Tag: Christmas ghosts

Christmas Spirits? Ghosts and the Holidays.

christmas-blueorn-illusAlmost everyone associates Halloween with ghosts, but what about Christmas? I don’t mean Dickens’ ‘Ghost of Christmas Past’, but other ghosts as well.

Many important haunted sites are active at specific times of year.

For example, Gettysburg seems more haunted at the anniversary of the battles. Historic homes notice more hauntings at the anniversary of someone’s death. And, on the last nights of October (and April), we say that ‘the veil between the worlds is thinner’.

xmas-candles-illusIn fact, several haunted homes report increased activity on the anniversary of a previous resident’s birthday. People hear children singing or playing.  Some detect the odor of birthday candles.  Chairs might be tipped over, lights turned on and off, and other childlike mischief occurs.

Others notice residual energy hauntings on that anniversary.  (“Residual energy hauntings” are evidence of energy — especially emotional energy and intense memories — stored in the physical environment.)

Spirits seem to return at other important anniversaries, too.  If we take time to notice, we may find spirits at Christmas.

Whether revisiting from “the other side” or reliving happy, emotionally rich moments, Christmas should be a popular time for spirits to visit our world.

Every year, hundreds of people send me holiday “ghost” photos.  Those pictures show orbs around family members… orbs best explained as loving, visiting spirits.

For most of us, this is very reassuring.

You don’t need to be Scrooge to experience spiritual visits and spiritual renewal during the winter holidays.

Whether you’re alone or with others, pause for a few minutes.  See if you feel the presence of spirits with happy Christmas memories.

Let’s not ignore them.

May your holiday season bring comfort and joy to you, and to your friends and family… on both sides of the veil.

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Be sure to read my other articles about holiday ghosts, using tags like Halloween and Christmas.

xmas-greentree-illus

Were the Ghosts of Dickens’ Christmas Carol Real?

Charles Dickens’ story, A Christmas Carol, is a favorite among many people. But how realistic are the ghosts in the story?

Marley’s ghost rattled his chains as he appeared to Scrooge.

    • “The chain he drew was clasped about his middle. It was long, and wound about him like a tail; and it was made (for Scrooge observed it closely) of cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses wrought in steel.”

 -Dickens, “A Christmas Carol”

Ghosts in chains

Today, we rarely hear of a ghost rattling chains. In fact, apparitions are very rare, and most of them are silent. More often, invisible ghosts are the ones that knock, rattle objects (including chains), and whisper or shout.

However, there are exceptions. In the first century CE, Pliny the Younger documented a ghost who was seen and heard by Athenodorus, at a villa in Athens. The ghost wore chains, and pointed to a spot in the garden before vanishing. The next day, Athenodorus had that spot in the garden dug up, and a skeleton in chains was found buried. They re-buried him in a proper cemetery, and the ghost never appeared again.

Door knockerBut ghosts in chains are not entirely in the past. Even today, a tall, evil-looking man appears on back roads and highways in Yorkshire, England, and jumps out to frighten late-night travelers. He’s known as “Jack in Irons.” Most people who’ve seen him comment that the ghost appears wrapped in chains.

Of course, Marley is not the only ghost in Dickens’ famous tale. There are the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future.

Old houseShadows without consciousness

As Scrooge is led through scenes of his past, his ghostly companion informs him, “These are but shadows of the things that have been…They have no consciousness of us.”

That’s a superb description of paranormal phenomena we call “residual energy hauntings.”

These hauntings are like a hologram or video, played on a continuous loop.

Events from the past appear to be played like a movie, over and over again. Most are probably mere images of people who took part in the events, many years ago.

One of the best examples of residual energy hauntings is the visions of war seen in the United States, at Civil War battlegrounds.

Another might be the ghost of Anne Boleyn and companions, in the Chapel Royal at London’s Tower. Some suggest that her spectre that roams the Tower is residual energy, but when she leads a procession up the center aisle of the chapel, she’s a sentient ghost.

At Christmas, she appears at Hever Castle and – according to first-person descriptions – she appears to be alive and well and very real.

But, the clarity of the images in Dickens’ story – as well as reports of Anne Boleyn’s raise an interesting question: Are these really hauntings, or perhaps time slips… and is there a difference?

More residual energy hauntings

Ghosts of Dickens' Christmas Carol - ghost huntingRegardless of what causes them, residual energy hauntings are a ghost hunter’s best opportunity to see a “ghost” that appears in human-like form.

Keep in mind, you’re only likely to see them. Some also report sounds with the imagery, but many don’t.

However, these forms rarely react to or interact with people viewing them. In fact, most ghost hunters believe that these hauntings are just energy imprints on the environment, replaying the events on a repeating and regular schedule.

That fits Dickens’ story, because – though Scrooge feels like he’s in the scene – he’s not able to interact with the people in them.

However, A Christmas Carol, is fiction, even if it matches many genuine ghost encounters.

The question this raises is: Did Dickens make up the story from whole cloth, or had he experienced something similar, himself?

Recent research suggests Dickens was intrigued by ghosts, and perhaps fearful of them. As a member of the Ghost Club, he seemed obsessed with debunking every ghost story and seance he could. That level of preoccupation suggests a greater fear: that ghosts are real, after all.

Learn more about real ghost hunting…

Is that house really haunted? Read this book to find out.Or click here for Amazon UK

Resources

Exhibition tells how Charles Dickens was spooked by ghost tale doppelganger, from The Guardian

Charles Dickens Was A Real Life Ghost Buster, by Bustle

Folklore on Friday: Chained Ghosts, by Hypnogoria

The Ghost of Anne Boleyn, from On the Tudor Trail

Athens and Ghosts, in Strange History

 

Photo credits: Lion face door knocker image courtesy of Sasha Davas.

Photo of Tudor-style house courtesy of Steve Knight.

At Christmas, Look for Working Ghosts

Christmas and ghost huntingThe Christmas holidays may offer increased ghost hunting opportunities.

Some ghosts and residual energy hauntings are more active at certain anniversaries.

  • The obvious anniversary is the day the person died.
  • Birthdays, wedding anniversaries, and other significant dates (including when battles occurred) can also signal increased paranormal activity.
  • Halloween marks almost universally greater hauntings, and I’ve mentioned April 30th as its counterpart.

However, many ghost hunters make assumptions about Christmas, expecting the day to be quiet, in ghost terms.

They may be missing some great opportunities for investigations.

Christmas — and other December holidays — have been so widely celebrated since the early 20th century, we assume everyone has celebrated the holiday season… always.

Well, that’s not quite true.

In fact, when Bob Cratchit nervously asked Scrooge for Christmas Day off, Bob was asking for something extraordinary. In the 1840s, people expected to work on Christmas. Working-class families didn’t gather to celebrate Christmas, except at dinner. Even then, the meal was mostly for those who weren’t working 15 – 18 hours every day.

It’s a day that — more than most — may have marked the gap between the wealthy and working classes.  As such, you may find opportunities for ghost research on or around Christmas Day, especially at 19th-century factory sites.

Personally, I’d never prioritize ghost hunting over family celebrations. So, I might investigate during the days leading up to Christmas or immediately after, but not on the day itself.

On the other hand, if your family doesn’t celebrate on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, these may be ideal opportunities for experimental research.

The first thing to do is to find a few sites for research.  If you live near abandoned or refurbished factory buildings and mills, first check to be sure they can be accessed legally and safely.  As recent events have reminded many of us: It can be a grave mistake to ignore “no trespassing” signs.

Then, find out if they were in business during the era before child labor laws were enforced in your area.

Not sure? Here’s part of an article from Wikipedia:

In 1916, the NCLC and the National Consumers League successfully pressured the US Congress to pass the Keating-Owen Act, the first federal child labor law. However, the US Supreme Court struck down the law two years later in Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918), declaring that the law violated a child’s right to contract his or her own labor.

In 1924, Congress attempted to pass a constitutional amendment authorizing a national child labor law. This measure was blocked, and the bill was eventually dropped.

It took the Great Depression to end child labor nationwide; adults had become so desperate for jobs that they would work for the same wage as children.  In 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Fair Labor Standards Act, which, among other things, placed limits on many forms of child labor.

See if the factory had a policy about Christmas Day.  Old newspapers will probably help you understand the dynamics of the factory management, and whether they were likely to give workers the day off (paid or unpaid) at Christmas.  Remember, Christmas wasn’t a Federal holiday in the US until 1870.

Look for a history of workers’ strikes and articles from the 19th century, when charities complained about working conditions for the poor.

It’s a grim era to revisit historically, but it’s something to consider in terms of when a local site might be especially active.

At many 19th-century factories and mills, working on Christmas Day was routine and another painful reminder of the gap between the “haves” and the “have-nots.”

It might be an ideal opportunity for ghost research.  I’d focus on EVP and well as real-time communication with spirits at abandoned and refurbished mills and factory sites.

Additional references