Author: SPI Agent - Mathwizard
February 2003
 

This house is so haunted that the construction had been stalled for years. None of the construction workers can bear to work there for long.

People have reported many strange occurrences in haunted houses throughout the world. These ghosts often made people aware of their presence by making odd noises, sometimes appear and disappear here and there, and sometimes even move things around. Most people do not understand what is happening. However, it is possible to understanding a haunting. Assuming that these ghosts are human souls and they still have emotions and intelligence, psychologically they are just the same as human. Hence, it makes sense to understand them psychologically.

Below is a fictitious story. However, it is written to help you understand haunting. I will give some explanations after the story.


A Ghost Story

“Andrew, I heard that a new family is moving in next week.”

“Really?” Andrew doesn’t sound happy.

“Don’t make such a face! What’s that suppose to mean?” Olivia asked.

Andrew doesn’t reply. He knew he doesn’t need to. Olivia knows him well. After all, they have been married for many years. He doesn’t want to live with any new family. They always hate him and his family. But apparently Olivia wants to give it a try.

“Andrew, I know you don’t like to share the house with them…..but….” Olivia is unable to finish her sentence. Her six-year-old son, Dave, is crying and rushing towards her. She quickly hugs him and calms him down.

“Mom….I don’t want to live with strangers!” Dave cries louder and louder despite her attempt to calm him. Apparently he overheard their conversation.

“See, even our son doesn’t like the idea.” Andrew complains, “Remember what happened last time when we lived with the Xia family?”

“Sure I remember, but they are the fist family to move in after all these years. Maybe we just happened to be unlucky and met with that nasty family? Maybe the next one will be better.” Olivia tries to be rational. Her husband is skeptical, and he has a good reason to do so. The Xia family really caused them a lot of trouble: Their son Dave tried to play with the Xia’s children, but the Xia’s parents scolded them and prevented them from playing or talking with Dave. Dave was sad for quite sometimes, that’s why he is afraid to live with another family again. That wasn’t the only problem though. The Xia family wanted to renovate the entire kitchen without even discussed the matter with them despite that this is their house, and not the Xia’s house. Olivia herself was really mad at the Xia family at that time because she really likes the kitchen. She was so angry when she knew about the plan and she pushed all the dishes down onto the floor and rushed out of the kitchen. They couldn’t even rest when the Xia family called some weird guy to chant the whole night. They even suspected that the Xia family has gone crazy. What were those chanting about? It was in a weird language that they don’t even understand. It was a delight when they finally found out that the Xia family had decided to move away. It has been a few months now. They live happily on their own without having to worry about what might happen next. But now another family is moving in? Olivia wasn’t so sure about this. But she is willing to give it a try.

Her son finally stopped crying. She smiles and comforts him, “Don’t worry my son. Everything will be just fine. If no one wants to play with you, you can go outside to play.” She notices the stare from her husband. He is clearly skeptical about this.

“Andrew…please, couldn’t we live with the new family in harmony? At least we will try to?” She tries to persuade her husband. She knows Andrew will agree, though reluctantly. He just couldn’t resist her plead. He really loves him, always.

Andrew nods his head, “Okay. You win. Actually it wasn’t my fault. I never said that I don’t want to live with them, but it all depends on them. If they are as terrible as the Xia family, I will not be happy!” Olivia smiles and walks out of the room with Dave. Their son really needs her mother’s comfort now.

Then suddenly, Andrew hears the sound of a vehicle approaching. He stares out of the window and sees a black car. Two men and a woman are sitting inside it. Andrew quickly rushes towards his room.

“What’s wrong?” Olivia is playing with Dave in the room. She is puzzled by her husband strange reaction.

“I thought you said the new family is coming next week, right?”

“Yes. That’s what I heard.” Olivia is still trying to figure out what really happened.

“Then who are those people inside the car? Don’t tell me they have changed their schedule and want to move in now?” Andrew leads Olivia and Dave towards the main door. They can see that someone is opening the door.

“Impossible, it is 11 pm right now! Who in the right state of mind will move in now?” exclaimed Olivia. Dave is afraid. He hides behind his mother. Olivia is nervous too. She looks anxiously at the turning doorknob.

“Don’t worry, my dear. I will see who it is.” Andrew walks towards the door carefully. But he is not expecting the unexpected. A dark figure enters the house through the opened door. As his wife and son scream in horror, the dark figure sprinkles water right at his face! He is shocked and doesn’t know how to react. But as he calms down, he realizes that the dark figure is just a normal human, who is now entering and chanting around the house uninvited. Another man and a woman come in and turn on the light of the house. Andrew is really angry. He will not tolerate with these intruders. He pushes a table towards the chanting man and knocks him down onto the floor. Then he turns the light off and throws other things around the room at the trio. The three intruders quickly run away. Andrew can still hear them yelling, “See, I told you the house is haunted! You still want to move in next week?” “No! I changed my mind!”

“You okay? How’s Dave?” Andrew turns to his wife.

“We are fine.” Olivia is recovering from the shock.

“See, this family is worse than the Xia’s.” Andrew walks away angrily.

Olivia says nothing. She just hopes that the next family will be better, but she wasn’t sure whether anyone will want to live here anymore. After all, this is a haunted house. They have haunted the place for over 50 years now….


How to Deal With Haunting

The above story is written from the point of view of a ghost family. Of course it is based on assumptions, but if ghosts are just humans without bodies, their reactions should be the same as us. How would you feel if someone move into your house and starts to renovate it? How would you feel if they try to get rid of you even though you live there long before they do?

We humans tend to be afraid of what we do not understand. As H.P. Lovecraft once said, "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown". It is therefore easy to understand why people are afraid of ghosts even though most haunting cases show that ghosts will not harm humans. Sometimes ghosts try to communicate with humans. In order to get our attention, they make noises, move things around. But most people are shocked at these sights that they decide to exorcise the ghosts instead! What would you feel if you want to talk with people but those people just wouldn’t listen and they even try to get rid of you?

There are two types of exorcism: by force and by peaceful approach. The first method rarely works. In fact, some ghostly activities worsen after an exorcism because the ghosts are angry and frustrated that they are not getting the attentions they want. Furthermore, most ghosts that stayed in a building and refused to move on probably have never experienced any higher power before. If they do not believe in God when they are alive, why should they listen now when a priest demands them to go away by the name of God? And what if they are of different religions? Clearly they will not care about the rituals of other religions, right? Personally, I do think that religions are created to allow humans and other intelligent beings to evolve spiritually and to know God better. Different religions suit different people, and for spirits who have experienced the higher power, any form of rituals from different religions may have effect on them because they have realized that the rituals are just different way of tapping into the universal energy. This is just my personal belief, so I don’t want to talk too much about it.

The second method of exorcism usually works, and everyone can carry out this type of exorcism easily. If the haunting is troubling or frightening you, you can just talk to the ghosts loudly but politely and ask them to stop. You can tell them that you have already realized their presence, and tell them that they are welcome to stay if they want to, provided they do not disturb you. Be considerate and do not force them to leave. This is your house, but this is also their house, so they have rights to stay! Remember, it is possible to live peacefully with friendly ghosts. Even your children playing with “imaginary friends” is not harmful. Psychologists have discovered that children with imaginary playmates tend to have better command of language and other positive influences too. Respect them and hopefully they will respect you.