When I was young, I was curious about ghosts and wanted to meet one.  Silly as it might seem, I loved the Ghostbusters show and took it seriously.

Then I moved into a 110 year old House and met a few.

The Haunted House

There was an old woman who we called The Lady Of The House. Her presence could be felt in the back bedroom, and in the
kitchen. When she was around, we smelled lavender perfume. She’d also do things like turning on a heater we never turned on, rattling pans in the kitchen, turning off lights if a person fell asleep with the lights on.  Once she threw a rice pot onto the floor, a distance of three feet or so – that took quite a bit of force.  We’re pretty sure she died in the back bedroom.

My partner, who slept in that room at the time, would sleep with the lights on out of preference.  She’d never turn them out because had problems with the dark then.  I think this old lady was trying to help her out, assuming she’d forgotten.  She took care of the house so we spoke to her kindly.

Upstairs there were a couple of nasty little spirits.  Sometimes I’d feel a creeping dread Upstairs, and the cats would react too.  They’d act as if they were being chased, and I hated going into the attic space because there was just a nasty feeling about it.  We never heard anything but thumps and footsteps from upstairs and rattling pans from downstairs.  Nobody said anything verbally.

Footsteps on the Blankets

My favorite cat, Orion, is seven years gone, and buried across town, but I still feel him walking on the bed.  He was a good old man, and I am happy to have him here.  I figure he realized he doesn’t need a body to be with his favorite people and decided to stick around.

Yesterday my partner said she felt a cold kitty nose on her leg, when our one live cat was fast asleep across the apartment. He’ll also do the tail-brush thing from time to time, and play with our live cat.

The Golden Glow

A good friend at work told me a beautiful story about when she was working security at a hospital – a 98 year old woman had died, and though only my friend could see it, her room was filled with a warm, golden light and a feeling of joy and peace. My friend, a big tough ex-Marine, got tears in her eyes when she told me the tale.

Half and Half Tobacco

When I was in caregiving, my client told me there was a ghost who always smoked a particular type of tobacco.  Sure enough, one day I heard the front door rattle and smelled that particular aroma, just as she’d said would happen.  There wasn’t anyone around to make the smell or rattle the door.

Who knows?

So that’s what I think about ghosts. I’ve finally gotten to meet a few, and they aren’t so bad, particularly if you make friends with them.  I find it interesting that I’ve learned about most hauntings through my nose, my skin, and my ears.  I think that our hindbrain, that is, our “lizard brain” is better at sensing these sorts of things and transmits information to our more primal senses.