DO YOU BELIEVE IN GHOSTS ?

Ever since ancient times, the folklore of most cultures around the world has been rich with ghost stories--tales of spirits who return from the dead to haunt the places they left behind. Certain places seem to be particularly susceptible to hauntings, while some of the most famous ghostly sightings have been of historical personalities--from queens to politicians to gangsters--who attained a good degree of fame or notoriety in life and died early, often violent deaths.

What Is a Ghost?

The concept of a ghost, also known as a specter, is based on the ancient idea that a person's spirit exists separately from his or her body, and may continue to exist after that person dies. Because of this idea, many societies began to use funeral rituals as a way of ensuring that the dead person's spirit would not return to "haunt" the living.

Places that are haunted are usually believed to be associated with some occurrence or emotion in the ghost's past; they are often a former home or the place where he or she died. Aside from actual ghostly apparitions, traditional signs of haunting range from strange noises, lights, odors or breezes to the displacement of objects, bells that ring spontaneously or musical instruments that seem to play on their own.

Early Ghost Sightings

In the first century A.D., the great Roman author and statesman Pliny the Younger recorded one of the first notable ghost stories in his letters, which became famous for their vivid account of life during the heyday of the Roman Empire. Pliny reported that the specter of an old man with a long beard, rattling chains, was haunting his house in Athens. The Greek writer Lucian and Pliny's fellow Roman Plautus also wrote memorable ghost stories.

Centuries later, in 856 A.D., the first poltergeist--a ghost that causes physical disturbances such as loud noises or objects falling or being thrown around--was reported at a farmhouse in Germany. The poltergeist tormented the family living there by throwing stones and starting fires, among other things.

Does your body have a spirit? Does it come back to haunt after you die?

There is usually a reasonable explanation.

Interesting though isn't it?

DO YOU BELIEVE IN GHOSTS?