Ghosts

Reported in accounts I've read over the past 30 or so years, sometimes in newspapers like Psychic News, sometimes in newspapers, sometimes by word-of-mouth.

I admit I don't recognise some of the terms you've used such as 'land spirits' and 'house spirits'. I prefer just the word 'spirit' to mean the animating spirit of a once-human form. The situation concerning a so-called "stuck soul" or indeed a "body soul" might better be discussed in a separate thread and for simplicity I regard souls/spirits as just one category, their personal situations not being relevant to their classification even though it may be relevant to helping them if that's what they seek or need....

I'm confused by what you've written viz: "Three of these can be communicated with. The other, the ‘recording’, is a memory. The spirit who has the memory can be communicated with." If there are three who can be communicated plus also the (quote) "....spirit who has the memory" then that adds up to four.

As I wrote earlier on, it's often easier to say what ghosts aren't than what they are.....

Free souls, body souls and land/house spirits can be communicated with. Memories can't but the spirit having the memory can.

Classification may not be of importance or interest to you. Ignore it, then. The naming of different types of soul/spirit was relevant to the original question.

I am aware that spiritualists tend to use the word 'spirit' in a much more limited way than shamans/shamanic practitioners do.

And you're one of the latter?

I was under the impression that you already knew that from previous encounters.

I don't remember that well nowadays...

Okay 🙂

Earlier you mentioned you had spoken to several. Would you please give me a flavour of what you asked them and what they replied? It might help me understand their situation.

Free souls are the ones most people think of when they say ‘ghosts’. Sometimes they get stuck here (more often they get stuck/lost elsewhere – between here and the land of the dead). Then it’s often a case of simply talking, chatting until they are ready to trust that when you tell them that they are dead and that you can get them to where they need to go you actually know what you are talking about. Doing a power retrieval for them often helps. After they have power retrieved, they often realise for themselves that they are dead and remember that they should go to the land of the dead. After that, it’s just a matter of taking them.

Body souls are the spirit of the body and will become nature spirits as the body decays and becomes part of nature. They are occasionally seen (or otherwise detected) by people who are sensitive, and mistaken for ghosts. Most ‘ghosts’ that are seen in cemeteries and graveyards are body souls. There’s no need to do anything unless they are causing trouble, but soothing words and reminding them that the dead and the living are separate is usually enough. Some will attach to a living person and cause problems. Then the conversation is telling them that I know what is going on and can get them somewhere they will feel at home.

House spirits rarely cause trouble except in three main circumstances. First is when the person in the house has just learnt some shamanism and is practicing journeying at home. The house spirit realises that the person can talk to spirits but isn’t talking to them and thinks, “How rude!” The house spirit may then do things to attract attention – popping light bulbs, breaking the washing machine etc. I’ve spoken to several house spirits in this situation and explained that this is all a mistake and the person simply didn’t realise. I apologise (with the person’s permission, of course) on his/her behalf and all is generally well. The person journeys and gets to know the house spirit.
Another situation is where the building has changed use – Something built as a family home is split into flats, for example. This can really annoy the house spirit – “Whoever heard of a kitchen upstairs?” is a direct quote. Sometimes I can explain what has happened and the house spirit is mollified. Sometimes the spirit has to be replaced with a spirit who can cope.
The third common way is an extension of the other two – someone has thought they have a ghost (and/or a poltergeist) and called in either a priest or someone from the local spiritualist church. There are few things as angry as a house spirit that someone has tried to exorcise!

If the ‘ghost’ is a memory of the land or building spirit then (assuming it is a traumatic memory – happy ones don’t matter but are also unlikely to be repetitive) a healing (extraction and soul retrieval) can be done for the spirit.

thanks - Now I follow you.

thanks - Now I follow you.

Hi mac,

Now that Crowan has explained the meanings of spirits as far as Shamans would understand, it makes sense to me that in certain cases, there are 'body spirits.' I have undertaken paranormal investigations, which bear this out, both from my own experiences and those of others closer to the 'source.' An investigation, which I was involved in concerning a well-known cemetery bears all the classic symptoms of the entity being a 'body spirit.' We left the spirit be, knowing that in time, it will decay along with its body and eventually leave.

On another point you made (and I think Crowan made it too) is that many folks go on ghost hunts for a bit of thrill seeking without the knowledge or intention to move a stuck spirit from its place, to where it should go. Myself and a group of friends tried this on a ghost hunt and were scolded by the organisers, saying, 'If you send the ghosts on, we can't have ghost hunts here.' What a nasty thing to say to those offering to help others.

Patsy.

Everyone,

I think this has been touched on before, but since ghosts seems to be part of the human experience, does anyone have any ideas about what they might be?

Love,
Patsy.
xxxx

To me, a ghost is the emotional/mental body of a soul which has not properly crossed over after death, for some reason.

Ghosts can stay behind on the earth plane for a variety of reasons. For example, if a recently deceased soul believes they have done something wrong that they will be judged for, they may refuse to cross over. Or if a soul had an addiction when they were incarnated that they are not ready to release, they may also be reluctant to cross over. And when someone dies suddenly and unexpectedly and the person is too shocked and distressed to cross over and leave their life behind, they may choose to stay on the earth plane. Unfinished business can also cause a soul to keep a part of themselves in the earth plane, long after their life has ended.

To me, a ghost is the emotional/mental body of a soul which has not properly crossed over after death, for some reason.

Ghosts can stay behind on the earth plane for a variety of reasons. For example, if a recently deceased soul believes they have done something wrong that they will be judged for, they may refuse to cross over. Or if a soul had an addiction when they were incarnated that they are not ready to release, they may also be reluctant to cross over. And when someone dies suddenly and unexpectedly and the person is too shocked and distressed to cross over and leave their life behind, they may choose to stay on the earth plane. Unfinished business can also cause a soul to keep a part of themselves in the earth plane, long after their life has ended.

Confusion is the most common reason for getting lost/stuck - although not always "on the earth plane". More likely in the grey area between here and the land of the dead.

I've always thought of ghosts as just a "memory" effect that has been "captured " in some medium or other . Maybe the minerals in a wall or earth. Sort of like a recording. You could have a ship or a suit of armour included in the recording.
These cannot be interacted with as they are just recordings.

Spirit or souls are whatever we want to call them are "active" identities and can be interacted with as it seems that they have not fully as yet left our material dimension for whatever the reason.

I think I said this earlier in the thread, but the "memory" is a memory of the spirits of the place. The memories can't be interacted with but the spirits of the place can. Part of what I teach is listening to the stories that the spirits of place are willing to share with us.

What scommstech calls the "active" entities are the free souls. They may become stuck here - this is easy to deal with. More commonly they get stuck elsewhere, although we are not going to interpret those as ghosts, of course. However,

it seems that they have not fully as yet left our material dimension for whatever the reason.

makes it sound as if they will leave at some time. They won't. At least not without help.

There are also body souls. These are often considered "ghosts". Also, some spirits - for example, house spirits - are mistaken for ghosts by people who know nothing about such spirits.