Preface
Oddly you think, this post is a continuation of the last as it concerns the potentialities of the living as well as that of the dead.
In Tibetan Bhuddism there is a term, "Hungry Ghost" which is a metaphor for people futilely attempting to fulfill their illusory physical desires in the continuum of existence both in life as well as manifesting this behavior afterward, clinging to
our sensate realm in death. At times more often than not there is no nuance,discernment or psychology applied to the study of this phenomenon. The result of these weaknesses have predictable results, which often are taken solely at face value, having no coherent basis for interaction with this species of human being.
Click below to see a video from youtubehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snrTREpWhd4
Tampering Without Cause
The over stuffed house was an organic outgrowth of the shambling groves, ponds and prairie grasses that sheltered and veiled it's edifice from the prying eyes of it's neighbors. Set on the crest of a gentle hill at the end of a gravel drive,it's wavering window panes observed the passage of seasons, generations of men and the children who came and went like fire flies on a summer evening.
It's creator was a Welsh poet who with the blacksmith's assistance pinned her beams and walls with iron pegs and the horse drawn teams that dragged the fallen trees from the land which were reborn vertically as a stout facade dressed with white wash that bespoke it's gothic lineage as a testament to the will of permanence.
He sleeps behind the fallen iron fence you must step over within an island of trees marking his place as a portion of the land in the midst of a an infinite expanse of fallow fields.
I entered onto the grounds of this sanctuary as a stranger and at the end of my tenure as I looked back for the last time, I knew the personage I was at that time will remain impressioned as a portion of it's life long after I step into the ground.
Should some prying self indulgent hobbyist come sneaking up in the dead of night to disturb me as for no no other good cause than to create mischief, I will promise an oath on a stack of hay, that I will do my utmost to drive this uninvited and meddling miscreant off running into the night.
We must remember that these homes are homes for ghosts and not circus sideshows for adrenalin starved thrill seekers who taunt, question and generally harass us for no apparent reason other than to pry. If we should do the same to you in life as you do in ours, you would not hestitate to call 911.
An Empathetic Ghost
My first encounter with a ghost was on a summer's afternoon just outside of Grinnell, Iowa in 1969, on an endless expanse of isolated interstate highway that on that day was a likely location for what occurred. I was stranded as I had been many times before in my hitch hiking quest to discover what I somehow lacked in my experiences up to that time. From time to time a car would appear in the distance to rapidly approach and then wisk past my outstretched thumb. I simply walked on and on.
Without any warning a hand tapped me on the shoulder and as I spun around I was confronted by a young man my own age who was dressed in baggy clothing, and oddly a ragged looking jacket for such a warm day.
" Maybe it would help us both if we did this together as alot of times folks feel more comfortable when there are two people instead of one..."
"Sure..Why Not?"
I did not grasp his logic but at the same time, I did not look forward to another evening here on an embankment wrapped in my sleeping bag and being hounded once again by stray dogs in the middle of the night.
"Ill stand here and you go ahead abit..if I get a ride then Ill have them pick you up."
I began walking away and thought how odd it was he would not face me directly when he spoke. I became more than ill at ease with this plan of his and so after a few moments of walking away forward of his position, I spun around to take another look to determine if I had walked far enough. He had vanished. There was nowhere he could have hid even if he was odd enough to have done so for no reason.
I stood alongside the interstate for quite a while and attempted to process what had occurred. At that moment a car appeared on the horizon and I was picked up.
Many a decade later I understood his kindness and empathy in keeping me company.
An Interloper Sleeping On The Job
As I learned firsthand, ghosts can be protective of the temporary occupants of their homes. Jane, who was and will always be a close friend lived in the aforementioned white house along with her two young children Eric and Ashley.
Jane is a remarkably determined and intelligent example of the sort of person who we now call a pioneer. Left to her own devices, abandoned along with her children, she set about to single handedly refurbish the home as to begin a new life.
She approached me with the idea of house sitting for her when the opportunity arose to have a small vacation with her children. I agreed and so on the first evening accompanied by my rather large dog, settled in for a night's sleep after thoroughly checking all the doors and windows as this was a very isolated farmstead in an area which had recently experienced a spate of thefts.
I was deep in the midst of sleep with my dog enjoying the same at the foot of my bed when abruptly someone took what could have been a sledgehammer and began to hit the door repeatedly, so hard I thought for a split second, the door would come off it's frame. My dog leapt off the bed and cowered under a corner desk as if to underscore the fact that I was not dreaming. As any courageous and fearless individual would do under similar circumstances, I deftly pulled the covers over my head. Shortly thereafter, having recovered my self respect, I gave a great deal of effort into remaining in place as to determine if it was a pragmatic move to consider leaving my sanctuary to explore the source of this loud disturbance. My dog looked at me with a stubborn and determined stare from beneath the desk that it was better I go ahead in advance of her.I got up and walked into the darkness of a moonless night through the hallways and stairs and rooms. Everything was as I had left it.
As the next evening approached I made a tactical decision and positioned myself to sleep on the living room couch with the lights ablaze and the television prattling on.
I would not be taken by surprise. Ha!
With my arms folded into a defensively triumphant posture of defiance in this test of wills, I assured myself that I had covered every contingency, I was prone on the couch. My dog thought better of my plan and chose to sleep under the desk in my former room.
Every dish every utensil, every pot and pan suddenly exploded in a chaotic explosion of frantic determination to annihilate my smug victory from across the room arising from the kitchen. This time I was prepared and immediately ran into the kitchen to find everything was as neatly arranged as I had left it. I was most definitely not one of their family and more pointedly I had sparked their protective instincts as I was also not a part of Jane's. We are perfectly capable of defending this home and we certainly do not require an indigent interloper such as yourself to sleep on the job on our behalf. Time to negotiate. "Look..I am just going to be here for two more nights and I will be gone, so will you please just let me sleep and I will try not to disturb you" The dog padded into the living room and witnessed this address and then promptly gave her opinion of this ploy as she made her way back to her position of assured defense back under the desk.For the remainder of my stay I was left alone in my sleep inasmuch as I had recognized and respectfully addressed their concerns.
The Human Perogative
What I have learned is to provide the same respect to the dead as I do to the living, although at times one must be firm as no two ghosts are alike. I cringe every time some fellow on TV addresses a spirit as if it were a trained seal "Speak!" I would like to stealthily make my way into his home and provide him with a taste of this experience. My point in this is human psychology as applied in behaviors toward the spririt realm and the paranormal as well. We seem to have the same problem with mysterious ape creatures whom we chase hither and yon to satisfy some arcane point to ourselves or more importantly as evangelicals to prove to the unwashed that yessirree I was right wasn't I? Give me a break. Here, hand me that rock Mr Bigfoot and I'll gladly chuck one over their heads as well. I would gladly volunteer my services to go to their homes and blare music, bang on pots and trample around their yards.
This is interspecies communication at its most ham fisted.Knowing our history from their long observations from the settlement of the West, the Indian Wars, The Range Wars and what have you, they are providing us with an indication that we just may be lunatics.
Some Ghosts I Have Known
Some ghosts are as territorial in their realm as they were in life when it comes to their self identification within a profession as the middle aged female chef who looked at me with a look that said do do not even think of entering my space. This is mine. Some are drawn to the home when the home was a refuge from the world as in the two elderly spinsters and their self identification with each other and a parlor as a talisman against a world they viewed as chaotic. What they have in common is they never, either by choice, or by circumstance, never ventured even the slimmest question in life as to who and what they were. In this they viewed life as a existential stage and their roles upon it were solely created and maintained toward themselves rather than to their fellow creatures in life. They experience their existence as a continuation of that view and when certain elements of our sensate world that once existed in theirs, when these are discarded, disturbed in any way, the furniture, the
set pieces of this identification....they become anxious and outraged as it becomes evident to them what mind set they have affixed to their conceptual modeling of themselves. As in the previous post concerning Dr John C Lilly's work this clinging, this fear is as potent as a dynamic in death as many behaviors that are imprinted in life. In the next post, we will explore some other facets of this realm.
In the interim, perhaps John Cale can summarize the life of a ghost impressioned onto the Paris of 1919. "I am the Church and I have come to claim you with my iron drum." From a historical point of view perhaps the life of a spirit has much in equal with the living in terms of dogma and the imprinting of fear onto children which evidences it's permanence in adulthood in a materially intangible manner.Also in the next post, we will explore the relationship between the mind, the body and feeling as it applies to ghosts, as well as the psychological encapsulation of the spirit.
Perhaps they were ghosts in life.
Click below to watch a video clip on youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3ueIweuUvo
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