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**
Keywords: against ghosts souls committee ghost ghostly photo essential equipment ghost haunts skeptical ghost inquiry did ghost patterson air force researchers ghost
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.
Keywords: tape cnn report ghost monster meet bard granny revenge mystery ghost deervale county central library alien found shuttle launch search famous ghost rockets
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.
Keywords: ghost not ghost tools looking county library ghosts columbia voice ghost hunters northern ireland short investigations ufo nasa carpenter jim bohannon
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!).
Keywords: hunting shows know house haunted father newborn daughter looking ghost central dressed dress spirit moundsville prison shadow sinks nuclear chica air exchange univer city
COALISLAND, Northern Ireland, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- Paranormal investigators are flocking to a Northern Ireland village after locals reported dozens of encounters with a ghost known as the "white lady."
The apparition has been the subject of dozens of reported sightings during the past six weeks near the ruins of a farmhouse just outside the village of Coalisland, The Daily Mail reported Friday.
Villagers described the purported ghost as an old lady with a sad expression, but none have been able to give any details about the woman's face.
Locals said up to 60 parked cars loaded with ghost hunters hoping for a glimpse of the white lady have lined the sides of the road near where the sightings were reported at midnight.
Warren Coates, of the Northern Ireland Paranormal Research Association, speculated that the ghost may be the spirit of a woman who died in a car accident in the area.
However, some were more skeptical of the paranormal claims.
"If you ask me, it's more likely to be a reflection of the moon on the river that flows through the area. Although the talk is that what was seen was in the shape of a person," said Desmond Donnelly, a Sinn Fein councilor.
Keywords: hunting theories beings morrison fake ghost liath police ufo reports morrison ghost fake truth about ghost shows ruining director peter ghostly
This one is an interesting one, the other day I was just sitting around discussing with some friends the concepts of ghosts and some interesting interactions happened. I find this can happen often, talk about Ghosts and some may try to communicate, it's natural I guess if they are hoping they will be noticed.
What happened was me and some friends were all discussing and exchanging some experiences last weekend back and forth related to previous haunted houses. Then the strangeness happened..
The TV turned off and back on.. We all giggled it off thinking it was just an electric surge rather than paranormal, then after checking other factors in the room, the electrics looked fine, okay so back to the discussion.. Then the TV turned off and back on again as the discussion happened again..
Later on as the discussion continued and we all started hearing small noises in the other room.. Lights flickered once as well.. In the end we stopped discussing this topic and all the events went back to normal.. This is what I refer to as BEING NOTICED BY GHOSTS WHEN DISCUSSING THEM..
"Have you ever had a similar experience with Ghosts..?"
Keywords: woman colonial ghostly ghostly should afraid ghostly can ghost inquiry hunters waverly photo unidentified object could reason universe foundation back
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.
Keywords: titanic captain haunts police fairy reports live hunt wright patterson force sallie house live real visit hunters real pay police ghost fairy spooklights ghost lights
