The subject of the paranormal is such a wide subject that it is difficult to say what is and is not fact or fiction. Every person has their own opinion and beliefs surrounding the paranormal and who is to say that they are right or wrong? To a certain extent science has explained a lot of what was previously labeled “paranormal” but there is still a lot that is left unknown.
Because of this I decided to find 4 people from completely different backgrounds with completely different careers to answer 8 questions about the paranormal.
Our first candidate (further known as P1) works in sales and most of her job revolves around admin. She is in her early twenties. She was not raised with a certain religion and comes from a fairly open-minded family.
Our second candidate (further known as P2) is a full-time artist and although her upbringing was fairly conventional, the same cannot be said for the rest of her life.
Our third candidate (further known as P3) works in the film industry, has a love for horror and anything spooky. Born and raised a Christian she still follows her faith to this day.
Our final candidate (further known as P4) is a paranormal investigator. He has spent a lot of his time researching the paranormal as well as going to sites to investigate claims of paranormal activity.
Now that you have a brief break-down of each candidate let’s get to the good stuff.
Question 1
Do you think ghosts are real? Why?
P1: “Yes, because when I still stayed at home, I use to see this man figure in the corner of my bedroom wall by my door.”
P2: “Yes, I think they are real, although I prefer to call them spirits. Something needs to happen to the energy that is our souls/spirits. Energy cannot disintegrate, it simply changes its form. Or, perhaps it doesn't, it is just released from the constraints of our physical existence. There are so many people with an ability to see other beings around us that are not visible to the average eye, that it proves to me that, when you die, you simply change form and you are still around. There must be so many layers of existence! Maybe our physical form is just one layer of existence and perhaps even the most basic.”
P3: “Yes, because energy is not confined to a body”
P4: “I'm not completely sold on this idea, however, I've experienced happenings that one simply cannot explain. I'm not sure if there are "ghosts" in the traditional sense or if it's simply just energies of some sort interpreted in the traditional ways through bias.”
Question 2
If you ever saw a ghost how do you think you would react?
P1: “I did get freaked out and therefore have not been able to sleep properly because it constantly felt like someone was watching me.”
P2: “I would probably greet it and hope I don't scare it away.”
P3: “I would most likely think it’s a hologram or special effects trick”
P4: “I think I'd react with initial shock, and then awe and wonder... I've always been an advocate of something manifesting in front of me for me to fully believe. “
Question 3
If you were given the opportunity to ask a ghost one question, what would you ask?
P1: “Why are you here?”
P2: “Do you get lonely?”
P3: “What's it like on the other side, do you watch me pee?”
P4: “What is the afterlife exactly?”
Question 4
What is the creepiest thing you have ever experienced?
P1: “I do not actually know”
P2: “There were a few.
While at university, a friend and I decided to stop at a very old graveyard on the way home. We had a few beers and felt like doing something out of our ordinary. Many of the graves were flat slabs, some of them were cracked and some even looked like one half of the slab was lifted and put back incorrectly so the two halves would overlap. I stood on some of the graves and we joked about zombies and strange things that could happen in graveyards. After a little while, we saw a man tending the gardens. His back was turned to us and I decided to approach him to ask whether it was scary to work in a graveyard. When he turned around, he looked like a skeleton with skin pulled tight over his bony scalp. Around his neck hung several large, silver crosses of different shapes. He didn't speak, but simply stared at me. That was when we decided to leave. It was getting dark anyway (not sure why the gardener was still there either) and we started feeling extremely uneasy. Acutely aware of the disrespectful way we behaved toward the dead, we we eager to get home. Both of us felt that there was another presence in her car that evening and something odd happened when she decided not to come to a complete stop at the 4-way stop - it was as if her seat was pulled back, as if somebody got scared and held on tighter. At her house, I got into my own car and headed home. Driving into our yard, I looked in my rear view mirror and was sure I saw a face. I was absolutely terrified! That night, I woke up sensing a presence in my room. I screamed, as I have never encountered experiences like that before, especially not three in one day! My dad was there in a flash, we spoke about it and agreed that we don't think any spirit who visits would want to cause harm. Perhaps it was also just curious, like me, and perhaps it was also unfamiliar with ways to behave without scaring or being scared.
Many years later, in a different city, my eldest daughter came to stay with us for a while. We shared a room for that time. One night, we both woke up at the same time to the sound of somebody whispering "Hello". It seemed to be coming from the next to the bed. I first I thought it might have been one of the younger children, so I turned around to look. There was nobody. Then I thought perhaps my daughter was dreaming and whispered in her sleep. She then asked if I was awake and whether I heard it too. Almost a decade later, in a different house in the same city, my new husband and I woke up to that same whisper. Again it was as if somebody was standing next to the bed.
There were a few other experiences too, but they were sometimes odd and sometimes annoying, so I won't mention them here.”
P3: “A nightmare of an old hag coming at me through my bedroom window”
P4: “As a child, having both kitchen taps fully open behind me, in a famously haunted spot in Cape Town. Upon running away and returning with my father, the sinks were bone dry. I know what I had seen, experienced and heard, yet there was no logical explanation. “
Question 5
You have just moved into a new home. You realise it is 100% haunted. What do you do?
P1: “ Fucking move the fuck out and get a fucking refund – LOL”
P2: “I have lived in a house like that. They were not friendly towards me. All you can do is get to know them and remember that they can do no physical harm. The rest then just becomes scary and disturbing at times, tedious nonsense at other times. Our guests also told a few stories. I am very glad I moved far away from that house.”
P3: “Call paranormal investigators and a priest”
P4: “I would attempt to make contact in a plethora of ways until something worked, and try to establish what, who, why, and find a way to co-exist.”
Question 6
What do you think is the cause of people’s fascination with the paranormal?
P1: “The fact that the dead could still be alive”
P2: “Perhaps because it is so intangible? Perhaps because we are obsessed with death and how to avoid it? What happens after is such a mystery and us humans like to plan and predict everything.”
P3: “Not knowing”
P4: “Cheap thrills, mostly, thanks to Hollywood.”
Question 7:
If you came back as a ghost, what is the first thing you would do?
P1: “ Visit my family and haunt my enemies”
P2: “I would find ways to communicate with loved ones without scaring them.”
P3: “Go say hello to everyone”
P4: “If it's possible to move around freely, I'd finally get a chance to travel the world. If I was bound to a certain place, I'd more than likely spend my time looking for a way out!”
Question 8:
If ghosts are real then why do you think they are here?
P1: “ I think they are here because they either died before they were suppose to, they have unfinished business or something sentimental is holding them back.”
P2: “Where would they go? If my theory about energy is correct, then leaving our atmosphere would scatter it, causing it not to be one entity anymore and identity would be lost. Or perhaps the dead are as fascinated by the living as we are by the dead.”
P3: “Unfinished business”
P4: “This is a difficult one, as there could be scientific reasoning behind the reason that they are here... however, I'd like to think it has to do with unfinished business, warnings, protection of loved ones, missing of loved ones, unaware of the fact that they are indeed dead, it's a never-ending list, really...”
And there you have it, four different opinions on the paranormal and what comes after life. One thing seems to stand out: people want to visit their loved ones after they’re gone. Maybe this means that the ghost in your home that you have been afraid of all these years is just a loved one coming to say hello.
