Ghosts IFC_01:Ghosts IFC_01 8/25/09 9:18 AM Page IFC2 CONTENTS WHAT IS A GHOST? 2–3 RESTLESS SOULS 4–5 UNKNOWN FORCES 6–7 HOLY GHOSTS 8–9 THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT 10–11 SPECTRAL ARMIES 12–13 PHANTOM SHIPS 14–15 LITERARY SPOOKING 16–17 GHOSTLY BEASTS 18–19 PARALLEL WORLDS 20–21 THIS HAUNTED ISLAND 22–23 GLOBAL HAUNTINGS 24–25 GLOBAL ATTITUDES 26–27 MODERN GHOSTS 28–29 GHOSTBUSTING 30–31 DID YOU KNOW? 32 INDEX INSIDE BACK COVER COPYRIGHT © 2010 www.sdlback.com WHAT THE DICKENS? IT WAS A GHOST THAT TOOK SCROOGE BY SURPRISE AND CHANGED HIS LIFE FOREVER IN CHARLES DICKENS’ FAMOUS BOOK, A CHRISTMAS CAROL. BUT GHOSTS DON’T JUST APPEAR IN FICTION. THERE ARE MANY RECORDS OF REAL SIGHTINGS AROUND THE WORLD. Ghosts IFC_01:Ghosts IFC_01 8/25/09 9:19 AM Page 1 GHOSTSGHOSTS BY JOHN GUY Ghosts_Int_02-31:Ghosts 02-31 8/24/09 3:07 PM Page 2 WHATWHAT ISIS AA GHOST?GHOST? obody really knows what a ghost is. Even with a long N history of recorded sightings, no basic facts have ever been established. Modern researchers continue to study ghosts. Until more is known, the question of whether or TRICKS & PRANKS not ghosts really exist is largely a matter of faith. Perhaps the most constant belief is that ghosts are spirits Many photographs of ghosts have turned out to be fakes. of the dead. This connects the subject of ghosts with the Ghostly pictures were popular larger issues of religious belief, superstitions, and at the end of the nineteenth scientific theory. Whatever our views, the many century when photography stories of unusual ghostly sightings and events was a new technology. The easiest photographic trick is makes this interesting phenomenon (event) hard to double exposure. This is when ignore. Why are there reports of ghosts nearly two separate shots are taken everywhere in the world? What on the same piece of film. truth is behind these strange One image is placed on top of the other. Then both images sightings? appear on the same photograph. MEETING GHOSTS The image of a ghost that comes to mind for most people is a sad figure, clothed in a white gown, rattling chains, and perhaps dragging a ball and chain behind it. In reality, many ghosts don’t look like this. Most ghosts seem to appear only once. This is usually at the moment of their death. They never return to haunt their former home. Many people who claim to have seen a ghost report the experience as a positive and uplifting one. They feel fear only at first, when the ghost begins to appear. THE AFTERLIFE Throughout history, most societies have believed in some form of life after death, or afterlife. The ancient Egyptians prepared for the journey into the afterlife by mummifying and preserving a body after death. The Christian church promises that the human soul will be reborn after death. Ghosts are sometimes thought to be souls or spirits trapped on Earth. They are unable to pass over to the next life. 2 Ghosts_Int_02-31:Ghosts 02-31 8/24/09 3:07 PM Page 3 AMAZING LIGHTS Some ghosts may be caused by natural phenomena (events). In the past, amazing lights such as the northern lights around the North Pole could have been mistaken for visits from spirits. A common phenomenon known as will-o’-the-wisp has often been mistaken for ghosts. For centuries, people saw these mysterious pale lights floating over marshes. But these lights aren’t ghosts; they are actually made by the natural burning of marsh gasses. FOOD FOR THOUGHT People near death have reported seeing a tunnel of strange white light. They think this light leads them into the afterlife. Now scientists think they can explain these near-death experiences. Lack of information to the senses can produce hallucinations (seeing things that aren’t there). Also, lack of oxygen to the brain could cause the tunnel and white light effect. Ghosts_Int_02-31:Ghosts 02-31 8/24/09 3:07 PM Page 4 ASTRAL BODIES Most religions believe in a spirit world (or astral plane) that souls of the dead return to. It is not a separate place but is thought to be all around us. Some believe it is always there, we just aren’t aware of it. The astral body, or spirit of a person is said to leave the body during sleep and at death to enter this other level of being. Ghosts may be astral bodies of dead people that are trapped between this world and the next. Until released in some way, they can’t pass fully into the spirit world. FOOD FOR ISLE OF THE BLESSED THOUGHT In Celtic mythology, when King Arthur was about to die he was taken in a Maybe victims of violent boat to Avalon, Isle (or Island) of crimes, such as murder, the Blessed. According to produce a lot of chemicals legend, Arthur survived. He like adrenaline. Or maybe swore to return to fight the they have a high charge of enemies of his country electrical activity in their whenever he was needed. bodies. In some way this may Arthur is unable to rest send an image or energy field because he may be called into the air around them. upon. Some people have Sometimes, this image might seen the ghost of Arthur in be seen like a hologram the Cam Valley in Somerset, (three-dimensional picture). A England. This is supposed to be hologram is only an image the site of his last battle. with no real substance. 4 Ghosts_Int_02-31:Ghosts 02-31 8/24/09 3:08 PM Page 5 RESTLESSRESTLESS SOULSSOULS he most common reason given for a T ghost appearing is that the spirit or soul of the dead person is troubled and unable to rest. These ghosts are often connected to a sense of injustice (unfairness). Injustice might be felt by the victim of a violent murder who returns again and again to the scene of the crime. The victim’s spirit is unable to rest until the killer has been caught. It could also PHANTOM CARGO be that the ghost In Papua New Guinea, natives felt guilty about are often seen watching the something it did in horizon for “phantom cargo.” life. Or a ghost They wait for dead relatives might simply be to come in big canoes (nowadays, ships and planes someone who was too) full of goods. In the not ready to die and past, missionaries who felt sad that their brought items from home time on Earth had were sometimes allowed to been cut short. settle in Papua. This was because the natives mistook the missionaries for the ghosts of their dead ancestors. HEADLESS HAUNTINGS Headless ghosts are common, perhaps because they feel a strong sense of injustice about meeting such a violent end. In the past, many executions happened at the Tower of London. It is said to be the most haunted place in the world. In Paris at the time of the French Revolution (1789–99), many people were executed by having their heads cut off. The site of the executions is said to be haunted by several headless ghosts. The ghosts include King Louis XIV and Queen Marie Antoinette. MYTHICAL GODS In Norse mythology, one of the most feared ghosts was Odin, the god of war. Leading a pack of dogs on the “Wild Hunt,” Odin rides across the night sky in search of lost souls. Seeing this ghost usually meant that a death would happen soon. 5 Ghosts_Int_02-31:Ghosts 02-31 8/24/09 3:08 PM Page 6 UNKNOWNUNKNOWN FORCESFORCES ost ghosts appear to be kind, or M at least cause no physical harm. However, some spirits seem to be able to cause actual bodily injuries or, in some cases, death. These spirits are called poltergeists. There are also many reports of people being hurt by invisible attackers. One case in 1761 in Ventimiglia, Italy, involved a woman who was attacked by an unseen force. Her body was torn apart. Four people with her saw the event, but remained unharmed. HAIR TODAY, GONE TOMORROW Between 1876 and 1879 in Nanjing, China, a strange phenomenon occurred POLTERGEISTS several times. An invisible Poltergeist activity often includes objects being attacker cut off many thrown through the air. Sometimes they also people’s pigtails. Sometimes seem to appear out of nowhere. In 1998, all a shadowy figure was the items shown here “fell” into a house in glimpsed. At other times the Northern Territory of Australia in a the hair was grabbed from period of 2 to 3 hours. The knife flew past an behind and cut off but investigator who was in the house at the time. nothing was seen. Similar It just missed his ear. happenings were reported in Canada in 1899 and in London in 1922. CAUGHT ON CAMERA FOOD FOR This frame from 1967 video THOUGHT footage taken in Rosenheim, There is plenty of evidence of Germany, shows a light fixture poltergeist activity, but the in a lawyer’s office swinging on source of this “power” is still a its own. No physical cause mystery. Much poltergeist could be found. The telephone activity happens around young system also acted strangely. All teenage girls at the time when four of the office telephones their bodies are changing. The would suddenly ring without girls may be the source of the reason. Strange power surges poltergeist activity. This is were recorded. The lawyer because there may be more called in experts to help.