| Special Features |
ALL ABOUT GHOSTS
By Noreen Blanchard
"Mommy, how come Daddy doesn't' believe in ghosts the way we do?" my
inquiring eight-year-old mind wanted to know. She didn't answer right away.
Even a small child could decipher the pensive look on her face. Finally she said,
"Because he's afraid to." I understood immediately. From that day to this, if an
uninvited entity from beyond the grave decides to drop in on me unannounced, I
will run out the door without bothering to open it! Despite all my mother's
teachings, I am still my father's daughter! Even the famous Master of the
Macabre himself, Edgar Allan Poe, said he did not believe in ghosts but admitted
to be afraid of them.
Terrified or not, let's autopsy the spooky things, if you'll pardon the expression.
All major religions believe in some form of afterlife. Angels are embraced by
Christians, Muslims, and Jews alike and are mentioned in the Bible, Koran, and
The Torah. They just put different spins on their teachings. So if our religious
doctrines ingrain spiritual dogmas in us from the cradle, why then are we so afraid
of otherworldly occupants? Because they're dead, that's why!
In my last short story, "Introducing Ghosts," I stated that we are all programmed
to fear spirits, or ghosts (there is a big difference which I will explain later)
because we all grew up on horror movies. We cut our teeth on campfire ghost
stories, too. Literature and television chimed right in. All forms of media had one
common theme - ghosts are evil and only want to scare us, at the very least, or
kill us deader than they are at the very worst. Fear of ghosts is not inborn. It is
learned in early childhood and, truth be told, people really do enjoy a good scare,
anyway, so what the hell.
The other side of this coin is that people want to know what happens to them
after they die. Many will tell you that this life is all there is (kind of reminds you of
that old Peggy Lee song). They think that when you die, that is it, no more of
you, dead and buried. Still others tell you that they want to believe that some part
of them survives the grave. Perhaps this can be traced to man's innate fear of
death. As for me personally, I have always maintained that I am not afraid of
dying, but I am afraid of how I'm going to get there.
My mother was never afraid of ghosts or spirits and could communicate with
them at will whenever she, or they, was so inclined. Many people will ask why are
some people able to see ghosts while others cannot. This is the great argument
of the skeptics. As my mother explained to me in that earlier time, the key
element is fear. If you are open to communication with the other side, you are
more likely to receive it. On the other hand, if you are afraid, you build a wall that
spirit energy cannot penetrate. If your TV or radio are turned off, the signals will
be unable to come through so you receive neither picture nor sound even though
they are out there in the atmosphere.
What are ghosts and spirits anyway? They are people, people who once lived in
the physical body which they needed to don if they were to survive on this planet
called earth. This human body is constructed to facilitate that purpose. The time
comes when the body wears out, just like any other machine. Disease, accidents,
homicide, suicide, and just plain old age are the culprits. Just like your favorite
old jalopy, there comes a time when the parts no longer work no matter how many
skilled mechanics try to fix it up.
Such is the fate of the human body when modem medicine, no matter how
technologically advanced, can no longer work its wonders and, thus, the body
dies. That is - the physical body dies. But we are much more than mere bodies.
We also have a "mind," different from the "brain" which is only one more bodily
organ that can wear out. This mind survives physical death. We are conditioned
to call this mind the soul. Not only is the brain composed of tissue, cells and
neurons, it is also comprised of energy - enough to light up a twenty-five watt
bulb. Science knows that energy can never be destroyed but it can be
rearranged. The brain will cease functioning when the rest of the body does, but
it is the mind-soul that retains memories, emotions, and personality traits. Simply
put, whatever type of person you were on this side of the curtain, you will be that
same person on the other side.
Although energies cannot be destroyed, they can, and do, change into other
forms. This energy, or soul or ghost, is called the ethereal body which looks
exactly like the earthly body but is not solid, heavy and cumbersome like its
physical counterpart. If it no longer belongs to a three dimensional world, it is
neither subjected to, nor restricted by, the laws of physics. It can travel at will
without being hampered by doors, walls or any kind of solidity. Best of all, it can
go anywhere it wants to go without benefit of costly vehicles. It has only to think of
where it wants to be and, voila, it is there thus saving an awful lot of time, too,
which is another factor.
Ghosts and spirits do not calculate time as we do. They have no need of
watches, clocks and calendars as these are man made inventions needed for
structure in life. One minute of their time may be the equivalent to a year of our
time. This is true of both ghost and spirits which bring us back to the questions of
their differences.
A spirit has made the transition to the other side peacefully and quickly. He is,
thereby, "free." A ghost is not. He is trapped between this world and the next.
Many reasons and explanations why are widely accepted among physic
investigators. This is going to sound silly, but most ghosts are not even aware of
the fact that they are, indeed, dead. If their demise is caused by a sudden and
traumatic occurrence such as on the battlefield or in a car accident, they may not
have had the time to comprehend what has just happened to them. Therefore,
they remain at the scene, reliving the last few minutes of their memories over and
over again.
In order to get into the mind of a ghost, look at it this way: picture yourself in a
horrific car accident. The last things you remember are screeching tires, screams
of panic and fear, breaking glass and being tumbled about. The next thing you
know, you wake up in a hospital. You are confused. You don't know where you
are. You are in a state of shock. You repeatingly ask yourself, "What the hell
happened? Where am I? How did I get here?" Perhaps you see strangers walking
and talking all around you but, they're not paying any attention to you. They act
like you're not even there. Immediately you ring for the nurse. You want
answers. You desperately search for someone, anyone, who can answer all your
questions. Unfortunately, nobody ever comes.
This is the state in which a ghost finds himself in - confused, scared, angry,
yearning for help, engulfed and obsessed by his last memories of something
terrible happening to him. He cannot pass to the other side because he doesn't
know that he has to. He knows he was alive and, to his way of thinking, he is still
alive because he simple does not know any better. He doesn't realize that the
incident killed him. How can he be expected to know he is dead? Inevitably, he
will haunt this place until someone comes to help him. Many years may pass but
he remains unaware of his plight.
Enter the parapsychologist or other psychic researcher who will, more likely than
not, bring with him an experienced medium who can contact the ghost and
ascertain as many facts about the Casper du Jour as possible. Under no
circumstance is the medium ever given any information beforehand about the
case being investigated and a qualified medium does not want any. Otherwise,
known facts will interfere will physic impressions.
The ghostbuster will also research the house, grounds, and surrounding areas
on the internet or at the local library to learn about the history of the location. He
will interview, not only the parties reporting the haunting, but also neighbors, past
and present, former owners/tenants and anyone else
he can get his hands on who is willing to cooperate in this most unorthodox of
endeavors. If he's really lucky, he may be able to find a town historian who is old
enough and/or knowledgeable enough to fill in the blanks. Now armed with this
collective information, (especially ifhe can learn the name of the ghost) the
researcher discovers who the ghost is and the story behind him. He is now ready
to "release" the spooker.
The easiest way to do this is by simply informing the poor soul that he is, indeed,
dead and no longer belongs on this plane. It is time for him to pass over into the
light and that it is safe for him to do so. Sometimes this may take a bit of
convincing. Often times, the misty one does not believe what he is being told.
This is understandable since he has been in this condition for so long that he has
become accustomed to it. The status quo is comfortable because it is familiar
and he is afraid to move on. They do not believe that a better place awaits them.
Ghosts are just as scared of the unknown as we are. Scowl if you must, but they
can be more afraid of us than we are of them, as we are the "ghosts" and
intruders in their world. Most of the time, this approach works. On the off chance
that it does not, well then, that is a story for another time.
Other entities hang around a house or some other place simply because they
want to. These ghosts may know they are dead, but will stay on because the site
had a happy or otherwise important significance to them in life. For example, a
housewife who loved and enjoyed her home may not want to leave, so she
remains to make sure that any new owners or tenants take proper care of the
place the way she would have wanted. If she satisfied with the new occupants,
she will be silent and unseen. But if not, she will make her presence known in no
uncertain terms.
Some ghosts can be downright helpful. Reports have been documented about
ghosts covering up a sleeping person, and even folding laundry and doing
dishes. No such happy hoaker has every visited my house, I might add. One
very upsetting factor to a ghost is reconstruction. God forbid you should knock
out their walls and ceilings! You have some nerve taking out their old furniture
and appliances and bringing in your newfangled gadgets! Ghosts are tough
enough to deal with, but a pissed-off poltergeist will net you one nasty specter
complete with ferocious manifestations.
For dead people, they are really quite talented. They have the ability to take on
all shapes and sizes, appearing in forms ranging anywhere from full or partial
body apparitions to misty smoke clouds (called ectoplasm). They can be
transparent and easy to see through, or just as solid as your front door. It all
depends on what they want you to see and hear, how much energy they can steal
from the environment, and how adapt they are at manifesting themselves.
Let's examine another type of haunting called "residual hauntings." Enormous
amounts of evidence have been documented on this phenomenon at places like
Gettysburg and Little Big Horn, just to name a few. Any battlefield, such as
Normandy, is plagued by both ghosts and residual hauntings. Other good
examples are the European concentration camps of the 1930's and 40's where
powerful emotions such as fear, anger, frustration, and hatred abound. These
are strong and negative forces, contributed to by the millions of innocent people
who suffered and died there, thus remaining forever imprinted on the
atmosphere. They can be encountered by sight, sound or both and displayed to
by anyone in the vicinity. Whenever a copious amount of negative energy, which
is extremely powerful, is collectively unleashed into the fabric of the environment
by suffering humanity, hauntings result. Just like a movie, they are played and
replayed many times over for decades and even centuries to come after the
actual event took place,
So where are we going with all this good stuff? Right back to our original topic of
being afraid of ghosts. Contrary to the consensus, they cannot hurt or kill us nor
do they want to. We must look upon them as a therapist would look upon a
patient - neurotic, to say the least. They want our help, not our lives. The idea of
them harming us is really quite silly, come to think of it. In the first place, they
must cross from one dimension into another. That ain't easy, folks. As with any
other capability, some ghosts are better at this than others are. Killers they
aren't, but thieves they are.
They must draw upon the energy around them in order to materialize no matter
what shape or form they decide to take. This is why the inevitable "cold spot" is
reported whenever a presence is perceived. The point is they are still people just
like we are sans their bodies. We were all spirits at one time, and spirits we will
become again when the time is right.
Hopefully, we will be able to make a smooth transition to the other side, call it
Heaven if you like, and will not get ourselves stuck between worlds as unhappy
entities annoying the hell out of the living in places where we no longer belong.
My mother had the right idea. As for me, my father, and all the other countless
number of scaredy cats out there, well, Mom would have told us to keep on trying.
There is" still hope for the paranormally challenged!
By Noreen Blanchard
"Mommy, how come Daddy doesn't' believe in ghosts the way we do?" my
inquiring eight-year-old mind wanted to know. She didn't answer right away.
Even a small child could decipher the pensive look on her face. Finally she said,
"Because he's afraid to." I understood immediately. From that day to this, if an
uninvited entity from beyond the grave decides to drop in on me unannounced, I
will run out the door without bothering to open it! Despite all my mother's
teachings, I am still my father's daughter! Even the famous Master of the
Macabre himself, Edgar Allan Poe, said he did not believe in ghosts but admitted
to be afraid of them.
Terrified or not, let's autopsy the spooky things, if you'll pardon the expression.
All major religions believe in some form of afterlife. Angels are embraced by
Christians, Muslims, and Jews alike and are mentioned in the Bible, Koran, and
The Torah. They just put different spins on their teachings. So if our religious
doctrines ingrain spiritual dogmas in us from the cradle, why then are we so afraid
of otherworldly occupants? Because they're dead, that's why!
In my last short story, "Introducing Ghosts," I stated that we are all programmed
to fear spirits, or ghosts (there is a big difference which I will explain later)
because we all grew up on horror movies. We cut our teeth on campfire ghost
stories, too. Literature and television chimed right in. All forms of media had one
common theme - ghosts are evil and only want to scare us, at the very least, or
kill us deader than they are at the very worst. Fear of ghosts is not inborn. It is
learned in early childhood and, truth be told, people really do enjoy a good scare,
anyway, so what the hell.
The other side of this coin is that people want to know what happens to them
after they die. Many will tell you that this life is all there is (kind of reminds you of
that old Peggy Lee song). They think that when you die, that is it, no more of
you, dead and buried. Still others tell you that they want to believe that some part
of them survives the grave. Perhaps this can be traced to man's innate fear of
death. As for me personally, I have always maintained that I am not afraid of
dying, but I am afraid of how I'm going to get there.
My mother was never afraid of ghosts or spirits and could communicate with
them at will whenever she, or they, was so inclined. Many people will ask why are
some people able to see ghosts while others cannot. This is the great argument
of the skeptics. As my mother explained to me in that earlier time, the key
element is fear. If you are open to communication with the other side, you are
more likely to receive it. On the other hand, if you are afraid, you build a wall that
spirit energy cannot penetrate. If your TV or radio are turned off, the signals will
be unable to come through so you receive neither picture nor sound even though
they are out there in the atmosphere.
What are ghosts and spirits anyway? They are people, people who once lived in
the physical body which they needed to don if they were to survive on this planet
called earth. This human body is constructed to facilitate that purpose. The time
comes when the body wears out, just like any other machine. Disease, accidents,
homicide, suicide, and just plain old age are the culprits. Just like your favorite
old jalopy, there comes a time when the parts no longer work no matter how many
skilled mechanics try to fix it up.
Such is the fate of the human body when modem medicine, no matter how
technologically advanced, can no longer work its wonders and, thus, the body
dies. That is - the physical body dies. But we are much more than mere bodies.
We also have a "mind," different from the "brain" which is only one more bodily
organ that can wear out. This mind survives physical death. We are conditioned
to call this mind the soul. Not only is the brain composed of tissue, cells and
neurons, it is also comprised of energy - enough to light up a twenty-five watt
bulb. Science knows that energy can never be destroyed but it can be
rearranged. The brain will cease functioning when the rest of the body does, but
it is the mind-soul that retains memories, emotions, and personality traits. Simply
put, whatever type of person you were on this side of the curtain, you will be that
same person on the other side.
Although energies cannot be destroyed, they can, and do, change into other
forms. This energy, or soul or ghost, is called the ethereal body which looks
exactly like the earthly body but is not solid, heavy and cumbersome like its
physical counterpart. If it no longer belongs to a three dimensional world, it is
neither subjected to, nor restricted by, the laws of physics. It can travel at will
without being hampered by doors, walls or any kind of solidity. Best of all, it can
go anywhere it wants to go without benefit of costly vehicles. It has only to think of
where it wants to be and, voila, it is there thus saving an awful lot of time, too,
which is another factor.
Ghosts and spirits do not calculate time as we do. They have no need of
watches, clocks and calendars as these are man made inventions needed for
structure in life. One minute of their time may be the equivalent to a year of our
time. This is true of both ghost and spirits which bring us back to the questions of
their differences.
A spirit has made the transition to the other side peacefully and quickly. He is,
thereby, "free." A ghost is not. He is trapped between this world and the next.
Many reasons and explanations why are widely accepted among physic
investigators. This is going to sound silly, but most ghosts are not even aware of
the fact that they are, indeed, dead. If their demise is caused by a sudden and
traumatic occurrence such as on the battlefield or in a car accident, they may not
have had the time to comprehend what has just happened to them. Therefore,
they remain at the scene, reliving the last few minutes of their memories over and
over again.
In order to get into the mind of a ghost, look at it this way: picture yourself in a
horrific car accident. The last things you remember are screeching tires, screams
of panic and fear, breaking glass and being tumbled about. The next thing you
know, you wake up in a hospital. You are confused. You don't know where you
are. You are in a state of shock. You repeatingly ask yourself, "What the hell
happened? Where am I? How did I get here?" Perhaps you see strangers walking
and talking all around you but, they're not paying any attention to you. They act
like you're not even there. Immediately you ring for the nurse. You want
answers. You desperately search for someone, anyone, who can answer all your
questions. Unfortunately, nobody ever comes.
This is the state in which a ghost finds himself in - confused, scared, angry,
yearning for help, engulfed and obsessed by his last memories of something
terrible happening to him. He cannot pass to the other side because he doesn't
know that he has to. He knows he was alive and, to his way of thinking, he is still
alive because he simple does not know any better. He doesn't realize that the
incident killed him. How can he be expected to know he is dead? Inevitably, he
will haunt this place until someone comes to help him. Many years may pass but
he remains unaware of his plight.
Enter the parapsychologist or other psychic researcher who will, more likely than
not, bring with him an experienced medium who can contact the ghost and
ascertain as many facts about the Casper du Jour as possible. Under no
circumstance is the medium ever given any information beforehand about the
case being investigated and a qualified medium does not want any. Otherwise,
known facts will interfere will physic impressions.
The ghostbuster will also research the house, grounds, and surrounding areas
on the internet or at the local library to learn about the history of the location. He
will interview, not only the parties reporting the haunting, but also neighbors, past
and present, former owners/tenants and anyone else
he can get his hands on who is willing to cooperate in this most unorthodox of
endeavors. If he's really lucky, he may be able to find a town historian who is old
enough and/or knowledgeable enough to fill in the blanks. Now armed with this
collective information, (especially ifhe can learn the name of the ghost) the
researcher discovers who the ghost is and the story behind him. He is now ready
to "release" the spooker.
The easiest way to do this is by simply informing the poor soul that he is, indeed,
dead and no longer belongs on this plane. It is time for him to pass over into the
light and that it is safe for him to do so. Sometimes this may take a bit of
convincing. Often times, the misty one does not believe what he is being told.
This is understandable since he has been in this condition for so long that he has
become accustomed to it. The status quo is comfortable because it is familiar
and he is afraid to move on. They do not believe that a better place awaits them.
Ghosts are just as scared of the unknown as we are. Scowl if you must, but they
can be more afraid of us than we are of them, as we are the "ghosts" and
intruders in their world. Most of the time, this approach works. On the off chance
that it does not, well then, that is a story for another time.
Other entities hang around a house or some other place simply because they
want to. These ghosts may know they are dead, but will stay on because the site
had a happy or otherwise important significance to them in life. For example, a
housewife who loved and enjoyed her home may not want to leave, so she
remains to make sure that any new owners or tenants take proper care of the
place the way she would have wanted. If she satisfied with the new occupants,
she will be silent and unseen. But if not, she will make her presence known in no
uncertain terms.
Some ghosts can be downright helpful. Reports have been documented about
ghosts covering up a sleeping person, and even folding laundry and doing
dishes. No such happy hoaker has every visited my house, I might add. One
very upsetting factor to a ghost is reconstruction. God forbid you should knock
out their walls and ceilings! You have some nerve taking out their old furniture
and appliances and bringing in your newfangled gadgets! Ghosts are tough
enough to deal with, but a pissed-off poltergeist will net you one nasty specter
complete with ferocious manifestations.
For dead people, they are really quite talented. They have the ability to take on
all shapes and sizes, appearing in forms ranging anywhere from full or partial
body apparitions to misty smoke clouds (called ectoplasm). They can be
transparent and easy to see through, or just as solid as your front door. It all
depends on what they want you to see and hear, how much energy they can steal
from the environment, and how adapt they are at manifesting themselves.
Let's examine another type of haunting called "residual hauntings." Enormous
amounts of evidence have been documented on this phenomenon at places like
Gettysburg and Little Big Horn, just to name a few. Any battlefield, such as
Normandy, is plagued by both ghosts and residual hauntings. Other good
examples are the European concentration camps of the 1930's and 40's where
powerful emotions such as fear, anger, frustration, and hatred abound. These
are strong and negative forces, contributed to by the millions of innocent people
who suffered and died there, thus remaining forever imprinted on the
atmosphere. They can be encountered by sight, sound or both and displayed to
by anyone in the vicinity. Whenever a copious amount of negative energy, which
is extremely powerful, is collectively unleashed into the fabric of the environment
by suffering humanity, hauntings result. Just like a movie, they are played and
replayed many times over for decades and even centuries to come after the
actual event took place,
So where are we going with all this good stuff? Right back to our original topic of
being afraid of ghosts. Contrary to the consensus, they cannot hurt or kill us nor
do they want to. We must look upon them as a therapist would look upon a
patient - neurotic, to say the least. They want our help, not our lives. The idea of
them harming us is really quite silly, come to think of it. In the first place, they
must cross from one dimension into another. That ain't easy, folks. As with any
other capability, some ghosts are better at this than others are. Killers they
aren't, but thieves they are.
They must draw upon the energy around them in order to materialize no matter
what shape or form they decide to take. This is why the inevitable "cold spot" is
reported whenever a presence is perceived. The point is they are still people just
like we are sans their bodies. We were all spirits at one time, and spirits we will
become again when the time is right.
Hopefully, we will be able to make a smooth transition to the other side, call it
Heaven if you like, and will not get ourselves stuck between worlds as unhappy
entities annoying the hell out of the living in places where we no longer belong.
My mother had the right idea. As for me, my father, and all the other countless
number of scaredy cats out there, well, Mom would have told us to keep on trying.
There is" still hope for the paranormally challenged!
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| For article of The Black Rose Killer takes final bow, click here For article of Happy Halloween click here For article of review of Decembers Fall, click here |