3 replies to this topic

[Jeff Belanger]

Dear Ghostvillagers,

Death. It’s the elephant in the room. We can’t talk about ghosts unless someone has passed away. And we can’t talk about ghosts unless we’re exploring some concept of the afterlife.

 

I’ve said before that I adore the ghost discussion because it breaks down spirituality to the least common denominator. We can talk about the afterlife without getting people riled up on specific religious dogmas. With ghosts we can even talk about death without getting too serious about facing our own mortality. When we talk about a haunted place, those concepts are buried just beneath the surface, and you don’t have to dig too deep to find them.

 

So we share eerie tales, we feel the hair on the backs of our neck stand up, and we tell ourselves it’s just a story if we’re not ready to believe anything beyond that. But for many of us, it’s not just a story.

 

My fall program tour is about to kick off. Each year a theme emerges, and this year’s theme is death. While that may sound dark and gloomy, it isn’t all black roses and drizzling rain. One subject I’ve explored this past summer is the Buddhist Corpse Meditation.

 

The idea is to sit and meditate by a human corpse or skeleton. While that may sound macabre, it’s really about pondering your own mortality, understanding that this is your own inevitable fate, and deciding how you want to live your life knowing this is coming no matter what. Do you want to be the kind of person people will miss? Someone who made a difference? Someone who will be remembered at all? Sometimes we have to look death in the eye in order to truly live.

 

Exploring haunts and ghosts allow us to catch a glimpse of what lies just beyond the veil and take stock of ourselves.

 

Speaking of exploring haunts, this month I’m proud to announce the release of my limited-edition 2020 Haunted New England wall calendar featuring the photography of Frank Grace! This is the sixth calendar we’ve produced together, and it features a dozen New England haunts and stories. We only print 350 of them, so once they’re gone, they’re gone. If you have the 2019 version, there’s no locations repeated in the 2020 calendar. Plus! If you act now, we’ll include an extra day absolutely free!

 

(Okay, okay, 2020 is a leap year, but still!)

 

I hope you’ll consider taking a look at this year’s calendar. Your support of my various projects means a lot to me. I also hope to meet some of you this fall on my story tour. 

 

Supernaturally yours,

Jeff Belanger
Mayor of Ghostvillage.com
Twitter: @THEJeffBelanger
Facebook: Jeff Belanger
YouTube: www.youtube.com/legendtripping
Instagram: www.instagram.com/exploringlegends/

[CaveRat2]

My question regarding this is Why?   Why is death associated with what we call ghosts?   where is the proof of that connection?  True, it has been ASSUMED for years the connection, but what proof have we found over that time?   The answer is none. 

 

While I don't dispute that something is going on, I would suggest we start thinking outside the box.  Consider other alternatives.  perhaps that is why we have such a hard time explaining the paranormal; we are trying to fit it into something it doesn't go with.    We keep assuming death is involved when perhaps something else is responsible.

 

To go way out on a limb here, (no proof of this either, just a thought exercise!)  suppose we are simply being observed by some interdimensional entities.  We are like ants in the ant farm. they get their kicks out of watching us run around chasing "ghosts".  So every once in while they want to see some activity and they see how hung up we are on death / ghosts.  They know, with a bit of encouragement like seeing a ghost, they can get their kicks.  So, just like us and our ant farms,   Ooog says to Mooog, "Let's poke 'em with a stick and watch what happens!"   From our perspective we know what happens.... just watch any investigation in progress!

 

Of course this is just a story, but might it explain why we are making little real progress?  Maybe being so hung up on death we are barking up the wrong tree.

[carlotta]

The 'Death' card in tarot rarely means that you're going to die. It's about endings and beginnings. I find that very few of the 'living' agree with what happens after they die. Granted, religions can go into it in great detail, but when you discuss it with individuals, their actual beliefs can differ greatly from their fellow believers and the established belief.

What happens after death has been proven and disproven by all sorts of individuals and groups. Even information received from 'beyond the grave' can differ, and be proven and disproven. It's the big question without any conclusive answer. And I'm sure there are plenty out there who will prove or disprove the opinion stated above.

~ Carlotta

[loganinkosovo]

In the End all we know for sure is that none of us are going to get out of this alive......