Aug 03 2009
Ghost Stories
Welcome back, dark passengers. I’ve been thinking a lot about ghost stories lately. Okay, not really ghost stories, per se, but what’s behind them.
Have you ever really thought about it, how ghost stories came to be, I mean? Someone had to tell the very ghost story and it would have been back in the day when urban legends weren’t spawning an endless series of B movies. How did they come up with that first story? Could there be any truth to ghost stories.
It’s All in Your Mind
As any good skeptic will be quick to suggest, ghost stories are products of fiction, seeds to take hold in the fertile mind and grow to dizzying heights. Maybe there’s something to that. Maybe most of the ghost stories are just that - stories. Maybe ghost sighting are just in your head or examples of mass hallucination. Stranger things have happened, right?
You know, I’m willing to concede on this one…to a point. I think there are plenty of people out there who will let their imaginations whisk them away every time the neighborhood stray cats knock over the trash cans. Others still have been known to partake in, erm, illegal substances and then see all sorts of things. Throw in a few certified attention seekers and you have all the makings of a great ghost story.
Everything Comes From Something
Of course, that’s just the thing…there are great stories and then there are actual ghostly encounters. One does not always lead to the other. Real encounters with ghosts are often nothing out of the ordinary, except, of course, that a ghost is there. Not all ghosts deliver messages from the other side of death or go out of their way to terrorize those who can see them.
Most ghosts aren’t even aware they’re dead or that the people who can see them are even there…
But let’s go back to all those wildy fantastical tales of the macabre and how they might have originated. For argument’s sake, we’ll agree they are all from someone’s over-active imagination. How did the thoughts get there in the first place?
The other fiction writers out there aren’t going to appreciate my saying this, but there are limits on a person’s creativity. By and large, there are no truly unique ideas left in the world. Everything is a rehashing and retelling of an existing concept. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
That applies to ghost stories as well. Even the most creative person usually cannot pull new concepts or tales out of thin air. So many talk about how ideas just come to them, pop into their minds really. Others might talk about being inspired by their muse. I don’t know about you, but that leads me to believe those ideas are coming from something as opposed to nothing.
What do y’all think? Is there anything truth to ghost stories? Where do you think they came from?
Jen
“Let your dark passenger come out to play…Be your own nemesis!”
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Yeah, I’m thinking we’ll have two distinct groups commenting…Either you’ve seen one or experienced the supernatural firsthand so you believe…or you haven’t so you don’t.
Well, okay, I guess there’s the 3rd category of people who’ve seen one, had the experiences and still deny it to themselves. *shrugs*
Kelly - My experience with curses (thankfully) has been very limited; however, I do know a little bit. From what I understand, they do the most damage to people who believe they’re cursed. It’s sort of a Law of Attraction thing. When you believe you’re cursed and that xyz will occur because of it, your belief can make it so.
Okay, but let’s say you’re cursed and mind over matter telling yourself you aren’t cursed doesn’t work…You’re going to need some good ol’ fashioned psychic defense. (Now, this is something I know about because it was the FIRST thing I had to learn.) It’s up to you…We can chat about it in comments or you can contact me privately about it, but I’m going to need some more details about what’s going on to make you think you’re cursed before I can try to help you…
Kendall - Totally have to agree with you. Of course, I also think people tend to embellish a bit when telling their ghost stories. I mean, how dull would it be to sit around the camp fire saying, “Yeah, I saw a ghost of an old man in my hallway and he kept asking what time he took his pills…”
Great topic. I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently, though more in terms of dreams, or deceased people appearing in dreams (I’ll have to e-mail you with some personal experiences, and to catch up). Well written.
Dan - There are indeed many amazing and often unexplainable things going on around us…
MadrigalBlue - Yeah…I’d say you do have to e-mail me to catch up because it’s been WAY too long. I’ve had the same issue with the deceased popping up in my dreams…I just don’t talk about it much because I think it would really start to freak out my family.
But it is weird timing because I’ve been doing dream interpretation - in between Dexter mania - on my other dark passenger site…