Does a ghost choose to make itself known to you?

I’ve had my experiences with the paranormal, but I wonder why? Why do only certain people get to see these “ghosts” Some say it’s because they are in touch with a “sixth” sense. Are they really, or is it that the ghost chooses you to see it? Or what makes it so you can hear EVP? Is it the same…the ghost chooses you to see/hear it?

I’ve seen a small Down syndrome child, My Uncle, A lady from the early 1930’s who was a poltergeist and I’ve seen a woman sitting in a rocking chair. I will be honest; I don’t think I have a “sixth” sense or anything of the sort. So I wonder why I’ve only seen them. Do you think they choose who sees them? It could be possible. I choose to believe this over a “sixth” sense.

My reasons I think that they choose who sees them because they have something to offer those who do. To those who don’t’ see them, they have nothing to offer, or they need help in a small way and they think you are the one who can help them.

With my experience I never really helped any of the ones I saw, I just did research. Like the little boy with Down syndrome. I was visiting my Great Grandma’s house when I was 6 or so. We walked in the house and no one else was home, so my Mom and my siblings decided to make some lunch. We went into the kitchen and the attic door was open. This is an older house where to go up into the attic you went up a winding stair case…skeleton keys and all. Well it was typically locked so me and my siblings couldn’t go adventure hunting up there. So we closed the door no big deal. Well we all went to bed and everything was good. It was in the middle of the night and I got up to go to the restroom. As I walked out of my door and turned right to go to the bathroom I heard like a jingling noise. I figured it was my Great grandpa…he always had a whole bunch of pennies in his pockets that he’d do tricks with. So when I turned to look down the hall to look at him. I saw this little boy. He probably was no more than 10 feet from me. I wasn’t scared of him. He looked scared though. Like he hadn’t seen someone forever. I got the guts up and took a step towards him. The hallway tunneled almost and he seemed like he was like 20 feet from me now. I was just staring at him trying to figure out what to do with this little boy. He was floating…he had legs but they tapered off into nothing. He had a sad sad sad look on his face with those big eyes that down syndrome kids have. And his hands and legs were chained. Like you would see a jail mate chained in. Where it’s the shackles that hook on your wrists and ankles. He sort of walked towards me and then got scared and ran off….where you ask…into the kitchen and up the attic door.

So, I told my mom and she and I went to the library and then the bank and got a history of the neighbor hood. The house was owned back in the 1920’s by a rich couple that had 3 children. An older son about 17, a daughter 15 and a little boy about 10. The younger boy, had down syndrome. Since there is no cure for down syndrome and it was back in the 20’s….it was an embarrassment to the family. SO they chained him up in the attic so that no one would know that they had him.

I dunno if he needed someone to know about him and find out that he was up there….or what, but after that night…I never saw the little boy again…nor did the attic door randomly open.


Are there any other interesting stories or thoughts on why we see the paranormal? Do you believe in a “sixth” sense? If so, what makes it so only a selected few have this “sixth” sense? Does everyone have it and only a few know how to use it?

I’m just curious to know what other peoples ideas on this are….if you have any physical proof, or scientific proof that says we do have a “sixth” sense I’d love to hear em and any other theories on this.

MissAshleyDear

From your story, it sounds as if he wasn't projecting himself to you, as you say he looked scared so I doubt he chose to show himself to you.

If you have seen a few on seperate occasions, maybe it's you, perhaps you can unconsiously tune in to the spirit world some times.

I think alot of people won't/don't see them because they don't believe or don't want to know.

There are occasions when spirits will make their presence known, either they have bad feelings towards the person or they want to show happy feelings.

Either way I don't think this child even new you was there until he saw you, if he saw you...

intresting...you never told me this story...i guess i will have to kiss some more stories out of you tonight, though i find this very intriguing...hmm though i must admit i like you grandma poltergist story the best....but all in all i think you see these for a reason and by not some mere chance...also i have a theory that they live a on liner plane around us that we dont see...but every so often there is a rip in the "fabric" so to speak..and u can see that other plane of existance..(what i call 4d)
(edit: oh and fix your colors please!...the grey..doesnt fit..the grey background...is my girlfriend really that color blind?)

[edit on 1/6/2007 by ConfederacyOfUnity]

In my opinion and from my expirences. Certan "ghosts" are the ones that are stuck on this physical plane of existance.

Some are stuck here because they refuse to understand that they are dead.

These tend to become the polterguist ghosts that throw things around and move things. They like the rest of us just want to alter their own environment to their comfort.

Polterguist

Some are stuck here because they somehow got lost allong the way.

These tend to become your contact ghosts. The ones that seem to want to tell you something. Sometimes they feel that they have unfinnished buisness on this plane so they go about trying to get that last task done.

Dead Mothers Voice

Then other "ghosts" are mere memories imbeded in space time. I believe that certan memories are so strong that they become somewhat physical in nature and flow along with space time in a way almost paralel to that of the actual occourance. These are the repeater ghosts. the ones that keep doing the same thing over and over and over again. This is the majority in my expirience of ghost sightings.


The Ghosts of Roman Soldiers in York England

So I hope that this helps you.

Funny you know, because for YEARS, there was absolutely NO-one to confirm a specific aspect of my own experience with ghosts. Yet lately, I've read several reference to the same thing, i.e., ---- ' legs faded away'.

Now you see (even though I don't know her) I KNOW MissAshleyDear has seen ghosts. She's not indulging in wishful thinking or exaggeration and it wasn't a dream or hallucination ------- she has SEEN ghosts.

How do I know? Because she and I have confirmed each other's experience and have independently witnessed the same detail, i.e., ----- that the ghosts' legs have faded away to nothingness from approx. the knee area down. At the time ( when in the presence of the ghost ) this does not seem unusual, nor does it affect the ghost's height.


I'm not suggesting that every ghost fails to manifest its lower legs, but it's beyond coincidence that two total strangers (plus a handful of other accounts I've read in recent years) report the same thing.

So what does this mean? Well, it only takes ONE verfied ghost to change EVERYone's life. Such would mean that regardless of your beliefs (religious and other) dead people can (on occasion) be seen by the living. Not a movie or a book. For real. Dead people aren't 'dead' as death is commonly believed to be.

Dead people aren't in the ground or a pile of cremated ash, or playing harps in heaven or burning in hell. They're still 'around' --- at least some of them are.

Do ghosts choose to make themselves known to the witness?

In my opinion, sometimes SOME of them do --- whilst at other times, the presence of witnesses is irrelevant from the ghost's persepective. It's to be suspected that some ghosts are unaware they're ghosts and so may possibly be unaware of the presence of witnesses. Then there are ghosts who're stuck in a particular moment in time. I guess the latter could be compared to members of the living who're traumatised and so endlessly repeat what to others appear as meaningless behaviours.

I suspect ghosts aren't much different to us. Sometimes, we might seek another's attention: when we wish to speak to a teacher after class, for example. At other times, we might be engrossed in thought or intently doing something, only to notice someone else has come into the room. Sometimes -- even though we aren't aware of them --- someone will tell us they drove past our house and saw us in the garden.

We aren't all alike and nor are ghosts. Often, we're different from hour to hour and ghosts may be likewise.

My own experience with ghosts is as follows: Immediately *prior* to the experience, I am in an ordinary state of mind. Often I'm engaged in doing something. I am awake. I am not particularly stressed. I am not seeking a ghost experience. *Then*, for the duration of the experience, I am NOT in my usual frame of mind. I do not scream or run, for example. I do not have any emotions or thoughts such as curiosity or any 'Gee, I'm looking at a ghost ' reactions.


So, the experience itself causes me to enter an altered state. When I emerge from it, I remember the ghost in considerable detail. That's how it is for me. The ghosts I've seen have all been perfectly lifelike (apart from the non-visibility of the lower legs).

However, I suspect I am not the focus of the ghost's attention. I don't believe the ghosts have sought me out or sought my attention.

Rather, I suspect my mind senses when a ghost is present and that this (the presence of a ghost) causes my altered-state which in turn results in my seeing the ghost.

I'm speaking above of 'ordinary' ghosts. On the other hand, there have been a small number of instances when something (but not the classic 'ordinary' ghost) has most definitely chosen to make itself known to me. The latter experiences have been frightening

I am of the opinion that there are ghosts and spooks all around us, ALL OF US, all the time. They are there all day and all night. Everywhere. It's just that most people are too busy, or too loud, or to self absorbed, or too unbelieving to see/hear/feel anything.

Seriously. To know they are there is nothing special. To get the spooks to leave you alone .. THAT is something I'd love to have happen! Ignorning them seems to be the best way I have found so far.

They notice if you notice them. Ignore them and they quiet down. Go figure.

I quite franky do NOT envy you, FlyersFan, if as you say, ghosts around you are numerous and will not leave you alone. I don't imagine that would be comfortable for even the most experienced, well-balanced person. For the average person it would, I feel, be virtually unendurable
:-(
After all, life (as we know it to be) is for living.

Can't help wondering what would cause someone to be in your situation. If you feel inclined to express your theories or actual knowledg re: same, I'm sure there would be many, like me, who're interested.

In the most vivid ghost experience I've had, the ghost appeared without notice in the same room as I was in. One moment it wasn't there and next, it was.

It didn't appear to notice me at all, or if it did, it obviously considered me to be of no importance.

It's attention was elsewhere within the room and it appeared to be concentrating/thinking/confused-puzzled. It was very much focused on something else. I'm not sure it even noticed me.

As I was in one of my 'there but not there' states, perhaps I escaped the:
" ... they notice if you notice them " theory, if you don't mind my asking ?

In light of what you've said, I'm wondering now if my ' suspended animation' condition is one which my mind deliberately imposes upon me for my own protection/to render me 'invisible' to ghosts or at least zonks me out to the extent ghosts do not notice me ?

Originally posted by whatukno Then other "ghosts" are mere memories imbeded in space time. I believe that certan memories are so strong that they become somewhat physical in nature and flow along with space time in a way almost paralel to that of the actual occourance. These are the repeater ghosts. the ones that keep doing the same thing over and over and over again. This is the majority in my expirience of ghost sightings.

hmmm, so how do you propose these memories get stuck in space-time? What makes them so inimitable that they are stuck? Are you more talking about a rip in time/space or the mind? I'm inquisitive.... please do explain

MissAshleyDear

Originally posted by chris01621
From your story, it sounds as if he wasn't projecting himself to you, as you say he looked scared so I doubt he chose to show himself to you.

If you have seen a few on seperate occasions, maybe it's you, perhaps you can unconsiously tune in to the spirit world some times.

Well, I think he did see me; because, when I walked toards him. He paniced and then dissapeared into the attic again.

Tune in to the spirit world? Hmmm, every time I have seen a ghost, I've never been looking....in fact, when I do look, I get nothing, see nothing, feel nothing. And all the times I have seen them, I wasn't sad, depressed, or overly exuberant. They just came out of no where....well besides the poltergeist. That one was just creepy! She was there far longer then we were in that house. So. But all of my experiences I've had some sort of eye contact....or in the case with the poltergeist things thrown and fallen on me. So all of them wee very aware I was there.

MIssAshleyDear

To get back to the root of the question...

Regarding EVP it is obviously not based on the individual tuning in, or all those online recordings where a presence is audible (faked or not that isn't the issue here,) would not be audible to anyone except those with the "gift." Or curse depending on your point of view.

I'm not sure how it works, either. But there was a ghost resident within a dwelling I went to almost daily for several years and it never altered its behaviour or demeanor.

It occupied a space behind a door that was invariably kept ajar and which (in the ajar mode) formed basically a triangular space between itself and a right-angle (corner) formed where two walls met. The space so created was ample to accomodate a (living) person.

The ghost appeared to be hiding behind the door. Whenever I went to the space behind the door, the ghost always wore the same timid, frightened attempt at a smile. It was always the same in appearance. It never moved its position.

In later years, I learned from the owners of the property that two people had died violently there, when the property had been a pub/gambling den. The deaths had occurred in the 1920s or 1930s. The man's dress could easily have been from that period, it certainly wasn't contemporary.

It's the only ghost I've seen more than once. It was exactly the same each time I saw it. I suspect that it must have been hiding behind the door in life and was killed there. For some reason, it stayed there. I didn't get the feeling that the ghost was 'conscious' in the way others I've seen have been. So possibly it was of the type referred to by 'whatukno'; basically a memory of an event which ended up being carried along in time.

Maybe the ghost had been so shocked and scared when his killer opened the door and discovered him, that these emotions imprinted themselves in the 'stuff' (air, atmosphere, space or whatever) similar to an indelible stain in fabric or even a tattoo on skin.

Which makes me wonder about what it is we 'live' in and prompts me now to wonder if this 'time' or 'ether' or whatever it is we exist in is similar to a photographic type film (as in movies or video) ? Mmmm. Now I'm thinking.

In regards to the above post.

Indeed I've had the same type of ghost experience. It was with an elderly lady in a rocking chair. It was in my Aunts house and in her Kitchen (an odd place) there was an elderly lady maybe around her late 80's rocking in an old rocker. She is bobbing her head as if she were fighting sleep. When she would pop her head back up she looks at the entrance of the kitchen and smiles a giggling smile, like oops you didn't see me just falling asleep look. None the less, she just sits there and rocks away the time bobbing her head fighting sleep.

Though, I still wonder how or why they only appear to certain people. I’ve got a few ideas in my mind, that they see something in you i.e a quality or something that is similar to their own, or they think that you can maybe explain/help them in some way.

MissAshleyDear

Originally posted by Dock6
Maybe the ghost had been so shocked and scared when his killer opened the door and discovered him, that these emotions imprinted themselves in the 'stuff' (air, atmosphere, space or whatever) similar to an indelible stain in fabric or even a tattoo on skin.

This makes me wonder how this image or person gets stuck. The only comparison I can really make is like when an atom bomb drops. Cars/tree/people/animals/buildings cast shadows that are burned into the ground or pavement. This is what it reminds me of. That it’s somehow burned or like you said tattooed into the air, or something.

here are some other peoples Ideas on why we see ghosts. What they might be. And why they do certain things and if they are keys to finding rips in time.

Eplanation one

This web site is an interesting one....it has a few Q&A on it that could be useful for the inquiring mind

Eplanation two

Eplanation three

Eplanation four

Explanation five

Eplanation six

Explanation seven

Explanation eight

Explanation nine

Explanation ten

Theres a few web sites that have some good info on them if you dig around on them.

MissAshleyDear

Originally posted by Dock6
I quite franky do NOT envy you, FlyersFan, if as you say, ghosts around you are numerous and will not leave you alone. ... Can't help wondering what would cause someone to be in your situation.

My mom, and others, have said that I'm haunted. Some houses are haunted, some furniture is haunted .. well, I'm a haunted herson.

I notice them. You can't miss it. I'm not the only one who experiences the spooks around me so it's not my imagination. People who have said "I don't believe in that stuff" have gone on, after a week or so staying with me, to say 'yep, they are real'.

Then, after I notice them, the spooks notice that I notice. So far, the most effective weapon I have is putting them on 'global ignore'. They are still there, but if they are trying to get my attention and I ignore them, I think I manage to fake them out and they think they are unsucessful. They then go away for a while ... hours, days, weeks ... but they always come back.

My scientific, engineer husband said, while we were dating, that he didn't believe any of it. Now not only did he become a 'believer' after spending a weekend with me (yes, before we were married) ... but now he too is haunted.

They are everywhere .. and no they aren't just following me. Ya'll have your own spooks in your homes and in your places of work. They are there.

If you notice them .. they will then notice you .. and they will get bolder.

[By Dock6]The ghost appeared to be hiding behind the door. Whenever I went to the space behind the door, the ghost always wore the same timid, frightened attempt at a smile. It was always the same in appearance. It never moved its position.

Thats interesting, when you saw it/him/her was it as solid as any other person, did it disappear???

On these occasions have you tried to coax it out of it's space or tried to communicate?????