This is something I've been thinking about for quite some time and can't figure out. A lot of people say that cemeteries are haunted and they are a hotspot for activity (I haven't done an investigation at one so I don't personally know). What doesn't make sense is why are they haunted? I know at first glance that sounds like a silly question because of how many dead people in the ground, but if you think about it, why would hey haunt their dead body. Most hauntings are either at the place of death or a place that was special to them. So, if that's the case, why would they hang around a cemetery? I can understand certain cemeteries (like the Goodleburg Cemetery in Holland, NY --- an abortion doctor was illegially buring the fetuses and dead mothers in the ground without telling anyone), but I don't get the normal cemeteries. Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks.

*shrugs* Maybe it's because of all the emotions that are in cemetaries. You have mourning relatives and such that ritualistically almost, visit these places to pay thier respects and leave gifts such as flowers.

I think maybe it's that people associate ghosts with the dead, and that is the place where there are the most dead people, (open to the public anyways.) So people logically look for ghosts in a cemetery more so than in any other place. Also, there is the theory that ghosts do not realize they are dead so they stay near their dead bodies.

That's what I was going to reply with.

I think regardless of the manner of death, the soul has an ongoing connection to its human body. When we take photos or EVP's many times the soul rises to the occasion, or chooses not to. I find the older the cemetery the less activity. Just my opinion..JN

All of the above.

I know that ghosts exist, having seen a couple, but i also do not believe that in religious terms our soul "goes" anywhere. Biblically we fall asleep at death and only regain consciousness at the resurrection. So ghosts are more, i think, an example of the energy flows which permeate the universe, and of the human ability to percieve, transmit and recieve these energy flows.

All of which does match the idea that ghosts might expect to be found in places where emotions were intense, but also where humans were more expecting, and thus more susceptible to recieve, such transmissions (especially if they consciously expected these to appear in a traditional form, such as a ghost)

perhaps they don't have a choice on where they end up....

I'm going to draw a possible conclusion based on these posts (of course, i'm not saying this is the definate conclusion, but just an idea). Maybe cemeteries aren't haunted with intelligent spirits, but more with residual caused by the high emotional level produced by the funerals? And since, as spiridion said, people look in cemeteries more frequently because of the common belief that there would be ghosts around dead people, it only seems that cemeteries are more haunted but in actuality it's no more haunted then say a house were someone died? Just a thought based on what I'm reading. :0)

Spirits are attracted to cemetaries because they at times unwittingly channeled by grieving loved ones....b





halfhandshuffle:Slayer-At Dawn They Sleep
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ox9b7uhobUM

Are your evps intelligent or nonsensical (like if you say, "is there anyone there" do you get a reply saying "I'm here" or do you just get something like "I miss him so much")?

I would agree with this Barek, although I would not limit this response to cemetaries, spirits/energies can choose where to manifest when in visitation & are attracted to our own spirit light, which grows more intense as we raise our vibration through channeling/meditation/seances IMO. The nonsensical type of EVP's that Buddahrat describes (not a direct response to any question posed) may be residual energy just playing back like a record with the needle stuck.

In short, just because they offer a final resting place for our physical bodies, I do not think this necessarily makes cemetaries any more haunted than anywhere else, unless certain spirit energies are drawn towards the final resting place of someone very near & dear to them, who had passed over before them & whose grave they visited regularly whilst alive..........hence making the cemetary a significant place to still want to visit maybe?

all true, ...AND NO I haven't forgotten about those extra disturbing batch of photos that floated through here a few weeks ago ....yet consider the grieving person in the cemetery ...emotionally distraught, expelling psychic energy at elevated levels..."sleep deprived and in a semi trance state" is often an accurate description when referring to someone in the wake of a loss ...they often sit graveside and seem to "talk' to the departed....this is just one of my recent notions that I can't seem to shake for reason ...more OCP for me please! ....b

That totally makes sense, Barek. I guess I am a freak, because I will sometimes visit random graveyards and "pay respects" to the dead there. In my mind it makes them feel a little less lonely and not forgotten, especially the really old ones.

Hi,
I have a Masters in Parapsychology, Majoring in Paranormal Studies, as well as many years of investigating. My take, as well as many of my associates including
numerous mediums, is that ghosts can be found anywhere. As some of your other replys indicated; some spirits do not know what to do especially in a sudden unexpected death situation or among Christians.
As I'm sure you know, it is the belief among Christians that they will rise on judgement day -- if one died in this belief -- they may well be awaiting that day. I personally believe that spirits who are earthbound may have no earthly ties left (home & family), and are most comfortable near their familiar bodies --or they are drawn there by the emotions of what family and friends who do visit their grave site. In numerous cases when I have in a group including a Psychic Medium, gone to a cemetery or for that matter any known haunted place, after our investigation the Medium will offer the Spirits help in crossing over. I really don't remember any suggestion of a Spirit being permanently grounded in a cemetery; houses, land, and sacred sites surely; otherwise they can travel to anyplace or anyone they wish. So, please always protect yourself before you go on a hunt and when you leave one -- you don't want the hunter to become the hunted-- that is not as uncommon as you might think--remember-- be careful what you wish for, because you might just get it. DianneG

Thanks, that's really interesting and another piece to the paranormal puzzle. I was wondering where you got your degree? I've always been interested in parapsychology but wasn't sure what schools offer it (but to be completely honest, I haven't had a lot of time to do a lot of research into it, haha). Thanks!

I personally don't think cemeteries are anymore haunted then any other location.

Really interesting post.
I guess you can say that because the dead knows that isn't home or where they died at.
But I heard of story's where there are a lot of dead hanging around grave yards, New Orleans[b]
[/b] is famous for that.

I find the thought of souls wandering around a cemetary when they've died really sad. I don't find cemetaries creepy or scary though, I'm more worried about the hoodies boozing by the war memorial.

I've been toying with a theory that ghosts and spirits are capable of different levels of manifestation, according to strength. And that strength is accumulated over time. Hence, there are alot of civil war type entities, and even more from the victorian era. The older the spirit the stronger it becomes. It would offer an explanation as to why some ghosts are still trapped at their burial sites, until they can accumulate enough strength to move on, or elsewhere. Just a humble theory. ~Jackal

Cemeteries... Well, I think that it all depends on how you look at spirituality. If you believe in ghosts, you must therefor believe is some sort of religion because without religion you would not believe in a soul which is required to haunt. (that is unless we are talking about an imprint in time but then i still think that has to deal with souls) anyways. If we say that religion is involved we concede the fact that cemeteries are holy ground. Holy places blessed so that the dead will be in a holy place to rest. Also most people affected by ghost activity find that the ghost is wishing harm, possessiveness of an area, general haunting where the ghost doesn't seem to be aware of the living, playful ghosts, Poltergeists, and sometimes ghosts such as children that just want to be noticed or to play.... Im sure i have left a few out, sorry. So given the religion you most believe in, you will believe in different kinds of ghosts. If you are a christian you may believe that ghosts are not in fact lost souls, but demons that are trying to trick us and consume us with fear and doubt. Others such as Catholic may believe that the soul is in purgatory and just waiting to continue on to heaven. So I guess you could conclude two different things. Ghosts (souls) prefer the safety and serenity of the holy place and appear there waiting, or that ghost activity does not occur much in grave yards but people don't understand that graveyards are holy places and that demons may not want to be there and that people just assume ghosts are in a graveyard....

Interesting theory - I've often wondered why we don't see cave men ghosts?

Well, there may be an expiration date..eh?

Yeah, "No Haunting Past 1267"

It's a convenient locale for looking into the past, and desires upon which may cast.
Eternal sought of glories had, for the living, not so bad.

There could be other explanations for "ghosts" besides the religious ones or imprints, (which may have to do with energy/electricity, not souls.) This is the area I am the most interested in, as I do not believe that ghosts are souls of the departed. There are several theories out there. As an atheist I am open to the possibility that some sort of unexplained manifestation exists, but I do not believe in religion.

*edited for spelling

Or dinosaurs?

Yet think about places like Machu Pichu or stone Henge which date back to BC dates - people swear these are among the most haunted places on the Earth. (Maybe it's just wishful thinking?)

Yeah, I've thought about dinosaurs ghosts too!

I haven't heard of stonehenge or Matchu Pichu being haunted though, very interesting, I'll have to check it out.

Reg

lmao!

I disagree with this entire post. I'd elaborate, but I'm right in the middle of a meatball sub (xtra mozarella!).

I am very interested in your ideas. Please elaborate to the fullest extent.

See, I haven't had too many stories about cemeteries actually being haunted. I' m not interested in the ones where people were "ghost hunting" and heard a noise, etc, etc. When you're in a cemetery at night, LOOKING for spooks, you're gonna find them! I mean stories that can be told, with specific incidences, and hopefully even collaborated by others.

From all the reports I've had, there has only been ONE from a cemetery.

I do not believe that cemeteries are haunted. There may be energy from mourners. But that is certainly not the same as a haunting, in my opinion.

I beleive cementaries are haunted because alot of hauntings happen around the body, or around were the spirit had left the body. Some spirits, I beleive, haunt other graves like their loved ones. Might sound strange but it's just my opinion

Canterbury University, UK

Canterbury has both campus and on online studies, as I'm sure many of the Universities in the US do.


DianneG

Hey do you mean Canterbury Christ Church University or University of Kent? Or is it still just called Canterbury University?

The last place I would want to haunt is my own cemetery when I pass away! LOL...

Think about it, when you pass away and had the chance to come back as a spirit, what places would you visit?

I know I would visit my family first, then go to places ( if I could ) that I have never seen before... Not a cemetery.

Beacuse the rest of the world is scary enough as it is, and cemeteries seem to be the only place where people will actually just shut up and be respectful.

I don't believe for one minute that cemeteries are haunted.



If you're dead - why fiddle-fart-a*** around a bone yard? Why not go see people? Why not go somewhere interesting?

The best explanations are that; a] Any burial grounds are considered sacred to ancestors and loved ones and their precious memories, b] The very ancient belief that the last person interred would act as a guardian of the graveyard until the next burial c] Our unconscious telling us that there are hundreds of corpses rotting in the earth below our feet. It makes us confront the reality of death and our own mortality.

Many people claim that they have captured strange images and lights in graveyards. Couldn't this be due to the natural gasses of the decaying bodies escaping into the air?

Association maybe?

i believe that it is because the spirits still have some form of buisness here, but it doesnt make sense that they would haunt a cemetary, unless they are waiting for someone, which is possible, but why would they just stay there wouldnt they leave? or maybe they can only move to different places depending on where they have been i dont know, im going to check out an old cemetary later this week, that if the caretakers dont have anything against me taking some photos, i doubt they would, i'll post them in here even if i dont get anything. i hope i do, they are meant to be hotspots lol ^
maybe cemetaries have some kind of barrier in them keeping the dead in? and the only way out is to attach themselves to something? i dont know.