We have found the solutions to several of life's mysteries, except that of death. The only evidence of life after death is ghosts. However, there is nothing to prove that ghosts are real and not the products of human imagination.
In spite of the fact that ghostly appearances have been spotted and recorded for centuries, the existence of ghosts hasn't been proven once and for all either by science or by any other branch of study. Although theories are in abundance, the concrete evidence required to prove these theories is lacking. Some people firmly dismiss the idea of ghosts as fantastic, unreal, and unbelievable. Some people, however, not only believe in ghosts, but also have classified them into a number of categories.
Here are some of the most popular types of ghosts.
1. TRADITIONAL
Traditional ghosts are those apparitions that interact with the living for a variety of reasons. They hide things, terrify unsuspecting people, hurl objects, or beg for assistance. They are souls of people who cannot move on owing to some unfinished work. They might be souls of people who died suddenly in unfortunate circumstances. They seek the help of human beings to solve their problems, so that they can leave the earth for higher realms. These spirits are intelligent beings, who are not only aware of their surroundings, but also of the fact that they are dead.
2. CRISIS G HOSTS
These spirits put in a sudden appearance to warn you of some impending danger. While some of them are solid in appearance, others are transparent.
3. ANNIVERSARY GHOSTS
These spooks appear on the day they died or met with some other unfortunate accident. You can spot them in ancient, haunted houses and castles. Most of them feature in some legend woven around a tragedy that took place hundreds of years ago.
4. MESSENGERS
Banshees come under this category. They suddenly appear to inform the family about the death of someone else in the family.
5. POLTERGEISTS
These are mischievous ghosts who create odd sounds and play all sorts of pranks on unsuspecting members of the family. Usually, they make use of troubled teenagers to play their pranks.
6. SPECULATIONS
Speculations are the souls of people who have passed away from earthly life. They resemble orbs, appear on several occasions, and are separate life forms that are very difficult to see owing to the fine energy tissues they are made of. There is a large body of writings on ghosts, yet there is nothing that can prove that ghosts are real. Scientists, skeptics, and rationalists still claim that ghosts are the products of human imagination blended with the emotion of fear.
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Father Sacrifices Newborn Daughter to Satisfy Deity
dnaindia - In a shocking incident, a father scarified his newborn girl child to keep his promise to his family deity Kitotarmata. The man, Narottam Mana Devipujak, threw his child in a drain near his house in Sundarpuri, a busy slum area of Gandhidham.
"We have arrested the accused for this heinous crime," said MK Jadeja, police inspector of A-division police station, on Monday. "Narottam Devipujak was produced before the magistrate in Gandhidham court today."
According to the details of the case, the incident took place on Janmashtami night. Narottam, who sells vegetables from a kiosk, had vowed that he would offer a male goat to the goddess if a son was born to him. But if a girl child was born, he had sworn that he would straightway offer the child to the deity.
When his wife gave birth to a baby girl a day before Janmashtami, he decided to give her as an offering to the goddess. When everyone was glued to the TV watching the birth of Lord Krishna, he slipped away with the baby and threw her in a gutter close to the temple of the deity. Then he returned home, pretending as if nothing had happened.
Later, however, he did tell about what he had done to his wife and his in-laws. His neighbours sensed something amiss when they did not see the newborn baby for three consecutive days. On finding out what had happened, they reported the matter to the police. After a thorough search, the police recovered the body of the baby from the drain.
This last Friday night I had the privilege to have the chance to do a ghost hunt at the Fresno County Central Library in downtown Fresno. This was one of the events that the library was putting on for the Halloween season and the investigation was lead by several members of Central California Paranormal Investigators. There were about fifty people that showed up to the library at 7:00 and after a brief overview of what to do on an investigation, the group was broken up into three smaller groups of about 17 per group. I decided to go with the group that had my friend Jen leading it as she's sensitive to things and have always had good luck when I've investigated with her.
We started on the first floor and decided to go to the children's section as Jen had felt something there. An EVP session was started as she wanted to show the group how one was done. I shot a few photos at this time as well as did some video of the rest of the first floor. At this time we ran across one of the night custodians, Jackie, who said she works alone. She has felt a presence there several times and said she even saw books flying off shelf (ala Ghostbusters).
After that I decided to wander off on my own and went near the front entrance when I felt a strange presence. As I've said in the past I'm not sensitive in the least, but was feeling pressure on my chest. And in the past when I would feel that, it usually meant something was near. I went and grabbed Jen and she said she felt the same thing. We did a bit of EVP there, but to my knowledge nothing was heard.
We next went to the second floor. Here we were told that one of the employees had recently passed away after working at the library for several decades. His former co-workers felt he was still around, though to be honest I don't know how valid this was. I was told this from one of our group guides who had heard it from someone else. Still, while taking some photos I heard something being moved or knocked over in the distance. Upon investigating the noise, I felt the same heavy presence I had felt on the first floor. Now I'm not saying this could be the same thing, but still interesting.
I was able to wander off again and shot some more video. Unfortunately I was "scolded" for going off on my own. So I had to join the group again. Which is fine since we were headed to the basement and I had heard there was a bomb shelter down there in case Fresno was nuked (who knew it was a target?).
I was excited to be heading to the basement. The idea of a Cold War era bomb shelter was just too good to pass up. Plus this is where some of the archives are kept.
I'll be honest, when we got down there I was a bit disappointed. It was well lit (mostly) and didn't seem as spooky as I had hoped. Still I shot a bit of video, though I had to stay near the group as I didn't feel like getting reprimanded again.
After that we headed towards where the bomb shelter was at. Now here's where it got creepy. Long hallway barely lit and the air was very heavy. Here one of the devices that measures the electromagnetic field starting going off. Some thought it was a ghost, but I personally believe it was due to being near so much electrical equipment.
After that all three groups met back to discuss what they had seen, if anything. Most agreed that the large number of people made it hard to investigate fully, but all had fun. And that was what this investigation was really about, just having fun and showing people who never had been looking for ghosts what it's like.
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The Flying Dutchman has been spotted many times in the last two centuries, with the late King George V of England writing a detailed account of his own sighting in 1880 off the coast of Australia: "At 4 a.m. the Flying Dutchman crossed our bows. A strange red light as of a phantom ship all aglow, in the midst of which light the masts, spars, and sails of a brig 200 yards distant stood out in strong relief as she came up on the port bow, where also the officer of the watch from the bridge clearly saw her, as did the quarterdeck midshipman, who was sent forward at once to the forecastle; but on arriving there was no vestige nor any sign whatever of any material ship was to be seen either near or right away to the horizon, the night being clear and the sea calm. Thirteen persons altogether saw her...At 10.45 a.m. the ordinary seaman who had this morning reported the Flying Dutchman fell from the foretopmast crosstrees on to the topgallant forecastle and was smashed to atoms."
Why do ghost ships seem like such romantic images? Perhaps because if the crew is not aboard, it is still sailing with no one to handle it. Where is the crew? Davy Jones' locker, huh? You can take a person out of a car, but the car will crash. A ship, could float months, even years, without facing doom and sinking or even being found. It's a vast ocean out there!
The Mary Celeste (or Marie C'eleste as it is fictionally referred to by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and others after him) was a brigantine merchant ship famous for having been discovered on 4 December 1872 in the Atlantic Ocean unmanned and apparently abandoned, despite the fact that the weather was fine and her crew had been experienced and able seamen. The Mary Celeste was in seaworthy condition and still under sail heading toward the Strait of Gibraltar. She had been at sea for a month and had over six months' worth of food and water on board. Her cargo was virtually untouched and the personal belongings of passengers and crew were still in place, including valuables. The crew was never seen or heard from again. Their disappearance is often cited as the greatest maritime mystery of all time.
The fate of her crew has been the subject of much speculation. Theories range from alcoholic fumes, to underwater earthquakes, to waterspouts, to paranormal explanations involving extraterrestrial life, unidentified flying objects (UFOs), sea monsters, and the phenomenon of the Bermuda Triangle, although the Mary Celeste is not known to have sailed through the Bermuda Triangle area. The Mary Celeste is often described as the archetypal ghost ship, since she was discovered derelict without any apparent explanation, and her name has become a synonym for similar occurrences.
I'd suggest you watch "The Fog" (original) if you're in the mood for a ghost ship now.
**Tonight is Lonely on a Friday Night from 7 pm EST onward. Come and hang out with me here if you're bored like me**
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GHOSTS OF CHRISTMAS PAST by Eric Maple
Every December 25th the normally phlegmatic British let down their hair and plunge into an orgy of fun which one would normally associate with the people of more exuberant nations.
Complete strangers wish one another a Happy Christmas as a parting greeting and the public houses are filled with revelers strenuously keeping up the spirit of the season of goodwill.
Few of these light-hearted souls will be aware that the celebration of Christmas had its origins in the pagan worship of the Sun or, for that matter, that the funny hats, the evergreens and the festive board have nothing whatsoever to do with Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, but rather with the older gods worshipped by our ancestors in the twilight world of pre-Christmas Europe.
It is strange to consider that the presence of pork on the Christmas table and the custom of carrying in the boar's head was once associated with the sacrifice of a sacred Boar to the Sun god. At the festival of Frey, the dispenser of rain and sunshine in the mythology of Northern Europe, a boar was a good luck offering for the New Year and its head, with an apple in its mouth, was borne into the banqueting-hall amid singing and the sound of welcoming trumpets. Later in history, the boar's head gave way to the goose and the turkey. But where this custom survives, it should be seen as one of the many curious ghosts of Christmas past.
Consider the evergreens and their modern counterparts: the paper--chains which festoon the house at Christmastide. The evergreen was once the symbol of immortality, declared sacred to the Teutonic nations, and given pride of place in celebrations associated with the Winter Solstice from which our modern Christmas is descended.
As a symbol, the evergreen means constancy and eternity, and even in the Orient we find that it expresses a similar idea, for the Japanese believe the evergreen needle brings longevity and prosperity. The holly, especially, brings happiness and friendship, but if kept in the house after New Year's Day misfortune is ordained. Generally speaking, however, all evergreens must be taken down by Twelfth Night-- then all will be well.
When we look around the room that has been decked with the regalia of the Christmas party our eyes inevitably settle on one of the focal points, the mistletoe. In pagan times, it was customary to celebrate the death of the old year and the birth of the new by kissing under the mistletoe's berries. Old enemies were then expected to forget their quarrels and take a ceremonial kiss, promising to live in amity from that time forth.
It is not generally known that the mistletoe became a powerful life symbol because it grew' berries in winter when other plant life seemed dead. Once known as All Heal, it was employed as an ingredient in many folk medicines. It was the golden bough of the ancient Druids and, because of its association with sacrificial ceremonies, was outlaw-ed by the Church as an emblem of paganism.
Oddly enough, the sole exception was York Minster where a sprig of mistletoe was placed on the altar each Christmas. A general pardon for crimes remained in force throughout that city for as long as it remained there.
The central symbol of the Christmas scene, the evergreen Christmas tree, had its origins in Germany where St. Boniface cut down a sacred oak which was worshipped by the pagans and, to placate them, offered a fir tree in its place.
However, later research indicates that traces of a similar custom existed in other lands, notably Greece and Rome, where trees were decorated at the time of year later dedicated to Christmas. There is also reason for believing that the same or a similar custom was known in ancient Egypt.
The mystical heritage of Christmas is very strongly represented in one of the principal characters in the celebrations, Santa Claus, the embodiment of the spirit of goodwill. The name Santa Claus is in fact a corruption of the fifth century St Nicholas, the Bishop of Myra, who was honored with special ceremonies by the Greeks and Romans on December 6th, later changed to December 25th.
This distinctly un- ghostlike genus of happiness was a 'reincarnation' of Odin, God of the Scandinavians who, on the conversion of Northern Europe to Christianity, was transformed first into St Nicholas and later into the modern Father Christmas.
Christmas has no equal as a religious feast; it is the most important as well as the most enjoyable festival of the entire year. Yet even the good things spread out on the table have their religious aspects, particularly the mince-pies which were originally fashioned in the shape of small cribs in honor of the Christ Child.
Among the superstitions associated with mince-pies is one which demands that the Christmas reveler makes a pilgrimage among his neighbors and friends demanding the gift of a mince-pie wherever he calls. For each one eaten, so goes the tradition, the visitor may expect a month's good health for the ensuing year.
Originally, mince-pies contained a far more potent filling than mere mincemeat.
They were stuffed with flesh of game hashed together with pickled mushrooms.
One should always make a wish when taking the first bite of the first mince-pie of the season.
The Christmas pudding qualifies as a magical ritual in its own right, for it is surrounded by the most curious ceremonies. Prior to the 18th century the pudding was known as Plum Porridge and was a concoction of plums, spices, wines, meat broth and breadcrumbs. It was eaten in a semi-liquid state and only later in its history were the plums replaced by raisins.
To preserve good luck, the pudding should be stirred deosil or clockwise: a ceremony known to most psychic cooks. Lucky charms and silver coins have to be incorporated in the mix to bring good fortune to the eater, usually a silver coin, a silver thimble and a ring, with the following meanings: the silver coin brings good luck; the ring promises a happy marriage to the girl who finds it; while the thimble hints that she is likely to remain a spinster.
The most interesting feature of Christmas pudding lore is the custom of setting fire to the brandy, so that the pudding can be brought to the table all aflame. This is a curious reminder that in ancient times special fires were lit at the midwinter feast to honor the Sun god.
One ghost which has been finally exorcised from the Christmas scene is the Dumb Cake which in times past was prepared by single girls for consumption on Christmas Eve. Its ingredients were salt, wheatmeal and barley, and it had to be baked in complete silence. It was carefully placed in the oven and the front door opened precisely at midnight. The spectre of the girl's future husband was expected to enter the house at that time and march into the kitchen to turn the cake. In some areas the cook would prick her initials on the cake and in due course her future husband would materialize to add his initials to hers. Alas, this custom seems to have vanished forever.
The modern Christmas cake is still with us. It is supposed to have originated with a cake presented by the people of ancient Rome to their senators. A custom among Scots demanded that the cook should rise in the early hours of Christmas Day and bake sowen (oatmeal) cakes. These were distributed to the family at Hogmanay. If a cake happened to break, bad luck followed, but if it remained unbroken the eater could look forward to a Happy New Year.
Although there is no clear-cut tradition that Christmas Day was ever associated with the giving of presents prior to modern times, it is known that a similar custom was observed by the Romans on New Year's Day. The Roman gift would have been a goodwill symbol only, consisting of branches of evergreen, but in time the presents became more lavish.
Many of the enjoyable rituals which involve our lives at Christmas time are but the shadow survivals or 'ghosts' of very ancient customs performed around the close of the old year and the birth of the new, and the feast of fire celebrated at the time of the Winter Solstice to honor the Sun god.
But the season of fire and light, as it is sometimes called, would be nothing without the Yule-log, for Christmas is also known as Yule, which was the Scandinavian feast of the Winter Solstice.
In the days of old, an oak log was cut down on Yule Eve, and borne with much ceremony into the house and rolled onto the huge fire that was to burn during the days of the Nativity, especially Christmas Day. Little did the pious Christians of the medieval world realize that originally it had been burned in honor of the god Thor and represented the sacred element: fire.
No doubt it was due to this association with the old gods that the hearth fire at Christmas assumed the important role which it retained until the advent of artificial forms of heating. The hearth was the centre for the telling of Christmas ghost stories and for those curious superstitions relating to the mysteries of fire.
Throughout Northern Europe there were traditions that the family ghosts returned at Christmas time to share the festival with their living relatives. In Brittany there was the custom of leaving food for the ghosts while the family attended church.
In Scandinavia, stories were told of trolls (who were ogres not ghosts) returning at this season to rattle the windowpanes. In the British Isles there were contradictory beliefs, some people thought, erroneously, that no ghost had power to haunt during the Christmas season.
It is when the light is extinguished save for the glowing embers that the ghost- story teller comes into his own and, surrounded by the family, describes some ancient haunting which is calculated to chill the blood of his listeners. Traditional hauntings include the posthumous adventures of Anne Boleyn who haunts her old homes during the Christmas season. Her ghost has been reported at Rochford Hall in Essex and Hever Castle in Kent, wandering headless during the
12 days of the festival.
There are a number of cheerless proverbs which surface at the season of goodwill, as when someone observes, 'A green Christmas brings a full church- yard,' possibly to counteract any excessive exuberance among the party.
However, the children turn to less ghostly rituals, including divination to discover the future. Each of them cuts an apple and counts the pips. The one whose apple has the most pips can look forward to the most happiness in the 12 months ahead.
And so young and old join in quiet communion with Christmases past, present and future, united in quaint ceremonies whose origins are lost in history - a celebration presided over by ancestral spirits who have been lured into the home from outer darkness by the glow of the pagan fire.
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IS THIS ANTI-FRECKLE CREAM A CLUE TO AMELIA EARHART'S DISAPPEARANCE?
While "Star Trek: Voyager" and conspiracy theories suggest that aviatrix Amelia Earhart was kidnapped by aliens, it's looking more and more like she met her end right here on Earth. A handful of newly discovered artifacts, including a jar of freckle fading cream, suggest that Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan landed on the island of Nikumaroro in 1937 and survived for some time.
The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR), has made several expeditions to Nikumaroro, an uninhabited island in the Republic of Kiribati where the skeletal remains of an apparent castaway were discovered in 1940. There they've uncovered artifacts that could very well point to Earhart and Noonan's survival on the island. Among them is a shattered jar that appears identical to jars used for Dr. C. H Berry's Freckle Ointment, an early 20th century cream that claimed to fade freckles. Earhart was known to dislike her own freckles and may have well used the cream in an attempt to remove them.
Since the skeletal remains and other artifacts found in 1940 - including part of a man's shoe and part of a woman's shoe - were lost, researchers hoping to close the lid on the Earhart disappearance have to rely on more recently discovered artifacts. Much glassware has been discovered on Nikumaroro, but some of it can be explained by US Coast Guard visits to the island. However, TIGHAR has found some glass containers in a campfire that were heat damaged at the bottom but not the top, suggesting that they were used by castaways to boil water. TIGHAR is also especially interested in artifacts that would have been used only by women, such as a bottle that appears to be Campana Italian Balm, a hand lotion commonly used by American women in the 1930s, and what appears to be a small cosmetics jar.
This July, TIGHAR plans to launch Niku 7, its latest mission to Nikumaroro, to investigate photographic evidence of what might be an aircraft. In the meantime, researchers stateside will continue to analyze the bone fragments and artifacts found during previous missions.
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The most common paranormal experience is actually the most difficult to believe. I know... I've had it, and it took me weeks to wrap my brain around it to even believe it really happened.
What is it?
It's called a "crisis apparition" and it's usually described as being visited by someone who has JUST died, often unexpectedly and without your knowledge or even expectation. (e.g. - it often happens in sudden death circumstances, as was the case with mine).
What usually happens during a crisis apparition?
Someone you feel emotionally connected with appears at the moment of death... usually to tell you it's going to be okay, or to wave goodbye. Often no words are spoken, and yet... there is a telepathic mind to mind conversation or communication that takes place, very similar to other psychic descriptions of extraordinary experiences.
How common are crisis apparitions, or being visited by a loved one at the moment of THEIR death?
Really surprisingly common! At a recent scientific talk by Pulitzer Prize winning science journalist, Deborah Blum (who wrote the book "Ghost hunters" about a small group of nobel prize winning scientists who researched psychic phenomena at the end of the 19th century) when she asked the audience how many people have had this experience, about HALF of the hands in the room went up.
What was so surprising about that?
The audience was a skeptical, scientific audience... and NOT a new age, or spiritual group of believers that ordinarily are prone to believe anything and everything they want to be true because it feels good.
The funny thing?
You do NOT need to see a psychic or medium to speak to the dead. And while, YES... a good medium is trained to tune in and connect with spirit, or ethereal energy much quicker than most of can, the vast majority of crisis apparitions, or spirit visitation, or even simple "ghost sightings" are 100% spontaneous.
More than 75% of parents who lose a child under 10 will have this experience on numerous occasions, even if they are skeptical, or can't believe their eyes.
About 50% of all husbands who lose a wife (or visa versa) will report being visited by them, in a visual manner... AFTER they've crossed over.
The best way to get validation that the experience was real, OR to ask for help if your loved one is not coming through and you want them to?
Seek out a psychic medium who can help facilitate contact, and who can build a bridge between this world and the next.
In my own experience, I was visited by a co-worker who died suddenly and unexpectedly in the middle of the night, more than 2000 miles away. I was stunned... the next morning, when I went into work and discovered that my nighttime "dream" was actually a reality, as the news had spread about what had happened.
I told no one, though. And it was not' until I called a medium 2 weeks later, something I DIDN'T believe in at the time, who conveyed to me the specifics of the conversation, how we had said goodbye, why this co-worker had appeared to me, and even the odd "outfit" he was wearing, did I break down and realize this was a 100% true experience that forever has changed my life, and what I believe is possible (both in this life... and the next!).
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