When I found it was addressed in H. G. Wells’ The Time Machine, it was not the first time I heard or pondered about the increasing population of the spirit world. Basically, having seen what might be a ghost in the future, the Time Traveler wondered how numerous they would have to be after countless generations.
Assuming spirits exist, how many spirits are there? And how crowded could the Earth get with ghosts? Do ghosts eventually dissipate as some mystics suggest?
These are things we just can’t know.
In Shinto there is a saying that there are eight million spirits (or alternatively eight hundred and eighty), but this is not a literal eight million, because in Japanese, eight million can also mean; too many to count! Well, it makes since really, if there’s currently around 6.5 billion people on the planet and countless generations before, how do you figure out how many of them became ghosts, added to the various non-human spirits of Shinto belief?
Of course some religions limit the number of spirits much more. Some cult-like Southern US churches claim that the only spirits that exist are God, x-number of angels, and x-number of demons, never increasing. Honestly, I don’t know what bible they’re reading from, because there are clearly human ghosts and spirits described in the Holy Bible. But they still don’t have, to the best of my knowledge, a head count for the number of spirits.
As far as paranormal investigation goes, an increasing number of spirits could be an exciting prospect. In just the past couple weeks I got two new leads without even looking for leads, both an office building and a church, which may have paranormal activity.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Friday, July 26, 2013
The Mythology of Four-Leaf Clovers
I found a four-leaf clover today, gave it to my mom, and immediately got asked if I could find another. I’d found it within a half-minute of casually looking at a small clover patch, I used to look for them methodically as a kid, and there was even a whole patch of white clovers with mostly four leaves in our yard at one point (I haven’t been able to find it in a while, so it may have died off)... so I figured this wouldn’t be too hard. Of course, the second one was way harder to find, taking several minutes.
So, why are four-leaf clovers lucky?
Clovers can have up to 56 leaves, so apparently it isn’t that more is better. There are even some variety of clover (mostly cultivated) that exclusively have four leaves.
In Christianity, three-leaf clovers and shamrocks have been used to represent the three aspects of God; father, son, and holy ghost. Some say the fourth leaf causes the clover to represent the cross, while other say it represents the grace of God. It may also represent the second coming of Christ.
Medieval myth claimed carrying a four-leaf clover could allow you to see fairies! Druids on the other hand, believed it could allow you to see evil spirits and protect you from them.
Some say Abraham Lincoln carried a four-leaf clover, almost everyday except the day he was shot. I’m not sure about the validity of this claim, but it does make you wonder.
Some variations on the myth:
* It’s bad luck to pick a three leafed clover.
* It’s bad luck to pick any odd numbered leaf clover, but all even number leaved clovers are good luck.
* Five leaf clovers are bad luck, or according to some people even luckier. (These are also called rose clovers.)
* It’s very bad luck to pick any clover with five or more leaves!
So, why are four-leaf clovers lucky?
Clovers can have up to 56 leaves, so apparently it isn’t that more is better. There are even some variety of clover (mostly cultivated) that exclusively have four leaves.
In Christianity, three-leaf clovers and shamrocks have been used to represent the three aspects of God; father, son, and holy ghost. Some say the fourth leaf causes the clover to represent the cross, while other say it represents the grace of God. It may also represent the second coming of Christ.
Medieval myth claimed carrying a four-leaf clover could allow you to see fairies! Druids on the other hand, believed it could allow you to see evil spirits and protect you from them.
Some say Abraham Lincoln carried a four-leaf clover, almost everyday except the day he was shot. I’m not sure about the validity of this claim, but it does make you wonder.
Some variations on the myth:
* It’s bad luck to pick a three leafed clover.
* It’s bad luck to pick any odd numbered leaf clover, but all even number leaved clovers are good luck.
* Five leaf clovers are bad luck, or according to some people even luckier. (These are also called rose clovers.)
* It’s very bad luck to pick any clover with five or more leaves!
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
San Gervasio
The day before many claimed the world would end according to the Mayan Calendar (that’s Dec 20th 2012 in case you‘re unfamiliar with the myth, in reality the Mayan Calendar just starts over), I had the pleasure of visiting some Mayan ruins. Not the famous pyramids that everybody visits, but a smaller site dedicated to the Mayan goddess Ix Chel.
This site has ancient highways, houses, a plaza, tombs, alters, cenotes (well/refrigerator) and The Arch or The Arch of Fertility. (Ix Chel was their goddess of fertility and childbirth, as well as medicine, the moon, and weaving.) The story I was told was that young couples would pass through the arch on their way to the shore, in belief that this would make them more fruitful.
Monday, July 22, 2013
The Flagpole
I walked past the demolition site of what used to a grade school yesterday. Many haunting accounts describe activity starting up or becoming worse when the owners try to renovate or restore their building. It made me wonder if demolition brought out the same sort of activity, and that maybe I should come by sometime and take some pictures. After all, I’ve heard accounts of property that was still haunted after one building was destroyed and a new one was erected. And schools tend to be haunted.
It was about that time, just after I passed the platform that used to support the flagpole (outside the protective fence), that I heard three steady clanks. The sort of clanks that the metal fastener bits on a flag line make when the wind blows causing them to knock against the pole. Probably, it was just a bird taking off from the fence I decided, but the timing of the sound was great.
Today I drove past this same site. There’s a flagpole inside the fence, no flag, but it has a flag line with metal fasteners. The human mind had this amazing ability to be blind to things that aren’t currently important. I didn’t notice the flagpole before I got to the old platform, so it was behind me by the time I heard the sound.
It was about that time, just after I passed the platform that used to support the flagpole (outside the protective fence), that I heard three steady clanks. The sort of clanks that the metal fastener bits on a flag line make when the wind blows causing them to knock against the pole. Probably, it was just a bird taking off from the fence I decided, but the timing of the sound was great.
Today I drove past this same site. There’s a flagpole inside the fence, no flag, but it has a flag line with metal fasteners. The human mind had this amazing ability to be blind to things that aren’t currently important. I didn’t notice the flagpole before I got to the old platform, so it was behind me by the time I heard the sound.
Friday, July 19, 2013
Sleep Paralysis
When I discuss with people their paranormal experiences, my mind is already trying to separate what can be rationally explained from what can’t. Often when discussing a haunting or alien encounter, people will describe an event that fits the profile of a scientifically explained phenomenon, Sleep Paralysis (aka. Bound in Metal).
They’ll be lying in bed. They may have just gone to bed, or it may be later on in the night and they will experience the inability to move. Then often, they will realize there is a presence in the room with them, a ghost, hag, alien, or demon. This creature may be stating at them, sitting on them, holding them down, harming them, and/or molesting them.
It’s a horrifying experience, then the victim wakes and the entity is gone, along with any evidence they were there. Because for all practical purposes, they weren’t. The victim has just experienced a level of semi-consciousness in which they were partially awake, but still dreaming and still paralyzed by the chemicals that keep us from acting out our dreams and hurting ourselves.
While it’s possible that the stress, and consequent sleep deprivation, from a haunting or encounter may have brought on the sleep paralysis, most people are comforted to know that it is not actually part of the haunting (or a true alien encounter).
Sleep Paralysis experiences often seem to linked to local culture. In Japan, ghosts are most commonly blamed, while people in most of the USA are more likely to experiences encounters with aliens. Europeans and people in the South Eastern USA are more likely to experience witches or hags. Some cultures are more likely to experience demons, such as that of Turkey.
Demons, specifically Incubus and Succubus were the commonly blamed for Sleep Paralysis in medieval times... as well as any nighttime lusting.
They’ll be lying in bed. They may have just gone to bed, or it may be later on in the night and they will experience the inability to move. Then often, they will realize there is a presence in the room with them, a ghost, hag, alien, or demon. This creature may be stating at them, sitting on them, holding them down, harming them, and/or molesting them.
It’s a horrifying experience, then the victim wakes and the entity is gone, along with any evidence they were there. Because for all practical purposes, they weren’t. The victim has just experienced a level of semi-consciousness in which they were partially awake, but still dreaming and still paralyzed by the chemicals that keep us from acting out our dreams and hurting ourselves.
While it’s possible that the stress, and consequent sleep deprivation, from a haunting or encounter may have brought on the sleep paralysis, most people are comforted to know that it is not actually part of the haunting (or a true alien encounter).
Sleep Paralysis experiences often seem to linked to local culture. In Japan, ghosts are most commonly blamed, while people in most of the USA are more likely to experiences encounters with aliens. Europeans and people in the South Eastern USA are more likely to experience witches or hags. Some cultures are more likely to experience demons, such as that of Turkey.
(Incubus, 1870)
Demons, specifically Incubus and Succubus were the commonly blamed for Sleep Paralysis in medieval times... as well as any nighttime lusting.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Ammut
I tried to impress upon a couple of kids today that Ammut (aka: Ammt, Ammit and Ahemait) was one of the scariest monsters in Eygptian mythology.
I don’t feel like I was successful in the slightest. Sure they got that she was a chimera demon composed of Crocodile head, Lion front body, and Hippo rear body. But I don’t think at all that they appreciated that these were the three largest dangerous creatures known to Ancient Egyptians, who believed Hippos would in fact eat men (not just kill them). And sure, they got that she would eat the hearts or souls of deceased sinners (depending on the version). But I don’t think they appreciated how game over having your soul eaten is. That’s it, there’s no more, no afterlife for you sir (of course, this is pretty much what atheist believe, minus the she-demon, so there may be a cultural gap there). And even if it wasn’t soul death, having your heart eaten, leaving you wandering the earth as tormented and restless soul (similar to the Japanese yuurei, or hungry ghost) is hardly something to look forward too.
This should be horrifying! It eats souls! But I’ve heard it over and over again, kids (and adults) are totally desensitized nowadays. And nobody meditates on anything anymore either, smartphones and microwaves have made us impatient, and you have to think about it long enough to realize why it’s scary.
Maybe I think too much...
* (The image above created by Jeff Dahl, and obtained via wikipedia)
I don’t feel like I was successful in the slightest. Sure they got that she was a chimera demon composed of Crocodile head, Lion front body, and Hippo rear body. But I don’t think at all that they appreciated that these were the three largest dangerous creatures known to Ancient Egyptians, who believed Hippos would in fact eat men (not just kill them). And sure, they got that she would eat the hearts or souls of deceased sinners (depending on the version). But I don’t think they appreciated how game over having your soul eaten is. That’s it, there’s no more, no afterlife for you sir (of course, this is pretty much what atheist believe, minus the she-demon, so there may be a cultural gap there). And even if it wasn’t soul death, having your heart eaten, leaving you wandering the earth as tormented and restless soul (similar to the Japanese yuurei, or hungry ghost) is hardly something to look forward too.
This should be horrifying! It eats souls! But I’ve heard it over and over again, kids (and adults) are totally desensitized nowadays. And nobody meditates on anything anymore either, smartphones and microwaves have made us impatient, and you have to think about it long enough to realize why it’s scary.
Maybe I think too much...
* (The image above created by Jeff Dahl, and obtained via wikipedia)
Monday, July 15, 2013
Dancing Chair
This is probably my most reliable paranormal story. It doesn’t involve having just woken up to a silvery figure or sleep paralysis, nor shadows seen from the corners of eyes, nor creepy feelings, nor UFOs to far away to properly identify.
No, this happened right in front of me! Very close to me… Unfortunately, I don’t have an exact date or any sort of evidence.
It was morning, somewhere in the neighborhood of 6 am. I was a little tired, I’m not a morning person, but wide awake. I’d been awake for over an hour. I was making a sandwich for my lunch. I was in high school at the time and didn’t care for the hot lunches the cafeteria-less school sold.
Standing in the kitchen, I was facing the dinning room and could see the top 2/3 of the chairs and table. Suddenly, the chair at the end of the table (the one directly in front of me), started rocking around.
It felt like a long time, but it was probably really less than a second, and then it stopped.
I stopped making my sandwich and went to look and see if one of the cats had jumped from the chair. Both our cats were in the chairs to either side of it, fast asleep.
Guess what I did then? Did I freak out? Did I run screaming from the house? Did I call my mom, crying? Did I try to exorcise the chair? Nope. I shrugged and went back to making my sandwich, only later realizing how significant of activity that was. Many paranormal investigators would give a limb to get that on camera.
Which I didn’t.
(Get it on camera, that is... I've never given a limb either, but that's another subject.)
No, this happened right in front of me! Very close to me… Unfortunately, I don’t have an exact date or any sort of evidence.
It was morning, somewhere in the neighborhood of 6 am. I was a little tired, I’m not a morning person, but wide awake. I’d been awake for over an hour. I was making a sandwich for my lunch. I was in high school at the time and didn’t care for the hot lunches the cafeteria-less school sold.
Standing in the kitchen, I was facing the dinning room and could see the top 2/3 of the chairs and table. Suddenly, the chair at the end of the table (the one directly in front of me), started rocking around.
It felt like a long time, but it was probably really less than a second, and then it stopped.
I stopped making my sandwich and went to look and see if one of the cats had jumped from the chair. Both our cats were in the chairs to either side of it, fast asleep.
Guess what I did then? Did I freak out? Did I run screaming from the house? Did I call my mom, crying? Did I try to exorcise the chair? Nope. I shrugged and went back to making my sandwich, only later realizing how significant of activity that was. Many paranormal investigators would give a limb to get that on camera.
Which I didn’t.
(Get it on camera, that is... I've never given a limb either, but that's another subject.)
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