I could go into locations and see what I'm tuning into. And so that's what I do. That's my primary goal. My job, if you will, on the team is to walk in there and see what I'm tuning into. See who I'm tuning into. See if there's anything significant that happened at these places. Was there a fire? Was there any kind of deaths?

What happened there? [00:17:00] What am I tuning into and seeing if that matches the backstory? Because Joshua is our team historian. He'll tell you every little thing that ever happened at any place. He's like a walking encyclopedia. That's what I do on the team. And it's always interesting to see if I am accurate.

One of the things when you mention the goggles. So that's called the Estes method. If anyone has ever watched paranormal investigations on television, sometimes what they do is, it's like sensory deprivation. You don't want to be able to see. So in my case, they put on goggles that I can't see through.

You want to put on headphones. And what happens is I'm also connected to a spirit box. So as long as I don't hear what the guys are asking me it's interesting to see if what's coming through the spirit box matches the questions that they ask me. Am I answering it accurately? Is there something coming out of that spirit box [00:18:00] that might be pertaining to something else about that location?

So I'm actually doing double duty when I'm under that sensory, method. I'm seeing if there's something I'm picking up psychically. So I might blurt out something on my own that may not be coming through the spirit box. So when I take all of that equipment off, I'm always wondering, was I accurate?

Was I not? It's always fascinating to hear how I did after that. That's another thing I do during investigations. 

Anna: Wonderful. That is wonderful. I love it. I love everything paranormal. I just live it and love it. Do you have any experiences you would like to share with our listeners and our viewers on YouTube?

Because people love to hear relatable paranormal experiences that others have had. 

Melissa: The interesting thing since we've been on so many investigations, I will say that none of us have ever been pushed or scratched or anything. And I don't know how common that is. I'm sure other people have had these [00:19:00] experiences.

I've never had that happen to me, as of yet. We have gone into locations, though, with negative energy, harmful energy, where we have all come, we've all come out of these places feeling drained, very drained, where it has taken about a week to recover. And you know what the interesting thing, too, is that this seems to happen more in people's homes.

People's homes have been, residences have been some of the most intense and negative places I've been to where there might have been something harmful in there. So I always found that to be interesting as well. I have learned through those experiences how important it is to protect yourself.

Because there are times that we haven't, and we have felt the effects. One, place in particular that I really can't figure out what happened was when we were investigating a museum. And there were four of us on the team at the time, and there were two [00:20:00] floors in this mansion or museum. We were all upstairs investigating, and me and one of my other team members had walked down the steps.

And all of our belongings, we're talking jackets, boxes boxes where we keep our equipment, personal belongings, were on the steps like something was trying to barricade us. And I remember we walked down the steps and we just looked at each other like what on earth? And to this day, we don't have answers because we were locked in.

There was no evidence of someone breaking into this museum. And our personal belongings, nothing was stolen. So that's interesting too, because I thought if a person broke in, knowing that someone was in here, you would think that they would have bad intentions and they would take our, our items.

But nothing was stolen. And so that's an experience that I truly can't explain. I'm always looking for the logical explanation. And to this day, we can't figure that one out. And what was also interesting about [00:21:00] that night was we did our recording session, the EVP session, we asked did anyone, did any spirits?

Move our belongings onto the steps and we got a clear response saying to be afraid and it was a woman's voice It was like whispering and but you could hear it clear as day. She says be afraid that's definitely one experience that I'll never forget. I know we've had quite a few but to this day I don't know who moved our belongings and wanted to barricade us, but somebody did 

Anna: Sounds like someone wasn't happy that you were actually in the building, and they, what I find, because I go into all sorts of homes and things, because that vibe we were talking about earlier for psychic mediums, paranormal investigators have the same sort of it's a similar vibe.

You're interested in the paranormal, and sometimes the spirits and other entities get a little bit annoyed, or I feel a bit threatened, and you're not there to hurt them or harm them. You just want to say, hello, hi, how are you? Why are you here? Can [00:22:00] we help you type thing, but they can feel a little bit threatened like it's still their premises.

And if it's a home, God, homes carry a lot of energy from previous owners and so forth. What you're talking about before being drained. Oh my goodness. I call that the paranormal hangover. 

Melissa: Yes. 

Anna: It is massive. Sometimes you feel like you've been hit by a truck and it can literally take. Three, four days, sometimes a week, like you said, to actually come back to normal.

And people go, aren't you protected? Are you hydrated? And are you this and are you that? And I'm like, yeah, all of the above, but somehow we still get our physical bodies don't cope with that paranormal energy that surrounds us. I 

Melissa: agree. It's like we're batteries being drained. And that being said, I know investigators will say that their cameras will go out and their equipment is strained and they came into an investigation with everything fully charged and fresh batteries.

And [00:23:00] why did this? Why did everything just go dead on us? Why? And I feel that those, just like spirits will drain equipment to manifest, send a message. I feel they do that to us as well, because we're also energy. So it makes perfect sense. It 

Anna: does. It does indeed. Now before we finish up today, I was going to ask how people can contact you.

How people can contact Phantom Detectives LLC to come and do an investigation? 

Melissa: We try to be as organized as possible. And even though there are only three of us on a team, we all have something a designated specialty, if you will, as far as handling things prior to an investigation and obviously during the investigation.

So Phantom Detectives does have a website, it's phantomdetectives.org. And from there, you can check us out. We have audio you can listen to from our EVPs, things about prior investigations. I [00:24:00] can be contacted through that website as well. So it's phantomdetectives.org. And also, if somebody has a paranormal request, there is an intake form you can fill out.

And then what happens is I receive that form and I review it and pass it along to the team. So our other team member, Rick, will contact the client and do an interview. Now, I'm not allowed to hear about that interview because, again, I'm not to know about any backstory. I need to go into these investigations blindly.

But Rick will talk to the client. And find out, what are you experiencing? And then he'll determine, okay, is this worth an investigation? Does this just maybe sound like an electrical issue? Does a person have a health issue? So he rules those things out. And then from there, as long as the team decides, yes, let's go forth.

We're volunteers. We don't do this for profit. And then we'll go and set up a day and time. And we go and see what we can find. Now, I also have a [00:25:00] website as well. It's PsychicMediumAutumn.com. So that's where you can contact me for readings and to find out more about my services.

Anna: That’s beautiful. It's been so wonderful speaking with you today. I love connecting with people who work with the paranormal, with spirits, with psychic mediums. I just love that we can all come together all around the world through podcasting and through YouTube because I'll put this on both. But I've met so many amazing people through doing my podcast, and it's just been a pleasure having you here with us today.

Melissa: Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity to come on and speak with you. I really enjoyed it and I love sharing stories and like you said, hearing about other people's experiences. So yes, I appreciate you having me on and it was great meeting you. Thank you, 

Anna: Thank you, Melissa. 

If you like the content of this episode today, please think about leaving me a rating [00:26:00] and a review. What reviews do is they let other people know your thoughts about my supernatural subject matter. People love reading reviews and we're spreading the word about the real paranormal world around us. I would really appreciate it. 

So in episode 116, Eric from Germany asks, Do criminals and murderers go to the light? And if so, why? This question really does create a lot of heated debate online about unrepentant murderers and serial killers. And when I started thinking about this question, oh my goodness, Eric's question really did open a whole can of worms in my brain, and how I was going to unpack and explore the question in detail.

As I do, I didn't make a list this time, but I came up with five [00:27:00] questions to answer Eric's question. So I look forward to having you here with me again next week. as I share my thoughts and my reasonings on this rather interesting question.

 Thank you for joining me today and don’t forget if you want to share your paranormal 
 experiences or have a question, email me at spiritualbeing44@gmail.com 

For information on paranormal house clearing visit my website:  

https://www.spiritualbe-ing.com.au/  

I look forward to sharing this spooky space with you again next week and remember life is perfectly paranormal.

MELISSA’S CONTACT DETAILS:

MEDIUMSHIP READINGS: psychicmediumautumn.com

PARANORMAL INVESTIGATIONS: phantomdetectives.org

https://www.instagram.com/phantomdetectivesllc/