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SPIRIT HOUSES

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A Simple Spirit House In Udon Thani Province, Thailand. Photo: Mattes.
A Simple Spirit House In Udon Thani Province, Thailand. Photo: Mattes.

People In Thailand Provide Shelter To Ghosts

In Southeast Asia, particularly in Thailand, the Buddhist religion mixes more or less comfortably with a much more ancient belief in spirits, known in the West as animism. Many, if not most, people in this region believe that ghosts and other invisible disembodied spirits move among them constantly. These spirits can be good or evil, and they can cause mischief or serve as protectors.

In order to stay on the good side of these ghostly visitors—and perhaps even to enlist their unseen assistance—families and businesses alike erect and maintain miniature dwellings where the spirits can rest. These spirit houses can be found in front of homes, shops, factories, office buildings, and company headquarters. They also overlook places in need of special protection, such as fish ponds and gardens. [Read more…] about SPIRIT HOUSES

WILL O’ THE WISP

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Will-O'-Tthe-Wisp And Snake. 1823 Painting by Hermann Hendrich.
Will-O’-Tthe-Wisp And Snake. 1823 Painting by Hermann Hendrich.

Ghost Lights Are The Original Jack-O-Lanterns

IIn European folklore, will-o’-the-wisps, or ghosts lights, appear at night in desolate places to lure lonely travelers off their paths and into swamps and other dangers. According to most folkloric accounts, ghosts lights resemble flickering lanterns that constantly recede before the person pursuing them, so that no one ever gets a close look.

Also called ignis fatuus (“foolish fire” in Latin), these eerie illuminations are said to be the caused by malevolent spirits of the dead or the spirits of unbaptized children. In Europe, the first jack-o-lanterns were created from turnips or pumpkins in imitation of will-o’-the-wisps. In fact, “jack-o-lantern” was another name for ghost fire before it came to be associated with the carved, candle-kindled vegetables with which we are all familiar. [Read more…] about WILL O’ THE WISP

HUNGRY GHOSTS

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A Burmese Depiction Of Hungry Ghosts In Torment
A Burmese Depiction Of Hungry Ghosts In Torment

The Asian Tradition Of The Hungry Ghost

In Asian folklore and among many Buddhists, the hungry ghost is described as a spirit who is him- or herself haunted by needs, desires, and longings that went unfulfilled during the ghost’s earthly existence. These sad and frustrated wraiths are doomed to wander the earth in a (usually fruitless) search for the satisfactions that eluded them while they were alive.

In addition to perpetually wandering hungry ghosts, some Chinese people and people of Chinese descent who live in other Asian countries believe that the dead invisibly return from the afterlife to move among the living at certain times of the year. During hungry ghost festivals, which often occur in late summer, people set out food for their returning ancestors as well as for other disembodied visitors who happen by. [Read more…] about HUNGRY GHOSTS

ARE GHOSTS REAL?

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Do Ghosts Exist Only In Our Minds?
Do Ghosts Exist Only In Our Minds?

The Reality Of Ghosts

Do ghosts exist? Has anyone ever actually seen, heard, or touched a ghost?

What we know for certain is that from the start of our own existence as a species, many if not most of us have believed in ghosts, and a good percentage of people have been convinced that ghosts have appeared to them or spoken to them. Throughout history, people in most of the world’s cultures have been afraid of ghosts. [Read more…] about ARE GHOSTS REAL?

WHAT IS A GHOST?

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Ghost Stories Are Common Throughout Most Of The World's Cultures
Ghost Stories Are Common In Most Of The World’s Cultures

Our Ghosts Have Been With Us Since The Beginning

Humankind has been haunted from the start—or at least for as long as we’ve been able to think, and to imagine. Tens of thousands of years ago, among our first thoughts not related our own physical needs were our speculations concerning what became of us once we were no longer alive. In stone-age cultures across the world, people concluded that the essence of a person survived beyond death. Ghosts—mostly but not always invisible to the living—became an important component of our humanity.

A ghost is an (usually) intangible remnant or reflection of a person’s individuality or consciousness that dwells on after that person has ceased to exist in the physical sense. The difference between a ghost and a “soul” is that, while a soul is usually thought of as a traveler to an otherworldly realm such as paradise or Hades, a ghost is earthbound, continuing to move among those it left behind. [Read more…] about WHAT IS A GHOST?