Ghost Adventures Full Episodes
Ghost - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. In folklore and mythology, a ghost (sometimes known as a spectre. British English, specter. American English, phantom, apparition, spirit, spook, or haunt) is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that can appear to the living. Descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to realistic, lifelike visions. The deliberate attempt to contact the spirit of a deceased person is known as necromancy, or in spiritism as a séance. The belief in manifestations of the spirits of the dead is widespread, dating back to animism or ancestor worship in pre- literate cultures. Certain religious practices—funeral rites, exorcisms, and some practices of spiritualism and ritual magic—are specifically designed to rest the spirits of the dead. Ghosts are generally described as solitary, human- like essences that haunt particular locations, objects, or people they were associated with in life, though stories of ghostly armies and the ghosts of animals have also been recounted.[2][3]Terminology[edit]The English word ghost continues Old Englishgást, from a hypothetical Common Germanic*gaistaz. It is common to West Germanic, but lacking in North Germanic and East Germanic (the equivalent word in Gothic is ahma, Old Norse has andi m., önd f.). The pre- Germanic form was *ghoisdo- s, apparently from a root denoting "fury, anger" reflected in Old Norse geisa "to rage". The Germanic word is recorded as masculine only, but likely continues a neuter s- stem. The original meaning of the Germanic word would thus have been an animating principle of the mind, in particular capable of excitation and fury (compare óðr). In Germanic paganism, "Germanic Mercury", and the later Odin, was at the same time the conductor of the dead and the "lord of fury" leading the Wild Hunt. Besides denoting the human spirit or soul, both of the living and the deceased, the Old English word is used as a synonym of Latin spiritus also in the meaning of "breath" or "blast" from the earliest attestations (9th century). It could also denote any good or evil spirit, i. Anglo- Saxon gospel refers to the demonic possession of Matthew 1. Also from the Old English period, the word could denote the spirit of God, viz. Holy Ghost". The now- prevailing sense of "the soul of a deceased person, spoken of as appearing in a visible form" only emerges in Middle English (1. The modern noun does, however, retain a wider field of application, extending on one hand to "soul", "spirit", "vital principle", "mind", or "psyche", the seat of feeling, thought, and moral judgement; on the other hand used figuratively of any shadowy outline, or fuzzy or unsubstantial image; in optics, photography, and cinematography especially, a flare, secondary image, or spurious signal.[4]The synonym spook is a Dutch loanword, akin to Low Germanspôk (of uncertain etymology); it entered the English language via the United States in the 1. Alternative words in modern usage include spectre (from Latin spectrum), the Scottish wraith (of obscure origin), phantom (via French ultimately from Greek phantasma, compare fantasy) and apparition. The term shade in classical mythology translates Greek σκιά,[9] or Latin umbra,[1. Greek underworld. Haint" is a synonym for ghost used in regional English of the southern United States,[1. The term poltergeist is a German word, literally a "noisy ghost", for a spirit said to manifest itself by invisibly moving and influencing objects.[1. Wraith is a Scots word for "ghost", "spectre" or "apparition". It came to be used in Scottish Romanticist literature, and acquired the more general or figurative sense of "portent" or "omen". In 1. 8th- to 1. 9th- century Scottish literature, it was also applied to aquatic spirits. The word has no commonly accepted etymology; the OED notes "of obscure origin" only.[1. An association with the verb writhe was the etymology favored by J. R. R. Tolkien.[1. Tolkien's use of the word in the naming of the creatures known as the Ringwraiths has influenced later usage in fantasy literature. Bogey[1. 6] or bogy/bogie is a term for a ghost, and appears in Scottish poet John Mayne's Hallowe'en in 1. A revenant is a deceased person returning from the dead to haunt the living, either as a disembodied ghost or alternatively as an animated ("undead") corpse. Also related is the concept of a fetch, the visible ghost or spirit of a person yet alive. Typology[edit]Anthropological context[edit]A notion of the transcendent, supernatural, or numinous, usually involving entities like ghosts, demons, or deities, is a cultural universal.[1. In pre- literate folk religions, these beliefs are often summarized under animism and ancestor worship. Ghost Pepper PlantsSome people believe the ghost or spirit never leaves Earth until there is no- one left to remember the one who died.[2. In many cultures malignant, restless ghosts are distinguished from the more benign spirits involved in ancestor worship.[2. Ancestor worship typically involves rites intended to prevent revenants, vengeful spirits of the dead, imagined as starving and envious of the living. Strategies for preventing revenants may either include sacrifice, i. Ritual feeding of the dead is performed in traditions like the Chinese Ghost Festival or the Western All Souls' Day. Magical banishment of the dead is present in many of the world's burial customs. The bodies found in many tumuli (kurgan) had been ritually bound before burial,[2. Anatolia.[2. 3]Nineteenth- century anthropologist. James Frazer stated in his classic work, The Golden Bough, that souls were seen as the creature within that animated the body.[2. Ghosts and the afterlife[edit]Although the human soul was sometimes symbolically or literally depicted in ancient cultures as a bird or other animal, it appears to have been widely held that the soul was an exact reproduction of the body in every feature, even down to clothing the person wore. This is depicted in artwork from various ancient cultures, including such works as the Egyptian Book of the Dead, which shows deceased people in the afterlife appearing much as they did before death, including the style of dress. Fear of ghosts[edit]While deceased ancestors are universally regarded as venerable, and often believed to have a continued presence in some form of afterlife, the spirit of a deceased person which remains present in the material world (viz. This is universally the case in pre- modern folk cultures, but fear of ghosts also remains an integral aspect of the modern ghost story, Gothic horror, and other horror fiction dealing with the supernatural. Common attributes[edit]Another widespread belief concerning ghosts is that they are composed of a misty, airy, or subtle material. Anthropologists link this idea to early beliefs that ghosts were the person within the person (the person's spirit), most noticeable in ancient cultures as a person's breath, which upon exhaling in colder climates appears visibly as a white mist.[2. Welcome to the Home Page for Ghostscript, an interpreter for the PostScript language and for PDF, and related software and documentation. For Ghostscript versions 9. Directed by Roman Polanski. With Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Olivia Williams, Jon Bernthal. A ghostwriter hired to complete the memoirs of a former British prime. This belief may have also fostered the metaphorical meaning of "breath" in certain languages, such as the Latinspiritus and the Greekpneuma, which by analogy became extended to mean the soul. In the Bible, God is depicted as synthesising Adam, as a living soul, from the dust of the Earth and the breath of God. In many traditional accounts, ghosts were often thought to be deceased people looking for vengeance (vengeful ghosts), or imprisoned on earth for bad things they did during life. The appearance of a ghost has often been regarded as an omen or portent of death. Seeing one's own ghostly double or "fetch" is a related omen of death.[2. White ladies were reported to appear in many rural areas, and supposed to have died tragically or suffered trauma in life. White Lady legends are found around the world. Common to many of them is the theme of losing or being betrayed by a husband or fiancé. They are often associated with an individual family line or regarded as a harbinger of death similar to a banshee. Legends of ghost ships have existed since the 1. Flying Dutchman. This theme has been used in literature in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Coleridge. The idea of ghosts can also be considered a tradition for certain cultures. Many believe in the spirit world and often try to stay in contact with their loved ones. A place where ghosts are reported is described as haunted, and often seen as being inhabited by spirits of deceased who may have been former residents or were familiar with the property. Supernatural activity inside homes is said to be mainly associated with violent or tragic events in the building's past such as murder, accidental death, or suicide — sometimes in the recent or ancient past. But not all hauntings are at a place of a violent death, or even on violent grounds. Many cultures and religions believe the essence of a being, such as the 'soul', continues to exist. Some religious views argue that the 'spirits' of those who have died have not 'passed over' and are trapped inside the property where their memories and energy are strong. History[edit]Ancient Near East and Egypt[edit]There are many references to ghosts in Mesopotamian religions – the religions of Sumer, Babylon, Assyria, and other early states in Mesopotamia. Traces of these beliefs survive in the later Abrahamic religions that came to dominate the region.[2. Ghosts were thought to be created at time of death, taking on the memory and personality of the dead person. They traveled to the netherworld, where they were assigned a position, and led an existence similar in some ways to that of the living. Relatives of the dead were expected to make offerings of food and drink to the dead to ease their conditions. If they did not, the ghosts could inflict misfortune and illness on the living. Traditional healing practices ascribed a variety of illnesses to the action of ghosts, while others were caused by gods or demons.[2.
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