David over at author blog has posed this weeks question if anyone else would like to join in.
All he asks is that you link to him in return so he can follow its progress.
And the question is:
Do you believe in ghosts?
We’ve discussed it a little before, here and here,
And you all know I get spooked by certain films including the one that includes the words ‘ring’ and ‘the’, but I’ve never really given a definitive answer before.
So here it is.
Do I believe in ghosts?
Yes…
I think so.
Sorry,
not very definitive at all really is it??
I’ll tell you why.
I’ve never seen one.
I’ve known other people who’ve seen them…
Or who think they’ve seen them…
I’ve felt ’something,’ but I cannot say for definite, without doubt, that I have experienced the supernatural.
My own ghostly experiences are as follows…
1. While working as a retail assistant at the age of 18, my manager Sue was a self-declared white witch. I say ’self declared’ in that she shared this with myself and my friend, but she did not have this great magical ‘persona’ that she wore like a cloak and pointy hat. She did not declare herself to the world.
She was quiet reserved and had a great love of nature and just seemed more in touch with certain things.
We were working in a small Hippy shop that sold collectables, tie-dye clothing, tarot cards and ornamental bongs amongst other things. The shop was on two levels, a ground floor and then the basement, in a fairly old town centre building.
When a customer decided to go downstairs and look at the clothes, we took it in turns to follow them down and wait at the till there incase they needed help (or decided to help themselves.)
On one occassion, I followed a young couple back up the stairs and returned to pricing some unicorns, when Sue asked if the man had come back up too.
There had been no man. Yet Sue was certain she had seen one follow the couple downstairs. He was in dark clothing and was quite tall.
We double checked and there was indeed nobody down there.
2. The second incident is more just a feeling of a comforting presence.
In 2005, not long after I’d given birth to Miss M, I was hit with the baby blues and was standing in the kitchen feeling a bit lost and overwhelmed by my emotions and the sheer exhaustion of having a newborn who wouldn’t feed and a 4 year old who also needed her mummy.
A hand rested lightly on my shoulder and patted it gently, and I turned expecting to be engulfed in a hug from Mr B, but there was no one there.
I did feel calmer and lighter though.
3. Our house is supposedly haunted, or so we’ve been told, and I think if I’d known before we moved in then we wouldn’t have bought it as the idea spooked me for a while,
(This is not my house.)
4. …and Miss E did have an ‘imaginary’ friend called Emily Ghost who ‘arrived’ around age 3 and disappeared around age 5, but we have never felt anything sinister in our home and are very happy here.
One of the reasons why I ‘kind of’ believe in ghosts is that I feel it is a little ignorant to believe there is nothing else here except for us, that we are the be all and end all, the reason for everything. There must be so much we haven’t discovered yet.
I think you have to have a very closed mind to think ‘this is it. There is nothing else.’
Having had a very Catholic upbringing I also like to think that there are people who have passed away that are looking over us, and that will be there when we die.
I know all the arguements for and against this.
I’m not blinded by the bible, I disagree with alot of it, but I do sometimes feel like there is something/someone out there looking after me.
And that’s kind of comforting.
But I can still rationalize and find explanations for most things I feel, or hear about.
So the answer is still yes, I kind of believe in ghosts.
I wouldn’t want to see one though.
I’d run away.
P.S. Camikaos from Mommified me just added this link in her comments. Read it if you dare.
It is soooooooooooooooo scary.
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August 29th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
I believe in ghosts, in a sense–I guess kinda like you! I believe in spirits, but not hauntings. I believe in angels, but not grim reapers. I believe in life after this one, and perhaps the occasional visit from those who have gone on before us. Interesting stuff!
August 29th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
I refer you to this post in my archives: http://www.camikaos.com/2007/05/house-we-didnt-buy.html
August 29th, 2007 at 2:21 pm
Brillig I think it’s interesting too.
Hope I don’t get too spooked going to bed tonight thinking about all this.
Cami. Now I’m intrigued.
See you over at yours.
August 29th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
I believe in them. And I think there are different kinds. Some are just residual energy and others are full spirits who have not moved on.
The idea can be scary, but no scarier than people who would do you harm who are still alive. And most ghosts are harmless. I truly believe that. Like you said, they can even bring comfort.
August 29th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
G’day Jo,
What a memorable post. I read it twice to savour it and commit it to memory.
You might even see this mentioned on my site in about 12 hours’ time. Can’t say too much at this stage.
I absolutely loved the recollection of the comforting hand. That was wonderful.
Thank you for posting this. Do keep in touch.
Keep smiling
David
PS: Will check out the link you’ve provided, as well … thank you
August 29th, 2007 at 3:30 pm
I believe in ghosts, only because there are people I would love to come back and haunt!
August 29th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
Susan, you’re right about ghosts being less scary than bad people.
That is so true. I’d never really thought about it in that way before.
David thanks. I’ll pop over and take a peek. It’s great to find some outside inspiration and I’m enjoying your questions.
Leendaluu LOL. Me too. Not to terrify them, just to annoy them. Move stuff about, turn bad TV on etc.
August 29th, 2007 at 4:28 pm
Hi Jo,
Have just added you to my blogroll. Might not be a regular daily visitor until I finish this novel – but will always be around, especially to help, if needed.
I’m so glad you’re enjoying the questions. This was only the second week. And I think you might enjoy next week’s Weekend Wandering question, too …. !!
Keep smiling
David
August 29th, 2007 at 8:11 pm
I definitely belive in angels – not sure about ghosts, at least in the Nearly Headless Nick sort of way. This isn’t a ghost story and won’t send chills up your spine, but I’ll share it anyway.
My husband is the family historian and has a lot of old photographs and family things. He likes to know the story of everything, and pretty much does, but there is a series of photos of his mother when she was around 19 or so and was a bridesmaid in a wedding. We’ve got the whole bridal party in there, but it has always been a mystery who the bride is. His mother passed away over thirty years ago, and his dad could never remember who the couple were. Just after the Christmas before last, my father-in-law gave my husband another box of photos and when he was going through them he came across an envelope with more photos from the wedding. The front of the envelope had his mother’s name written in pencil, so he turned it over to see if there was a return address, and there was: the address of the house we live in!!! I think it really meant a lot to my husband that his mother had once been in the house that is our home. She died very young and didn’t get to see her children really grow into adults with families of their own. My mother has said since then that she hopes that his mother is here with us. I think she probably is.
August 30th, 2007 at 12:28 am
I believe in ghosts, I think, because I believe in the immortal soul. Even though I’m Atheist. Hmmm, complicated!
August 30th, 2007 at 1:22 am
I believe that the soul lives on in spirit. Strange, but I never did until I moved to Bury St Edmunds. Apparently the town is a centre for all things spiritual. My deepest memory is waking up in the middle of the night, while my husband was in Bristol visiting his mum in hospital. On awakening, I sat up and knew without doubt that she’d died. However, 10 minutes later, I sensed that no she was still alive and everything was okay. My husband returned home the following lunchtime, only to receive a call from his uncle, stating that his mum had almost died in the middle of the night but had been resuscitated. However, she was now on a fast decline and could he return to Bristol. He turned around straight away and within 5 minutes of his arrival, she passed away.
After her death, I could almost feel her presence with us. It was a particularly stressful time, as my husband was applying for a senior promotion. On the day of the interview, I ironed his shirt as normal, but when I hung it up, I flattened it out in a way that was completely unfamiliar to me, then out of my mouth came the words “Good luck, my son”. At that point I freaked and thought I’d gone bonkers!
August 30th, 2007 at 2:56 am
Mrs Weasley what a beautiful story. That’s amazing.
I’m sure she is there looking over you.
Miss Despina it’s all so complicated isn’t it. But I get what you mean I think You believe in a person’s soul or essence
They say energy can never be created or destroyed so it makes sense that there is something left of us, whatever we believe in.
21st Century Mummy that is also an amazing story.
There are so many connections we don’t understand yet.
I think I’d have freaked out a little at the shirt thing too.
Hope he got the job. It must have been awful losing his mum at such a stressful time.
Before my Gran died I told her I loved her for the first time. I was 11. We went to see her on the Friday and she died Monday morning. I hadn’t been told she was ill, though I think I was aware that she might be from things I’d picked up, but I’m so glad I said those words to her. It was the last time I saw her.
August 30th, 2007 at 5:28 am
Hi Jo – I think you’re right about how we sense things. I read Camikaos’ story on her blog and was amazed. Have you ever had that shudder down your spine, when you know that something is up, or that your instinct is right? There is a lot out there that we may never find out!
BTW – pleased to say that 21st C Dad did get the job…hoorah….! Since then the govt has announced that they are looking at reorganising the whole reorganised organisation……boooo!
August 30th, 2007 at 6:28 am
Ok, this falls into the weird category. Last nighta after dinner the house was falling into chaos–husband mad, children yelling so I decided to go out for walk stomp through the fields behind our house. I walked quite a ways along the hedgerow (because it is rude to trample other people’s corn…) and it was hot, so I thought I would rest a moment on some rocks in the hedgerow. Which was all quite peaceful until I started looking around the little rock upon which I sat and saw that it was a grave….) Thankfully no one tapped on the shoulder at that moment and asked me to get off their head.
August 30th, 2007 at 6:56 am
I don’t know if I believe or not. I suppose I’m a skeptic, but I’ve had some experiences I can’t explain. So…a definite maybe, then?
Loved the link to CamiKaos’s blog. That was a very creepy story.
August 30th, 2007 at 6:58 am
Ooooh great ghost stories!
August 30th, 2007 at 10:44 am
Like you I believe in ghosts but have never seen one. I just think there has to be something more out there, you know? My mother swears she saw the ghost of her beloved grandmother in our old kitchen, but no one else was with her. At my grandmother’s house in the south there was a story about a coffee making ghost. Evidently it sounded like someone was in the kitchen going through all the steps to make a pot of coffee (no water being turned on though). I thought it was a bunch of hooey until one morning when I heard my grandmother in the kitchen making coffee and went in to help her. There was no one there, but I know I heard the sounds.
Very interesting question, isn’t it?
August 30th, 2007 at 11:21 am
Interesting stories. I have always believed in ghosts and, finally, saw one for myself. It was a cat. I was at a friend’s apt. and I saw a gray smudge run under the table. I waited for it to come out. It never did. I asked my friend, do you have a cat. They said no. I know I saw that smudge, and not only that, I felt that distinctive cat feeling when they rub up against your leg.
August 30th, 2007 at 11:40 am
21st Century Mum, yay Mr 21st Century, boo the government – as usual.
Leendaluu that was weird. What a strange place to have a grave. It must be quite old.
Jen I get what you mean. Being a skeptic is healthy. Cami’s story was sooooooooo spooky though.
Akelamalu, scary stories are good sometimes. Just not in the middle of a powercut and not when you’re pregnant.
I got really spooked by stuff when I was pregnant.
RC that sounds spooky but not too threatening so that’s good. I think a ghost is more likely to be going through the motions they did in life rather than running round trying to scare the pants off people.
Amazing.
Rhea welcome. That’s so weird. I love ghost stories like that because it’s not scary, just kind of odd and cute.
August 30th, 2007 at 1:38 pm
When I was a kid I always wanted to hear the ghost stories at slumber parties and camping but I never could tell one, I couldn’t make up SPOOKY stuff.
And when that happened it never occurred to me that I had a spooky story until I sat down to write it.
I knew it spooked me, but I didn’t realize it was scary to someone hearing about it as well…
glad I could share.
August 30th, 2007 at 3:01 pm
Loved the comment from Rotten Correspondent
August 30th, 2007 at 11:53 pm
Hi Jo,
Your post (and David’s) prompted my blog entry today. It’s a fascinating and enduring discussion isn’t it.
August 31st, 2007 at 2:16 am
Cami it is one of the most chilling things I’ve ever heard. I used to be terrified of the Amityville story and it made me think of that.
David I love Rotten Correspondent. She’s amazing.
Take a look at her blog. It’s fab.
Walksfarwoman can’t wait to read your post. It really is a fascinating discussion.