Thread: Do you believe in ghosts, and why/not?

I dont believe in nothing until i dont see it .

Originally Posted by DarkComrade

Thanks for being concerned about my wellbeing, but i have no family history of schizophrenia atleast not that i know off. My uncle woud act weird and see things others woudnt see and was called insane somtimes when drunk but thats it, people woud also call me insane so now i just keep such things to myself. Im not afraid of schizophrenia either, i do think som were hallucinations but i also believe som were real. The only mental thing i have is social phobia

No family history and no diagnosed family history are two different things. Not that it matters, many people with a perfectly clean family slate have been known to develop psychological disorders. One way, for schizophrenia at least, is to do certain types of drugs which can screw up your mind. Not that you have done this, but my point is that genetics are only one in many deciding factors.

I've had experience of seeing my Granny (on mum's side) 's spirit when she passed away; I was too young to remember anything though, but apprently like so many other toddlers who have been reported in the past, I was pointing up a corner on the ceiling of my paternal Grandparents' place.

Then when I was in primary school and around 7 years old, I woke up in the middle of the night for no apparent reason and found 4 indians sitting on my bedroom window sill. I had left the window sill lights on cos I was always scared in the dark so I see them really clearly.

There was an indian woman (and I don't mean Cherokee red indian lol) with traditional garments and a red dot on her forehead (giving away she's married) sitting there knitting something. There was a crying baby on her left squirming, a boy around 5 on her right and a slightly younger-looking girl next to the boy.

The freakiest thing was they all had no facial features whatsoever except a very vague outline of their noses, just like mannequins, but living!! I was on a bunk bed and looked down to see if my helper was awake (in Hong Kong it's common to hire helpers or servants who live with the family to basically babysit the kids)

Needless to say, I was shitting myself when I found out she was sleeping ever so sweetly lol, and I sat there frozen for a minute to decide if I should shout to wake her up or walk down to tap her, but I was afraid I would alarm the "ghosts" so I never did. I then slapped myself, pinched my nose to see if I was really awake (ironically I was doing reality checks before I even heard about it and LD haha) and it hurt and I couldn't breath. In the endI just squished into my duvet, turned my face against the wall with my back facing the "ghosts" and I forced myself to go to sleep.

That said, after learning about LDing, Hypnagogia, SP and the ensuing HH; I'm now convined the "mannequin ghosts" were possibly just my imagination; even though I still believe in ghosts.

i have no doubt in the existence of ghosts or other spiritual beings because i have seen several over the past years and yes i have had psychological evaluations and all of them have said that i am completely sane.what i believe to be ghosts were of all ages and sexes.all however made no sound and were a bluish white transparent substance.i've seen three children,two men and a woman all, except for one man, inside my small house.the man was out side in the back woods standing facing away from me by a large maple tree.the other man was in my living room standing to the right of the window gazing out,he was the only one who slowly dissolved when it came to his legs so there was only a floating upper body to him.the woman was walking out my deck door.two of the children were coming up the stairs from the basement(both male).and the other child(female) was in the hallway outside the bathroom door.these all happened at different times and are apparently unrelated.why they all like my house i have no idea.

My mom, who is one of the most skeptical people I know and thought that the Joker on the Dark Knight was Satanic says that she's seen ghosts before. And just knowing my mom and hearing those words coming out of her mouth is enough to make me believe in them. But I've got other reasons too.

oh and this reminds me of something that happened the other day. I sleep in the basement alone. I have this little wooden instrument that my dad brought back from Africa, it has little metal prongs sticking out and when you press them down they make a tinkling noise. That was a bad description, but anyway, sometimes I think I can hear them tinkling at night, but you have to actually press down on them for them to make any noise. It kinda creeped me out but I just thought it was my imagination, until one day I was in my room. I had my video camera and was recording me playing a song on the guitar because a friend wanted to know how to play it, and I was showing her. Anyway, halfway through I thought I heard the instrument again, and this time I was pretty sure I really heard it, since I wasn't half asleep this time. So I watched it in the camera and played it back and could hear them in the background. My sister could hear it too. I caught it on camera, so there's my proof! I don't know how that could have happened though... I mean, it could have been anything, I'm not going to jump to conclusions and go strait to "OH IT WAS A GHOST" but it was weird... I don't yet have an explination as to what it was.

Originally Posted by spaceexplorer

Having known two close friends who suffered mental ilness, I can say first hand that "Seeing things no one else sees" and "feeling like being watched" are pretty common symptoms of mental issues, such as schizophrenia and other disorders.

Symptoms can include:
Seeing things no one else sees
feeling like being watched (or other "paranoid thoughts" such as your thoughts being transmitted)
Feeling a "significance" to certain events or places.
Seeing patterns in things that are otherwise unrelated.
Changes in appetite
An obsessive interest in certain subjects or ideas.
Feeling special, important or different from others.

"The schizophrenic is drowning in the waters the mystic swims in with delight."

Originally Posted by saxonharp

"The schizophrenic is drowning in the waters the mystic swims in with delight."

Having known people I care about suffer from these conditions,
I find that statement both insulting to those who are ill through no fault of thier own, and dangerous, as it implys that the delusions of mental illness are in some way valid realities, rather than the result of a malfunctioning brain.

Originally Posted by spaceexplorer

Having known people I care about suffer from these conditions,
I find that statement both insulting to those who are ill through no fault of thier own, and dangerous, as it implys that the delusions of mental illness are in some way valid realities, rather than the result of a malfunctioning brain.

I'm sorry you're offended. My quote was neither glib nor illconsidered. Those who suffer from schizophrenia experience an alternate reality than most people. Mystics, Shamans, Mediums, and Seers also experience an alternate reality than most people.

The difference lies in the ability to control and recognize the distinctions between those realities and to operate as an effective individual in one, the other, or both. Schizophrenics lack the ability to distinguish one reality from another and therefore can function in neither. That is why they drown.

You may not experience the reality that they are, but that does not invalidate it. Simply makes you unaware. That's ok. It takes some people their entire lives of hard practice and devoted study to be able to perceive those realities. And they are trying. So, for those who choose to neither try nor even believe it's possible, it's no surprise that it would seem invalid.

i think there might be ghosts. my friend says that this same ghost keeps visiting her house from time to time, and a week before my great grandpa's unveiling, my great uncle (his son) had my great grandpa's spirit visit him. also, the AP stuff makes me think that if there is a soul or spirit part fo you that can separate itself from the body, maybe it can live on after death as a spirit.

however, im not positive. its harder for me to believe in things that haven't actually happened to me, so i would have to see a spirit to be sure they exist.

For those who believe in ghosts.

How do ghosts manifest?
What attributes do ghosts have?

Originally Posted by Sandform

For those who believe in ghosts.

How do ghosts manifest?
What attributes do ghosts have?

I'm not a Medium or Sensitive, so I've never dealt with a ghost on this plane. I've no idea. I'm interested in hearing the answers though.

i've never seen hard evidence, but that doesn't mean they aren't real. Scientists don't know what exactly makes up our life-force, so who's to say it doesn't just float around after you die?

Also, i believe i've lived in a slightly haunted house. by that i mean, strange occurrences every now and then. like things falling in the middle of the night that had been in the same place, perfectly balanced for several years. I also remember a very strange spectrum of colors coming from outside my closed door when i was a small child. My sister claims to have seen a ghosts hand come out of the center of the bed at midnight, and it wasn't a dream because she was up the rest of the night and therefor never woke up.

Originally Posted by TheMind

i've never seen hard evidence, but that doesn't mean they aren't real. Scientists don't know what exactly makes up our life-force, so who's to say it doesn't just float around after you die?

Also, i believe i've lived in a slightly haunted house. by that i mean, strange occurrences every now and then. like things falling in the middle of the night that had been in the same place, perfectly balanced for several years. I also remember a very strange spectrum of colors coming from outside my closed door when i was a small child. My sister claims to have seen a ghosts hand come out of the center of the bed at midnight, and it wasn't a dream because she was up the rest of the night and therefor never woke up.

I'm assuming what you meant was she was in bed and then saw a hand come out of the bed...and afterwards she didn't try to go back to bed?

yes, exactly like that. sorry i worded so it bad

Well, I'm not saying that she is definitely incorrect in the assumption that there was really a ghost, however I do believe she is misinterpreting what happened. The fact that she was already trying to go to sleep at all means that she could have easily succumb to the hallucinations that can happen not only while asleep, but while awake but near sleep status. One can hallucinate right before sleep. Though I've never really heard of a hallucination as vivid as an actual hand while awake solely caused by hypnagogia. She also could have been asleep, had a dream, and then woke up without noticing. I think it is more likely that she has misinterpreted what really happened.

In any case I think if you believe something abnormal is really happening at your house you should investigate what is happening.

Originally Posted by Sandform

Well, I'm not saying that she is definitely incorrect in the assumption that there was really a ghost, however I do believe she is misinterpreting what happened. The fact that she was already trying to go to sleep at all means that she could have easily succumb to the hallucinations that can happen not only while asleep, but while awake but near sleep status. One can hallucinate right before sleep. Though I've never really heard of a hallucination as vivid as an actual hand while awake solely caused by hypnagogia. She also could have been asleep, had a dream, and then woke up without noticing. I think it is more likely that she has misinterpreted what really happened.

In any case I think if you believe something abnormal is really happening at your house you should investigate what is happening.

unfortunately we don't live there anymore, so i can't investigate. but whatever it was, she sure thought it was real because she was seven and it gave her a gray hair, which is still there (her hair is red so it's not just a coincident).

Also, my mom lived in a strongly haunted house when she was a kid. things like doors moving while she was the only one in the house weren't uncommon. Her whole family even consulted a medium/psychic (and she was for real. she correctly guessed that my mom would marry at twenty eight even though she was currently engaged at 17). It turns out that her friends house, six houses down, was an epicenter of ghost activity. She claims to have even seen some ghosts at her friends house in a closet (like real solid people, not like a small glimpse of something).

Originally Posted by Sandform

For those who believe in ghosts.

How do ghosts manifest?
What attributes do ghosts have?

And what do they do all day, day after day? Don't they get bored? How do they travel from place to place?
It must be neat being able to walk through walls and float. Are they stuck being a ghost forever and if so,
are they all sad knowing that they cannot die? Does everybody become a ghost and if you don't,
what happens to you WHEN you die? Can they have fun? Make friends? Do they fight amongst themselves? Do they scare each other?
Lots of questions and Google's not helping. Here's a great site with ghost stories and photos ..

http://www.coasttocoastam.com/gallery/images.html

Originally Posted by Lucid Lobster

And what do they do all day, day after day? Don't they get bored? How do they travel from place to place?
It must be neat being able to walk through walls and float. Are they stuck being a ghost forever and if so,
are they all sad knowing that they cannot die? Does everybody become a ghost and if you don't,
what happens to you WHEN you die? Can they have fun? Make friends? Do they fight amongst themselves? Do they scare each other?
Lots of questions and Google's not helping. Here's a great site with ghost stories and photos ..

http://www.coasttocoastam.com/gallery/images.html

Those questions are best suited for after we establish that ghosts actually exist.

How ghosts manifest/what their attributes are is what we must know in order to test for them. Without knowing these two things we wouldn't be able to test for them.

Originally Posted by lagunagirl

My mom, who is one of the most skeptical people I know and thought that the Joker on the Dark Knight was Satanic says that she's seen ghosts before. And just knowing my mom and hearing those words coming out of her mouth is enough to make me believe in them. But I've got other reasons too.

oh and this reminds me of something that happened the other day. I sleep in the basement alone. I have this little wooden instrument that my dad brought back from Africa, it has little metal prongs sticking out and when you press them down they make a tinkling noise. That was a bad description, but anyway, sometimes I think I can hear them tinkling at night, but you have to actually press down on them for them to make any noise. It kinda creeped me out but I just thought it was my imagination, until one day I was in my room. I had my video camera and was recording me playing a song on the guitar because a friend wanted to know how to play it, and I was showing her. Anyway, halfway through I thought I heard the instrument again, and this time I was pretty sure I really heard it, since I wasn't half asleep this time. So I watched it in the camera and played it back and could hear them in the background. My sister could hear it too. I caught it on camera, so there's my proof! I don't know how that could have happened though... I mean, it could have been anything, I'm not going to jump to conclusions and go strait to "OH IT WAS A GHOST" but it was weird... I don't yet have an explination as to what it was.

The instrument you are talking about is called a Kalimba. I used to work in a music shop that sells them.
What you describe sounds to me very much like something that would happen in the shop very often. You can get the same principle with a lot of instruments, especially tuning forks. The Kalimba would have been resonating in harmony with the guitar you were playing, it happened all the time in the shop. You notice the same thing happen with snare drums, far more obviously. The wires on the bottom of the snare will vibrate along with other instruments being played, and create a sound on the drum.
If you heard the kalimba playing and there was no other instruments playing, the most likely explanation is that vibrations, either from a nearby road, or another source in the house (such as heating) would have created enough of a vibration for the Kalimba to resonate.

Not as exciting an explanation as a musically inspired ghost.... but one that can be demonstrated quite easily. Try it... next time you put on a CD put your ear near the opening of the guitar, you'll hear the strings vibrating along with the music. Kalimbas due to the way they are built are quite prone to this kind of thing. Now... if it were a wind instrument like a clarinet, now that would be much harder to explain. But any instrument that creates sounds by a vibrating string, metal fork or anything similar will be prone to resonating.

ghosts are real, just get over it all you skeptics

Originally Posted by TheMind

ghosts are real, just get over it all you skeptics

Is that your argument?

Then my retort is that ghosts aren't real, just get over it all you believers.

give me one good reason they aren't real?

Originally Posted by TheMind

give me one good reason they aren't real?

There is no physical evidence. At all.

there's no physical evidence for alot of things. no physical evidence of God, yet billions of people worship him. any other reasons?