What exactly are ghosts?

[Debi]

I think that what I am reading above in the posts is most likely correct. We don't have the tools to measure the energy this works with and we don't have enough understanding of our universe to make much more than educated guesses. Which leaves us relying on what we see and hear in our own experiences. I've heard voices come from nowhere, I've seen ghosts/spirits, and I've interacted with what appear to be intelligent entities. I have to base my current beliefs on what I have experienced, and match them to other reports by those who have had like experiences. We may not understand how it all works...yet. But I do believe we are making progress on that.

 

[WitchAndShaman]

I think theories, (if this can even be called that) like this are basically useless without us even knowing in the least how this works...

For some phenomena, theories are all we have Paul. We might be stretching it a bit and at times even grasping at straws. But theories are a routine part of our discovery, evaluation, and learning processes so theorizing can’t really be useless to moving our knowledge forward.

 

[Paulm]

For some phenomena, theories are all we have Paul. We might be stretching it a bit and at times even grasping at straws. But theories are a routine part of our discovery, evaluation, and learning processes so theorizing can’t really be useless to moving our knowledge forward.

oh I agree 100%, theories are what leads to breakthroughs, just in this case I have seen too many ppl take this idea as fact. to me this is like giving human qualities to cartoon animals. projecting our reality onto them and saying because they don't have what we have, (vocal chords) then they cant talk....when in reality we have no idea how or what they may be able to do....we have to learn and understand their reality instead of projecting ours over to them...does that make sence?

 

[Mrs Cooper]

oh I agree 100%, theories are what leads to breakthroughs, just in this case I have seen too many ppl take this idea as fact. to me this is like giving human qualities to cartoon animals. projecting our reality onto them and saying because they don't have what we have, (vocal chords) then they cant talk....when in reality we have no idea how or what they may be able to do....we have to learn and understand their reality instead of projecting ours over to them...does that make sence?

Well we can use the empirical evidence, like rapid temperature drops just before a manifestation, to assemble plausible theories. We know that matter is energy & that ghosts are no longer residing in the material plane as occupants of tangible dense bodies. So one could surmise with a fair amount of credibility that in order for a less dense energy source that has little mass to affect a denser world of mass, the ghost may need to gather energy to do so. Easy energy to harvest would be free heat.

That’s just one example of many where physics can be applied to paranormal things. This is the area of research that most interests me.

 

[WitchAndShaman]

oh I agree 100%, theories are what leads to breakthroughs, just in this case I have seen too many ppl take this idea as fact. to me this is like giving human qualities to cartoon animals. projecting our reality onto them and saying because they don't have what we have, (vocal chords) then they cant talk....when in reality we have no idea how or what they may be able to do....we have to learn and understand their reality instead of projecting ours over to them...does that make sence?

As I’ve posted more than a dozen times on the PNF Paul, I have acknowledged having very few personal experiences with ghosts and spirits - probably fewer than a dozen. Because of my limited experiences on this specific topic, I can certainly be more open than some others to the variables that might be involved.

 

[WatcherOfTheNight]

Sorry for the period of silence (hectic couple weeks on my end!) but I really appreciate all the new replies and explanations! I have read all of it and it's fascinating, especially the descriptions of different theories.

A few further questions based on what has been stated:

How ghosts can hear may be a form of omnipresent direct perception of energy as it hits their spirit/energy bubble. Sounds included.

Wait, does that mean they can smell everything around them as well? Ghosts often seem to haunt old and abandoned places, so I would imagine that were quite unpleasant, being able to smell all the damp and decay and so on!

Also, I thought physical things went through ghosts, and while I've not seen any real footage or anything of someone trying to touch a ghost, it's usually portrayed in media that the ghost isn't even aware of them being there. Surely if they could feel the energy, they'd feel the heat from our hands, or the disruption of air as our body travels through it! I heard recently on the news that the sound made by wind isn't actually made by the air itself, but by the air hitting small particles and the energy produced by that collision. If ghosts had improved sight/hearing etc, would they be able to detect things like that? How come they're not reacting to physical outputs all the time?

Maybe ghosts/spirits get to keep their lips

I'm interested in how you worded that, with "get to". What do you think decides whether they do or not?

Well we can use the empirical evidence, like rapid temperature drops just before a manifestation

So is this term "manifestation" a specific thing? Is there a definition of what counts as one? If you know what to look out for, is there a way to say for sure whether a manifestation has occurred or not?

Also, just one further point - as we approach Halloween, my village's local ghost legend is making the rounds again. I'm unsure whether I believe in him (though I have had something that could count as an experience...), but he supposedly rides a bicycle and you can hear his bell ringing. How does that factor in in terms of spirits being able to produce sounds? Obviously the bicycle hasn't died and become a ghost (silly to say, but it needs typing out for my point) so does the cyclist himself produce the bell ringing sound, almost like a kind of parrot, just replicating sounds he knew in life? Maybe without vocal chords any sound is possible? Would he even be aware he's doing it?

 

[Mrs Cooper]

Manifestation is the ghost densifying their energy in order to either appear to people or affect the physical realm. That’s my theory.

 

[WitchAndShaman]

Sorry for the period of silence (hectic couple weeks on my end!) but I really appreciate all the new replies and explanations! I have read all of it and it's fascinating, especially the descriptions of different theories.

A few further questions based on what has been stated:



Wait, does that mean they can smell everything around them as well? Ghosts often seem to haunt old and abandoned places, so I would imagine that were quite unpleasant, being able to smell all the damp and decay and so on!

Also, I thought physical things went through ghosts, and while I've not seen any real footage or anything of someone trying to touch a ghost, it's usually portrayed in media that the ghost isn't even aware of them being there. Surely if they could feel the energy, they'd feel the heat from our hands, or the disruption of air as our body travels through it! I heard recently on the news that the sound made by wind isn't actually made by the air itself, but by the air hitting small particles and the energy produced by that collision. If ghosts had improved sight/hearing etc, would they be able to detect things like that? How come they're not reacting to physical outputs all the time?



I'm interested in how you worded that, with "get to". What do you think decides whether they do or not?



So is this term "manifestation" a specific thing? Is there a definition of what counts as one? If you know what to look out for, is there a way to say for sure whether a manifestation has occurred or not?

Also, just one further point - as we approach Halloween, my village's local ghost legend is making the rounds again. I'm unsure whether I believe in him (though I have had something that could count as an experience...), but he supposedly rides a bicycle and you can hear his bell ringing. How does that factor in in terms of spirits being able to produce sounds? Obviously the bicycle hasn't died and become a ghost (silly to say, but it needs typing out for my point) so does the cyclist himself produce the bell ringing sound, almost like a kind of parrot, just replicating sounds he knew in life? Maybe without vocal chords any sound is possible? Would he even be aware he's doing it?

I think by “get to” I mean to imply there is a design for all realms including the spirit and astral.

 

[Armand]

As some of you might recall from my introduction post the other week, I'm convinced that I've encountered some kind of supernatural experience in my life, and more than once. I'm becoming more and more convinced by the existence of spirits. But I'm not naturally a "believer", and I have quite a rational mind. So I was wondering if anyone more experienced than me could actually give me a bit of a grounding in ghosts, and what exactly they are.

I don't mean "dead people". I've got that part. But... how are they around us? I've heard them described as energy. Does that mean they will eventually just fizzle out? No energy that I know can sustain itself forever.

How can they make noise, like voices, when they have no vocal chords? No physical body through which to make that sound?

What about 'ectoplasm'? Is that just a work of fiction, or is there genuine evidence for that?

Sorry that this is a lot of questions, but I'm the kind of person who really likes to know how things work, so my belief in ghosts is really bugging me when I can't explain even the basics to myself!

I think a lot of times our minds go to a rational explanation for things we don't seem to understand at times and I think that is a good thing because if we dwell on it to much it might take us off track into focusing on something that may put us on a irrational path and make us paranoid. When that happens to me I usually let it go unless it really disturbs me.

 

[Cass]

A Ghost is something you, someone or someone else has created.
When we experience an event, the effect it has on our psyche leaves its impression in the atmosphere of that place.
That's all a ghost is, it's an impression, we're creating them every moment.

Most of our experiences, we don't pay much serious attention to, but those that do, possess a more psychic vitality and it is these moments that leave the deeper impressions in a place.

It's our psychic senses that perceive these impressions, xx