Ghost: The spirit of a dead person, especially one believed to haunt living persons. A faint trace. A faint false image produced along with the correct television or photographic image.
Spirit: A force or principle believed to animate human beings. A supernatural being, ghost. The part of the human associated with mind, will, and feelings. A pervasive or essential attitude, quality, or principle. A mood or an emotional state. An alcoholic beverage.
Many viewers when they think of ghosts or other paranormal activity, they might draw up some of their favorite horror novels or films that had searing impressions in their minds the first time they encountered them. When ghosts or spirits are not being evaluated through the lens of entertainment, they are considered to be very real phenomena in certain parts of the world, and they are treated very seriously as deities and other important figures by different religions.
Tree-Spirits: It seems the world over there can be found written and verbal accounts of ghosts or spirits that are said to lurk within the forest, and inside the trees especially. In the work by Alexander Porteous known as The Forest in Folklore and Mythology, he provides numerous accounts of cultures that fear, pay tribute to, and observe such immaterial beings;
The wolven mother of the Sons of Rome reportedly had help from a ghost;
"A Wood-Spirit named Picus, believed to have been a son of Saturn, was said to have assisted the wolf in nursing the babes Romulus and Remus."
The sacred grove was a chosen abode and hiding place for many of these spirits in Bengal;
"In India, and particularly in Bengal when the primitive forest was felled, care was always taken to leave several majestic trees standing, forming sacred groves, wherein the various woodland spirits might find refuge. Almost every village in India has a grove near it in which is situated a temple dedicated to one or other of the many Hindu divinities."
Of the many possible powers the tree spirits possessed, one of them had the ability to populate villages, similar to how a deity could bless a prosperous harvest;
"In the north-west of India the Chili tree (Juniperus excelsa) was the abode of a Tree Spirit who caused women to bear children and flocks to multiply."
It was believed by some, that all families possessed a spirit of their own;
"The aboriginal races of India, the Kolarians and the Dravidians, worshipped spirits, particularly the spirits of their ancestors, and demons. Each family had its tutelary spirit, and these were supposed to dwell in very large and ancient trees. On the outskirts of almost every village may be seen a gigantic tree, which is regarded, not only as a temple or shrine but as the centre of the village life as far as its widespread shade extends. Sacrifices are offered to the resident spirits of these trees, and votive offerings are hung on the branches."
And like the tree spirit that increased the likelihood of birth, there was a tree spirit that foretold marital unions;
"The maidens of Franconia still go to a certain tree on St. Thomas's Day, and knock on its trunk three times. They then listen intently to hear the spirit which dwells within the tree tell them by means of answering knocks what kind of husbands they will have."
And there are those who share a communal fear of the spirits lurking in the forests;
"Among the aborigines of Brazil the souls of the dead are believed to be in constant dread of them. They are known as Bopi, and every few days a terrified native hastens home in a frenzy to report that he has seen a spook lurking in the jungle, and instantly the whole community is wildly excited. These ghosts of the dead are usually seen just as soon as the shades of night are beginning to fall."
There are certain ghosts where upon entrance into their dominion, they expect that a toll must be paid before leaving;
"One part of the mouth of the Amazon is said to be haunted the ghost of a Paje, or Indian wizard, who, as the Indian canoe-men believe, requires to be propitiated to enable them to have a safe return from their voyages into the interior. To do this, they must deposit some article on the spot, and the trees are usually seen to be hung with rags, shirts, straw hats, bunches of fruit, and so forth."
And where a child has gone missing it is believed a forest spirit has kidnapped them, and a widespread felling of the forest takes place until the child appears;
"The Padams of Assam think that if a child has strayed and been lost, it has been stolen by the Forest Spirits. To force the Spirits to give up the child, they commence to fell the trees, until the Spirits, fearing that no tree will be left for them, return the child, which is usually found lying in the fork of a tree."
Farming ground was not wasted to ensure the spirits were not offended;
"The Miris of Assam dread offending the Forest Spirits by feeling their trees to obtain new patches of ground for cultivation, and accordingly they use the ground they have already cleared as long as it is possible to grow crops on it."
And where a tree absolutely must be cut down, prayers are respectfully given to avoid retribution or bad omens;
"In Burmah and Siam the trees are believed to be inhabited by spirits, and the natives of both countries are afraid to cut down any tree lest they incut the wrath of the Spirits domiciled there. In fact the En tribes of Upper Burmah say that if a tree is felled a man dies. In Burmah, some of these spirits are known as Kaluks, to whom, before cutting down a tree, the Burmese offer prayers. They say they always know a Spirit or Demon to be in the trees whenever the leaves tremble without any visible cause."
The pervasive spirit can still exist in an object that has been built from a tree believed to have been inhabited by a spirit;
"The Siamese consider the Tree Spirits to be a kind of Nymph, whom they style Mothers of Trees. When they cut down a tree and build a boat from its wood they believe that these Spirits enter into it, and sacrifices are accordingly made to the boat itself."
For trees with exceptionally characterized shapes, they were believed to harbour spirits and souls that grew into these strange forms;
"Ancient Japanese beliefs gave souls to trees, and the grotesque and gnarled trunks of many an ancient tree in the forests of Japan may even yet in some cases appear as menacing Spirits to the wanderer in the shades. The Japanese wood-cutter had an unspeakable dread when he found himself belated in the gloom of the wood and he saw a Spectre or Demon in every contorted trunk. Many legends of Japan speak of Cedars having centuries of age, which are still so vital that when the axe falls on them drops of blood often ooze out from the cuts."
And tree spirits could be responsible for the spread of disease if one were offended or wounded;
"In Southern Fuhkien people are deterred from felling large trees or cutting off heavy branches lest the spirit of the tree become angry and cause disease and other calamities."
The tree spirit does not have to be the ghost of a formerly living person, it can be an animal or beast;
"Mynher J.J. de Groot, in his work on The Religious System of China, says that in China, the Tree Spirits are usually shaped like human beings, or appear in the likeness of bulls, serpents or other creatures. He tells how sometimes when a tree is being felled, the Tree Spirit has been seen to rush out in the semblance of a blue bull, and adds, that even yet the Chinese belief in dangerous Tree Spirits is very strong."
And where there is a widespread illness, a public offering and sacrifice must be provided in order for the spirits to return to their resting places;
"A variation of this belief is found in Melanesia, where the spirits or ghosts of ancestors are supposed to be the cause of illnesses, and various methods are adopted to drive them back to their graves, a vicarious sacrifice often being made. Mr. R.H. Codrington mentions that in the island of San Cristoval this sacrifice takes the shape of a pig or of a fish."
James Frazer in The Golden Bough wrote of the superstitious fear of the souls of children being snatched away in the event of a recently deceased person, this view was held by the Karens, a people from Borneo, sometimes referred to as the Karrenis. Frazer writes;
"The departure of the soul is not always voluntary. It may be extracted from the body against its will by ghosts, demons, or sorcerers. Hence, when a funeral is passing the house, the Karens tie their children with a special kind of string, to a particular part of the house, lest the souls of the children should leave their bodies and go into the corpse which is passing. The children are kept tied in this way until the corpse is out of sight."
Bantu Myth: In the work by Alice Werner, Myths and Legends of the Bantu; a whole chapter is devoted to the importance of spirits, ghosts and ghost country, Werner underscores the importance of deceased spirits within the culture;
"The core of Bantu religion, we may say, is the cult of the dead. The belief in a High God is more or less vague in some tribes it is almost forgotten, or at any rate, not much regarded-but everywhere among the Bantu-speaking peoples the spirits of the departed are recognized, honoured, and propitiated. There is not the slightest doubt that these people believe in something which survives the death of the body. No African tribe can be said to think with certainty to think that death ends all, perhaps not even the Masai, of whom this has been asserted in a somewhat haphazard fashion. The universal Bantu custom of offerings to the spirits of the deceased relatives is surely a sufficient proof to the contrary."
Werner continues with the behaviour of ghosts once they have died, and how they still keep in contact with the living through different means;
"The ghosts can communicate with the living through dreams, through signs and omens, and through the medium of diviners or prophets. They may bring disaster on the family or the tribe if offended by neglect, or sometimes, as a judgment on some undiscovered sin. They are not invariably malignant, as sometimes stated; in fact, they are quite often regarded with affectionate respect, and show themselves helpful to their kinsfolk in time of need."
Werner continues with the life-span of a ghost or spirit, and that as life is transient, and the existence and lingered residuum of a ghost is also the case as well;
"Though the ghost survives the body for an indefinite period it is not necessarily thought of as living on forever. Some people distinctly state (perhaps only after having been forced by questioning to thin the matter out) that after the lapse of several generations, they simply go back to nothingness, except in the case of outstanding personalities, remembered beyond the circle of their immediate descendants, such as ancient chiefs and tribal benefactors. In other words, the ghosts last only as long as they are remembered by the living: the parents and grandparents are always commemorated and sacrificed to; the three preceding generations maintain a precarious existence, fighting for a share in the offerings and occasionally forcing attention by terrifying apparitions; any older than these are said to 'go to pieces.'"
Werner writes of certain dwelling spots of the ghost and where it is expected to reside;
"Different accounts are given as to the whereabouts of the ghosts, but the most general notion seems to be that they remain for some time in or about the grave, or perhaps at a certain place in the hut they inhabited during life, and afterwards depart to the country of the dead, which is imagined to be underground. Here they live very much as they did on earth, as one gathers from the numerous legends of persons who have reached this country and come back to tell the tale."
Werner goes on to write of the 'Country of the Dead';
"The ghost country can be reached through caves or holes in the ground; a favourite incident in folk-tales is the adventure of a man who followed a porcupine or other such creature into its burrow, and by and by found himself in the village of the dead"
Werner quotes the writing of an early observer from 1840;
"'All native place the spirit world in the bowels of the earth. They call this mysterious region mosima, the abyss.' This world in recent dictionaries is said to mean only: 'a hole in the ground, den, hole of a wild animal,' so that the other signification, whether primary or derived, has probably been forgotten. The spirit country is very generally known by a name related to the Swahili kuzimu."
Werner talks of the similarities between the afterlife and the living world;
"As already stated, ghosts are believed to lead much of the same life in their villages as they did on the upper earth; but details vary from place to place. Some of Casalis informants described valleys always green, (no draughts such as South African farmers dread) grazed over by immense herds of beautiful hornless cattle. Others seemed to think that the life was but a dull one, without joy or sorrow."
Folklore:
From the collection of stories comprised by W.B. Yeats, Irish Folk and Fairy Tales, provided is the story by Lady Wilde;
The Black Lamb
"It is a custom amongst the people, when throwing away water at night, to cry out in a loud voice, 'Take care of the water,' or literally from the Irish, 'Away with yourself from the water'-for they say that the spirits of the dead last buried are then wandering about, and it would be dangerous if the water fell upon them. One dark night a woman suddenly threw out a pail of boiling water without thinking of the warning words. Instantly a cry was heard, as of a person in pain, but no one was seen. However the next night a black lamb entered the house, having the back all fresh scalded, and it lay down moaning by the hearth and died. Then they all knew that this was the spirit that had been scalded by the woman, and they carried the dead lamb out reverently, and buried it deep in the earth. Yet every night at the same hour it walked again into the house, and lay down, moaned, and died; and after this had happened many times, the priest was sent for, and finally, by the strength of his exorcism, the spirit of the dead was laid to rest; the black lamb appeared no more. Neither was the body of the dead lamb found in the grave when they searched for it, though it had been laid by their own hands deep in the earth, and covered with clay."
From the collection of stories comprised by John T. Nanke, Slavonic Fairy Tales, a tale is written of the ghost who brought fortune;
Spirit Treasures
"A certain farmer had two houses, -one in which he lived with his family in summer time, the other a winter house, provided with an oven, and called istopka. The farmer took a facny one day to sleep in the istopka alone. He went there and lay down-it was a bright moonlight night- but, being unable to sleep, he lay with his eyes open staring at the walls. Suddenly the figure of a man rose up from beneath the floor, walked heavily across it, and as it moved made a noise like a purse full of money. It walked straight towards the farmer. The farmer crossed himself, said a prayer, and began to whisper, 'Chur! Chur!' It was fortunate that he thus protected himself. The spectre passed the farmer by, and went into the yard; there it stayed some time, when it returned to the room. Again the farmer crossed himself, and whispered, 'Chur! Chur!' Just at this moment, the cock crowed, and the spectre instantly disappeared somewhere beneath the floor.
The farmer went home and related all that he had seen. He and his family considered the matter of the apparition over, and came to the conclusion to consult some 'wise-men' about it. The next day they found a wise-man, and told him the story;
'Ah!' said the wise-man, 'you have lost a famous chance, countryman.'
'What chance?'
'Why, it was a treasure.'
'Is it possible?'
'Yes.'
'Could we not get it somehow?'
'You can.'
'How then?'
'Listen, and I will tell you. When the spectre again rises from beneath the floor, and approaches you, permit it to do so. When it is within two steps from you, seize it three times by the head, repeating each time, 'Amen! Amen! crumble thou into pieces.'
The farmer did as he was told. The spectre crumbled into old copper money of five-copeck pieces. The money altogether was worth more than two hundred and fifty roubles."
Poetry
The Visitant
A cloud moved close. The bulk of the wind shifted,
A tree swayed over water.
A voice said:
Stay. Stay by the slip-ooze. Stay.
Dearest tree, I said, may I rest here?
A ripple made a soft reply.
I waited, alert as a dog.
The leech clinging to a stone waited
And the crab, the quiet breather.
Slow, slow as a fish she came,
Slow as a fish coming forward,
Swaying in a long wave;
Her skirts no touching a leaf,
Her white arms reaching towards me.
She came without sound,
Without brushing the wet stones,
In the soft dark of the early evening,
She came,
The wind in her hair,
The moon beginning.
I woke in the first of the morning.
Staring at a tree, I felt the pulse of a stone.
Where's she now, the mountain's downy girl?
But the bright day has no answer.
A wind stirred in a web of apple worms;
The tree, the close willow, swayed.
Theodore Roethke
A Dream
I heard the dogs howl in the moonlight night;
I went to the window to see the sight;
All the Dead that ever I knew
Going one by one and two by two.
On they pass'd, and on they pass'd;
Townsfellows all, from first to last;
Born in the moonlight of the lane,
Quench'd in the heavy shadow again.
Schoolmates, marching as when we play'd
At soldiers once-but now more staid;
Those were the strangest sight to me
Who were drown'd, I knew, in the awful sea.
Straight and handsome folk; bent and weak, too;
Some that I loved, and gasp'd to speak to;
Some but a day in their churchyard bed;
Some that I had not known were dead.
A long, long crowd-where each one seem'd lonely,
Yet of them all there was one, one only,
Raised a head or look'd my way.
She linger'd a moment,-she might not stay.
How long since I saw that fair pale face!
Ah! Mother dear! might I only place
My head on thy breast, a moment to rest,
While they hand on my tearful cheek were prest!
On, on, a moving bridge they made
Across the moon-stream, from shade to shade,
Young and old, women and men;
Many long-forgot, but remember'd then.
And first there came a bitter laughter;
A sound of tears the moment after;
And then a music so lofty and gay,
That every morning, day by day,
I strive to recall it if I may.
William Allingham
What other Ghosts or Spirits come to mind?