Believing in ghosts

[StupidFaces]

I used to, now I think it’s ridiculous. People have been trying to prove the existence of ghosts for over 150 years and yet not one scrap of credible evidence to suggest they exist. I wish they did, I’d love it to be real but it just doesn’t make sense for them to exist does it?

Surely if ghosts were real, abattoirs would be haunted to fuck by the ghosts of dead cows? How come nobody ever sees a ghost dressed in trackies and Nike trainers? Why are they only ever dressed in Victorian/medieval clothes etc?

Do people think ghosts of fish haunt the ocean?

For those that do believe … what do you think about the above scenarios?

For those that done believe … would you be happy to spend a night alone in a supposedly haunted castle?

I have had this also it is terrible I think it when in rem part of your sleep it scared me so much.

@Deanie02 don't know if you are talking about sleep paralysis, which can be very scary indeed, but if you are it's hypnagogic or hypnopompic. It occurs when you are falling asleep or just waking up. REM would put you firmly in dreaming mode. I have both hypnagogic and hypnopompic sleep paralysis and I sometimes have it quite regularly. I did believe I was being possessed at first, it didn't help that I had auditory, visual, tactile and kinetic hallucinations, and I did go to a doctor. Now that I know it won't hurt me, I quite enjoy it when it happens.

@Deanie02 I've also had it when it felt like it was happening continuously, and that my respiratory system was being compromised, over and over. I actually had to get up that night. It was horrendous.

@StupidFaces

People have been trying to prove the existence of ghosts for over 150 years and yet not one scrap of credible evidence to suggest they exist.

Over the last 150 years, and many more, you will see accounts of people witnessing the paranormal. Now, I'm not saying that ghosts exist, but do you have any evidence to suggest they don't exist?

Science can't answer the question of what happens after we are gone, why would you therefore think ghosts don't exist?

My three year old DD talked about ‘the man at the end of the bed’ for several years, my MIL who used to sleep in that room before she moved would tell her family the same thing (devout church goer, very down to earth person)

I’ve had this and find it utterly terrifying despite knowing what it is 🫣

@MidlandCatGirl - wow, thanks for sharing that, it was really interesting to read. I'm amazed you felt able to stay in the house after the cat incident. I think I'd have run off up to your mum's!

My Dad died years ago of a very sudden and unexpected stroke at 58, and I kept thinking I saw him - and even now "hear" him (but it's more like an absolute conviction of communication, a kind of conversation in my thoughts of him advising me, rather than anything audible).

I do think there is an energy and it's most powerful around the deaths of people. But this could be the energy of emotion of the other person IYSWIM.

It's lovely to think your great grandfather came back to be with your great grandmother at the end.

My parents house is partly old farmhouse and there is one room there in the old part I'd never want to sleep in at night... don't know why. Rest of house feels lovely, but that room just makes me feel a bit weirded out for some reason.

@Mistymoonsinastarrysky I stayed up for 2 days until I saw the doctor. That was 20 odd years ago though. He said that all it is is your body, when in sleep, becomes paralysed so you don't act out your dreams. Sleep paralysis means your mind becomes conscious before your muscles and skeletal system decide to come out of this stage of temporary paralysis.

When it starts for me, my ears usually start buzzing and my nose feels strange. I feel like I'm falling and I just go with it.

It can be peaceful and nice, but also horrible.

I agree. As a newly qualified nurse I worked in a old TB hospital. The unit I worked in had a side ward that was always cold, even in mid summer. There was a strange uncontrollable feel in there too. One night I swore I heard a child’s voice and somebody running down the corridor but there was nothing there. I mentioned this on hand over and the sister said “ oh you’ve heard it then. ?”. So it wasn’t just me.

I took the opportunity to work overseas shortly afterwards. Nobody stayed on that unit for very long.

No-one's been able to prove the sky isn't full of invisible dragons, either, but that doesn't mean it probably is. You can't prove a negative.

Science has fully answered the question of what happens after we die. I suppose you mean science hasn't proved we have souls that continue after death, or something along those lines? That may well be because we don't ...

This
i don’t believe in ghosts .

I have experienced my fair share of "the paranormal" and am securely confident that it's all due to tricks of the mind.

I do believe there might be types of connection between living people - perhaps even between different species - that are not yet fully described or understood. I think these may turn out to be the source of some "paranormal" phenomena. But the vast majority are tricks of the mind.

We all slip in and out of consciousness while we're awake. It's only for fleeting moments, at least while we're healthy but, if the process goes out of sync for whatever reason, you would effectively be dreaming while awake for a second or two until your brain fixes itself.

I have a fatigue-related illness and often have minor hallucinations. Right now I can hear the radio, although I know I switched it off about an hour ago.

There are plenty of unclaimed prizes still open, though. You can even win a goat!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_prizes_for_evidence_of_the_paranormal

my son died aged 24 in 1998 ,i was broken. 3 days later early morning my partner bought me tea before he went to work. as i woke up my son was standing in front of me and held out something that was glittery and all around him was like a halo. i know it wasnt my imagination.

I'm so sorry for your devastating loss, @nealjacob53

I am so sorry @nealjacob53 💐

@MidlandCatGirl that was v interesting, I do believe these unexplained things happen but no idea of what causes them!

@nealjacob53 so sorry to read this 💐

Dh used to see our cat after he died in his peripheral vision and we both heard him scratching doors to come in and miaowing. We’d hear him jump down off windowsills too.

All those who can’t see or hear things are lucky, it’s a bit scary & reminds you they’ve gone.

I have the audio recording of my niece seeing a medium 3 months after dh died with a tracheostomy, when she starts the reading she says “I can’t talk, I can’t talk” and you can hear her coughing and trying to continue. Dh couldn’t talk with his trachy & had no upper airway.

@FormerlyPathologicallyHappy I didn’t find it scary really. I just thought ‘oh look there’s dogs name’. We got a new dog a few months after he died and I can remember sitting playing with the puppy in the living room and seeing the old dog sitting in the door way watching us, like he was saying don’t forget about me! How could we when he was a huge character lol

When I saw my grandmother I also felt the electric energy that the poster who’s name I can’t remember talked about. It was like static in the air. Very odd. Rather than being scared I thought ‘wow’.

I’m not big on psychic mediums or stuff like that, I don’t think we can really properly talk to them but at the same time I think there’s so much about the world and universe we don’t fully understand.

@InterestingWeasel

"I believe that traumatic events can leave behind sort of energy marks on places... so thats why places can feel "off" like old prisions, hospitals, battlefields etc. "

+++

I share the same theory. Where the greater the trauma and the longer the trauma endured then the greater chance of a presence being felt. In time this trauma mark or energy mark fades.

Whether this trauma/ emotional/ energy mark manifests itself into just an odd uncomfortable feeling about a place or the whole floating "wooo" apparition depends on the witness.

The day or day after my Dad died I was in the shop paying for my stuff, I turned around and out loud apologised to the 'person' I thought I had bumped into. There was no one there.

Then on the morning of my daughters 2nd birthday - whilst I was awake in bed, 6 months after Dad passed, I heard my Dads voice say my name.

It FREAKED me out and I lay there frozen in bed for a few minutes.

I have never seen anything but my Dad saw his Grandad the day I was born.

I wouldn’t say I believed in ghosts and have never seen one. My old house was 500 years old and I only encountered one very unexplained incident the first night we moved in.

However, very recently I moved to a new village. I sometimes walk my elderly dog around the village and just a few weeks ago took her into the church yard. She is nearly blind and getting deaf. She’s a massive sniffer and because she can hardly see just waddles along next to me. This particular day in the church yard she took about 20 steps, happily sniffing and checking out the smells when suddenly she stopped still, her hackles went up and she started grumbling. She point blank refused to go any further.

I didn’t notice or see anything, I couldn’t move her so I just turned round and we walked out. Very strange behavior which I’ve never seen her do before.

Where I used to live I walked through two separate church yards with no issues at all.

I think that tiredness-related brain glitches are absolutely responsible for a lot of this. A friend does ultramarathons that involve keeping moving in extreme conditions for 8/9 days on minimal sleep, and says the hallucinations, even as early as 24 hours in, are incredibly vivid.

Wow, that's interesting!

It's noticeable that a high proportion of manifestations happen while going to sleep or waking up. Hypnopomp (waking up) and hypnagogia (going to sleep) are known to cause hallucinations and other cognitive effects, so much so that witness testimony is called into doubt if the witness had just gone to bed or was woken up. It's generally thought to last about half an hour, so plenty of time to interact with your ghost.

Random thought: I wonder if that's why sleepy sex can be so pleasant

Why are they only ever dressed in Victorian/medieval clothes etc?

They’re not. I saw DP many months after he died. He was dressed in shorts, polo shirt leaning against a tree watching me cut the grass.
I’ve also seen a dog Spirit ( not wearing anything) and felt my cat jump onto my bed weeks after he had to be pts.