French says this phenomenon, called pareidolia, can explain many supposed recordings of phantom voices. If a ghost hunter or psychic instructs you to listen for a certain phrase, then your brain which loves identifying patterns tries as hard as it can to create those exact words from various bits of random sound. Unfamiliar and threatening environments kick our survival instincts up a notch.
Ghost tours capitalize on this hereditary paranoia by forcing the mind to wrestle with ambiguity. The uncertainty itself drives up the fear factor.
Even quirks of architecture can trigger this primitive terror: In , British geographer Jay Appleton found that, when it comes to our habitats, humans tend to think of places as safe when they offer two things: prospect a clear view of the outside world and refuge the opportunity to hide from danger. Research suggests that the brain may summon spirits as a means of coping with trauma, especially the pain of losing a loved one.
One survey in the British Medical Journal found that close to half the widows in Wales and England had seen their mates postmortem. Experts think that such specters help us deal with painful or confusing events. A analysis published in the journal Death Studies looked at hundreds of incidents of supposed interaction with the deceased. Studies suggest kids who are bullied or exposed to dangerous situations are more likely to have paranormal fantasies, a trend psychologists also found in adults with a history of childhood trauma.
In a survey in The Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 91 percent of participants said their encounter had at least one upside, such as a sense of connection to others. So if you do see a shroud down the hallway, you might not want to run. Your brain is unwell Ghostly occurrences can be the result of larger problems in our gray matter.
For some, hearing voices or experiencing a vision can be an early indicator of medical conditions such as schizophrenia. Some evidence even suggests that people with underlying brain disorders tend to have paranormal confrontations that are more intense and negative than the average brush with the beyond. Even in those without mental illness, temporary changes in brain activity can lead to run-ins with wraiths.
People who experiment with psychoactive drugs like LSD and magic mushrooms frequently report spiritual fantasies. Furthermore, psychiatrists have deemed many visions the result of sleep paralysis, a poorly understood condition in which the afflicted wake up and find themselves unable to move. Scientists have yet to pinpoint the roots of this phenomenon, but some think it occurs when the brain crosses wires between conscious awareness and the dream-filled REM stage of slumber.
According to a survey in the International Journal of Applied and Basic Medical Research, at least 8 percent of the general population and around 30 percent of people with psychiatric illnesses have reported having one of these nighttime episodes at some point in their lives. Many cultures even have a specific name for the ghoulish occurrence. Others have, however.
In , the American Journal of Ophthalmology published a case study involving a couple who moved into a house and promptly began to suffer headaches, listlessness and strange auditory and visual hallucinations footsteps, mysterious figures, strange sensations, etc. Their symptoms were finally traced to a faulty furnace. Real-life vampires? People who are allergic to the sun.
Can you really be scared to death? He needed me to know he was OK even though we no longer could be together in the psychical world. My mom had put them away so as not to be a reminder, and to my surprise, they were newly chewed with tiny new bites in them, and they were placed all around the room.
I left the toys as they were to show my mom that Lucky had come to visit. My mom, being a medium herself, was amazed that Lucky had such energy that he left proof of his visit. If you are seeing outside your peripheral vision and seeing signs from spirit, welcome them, and your spirit sightings will get stronger. Another way of seeing that is very common is in dreams. Keep a journal and a pen next to your bed and write down your visions as soon as you can to remember these precious moments.
Bonnie Page is a psychic medium, reiki master and spiritual life coach. If you would like to ask Bonnie a question for her column, email her at www. By Bonnie Page. It is rarer to see spirit with your eyes open, but it does happen.
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