Halloween. Have you had real life ghost encounter?

Antrim_Man

Have you seen a ghost?

I have I am convinced. It was back in the 80's in the Holy Lands in Belfast. I was with some friend drinking in a mates flat.
I was sitting on a sofa which was beside an arch way to a tiny hall and steps down to the flats front door when I noticed a dark shadowy figure below the arch. I stared in disbelief and turned to see my mate with the same open mouth expression. I said to him did you see that bloke. He said he did and we said to the owner that someone is in the flat. We got up and checked the hall and steps down to the door and checked to see that the front door was still locked and it was. We explained to our mate who lived in the flat what we had seen and he says that himself and his partner also see the same person standing at the arch from their bedroom (bedroom has no door but another arched entry to the hall and directly opposite the arch to the sitting room) They said they awoke to see the figure just standing there before disappearing.

Only because I had a mate see the same figure and the same time I am convinced I see a real life ghost :eek:

iamhunted

ive had a few experiences - seen something when i was a kid, had what Im certain was a poltergiest when I lived in house in derry and used to hear (well everyone in the house used to hear) voices and sounds of things falling etc when there wasnt in a house in carlow.

why does anyone think things are more haunted on halloween though, thats what gets me.

6th

iamhunted wrote: »

why does anyone think things are more haunted on halloween though, thats what gets me.

There might very well be something in it. Collective thought etc might result in some poltergeist activity as well as thought forums/tuplas?

iamhunted

the old poltergiest thing happened in the spring though. the way I look at that one is that there was one studious student in the house who was under pressure in preparing for exams - i think this pressure then showed itself as a poltergiest. regardless though, i find that just as fascinating

iamhunted

the halloween ghosty thing i reckon goes back to the changing of the seasons, getting darker earlier in days when there was no electricity and humans obviously fearing the dark (more dangerous, cant see etc) then lump in all souls day and there you go - paranormal time.

Antrim_Man

Ancient Origins of Halloween

Ancient Origins

Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in).
The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.
To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.
During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.
By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.

Video: The haunting History of All Hallow's Eve (Halloween).
Video: Timothy Dickinson tells the intriguing tale of why we celebrate Halloween, and it's evolution from Samhain, an ancient Celtic Harvest Festival.

The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of "bobbing" for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.
By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. Even later, in A.D. 1000, the church would make November 2 All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils. Together, the three celebrations, the eve of All Saints', All Saints', and All Souls', were called Hallowmas.

iamhunted

aye - thats the kinda vibe i meant