A strange feeling that she could not breathe invaded her. She knew somehow that whoever or whatever was inside of the room could hear her, see her, even through the walls and the darkness. She was not alone. Suddenly, she felt something pulling her to the door, forcing her to open it. She did not want to find out what was it anymore. She wanted to scream, to ask for help, but the more she tried the less she could emit any sound. It was now or never! She opened the door slowly, as the voice increased its rate.
For the only time in her life she felt afraid of death, she was only nine years old. Three seconds later, the door was wide open! Something rushed strongly into her; she felt how it went through her body. She felt to the floor, her eyes were full of tears, but she was mute. She heard just silence. Then, little steps ran near by. –Fiore, what happened? I heard a horrible sound! - Frank said. –Nothing - she answered while trying to hide her tears - I hit myself trying to open the door. I found you! One two three for you! - She said, in order to not scare him. She had just had a meeting with a ghost.
You probably have some questions about the story I have just told. Well, let me try to answer: Yes, it is a true story. No, she did not tell anybody. Yes, the girl was me. No, any psychological problem you could identify in me must be due to another reason, not this encounter. Perhaps, as I did, you have had an experience with paranormal. Maybe you have gotten one more than once –as I have- a diversity of forward e-mails telling stories about ghosts, with creepy pictures claiming to be prove of their existence or certificated testimonies. Nowadays, we are so used to the commercialized idea of Halloween that we dress ourselves and even our children with costumes representing how we imagine they look like. But, do we truly believe? What are ghosts exactly?
Let us begin here, ghosts, what are they? I will give you the answer straight out: No one knows with certainty. Some people do not believe they exist, yet they are able to describe them. When we compare believers or not believers’ descriptions of them, most would differ on their idea of ghost, because there is not a certainty of what they are. According to Wikipedia,
“A ghost is defined as the apparition of a deceased person, frequently similar in appearance to that person, and usually encountered in places she or he frequented, or in association with the person's former belongings. The word ‘ghost’ may also refer to the spirit or soul of a deceased person, or to any spirit or demon. […]The term ghost has been replaced by apparition in parapsychology, because the word ghost is deemed insufficiently precise.”(1)
How is possible that I was able, at the age of nine, to assure that what I had seen was a ghost? I never saw any person- shaped thing, I never knew if someone had died or been killed on my house. I had a notion of goodness and evil, but no clue a devil could ever scare me like that. So why did I claim it was a ghost? Maybe subconsciously we have a hope inside of us that there is something else beyond our mind, that paranormal phenomenon exists. However, this little hope must have been created by the media messages selling its existence.
There are plenty of cases of hundreds of thousands of people stating that they have had paranormal encounters in some point of their lives. According to a poll conducted in 2005 by the Gallup Organization, about 32% of Americans believe in the existence of ghosts (2), proving that a good portion of the population thinks they are real. But is there any way we can prove they are? Has anybody studied these phenomena and tried to give a valid explanation to these cases before? Is this studied now?
Actually many people has tried to answered the infinite number of questions yet remaining in believers and not believers’ minds. In 1957, at North Carolina, a professional association of paranormal phenomenon researchers was formed. This is the Para-psychological Association, created by Dr. J. B. Rhine. It is engaged with the study of “psychic” (or “psi”) experiences, such as telepathy, clairvoyance, haunting, remote viewing, psycho kinesis, psychic healing, and precognition. The objective of this institution is to give a scientific explanation of each of these experiences. About ghosts’ existence, they state:
“The prevailing view today is that the mysterious physical effects historically attributed to ghosts (disembodied spirits), such as movement of objects, strange sounds, enigmatic odors, and failure of electrical equipment, are actually poltergeist phenomena. Apparitions that occur without accompanying physical effects are thought to be either normal psychological effects (i.e., hallucinations), or possibly genuine information mediated by psi.”(3)
A poltergeist phenomenon is defined as a direct mental interaction with the living, usually produced by a troubled adolescent. It seems to demonstrate the power our minds can reach, that we can really affect the world and those who surround us with our minds. (4)
I really thought that what I experimented in the storage room was a ghost. Now, an expert on the field tells me ghosts are recreated by human minds. Then ghost do not exist. Sounds simple, does not it? But how would you convince a nine years old girl that experimented such a thing that it was just a product of her imagination? Now it turns to be complicated matter. The fact is that the majority of the adult population - not even some scientists- can explain it, nor understand it.
Why is then, that a third of the total population in America believes in ghost existence? The idea of their existence is as old as humanity, looking for a hope in life after death. In the beginning, Pre-Colombian civilizations used to offer sacrifices to spirits primarily found in the nature; we excuse their beliefs with their ignorance. Then the development of religion came to the scene. There are a lot of religions all around the world, varying from region to region. At least we, as Christians, believe in one living God and the everlasting life in heaven. We believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the existence of angels and demons. We do not have any reason to believe in ghosts.
Then why do we manage a concept of ghost and a mental image of their appearance? Why do we believe even when we seem to have no reasons to do so? Let me try to explain it. I would attribute the responsibility to “the power of the media.” Mass media play an indispensable role in contemporaneous society. Public opinion depends on the media. Massive ways of communication such as television, radio, and lately, internet, communicate global ideas to individuals and reproduce the self image of society. Media has the power to limit our capacity to think and act by our own. This is because they constantly bombard us with influential messages, controlling our thoughts, wishes and “needs.” Media is actually the medium that businesses have to sell their products.
Think about the Halloween industry for example. Halloween costumes are traditionally those of monsters such as vampires, skeletons, witches, devils, and guess what: ghosts. To sell this holiday, we first have to sell the idea of these stereotyped Halloween monsters. This supposes that, if I believe ghosts exist, then they would become something worthy of a costume honor during this holiday. What about the e-mails we get, coming from a friend of a friend of our friend, trying to convince you about ghosts’ existence? Think about the quantity of newspaper’s articles, magazines, books, television and radio talk shows, and scientific investigations inspired in this phenomenon. How much money would not have moved all around the world if we had not the idea of ghosts surrounding us?
Ghosts do not exist, that is a fact. We can assure it even when some say there is not enough proves and arguments supporting it. They are just a result of our imagination, sometimes a psychological escape to stress or pressure, a manifestation of troubled adolescent’s power or the evidence of our capacity to develop our minds in uncommon areas, like for example the ability to affect physical world just by thinking on do so - psycho kinesis. Maybe as a little kid I did not understand it. In fact, it is hard to me to figure out what was exactly what I lived and why I did. The true is that it was definitely not a ghost; that is for sure. Not only Para-psychological Association proves so, but my Christian’s beliefs too.
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Works Cited
(1) Ghost. Wikipedia, online encyclopedia. 08 Dec. 2007. 11 Dec. 2007.
(2) Park Musella, David. “Gallup poll shows that American’s belief in the paranormal persists.” www.findarticles.com Sept. –Oct 2005. 11 Dec. 2007
(3) (4) “Frequently Asked Questions, page 3.” Para-psychological Association. 12 Nov. 2007. Innovated Software Design. 11 Dec. 2007.
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