They're here...
With Halloween nearly upon us, I have been recently scouring the ‘Net for videos of ghosts and/or hauntings. If you’ve ever searched the endless hours and hours of video footage then you know that 90% (at least) of what is out there is bogus. Totally fake. A hoax. I have always had a mild interest in the supernatural but because I was raised in a religious home, it was never allowed to be discussed. The Bible has a few scant references about ghosts, but for the most part does not really define if ghosts are real or not. I had been taught that any supernatural manifestation of any kind that was “not of God” was demonic and evil. These days, I’m not so sure. I’m not saying that the Bible isn’t true. What I am saying is that maybe the fundamentalists didn’t get it right. We can’t put the world around us into a little, predefined category that suits us and makes us feel safe. As the Joker said in the Batman movie from 1989, “Let’s broaden our minds”.
I would be the first to say that I am pretty skeptical and don’t take things at face value. I like things to be proven to me. It’s my belief that a person should seek out the truth of any given situation; make up their own mind. As I’ve grown to accept things that I wouldn’t have in the past, I’ve had some pretty interesting experiences. Now, I don’t expect you to believe what I would tell you about my experiences; just believe that I believe it really happened. Because really, at the end of the day, it’s a personal occurrence. I could open it up for debate, but because we all have different belief systems and practices, there would be arguing and debating; but no understanding, acceptance and learning.
Are there really ghosts and hauntings? Who can really know? We have evidence all around us, but no proof. The Amityville haunting is a hoax; The Exorcist is based loosely on a true story, Poltergeist (noisy ghost in the German language) was a great story but totally missed the point of “noisy ghost”, and on and on. We love our scary, haunting, ghost stories (my favorite being “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Disney). Why are we so fascinated with ghosts and hauntings? Is it because we want to believe there is an afterlife? Does that make us more determined to discover the truth? What do you think?
I would be the first to say that I am pretty skeptical and don’t take things at face value. I like things to be proven to me. It’s my belief that a person should seek out the truth of any given situation; make up their own mind. As I’ve grown to accept things that I wouldn’t have in the past, I’ve had some pretty interesting experiences. Now, I don’t expect you to believe what I would tell you about my experiences; just believe that I believe it really happened. Because really, at the end of the day, it’s a personal occurrence. I could open it up for debate, but because we all have different belief systems and practices, there would be arguing and debating; but no understanding, acceptance and learning.
Are there really ghosts and hauntings? Who can really know? We have evidence all around us, but no proof. The Amityville haunting is a hoax; The Exorcist is based loosely on a true story, Poltergeist (noisy ghost in the German language) was a great story but totally missed the point of “noisy ghost”, and on and on. We love our scary, haunting, ghost stories (my favorite being “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Disney). Why are we so fascinated with ghosts and hauntings? Is it because we want to believe there is an afterlife? Does that make us more determined to discover the truth? What do you think?
posted by Craig W. Judd at 12:50 PM
14 Comments:
Eddie V. BA Student
Do I believe in ghost? I do believe in the supernatural, but with all these hoax going on, it's now getting harder to believe. I don't really believe somthing until I hear the same story from different people with every detail to the exact. As for me, i do believe in some urban myths (for instant La Llorna, or some hauntings) but i do believe that spirits are not every where. Most of the time its true, our minds do play tricks on use depending on the situation. You see, if you put your mind to believe something is gonna happen, then chances are something is gonna happen; like shadowy figures, spooky sounds, etc. Thats how powerful our minds are. But if something did happen to you unexpectly, then I give you my ear. it's funny to say that there are ways you can tell if someone is making stories up and which people are telling the truth. As for me, i do keep an open mind to this subjct and it very well catches my interest, but it would take alot for me to believe in some ghost stories, and maybe ghost sightings. I would like to see one for my self sometime, but until then, the stories will forever have my interest .
~annie
well, well, well, Mr. Judd...my personal opionion is that if there are human beings as an existence on this earth, galaxy, this life time that we are presently living then there damn well will be the existence of the supernatural or should I say "ghosts" or an afterlife that also exists...think about this...where do fairytales come from...or what about ghost stories...it's kind of like war stories don't you think...they all have that similarity of some sort...the stories have to come from somewhere and or someone...there is an origin to everything and anything...ofcourse "there is no invisible thought"...sure everybody has the right to their beliefs but that is what makes a belief...a belief...and the truth my own personal opinion is there is no real truth don't get me wrong the word truth does exist but the only truth that really exist is "your truth"...that means the truth that you believe in...it's what you feel is the truth that makes that truth so true...this blog can be very controversial...(the beliefs of a human mind can be very disturbing)....but great blog though...
~annie
Well, I do believe in ghosts and the supernatural. I'm not sure if we are fascinated with ghosts/hauntings because we want to believe there is an afterlife, I just think that everyone goes through their own experiences and come to their own conclusions. I can say I believe in ghosts because I have seen things that I would say were ghosts. I was young at the time, but I still believe that's what I saw. I used to play with the "quigi board" when I was little, and ever since me and my cousins played with it when I was 9 or so I have believed in ghosts. Until that happened I never thought about things like that because I was young, but I know what I saw had to have been real because I wasn't the only one that saw it. Then at the age of 13-15 I thought my house was haunted because weird things would always happen and I would always see dark figures around and lights would go on and off, my stereo would turn itself on in the middle of the night, I woke up one night to my bed shaking, and even had this glass angel that my grandma gave me before she died fall off the table onto the carpet and shatter into a bunch of pieces...How does something glass fall on carpet and break like that? The table wasn't even that tall. So my "truth" is that they do exist because I've experienced all these things, but many people would say I was just a young kid and probably just thought I saw these things and maybe they would be right, but like you said...who really knows?
All this supernatural stuff is really interesting.Iwould however want to know if it's true and not a myth.Some people say its bogus and fake.They think that they planned it out,it just leaves my imagination wondering if it really happened. See i'm those kinds of people that have to see to believe because most of the time people can be BS you.So until I experience something interesting out of this world, I will believe that there is something else out there.
Penny Smith
I don't really know for sure if I believe in ghosts or not. I have had some pretty weird things happed around, but I can almost always think of logical explanations as to why they might have occured. I think people are so fascinated with the concept of there being ghosts because they are interested in the unkown. I think it might be possible that there are invisible creatures like that, but only they aren't ghosts, just another organism. I really don't believe that people come back and haunt you after they die. I believe that they just lie in the casket until their body's deteriorate.
Karen S.That was interesting, I belief that there is no ghosts, but I can say when my husband died it was different experience for me. I did feel his presents around me, and even in our home. Nothing out of the ordinary happened. I would think it would be one's opinion about ghosts if they exist. I don't belief in them. I have heard of some hauted houses that people have lived in and the things that have happened. I guess I would look at it differently if my husband died in the house.
Sophia
I believe in ghosts. I have never had any experiences with them but I do believe they are around us. I believe that babies see things too. For example, when my daughter was a few months old, noone was around us and she was smiling and and laughing. We were in my room, lights out and only the tv on and she was staring at the wall. It kinda freaked me out but I wasnt afraid. Another time she did the same thing at my grandmothers house, so I know she saw something. I do believe there is an afterlife and we are being watched over. Even though, I do get scared and I can't sleep at night sometimes, I watch the shows about haunted places and I love reading about famous haunted places here in california. There are some stories I was told as I was growing up but I dont know if I believe them.
Jaime
I think that we are all fascinated with gohsts and huantings because everyone likes to be scared so they believe in things that are not real. Just like the student said our minds are very powerful and we can make ourselves belive in things that are not really there.
What do I believe? I'm not sure when it comes to the supernatural because I need to see things for myself. I believe that there is an after life because of my religious background and as far as ghosts, well I have not seen one yet and I don't look forward to doing so. Halloween is a time for the kids to be having fun in the streets around their neighborhood and get as much candy as they could get before they have to go home and go to sleep. Ghosts have been a topic of stories all my life and I think that if the time is right and you are thinking about these things while you are alone I think anything is possible, so for all of you who believe in ghosts, well have fun and pick a nice one that will be willing to talk to you and not scare the you and the kids.
Have a Happy Halloween.
I do believe in ghost. For example, in my grandmas house their are always getting scared. She has a small store attached to her house and one night she heard a whole bunch of stuff fall. So she told my grandpa I will just fixed it tomorrow but the next day everything was well organized like if nothing happened. Another story that my mom told me is that when she went to the back yard she seen a big fire so she went for some water to turn it off but when she came back the fire was ten times bigger and their was a little man standing on it. She told to get out of their but he was just looking at her and trying to have a conversation with her. So my mom just ran to tell her grandma and when they came back their was no fire everything was normal.
F.M.
Theres things that make me believe in supernaturals. Like the story my mom told me about "La Llorona". This lady had two kids and somehow she killed her kids. So, since that day she would walk every night and called for her kids to come to her. Also my grandparents live in Mexico and they have experience a lot of this ghost stories. But in my case I haven't experience nothing like that. It also depends if you believe in this or if you don't.
C.P.and M
Peanut
I do believe that there is something out there. There are two t.v. shows I like to watch Ghost Hunters and Most Haunted. These shows show different styles of finding ghosts, and deciding if a place is haunted. I tend to lean towards the Ghost Hunters because they take a more science approach to making a decision. It doesn't have to with seeing a ghost but more of a feeling I had. When I was 14 years old, I was at a baseball game with my parents and my younger sister stayed home. While at the game, I had this feeling that my sister had died. I started crying and told my parents I wanted to go home. When we got home I ran in the house calling for my sister. When I reached up stairs I was to late, she was gone. She was 12 years old and had an ashma attack that took her life. So yeah I believe there is something out there, even though most of what we see on t.v. is fake but for now it looks like my personal experence is my proof to keep an open mind.
Jose:
I would like to say that I don't believe in ghost, but I heard a few stories. I was only a child at that time. One of the stories that
I heard and catch my attention was that in a small town near by my home town there was a quinceanera on that particular day and after the mass was over the quinceanera party was going to be in a different town, and on the way everyone that was goin to attend to the party have to cross a bridge, and when the time came for the quinceanera to cross the bridge they had an accident and the quinceanera died. Today it is told that every night the quinceanera appears on the bridge after mid-night asking for help and to be taken to her quinceanera party. Other stories that I heard is that it does happened to some people and the actually give her a ride, and by the time the people turn back to ask the quinceanera where is she going, she disappears. Like I said earlier these are just stories that I heard as a growing child. True story or not, don't know.
Okay, okay. I do very much so believe in the supernatural. Some theorists call it "occult" some people call it reality. I'll give you my view.
In my family line, certain people have "gifts" that are along the lines of psychics. When I was a kid, we would always stay at my aunts house during the weekends. She owns a large home in the downtown area. In the back room, there was a lady that was the previous owner, who was older and had green eyes. There was also her husband, a cleancut man that wore glasses and had brown hair. Also, there was a little girl. Throughout the nights, at around the same time, the back room door would open, and you could see a pair of green eyes, and hear someone walk through the kitchen, the bedroom, and into the restroom. The toilet would flush, and you would hear her return to her room. Sound farfetched? About 12 different people seen this occur. There is an attic that overlooks the front porch and a school across the street, and the man has a hobby of watching the kids pass to and from school. One afternoon, the principal of the school came to the house and knocked on the door asking about the strange man that always sat in the attic window. He said that he made the kids uncomfortable at the school, and 30 kids had made the same complaint to their instructors. Funny thing is, from anywhere in the house, there is no access to the attic, unless you had a ladder and could get up to the 12 foot ceiling and crawl through a 3'x3' hole. There are always dolls playing by themselves in the back room, and things are always rearranged. Come stay a night, if you don't believe me.
My brother passed away in 2000, and he comes and check up on me every now and then. Recently he told me, "Keep doing what you're doing, you're on the right track, and will be very successful." I've met my guardian Angel, I've seen spirits in broad daylight, and in the midst of night. I had an apartment in the ghetto and a man that would look down the hallway at me everyday until I had to tell him to go and talk to God about getting to where he belonged. I am an avid believer, because I know what I have experienced, and the more people I talk to about these occurences, the more I find that I'm not the only one. I guess that there really is life after life.
Chris Christopherson
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