As promised in a previous post, I'd like to discuss beliefs on ghosts and the afterlife. I figured since we're in the Halloween season now it would be the perfect time to bring it up!
Everyone has different ideas about what they believe happens after you die and I've realized that individual people's beliefs don't always match up to their religion or lack thereof. For example, I know atheists who believe in ghosts or believe that if they talk to their loved ones they can still hear them, but they don't believe in god or any kind of divine entity or creator. I know Christians who believe in reincarnation or who doubt the possibility of an afterlife at all. It's very interesting to me that when it comes to ideas about ghosts and the afterlife, even people who normally subscribe to one particular religion tend to hold different beliefs than what their religion tells them is "right".
I've always sort of believed in ghosts, probably because my mother also believed in ghosts and raised me to believe in them as well. In fact, for awhile I was convinced that the house I grew up in might have been haunted due to some weird experiences I've had there. I've also known quite a few people who have been absolutely convinced that they have seen, talked to, felt, or otherwise came in contact with a ghost. One incident that always stuck out to me was when my aunt claimed she saw my grandmother's ghost talk to her while she was in the hospital. My aunt had just been in a horrific car accident and she said that she saw my grandmother (her mother) and that my grandmother told her "not yet". She said once she heard her say that she knew that she was going to survive and she did, but the word "yet" seemed ominous both to her and to the rest of us. A month later after surviving the initial crash my aunt died from a blood clot caused by one of the surgeries she had to have following the car accident. My whole family became convinced that perhaps somehow my grandmother was able to buy her some extra time or knew that she had a limited amount of time left but wouldn't die right away. This wasn't the only incident like this that I've heard of, in fact, I know many people who have similar stories. All of this served to back up my beliefs in ghosts, but for awhile I went through a period of being a skeptic and I suppose I still sort of place myself in that category. It's hard to believe in something when you haven't seen it with your own two eyes.
This desire to "see it to believe it" led me to decide to go ghost hunting with a few friends of mine. We went to a place that once served as a home for the elderly, the mentally ill, and the poor, but has since closed down. Many people claim it's haunted and my friends have gone there multiple times with equipment like video cameras, k2 meter, laser grid, radio scanner/spirit box, etc. and have said they saw ghosts and talked to them. So this past spring I decided to go with them. It was an absolutely amazing experience. Two of my friends saw the arm of a ghost that looked like a shadow reach out into a hallway, two felt a presence behind them and the spot where it was got significantly colder, and we seemed to be communicating with a few of them using the spirit box. There was one hallway where reportedly both a rape and a suicide happened and when we were sitting in that hallway everyone in our group said they could feel a horrible presence, myself included. I can't even begin to describe it. It was hard to breathe, I felt nervous, scared, anxious, a weight on my chest, the feeling that we weren't alone, and a feeling of absolute dread. I started to feel nauseated even. It was one of the worst feelings ever and it was the only place I'd ever felt like that. I kept hearing noises that could potentially be explained, but just didn't seem normal to me. The rest of the place didn't feel like that at all, it felt fine, like as though if it were haunted, they were "friendly ghosts" but that hallway was pure dread, negativity, and fear. I still somewhat consider myself to be a skeptic, but that hallway alone sort of makes me classify myself as a believer, because something was absolutely not right.
The only time I ever felt anything even slightly like that hallway was when I visited my grandparents' house after they had moved out. We rented out their house after they moved in with my uncle and one of the tenants had a friend who worked in construction whom my dad hired to help remodel the house. After a bad breakup and a period of depression, he hung himself while working on my grandparents' house. After that, the whole house seemed to have a bad vibe to it. I can't explain it, but it didn't feel like home the way it did before. The room he killed himself in especially felt cold and "off". However, even that was no where near as bad as that hallway. Nothing I've ever experienced in my entire life ever felt like that hallway. It was terrifying.
My mom actually has a few experiences with ghosts and even demons, so she claims, but I'd like to make a separate post on that dedicated specifically to myths and beliefs about demons. For now I'd like to pose the question to all of you: Do you believe in ghosts? If so, have you ever had any experiences with ghosts? Let me know in the comments!
P.S. I hope everyone is having a great Halloween season! I'm going to an amusement park with my best friend tonight for their Halloween "fright nights" which means roller coasters and haunted houses all night long! I'm so excited! Oh, and happy Friday the 13th too!
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