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The Paranormal - Wee Ghosties and things that go bump in the night
The following is a reprint of the talks that I do about ghosts and spirits. Please be aware that it is my personal view - though not unique - and that it is a view of ghosts and spirits from a Wiccan and witchcraft stance. Also, I hope that some of this will be perceived as some practical advice and tools for ghost researchers or "haunted" people.
So, what is a ghost?
No one really knows what ghosts are - even though ghost researchers and parapsychologists try very hard to define them.
And, because of this seeming inability to measure or quantify ghosts, most scientists and skeptics completely disbelieve in the reality of ghosts - regardless of the vast amount and long history of anecdotal evidence. The only thing that science is willing to admit proof of is that human beings are made up of some chemicals, some water, and an electromagnetic force. Skeptics? They don't want to admit to anything.
From the anecdotal evidence, it certainly seems that the human electromagnetic force has an ability to stay in the physical world after death. So, for anyone to believe in ghosts, it is a leap of faith - whether we can "see" them, feel them, hear them, imagine them, or even touch them.
{Now, just before I get to the next part, I'd like to throw something in. Science may finally have come up with an explanation for ghosts and psychic abilities - quantum physics. What joy it will be if quantum physics can actually prove these things. So ...}
Many witches and Wiccans believe that everything has some form of spirit inside itself {and, of course, should be thanked when utilized for a purpose and/or treated with respect}. Additionally, witches and Wiccans believe that, even after passing into the light, some form of spirit often remains. In other words, we do not perceive ghosts as paranormal; we perceive them as normal.
From my point of view, I feel that there are three types of ghosts:
Historical ghosts, elementals, and poltergeists.
Historical ghosts are more or less the easiest to figure out and to explain. They usually can be traced to a particular person - and through that, they can be traced to a particular site {or some sites} and a particular "historical" time. The sites, of course, are where they lived, where they died, where they were buried, etc - so, there can be multiple haunting locations by the same historical ghost. Even when there are no available written birth and death records; there are usually enough hints to indicate some kind of "person" connection. It is of historical ghosts that we have the largest anecdotal evidence.
Elementals are, perhaps, the hardest to define and, certainly, the least researched. Via dowsing evidence {mainly in the United Kingdom} and beliefs found within Chinese geomancy, it seems that elementals are "attached" to "energy" sites such as, ley lines & intersections of the ley lines {qi, chi, and earth dragons in China}, mineral deposits, sacred and religious sites, etc. But knowing where their most probable locations are still doesn't explain what elementals are. So, possibly - and just possibly at that - elementals could be earth energy.
Adding to this confusion, anecdotal evidence indicates that some elementals actually have "personalities" and may even have been seen as having a "face", some kind of physical form, or even a "voice". So does this evidence mean that elementals are historical? Perhaps, but it does need to be remembered that humans do have a tendency to project and anthropomophize things. So, again, what are elementals? Are they earth energy? Or are they historical ghosts that we have difficulty identifying as a previously living person?
If that confusion is not enough, elementals can evoke and cause very strong feelings. I'm sure that almost everyone has been at a religious site and had the unbelievably awesome feeling of being drawn up and uplifted. Well, is that an elemental? Or is
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