[OT] Do you believe in ghosts?

[Andrew D. Gable]

I'm not sure what the man was. Possibly an hallucination brought on by sleep. I have done this as well. The strange thing is, my former boss described this exact same thing to me.

I've heard I believe that the "half-sleep" state causes subconscious images out of your dreams to be "projected" into reality, or at least the perception of reality. Sounds kinda arcane, but its definitely possible.

Ashrem, has your boss actually seen an identical figure? Or merely the same type of experience?

 

[Humanophile]

No, and no.

I mean, I've looked for ghosts, even in places that were reputed to be haunted. I even prefer spending time at moody places where the sensitive would spot ghosts all over. I haven't seen anything.

I have had several friends who've claimed to know ghosts, usually on a scale where they've had "pet" supernatural creatures. Similar with UFO's. But in both cases, I have reasons to doubt these people's objectivity. (And in a similar case, I've known people who claimed that friends of theirs into magic or with psychic abilities or whatever would often have very tangible displays, to which I say bull; if there were people like that, wouldn't at least one of them decide to make a grand showing for power, fame, money, or just to stroke their ego?)

I guess my biggest thing is that I need proof. And for all the reported cases, there has yet to be one alien, psychic, ghost, or whatnot that has fouled up and given themselves away, despite the rate of claimed encounters. Plus the fact that people often see what they expect. (Correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember hearing re: recovered memories that if both the patient and the therapist were into alien abductions, there'd be rock-solid memories of abductions, while if both thought ritual abuse was to blame, everyone involved would be absolutely convinced it was a satanic cult. Why did so many "abductees" in pre-industrial cultures see their local saints/imps/whatnot, while we see little grey men instead of elves? It all smacks me as too subjective to be true.)

 

[Trevalon Moonleirion]

Originally posted by Sodalis
Has anyone ever had that strange feeling that a ghost is laying on them. You wake up in the middle of the night and you cant move any of your body parts. My parents tel me that is because a ghost has laid on you... i and two brothers and a sister have felt it

You know, I've had this happent to me a few times... scared the living **** out of me. My chest was tight, I couldn't move anything and I felt like something was hovering right over me... just out of my line of sight. This thread is giving me the heebie jeebies...

Anyhow, I strongly believe in ghosts, but haven't encountered any. My friend Nathan's house is haunted by several ghosts; his entire family have seen or heard one or more of them. Unfortunately whenever I'm staying the night or anything, my pal Ed is around... and he doesn't believe so I don't think they show up.

 

[kenjib]

Nope. I don't believe in any hocus pocus, mumbo jumbo, or otherwise metaphysical entities, theorems, events, and/or processes.

"There's more of gravy than of grave about you."

Under extremely suggestible situations I once implanted hallucinations simultaneously into two other peoples' minds just by describing an imaginary vision that I was seeing (which I wasn't really seeing of course). The mind loves to play tricks on itself. Air currents, rats in the walls, family pets bumping into things, etc. etc.

Some people also have dreams that continue while they are still in the process of waking. My brother once had a dream project into the real world just after he woke up. It was tied to sleep walking and general anxiety.

I don't mean to discredit anyone's beliefs. Everyone is certainly entitled to their own belief, and this is just mine.

 

[I'm A Banana]

On the topic of sleep paralysis

Yeah, sleep paralysis is what makes you freeze up and see stuff, though you can't move.

I'm sure P-Kitty can tell ya'll LOTS about that.

I remember the show I watched on some Educational Station. Said that sleep paralysis is what makes some people think they're abducted by aliens from their bed.

It's what gave rise to a lot of older myths about hags and demons who'd getcha in yer sleep.

In fact, take a look at your very own Monster Manual, under Night Hag. Here we have an old crone that "rides the victim's back" until morning.

People often would wake up from dream-like states where they couldn't breathe and something was either examining them or sitting on their chest or something of the sort. Hags and witches, demons, aliens, ghosts....

All can, at least in this instance, be drawn from sleep paralysis.

This ain't to discount that ghosts may exist, or what they are, or whatever. Just an explanation of *that* particular quandry, at least.

 

[NiTessine]

Nope, nope, and nope. I like horror stories and have an overactive imagination, but I am quite convinced that there is no such thing as the supernatural in the real world.

 

[Darklone]

"Scientifically" spoken are ghost apparitions or poltergeists tied to certain persons.

That means some of the witnesses seem to produce these effects somehow. And many para-scientists believe that so called witchdoctors or similar guys simply practiced this stuff ==> magic.

The one thing I witnessed would confirm this. Was an evening with several guys who were known to dabble with ghosts and similar stuff.

I really had the impression that enhanced the effects those guys usually produced in others. They were shocked themselves.

Was not a nice night.

 

[Wicht]

Re: Slightly Tangential but:

I'm wondering -for those of you who beleive in ghost but don't beleive them come back to this earth - where do you beleive that they do go?

As I said in my first post, I do not believe in the spirits of dead humanity returning to this earth, though I believe in the soul. This gets pretty close to a religious discussion, but treading carefully, it is a matter of faith with me that the soul leaves the body when one dies and goes to a different place where it awaits the judgment. I do not know that such a place could be described (or pinpointed) with physical descriptions as it is obviously a spiritual place not in this physical realm. I think the notions of the etherael, astral plane are attempts to put such a physical description on a spiritual world but I suspect they fall far short of succeeding and that the true waiting place is very different.

I do however believe in angels and demons and as one poster has suggested, I also think some unexplained things could be attributed to them. However, most other things that men believe occur I think can be attributed to imagination and sometimes they are simple malfunctions of the body/brain, as in sleep paralysis where one hallucinates. I think it telling that after a successful movie about aliens, the sighting of aliens goes way up and after a successful movie about ghosts the number of ghosts sightings go way up.

Men often see what they want to see and credible evidence has to be based on the corroborating evidence of at least 2 or 3 people at a time.

 

[Tetsubo]

Yes I believe in them.
Yes I have seen them.

I lived with one as a child. The spirit of an old man that died in my room. He loved plants and getting up at dawn. He'd snap both my blinds up at dawn on Saturday's. Really annoying. Kept a plant I had alive under adverse conditions as well.

I currently live with a female spirit. Though she hasn't been around a lot. I think she was closely linked to my ex-wife. When she moved out her interest in this place seems to have waned.

I have had an elemental type spirit here as well.

I also had some very "dark" thing leave my house after I commanded it to leave. It was rather eerie to watch this black shape walk out a wall of my apartment.

I have warding symbols on all my doors and windows and rind a brass bell daily as part of a ritual warding.

 

[Melkor Lord Of ALL!]

Yes. Oh, and magic also exists.