Ghostly Characteristics
The mystery begins by chasing the invisible: a ghost or a lost soul. It can be a powerful spirit capable of pushing or shaking. It can shatter windows or unlock doors. It can make you feel dizzy, cold or nauseated. It can reach out to the living in a physically hostile attack. The key to dealing with a lost soul is to ascertain who the ghost was in life. Was their ending just or unjust? Did they long for death? Or was their love of life so strong that they are now shocked to have it gone? Only by carefully answering these questions can a ghost hunter understand what the ghost wants and how to deal with it.
A ghost is, “the disembodied manifestation of a deceased person,” but ghosts are much more complex than a simple one-line description. Ghosts are invisible entities of pure energy that can manipulate the natural environment. Ghosts elude the perceptions of reality. Ghosts are the things that go bump in the night. They are often misunderstood and stereotyped as demonic. Only in the past few decades have scientists begun to study ghosts. Parapsychologists and ghost hunters do their best to determine how and why ghosts exist, but ghosts do little to help. Despite the depictions of Hollywood movies ghosts elude the living and proper study. When a parapsychologist wants a ghost to appear, the ghost will never appear but as soon as the parapsychologist leaves, the ghost will become active again. Valid opportunities to experience and study a ghost are extremely rare.
A ghost hunter must seek out the ghosts. Ghosts can haunt hotels, hospitals, cemeteries, homes, battlefields, churches, abandoned buildings, etc. There is no place on earth that a ghost cannot haunt but that does not mean that ghosts are everywhere or that ghosts can be seen at any time. Ghosts commonly haunt places where mysterious, violent and untimely deaths occurred. Ghosts seem to be bound to one location, but there are types of ghosts that break that rule.
Ghosts can influence the human senses. The presence of a ghost can be heard and felt, but maybe not seen. A ghost can be seen but might not make a sound. A ghost might be standing directly in front of a person and yet the ghost cannot be touched. Ghosts are on the edge of illusions but yet real enough to influence and manipulate the natural environment.
Ghosts can appear in lifelike solid forms or they can appear transparent, like mists, clouds or forms of light or shadow. A ghost can be present but completely invisible to the human eye. A manifestation can be something as simple as a ghostly hand with its finger pointing at a tombstone or something more complex such as a hitchhiking ghost who gets picked up on the road and has a long conversation with the driver before vanishing from the car without a trace.
Ghosts are capable of manipulating the physical environment by moving, levitating and breaking objects. They can open and close doors and windows or hide personal items from the living. Ghosts can stack items or cause objects to fall from shelves. They have the ability to interfere with electrical devices. Ghosts can turn lights on and off and can run electrical appliances that are not plugged in. Ghosts can cause shocks, power surges or shorts in electrical systems.
There are classes of ghosts that are conscious, intelligent, decision-making manifestations capable of expressing human feelings and emotions and communicating messages. There are also other types of ghosts that seem oblivious to the world around them and ignore the presence of the living. There are quiet ghosts and there are ghosts that will bang on the walls for hours before stopping.
Ghosts are a paradox. They are the things that should not be. Ghosts should not exist in a rational world. There is no check-all formula for determining the characteristics of ghosts because each ghost is unique. For every theory designed to classify ghosts there will be a ghost that will break the rules. Every ghost must be independently examined to determine what characteristics it will present. The personality of each ghost must be studied and profiled. There is no one definition or theory that can accurately describe every type of ghost. The only rule that seems to work is that when it comes to ghosts, there are no rules. A ghost hunter must be ready for the unexpected and the unpredictable.