Are ghosts real? True ghost stories from a reliable source
Never having seen a ghost myself, I've always been a bit skeptical as to whether people who report seeing ghosts are just hallucinating, or if there just might be some truth to the reportage. I'm always torn between thinking it must be a lot of hooey and thinking that the phenomena of ghosts might just be real. For example, many people, from a variety of backgrounds, have reported seeing ghosts of the Confederate soldiers at Bull Run, in Virginia. Such 'true ghost stories' make it hard to disbelieve a little old lady who, to all appearances, is lucid and whole of mind, telling such a story.
It should be noted that some people are gifted with psychic abilities which enable them to see into different dimensions of reality that the average person cannot. Jeanne Dixon, who tried to warn the Kennedy family of danger in Dallas, in 1963, is a familiar name, a psychic who, through 'visions', was able to see into the future. So it's not altogether out of the question that the same sort of extrasensory ability might be attributed to people who say they have seen ghosts.
Here is an example of a single individual who related to me a number of true ghost stories which cause me to doubt my own skepticism.
Let me tell you about my childhood friend, with whom I am still in contact. We met in grade school, so I know her well. She was a good student, not prone to weirdness. She was extremely artistic, as well as being psychic. Interestingly, she graduated in the 1960s with a B.A. From the San Francisco Art Institute, sold her paintings for a good sum of money and then went on to be a medical technician at a hospital. She was well grounded in the real world, yet she told me a number of true ghost stories that would defy belief, had I not known her so well.
Her Mom died in a car accident when she was just twelve years old. She was truly devastated, finding no solace for many months. This was the first time she related one of a series of her true ghost stories. She told me she had been sitting on her back porch early one morning, thinking about her Mom. She described feeling a 'prickly sensation' beside her chair. She looked up to see her Mom standing not five feet away. She asked her Mom what it was like in heaven. Her Mom answered, It's beautiful. I just don't like the way the bread is buttered here on earth. What a strange remark. She evidently had some insight on her Mom's comment, but didn't share that with me. I asked what her Mom looked like. She said she was dressed in white and had a luminosity about her that was not of this world.
My friend wasn't a nut. I believe she experienced this event. This was not the last of the true ghost stories she revealed to me. About six years later, she told me of seeing literally dozens of spirits which came and visited her in her apartment, almost every evening. She got to recognize each of these spirits. Some of the most memorable of the various ghosts she encountered was a man who dressed in a 19th century pirate's garb and a pair of Dutch girls in traditional dress, including the wooden clogs. The pirate told her of his life on the high seas and hiding out on land in Port Royal. The Dutch girls always occupied a space on her bedroom door, giggling as they danced the night away.
When she moved from this apartment, she did not see these people again.
This woman is a practical sort of person who has no trouble functioning in 'real' life. When I hear of supposedly true ghost stories in the media, some have the ring of truth, while others smack of hype and the snake oil salesman. Her reports to me have the ring of truth. She doesn't advertise her experiences. In fact, I may be the only person in whom she has confided.
The next time I heard another of her true ghost stories I can't help but think they are true was about twenty years later. She was engaged to be married. She was reading in her bedroom, and once again had that 'prickling sensation' about her. Glancing towards the door, she saw a short woman, dressed in a traditional Spanish shawl and dress. The woman asked her, without words, but through a mental communication, to please take care of my son. Her image faded away, but my friend said the woman was as real as you or I. When she related this event to her husband-to-be, she described the woman's appearance, demeanor and dress. He told her that this was a perfect description of his mother, who had passed away five years before.
She's since told me of several other encounters with the spirit world, involving what must be ghosts. Who can differentiate between the sensational ghost stories we hear around the campfire and those which really are true ghost stories?
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