I’m not a believer in ghosts myself – I’ve certainly never thought I’ve seen one. Many people do believe in their existence though, and ghosts continue to be a popular topic in literature and cinema. Here are some intriguing theories about them.
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Payback
In medieval times, it was believed that ghosts were souls condemned to purgatory. They had to spend a certain amount of time paying for their misdeeds in an appropriate way. An eye for an eye indeed! That might make people think more about what they do in life …
Keep on Their Good Side
Confucius said, ‘Respect ghosts and gods, but keep away from them’. The Chinese believe that their ancestors can provide help, but since ghosts aren’t always too pleasant, you have to be suitably deferent and keep them happy. So no thinking you can say what you like about your mother-in-law simply because she’s no longer around … she may be listening …
Orbs
Have you ever seen one of those photos with an orb in? Some people get very excited about these mysterious balls of light, others think that it’s just a light reflection or fault in the processing. For those that believe, the suggestion is that the ghost appears as an orb since it requires less energy. How very green.
Ghost Machine
You’ll know inventor Thomas Edison for coming up with the very handy lightbulb. What you probably won’t be aware of is that he also talked about building a machine to communicate with the dead. Did he try – or even succeed? Maybe not, given that he hasn’t been very talkative since he died.
Recordings
One theory is that a ghost is basically a ‘recording’ from another time that is being replayed in our own. In other words, we are seeing a glimpse of the past, but the ‘ghost’ is alive in their own time.
Study
You may not be able to achieve a BA(Hons) in Ghosthunting … or maybe you can … but you can achieve a certificate in Parapsychological Studies. If you want to. I’m not sure how good that would look on anyone’s CV, but if you’re interested enough to spend $1000 then you can have the bit of paper on your wall.
Get off My Land!
Some think that ghosts see the living as the intruders, that as far as they are concerned they are exactly where they should be, and cannot understand what anyone else is doing there. Therefore you should be very polite to the ghost, just as you would if you entered anyone else’s house!
Unfinished Business
The general theory with ghosts is that they appear because they have yet to move over to the next world. This is because they have unfinished business; perhaps they are too attached to people and places, or they can’t accept that their physical life has ended.
Do you believe in ghosts or do you think it’s a load of old nonsense? Have you ever seen one? What’s your favourite ghost story or film?
Top Photo Credit: Haggis Chick
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