Article two about ghosts. What they are and aren't.

Exploring Ghosts.  Part Two.

Fact: One out of every 30 who die will become a ghost.

Why?

First of all, a ghost is simply the spiritual embodiement of a person who dies. It's the energy of the self-image or the soul, if you will, all of us have within us. This energy never ceases to exist, not even after the physical body dies.

The personality contained within that energy doesn't change. If a person was kind and laidback and easy going, the spirit of that person will remain the same after death. Or if a person was a mean son-of-a-gun, he'll remain mean after death. 

The scent of a person also remains intact after death. My favorite aunt, for example, used to smell like Chantilly cologne. I can always tell if she's around by the subtle scent of Chantilly.

When death occurs, the spirit can either go up to the Eternal Light, or choose to stay here on this Earthly Plane. As the body dies, which is usually not suddenly, the soul has some time to decide where he or she wants to go. As the systems of the body shut down, one by one, the soul, knowing it has to go somewhere, starts to make that decision.

If a person choses to go to the Eternal Light, that's where they'll remain in the natural order of things. But they only get one chance to go there. If they decide to stay on the Eartly Plane, they're stuck, as it were. They won't get another chance unless someone on Earth intercedes for them, and shows them the way.  But this article isn't going to go into that. This article is about why a soul stays here.

Why would a soul stay? The reasons are as varied as the nature of humankind.

Some liked what they had on earth too much to leave it. Liberace, for example, loved the adulation of the crowds. His spirit can often be found playing his favorite piano, dressed in his favorite glittering costumes in his museum in Las Vegas.

There's a spirit in Galveston who adored both her possessions and her flirtation with her beloved beau. She can be found in her mansion, reliving the period of her life when she was the happiest. Her beau too, has joined her. She loved to play the piano while her beau watched and even today, music rings forth from the house.

Then there are those spirits who had unfinished business who feel they must complete it before they can move on.  This is futile. Because the spirits of others have usually moved on, and the business which was so urgent ceased with their body died. But they will keep looking for ways to take care of that business, searching for those who were involved with it...all to no avail.

There are some who, for example, die in horrific car crashes so suddenly, they don't know they're dead. They keep doing what they did in life, not because they feel they must, but because that's what they did when alive, so for them, the everyday business of life goes on.

This is especially sad if that person died while engaged in a struggle for their lives. They don't know they lost, and keep on struggling to live, to fight whoever it was who was threatening them.

There are also what I call messengers. These are the souls who chose the Eternal Light, but who have persmission to check on those they loved and were worried about. Every so often, the veil separating life as we know it, and death lifts, and they come to that person, using their signature scent as "calling cards." They aren't here to hurt us or to interfere, but rather to assure themselves (and us) we're not alone or forgotten.  Often times, they will show up in times of stress, to try to impart strength to the one they loved.

The above are all active ghosts, engaged in the business of life.  But there is also a phenomena called "Residual Hauntings."

Residual Hauntings don't have an active ghost present who seeks (or shuns as the case may be) human interaction. It's simply the strong energy of an important event.  The scene that materializes seems to have people in it. But those people keep doing the same things over and over again, never deviating.

In the old Rice Hotel in downtown Houston, which has since been remodeled and turned into condominiums, the spirit of JFK can often be seen in the area of what was his room the night before he went to Dallas. He seems to be preoccupied, looking down at the sheaf of papers he carries. He never looks up. Never approaches anyone. He just keeps pacing over and over again.  That's a residual haunting. It's merely the agitated energy of a monumental event which could have, had he lived, affected us all. 

That's it for now. I'll post more articles about ghosts later. 

Take Care,

Ayn