Spirits, Ghosts - I believe & You?

Friends,

Do you believe in spirits? Over the years science has made tremendous progress in the fields of technology, medical science and many others. But one thing it is still unable to solve is the existence (or the non-existence) of the HOLY spirit.

Man, since time immemorial, has argued with himself (I should say) on this very topic but failed in arriving to any conclusion. The Church and the community of majority of scientists, for centuries now, cannot see eye to eye on this issue.

But some instances in life do make you feel that there is something (or someone) beside you. People might name that as the Lord or the Satan but if any spirit do really exist, it can only be two – Good & Bad. Again the next moment you ask yourself do these really exist in this real world?

You hear some creepy stories about some ugly (or pretty) looking ghosts lurking in the dark and that becomes a very good topic of discussion. You can spend the rest of the night taking with your friends on this topic and can feel the hair standing on your body, getting those rare goose bumps.

But do all these really matter? Or the fact “I don’t believe in Ghosts” still holds good for you?

Smallest tale of horror

Once two persons were travelling by train. One asked the other "Do you believe in ghosts?". The other replied "No, I don't" and looked up to find there wasn't anyone in the cabin.

Famous incidents of horror

Abraham Lincoln

Source: wkicommons

1. Ghost inside the White House

The erstwhile US President was assassinated by one John Wilkes Booth on Good Friday, 14 April 1865. Before his death, Lincoln had a dream which he shared with his cabinet:

"In the dream, I was awakened by a faint moaning coming from somewhere nearby. I stood, and began hunting the noise, finally finding my way to the east room, where men and women were shrouded in funeral shawls. I saw a coffin on a dais, and soldiers at either end. A captain stood nearby, and I addressed him 'Who is dead in the White House' say I. 'The President,' is his answer, 'he was killed by an assassin.' In the coffin was a corpse in funeral vestments, but the face was obscured."

Reported sightings of Lincoln's spirit

Grace Coolidge, wife of former US president Calvin Coolidge, was the first person to report having seen Lincoln's spirit in the White House. In her words he stood near a window in the Oval Office looking over the river Potomac. And after that incident she saw his spirit many times.

Once Cesar Carrera, Franklin D. Roosevelt's personal assistant, ran out terrified from the White House after witnessing Lincoln's ghost.

Eleanor Roosevelt's assistant, Mary Eben, saw the ghost sitting on his bed pulling off his boots. Even the Roosevelt's dog, Fala, was said to have sensed Lincoln’s presence.

Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands heard a knock on her bedroom door in the middle of the night. When she answered it, Lincoln stood before her. The Queen fainted and finally she regained her senses only to find the spirit had long disappeared.

Britain's Winston Churchill refused to sleep there after sighting President Abraham Lincoln's ghost lurking about, and there is an interesting story in that regard. During one of Winston Churchill's visits to the United States during World War II, he spent the night in the Lincoln Bedroom. Churchill retired late after relaxing in a long, hot bath while drinking a Scotch and smoking a cigar. He climbed out of the bath naked, except for his cigar, and walked into the adjoining bedroom. He couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw Abraham Lincoln standing by the fireplace in the room, leaning on the mantle. The two men looked each other in the face, in seeming embarrassment, as Lincoln’s apparition slowly faded away.

There are many other famous personalities reported to have seen the ghost of Lincoln over the years.

2. Amityville Hauntings

The deFeo Tragedy

Source: unimonsterscrypt.com

In the year 1974, one Ronald Joseph "Butch" DeFeo, Jr was convicted of killing his own father, mother, two brothers and two sisters who lived in the 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville. After initial denials he admitted of the killings and reported to have said in his confessions to the law officials, "Once I started, I just couldn't stop. It went so fast."

However, it is said prior to the Defeo family killings, the apartment was house to many native Americans those were insane or sick and those people were buried there. May be there is a link between this and the tragedies that followed later.

The apartment 112 Ocean Avenue was eventually bought by a couple named George and Kathy Lutz for $80,000. They were obviously warned of the tragedies by their Realtor but they dismissed those. Well the next 28 days of their lives in the house was well portrayed in the famous book and movie The Amityville Horror.

3. Bhangarh, Rajasthan (India)

The Bhangarh Fort (Rajasthan, India)

Source: aceguide.com 

In the first half of the 17th century, Madho Singh of Amber built his capital here with the sanction of an ascetic Baba Balanath, who meditated there, but not without his dire prediction: "Look my dear chap! The moment the shadow of your palace touches me, you are undone. The city shall be no more!" In ignorance, Ajab Singh, one of the dynasty's later descendants, raised the palace to such a height that the shadow reached the forbidden place. Hence the devastation. A second myth describes a tantric battle waged between the lovely queen Kanchan Yadav and the wicked sorcerer Amit Yadav, who was attracted by the queen's beauty. Amit Yadav chhatri (dome shaped pavilions) can be seen on the top of the hill. Desperately, he tried to trap her in his magical web, and failed every time, as the queen herself was a past-mistress in the tantric art. The last battle took place on the day when the queen eventually lost her temper, transformed a glass bottle containing the massaging oil into a big rock and flung it towards the hill-top, where sat the devil. In vain he tried to stall this glass missile. It was too late. Sensing his imminent death, concentrating all his powers, he spat his dying curse: "I die! But thou too, thou Kanchan yadav shall not live here anymore. Neither thou, nor thine kin, nor these walls of the city. None shall see the morning sun!". The night was spent transferring the palace treasures to the new site of Ajabgarh. In the morning came the tempest leveling everything to the ground. 

The ASI signboard

Source: india-forums.com

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) (photo added) has put up a signboard at Bhangarh stating: "Entering the borders of Bhangarh before sunrise and after sunset is strictly prohibited." Tourists who visit this place say that there is a strange feeling in the atmosphere of Bhangarh, which causes symptoms of anxiety and restlessness.

4. Clinton Road, NJ

The road is infamous for in numerous ghost-sightings.

Lincoln Street

Source: wikipedia

Many say that at one of the bridges over Clinton brook near the reservoir, if someone drops a coin in the water, the coin is thrown back by the ghost of the boy who is said to have drowned while swimming or fallen down from the edge of the bridge into the water. Also many have reported to have seen apparitions. Further there is hearsay that the ghost pushes any person into the water who looks over the bridge to save the boy.

There are accounts of pickup trucks appearing in the middle of night from nowhere and suddenly disappearing in thin air.

There are again reports of appearances of strangely dressed persons at odd hours of the day who simply keep on staring on people who look at them and then suddenly disappear.

5. Cape Town Castle Ghost

The Haunted Castle

Source: thatscapetown.co.za

The ghost is said to haunt the castle for now over three centuries. The tall and vivid apparition is often seen walking along the battlement of the castle, built in 1665. The ghost is said of the man who died building the underground tunnel between the post office and the main rail station in Jo'burg.

Experiences

Please do let us know your personal experiences, if any. If anyone has been to these places, please feel free to share your views - so that it might help us understand if these are only myths or are truly haunted.