Ive made mentions and references to this in a few past articles but Im just now addressing the topic as a whole. It is my first, but unlikely my last article on this topic as it is a very broad subject that is among my favorite paranormal topics of all. Thats right dear readers, Im talking about ghosts. The mysterious entities that inspire so much undeserved fear in us as mortal beings.
First of all of course, is the main question. Just what is a ghost? While the specifics are still very much a mystery, The general Idea is that a ghost is the soul of a deceased person that for one reason or another is still attached to our world. While the specific beliefs vary depending on the particular religion, culture and individual that observes them that is the basic definition.
If there is one thing that we all agree on its that ghosts are purely spiritual entities. Despite their occasional ability to effect the physical world they themselves are not of the physical realm at all. A ghost was once and still is a human being. They often are bound to our world for a number of reasons. Usually, having to do with powerful emotions that don't allow them to leave this world behind. Strong feelings of hatred, vengeance, denial and even love can chain them to the same ground that we mortals stand upon. Many people agree that there are actually many sub-categories of ghosts as well, or at least of ghost-like phenomenon. Ghosts are generally thought of as intelligent and sapient spirits. Although there is a phenomenon known as "residual hauntings". This is known to occur in places where unspeakably horrible events have unfolded and are permanently "recorded" into the surrounding energies and objects of the area. Such as battlefields, and other historically significant areas. And to those sensitive to such energies the past has a way of playing itself out in the form of voices, footsteps, poltergeist activity and such just like a ghost. However there may not be an actual spirit there at all. these hauntings, while generally harmless may be even more frightening due to their random, undiscriminating and incommunicable nature. trying to stop a residual haunting is like stopping a tornado by trying to reason with it. And lack of control is often what frightens us more than anything else. Ghosts on the other hand can be as reasonable or unreasonable as any other person. Just as they have many reasons why they may be there.
Now, why is it, that despite not having a physical form at all, ghosts can seemingly interact with the physical world? (and often in very dramatic and frightening ways!) well, a common belief is that ghosts exist purely as our own psychic energy. And that somewhere along crossing the bridge they have no choice but to learn how to interact on a psychic level. so in a sense there may be a gain of some psionic abilities that were impossible or simply too difficult or pointless to attain while in a physical body. After all, why bother training for hours a day on simple, weak telekinesis when your hands work just fine and do a better, more reliable job? Well as a spirit you can pretty much throw that line of thinking out the window. A ghost has no mouth, no hands no eyes, no ears... so any interaction at all has to be on the psychic level, that's simply all they have. And while they can manifest and look an awful lot like a person with such things, It is at best a facade, and likely it is a psychic illusion as well. Think about it, a purely psychic being born of a soul of a deceased person... now what on earth would they need clothes, or accessories for? Even more importantly, /how/ would a spirit have inanimate objects in the afterlife where only the soul can travel? clothes, vehicles, swords and other such objects have no soul. they cannot die because they were never alive. So just what are they doing in the realm of the dead? Simple, I believe that ghosts, when seen, wish to be seen a certain way. And thus project themselves to our minds and eyes in the form that they were in upon death or most loved in life, more often the former. So essentially, It may be that any full bodied apparition is an illusion or perhaps a purposeful false appearance. And that the mysterious, formless lights and mists are much closer to their true appearances. Also, appearing in the form of their living face is obviously MUCH more familiar and comforting to the ones they love than wandering around as a creepy light ball with whispering, distant voices.
Which brings me to the next topic. The voices, they are even more of a mystery. While I would love to say that they are perhaps another mental illusion played for the living, Im not sure of that. They have no physical form, and hence they cannot possibly have a voice. But wait a minute... how is it they can be recorded on machines?? Unlike with humans, with a brain to be manipulated, machines cannot hallucinate, or be tricked. if they hear a voice it is there. end of story. But how can that be? Sound is produced by vibrations as a result of matter interacting with other matter. so how can pure energy do that? well, energy tends to interact with sound producing qualities as well, (i.e. thunder). but can it be possible to manipulate energy and matter so precisely as to produce words, and voices on pure psionic power? and not just that but to exactly copy the voice one knew in life? That would imply a far more precise form of telekinesis than we ever thought possible. And if thats not it, then just what is it? Can it be that ghosts are in fact, physical beings, that are in another dimension? and what we see and hear is through a sort of dimensional curtain? think about it. Dark matter makes up most of the known universe right? Yet it is completely impossible to detect. we only know what it isn't not what it is. considering that, worlds within worlds, occupying the same space, yet completely separate. Is that perhaps possible? Ghosts, no matter how you view them challenge everything we know about physics and the way the universe works.
Ghosts offer us comfort in knowing that death is not truly the end. But terrify us, because they are so unknown and mysterious. And they cannot be controlled at all. People seem to have their own hocus pocus ancient remedies to drive them away. But I'm not confident that something as mundane as burning sage and waving eagle feathers does anything at all. We maybe know, optimistically, 3% of what the supernatural world has to teach us. So to come up with cures for it is just plain silly. And how do you think the spirits feel about that? They want to be consoled, and comforted. They are slowly driven insane by the many people who cannot see, ignore or deny their very existence. If you wandered around a building for hundreds of years, seen by no one, with nothing to do, and had people talking about you all the time, wouldn't you go a little crazy too? And having these shamans and mystics acting like you're some disease to be cured... It must be a painful existence. But really.... how many people have been hurt or killed by other living people? ..... far more than one can count. how many people have been seriously hurt or killed by a ghost? a handful of minor injuries reported, and no deaths on record. I would say that living people are far more terrifying.
Ghosts are hard for some people to believe, and quite frankly, I used to be a skeptic myself. in fact it was around 10 years ago that I found my own personal proof. My mother was putting my sister and I to bed and when she opened the door there was a mist there. in the vague shape of a human form. it was very clear. like a cloud, standing in the middle of my room. My mother looked on in horror as it turned towards us and simply disappeared into the air. needless to say, I slept on my moms floor for a while after that. Since then I have had many more interactions with the deceased, and that has opened my eyes and I am not so afraid as I once was. We must understand, they have feelings too. In fact, thats all they have. It may be difficult, but when you come across a ghost. Try to understand them, their pain and suffering has been great, beyond what most of the living can fathom.
Now, ghosts are largely harmless. but not always... And they have at times been known to take on a much darker nature. Some cultures tell tales of ghost-like creatures that have terrified and attacked humans in ways more horrible than anything the real world can probably offer. But are these creatures ghosts? or do they merely share the shadowy appearance? And even more disturbing, is the question, could they have been real? Some believe that dark entities gain power from fear. But in this age of science and reason, many people have shunned the idea of spirits all together, much less waste time fearing them. But it wasn't always that way... hundreds of years ago people were in constant paranoia about evil ghosts and demons. And such thoughts were not superstition, they were real to these people and everyone took them very, very seriously.... Could it be that perhaps as science developed and made us think less of the supernatural world that our reason and logic gradually eased our fears and drained these dark entities of their sustenance? Perhaps science itself made this world much harder to inhabit for them. I'm not usually a believer in fairy tales, but I can say I have seen some pretty horrid things done to people by unseen forces, and I can't help but wonder if more powerful evil spirits are a thing of the imagination... or of the past. And if the amount of spiritually related deaths is 0.... or just 0 known to science...
But to counter these shadowy, dangerous creatures are ghosts and spirits that have a much, much more powerful purpose. Those who have been robbed of their proper afterlife for the sake of love. Love, a force on this earth far more powerful than hatred or fear, also keeps some peoples souls earthbound. My great grandmother for instance, she bore and raised many children to adulthood or at least to an age where they could help care for themselves. All but one that is... my grandpa. He was the youngest of his siblings and she died tragically when he was only 8. In a mothers eyes, 8 years old is still just a baby... And to this day her spirit lingers. She follows him to wherever it is he lives. I recognize her presence from when I was little but as I understood the spirit world more she became clearer with each passing day. And now I am able to see her fairly often... Her mournful shade wanders our house still today. lamenting her death and wishing she could love and care for the one child who she couldn't, before fate so cruelly took her. When my grandfather is content and happy she is often nowhere to be seen. But in times of great stress or sadness for him she often wanders the halls on a nightly basis. And I think that she will always be there until which time he comes to join her on the other side. It is an occurrence that is both chilling and tragic. When I think of it, it both gives me chills and brings tears to my eyes at the same time. But she is the very picture of a benevolent ghost, she wishes to protect and watch over her baby and his family. She is here out of pure love and concern and I feel quite comfortable with her around...
Ghosts continue to make their presence known to us. No matter how much we hide behind science and state that they don't exist they simply keep proving us wrong. They protect us, they live alongside us every day, they frighten us, they mystify us, fascinate us and some even try to harm us. I still believe however, that many of them just want a little bit of recognition and understanding. To be treated like the human beings they were and still are. So next time you go to a place that is known to be haunted, (by non-malevolent spirits at least!) or sense it for yourself, try to leave a smile and some words of comfort as an offering. Let them know they are not forgotten, and that their humanity is not lost. It may be all that some of them need to pass on. It maybe seems silly at first, but some spirits have been cruelly denied so much as a hello for thousands of years. So next time your spine tingles and the hair on your body stands on end... try to understand that. :)
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