The Paranormal - Types of Ghosts
Ghosts cannot really hurt you, despite what you have seen on television or the movies. There are cases when spirits can and do make physical contact, such as a touch or a push or a tug on your hair. But when is the last time you have heard of a spirit killing someone? I am sure it is possible for a spirit to scare someone so greatly that they die of fright, but when was the last time you heard of even that happening? In theory, what is an entity? An entity is the spirit of an animal, human, or living being, but it goes beyond that. It’s about energy residue from the past. Sometimes this energy is negative, sometimes it dramatic, sometimes it’s good, but sometimes energy is left over and just does not go away. Therefore we are haunted by the past. Ironic, isn't it?
How a spirit moves objects is simple in theory. For example let’s say you've got a group of people in a room and a spirit wants to slam a door. The spirit needs force to do this. Force being, of course, living souls or other forms of energy within its range. By absorbing our batteries or intense souls giving off love, fear, hate, adrenalin, etc, they are able to have just enough energy to slam a door. (Remember Patrick Swayze in Ghost, learning to move objects? It's the same theory!) It’s like a light switch; you can light the bulb by flipping it on and feeding electricity through it. However, most entities are very quiet and a lot of them want to be left in peace. So a lot of them are found in dark abandoned places. Places nobody even died in; just places that usually do not have a lot of people, sunlight, or noise. Many spirits become alive when there are things familiar to them. What I mean by alive is, they react to only certain people, objects, scents and things.
Energies still remain a mystery. We do not have all the facts about them, and we probably never will. Why do they only show up sometimes? One theory is because, perhaps, entities cross between the spiritual realm and ours, or perhaps it’s the right time and place, or maybe we happen to walk in on them. Spirits will show themselves when they want to. They do not perform on demand! This is why some photographers get better photos then others. Some spirits are more comfortable with certain types of people more than others. They are as curious about the living as we are the dead. Spirits can do many things. Yes, they do talk. Yes, they give off scents such as roses or a certain brand of cigar smoke. They normally feel like ice cold spots and sometimes all they are is a blur of light or foggy cloud. But...they are there.
Just like people we know, not all spirits are good natured. There are those that get a kick out of intentionally scaring you. (At least the ones that know they are dead). The sad thing is many of these spirits do not know they are dead, so they keep repeating history; roaming down halls, checking someone's bed at night thinking they are checking on their kids, etc. Do spirits have a conscious? Yes! You can talk to them and they will sometimes react. However, not all ghosts are people or objects, some are animal spirits. If you go into a barn, you may get pictures of chickens, cows and horses, because that is where most of them pass away. Ectoplasm (in theory) is the ghost itself.
Now let's talk about a pretty controversial subject - Orbs. There are 2 types of orbs: the type snow, dust, and rain create, and the type that are energy balls of the deceased. Some that work with the dead, feel that when the soul leaves a body it usually is just a ball of energy. Not all orbs are ghosts. Some orbs have faces on them and you can usually tell a dust or moisture orb from the real ones because a real orb gives off a corona, while the center remains transparent. Now, vortex's (in theory) are orbs that spin so quick that it gives off a tornado type of anomaly
TYPES OF APPARITIONS
Orbs: True orbs, not dust or moisture orbs, are fairly common entities and best seen with a camera. They are also referred to as globes of light, globules, energy balls etc. Some of them appear in different colors,while some are white and transparent. Some have faces on them and some give off brilliant light. Others can be seen with the naked eye but that is rare because they are always moving or high up in the trees, corners, closets and hidden areas. Speculatively, they’re intelligent since when you talk to them and ask them to show up in photos they sometimes do. They are found in haunted places and sometimes non-haunted. They show up night or day and often have a conscience, as if they are trying to tell something in photos. They are harmless, and sometimes you can feel them sometimes blow past your face. When orbs are in motion and they can have tails on them or motion trails called plasma, plasmoid trails, or streamers. A camera can catch this more accurately. Most orbs are transparent in the center, and many believe that their color may actually be what their aura once was, or reflects how old of a soul they are. Orbs can manifest with enough energy. The more energy they gather the brighter they become. Some skeptics say they are dust, or errors in digital cameras. However, many have gotten them on many types of cameras in non dusty environments even as high as up in trees.
Ghost Lights: Also called will’o'wisps, spook lights, and earthlights. This phenomenon is unknown and there are many areas that have ghost lights. This is not a new ghostly happening being talked about. Ghost lights existed as far back as 1656. What they are is, most likely, many spirits traveling together, and with enough energy, light is given off. Although scientist have theorized that it's possible that these are marsh gases rising up, UFOs, sub-atomic particles burning up; many who have followed these lights have gotten lost, disappeared or even faced death. They are a big mystery. Sometimes they look like 100s of glowing balls traveling. Perhaps they are gateways to the spiritual world, and the dead travel together through them. A lot of areas that have ghost lights have had tragedies happen in them. Areas like train wrecks, massacres, etc.
Apparitions - Disembodied Spirits: These are rare, but an apparition basically is a ghost in its full form; usually in an appearance before they died. They will not hurt you, though they may scare you since they appear transparent. At times, they may appear when they want to tell you something, and sometimes become desperate to gain attention. They will move things around, make noise, talk, cause disruptions with appliances such as lights, televisions, stereos etc. They are basically the deceased and they know they are dead. If they still live in a house they died in, they may go around and tidy up or even try to fix something in the kitchen. Sometimes, talking to them can generate a response. You may see apparitions of your family members; they may come to visit you, perhaps relate a message by making things happen: familiar smells, opening a book, calling on the phone etc. They do seem to show emotions (happiness, anger, sadness), so they must be treated like us living, with respect.
Spirits: Spirits are departed souls of the dead. Generally they do not have a form, just a blur or cloud of light perhaps. Everything on earth has a soul; animals have spirits and so do we. Most people call them guides. Spirits that will stick by your side and help you deal with life’s tribulations.
Residual: These are most common types of ghosts/hauntings. A residual haunting means, simply, the ghost, spirit, or entity repeats its last moments before departing, or other moments in its life. This can be quite dramatic. They do not know they’re dead and their imprint from the past is left for the future. An example of this type of phenomenal might be an anniversary of someone’s death, or lets say a sailor who was lost at sea and the ghost of his lover might show up on the beach every night at 1am looking for him because he did not return. These ghosts ignore you. You can talk to them, shine lights on them, or whatever but they just keep going about their business.
Ectoplasm: Yes, this is an actual term not inspired by Ghostbusters! This may generally be a thick mist, fog, or plasma type of material that shows up on cameras or video. Most ectoplasm look like swirls, however some people have gotten faces, and morphed souls within it while filming or in photos. This ectoplasm is a sign that an apparition is either manifesting or has just got done manifesting. It can appear in many colors.
Vortex: There are two types of vortexes; ones that are funnel like entities, and ones that are a swirl of souls mixing together like a gateway to the spirit realm. The latter forms are rare and often are said to be camera straps. Generally the center of them is darker and the outside lighter. They most likely are caused by orbs when they move downward then stop all of sudden.
Shadow Ghosts: These are very elusive ghosts. There are many theories about them, saying they are entities from other worlds, live underground, are ghosts, demons etc. But they fit a lot of the categories of a ghost. They’re usually solid or transparent black. Most are seen near walls as if the shadow has become alive. They’re very quick and, once you notice them, they either vanish, fade, or move quickly away. They appear to have a human figure: thin, arms, legs. They do not seem threatening, nor are they very outgoing, unlike the apparition.
Poltergeist: A poltergeist is a noisy ghost or an angry ghost who cannot accept they are dead. The easiest target is children, since feeding off fear gives it energy, momentum, and the attention it wants. Poltergeist are said to move objects, bite, growl, scratch, scare, hit, push, vandalize, start fires and much more. Poltergeist are also the ghosts we create with our mind, like a false ghost our minds create when our brain is overwhelmed. Nobody is sure if these are even ghosts or souls. They may be an entity of some other kind, not as bad as demons perhaps, but they will scare you. Poltergeist are usually thought of as very violent spirits who would feed off of your fear and grow in power. However new studies show that its very possible they are manifestations of our own psychosis. Meaning, John Doe is real stressed out and perhaps he keeps his emotions in. So his brain manifests these emotions into the form of objects violently flying in a room, voices, things of that sort.
Demons: Theory is that demons are the fallen angels or ancient beings. We can call them lower demeaning spirits where there is so much evil or hate that their soul reflects the true form of a demon. They can materialize, but often they sit back and observe. Demons often have a rotten stench. Demons are said to have different levels of powers, as some can possess, while others are simply a nuisance. It is even believed by some that they are after souls. They are masters of trickery and most hate anything holy or human. A lot of hatred comes with these creatures, as they do not feed of negative energy but rather make it in your life. Demons want to be seen, and many cults will call upon them or deities to do their bidding. More or less, these are kind of like entities. Most likely older then ghosts, but powerful ones. Many haunted places claim to have a demon in it, and claim that many of the ghosts in that area will try and warn you, since even spirits seem to be afraid of demons.
Keep in mind that some ghosts simply do not fit into any category! And no two hauntings will ever be exactly the same. Your experiences are unique to any other, and, therefor, the above reference is simply that - a reference.