We live in a place where most people would not want to stay. It is a place many consider as scary. It is a place where every child or any person for that matter is afraid once darkness sets in. And why should it be a frightening place? Well, our house is located in front of a cemetery. It is located just a stone’s throw away from thousands of graves of people as their eternal resting place. But, have I seen one of them going back to life in the form of a ghost? If I were imaginative, maybe, yes. But I am realistic and so I say I have not seen any since the time I was still a child until now.
Mommy used to frighten us about ghost stories so we would behave and sleep early. For a while, I thought, it could be true, that ghosts are really right over there in the graves ready to either fly, like in the form of aswangs, or walk with bodies separated, or maybe a half body is hung at the coconut tree or acacia tree ready to appear before me.
But, none of these things happened so far. Not yet, and not that I am expecting any to happen because I do not believe it would ever happen.
Philippines is full of strange things both scary and awesome. A lot of supernatural phenomena happen in the Philippines. Stories of magic, entities and psychic powers are part of the Filipino culture. Healers and sorcerers are almost in every area, be it rural or urban. Sightings of nature spirits and local vampires called "aswang" even reach the local news.
According to Webster Dictionary, ghost is a disembodied spirit, especially one believed to appear in bodily likeness to living persons or to haunt former habitats.[1] We always look at ghost as a dead person in haunted places especially houses.
In the West, those who believe in ghosts sometimes hold them to be souls that could not find rest after death, and so linger on earth. The interpretation of the ghost in the west is a semi-transparent, and it does not directly interact with people. The ghost of the Western belief is said to be able to walk through walls and float above the ground. They are often said to be mindlessly following a particular routine.
In Ilocos Region, The soul, or kararua of the individual is believed to leave the body when the person dies and hover around the house.[2] Many Filipinos claim that they have been visited by ghosts of the dead.
The ghost may appear in physical form or with the features of the dead man when he or she was alive. The ghost also leaves imprints or touches the loved ones, especially little children or the surviving spouse. The Ilocanos believe that the dead possesses a spell, termed annong, which causes illness.
But, none of these things happened so far. Not yet, and not that I am expecting any to happen because I do not believe it would ever happen.
Philippines is full of strange things both scary and awesome. A lot of supernatural phenomena happen in the Philippines. Stories of magic, entities and psychic powers are part of the Filipino culture. Healers and sorcerers are almost in every area, be it rural or urban. Sightings of nature spirits and local vampires called "aswang" even reach the local news.
According to Webster Dictionary, ghost is a disembodied spirit, especially one believed to appear in bodily likeness to living persons or to haunt former habitats.[1] We always look at ghost as a dead person in haunted places especially houses.
In the West, those who believe in ghosts sometimes hold them to be souls that could not find rest after death, and so linger on earth. The interpretation of the ghost in the west is a semi-transparent, and it does not directly interact with people. The ghost of the Western belief is said to be able to walk through walls and float above the ground. They are often said to be mindlessly following a particular routine.
In Ilocos Region, The soul, or kararua of the individual is believed to leave the body when the person dies and hover around the house.[2] Many Filipinos claim that they have been visited by ghosts of the dead.
The ghost may appear in physical form or with the features of the dead man when he or she was alive. The ghost also leaves imprints or touches the loved ones, especially little children or the surviving spouse. The Ilocanos believe that the dead possesses a spell, termed annong, which causes illness.
There are some beliefs of the Ilocanos like the Pompon, a term used to mean burial rites.
“The kin view the body for the last moments, kiss the hand, and then the lid of the coffin is closed… The coffin is then carried out the main door (or in some places, out the window) feet first. The head must not face the door or window.”[3]
The reason is that if the head was to go out first, it is believed that the ghost of the deceased will not leave the house.
“The kin view the body for the last moments, kiss the hand, and then the lid of the coffin is closed… The coffin is then carried out the main door (or in some places, out the window) feet first. The head must not face the door or window.”[3]
The reason is that if the head was to go out first, it is believed that the ghost of the deceased will not leave the house.
In the central Luzon, particularly Manila, Filipinos call ghost as multo.
“Multo, the Tagalog word for ghost, comes from the Spanish word muerto, which means ‘dead.’ Superstitious Filipinos believe that some kind of multo, often a spirit of their former kin, regularly visits them.”[4]
“Multo, the Tagalog word for ghost, comes from the Spanish word muerto, which means ‘dead.’ Superstitious Filipinos believe that some kind of multo, often a spirit of their former kin, regularly visits them.”[4]
It is also believed that in death, a dead person is first visited by and then fetched by another dead spirit. This is called, in Tagalog, "pagsundo" (to fetch). The Tagalog word for being visited by a ghost is “minumulto” (being haunted), or “dinadalaw” (being visited).
In Pangasinan, particularly in Agno, the westernmost town of Pangasinan also believes in ghost just like in Ilocos. They call it as al-alia. The rest of the towns of Pangasinan call it as aniyani.
Most of the people who said that they had seen a ghost, commonly describe a ghost being transparent, having no flesh and carrying the deceased person's likeness. One common denominator is that they are scary to look at.
There are lots of theories about ghosts like they are the earthbound souls of the deceased. This is the most usual interpretation of a ghost. An example is that a person becomes aware of the death of a loved one through one or more senses.
What is the practical purpose of ghost? What is the superstitious purpose of a ghost? What is the religious purpose of a ghost?
Reality in everyday usage means "the state of things as they actually exist."[5] The term reality, in widest sense, includes everything that is, whether observable or self-contradictory by science or philosophy.
Truth is, the beliefs, or realizations, of an understanding, and is used to create the reality of an understanding.[6]
The concrete meaning of the Latin word error means "wandering" or “straying,” although the metaphorical meaning “mistake, misapprehension” is actually more common.[7]
Falsity is a perversion of truth originating in the deceitfulness of one party, and culminating in the damage of another party.[8]
According to some ethical tradition, doubt is a form of fear. A doubtful internal disposition, according to many ethical frameworks, leads to the 'poisoning' of one's reality, the world where the mind resides.[9] In other words, one is forced and is affected by this notion.
Ghosts are usually thought of scaring people. Some people think the purpose of ghost is to render a sign for us to do something. Still, others think of them as in many historical accounts, ghosts were thought to be deceased persons looking for vengeance, or imprisoned on earth for bad things they did during life.
Ghost as superstitious has the purpose of a warning like “If one passes through the window instead of the door, a ghost will come.”[10] It is a warning in a way people as general are afraid of ghost. We use ghost to stop people from doing something wrong like to scare a baby not to stay late at night.
In the early era of Christianity, we call the third person in the trinity as Holy Ghost. The common purpose of it is to enlighten or give blessings to people like during the Pentecost or during the baptism of Christ.
In metaphysics, Ghost are mental beings wherein a mental being is “present not by its own act of existence but only within an idea.”[11] It is particularly a mental construct which can never exist outside the mind but help us to think about the real. Ghosts as from their description of people are just forms with no matter. A real being must have both matter and form in order to call it real.
In metaphysics, Ghost are mental beings wherein a mental being is “present not by its own act of existence but only within an idea.”[11] It is particularly a mental construct which can never exist outside the mind but help us to think about the real. Ghosts as from their description of people are just forms with no matter. A real being must have both matter and form in order to call it real.
Democritus, an ancient philosopher, would say to distrust your senses. He said that our senses can be easily deceiving. So it is like in ghost, our eyes see something like a ghost but it is not. Our ears hear unusual and people immediately conclude that it is a ghost. Sometimes we must not depend on our senses just like Democritus in order to find out the truth for our senses may lead us into error.
People who do not believe suggest that limitation of human perception and ordinary physical explanation can account for such sightings; like air pressure change in a home causing doors to slam. Some explained that the “seen out of the corner of the eye” are caused by the sensitivity of human peripheral vision, which can easily mislead, especially late at night, when our brains are tired and simply misinterpret things. Some are caused by pareidolia, an innate tendency to recognize human forms in random pattern, which most think as a ghost.
Here is an explanation of some of the experiences said to be by those people who have seen ghost. Vic Tandy, a computer expert, found an explanation of some said to be ghost.
“The following morning… Tests revealed a standing wave trapped in the laboratory, reaching a peak next to his desk. It was caused by a new extractor fan, which was making the air vibrate at 18.9Hz (cycles per second). Infrasound around this frequency has been linked to hyper- ventilation, triggering nausea, fear and anxiety; the human eyeball has a resonant frequency of 18Hz, at which it starts to vibrate in sympathy to infrasound, causing a blurring of vision.”[12]
The same test was also done to various people to prove and most of them felt like ghost. Some thought someone is watching them; others felt their hairs to stand.
“The following morning… Tests revealed a standing wave trapped in the laboratory, reaching a peak next to his desk. It was caused by a new extractor fan, which was making the air vibrate at 18.9Hz (cycles per second). Infrasound around this frequency has been linked to hyper- ventilation, triggering nausea, fear and anxiety; the human eyeball has a resonant frequency of 18Hz, at which it starts to vibrate in sympathy to infrasound, causing a blurring of vision.”[12]
The same test was also done to various people to prove and most of them felt like ghost. Some thought someone is watching them; others felt their hairs to stand.
Stories about ghosts and spirits have been heard and recorded through the centuries. It is a fact that every culture has its own collection of stories and histories about the existence and interaction with ghost. There is still no conclusive proof for the existence of ghosts.
No matter how thrilling ghost stories may be, or no matter how frightening testimonies or experiences of some maybe about their alleged encounters with ghosts, the fact still remains in me that it is still all in one’s person’s mind.
Imagination is so powerful that it oftentimes makes us believe about the existence of something we don not really see, or feel something that it not really present or predict something which is impossible to happen.
[1]Webster Comprehensive Dictionary (Chicago: J.G. Ferguson Publishing Company, 1992)
[2] http://bosp.kcc.hawaii.edu/Horizons/horizons_1999/celebration2.html
[3] Ibid
[4]Ibid
[5]Compact Oxford English Dictionary of Current English, Oxford University Press, 2005
[6] http://www.ourcivilisation.com/phlsphy.htm
[7]http://www.answers.com/error
[8] Ibid
[9] Ibid
[10] http://www.livinginthephilippines.com/philculture/beliefs_on_ghost_spirits_and_witches.html
[11] W. Norris Clarke, Sj, “Central Problems of Metaphysics” (Manila: Ateneo de Manila University, 2001) p.10.
[12]http://www.psychicworld.net/EVP5.htm
[1]Webster Comprehensive Dictionary (Chicago: J.G. Ferguson Publishing Company, 1992)
[2] http://bosp.kcc.hawaii.edu/Horizons/horizons_1999/celebration2.html
[3] Ibid
[4]Ibid
[5]Compact Oxford English Dictionary of Current English, Oxford University Press, 2005
[6] http://www.ourcivilisation.com/phlsphy.htm
[7]http://www.answers.com/error
[8] Ibid
[9] Ibid
[10] http://www.livinginthephilippines.com/philculture/beliefs_on_ghost_spirits_and_witches.html
[11] W. Norris Clarke, Sj, “Central Problems of Metaphysics” (Manila: Ateneo de Manila University, 2001) p.10.
[12]http://www.psychicworld.net/EVP5.htm
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