Haunted

When thinking of a haunted location, we know, or at least we assume, that it is being haunted by a ghost. And in retrospect, that is usually true, but what is the actual reason that that spirit is haunting that place? Does there have to be some magical formula put together with all the right circumstances and specific characteristics coming together in just the proper manner to make it ideal for a haunting? Though some various reasons and events can make a place haunted, please keep one thing in mind; not all of them entail a creepy old abandoned building.

Let's first understand what makes a ghost. From what we know, a spirit was a human who died but has decided not to leave this earthly plane, whether this was by choice or circumstance. In most cases, when someone has been killed in a tragic scenario or by a tragic means, this will, in turn, leave a ghostly figure behind. Perhaps they felt as though they had unfinished business or the spirit does not want to leave their loved ones. Maybe, if the death was swift and unprepared, they do understand that they are, in fact, dead.

In the sad cases of suicides, I feel as though they may be too frightened to go into the light as they know not what waits for them on the other side, especially if, while living, they had a religious background. The thought of purgatory may keep anyone from moving on after a suicide.

On occasion, a loved one that has passed on may want to stay by your side. Though this may seem comforting for the living, this is not a good scenario for the dead. If you feel that a loved one has stuck around for you, you need to ensure them that you are OK and send them to the light. The continuous presence of dead loved ones in this reality will eventually make them bitter and become a spirit that is no longer there for you but rather angry and resentful of your living life.

Certain spirits that have moved will sometimes come back periodically for a visit, a friendly check-in. These spirits, though not intentionally, will usually give quite a fright to an unprepared individual. Their normal everyday life can be suddenly turned upside down with flickering lights and the upheaval of electronics and possibly various sounds throughout the house; however, they vanish as soon as they began. For they were just there to say hello.

Some spirits will interact with you, and there are the ones that bear you no mind but are solely in their own little world doing what they want. There are intelligent spirits and ones that seem to be repeating a task incessantly as if in some sort of time loop. Though I may have people who disagree with me on this, I do not believe that there are evil ghosts. Instead, I think their attitude was an extension of their personality when they were alive; if they were a grumpy old man when they were on this earth alive, then be sure he would be a grumpier old man now when he's dead. Does that make him evil? No solely a lost soul.

Negative energy does not actually render and place haunted per se. Still, when the energy has been so tainted it has seeped into the fabric of the construct, it has an effect that can be oppressing to even the biggest skeptic. We have all been into one of these places where it felt off. It made you feel things that made no sense. It's like the saying - the air was so thick you could cut through it with a knife. This is an energy, not a ghost, and yet its negativity is very hard to handle. This is a place where you would not want to reside too long without a good sagging prior.

Poltergeists are misconstrued as a mischievous spirit, but it has been suggested that poltergeists are not spirits at all. Parapsychologists have linked the activity of poltergeists with a teenager, primarily female teenagers. The interesting part with these specific teenagers is unbeknown to them, they have telekinetic abilities. When over-emotional, mad or upset ( which is pretty much always), this triggers their abilities without knowing what they are doing. This, of course, adds fear to the whole mix, which makes the scenario even more intense. Puberty eventually settles, and in most cases, the poltergeist activity also does. The teenager eventually loses their abilities as they never had the opportunity to harness it for they never knew it was there, to begin with. Poltergeist activity is a rare occurrence, as so would be the unknown ability of a telekinetic teenager.

It's not always the house or haunted land that is haunted but rather a person living within that house. I knew a mother who suddenly had a copious amount of activity in her house after her daughter had come home from a weekend at her father's house. According to her daughter, who was only three at the time, she didn't like the bad man that had followed her home; after a few weeks of torment, my friend had someone come in and exercise her house. This did settle the situation; however, this seemed to be a constant as her daughter kept attracting various ghosts to their home; as she got older, this eventually diminished.

For whatever reason, the spirits were attracted to this girl, and regardless of where they would move, she would periodically attract another ghost to her.

Cemeteries, contrary to popular belief, are very rarely haunted. You are better off talking to your loved ones in the house they resided in prior to passing than to speak to a headstone. Hopefully, their spirit has moved on to a better place, but one thing is for sure, they are not hanging around their grave; it has no emotional connection to them and hence a place where ghosts do not likely reside.

The most haunted locations in my experience are jails, asylums and hospitals. Then there are the places where tragic murders and unfortunate suicides have taken place; however, this does not guarantee a haunting. A brand new home can be built on haunted land, and an old decrepit building can be as harmless as your grandma's house during Sunday brunch, so please, stop going into abandoned buildings thinking they are indeed haunted. At the very least, do some research first and please, DO NOT TRESPASS.