Theresa Cheung – The Element Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Hauntings: The Complete A–Z for the Entire Magical World (страница 2)
Mysteries have always happened and will continue to happen. Belief in ghosts has always been widespread all over the world and these beliefs have always had a very real influence on people’s lives. Whether you believe in ghosts, would like to believe in them but aren’t sure, or think it’s a lot of fascinating but ultimately unscientific nonsense, there is one thing that has to be accepted: we live in a mysterious world.
The universe is a puzzle, our consciousness is an enigma and even our existence in the world is an unexplained mystery. Mysteries are things we live with every day and simply have to accept, regardless of how irrational and incomprehensible they are.
If you are willing to accept that mysteries surround you, if you are willing to open your mind and your eyes to new possibilities, a whole new world of ghosts, hauntings and psychic awareness is out there waiting for you to discover it.
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.
(Albert Einstein)
ACHERI
In Native American folklore Acheri is thought to be the ghost of a little girl who died of disease. Legend has it that Acheri is a frail and pale looking female spirit who lives on mountaintops and hills. At night she travels into the valleys to spread infection, disease and pain, usually to children, by casting her invisible shadow over innocent sleeping victims.
It is thought that the colour red affords protection against this entity and amulets of red thread worn as necklaces will protect children from the disease Acheri brings. Similarly, in European folklore, red charms are used to protect against harm from evil spirits.
ADELPHI THEATRE, GHOST OF
The Adelphi Theatre in London is thought to be haunted by the ghost of a celebrated Victorian actor called William Terriss. Terriss was a stylish and popular actor highly regarded in his day and seldom seen without his trademark pale gloves.
On the night of 16 December 1897, during a run of
As night fell Prince ambushed Terriss as he unlocked the stage door in Maiden Lane and stabbed him. Terriss died in Jessie Milward’s arms, whispering ‘I’ll be back.’ Prince was tried and convicted of murder but declared insane. He spent the rest of his days at Broadmoor prison, where he passed the time writing his own plays and, of course, playing the heroic lead.
The first sighting of Terriss’s ghost was in 1928. A stranger in London, who did not know about the murder, saw a male figure dressed in grey Victorian clothes suddenly vanish in Maiden Lane. Later he identified the figure as Terriss from a photograph.
Again in 1928 an actress who was using Jessie Milward’s old dressing room, felt light blows on her arms, a sensation of being grabbed and the inexplicable shaking of her chaise longue. She also saw a green light above her mirror and heard tapping on the door. Later she discovered that Terriss used to tap Milward’s door with his cane when he passed it. In 1962 there was another sighting: a greenish light that took the shape of a man was seen by a frightened workman. The light opened the stage curtains and then proceeded to the stalls and tipped down the seats.
Members of the station staff at Covent Garden tube station, which now occupies the site of a bakery where Terriss stopped daily, have several times reported hearing disembodied gasps and sighs after hours. One young porter, Victor Locker, immediately requested a transfer after encountering the phantom, an experience he described as being immobilized with an oppressive weight pushing down on him. In 1955 ticket collector Jack Hayden reported seeing on numerous occasions an elegant phantom with ‘a very, very sad face and sunken cheeks’, attired with opera cloak, cane and pale gloves walking the platform or ascending the spiral staircase. Hayden left Covent Garden in 1964 and the sightings have been less frequent, but Terriss still puts in the occasional cameo appearance, especially in the train tunnels between Covent Garden and Holborn.
AFRIT
The Afrit comes from Arabian and Muslim folklore and is alleged to be a spirit demon who rises up like smoke from the spilt blood of murder victims. They are said to inspire unspeakable terror and, because of the unjust, brutal nature of their demise, they are ruthless towards their victims. Sometimes they are said to appear in the form of desert whirlwinds, and it has also been said that they can take on a form similar to the Christian Devil, with hooves for feet and horns on their head. Driving a new nail into the bloodstained ground is thought to prevent their formation.
AFTERLIFE
Afterlife (also known as life after death) is the continuation of existence beyond this world or after death. There are various sources for this belief, but the one most relied upon is the testimony of individuals who claim to have knowledge of the afterlife because they have:
Died and been sent back to life (near-death experience).
Visited the afterlife when they were unconscious (out-of-body experience).
Seen the afterlife in a vision.
Remembered the afterlife from a previous existence (reincarnation).
Been visited by a representative of the afterlife such as angels or spirits.
Believe the testimonal of shamans or intermediaries between the living and the dead.
Almost every society known has some belief in survival after death, although these conceptions vary enormously. Some common ones are: a continuation of life with little change in the nature of existence; spiritual improvement through a series of stages, planes or levels; a series of lives and deaths before ultimate extinction; or the afterlife as a place of reward or punishment based on faith or good deeds on earth and bodily resurrection at some future date.
Christian folk traditions suggest that the souls of good people are converted into angels upon death. However, a more orthodox reading of scripture suggests that the dead are not transformed until the Last Judgement, which is followed by a resurrection of the faithful.
Christian ideas heavily influenced nineteenth-century spiritualist authors like Andrew Jackson Davis, who dictated his lectures in a trance. Davis suggested that after their death, humans continue their spiritual progress through a series of spiritual spheres until they reach the seventh sphere and become one with the infinite vortex of love and wisdom.
Other cultures believe in a land of the dead and locate it in various places: for the Zulus, for example, it is under the earth, an underworld mirror of this world. For the ancient Egyptians, the afterlife was very important. The believer had to act well during his or her lifetime and know the rituals in the Egyptian Book of the Dead to gain entry into the underworld. If the corpse of the pharoah was properly embalmed and entombed, the deceased would accompany the sun god on his daily ride. Other societies believe in universalism, which holds that all will be rewarded regardless of what they have done or believed, while still others consider the afterlife less important compared to the here and now.
Another afterlife concept, found among Hindus and Buddhists, is reincarnation, either as animals or as humans. Followers of both traditions interpret events in our current life as consequences of actions taken in previous lives. Some traditions believe in personal reincarnation, whereas others believe that the energy of one’s soul is recycled into other living things as they are born.
Those who practice spiritualism believe in the possibility of communication between the living and the dead. Some societies distinguish between the ghost, which travels to the land of the dead, and a different part of the spirit, which reincarnates. The ghost part of spirit is thought to be strong three or four days after death, and therefore various rituals are performed to discourage the ghost from returning to haunt the living.
AKASHIC RECORDS
Akashic is a Sanskrit word meaning the fundamental etheric substance of the universe. According to Theosophy, the Akashic Records, or Book of Life, is extrasensory information that exists in another dimension, like the ultimate cosmic library. The records contain information on all world events and all thoughts and deeds that have taken place or will take place on earth. They may be read only by adepts. Rudolf Steiner, for example, claimed to have consulted the Akashic Records for his descriptions of Atlantis. Edgar Cayce also claimed to have seen the Book of Life. Some psychics say they consult the Akashic Records through clairvoyance or during out-of-body experiences.