# Ghosts?!



## PrincessaMiranda (Jul 20, 2012)

Do you believe in ghosts? Ive seen a couple of things that seem like ghosts, or spirits. What is your take (Fantastical or theoretical) on the afterlife and world of Spirits?


----------



## Chilari (Jul 20, 2012)

My local theatre is said to be haunted. I used to do backstage stuff there and never saw anything. I think the board of trustees encourages it and probably even makes some stuff up because it really plays into their hands at Halloween, when the theatre organises a ghost walk around the town.

My stance is that of a skeptic, always. I don't believe in anything supernatural. I don't believe in souls, or psychics, or life after death. There is no evidence. There is nothing scientific or measurable about ghosts. Now perhaps we don't have the technological level yet to measure supernatural things, but when there are a dozen possible explanations for a phenomenon and no real reason to pick one above all the rest, the answer can only be that we don't know what caused it until there is measurable data which either rules out other explanations or positively supports one explanation.

There's a video on Youtube (which I can't access because I'm at work right now) by Qualiasoup on the supernatural; I can't remember what it's called but I think it's about a year old.

As far as ghosthunting shows are concerned, I don't believe a word of them. It's all about creating a spooky atmosphere, jumping at every noise you hear, and knowing enough about the history of the building to be able to make it seem real. In reality, old buildings do make noises. As they cool they shift in the foundations. If there is working but not recently installed plumbing, that will definitely creak as the metal contracts when it cools. I live in an old house (c 180 years old) and there are noises all the time. In fact at one point a friend came over and was convinced there were ghosts in the attic because he heard noises above our heads - until I told him that there were some blackbirds living in the space above my dormer window and when they left it they'd make loud clacking noises on the roof tiles and stuff.


----------



## The Blue Lotus (Jul 20, 2012)

My family (Parents, grandparents, siblings and husband!) thinks ghosts etc are real, I however can't believe in something I can't see, touch, and hear myself.
Perhaps I spent too much time in the lab IDK, just the way I am.
Ghosts are whimsical at best, and sometimes I wish I could buy into the whole deal... Would be kind of cool but, yeah if I were a ghosty I can't imagine hanging out in this hell hole a moment longer than was absolutely necessary... Go figure, I'd rather find myself a nice remote island and swim the depest part of the ocean sans cumbersome gear and if God is real I think I could spend several lifetimes getting answers to all the questions Humans have ever had.
I do however enjoy the silly shows like ghost hunters etc, the simple special effects and acting are just neat to watch.
:skull::eek2::bat:


----------



## Kit (Jul 20, 2012)

Open minded. I haven't had any personal experience with ghosts in particular, but I've experienced enough Weird Stuff to know that there's a lot out there that we don't understand.


----------



## Sheilawisz (Jul 20, 2012)

I absolutely believe in ghosts, demons, yetis, leprechauns and many other impossible things... I love to believe in it, to believe that the universe is much more than just what we can see, hear and touch!!

My personal opinion is that our mind, consciousness, soul or whatever that we are is a kind of very special energy (the energy of consciousness, maybe?) and the Afterlife is very similar to a world made of dreams... or, to be more precise, a fantastic lucid dream where you can create your own world =)

Ghosts in particular are energy that remains in this world instead of moving somewhere else, and they can have a collection of excellent reasons to remain attached here instead of "moving on" like they are supposed to do- Also, the paranormal activities are not always caused by ghosts...

Another thing that I believe is that ghosts, contrary to popular belief, can physically hurt you even though human ghosts are not nearly as dangerous as other things out there.


----------



## T.Allen.Smith (Jul 20, 2012)

I'm always somewhat skeptical of a person's supernatural accounts. I do try and stay open minded to the possibilities that there is more going on around us than our normal senses are able to perceive.

My skepticism has grown mainly from 7 out of 10 women I've ever known claiming to be psychic in some manner (no gender offense intended ladies, just relaying my personal experiences). I even had a girl tell me once that she knew she was meant to be a witch because streetlights often blink out whenever she walks by.... Okaaaaay.

Anyway, back on topic, I believe in possibilities. I'm skeptical by nature and experience. I'm not so arrogant as to think I've got it all figured out. There's plenty of things in the universe that defy explanation.


----------



## Telcontar (Jul 20, 2012)

Nope. I've never seen anything that others say were supposed to be ghosts that were not easily explainable other ways. I like the idea of ghosts though, mostly cuz I like the idea of being able to hang around the world and watch things happen after I'm dead. Haunting people might also be fun.


----------



## PrincessaMiranda (Jul 20, 2012)

Sheilawisz said:


> I absolutely believe in ghosts, demons, yetis, leprechauns and many other impossible things... I love to believe in it, to believe that the universe is much more than just what we can see, hear and touch!!
> 
> My personal opinion is that our mind, consciousness, soul or whatever that we are is a kind of very special energy (the energy of consciousness, maybe?) and the Afterlife is very similar to a world made of dreams... or, to be more precise, a fantastic lucid dream where you can create your own world =)
> 
> ...



I have almost the same dream theory you do. In fact I have written a blog about the exact thing... 
Castles in the Stars

The third post named The Land Of Dreams and Nightmares. 

Its something that nags in my brain, so I wrote it down.


----------



## PrincessaMiranda (Jul 20, 2012)

I am oddly skeptical when it comes to spirits, but I believe nevertheless. I have had true experiences with 'something'. The unknown is what gets to you and causes your brain to try and fill in the gaps. But the experiences I have had werent caused by paranoia, I was just minding my business when these things happened. Im the opposite of psychic, skeptical( I find the explanation BEFORE I jump to conclusions) and analytical. Things do happen.


----------



## Androxine Vortex (Jul 20, 2012)

I believe in God and this is my take on "ghosts." it has been said in the Bible that once a person is dead, then they are dead and are not part of this world anymore (excluding Jesus and Lazarus's Resurrection) I don't believe it is possible for ghosts of people that have died to "wander." That would suggest that they are beyond God's control. There are lots of people who claim to have seen ghosts or paranormal things. I don't believe that they are ghosts but instead demons deceiving people. My take on it is that "ghosts" are only "real" because you allow them to be. I think it is sort of like a demon deceiving you to think that ghosts are real because that is not the truth and they want you to believe in false truths. Maybe I'm wrong, who am I to say if these things are true or not? It's not really my place to question them. I have my Faith in God and that is more than enough 


EDIT: @T.Allen.Smith That happened to me before in my old neighborhood when I was a kid. Every time I would walk by this one streetlight at night it would go out. Scared the crap out of me!


----------



## Feo Takahari (Jul 21, 2012)

To paraphrase Pratchett, it's not whether you believe in them, it's whether they believe in you. I've never met a ghost, but I have no vested interest in saying they're not real, so why waste the breath?

As an alternate approach:

you want to know 
whether i believe in ghosts 
of course i do not believe in them 
if you had known 
as many of them as i have 
you would not 
believe in them either
--Don Marquis


----------



## JCFarnham (Jul 21, 2012)

As far as my experiences in life go, I've wanted to believe but can't really because I've never seen or experienced anything remotely "measurable" during a time when I can properly remember it (ie, after the age of 3 or 4). However, one holiday when I was about Five my family went on a holiday to Mexico and we ended up spending a day at some mayan ruins (could have been another tribe, I was young, I can't remember). I went into the structure with my dad, even as far as the passage would let us... but, I've never wanted to get out of some where more in my life. It felt evil to five year old me. 

Now, something that does intrigue me about paranormal phenomena is that believers seems to experience far more than non believers. The psychoanalytical part of my mind wants to say "when you are open to the idea you draw conclusions which to your mind become the truth regardless of measureable evidence." In fact this (coupled with the fact I'm skeptical and haven't experienced anything... yet) interests me so much, I've added this foundation of belief into my urban fantasy novels. Magic and the Fae are real, but you won't see them or anything of the sort unless you want to. Doesn't mean they can't hurt you.. you just won't understand whats going on.


----------



## gavintonks (Jul 21, 2012)

I grew up with 3 terrified the life out of me until I realized they never harmed me one was a cat used to run through the kitchen, then a huge undertaker in victorian clothes walked down the passage frightened me witless and then a Victorian lady used to sit on the edge of my parents bed, used to get such a fright especially when I was alone in the house,but she always looked up and smiled at me so I eventually accepted it


----------



## Stuart John Evison (Jul 22, 2012)

My Grannan visits me, she keeps me grounded (makes me dig the garden and grow my own vegetables) and when my daughter smiles I see her as plain as day. I put her character with her own name into my book "Muddle Puddle", I could not be more haunted by her. She was what they call in the fens "a wise woman", a natural midwife and healer she used the poppy and nightshade with a knowledge and confidence that has been ignored today and she made a wicked elderberry wine.
If anyone would like to meet her read chapter 1
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stuart_John_Evison_AKA_Stuart_of_Ely/175920489109244


----------



## Kit (Jul 22, 2012)

I went to the funeral of a friend; she was a Pagan priestess. She had known she was about to die (she had a terminal illness), and I had (with her invitation) purchased a plane ticket to go see her once more before she went. A couple of days before my visit, she passed.

 The funeral was held in author Diana Paxson's home. There were a bunch of cats running around in the house, and I was following them around trying to pet them (I'm a huge Cat person), but there was a vast crowd and the cats were skittish, so none of them would let me touch them.

As the facilitator was going through the ritual, and all these people were packed like sardines into one room (I mean we were all pressed up against each other on every side), I was bawling. The facilitator asked for a moment of silence and invited our deceased friend to commune with us or send us energy/messages- I can't recall exactly what was said, but the person was asked to make contact if she wished to. Complete silence fell across the packed room. Immediately, I felt one of those cats push its way between my ankles. (It was so crowded that I couldn't even look down to see it.)

I don't attempt to analyze what that was, aside from the fact that I know my friend was responsible. She had been a very grandmotherly-type lady, and I'm sure would have wanted to comfort me if she saw me standing there bawling.

I know skeptics will say that this was a complete coincidence, but it wasn't.


----------



## Alex97 (Jul 22, 2012)

I'm a Christian so I believe in God but I have a very skeptical approach even to my own religion so I would never say I believe in ghosts but I also wouldn't say that I didn't believe in them.  To put it bluntly I really don't know.  I like to keep my mind open but with the evidance I don't think I can make a conclusion.  In the same way that you could never disprove God (even if he/she does not exist) you could never disprove ghost so I soppose I'll never know unless I see one, but even then there are other explanations.

I remember my mum telling me she had a positive ghost experiance where she saw some figuire that was apparently standing on my dad's head although he was asleep.  The next moring my aunt reported that she saw and felt it as well although neither of them have ever said that they believe in ghosts.  Who knows? Maybe it was just some pervert..


----------



## Shockley (Jul 22, 2012)

I grew up in a household that a strong belief in ghosts, going so far as my mother saying she could locate ghosts just by looking at a house.

 So no, I don't believe in ghosts.


----------



## T.Allen.Smith (Jul 22, 2012)

Shockley said:
			
		

> I grew up in a household that a strong belief in ghosts, going so far as my mother saying she could locate ghosts just by looking at a house.
> 
> So no, I don't believe in ghosts.



Lol.... Love that!


----------



## Helleaven (Jul 22, 2012)

I do believe in spirits of the nature, in a god which has never sent any prophet or any books to this world, I believe in afterlife, in paranormal skills that some people possess, I believe that there are lots of things that we don't know about the universe, I believe (even if they don't have spaceships or super-technologies) that there are some living creatures in far galaxies, I believe in a religion which has been created by my inner senses and my inner thoughts.

But I don't believe in ghosts. At least I don't believe that spirits of humans or animals or plants are still lurking in our world. There are some inexplicable things that many people experience; but I believe that there has to be a reasonable explanation for all of those.

As long as science treats the paranormal studies like its step-child, those events will remain uncovered. Though I believe that the souls are immortal, I don't think they're still here and watching us. At least I wouldn't want to have an eternal life in which I'm suppose to watch everything behind an impassable veil.


----------



## Sheilawisz (Jul 23, 2012)

Hey everyone, this is a nice thread but please, just to keep the thread going the right way, check the Guidelines for discussing Religion:

Guidelines Here.


----------



## The Blue Lotus (Jul 23, 2012)

Kit said:


> I went to the funeral of a friend; she was a Pagan priestess. She had known she was about to die (she had a terminal illness), and I had (with her invitation) purchased a plane ticket to go see her once more before she went. A couple of days before my visit, she passed.
> 
> The funeral was held in author Diana Paxson's home. There were a bunch of cats running around in the house, and I was following them around trying to pet them (I'm a huge Cat person), but there was a vast crowd and the cats were skittish, so none of them would let me touch them.
> 
> ...




See I have no problem with that because it brings you comfort. Had you said "the light blew out causing glass to spray every where and I know it was my friend letting us know she was still with us..." I'd have had a very dif point of view. I guess I am a hypocrite? lol maybe it is because I tend to think that since we are nothing more than energy that transfers I can't understand being scared of something that can not harm you??


----------



## Chilari (Jul 24, 2012)

Helleaven said:


> As long as science treats the paranormal studies like its step-child, those events will remain uncovered.



I don't think science does treat paranormal stuff like that, or rather, if it does it's entirely justified. Have you heard of James Randi? He's a performer who does magic tricks, and also a sceptic. He has offered $1m to anyone who can, under appropriate scientific testing conditions, prove something paranormal, supernatural, or otherwise considered maligned by science, including psychics, magicians, homeopathy and other disciplines. Over a thousand people have tried. None have succeeded. Several of those people blamed negative energy caused by too many sceptics (which just makes me laugh), or testing conditions designed to disprove them, but if these things were real they should stand up under scientific scrutiny and not fall down at a simple hurdle like a double blind trial (in the case of homeopathy) or having polystyrene beads around a book where someone claims to be able to turn the page using psychic powers but in fact is just blowing gently on it.

So yes, scientists have tried to encourage those who claim to have psychic powers, commune with the dead, cure people with water to prove it, with a prize up for grabs if they can do so of $1m, but they've failed. Now, you might say that the scientific method cannot be used to test the paranormal because it is beyond the known laws of the universe, and to a degree I can accept that that is entirely possible. One cannot prove the existence of radio waves when one is only using a really big listening horn to measure it. But the scientific method is what we have at the moment. And if paranormalists wish to prove that what they are doing is real, then they need to develop the technology to prove it - and that includes ruling out all other posibilities. They need to develop hypotheses which explain the phenomena without contradicting with what we already know, which can be tested and which have predictive capabilities; or else they need to create a new method which can be used by all scientific disciplines whereby the paranormal can be appropriately tested but which will also reach the same conclusions as the current scientific method regarding that which we already know, like gravity.


----------



## Kit (Jul 24, 2012)

Part of the problem with that is that even people who believe- and even people who regularly use "supernatural" (by whatever name) techniques- often don't know for sure why they work or what the rules/parameters are. We may have theories, but we don't know.

One common theory is that it's all PERFECTLY scientific, not "magic" or "supernatural" at all, but we just don't understand those branches of science yet.

The people who are most skilled/experienced are usually the people *least* interested in trying to prove things for skeptics, or to get money or fame out of it.


----------



## ShortHair (Jul 24, 2012)

My opinion is that we can't rule out the possibility of ghosts. I've never seen one personally (that I knew of), but I've heard so many stories that I can't see how they are simply figments.

Almost everywhere there are stories of someone encountering a mysterious figure and learning a fact about it. Only later does that someone find out that the figure was a ghost and that the fact learned is true. We can't explain it with our limited understanding of the universe, and yet it happens. We can't explain how bees fly, either, but they do.

One other point. Those who disbelieve can be as rigid in their thinking as those who believe. The "experts" who debunk ghosts (or UFOs or whatever) reject evidence that they can't quantify. They equate "I can't explain it" with "Nobody can explain it," which is arrogance.


----------



## Chilari (Jul 24, 2012)

ShortHair said:


> We can't explain how bees fly, either, but they do.


Actually we can. The people who first examined bee flight and concluded that it was impossible assumed lift was generated only when the wings went down, but the way the wings twist on the way back up also generates lift. Can't go looking for source right now because I'm at work. In any case, not knowing why something works doesn't mean it works by supernatural means.



ShortHair said:


> One other point. Those who disbelieve can be as rigid in their thinking as those who believe. The "experts" who debunk ghosts (or UFOs or whatever) reject evidence that they can't quantify. They equate "I can't explain it" with "Nobody can explain it," which is arrogance.



Perhaps some do, but I don't believe that is the attitude in general. For most sceptics, true sceptics, "I don't know" means just that. What I particularly dislike (and I'm certainly not alone in this) is when those who hold certain beliefs (and this crops up in a wide range of beliefs about the supernatural) say "you can't explain it therefore my explanation is right." It might be that the person tasked with providing a scientific explanation doesn't have all the information - particularly when told of a supernatural event as an anecdote. A friend of mine insists there's a ghost living in her parents' house, and their cat won't go into this one room where the ghost is meant to reside, which even in the heat of summer is colder than the rest of the house. Now I don't know about her house, but there's a room in my house which is colder. It used to be the pantry, and has stone walls instead of brick, pretty thick walls too. It's south facing but even in summer is the coolest room in the house when the heating is switched off. Similarly, there is another room in the house none of my cats have ever gone in, right next to that colder room. They have access to that room (unlike the upstairs rooms) but will not enter it voluntarily. The room is not haunted, the cats just don't like it. I suspect they just don't like the smell, something too subtle for our noses. Sometimes things have explanations which depend on data people are not privy to.

In general I think ghosts come about as a result of a combination of factors: impressionable minds, stories they hear, the desire for attention, unexplained phemonena and the tendency for the human mind, when under pressure, to act irrationally. It is comforting to believe the dead watch over us; or alternatively to believe that the dead can visit justice on those who escape it via conventional means. There is also a sense among several cultures that we are connected to the past in some way. This is also comforting. The idea that those who built and lived in the houses and castles and who appear in the histories we read might still be around to tell us what their lives were really like is a very attractive prospect to any historian. For me personally it's the idea of time travel that I can't let go of. I know it's physically impossible, at the very least as far as travelling backwards beyond the point at which time travel is developed is concerned, but I frequently imagine scenarios in which I travel back in time and meet people like Aristotle or Augustus. People want a link to the past. The idea of ghosts is one of those links.

I once made up that I'd seen a UFO when I was in primary school. I thought I had seen something, a bright pink thing in the sky, and insisted it was an alien spacecraft. It was probably a sunspot in my vision from having looked at bright green foliage in the sunshine. But mostly I wanted attention. I wasn't one of the popular kids but mostly played with one of the kids who was more popular. He got all the attention and I was ignored. So I made something out of nothing and claimed a UFO sighting.

For the record, tales of ghosts have existed at least 2500 years. The ancient Greeks believed the ghosts of those who died young or violently would linger near their graves and could be bound using written curses to visit supernatural evil upon people. And they believed it worked. They also believed the whole world was made up of combinations of earth, air, fire and water (including one of the foremost smart people of the day, Aristotle*), but science has moved on from that.

*not that Aristotle wasn't occasionally wrong - he thought the ruler of a hive of bees was a king, for example, in defiance of his contemporaries, mostly because he was sexist and couldn't believe a female could rule and liked to draw parallels with human society using the king of the bees as an exmaple - but on many things he was ahead of his time.


----------



## Shockley (Jul 24, 2012)

> I once made up that I'd seen a UFO when I was in primary school. I thought I had seen something, a bright pink thing in the sky, and insisted it was an alien spacecraft. It was probably a sunspot in my vision from having looked at bright green foliage in the sunshine. But mostly I wanted attention. I wasn't one of the popular kids but mostly played with one of the kids who was more popular. He got all the attention and I was ignored. So I made something out of nothing and claimed a UFO sighting.



 This reminds me of my mother in all facets of life. In every situation she had a natural drive to be the center of attention, and at some points that took the form of 'sensing' ghosts.

 She would tell a story that involved a broom flying out of the attic and 'sweeping' her down some stairs and onto a pile of broken glass. She claimed that she saw a green woman holding the broom and attacking her, and after that she refused to go into the house ever again (which my father had just purchased for her as a wedding present). 

 Everyone else that was there is of the opinion that she hit the broom (which was sitting there) and tumbled over to the stairs, breaking a vase as she went down. 

 Given the choice, I find the latter more legitimate. 

 I wouldn't say that the desire for attention explains every paranormal phenomenon, but I think it explains a lot. It definitely covers Sylvia Brown, Uri Gellar, James Van Praagh, the Amityville people and the 'Haunting in Connecticut' people (both of them were involve with Ed and Lorraine Warren, who have been accused by the ghost writer* (pun absolutely intended) of the Haunting in Connecticut book of making things up to make the stories believable) and a good portion of the people who say they confronted vast, international conspiracies.

 *The ghost writer for the Haunting in Connecticut book (which is called 'Dark Place') is named Ray Garton, and he's one of the most intelligent, humorous people I've ever heard interviewed. He was quick to refer to the Haunting in Connecticut events as the low point career, before reminding the interviewer that he was also responsible for the Goodburger novelization.


----------



## PrincessaMiranda (Jul 24, 2012)

I really enjoy hearing about other peoples beliefs, the stuff that people think quietly in their heads. I didnt realize religion would be used in this thread. My apologies.


----------



## Sheilawisz (Jul 24, 2012)

No problem Miranda, this thread is interesting!! 

We just need to keep in mind the Mythic Scribes Guidelines for discussing Religion, as I said in a previous post.


----------



## Chilari (Jul 25, 2012)

Sorry I didn't mean for it to stray so far from the designated topic. Wouldn't want to bring religion into this as it can get heated.

As far as ghosts in stories are concerned, I certainly wouldn't avoid them just because I don't believe in them. I think ghosts can make a great plot element. There was one story I was writing a year or so ago (currently on hold; I wasn't happy with the protagonist) I had a group of people who had magically bound themselves to ghosts to gain the strength and some supernatural powers of the ghosts, which the ghosts agreed to because it meant they could take revenge on the descendants of those who killed them and leave the site of the battle where they died. The Ghostbound are one of my favourite ideas - they were a lot of fun because there was the conflict of there being two personalities with two different aims and two different skillsets in one body. They were sinister and more powerful than the normal mortal characters, and made great characters. Shame I messed up with the protagonist. I might use them again if I find a story suited to them.


----------



## JCFarnham (Jul 25, 2012)

Chilari said:


> Sorry I didn't mean for it to stray so far from the designated topic. Wouldn't want to bring religion into this as it can get heated.
> 
> As far as ghosts in stories are concerned, I certainly wouldn't avoid them just because I don't believe in them. I think ghosts can make a great plot element. There was one story I was writing a year or so ago (currently on hold; I wasn't happy with the protagonist) I had a group of people who had magically bound themselves to ghosts to gain the strength and some supernatural powers of the ghosts, which the ghosts agreed to because it meant they could take revenge on the descendants of those who killed them and leave the site of the battle where they died. The Ghostbound are one of my favourite ideas - they were a lot of fun because there was the conflict of there being two personalities with two different aims and two different skillsets in one body. They were sinister and more powerful than the normal mortal characters, and made great characters. Shame I messed up with the protagonist. I might use them again if I find a story suited to them.



Sounds to me like you found your antagonists before your protagonists. It might take days, weeks, or months before the right person for the job appears, but that's often the way ideas work isn't it?  Alternatively, can you make them fit into an already existing idea? (for the sake of this aside staying short I'd like to reference this blog post for you: On Creativity and Writing: Making the Most of Ideas, part I)


I tend to call myself spiritual (though that raises more questions than I can answer). Not because I believe in anything in particular, but mostly because I can't disprove any such beliefs. Make sense? For example, I think I'm right in saying we are far from understanding the trick to sentience. Neurobiologists try, have been for a while and are getting closer every day, but with out conclusive proof on exactly how the brain and all those other parts come together so perfectly to form a thinking "us"... well, lets just say to keep to the conservation of energy, all that which makes us up has to go some where. I can't quite wrap my head around the idea of it ALL disappearing into where ever you wish to come to rest and nothing existing from then on. 

There's something special there, in human intelligence, don't you think? Apes for example exhibit a great deal of the processing power necessary for coming to similar conclusions about day-to-day life as we might in their place, but still they are that one _little_ step away from being capable of the abstract thought that gave us, eg, language. Why?

The paranormal to me has always been "the stuff science can't explain yet". I think the only way I can quantify saying "I'm spiritual" is by adding; I'm open to the truth, whatever that truth may be, but not terribly open to the idea of organisations who throughout history consistantly caused violence because of their beliefs not matching up with others.


----------



## Stuart John Evison (Jul 25, 2012)

To call ghosts and other similar phenomenon "the supernatural" is not a term I have ever been happy with, it's like describing the ocean as wet, it really tells you absolutely nothing. Similarly as a person who casts the runes it always annoys me when someone asks me to "tell their fortune", can they not see that if that was truly possible I would be one of the richest men in the world.
It has never bothered me that some people scoff or even become violently agitated when I bring out the stones in company for belief has always been a matter of faith not proof, the church could never exist without it. More than once I have stunned a questioner who has tried to catch me out by asking the same question twice and on such occasions have been accused of slight of hand because they have through chance drawn the same rune stones from the bag. My degree is in Statistics and it always freaks me out when it happens since I understand the odds of it happening.
When asked for proof of authenticity I can only ever give unverifiable anecdote in answer.
During the second world war my grandmother saw my uncle, her eldest son, standing at the top of the stairs covered in blood and told the whole family that he had been killed. The "regret to inform you" telegram arrived a month later. When I was due to be born she had a dream where my mother was drowning in her own blood and consequently insisted she was there when my mother gave birth. She was a skilled natural midwife, you can't give birth to fourteen children only half of them surviving past infancy without learning a thing or two, the doctor later said that if she had not been there to take charge both my mother and I would have died.
For my own part I used to read the tarot cards, when I was young and naive, I read them for my best friend and saw an absolute disaster lying in wait for him. Not understanding what we were seeing it was laughed away and dismissed. Within weeks he and his girlfriend were killed on his motorbike after just waving farewell and he actually breathed his last as I cradled his shattered body by the side of the road. It is my biggest regret in life that if I had understood the card reading properly maybe he would still be alive, needless to say I put the cards away and have not touched them since. The runestones I use now are a far more benign way of reading fate since they are more about telling people where they are at, rather than where they might end up.
You can believe or not it does not worry me one way or the other but I am convinced, no one and no amount of sceptic argument will convince me that the tangible gift I inherited from my grandmother does not exist. Her "ghost" is over my shoulder as I write and she's telling me I'm wasting my time doing it. You will believe or not, as your nature dictates, faith though moves mountains and is this not what the "White Christ" taught us all.


----------

