When I first got into watching reality "ghost shows" on TV and first became concerned about what I was seeing my first reaction was to think of a solution, a better way of doing things. Considering that most ghostly interactions are attributed to the emotionality of said beings that of anger, desperation, or trying to get someone's attention and help it stands to reason that the most ethical way of going about confronting this phenomena is by trying to help the best way we can.
Humans are set apart from other species of animals by our capacity to feel empathy, show compassion, and lend aid not only to others of our own species but also to those of others. It shouldn't be such a far stretch for us to feel the same in kind for those beings that seem to exist but are far less understood. We should not, as has been the case a sad majority of the time, let our ignorance and curiosity about what exactly they are get in the way of our empathy and desire to help if we sense they may need our assistance. Perhaps we feel there is nothing that can be done because we don't understand the phenomena and so we excuse our lack of empathy and focus instead of the exciting novelty of it.
There is something that can be done. It has been shown many times that ghosts can be aided to where they need to move on to through a spiritual medium guiding them and lessening their fear. It is my belief that ghosts often get trapped because they fear moving on. Perhaps they fear being judged or punished for their sins wherever they end up. Like I said before, I don't personally believe in heaven or hell but rather in a resting place for souls to reflect on the life they've lived.
I would like to develop a type of "ghost therapy" that can resolve the unresolved feelings, emotions, and fears, held by these entities such as we would any living person who chooses to see a therapist. A therapist or medium can enter the place where the ghost resides and simply talk with them, assure them that it is okay to move on and heal whatever anger and hurt they feel. This I feel would do more justice to these entities then what they are currently encountering (see my other posts).
Just as psychotherapy can work for angry and violent individuals, it can also work for angry spirits or what many times are termed "dark energies", "negative spirits" or "demons" and which I believe are simply continuing to be nasty in death as they most likely were in life. It can be explained to all entities in a gentle and sensitive way that they have indeed died, that there is a place for them to move on to where they won't be punished and judged but rather loved and cared for no matter what they did in life. But that if they remain in this place there will always be living people residing in "their space" and there's nothing to be done about it. So they can either choose to co-exist peacefully with the living or move on. For those entities that simply don't know how to move on, a medium or other sensitive person can help guide them or at least lessen the fear that may be keeping the entity from seeing the "way out".
We need to start treating these entities simply as people without bodies and providing the help that they may need in the best ways we know how for now. As this type of therapy grows we may learn even more about the phenomena and develop even better methods of guidance and aid.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
What is a Ghost?: Why Advocacy is Important
It is becoming commonly held knowledge among ghost hunters, paranormal researchers, and the general public that ghosts most commonly seem to be the personalities of humans who were once alive that are somehow left behind energetically (except for in the case of residual hauntings where energy is left behind but does not interact with anything outside of itself). These personalities are capable of interacting with living humans in intelligent ways, meaning that they are aware of their own identity as being separate from an "other" that it can interact with. They express emotion and reaction.
In fact, besides not having physical bodies to constantly interact physically with their environments as we do, ghosts are not very different from "us" at all which is what disturbs me so much about the way I see ghosts being interacted with. I regularly see them being taunted, frightened, angered, being feared of, sworn at, screamed at etc. etc. Many times they are asked questions about their "death" when they may not even realize they are in fact dead. They are asked about their killers. They are asked about who they killed. They are accused of being demons. They are asked to throw things, frighten, and give "signs" of their presence after which startled persons scream and swear in fear.
Now, lets put ourselves in their shoes. Since we are in fact, so alike. Imagine you have died suddenly, but you aren't aware of it. Things seem very much different than you are used to. You are confused and lonely. Perhaps there are other beings like you around you that you do not know. You can't seem to leave where you are or are frightened to leave. Suddenly a group of people appears who seem very strange to you. Maybe they can help. Maybe they know what is wrong. Maybe they know the way out. "Did you die in here?" one of them asks. That question alone could be traumatizing to a personality that does not know it is dead.
Maybe you were an angry hateful person in life and these strangers are only causing you to continue your angry and hateful ways. You give 'em what they ask for. You throw things, try to scare them and sometimes it works which empowers you and sometimes it doesn't which only angers you further.
Or maybe you are aware that you have died, but you can't seem to get out of where you are. You feel trapped and scared. An endless stream of strangers comes and interacts with you, but don't seem to offer you any help. In fact, they seem more entertained by rather than compassionate about your plight and attempts to get their assistance.
I recently read a comment by a docent claiming that rather than being traumatized by ghost tourists, "their" ghosts seemed only to be more "playful" and "prankish" during those times. I wondered to myself if the ghosts had simply given up trying to get help from the people who worked there and simply stepped up their activity around many strangers hoping to get the desired attention and help. We can't assume playfulness where desperation may actually be the primary motivation.
I feel the oblivious insensitivity that is so tolerated or ignored in these communities stems from the phenomena being so misunderstood that we cannot identify with these beings. They are dehumanized because of their association with the unknown. When in fact they may be just as human as we are. Some enlightening questions to ask ourselves are:
Would we ever subject a living victim of trauma to blunt and insensitive questions about its traumatic experience(s)?
Should we ever taunt a living murderer or other criminal about the crimes they've committed? Would that hinder rehabilitation if that were possible?
If a child were scared or lost and asked you for help would you scream in their face and swear at them in fear?
If a person were trapped in a building would you ignore that fact because they cause exciting things to happen in the building?
I could also be entirely wrong. Maybe ghosts are never trapped. Maybe they do choose to simply stay where they are, not out of fear or energetic entrapment, but because they want to. But, until we can know that for sure, I think we should err on the side of sensitivity and caution so as not to cause more trauma. We shouldn't simply assume things that could end up being harmful or traumatic to these personalities. In fact, we should try to end the unprofessional and potentially damaging activities engaged in by the majority of ghost hunters, paranormal researchers, and patrons of ghost tourism in favor of professional and sensitive methods of dealing with this phenomenon.
In fact, besides not having physical bodies to constantly interact physically with their environments as we do, ghosts are not very different from "us" at all which is what disturbs me so much about the way I see ghosts being interacted with. I regularly see them being taunted, frightened, angered, being feared of, sworn at, screamed at etc. etc. Many times they are asked questions about their "death" when they may not even realize they are in fact dead. They are asked about their killers. They are asked about who they killed. They are accused of being demons. They are asked to throw things, frighten, and give "signs" of their presence after which startled persons scream and swear in fear.
Now, lets put ourselves in their shoes. Since we are in fact, so alike. Imagine you have died suddenly, but you aren't aware of it. Things seem very much different than you are used to. You are confused and lonely. Perhaps there are other beings like you around you that you do not know. You can't seem to leave where you are or are frightened to leave. Suddenly a group of people appears who seem very strange to you. Maybe they can help. Maybe they know what is wrong. Maybe they know the way out. "Did you die in here?" one of them asks. That question alone could be traumatizing to a personality that does not know it is dead.
Maybe you were an angry hateful person in life and these strangers are only causing you to continue your angry and hateful ways. You give 'em what they ask for. You throw things, try to scare them and sometimes it works which empowers you and sometimes it doesn't which only angers you further.
Or maybe you are aware that you have died, but you can't seem to get out of where you are. You feel trapped and scared. An endless stream of strangers comes and interacts with you, but don't seem to offer you any help. In fact, they seem more entertained by rather than compassionate about your plight and attempts to get their assistance.
I recently read a comment by a docent claiming that rather than being traumatized by ghost tourists, "their" ghosts seemed only to be more "playful" and "prankish" during those times. I wondered to myself if the ghosts had simply given up trying to get help from the people who worked there and simply stepped up their activity around many strangers hoping to get the desired attention and help. We can't assume playfulness where desperation may actually be the primary motivation.
I feel the oblivious insensitivity that is so tolerated or ignored in these communities stems from the phenomena being so misunderstood that we cannot identify with these beings. They are dehumanized because of their association with the unknown. When in fact they may be just as human as we are. Some enlightening questions to ask ourselves are:
Would we ever subject a living victim of trauma to blunt and insensitive questions about its traumatic experience(s)?
Should we ever taunt a living murderer or other criminal about the crimes they've committed? Would that hinder rehabilitation if that were possible?
If a child were scared or lost and asked you for help would you scream in their face and swear at them in fear?
If a person were trapped in a building would you ignore that fact because they cause exciting things to happen in the building?
I could also be entirely wrong. Maybe ghosts are never trapped. Maybe they do choose to simply stay where they are, not out of fear or energetic entrapment, but because they want to. But, until we can know that for sure, I think we should err on the side of sensitivity and caution so as not to cause more trauma. We shouldn't simply assume things that could end up being harmful or traumatic to these personalities. In fact, we should try to end the unprofessional and potentially damaging activities engaged in by the majority of ghost hunters, paranormal researchers, and patrons of ghost tourism in favor of professional and sensitive methods of dealing with this phenomenon.
Ghost Tourism: A Harmful Trend
The rise in ghost tourism may be a surprising millennial trend. Considering that it is human nature to ponder and confront our own mortality through exploring the "unknown" and perhaps reassuring ourselves that there is something more after death its popularity is understandable. Some even suggest that metaphysical anomalies have caused the veil to thin so that ghostly phenomena are more frequent. Whatever the cause, it is clear that modern advances have given many the luxury of time and money to explore it.
A question of ethics arises, though, when we accept the fact that is becoming clear through our increasing experiential knowledge that ghosts are the disembodied personalities of those once living that have the capability of intelligently and emotionally interacting with living people. Too often I have seen ghost "hunts" on television or heard stories relayed of these experiences in which certain provoking activities have been used to try and cause the phenomena to occur.
Most often the phenomenon of the "spirit" or "ghost" is explained by "trapped energy". Often a traumatic life or death is used to explain the cause of the entrapment. It is also clear from much EVP evidence that these spirits are indeed suffering spiritually or emotionally and often historical facts support the context. It would seem to me that furthering the suffering of these entities by emotionally upsetting or angering them in order to provoke a response should be viewed as abusive. It doesn't help that a common knee-jerk reaction to any unknown phenomena are instantly hailed as "evil" or "inhuman".
We readily accept the fact that in life there are good and bad people. There are angry people in life as there most likely are in death. It is common that an angry person will exclaim "I'm going to kill you" in anger while alive, but as soon as this exclamation comes from "the unknown" it is "evil", "dark", "demonic". I can't rule out the existence of evil or demons though I don't believe in them myself, but I have noticed these terms being being applied to evidence that does not necessarily spell out "evil" but could be the result of an angry ghost as they would of an angry person. This anger could be the cause of the continuation of the entrapment of the spirit.
It is known that many psychic mediums can help spirits over to the "other side". What the "other side" is believed to be depends on your belief system. Personally, as I believe rehabilitation is possible for living souls, I also believe it's possible for deceased souls. I don't believe in heaven or hell, but in a "moving on place", a place where we can heal ourselves and rest after any incarnation whether you believe in single or multiple incarnations. Isn't it our responsibility to try and help these entities as best we can by assisting them to the other side and not to further entrap them by saddening or angering them through our irresponsible interactions with them? Even if you believe in "evil" don't you want to help release and remove that energy from a location?
Human beings are notorious for causing harm through ignorance. All we need to do is look back through our own history at the shocking ways we've treated each other out of ignorance and one can see the all too familiar trend. How can we further emotionally entrap these souls for the sake of tourism income. Wouldn't we help a fellow living human if they were suffering? You couldn't imagine imprisoning a fellow living human so that other humans could visit and emotionally torment them for fun and excitement so why is a blind eye being turned in these instances? A lot of truths are being conveniently ignored in ghost tourism and I feel it's time to increase awareness of the possible harm this could be doing to emotionally aware entities so that ghost hunters can act more sensitively and responsibly. It is my hope that perhaps even in the future there can be legal protection from emotional abuse for these entities and the granting of spiritual aid in order to help them to the other side.
A question of ethics arises, though, when we accept the fact that is becoming clear through our increasing experiential knowledge that ghosts are the disembodied personalities of those once living that have the capability of intelligently and emotionally interacting with living people. Too often I have seen ghost "hunts" on television or heard stories relayed of these experiences in which certain provoking activities have been used to try and cause the phenomena to occur.
Most often the phenomenon of the "spirit" or "ghost" is explained by "trapped energy". Often a traumatic life or death is used to explain the cause of the entrapment. It is also clear from much EVP evidence that these spirits are indeed suffering spiritually or emotionally and often historical facts support the context. It would seem to me that furthering the suffering of these entities by emotionally upsetting or angering them in order to provoke a response should be viewed as abusive. It doesn't help that a common knee-jerk reaction to any unknown phenomena are instantly hailed as "evil" or "inhuman".
We readily accept the fact that in life there are good and bad people. There are angry people in life as there most likely are in death. It is common that an angry person will exclaim "I'm going to kill you" in anger while alive, but as soon as this exclamation comes from "the unknown" it is "evil", "dark", "demonic". I can't rule out the existence of evil or demons though I don't believe in them myself, but I have noticed these terms being being applied to evidence that does not necessarily spell out "evil" but could be the result of an angry ghost as they would of an angry person. This anger could be the cause of the continuation of the entrapment of the spirit.
It is known that many psychic mediums can help spirits over to the "other side". What the "other side" is believed to be depends on your belief system. Personally, as I believe rehabilitation is possible for living souls, I also believe it's possible for deceased souls. I don't believe in heaven or hell, but in a "moving on place", a place where we can heal ourselves and rest after any incarnation whether you believe in single or multiple incarnations. Isn't it our responsibility to try and help these entities as best we can by assisting them to the other side and not to further entrap them by saddening or angering them through our irresponsible interactions with them? Even if you believe in "evil" don't you want to help release and remove that energy from a location?
Human beings are notorious for causing harm through ignorance. All we need to do is look back through our own history at the shocking ways we've treated each other out of ignorance and one can see the all too familiar trend. How can we further emotionally entrap these souls for the sake of tourism income. Wouldn't we help a fellow living human if they were suffering? You couldn't imagine imprisoning a fellow living human so that other humans could visit and emotionally torment them for fun and excitement so why is a blind eye being turned in these instances? A lot of truths are being conveniently ignored in ghost tourism and I feel it's time to increase awareness of the possible harm this could be doing to emotionally aware entities so that ghost hunters can act more sensitively and responsibly. It is my hope that perhaps even in the future there can be legal protection from emotional abuse for these entities and the granting of spiritual aid in order to help them to the other side.
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