Joshua P Warren in his book How to Hunt Ghosts.
He writes when the average Joe thinks of a ghost, he simply envisions the spirit of a dead person.
This is because that’s usually what a ghost seems to be, an entity. However, as you’ve seen, that is still just one of several possibilities. The casual layperson may never need to know anything more about ghosts, but a paranormal investigator should be aware of all known possibilities, however rare. Throughout the decades there has been a tendency to break up ghostly activity into 3 categories. Entities, imprints and poltergeists. By updating these divisions, and adding two more, we are staying current with the new information. We’re gaining, in large part due to newer technology
As you have also seen, this singular idea of a ghost has vast implications. We’ve discussed psychic phenomena, philosophical questions like the mind body dilemma, theoretical physics and space and time, the nature of matter and energy, and the infinite possibilities of future discoveries. It’s easy to see why a good paranormal researcher must be an intelligent, knowledgeable person with keen awareness and the ability to scientifically analyze information in a realistic way.
We shall not, for instance, pretend that the information presented, or the way in which it was presented, is absolute gospel.
You must never forget that we are studying a mystery. That means all the answers are not known. Therefore, an unknown fact, must exist that would have a definite effect on how we categorize activity and defined its physical nature.
Most of the general public’s knowledge of ghosts has been passed on in the form of entertainment. Campfire, ghost stories, horror novels, and scary movies have provided a foundation. Storytellers want their tales to make a memorable impact on audiences. To accomplish this, they’ve always focused on a simple concept, Dead people can come back. This makes for great storytelling because it creates a strong impression. It would be too confusing to expect the general public to understand the difference between entities, imprints, warps, poltergeists, and natural phenomena. In stories, it’s nice and clean to focus on one concept. However, as in so many instances, real life, is far more complex and confusing than we like to visualize.
Ghost stories are also constructed to give you a surprise ending.
That’s the ironic moment when suddenly all the details fall into place, and a chill runs down your spine. It’s always a fun moment. However, that moment rarely comes in real investigations. Usually, there isn’t a time when everything falls magically into place. Though you may learn a lot., Also expect to leave with new questions and, sometimes an unsatisfied feeling. That’s the nature of a true mystery.
When you conduct your own investigations and you are trying to decide exactly what kind of activity you’re dealing with, don’t be discouraged if you find the task more difficult than expected.
Even though we have separated the phenomena into five categories, always keep in mind that one haunted location may exhibit more than one type. For example, It’s not that uncommon to discover a place where entities and imprints coexist. Perhaps someone was murdered in the house, an imprint of the murder may still be observed, and the conscious entity of the victim might remain in the home as well. A warp location can display manifestations of every category. Labeling ghostly activity can be somewhat confusing because it represents our current level of understanding it. Though we have developed a great deal over the past few decades, our understanding in is in its infancy. But that’s what’s so exciting about it.
As you research ghosts in a systemic way, you’ll soon find out just how strange some of the activity can be.
You’re bound to quickly encounter situations more outlandish than anything mentioned in this book. But that’s truly what makes this kind of research so much fun and interesting. Whenever I go to a haunted location, I really have to no idea what’s going to happen. After you go to enough places, you’ll stop even trying to anticipate what you’ll find. Here, In this century, humans are used to immediately recognizing and understanding almost everything we see. Therefore, When we see something we don’t immediately recognize, it fills us with a primitive rush of wonder, the kind of ancient ancestors must have experienced more frequently. What did a caveman think upon seeing fire for the first time?
