Hollow Hill

Consider The Ghosts’ Contexts

I’m about to say something radical.

I believe that some active hauntings aren’t ghosts, but a brush with another time period… a time in which the person is still alive.

Radical? Yes., but it’s not an original theory.

(I’ve written an article, Were the Ghosts of Dickens’ Christmas Carol Real? In it, I describe Shelley’s doppelgangers, and Goethe’s encounter with himself in a future time.)

In a 2008 episode of the Ghost Hunters’ TV show, the TAPS team investigated New Hampshire’s Mt. Washington Hotel.

In crystal clear EVP, the “princess” seemed to be speaking from her own time period.

How does this affect ghost research?

For now, it’s just an interesting theory to consider.

However, it might be important.

When communicating with spirits, it’s vital to keep their contexts in mind.

Let’s say that the ghost can hear you.

To him, you’re a ‘disembodied voice’.

If the ghost is (or believes he is) still alive, he may think that you’re an evil spirit… something that’s a threat to his eternal soul.

If he thinks you’re in his own time period, he may decide you’re an intruder, a thief or some other kind of criminal.

You may seem foolish or rude, if you ask him to perform… tapping once for yes and twice for no, etc.

(In earlier times, some actors — especially women — were considered a bit tawdry. If the ghost thinks you’ve mistaken him for a performer, this could be very insulting.)

Let’s say that the spirit is a woman — alive or dead — and she has always lived in a highly structured, conservative society. Your clothing might shock her, because the style is too revealing to wear in public.

Your language, even when you’re not speaking to her directly, could alarm her or cause her to hide from you, temporarily.

I encountered something like this at an historical society in Massachusetts (USA). One of its ghosts was a minister from early American times. He was highly offended by my trousers (jeans), and the fact that I spoke to him directly. In his time, women didn’t speak to him unless he addressed them, first.

I had to leave the room. Then, he was willing to communicate with others in the room, as long as they addressed him respectfully, and through a designated (male) leader.

In the past, people were formally introduced before beginning a conversation. How many ghost hunters introduce themselves before trying to talk with the ghosts?

For more successful investigations, consider the time and culture that your ghosts lived in. By respecting their social rules, you increase your chances of establishing rapport with the spirits.

A little historical research can improve your ghost hunting results.

book-and-applewoodsy For further reading

Did your ghost live during the Regency? For insights, see Instances of Ill Manners to be carefully avoided by youth of both sexes and A Sample of Regency Manners.

George Washington’s Rules of Civility – described as The Rules of Civility & Decent Behaviour In Company and Conversation, was transcribed before that American hero was 16 years old.

Your public library may have books about manners and society from the time when your ghosts lived.

For example, if your ghost is an American who lived during the Victorian era, the Essential Handbook of Victorian Etiquette can be very helpful.

Do Ghosts Sense Time as We Do?

Often, it seems as if ghosts’ sense of time – that is, how much has passed since they died – is skewed.

Here’s an interesting (and geeky) study about how we perceive time.

It could be important.

It may affect ghost hunting, and how we communicate with spirits.

Basically, this study shows that time seems to go faster (and faster, and faster) as we get older.

Could that also affect how ghosts sense time?

Here’s the article that made me question this: Physics Explains Why Time Passes Faster As You Age. (Warning: The article is long, sometimes technical, and loaded with ads.)

That’s intriguing from a quantum viewpoint, of course. It’s even more thought-provoking in a ghost hunting context.

Let’s say it’s true that – as the article says – “the years seem to fly by the older we get.”

Does that pace continue to speed up, even after the person has passed?

Does a spirit that’s, technically, a 150-year-old entity, perceive events from 80 years ago (or more) as “just the other day?”

Is that one reason why some ghostly energy may linger here?

Is it because the spirit truly thinks they died (or just fell ill, or had that accident) yesterday, and – somehow — they can resume their lives with just a minor fix, cure, or tweak?

Would that also explain why so many ghosts seem baffled by how different our current world is?

Perhaps they think what they’ve landed in is just a dream, and — in a few hours — they’ll wake up and life will be back to normal again.

It’s an interesting thought, and one we should probably consider when we’re in contact with what seem to be ghosts.

The ghosts’ sense of time — how much has passed since the “yesterday” when they were alive — may be very different from ours.

Are Ghosts Dead? Louis L’Amour’s Questions

This quote from Louis L’Amour resonated with me on many levels. Really… are ghosts dead, or is something else going on?

If you believe quantum theories about parallel realities, it’s easy to see a connection.

And, as both a ghost hunter and an admitted geek, I kind of love speculation about this.

I’ve talked about this before.

So have other ghost hunters, though most aren’t as outspoken as I am. (The late Rosemary Guiley was quietly convinced of parallel realities. She had some surprising evidence, too.)

Many times, it’s seemed to me that what we detect as a ghost is actually alive and well… but in a parallel reality.

Perhaps it’s a world that – in our reality – is in our past.

It’s a complex tangle to consider, because we’d have to dismiss our usual views of time and how it flows.

Despite that, many of us have had ghostly encounters that can’t be explained any other way.

Sometimes, it’s not just the entity that we sense at the haunted site, but an entire realm.

I’m not sure that explains the recurring procession of Anne Boleyn (headless or not) in the Chapel Royal of St. Peter ad Vincula.

Is that ghostly, or just a repeating residual energy haunting?

Many other examples seem to suggest we’re not witnessing anything ghostly.

Instead, it seems like something that’s happening at that very moment.

And – for reasons unknown – its resonance is affecting us in a different timeline.

Is this a radical idea?

Yes. But others have considered it, too. Including author Louis L’Amour.

You don’t have to accept it.

Just keep it in mind, in case – in the future – it’s relevant.

Here’s a short, related video:

Telepathy and Ghost Hunting

Telepathy and ghost hunting – Can one affect the other?

It might.

That doesn’t mean it does, but I think we need to keep an open mind.

Apparently, I’m not the only one to consider this.

If, like me, you’re studying ghost hunting academically, Peter Underwood’s research should be part of that.

In the 1986 edition of his book, The Ghost Hunter’s Guide, Underwood talked about telepathy in ghost investigations.

I agree with him: Both can be factors in ghost hunting.

Consider two aspects of telepathy.

One is in the past.
The other is in the present.

So, where is the telepathic impression coming from?

It could be from the site’s representative or caretaker, who knows the history of the site and its ghosts.
Perhaps you’re picking up the thoughts of a team member who’d researched the site’s history beforehand.
If strong enough residual energy lingers at the site, you may be perceiving an impression from it.
Or, you could be receiving information from an actual ghost.

(Of course, there are other possibilities, including a parallel reality impressing an identity or event into your thoughts.)

I’m not sure if we can ever be certain that what we perceive, mentally, is actually coming from a ghost.

At best, it’s difficult to discern where those impressions originated.

My approach and filters

I’m a history buff. It’s one reason I love haunted places: Most have unusually rich histories.

Both the physical location – and the ambience – convey a sense of the past better than many of their non-haunted counterparts.

So, I research the site and its ghosts before my first visit to the location.

Of course, I understand team members’ reluctance to study the site’s history ahead of time.

They want to arrive as “blank slates” so they feel reasonably certain that what they perceive isn’t just wishful thinking.

My standard is different.

After thoroughly researching a haunted site, my challenge to the ghosts is: Tell me something I don’t already know.

I still can’t fully rule out telepathy, especially if our guide or the property caretaker has done more extensive research than I have.

But when I receive an impression that’s almost a contradiction of the site’s (or the ghost’s) documented history… that’s when I become really interested.

And, after the investigation, I’ll research even more deeply, following any leads that might support the extra insights I now have.

This is an added layer of evidence, and I think it’s vital to ghost hunting.

Then, if it’s true, proof will be found in history.

I’m looking for evidence, one way or the other.

If the alternate or additional information seems credible, that will go a long way towards convincing me that yes, the site really is haunted.

If I can’t find anything to support the impression, perhaps it’s someone else’s fictional view of the ghost or haunted place.

Maybe I’ve merely tuned into their wishful thinking.

Yes, I approach most ghost investigations as a skeptic.

I still believe in ghosts, and that something unexplained may be going on at almost every site that’s described as “haunted.”

Nevertheless, I think it’s important for serious researchers to keep telepathy in mind (no pun intended).

Double-check history to see if your impressions may have come directly from a ghost.

It might open new and fascinating doors to ghost hunting!