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Brandy brings her series about ghosts up to the present day, looking at how quantum mechanics may have a connection to the existence of the paranormal through the existence of an meta-ethereal universe. It is a very interesting article and gives us much food for thought. |
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| As scientists of the 20th century discovered, humanity is still learning about the laws of nature. How can the idea of ghosts be discounted, then, if we do not fully understand the world around us? In the last issue we discussed how Hume stated that "By the mere light
of reason it seems difficult to prove the Immortality of the Soul"(1).
The 'laws of nature' have not been revealed to us mystically, they have
been deduced by observation and experiment. New discoveries may alter
and quantify these discoveries and thus redefine the 'laws'. New theories
within the realm of science are currently in debate. Could ghosts be reconciled
with the natural world? If so, how? |
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Multi-dimensional holomovement universeEvery High School science student knows that particles act like waves. One theory advances that ghosts may be created by some unknown sort of wave-like particles from a “meta-ethereal universe.” There is possibly a secondary universe superimposed over our own that utilizes an unusual particle structure. Humanity somehow transforms itself upon death and enters this universe, but still maintains some basic communication with the natural world. Another theory suggests that 'force fields' survive the death of the
body. This is similar to 'holon theory' presented by Karl Pribram (2),
which proposes that the mind stores information like a hologram. |
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| This idea was expanded by David Bohm of London University (2). He did an experiment with an insoluble drop of ink suspended in glycerin. As it was stirred, the droplet became thinner and thinner until it was dispersed through the glycerin and no longer visible to the human eye. Yet, when the stirring motion was reversed, the droplet reformed itself in the glycerin. Could something similar happen to the human mind and memories after death? Could the end of the body be a dispersion of the mind into a thread so thin and random that it is not perceived unless something remarkable happens to reassemble its inherent order, thereby producing a ghost? Another explanation is that there are additional, and unknown, dimensions that comprise the universe. We already interact with the three dimensions of depth, width, and height, as well as the fourth dimension of time (or space/time). Scientists today are reasnably certain that there are many more dimensions, as many as eleven, which create the universe. Could any of these alternate dimensions affect ghosts? One possibility is a "psi dimension" completed attributed to psychic potential, or pure mental consciousness that might allow some sort of connections between living minds and those of the departed. In addition, this psi dimension would explain other paranormal phenomena relating to the mind, such as out of body and near death experiences, telepathy, precognition, etc. It infers that humanity, or at least the human consciousness, both living and non-living, can somehow react to each other in this manner. |
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| So, with the advancements into the world of the unknown, why hasn't parapsychology advanced? With the removal of religious fanaticism, social prejudice, and primal superstition, shouldn't ghosts make a more pronounced entrance into the modern world? Unfortunately, that does not appear to be the case. Part of the difficulty is that all of the theories listed above are still speculative. Modern science is only now beginning to design experiments that can be parsed and tested. Science continues to advance its theories, and to date none of the scientific advances serve to support the idea of life after death. This research also continues along the one-minded pathway of examining physicality. Until a definitive and tested hypothesis is accepted, ghostly research will always be highly questionable. |
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Obstacles of current researchOne of the biggest obstacles to overcome is the physicality of current research. Consciousness, according to genetic and neurological research, depends upon a living body. The intangible mind, the energy produced by the brain, can be altered by the physical state of the body. Simply put, a person is defined as a physical being. Both interact together, so how can a ghost, or disembodied consciousness, exist without some sort of physical connectedness to a body? Ghosts rarely manifest in controlled situations. Random homes, businesses, and streets are areas of activity. They are far from the clean laboratory setting most scientists would prefer. How can elements of control be enacted when the very environment, itself continues to change? Repeated phenomena can be a problem. Though different people report unusual occurrences, rarely are these repeated when laboratory equipment is brought to the site. Areas may test positive for potential phenomena, but whether the entity manifests is an entirely different matter. Investigations and re-investigations may end with different conclusions as ghostly happenings are so random. In addition, the people who study ghosts today have many obstacles to overcome, not helped because many have a reputation for poor experimentation. They face groups who simply refuse to consider the idea of life after death in any format. A lack of serious scientific publications for parapsychologists hampers the field. Accusations of fraud, and the extreme skepticism of critics such as the Amazing Randi, pull scholarly minds away from this taboo subject. Even lack of funding for research, few serious academic institutions offering degrees in the field, and the reinterpretation of information to explain away phenomena has crippled the advancement of theories.
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| Yet, ghost research fails to fade away like its spectral subject matter. Serious professional organizations, such as the Parapsychology Foundation (3) and the International Association for Near-Death Studies (4) continue to encourage the expansion of studies. Independent, and often amateur, parapsychological investigation groups continue to explode across the world. Though not officially indoctrinated in the field, nonetheless many hold well-educated individuals with objective minds who perform non-occult oriented studies. A protocol for investigations with repeated research also creates a strong source for research. Despite their well-meaning intentions, though, these same groups can
also hamper serious academic study by misrepresentation by extremists,
televised and slanted "ghost investigations" of these same groups, a continued
lack of formal funding, and few organized guidelines followed by all who
participate. |
The Ending of Time£7.50 from new at Amazon.co.uk - click image or underlined text above to go to Amazon.co.ukClick underlined pink text to visit Amazon.com Ending of time - USA, prices range from $4.29 used to $10.88 for new.Synopsis |
ConclusionIn conclusion, when we compare ourselves to our ancestors, the ancients learned that the supernatural mixed well with the natural world. Though both sides interacted with one another, both were set apart. However, the belief in ghosts managed to unite both realms, giving them a common over-lapping element that allowed for interaction between them. It is a tidy solution for a unique dilemma found in the times of antiquity. Yet, is this dilemma completely concluded? No, it is not. Modern man continues to struggle with ideas for and against the existence of ghosts. These ideas still show an inter-dependence with the environment, even taken to a universal and dimensional level, but they neither prove nor dismiss the existence of ghosts. How can this dispute be solved? Perhaps given time, the continued advancement of science, and an open-minded yet objective mind, the debate on ghosts can be laid to rest once and for all. |
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© 2005 Brandy B Stark, of Stark ImagesTo visit Brandy's own web sites please access the LINKS page.
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Footnotes:(1) Hume, David, Essays, Moral, Political, and
Literary. (2) Karl Pribram and David Bohm’s theory
of the universe as a multi-dimensional holomovement, setting the stage
for an understanding of information fields and the intelligent creation
of the universe. (3) the Parapsychology Foundation (4) the International Association for Near-Death
Studies |
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Bibliography:Becker, Carl B. "Paranormal Experience and
Survival of Death". |
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We welcome back J L Yarbro, one of our writers on ghostly phenomena. It has been a while since John graced our pages with one of his interesting cases. This story is set in West Tennessee, in his family's land-holding. |
I went down to old Menglewood last Friday (March 4th, 2005) and shot about 60 images of the factory ruins that are sited there. The ruins are of a late nineteenth century box factory, the Menglewood Box Company. They are located in a grove of trees on my family property. The factory closed in 1921 and the same year, my grandfather purchased the timber land and mill village - including what remained of the factory. He moved his large family there from the hill country near the Tennessee river. Several other families made the move with him. They cleared the timber tracts and farmed the land, and as I have found out in recent research, the farms were run in a plantation style. Essentially, if you worked you had a place to live and food to eat, if you didn't work, you were put off the place. The old mill village is gone now, what remains of my grandparents' residence there is the concrete office vault. The factory ruins consist of the machine foundations, concrete boiling vats and part of the original furnace, plus old foundation walls and a concrete building on the edge of the river. That must of been some type of storage house. I have heard the place was haunted, as told by family members and other
old timers in the area. |
A view of the south end chimney of the Menglewood Box Factory. Photograph by J L Yarbo, © 2005, J L Yarbro. |
My fathers' eldest brother, my uncle Ross, often repeated something that had happened to him while driving an old caterpillar tractor near the ruins. He was ploughing at night and he said when he reached the end of the field, nearest the ruins, to turn around, his equipment would come disconnected from his tractor. He said it happened once or twice and that didn't seem so unnatural. He figured he had just hitched it up too loose or incorrectly. After several times, he took a steel cable and affixed it to the hitch in a way that required unbolting the looped cable from the machinery. On the next round, the hitch came undone and it really spooked him, so he switched the tractor off in the middle of the field and walked to the house, looking back over his shoulder now and then. I also head a lot of stories over the years, describing how, late at night when it got really quiet, you could hear the voices of men and the sound of work going on over in the mill area. A local historian sent me some information on the factory that included
the grisly report of finding several skeletons in the bottom of the boiling
vats, when they drained them off, just prior to the factory closing in
1921. There was also a report of a man, falling off a smokestack to his
death. I have no idea where the smokestack was located, other than perhaps
it being part of the brick chimney shown in the photographs. The vats,
on the other hand, always held some fascination for me. |
The vat and fallen tree, photograph by J L Yarbro. © 2005, J L Yarbro. |
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I am almost 50 now and I don't believe I have ever been back in there more than 10 times in my life, although I have passed within a half-mile of it thousands of times. It's one of those places that seems remote but really isn't. You cannot see the factory ruins until you are right on top of them. I didn't see them last Friday until I stopped my truck. "Damn, John, I'd of never guessed this was here!" My friend, Quincy, walked over to look at the old structure by the river and I entered the grove of trees alone. There was a screeching moan of a sound disturbing the quietness and I walked towards it, I finally figured out that two tree limbs were rubbing together from the wind - it still made the hair on my neck stand on end just thinking about it! The deeper I walked in, the more I became aware of some dark brooding, like I was disturbing the sleep of an accepted ruinous fate. The air was very heavy in there as I picked my way among the broken stone and brick. I guess I was alone for almost an hour before I saw Quincy on the far side where I had started. I had been looking forward to seeing a huge old tree I had recalled from a previous visit, some 17 years ago, that had grown up through the ruins; but when I arrived at that spot, I noted that the tree had been struck by lightning and had partially burned, then fallen aside to rot (see the Decay image at J L Yarbo's own web site - link at the bottom of this article) I was also able to see into one of the boiling vats, something I don't remember doing in the past and I am puzzled at how the sides are broken out, especially the rebar section, that is bent out like in an explosion. I wonder if a tree falling hard enough could do that? When Quincy and I finally met up again, we must have startled a rabbit and when it ran under me, I about jumped out of my skin! It was good to walk out into the late afternoon sunlight again and looking back into the ruins gave me a shudder. Earlier this week a friend commented how we should consider camping down there sometime soon, just to see what might happen... The images in my gallery for MENGLEWOOD, are shown in the order they
were taken and if you click on the slide show, it is almost like walking
along with me. Additionally, the way I rendered some of those images,
reflects on my thoughts as I wandered through there. |
J L Yarbro© 2005, J L Yarbro.
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Links:http://homepage.mac.com/studio_zubrovka/PhotoAlbum8.html |
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Our editor had the pleasure of visiting a beautiful and haunted house in Surrey, England. This is a report of the ghostly inhabitants that live in it, from cellar to attic. |
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The house I visited on this occasion is a privately owned period property located in Bookham, a lovely village in Surrey, England. It has a beautiful frontage onto the high street, which, the owner assures me, was an extension built in the past. It looks Georgian. I was allowed to visit the wonderful property to meet its many ghosts.
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Ground FloorAs you pass through the front door you enter a wide hallway, the width indicates that the hallway may have originally been built, or significantly rebuilt, in Georgian times. Doors exit off it from both sides. The left hand side feels colder than the right-hand side. The ground floor room on the left has a ghost, and the first one I met as I entered the property. He appeared to be a workman from an indeterminate period. His hair was long, greasy blond and not tied back. He had a leather jerkin on, hobnailed boots, and trousers tied just below the knee. He told me his name was Richard and he worked there. He got very depressed and hung himself, as I queried him further it seemed the depression was caused by financial difficulties; however I got the impression that he was not the owner of the business where he worked. He did not give me a date regarding his existence as a living person; however, a document the owner has referring to the house says that the property was originally a Malting House in the 1700's. Richard is a tall ghost, standing with a stoop. He tends to loom over you. After I told the owner this she said that she often felt over-looked in the room. This was where she tended to access the Internet late at night. Sometimes the feeling gets so oppressive she has to log out and leave the room.
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The haunted house in Bookham, Surrey. Photograph by Judy Farncombe © 2003, Farncombe Publishing |
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We then went into the main sitting room on the right-hand side of the hallway. This is a beautiful room with a large open fireplace. It felt feminine, happy and emotionally warm. It did not feel haunted, if anything it was imprinted with the owner's own happy personality. We moved through the ground floor taking in the kitchen. My original impression was that it was dark, and overlooked. We returned to this location after viewing the rest of the house. Here follows an account of that second visit to the kitchen. I noticed that there was a Cook, female, large, and very dominating. The presence did not like the current mistress of the house as she said that she was a 'slattern'. This meant that she considered the owner the equivalent to a skivvy in her kitchen, and was not pulling her weight, if she had been alive in her kitchen she would have been fired by now! [The owner finds this ghost so oppressive that she leaves the kitchen before she can fully tidy up once night has fallen.] I relayed the information from the ghost to the owner as politely as possible, leaving out the graphic details. I made the point to the ghost, who finally identified herself as Hannah, or Anna; that 'how can she clean up if you [the ghost] scare her out of the kitchen'? At this point the owner added that this area has had two microwaves break within it. No other appliances have the same problem so it was probably not an electrical fault. Hannah/Anna looked a bit sheepish and said to me that she was a cook and inspected all the new kitchen gadgets. She had been pressing buttons to see how it worked. I visualized her standing over a microwave pushing buttons with an intent face. The owner asked for 'Hannah' to not do that any more as it was becoming too expensive for them! The owner had taken to keeping the microwave in another room because she could not keep a functioning one in the kitchen area.
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First FloorThe first floor is reached by the beautiful staircase. As we reached the first floor landing I felt a lot of joy present in the house. We moved on into the main guest bedroom. Although it is dark I did not feel that it was particularly haunted, although a residual taste was there. If felt as if a ghost would pass through the place rather than haunt the room itself. The next room, now used as a boy's bedroom, was haunted. The primary presence is an Edwardian, or late Victorian, lady. She wears a bell shaped skirt - hence my date for her. She died in her late thirties through stomach, bowel or a gynecological cancer. I felt a cramping pain in that area as we I explored her life through questions. This room was once the main drawing room. The ghost spent a lot of time there and loved to look out at the church. She was active in her church, doing things like arranging flowers for it. Her name sounded like Emily, Emiline or something similar. I also heard her say 'she did not mind the boys'. When the owner heard that she laughed. Apparently she had looked after a rock band and they hand practiced in this room! The owner went on to describe a sighting that had been made in this room, a spirit that I had not picked up. When she had first walked through the house she had seen a small and ragged looking servant girl sweeping up the fire grate. I explained to her that I could only pick up what was there at the time. The servant girl was not in the room at that point, it did not mean that she would not be there at another time. |
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The room on the third floor where the small child ghost plays. Photograph by Judy Farncombe © 2005, Farncombe Publishing. |
The attic room haunted by the female servant. Photograph by Judy Farncombe © 2005, Farncombe Publishing. |
Third FloorWe moved on up to the third floor. There was a lovely little girl ghost who runs around and plays here. She loves teasing the owner's daughter, whose bedroom is one of the ghost's main areas of manifestation. I came to the conclusion that the landing and two rooms overlooking the garden had been a nursery area. One was the bedroom and the other, now a bathroom, was the schoolroom. This is where the child plays. By her clothing I would say her life would have been during the late Georgian and Regency period. She wore a white mob cap and a high waisted white dress in muslin. We came back to this area later in my visit [we went through the house twice] and at one point the little girl wanted to hold my hand. The owner asked me her name, my mind was still stuck on the Emily type of name from the first floor so that was what I said, though I did emphasise that I am not brilliant at picking up names! Later on, the owner told me that they call this little girl ghost 'Sarah'. My impression of her was that she did not talk, she reacted to the owners questions with nods of her head and smiles, which I relayed to the owner. We moved on to one of the two front rooms on the top floor. The room on the left is heavily haunted by a very sad and bitter female servant. I sat on the daybed the owner had placed in there and tried to communicate with her. She had been accused of theft, a necklace had been lost, and she had gone onto Bookham Common and had hung herself. She was angry and bitter that no-one believed her. The owner then went on to say that they had later found the necklace? It may have been a question for me to ask the ghost, there was no acknowledgement from the ghost regarding the fate of the necklace, only her fate. She had been a servant there during the mid-Victorian period. When asked for a name I seemed to get a Suzanne or Susan come through. The servant told me to tell the owner ‘thank you for praying for me’. The owner said that this had been the heaviest room regarding haunting vibrations and she had chosen to clean it up [it had been a box room] and now meditates in it to help the ghost. We went on to look at the opposite the room to the one with the unhappy servant. It has a ghost of a middle-aged man of significant girth, who was once a butler. He stays in the house because he did not believe in life after death, so when he died he just kept on doing what he did during his lifetime. He roams about the house, but when he feels it is his bedtime, he comes up to this room and lies down. This could be disconcerting for living people who use it for the same purpose! Later on in the visit I discovered his name, it was Duke. |
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View of the back of the house, Bookham Church is clearly visible. Photograph by Judy Farncombe © 2005, Farncombe Publishing. |
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Garden and ‘scullery’We went back down the house and through the back corridor to the kitchen area. This was when we had the major part of the conversation regarding Hannah, the cook. As I passed through the back corridor I said ‘this is where I pick up your servant girl!’ This room or corridor felt like it was a dairy. The ownertold me that this was the waiting room for patients when the house was the local doctor’s surgery during the mid-twentieth century. We went out into the garden and the back view of the house is significantly different to the front. Although I did not mention it to the owner I felt that there ought to be a cat around the place, could there be a ghostly one? CellarThe owner asked me how strong my nerve was, then she led me down into the cellar. This was a cold, dark and damp place. As I walked to the end room I got the name of Duke, not Mr Duke, but Duke. I believe that this is the name of the butler's ghost from the top floor, as servants were usually referred to by their surnames. I could see him in my mind's eye polishing the silverware, cleaning the boots of the master of the house, and keeping the wine and alcohol store locked. The original old lock is still on the wine cupboard. Although this area is now only lit by electricity, there was once a window in the back room, which opened up in the front garden, by way of 'light-well'. For safety reasons this has now been covered. Richard, the oldest ghost, comes down here but it is Duke who uses it the most. ConclusionWe walked through the whole house once more, the owner told me about some of the manifestations that had happened. When she mentioned the rock band she told me that after they left there were a lot of boot sounds walking through out the hall next to the room they had practiced in. I laughed and said that was Duke the Butler, he had not liked them at all! The house is visually a lovely location, and that there are quite a few ghosts to research. It has also rumoured to have had one historical personage live there, Alice Keppel, Edward VII mistress, stayed there when the King was at Polsden Lacy - or so local gossip says. So perhaps the house has had royalty visit it too! The current owner is very fond of her unseen occupants. She is not interested in them 'moving on', she is interested in them becoming happier so that she can have a peaceful co-existence with them - and maintain a working microwave oven! |
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© 2005, Judy FarncombeTo visit Judy's own web site please access the links page |
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Wholeness
and the Implicate Order...