What is a ‘SPIRIT’, have you ever wondered? (by Rahul Roy)

“As I say, I have always considered my dear friend Arka to be, a young man with a high spirit, who always inspires me. Just to remind, he is the driving spirit behind the blog and has also encouraged me to write this column. His encouragement has definitely fostered a spirit of enthusiasm in me and I am very glad to have him as a friend”

You might feel that the above paragraph is quite unusual and out of context for a column that is aiming to understand the term ‘Spirit’ in the light of the paranormal. If you take another look you will find that the word ‘spirit’ comes several times in different context, in the above paragraph. It describes mental energy, vitalism and enthusiasm. This shows how regularly we use the word in different situations in our daily life without paying any heed. But the same word, takes an all new connotation, when referred in context to the paranormal. Now the same word ‘Spirit’ spooks us out. It reminds us of ghosts and other evils. This scares and freaks us. Paranormal researchers all over the globe have tried to understand and explain what a Spirit actually is. The word spirit should not be taken at face value as it has been widely defined, classified and explained by experts in this field. Numerous experiments have been performed to understand them. But have you ever wondered what spirits and ghosts are actually? What are they made up of?

A widespread belief concerning spirits and ghosts (spirit of an unknown person) is that they are composed of a misty, airy, or subtle material. This is true to an extent and common in horror movies, which all of you have seen. A ghost can be described as the spirit or soul of a deceased person that has in some way made its presence known to the living. The term ghost can also be used to describe an imprint or impression, of people, animals, or objects from the past acting unconsciously, in the same ways as those real people, animals, and things did years ago when they were alive.  Spirits are thought to be made up of the natural electromagnetic energy that the human body has inside itself. The idea of IMPRINT will become clear when I will explain types of haunting in my later articles.

 A popular experiment was once performed by weighing a person who was about to die. After the person expired he was weighed again and to every ones surprise he weighed much less. Scientist concluded that it was the spirit that left the body after the person had died, resulting in the weight loss. Though this theory has been challenged by many but the experiment carried by Dr. Crawford in 1910 became a landmark one in the field of paranormal research. Spirits are nothing but concentrated electro magnetic fields because very often during ghost hunts in haunted places, EMF (electro magnetic field) readings that are unexplainable and erratic are caught on magnetometers. Spirits appear in photographs commonly in the form of orbs (circular specs and blurs of light), apparitions (shadowy and misty figures of a known person), and streaks of white lights across the photo.  Voices of spirits have been caught on EVP recorders (electronic voice phenomenon), a sort of a tape recorder. Though you will find hundreds of photos on the internet, only a fistful of them are genuine. So the next time your friend surprises you with a photo of a spirit, take it with a pinch of salt.

Spirits have always been an object of fantasy in every religion and society. Each have tried to explain them in their own way.  Some consider spirits to be good while other consider them sinister. Many of us have a misconception that spirits are always of a deceased human. But actually a spirit can be inhuman and diabolical (demonic) in nature. Spirits of animals also do exist. These explanations have been subjected to several criticisms but these are the only logical reasons that paranormal investigators have managed to come up with, till date. This was a small insight into the understanding of spirits and have I tried my best to keep it simple.  So the next time u bump into a spirit or a ghost, I think you will need no introduction.