GHOSTS / SPIRITS
Episode(s): Pilot, Dead in the Water, Home, Asylum,
Route 666, Hell House, ProvenanceLocation Sighted: Everywhere
On The Show: The presence of ghosts and spirits is, along with demons,
the most present enemy in the "Supernatural" series. In general, Sam and
Dean fight against these otherwordly presences using guns loaded with rock salt.
They also seem to be defeated when their remains are salted and burned.
Unlike many ghost stories, the ghosts of "Supernatural" can manifest themselves
enough to cause serious harm and damage to human beings.
The Myth Behind the Show: A ghost is an alleged non-corporeal
manifestation of a dead person (or, sometimes, an animal or a vehicle). It is
often claimed to be a manifestation of the spirit or soul of a person which has
remained on Earth after death. According to some beliefs, a ghost may be the
personality of a person after his or her death, and not directly tied to the
soul or spirit. Every culture in the world carries stories about ghosts, though
they often disagree as to what ghosts are and whether they are just figments of
imagination or a part of reality.
Ghosts are often depicted of a human size and shape (although some accounts also
mention animal ghosts), but typically described as "silvery", "shadowy",
"semitransparent", "misty", "human-like", "big", "scary" or "fog-like".
Parapsychologists refer to the "substance" of which ghosts and other spirits are
made as "ectoplasm". Ghosts, it is maintained, do not have a physical body like
human beings, but only a subtle astral body. Sometimes they do not manifest
themselves visually but in terms of other phenomena, such as the movements of an
object, spontaneous throwing of a light switch, noises, etc., which supposedly
have no natural explanation.
In the West, those who believe in ghosts sometimes hold them to be souls that
could not find rest after death, and so linger on Earth. This inability to find
rest is often "explained" as unfinished business, such as a victim seeking
justice or revenge after death. Criminals sometimes supposedly linger to avoid
Purgatory or Hell. It is sometimes held that ghosts reside in Limbo or
Purgatory. Although this view was once propounded by some Catholic theologians,
it is no longer believed according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It
is worth noting that while mainstream Protestants and Evangelical Christians
believe in the existence of principalities, they do not believe in ghosts (as
spiritual manifestations of the dead) and would generally attribute more violent
ghosts, such as poltergeists, to the actions of demons.
Some ghost researchers approach the possibility of ghosts from a more scientific
standpoint, seeking to find correlations and causal relationships between
recordable phenomena and the supposed presence of ghosts. Those who follow this
approach most often believe that ghosts are not actual disembodied souls or
spirits, but rather they are impressions of psychic energy left behind by a
deceased (or in some rare cases, still living) person. They assert that
traumatic events (such as a murder or suicide) cause mental energy to be
released into the world, where it may be experienced by other people who are
sensitive to its presence. This way of thinking classifies ghosts in the same
category of preternatural unexplained phenomena as poltergeists/telekinesis,
ESP, and telepathy. Theories from this approach often encounter difficulties in
explaining ghosts that appear to be sentient, such as those which appear to
answer questions or react to specific actions from people present. However, it
is claimed as a possibility that enough of a dead person's psyche might be
imprinted on an environment so as to give the likeness of thought or autonomy.
In Asian cultures, such as China, there are some people who hold a belief in
reincarnation. Ghosts are those souls that refused to be "recycled" because they
have unfinished business, similar to those in the West. Exorcists can either
help a ghost to be driven away or reincarnated. In Chinese tradition, apart from
being reincarnated, a ghost can also become immortal and become a demigod, or it
can go to hell and suffer for eternity, or it can die again and become "ghost of
ghost". The Chinese also believe that some ghosts, especially those who died of
drowning, kill people in order to rob them of their rights to reincarnation. The
victims of such paranormal "murders" are called tìsíguǐ , literally "substitute
death ghost" or "substitute devil" which in Chinese is a synonym for scapegoat.
Also in China, particularly in the Guangzhou area, the Chinese people usually
hold a Chinese version of the Day of the Dead ritual for their ancestors in
autumn. The ritual consists of burning Hell Bank Notes and other luxury items
made of paper mache as well as pouring wine three times on their grave and
leaving food. An older ritual is for the living family to prepare a grand feast
for their dead relatives "returning" home. During the time of feast, those
relatives amongst the living are not allowed to leave their bedrooms regardless
of how much noise the ghost makes.
While some accept ghosts as a reality, many others are skeptical of the
existence of ghosts. For example, the vast majority of the scientific community
believes that ghosts, as well as other supernatural and paranormal entities, do
not exist.
Skeptics often explain ghost sightings with the principle of Occam's razor,
which argues that explanations should maximize parsimony with the rest of our
knowledge. They may suggest that, since few to none of us have ever had an
interpersonal relationship with a ghost, but most or all of us have had an
experience of self-delusion or have attributed a false cause to an event, that
these options should be preferred in the absence of a great abundance of
evidence. They are also keen to note that most ghost sightings happen when our
senses are impaired, and that the evidence is unreliable because it doesn't
occur when we have full use of our faculties.
Occasionally, the sincerity and motive of the claimant will be questioned. They
might make up a haunting for a personal reason. For example, lingering of ghosts
is typically associated with seeking justice or revenge. Ascribing such motives
and powers to dead people could be interpreted as a scare tactic. Also, a person
might claim a haunting for personal popularity and income.
Human physiology may make us more susceptible to ghost sightings. Ghosts are
often associated with a chilling sensation, but a natural animal response to
fear is hair raising, which can be mistaken for chill. Also, the peripheral
vision is very sensitive to motion, but does not contain much color or focused
shapes. Any random motion outside the focused view can create a strong illusion
of an eerie figure. Also, sound waves with frequencies lower than 20 hertz are
called infrasound; they are formally inaudible, but British scientists Richard
Lord and Richard Wiseman have concluded that infrasound can cause humans to feel
a "presence" in the room, or unexplained feelings of anxiety or dread.
Sometimes ghosts are associated with electromagnetic disturbances, which
suggests that they might be attributable to the electromagnetic field and not to
a presently dead person. Often, videos of paranormal investigators will show
them using E-field or B-field detectors and finding "ghostly" results near wall
outlets and electrical appliances.
Psychological factors may also relate to ghost sightings. Many people exaggerate
their interpretation of their own perceptions, either when visiting a place they
believe to be haunted, or when visiting a site which they know has seen
unpleasant historical events. Certain images such as paintings and movies might
"program" a person to automatically associate a certain structure or area as
haunted because of what they have seen in the movies. As well, the psychological
phenomenon of pareidolia may cause people to perceive human-like faces or
figures in the otherwise mundane surroundings of their environments,
particularly in conditions where vision is partly obscured, as in a dark
corridor or at night.