I have spent the last week focused in writing and research. In doing so I have also come across more wonderful books and articles on the subject of ghosts and the paranormal which I have not enough time to read.
Which has led me back to the biggest question of all - what, in fact, are ghosts?
The more I read the more I understand that the answer to that question is totally subjective one.
It relies on ones personal experience, belief systems and education or lack thereof.
And if I had 100 people standing in front of me, even if they were all ardent believers, I would find quite a large variety of different answers.
But my understanding may be a little different and broader than many others, due to my work with historical sites and (again) my own personal experiences.
According to one dictionary it is " An apparition of a dead person that is believed to appear or become manifest to the living, typically as a nebulous image."
Another site says " A ghost - or spirit or apparition - is the energy, soul or personality of a person who has died and has somehow gotten stuck between this plane of existence and the next. Most researchers believe that these spirits do not know they are dead."
Would you agree?
My sense of the word "ghost" goes a little further as it encapsulates anything that leaves an impression upon a place whether that be a person, an event or a building.
So I see a ghost as not being just the apparition of a person but also the energy left behind from an event such as a battle or murder, for example, or that of a building that once stood on a site and seems to still leave an outline, imprint or sense of itself even after it is no longer there.
I dont need to see an apparition to be in the presence of a ghost or something ghostly.
For me it is an instant feeling that I am reaching back into the fabric of time and bringing it into the here and now.
Which has led me back to the biggest question of all - what, in fact, are ghosts?
The more I read the more I understand that the answer to that question is totally subjective one.
It relies on ones personal experience, belief systems and education or lack thereof.
And if I had 100 people standing in front of me, even if they were all ardent believers, I would find quite a large variety of different answers.
But my understanding may be a little different and broader than many others, due to my work with historical sites and (again) my own personal experiences.
According to one dictionary it is " An apparition of a dead person that is believed to appear or become manifest to the living, typically as a nebulous image."
Another site says " A ghost - or spirit or apparition - is the energy, soul or personality of a person who has died and has somehow gotten stuck between this plane of existence and the next. Most researchers believe that these spirits do not know they are dead."
Would you agree?
My sense of the word "ghost" goes a little further as it encapsulates anything that leaves an impression upon a place whether that be a person, an event or a building.
So I see a ghost as not being just the apparition of a person but also the energy left behind from an event such as a battle or murder, for example, or that of a building that once stood on a site and seems to still leave an outline, imprint or sense of itself even after it is no longer there.
I dont need to see an apparition to be in the presence of a ghost or something ghostly.
For me it is an instant feeling that I am reaching back into the fabric of time and bringing it into the here and now.
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