View source for Ghost

{{Short description|Supernatural being originating in folklore}}
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{{hatnote group|
{{Other uses|Ghost (disambiguation)|Ghostly (disambiguation)}}
{{redirect|Haint|the Warsaw Yiddish newspaper|Haynt}}
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[[File:Hammersmith Ghost.PNG|thumb|right|An engraving of the [[Hammersmith Ghost murder case|Hammersmith Ghost]] appears in Roger Kirby's ''Wonderful and Scientific Museum'', a magazine published in 1804. The "ghost" turned out to be an old local cobbler who used a white sheet to get back at his apprentice for scaring his children.<ref name=Kirby>{{Cite book |title=Kirby's Wonderful and Scientific Museum |chapter=The Hammersmith Ghosts |pages=65–79 |year=1804 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ggMhkDz-33EC&pg=PA65 |author=Kirby, R.S. |access-date=2016-03-14 |archive-date=2023-10-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231024084902/https://books.google.com/books?id=ggMhkDz-33EC&pg=PA65#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>]]

{{paranormal}}

In [[folklore]], a '''ghost''' is the [[soul]] or [[Spirit (supernatural entity)|spirit]] of a dead [[Human|person]] or non-human [[animal]] that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In [[ghostlore]], descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes to realistic, lifelike forms. The deliberate attempt to contact the spirit of a deceased person is known as [[necromancy]], or in [[Kardecist spiritism|spiritism]] as a ''[[séance]]''. Other terms associated with it are apparition, haunt, haint, phantom, [[poltergeist]], [[Shade (mythology)|shade]], specter, spirit, spook, wraith, [[demon]], and [[ghoul]].

The belief in the existence of an [[afterlife]], as well as 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, [[exorcism]]s, and some practices of [[Spiritualism (beliefs)|spiritualism]] and [[ritual magic]]—are specifically designed to rest the spirits of the dead. Ghosts are generally described as solitary, human-like essences, though stories of ghostly armies and the ghosts of animals other than humans have also been recounted.<ref>Hole, pp. 150–163</ref><ref>{{cite book
|author=Cohen, Daniel
|title=The encyclopedia of ghosts
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5lcMRQryEQMC
|year=1984
|publisher=Dodd, Mead
|isbn=978-0-396-08308-5
|page=8
|access-date=2016-03-14
|archive-date=2023-08-14
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230814112355/https://books.google.com/books?id=5lcMRQryEQMC
|url-status=live
}}</ref> They are believed to haunt particular [[list of reportedly haunted locations|locations]], objects, or people they were associated with in life. According to a 2009 study by the Pew Research Center, 18% of Americans say they have seen a ghost.<ref>{{cite web |author=Michael Lipka |title=18% of Americans say they've seen a ghost |url=http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/10/30/18-of-americans-say-theyve-seen-a-ghost/ |date=2015-10-30 |publisher=Pew |access-date=2019-02-07 |archive-date=2019-02-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209124605/http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/10/30/18-of-americans-say-theyve-seen-a-ghost/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

The overwhelming consensus of science is that there is no proof that ghosts exist.<ref name="Bunge1998">[[Mario Bunge|Bunge, Mario]]. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=oX84XOf-T68C&pg=PA178 Philosophy of Science: From Problem to Theory] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230814112345/https://books.google.com/books?id=oX84XOf-T68C&pg=PA178 |date=2023-08-14 }}''. Transaction Publishers; 1998. {{ISBN|978-1-4128-2423-1}}. p. 178–.</ref> Their existence is [[falsifiability|impossible to falsify]],<ref name="Bunge1998"/> and [[ghost hunting]] has been classified as [[pseudoscience]].<ref name="Regal2009">{{cite book |author=Regal, Brian |title=Pseudoscience: A Critical Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c6PACQAAQBAJ&pg=PA75 |date=2009-10-15 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-0-313-35508-0 |pages=75–77 |author-link=Brian Regal |access-date=2017-07-09 |archive-date=2023-08-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230814122347/https://books.google.com/books?id=c6PACQAAQBAJ&pg=PA75|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Raford|first=Benjamin|author-link=Benjamin Radford|title=Ghost-Hunting Mistakes: Science and Pseudoscience in Ghost Investigations|url=http://www.csicop.org/si/show/ghost-hunting_mistakes_science_and_pseudoscience_in_ghost_investigations|publisher=[[Committee for Skeptical Inquiry]] |access-date=2017-07-08 |date=November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328142040/https://www.csicop.org/si/show/ghost-hunting_mistakes_science_and_pseudoscience_in_ghost_investigations |archive-date=2019-03-28 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Levy |first1=Rob |last2=Levy |first2=Stephanie |title=Hearing ghost voices relies on pseudoscience and fallibility of human&nbsp;perception |url=http://theconversation.com/hearing-ghost-voices-relies-on-pseudoscience-and-fallibility-of-human-perception-48160 |website=[[The Conversation (website)|The Conversation]] |date=30 October 2015 |access-date=8 July 2017 |archive-date=25 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180925105818/http://theconversation.com/hearing-ghost-voices-relies-on-pseudoscience-and-fallibility-of-human-perception-48160 |url-status=live}}</ref> Despite centuries of investigation, there is no [[scientific evidence]] that any location is inhabited by the spirits of the dead.<ref name="Regal2009"/><ref>{{cite web |last1=Radford |first1=Benjamin |author-link=Benjamin Radford |title=Are Ghosts Real?— Evidence Has Not Materialized |url=https://www.livescience.com/26697-are-ghosts-real.html |website=[[Live Science]] |access-date=8 July 2017 |archive-date=8 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190508041605/https://www.livescience.com/26697-are-ghosts-real.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Historically, certain toxic and [[psychoactive plant]]s (such as ''[[datura]]'' and ''[[hyoscyamus niger]]''), whose use has long been associated with necromancy and the [[underworld]], have been shown to contain [[anticholinergic]] compounds that are pharmacologically linked to [[dementia]] (specifically [[Dementia with Lewy bodies|DLB]]) as well as histological patterns of [[neurodegeneration]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=The encyclopedia of psychoactive plants: ethnopharmacology and its applications |last=Raetsch |first=Ch. |publisher=US: Park Street Press |year=2005 |pages=277–282}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/news_article.php?newsID=2300 |title = Study suggests link between long-term use of anticholinergics and dementia risk |publisher = [[Alzheimer's Society]] |date = 2015-01-26 |access-date = 2015-02-17 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151112115547/https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/news_article.php?newsID=2300 |archive-date = 2015-11-12 }}</ref> Recent research has indicated that ghost sightings may be related to degenerative brain diseases such as [[Alzheimer's disease]].<ref>A case of progressive posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) with vivid hallucination: are some ghost tales vivid hallucinations in normal people? Furuya et al.</ref> Common prescription medication and [[over-the-counter drugs]] (such as [[sleep aids]]) may also, in rare instances, cause ghost-like hallucinations, particularly [[zolpidem]] and [[diphenhydramine]].<ref name="Mian2019">{{cite journal |last1=Mian |first1=Razs |title=Visual Hallucinations from Zolpidem Use for the Treatment of Hospital Insomnia in a Septuagenarian |journal=Cureus |date=January 2019 |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=e3848 |doi=10.7759/cureus.3848 |doi-access=free |pmid=30891388 |pmc=6411327 | issn=2168-8184}}</ref> Older reports linked [[carbon monoxide]] poisoning to ghost-like hallucinations.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/health/body-odd/see-ghosts-there-may-be-medical-reason-f1C9926902|title=See ghosts? There may be a medical reason|first=The Body|last=Odd|date=30 October 2009|website=NBC News|access-date=7 October 2019|archive-date=4 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404203030/https://www.nbcnews.com/health/body-odd/see-ghosts-there-may-be-medical-reason-f1C9926902|url-status=live}}</ref>

In [[folklore studies]], ghosts fall within the [[Motif-Index of Folk-Literature|motif index]] designation E200–E599 ("Ghosts and other revenants").

==Terminology==
{{Further|Soul|Genius (mythology)|Geist}}

=== Etymology ===
The English word [[:wikt:ghost|''ghost'']] comes from [[Old English]] ''[[:wikt:gast#Old English|gāst]]'' ("breath, spirit, soul, ghost"), which can be traced back to [[Proto-Germanic]] ''[[:wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/gaistaz|*gaistaz]]'' ("spirit, ghost"). It is [[cognate]] (linguistic sibling from a common origin) with [[Old Frisian]] ''gāst'' ("spirit, ghost, demon"), [[Old Saxon]] ''gēst'' ("soul, vitality, spirit, demon"), [[Old Dutch]] ''gēst'' ("spirit"), and [[Old High German]] {{Lang|goh|geist}} ("spirit")''.'' Although recorded descendants do not appear in [[North Germanic languages|North]] and [[East Germanic languages|East Germanic]] sources (where Gothic uses ''ahma'' and Old Norse uses {{lang|non|andi}} m. or {{lang|non|önd}} f.), linguists reconstruct ''*gaistaz'' as stemming from [[Germanic parent language|pre-Germanic]] *''ghois-t-oz'' ("fury, anger"). This reconstruction is supported by its connection to [[Sanskrit]] ''hīḍ-'' ("to be angry") and ''héḍa'' ("anger"), and to [[Avestan]] ''zōižda-'' ("terrible"; in ''zōiždišta'' "most terrible").{{sfn|Orel|2003|p=123}}{{Sfn|Kroonen|2013|p=163}}<ref name="OED-ghost">{{Harvnb|Oxford English Dictionary|2021}}, s.v. ghost, n.</ref>

The common [[Proto-Indo-European]] form is posited as *''ǵʰoys-d-os'', a [[Dental consonant|dental]] suffix derivative of the root ''ǵʰéys-''. This root also appears Proto-Germanic ''*gaistjan'' ("to terrify"; compare Old English ''gǽstan'' and Gothic ''usgaisjan''), in Old Norse *''geiski'' ("fear"; implied in ''geiskafullr'', "full of fear"), and in Avestan ''zōiš-'' (in ''zōišnu'', "shivering, trembling").{{Sfn|Kroonen|2013|p=163}}<ref name="OED-ghost" />

Besides denoting a "person's spirit or soul" (as "the life force" or "breath of life" that gives life to the body, in contrast to its purely material being), the Old English word is also used as a synonym of Latin ''spīritus'' in the meaning of "the breath of God or a god" from the earliest attestations (9th century). It could also denote any good or evil spirit, such as angels and demons (the [[Anglo-Saxon]] gospel refers to the [[demonic possession]] of Matthew 12:43 as ''se unclæna gast''). Also from the Old English period, the word could denote the spirit of God, the "[[Holy Ghost]]" (''halgan gaste''), after post-classical Latin ''spiritus sanctus'' .<ref name="OED-ghost" />

=== Usage and synonyms ===
The now-prevailing sense of "the soul of a deceased person, spoken of as appearing in a visible form" only emerges in [[Middle English]] (14th century). The modern noun does, however, retain a wider field of application, extending on one hand to "soul", "spirit", "[[vital principle]]", "[[mind]]", or "[[psyche (psychology)|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, [[Spirit photography|photography]], and cinematography especially, a flare, secondary image, or spurious signal.<ref name="OED-ghost" />

The synonym ''[[:wikt:spook|spook]]'' is a [[Dutch language|Dutch]] loanword, akin to [[Low German]] {{Lang|nds|spôk}} (of uncertain etymology); it entered the English language via [[American English]] in the 19th century.<ref>{{cite web|title=spook|url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/187392|website=Oxford English Dictionary|access-date=27 August 2013|archive-date=6 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106194718/http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/187392|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Mencken, H. L. (1936, repr. 1980). The American Language: An Inquiry into the Development of English in the United States (4th edition). New York: Knopf, p. 108.</ref><ref>''Webster's Third New International Dictionary'', Merriam-Webster, ''spook''.</ref><ref>''Webster's New World College Dictionary'' (4th edition), Wiley, ''spook''.</ref> Alternative words in modern usage include ''spectre'' (altn. ''specter''; from Latin {{Lang|la|spectrum}}), the Scottish ''wraith'' (of obscure origin), ''phantom'' (via French ultimately from Greek ''phantasma'', compare ''[[:wikt:fantasy|fantasy]]'') and ''apparition''. The term ''[[shade (mythology)|shade]]'' in [[classical mythology]] translates Greek σκιά,<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=ou(=tos οὗτος] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210504012005/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dou(%3Dtos |date=2021-05-04 }}. Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon''.</ref> or Latin {{Lang|la|umbra}},<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=umbra&fromdoc=Perseus%253Atext%253A1999.04.0059 umbra] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210825235729/https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=umbra&fromdoc=Perseus%253Atext%253A1999.04.0059 |date=2021-08-25 }}. Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, ''A Latin Dictionary''</ref> in reference to the notion of spirits in the [[Greek underworld]]. The term ''[[poltergeist]]'' is a German word, literally a "noisy ghost", for a spirit said to manifest itself by invisibly moving and influencing objects.<ref name="Cohen1984">{{cite book
|author=Cohen, Daniel
|title=The encyclopedia of ghosts
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5lcMRQryEQMC
|year=1984
|publisher=Dodd, Mead
|isbn=978-0-396-08308-5
|pages=137–156
|access-date=2016-03-14
|archive-date=2023-08-14
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230814112355/https://books.google.com/books?id=5lcMRQryEQMC
|url-status=live
}}</ref>

''[[:wikt:wraith|Wraith]]'' is a [[Scots language|Scots]] word for ''ghost'', ''spectre'', or ''apparition''. It appeared in Scottish Romanticist literature, and acquired the more general or figurative sense of ''portent'' or ''[[omen]]''. In 18th- to 19th-century Scottish literature, it also applied to aquatic spirits. The word has no commonly accepted etymology; the ''[[OED]]'' notes "of obscure origin" only.<ref>{{cite web|title=wraith|url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/230504|website=Oxford English Dictionary|access-date=27 August 2013|archive-date=27 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027041249/https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/230504|url-status=live}}</ref> An association with the verb ''[[:wikt:writhe|writhe]]'' was the etymology favored by [[J. R. R. Tolkien]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.greenmanreview.com/book/book_shippey_tolkien.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130125012432/http://www.greenmanreview.com/book/book_shippey_tolkien.html |archive-date=2013-01-25 |title=Tom Shippey, J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century (Houghton Mifflin Company, 2001) |author=Milner, Liz |website=greenmanreview.com |access-date=2009-01-04 }}</ref> Tolkien's use of the word in the naming of the creatures known as the [[Nazgûl|Ringwraiths]] has influenced later usage in fantasy literature. [[Bogeyman|Bogey]]<ref>[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bogey bogey] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130127025540/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bogey |date=2013-01-27 }}. Merriam-Webster (2012-08-31). Retrieved on 2013-03-21.</ref> or ''[[:wikt:bogie|bogy/bogie]]'' is a term for a ghost, and appears in Scottish poet [[John Mayne]]'s ''Hallowe'en'' in 1780.<ref>Robert Chambers [https://books.google.com/books?id=sdVkAAAAMAAJ&dq=halloween+poem+%28burns%29&pg=PA154 The life and works of Robert Burns, Volume 1] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231024084903/https://books.google.com/books?id=sdVkAAAAMAAJ&dq=halloween+poem+%28burns%29&pg=PA154#v=onepage&q=halloween%20poem%20(burns)&f=false |date=2023-10-24 }} Lippincott, Grambo & co., 1854</ref><ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/ulsterscots/words/bogie Ulster Scots – Words and Phrases:"Bogie"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151106100538/http://www.bbc.co.uk/ulsterscots/words/bogie |date=2015-11-06 }} [[BBC]] Retrieved December 18, 2010</ref>

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 (folklore)|fetch]], the visible ghost or spirit of a person yet alive.

==Typology==
[[File:NAMA Hermès & Myrrhinè.jpg|thumb|200px|Relief from a carved funerary ''[[lekythos]]'' at Athens showing [[Hermes]] as [[psychopomp]] conducting the soul of the deceased, ''Myrrhine'' into Hades (c. 430–420 BC)]]

===Anthropological context===
{{Further|Animism|Ancestor worship|Origin of religion|Anthropology of religion}}

A notion of the [[transcendence (religion)|transcendent]], [[supernatural]], or [[numinous]], usually involving entities like ghosts, [[demon]]s, or [[deity|deities]], is a [[cultural universal]].<ref>[[Donald Brown (anthropologist)|Donald Brown]] (1991) ''Human Universals''. Philadelphia, [[Temple University Press]] ([http://condor.depaul.edu/~mfiddler/hyphen/humunivers.htm online summary] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120630210030/http://condor.depaul.edu/~mfiddler/hyphen/humunivers.htm |date=2012-06-30 }}).</ref> In pre-literate [[folk religion]]s, these beliefs are often summarized under [[animism]] and [[ancestor worship]]. Some people believe the ghost or spirit never leaves Earth until there is no-one left to remember the one who died.<ref name="EncyOccult">Encyclopedia of Occultism and [[Parapsychology]] edited by [[J. Gordon Melton]], [[Gale Group]], {{ISBN|0-8103-5487-X}}</ref>

In many cultures, malignant, [[restless ghosts]] are distinguished from the more benign spirits involved in ancestor worship.<ref>Richard Cavendish (1994) ''The World of Ghosts and the Supernatural''. Waymark Publications, Basingstoke: 5</ref>

Ancestor worship typically involves rites intended to prevent [[revenant]]s, [[vengeful spirit]]s of the dead, imagined as starving and envious of the living. Strategies for preventing revenants may either include [[sacrifice]]; that is, giving the dead food and drink to pacify them, or magical banishment of the deceased to force them not to return. 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 custom]]s. The bodies found in many [[tumuli]] ([[kurgan]]) had been ritually bound before burial,<ref>e.g. in graves of the [[Irish Bronze Age]] [http://www.iol.ie/~sec/sites.htm IOL.ie] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081225000100/http://www.iol.ie/~sec/sites.htm |date=2008-12-25 }}</ref> and the custom of binding the dead persists, for example, in rural [[Anatolia]].<ref>"In the immediate aftermath of a death, the deceased is removed from the bed he died in and placed on the prepared floor, called a 'comfort bed.' His jaw is bound up and his feet tied together (usually at the big toes)." [https://web.archive.org/web/20110611033740/http://www.kultur.gov.tr/EN/belge/2-16147/eski2yeni.html Kultur.gov.tr] (archive version)</ref>

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.<ref name="GoldenBough">"If a man lives and moves, it can only be because he has a little man or animal inside, who moves him. The animal inside the animal, the man inside the man, is the soul. And as the activity of an animal or man is explained by the presence of the soul, so the repose of sleep or death is explained by its absence; sleep or trance being the temporary, death being the permanent absence of the soul... " [http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext03/bough11.txt The Golden Bough] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041105053418/http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext03/bough11.txt |date=2004-11-05 }}, [[Project Gutenberg]]. Retrieved January 16, 2007.</ref>

===Ghosts and the afterlife===
{{Further|Soul|Psyche (psychology)|Underworld|Hungry ghost|Psychopomp}}
{{Further|Ghost Festival|All Souls' Day|Day of the Dead|Ghost Dance}}
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===
{{main article|Fear of ghosts}}
[[File:Suushi Yurei.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Yūrei]] (Japanese ghost) from the [[Hyakkai Zukan]], {{Circa|1737}}]]
While deceased ancestors are [[cultural universal|universally]] regarded as venerable, and often believed to have a continued presence in some form of [[afterlife]], the spirit of a deceased person that persists in the material world (a ghost) is regarded as an unnatural or undesirable state of affairs and the idea of ghosts or [[revenant]]s is associated with a reaction of fear. 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===
Another widespread belief concerning ghosts is that they are composed of a misty, airy, or subtle material. [[Anthropology|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.<ref name="EncyOccult"/> This belief may have also fostered the metaphorical meaning of "breath" in certain languages, such as the [[Latin]] ''spiritus'' and the [[Greek language|Greek]] ''[[pneuma]]'', which by [[analogy]] became extended to mean the soul. In the [[Bible]], [[God]] is depicted as synthesising [[Adam (Bible)|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 ghost]]s), 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 "[[Doppelgänger|fetch]]" is a related omen of death.<ref>Hole, pp. 13–27</ref> The impetus of haunting is commonly considered an unnatural death.{{Sfn|Lagerwey|2004|pp=182–183}}

[[File:Union Graveyard III.jpg|thumb|Union Cemetery in [[Easton, Connecticut]], is home to the legend of the White Lady.]]
[[White Lady (ghost)|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 a child or husband and a sense of purity, as opposed to the [[Lady in Red (ghost)|Lady in Red]] ghost that is mostly attributed to a jilted lover or prostitute. The White Lady ghost is often associated with an individual family line or regarded as a harbinger of death similar to a [[banshee]].<ref>{{Cite magazine|title=Fantastically wrong wailing banshee|url=https://www.wired.com/2014/06/fantastically-wrong-wailing-banshee/&hl=en-ZA|magazine=Wired}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Ireland's Most Famous Ghost-The White Lady|url=https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/irelands-most-famous-ghost-white-lady-kinsale-charlesfort&grqid=qj_KTwYc&s=1&hl=en-ZA|website=Irish Central}}{{Dead link|date=May 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>{{context inline|date=July 2019}}

Legends of ghost ships have existed since the 18th century; most notable of these is the ''[[Flying Dutchman]]''. This theme has been used in literature in ''[[The Rime of the Ancient Mariner]]'' by [[Samuel Taylor Coleridge]].

Ghosts are often depicted as being covered in a shroud and/or dragging chains.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Shure|first=Natalie|date=2015-10-31|title=Who Invented The 'Bedsheet Ghost'?|language=en|work=The Daily Beast|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/10/31/who-invented-the-bedsheet-ghost|access-date=2020-08-13|archive-date=2023-10-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231024084904/https://www.thedailybeast.com/who-invented-the-bedsheet-ghost|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Locale===
{{See also|Haunted house}}
A place where ghosts are reported is described as [[list of reportedly haunted locations|haunted]], and often seen as being inhabited by [[soul (spirit)|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. However, 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 (spirit)|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==
[[File:Dumuzi aux enfers.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Ancient Sumerian [[cylinder seal]] impression showing the god [[Dumuzid the Shepherd|Dumuzid]] being tortured in the [[Kur|Underworld]] by ''[[gallu|galla]]'' demons]]

===Ancient Near East and Egypt===
{{Main article|Ghosts in Mesopotamian religions}}
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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 religion]]s that came to dominate the region.<ref>{{cite book
 |title=The treasures of darkness: a history of Mesopotamian religion
 |author=Jacobsen, Thorkild
 |publisher=Yale University Press
 |year=1978
 |isbn=978-0-300-02291-9}}</ref> The concept of ghosts may predate many [[belief systems]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Religion and Chinese Society: Ancient and Medieval China |date=2004 |publisher=The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press |isbn=978-962-996-123-7 |editor-last=Lagerwey |editor-first=John |page=174|doi=10.2307/j.ctv1z7kkfn |jstor=j.ctv1z7kkfn }}</ref> 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.<ref name=black>{{cite book
 |title=Gods, demons, and symbols of ancient Mesopotamia: an illustrated dictionary
 |author1=Black, Jeremy A. |author2=Green, Anthony |author3=Rickards, Tessa |publisher=University of Texas Press
 |year=1992
 |isbn=978-0-292-70794-8}}</ref>
[[File:Gardiner G25 Glyph.svg|thumb|right|upright|Egyptian Akh glyph – The [[Egyptian soul|soul]] and spirit re-united after death]]
There was widespread belief in [[ghosts in ancient Egyptian culture]].
The [[Hebrew Bible]] contains few references to ghosts, associating spiritism with forbidden occult activities cf. [[Deuteronomy]] 18:11. The most notable reference is in the First [[Books of Samuel|Book of Samuel]] (I Samuel 28:3–19 KJV), in which a disguised [[Saul the King|King Saul]] has the [[Witch of Endor]] summon the spirit or ghost of [[Samuel]].

The [[Egyptian soul|soul]] and spirit were believed to exist after death, with the ability to assist or harm the living, and the possibility of a second death. Over a period of more than 2,500 years, Egyptian beliefs about the nature of the afterlife evolved constantly. Many of these beliefs were recorded in [[hieroglyph]] inscriptions, papyrus scrolls and tomb paintings. The Egyptian ''[[Book of the Dead]]'' compiles some of the beliefs from different periods of ancient Egyptian history.<ref>{{cite book |last=Goelet |first= Ogden |title= A Commentary on the Corpus of Literature and Tradition which constitutes the Book of Going Forth By Day |publisher= Chronicle Books |location= San Francisco |year=1998 |pages=139–170}}</ref>
In modern times, the fanciful concept of a mummy coming back to life and wreaking vengeance when disturbed has spawned a whole genre of horror stories and films.<ref name="Vieira2003">{{cite book|author=Vieira, Mark A.|title=Hollywood horror: from gothic to cosmic|url=https://archive.org/details/hollywoodhorrorf0000viei|url-access=registration|year=2003|publisher=Harry N. Abrams|isbn=978-0-8109-4535-7|pages=[https://archive.org/details/hollywoodhorrorf0000viei/page/55 55]–58}}</ref>

===Classical Antiquity===
{{further|Shade (mythology)|Magic in the Greco-Roman world}}

====Archaic and Classical Greece====
[[File:Klytaimnestra Erinyes Louvre Cp710.jpg|thumb|Apulian red-figure [[bell krater]] depicting the ghost of [[Clytemnestra]] waking the [[Erinyes]], date unknown]]

Ghosts appeared in [[Homer]]'s ''[[Odyssey]]'' and ''[[Iliad]]'', in which they were described as vanishing "as a vapor, gibbering and whining into the earth". Homer's ghosts had little interaction with the world of the living. Periodically they were called upon to provide advice or prophecy, but they do not appear to be particularly feared. Ghosts in the classical world often appeared in the form of vapor or smoke, but at other times they were described as being substantial, appearing as they had been at the time of death, complete with the wounds that killed them.<ref>Finucane, pp. 4, 16</ref>

By the 5th century BC, [[classical Greece|classical Greek]] ghosts had become haunting, frightening creatures who could work to either good or evil purposes. The spirit of the dead was believed to hover near the resting place of the corpse, and cemeteries were places the living avoided. The dead were to be ritually mourned through public ceremony, sacrifice, and libations, or else they might return to haunt their families. The ancient Greeks held annual feasts to honor and placate the spirits of the dead, to which the family ghosts were invited, and after which they were "firmly invited to leave until the same time next year."<ref>Finucane, pp. 8–11</ref>

The 5th-century BC play ''[[Oresteia]]'' includes an appearance of the ghost of [[Clytemnestra]], one of the first ghosts to appear in a work of fiction.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Trousdell|first1=Richard|title=Tragedy and Transformation: The Oresteia of Aeschylus|journal=Jung Journal|volume=2|issue=3|pages=5–38|jstor=10.1525/jung.2008.2.3.5|doi=10.1525/jung.2008.2.3.5|year=2008|s2cid=170372385}}</ref>

====Roman Empire and Late Antiquity====
[[File:Athenodorus - The Greek Stoic Philosopher Athenodorus Rents a Haunted House.jpg|thumb|left|''[[Athenodoros Cananites|Athenodorus]] and the Ghost'', by [[Henry Justice Ford]], {{Circa|1900}}]]
The [[ancient Rome|ancient Romans]] believed a ghost could be used to exact revenge on an enemy by scratching a curse on a piece of lead or pottery and placing it into a grave.<ref>Finucane, pg 12</ref>

[[Plutarch]], in the 1st century AD, described the haunting of the baths at [[Chaeronea]] by the ghost of a murdered man. The ghost's loud and frightful groans caused the people of the town to seal up the doors of the building.<ref>Finucane, pg 13</ref> Another celebrated account of a haunted house from the ancient classical world is given by [[Pliny the Younger]] ({{circa|50 AD}}).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.siu.edu/news/ghosts.html |title=Classical ghost stories |last=Jaehnig |first=K.C. |date=1999-03-11 |publisher= Southern Illinois University |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070908171955/http://www.siu.edu/news/ghosts.html |access-date=2007-09-19 |archive-date= September 8, 2007}}</ref> Pliny describes the haunting of a house in [[Athens]], which was bought by the [[Stoicism|Stoic]] philosopher [[Athenodorus Cananites|Athenodorus]], who lived about 100 years before Pliny. Knowing that the house was supposedly haunted, Athenodorus intentionally set up his writing desk in the room where the apparition was said to appear and sat there writing until late at night when he was disturbed by a ghost bound in chains. He followed the ghost outside where it indicated a spot on the ground. When Athenodorus later excavated the area, a shackled skeleton was unearthed. The haunting ceased when the skeleton was given a proper reburial.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bartleby.com/9/4/1083.html |title=LXXXIII. To Sura |author=Pliny the Younger |website=bartleby.com |access-date=2007-09-19 |archive-date=2007-10-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012164531/http://bartleby.com/9/4/1083.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The writers [[Plautus]] and [[Lucian]] also wrote stories about haunted houses.

In the [[New Testament]], according to [[Gospel of Luke|Luke]] 24:37–39,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke+24%3A37-39|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180926031745/https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke+24%3A37-39|archive-date=26 September 2018|title=Luke 24:37-39 - They were startled and frightened, - Bible Gateway|date=26 September 2018}}</ref> following his [[resurrection of Jesus|resurrection]], [[Jesus]] was forced to persuade the [[Twelve Apostles|Disciples]] that he was not a ghost (some versions of the Bible, such as the KJV and NKJV, use the term "spirit"). Similarly, Jesus' followers at first believed he was a ghost (spirit) when they saw him [[Jesus walking on water|walking on water]].

One of the first persons to express disbelief in ghosts was [[Lucian of Samosata]] in the 2nd century AD. In his satirical novel ''[[Lover of Lies|The Lover of Lies]]'' ({{circa}} 150 AD), he relates how [[Democritus]] "the learned man from [[Abdera, Thrace|Abdera]] in [[Thrace]]" lived in a tomb outside the [[city gate]]s to prove that cemeteries were not haunted by the spirits of the departed. Lucian relates how he persisted in his disbelief despite [[practical joke]]s perpetrated by "some young men of Abdera" who dressed up in black robes with skull masks to frighten him.<ref>"The Doubter" by Lucian in Roger Lancelyn Green (1970) ''Thirteen Uncanny Tales''. London, Dent: 14–21; and Finucane, pg 26.</ref> This account by Lucian notes something about the popular classical expectation of how a ghost should look.

In the 5th century AD, the Christian priest [[Constantius of Lyon]] recorded an instance of the recurring theme of the improperly buried dead who come back to haunt the living, and who can only cease their haunting when their bones have been discovered and properly reburied.<ref>F. R. Hoare, ''The Western Fathers'', Sheed & Ward: New York, 1954, pp. 294–5.</ref>

===Middle Ages===
Ghosts reported in [[Middle Ages|medieval Europe]] tended to fall into two categories: the souls of the dead, or demons. The souls of the dead returned for a specific purpose. Demonic ghosts existed only to torment or tempt the living. The living could tell them apart by demanding their purpose in the name of Jesus Christ. The soul of a dead person would divulge its mission, while a demonic ghost would be banished at the sound of the Holy Name.<ref>Finucane, Ch. 3</ref>

Most ghosts were souls assigned to [[Purgatory]], condemned for a specific period to atone for their transgressions in life. Their penance was generally related to their sin. For example, the ghost of a man who had been abusive to his servants was condemned to tear off and swallow bits of his own tongue; the ghost of another man, who had neglected to leave his cloak to the poor, was condemned to wear the cloak, now "heavy as a church tower". These ghosts appeared to the living to ask for prayers to end their suffering. Other dead souls returned to urge the living to confess their sins before their own deaths.<ref>Fincucane, pp. 70–77.</ref>

Medieval European ghosts were more substantial than ghosts described in the [[Victorian era|Victorian age]], and there are accounts of ghosts being wrestled with and physically restrained until a priest could arrive to hear its confession. Some were less solid, and could move through walls. Often they were described as paler and sadder versions of the person they had been while alive, and dressed in tattered gray rags. The vast majority of reported sightings were male.<ref>Finucane, pp. 83–84.</ref>

There were some reported cases of ghostly armies, fighting battles at night in the forest, or in the remains of an [[Iron Age]] hillfort, as at [[Wandlebury]], near Cambridge, England. Living knights were sometimes challenged to single combat by phantom knights, which vanished when defeated.<ref name="Finucanepg">Finucane, pg. 79.</ref>

From the medieval period an apparition of a ghost is recorded from 1211, at the time of the [[Albigensian Crusade]].<ref>[[Mark Gregory Pegg]] (2008) ''A Most Holy War''. [[Oxford University Press]], New York: 3–5, 116–117. {{ISBN|978-0-19-517131-0}}</ref> [[Gervase of Tilbury]], Marshal of [[Arles]], wrote that the image of Guilhem, a boy recently murdered in the forest, appeared in his cousin's home in [[Beaucaire, Gard|Beaucaire]], near [[Avignon]]. This series of "visits" lasted all of the summer. Through his cousin, who spoke for him, the boy allegedly held conversations with anyone who wished, until the local priest requested to speak to the boy directly, leading to an extended disquisition on theology. The boy narrated the trauma of death and the unhappiness of his fellow souls in Purgatory, and reported that God was most pleased with the ongoing Crusade against the [[Cathar]] heretics, launched three years earlier. The time of the Albigensian Crusade in southern France was marked by intense and prolonged warfare, this constant bloodshed and dislocation of populations being the context for these reported visits by the murdered boy.

Haunted houses are featured in the 9th-century ''[[One Thousand and One Nights|Arabian Nights]]'' (such as the tale of ''[[list of stories within One Thousand and One Nights|Ali the Cairene and the Haunted House in Baghdad]]'').<ref>{{cite book |title=The Arabian Nights and Orientalism: Perspectives from East & West |url=https://archive.org/details/arabiannightsori00yama |url-access=limited |last=Yuriko Yamanaka |first=Tetsuo Nishio |publisher=[[I.B. Tauris]] |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-85043-768-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/arabiannightsori00yama/page/n101 83]}}</ref>

===European Renaissance to Romanticism===
[[File:File-Hamlet, Prince of Denmark Act I Scene IV.png|thumb|right|"[[Hamlet]] and his father's ghost" by [[Henry Fuseli]] (1796 drawing). The ghost is wearing stylized [[plate armor]] in 17th-century style, including a [[morion (helmet)|morion]] type helmet and [[tassets]]. Depicting ghosts as wearing armor, to suggest a sense of antiquity, was common in [[Elizabethan theater]].]]
[[Renaissance magic]] took a revived interest in the [[occult]], including [[necromancy]]. In the era of the Reformation and Counter Reformation, there was frequently a backlash against unwholesome interest in the dark arts, typified by writers such as [[Thomas Erastus]].<ref>Walker, D.P. (1958) ''Spiritual and Demonic Magic from Ficino to Campanella.'' London: Warburg Institute, passim.</ref> The Swiss Reformed pastor [[Ludwig Lavater]] supplied one of the most frequently reprinted books of the period with his ''Of Ghosts and Spirits Walking By Night.''<ref>Original German edition: ''Von Gespänsten ..., kurtzer und einfaltiger bericht,'' Zürich, 1569 [VD16 L 834]</ref>

The [[Child Ballads|Child Ballad]] "[[Sweet William's Ghost]]" (1868) recounts the story of a ghost returning to his fiancée begging her to free him from his promise to marry her. He cannot marry her because he is dead but her refusal would mean his damnation. This reflects a popular British belief that the dead haunted their lovers if they took up with a new love without some formal release.<ref>[[Francis James Child|Child, Francis James]], ''The English and Scottish Popular Ballads'', v. 2, p. 227, Dover Publications, New York 1965</ref> "[[The Unquiet Grave]]" expresses a belief even more widespread, found in various locations over Europe: ghosts can stem from the excessive grief of the living, whose mourning interferes with the dead's peaceful rest.<ref>Child, Francis James, ''The English and Scottish Popular Ballads'', v 2, p 234, Dover Publications, New York 1965</ref> In many folktales from around the world, the hero arranges for the burial of a dead man. Soon after, he gains a companion who aids him and, in the end, the hero's companion reveals that he is in fact the [[Grateful dead (folklore)|dead man]].<ref name="encybrit">{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/242238/grateful-dead#23476.hook|title=Grateful dead|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online|year=2007|access-date=2007-12-14|archive-date=2008-04-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080428201820/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/242238/grateful-dead#23476.hook|url-status=live}}</ref> Instances of this include the Italian [[fairy tale]] "[[Fair Brow]]" and the Swedish "[[The Bird 'Grip']]".

===Modern period of western culture===

====Spiritualist movement====
[[File:Spirit rappings coverpage to sheet music 1853.jpg|thumb|left|upright|By 1853, when the popular song ''Spirit Rappings'' was published, Spiritualism was an object of intense curiosity.]]<!--

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[[Spiritualism (movement)|Spiritualism]] is a [[monotheism|monotheistic]] belief system or [[religion]], postulating a belief in [[God]], but with a distinguishing feature of belief that spirits of the dead residing in the [[spirit world (Spiritualism)|spirit world]] can be contacted by "[[mediumship|mediums]]", who can then provide information about the [[afterlife]].<ref name="Carroll">{{cite book
 | last = Carroll
 | first = Bret E.
 | year = 1997
 | title = Spiritualism in Antebellum America. (Religion in North America.)
 | publisher = Bloomington: Indiana University Press
 | isbn = 978-0-253-33315-5
 | page = 248}}</ref>

Spiritualism developed in the United States and reached its peak growth in membership from the 1840s to the 1920s, especially in [[English-speaking world|English-language countries]].<ref name=Braude>{{cite book
 | last = Braude
 | first = Ann
 | year = 2001
 | title = Radical Spirits: Spiritualism and Women's Rights in Nineteenth-Century America, Second Edition
 | publisher = Indiana University Press
 | isbn = 978-0-253-21502-4
 | page = 296}}
</ref><ref name="Britten">{{cite book |last= Britten |first= Emma Hardinge |author-link= Emma Hardinge Britten |title= Nineteenth Century Miracles: Spirits and their Work in Every Country of the Earth |url= https://archive.org/details/nineteenthcentu00britgoog |publisher= New York: William Britten |year= 1884 |isbn=978-0-7661-6290-7}}</ref> By 1897, it was said to have more than eight million followers in the United States and Europe,<ref name="NYT">{{cite news |title=THREE FORMS OF THOUGHT; M.M. Mangassarian Addresses the Society for Ethical Culture at Carnegie Music Hall. UNREST OF THE HUMAN MIND Theosophy, Spiritualism, and Christian Science Discussed -- The Theory of Reaction a Fallacy -- Ineffectiveness of the Spiritualistic Idea |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1897/11/29/archives/three-forms-of-thought-mm-mangassarian-addresses-the-society-for.html |work=The New York Times |date=29 November 1897 |access-date=4 November 2019 |archive-date=4 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191104152314/https://www.nytimes.com/1897/11/29/archives/three-forms-of-thought-mm-mangassarian-addresses-the-society-for.html |url-status=live }}</ref> mostly drawn from the [[middle class|middle]] and [[upper class|upper]] classes, while the corresponding movement in continental Europe and Latin America is known as [[#Spiritism|Spiritism]].

The religion flourished for a half century without canonical texts or formal organization, attaining cohesion by periodicals, tours by trance lecturers, camp meetings, and the missionary activities of accomplished mediums.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Supernatural Entertainments: Victorian Spiritualism and the Rise of Modern Media Culture|last = Natale|first = Simone|publisher = Pennsylvania State University Press|year = 2016|isbn=978-0-271-07104-6|location = University Park, PA}}</ref> Many prominent Spiritualists were women. Most followers supported causes such as the [[abolitionism|abolition of slavery]] and [[women's suffrage]].<ref name="Braude"/> By the late 1880s, credibility of the informal movement weakened, due to accusations of fraud among mediums, and formal Spiritualist organizations began to appear.<ref name="Braude"/> Spiritualism is currently practiced primarily through various denominational [[Spiritualist church]]es in the United States and United Kingdom.

====Spiritism====
<!--
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Spiritism, or French spiritualism, is based on the five books of the [[Spiritist Codification]] written by French educator Hypolite Léon Denizard Rivail under the [[pseudonym]] [[Allan Kardec]] reporting [[séance]]s in which he observed a series of phenomena that he attributed to incorporeal intelligence (spirits). His assumption of spirit communication was validated by many contemporaries, among them many scientists and philosophers who attended séances and studied the phenomena. His work was later extended by writers like [[Leon Denis]], [[Arthur Conan Doyle]], [[Camille Flammarion]], [[Ernesto Bozzano]], [[Chico Xavier]], Divaldo Pereira Franco, Waldo Vieira, [[Johannes Greber]],<ref>[http://www.seanet.com/~raines/greber.html Johannes Greber] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090316063452/http://www.seanet.com/~raines/greber.html |date=2009-03-16 }} Seanet.com Retrieved on 2013-03-21</ref> and others.

Spiritism has adherents in many countries throughout the world, including Spain, United States, Canada,<ref>In Canada, Spiritism is an officially recognized religious denomination (unique in the world) as [http://allankardec.ca/m.php?page=aksg_other_groups_in_canada.html The National Spiritist Church of Alberta] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100504090527/http://allankardec.ca/m.php?page=aksg_other_groups_in_canada.html |date=2010-05-04 }} (Church #A145 registered by Department of Vital Statistics, Government of Alberta – under The Marriage Act of Alberta) with government-licensed clergy and legal authority to perform marriages.</ref> Japan, Germany, France, England, Argentina, Portugal, and especially Brazil, which has the largest proportion and greatest number of followers.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hess |first=David |title=Spirits and Scientists: Ideology, Spiritism, and Brazilian Culture |publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-271-00724-3 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/spiritsscientist0000hess }}</ref>

===Scientific view===
{{See also|Paranormal}}
The physician [[John Ferriar]] wrote "An Essay Towards a Theory of Apparitions" in 1813 in which he argued that sightings of ghosts were the result of [[optical illusion]]s. Later the French physician [[Alexandre Jacques François Brière de Boismont]] published ''On Hallucinations: Or, the Rational History of Apparitions, Dreams, Ecstasy, Magnetism, and Somnambulism'' in 1845 in which he claimed sightings of ghosts were the result of [[hallucinations]].<ref>McCorristine, Shane ''Spectres of the Self: Thinking About Ghosts and Ghost-Seeing in England, 1750–1920'' 2010, {{ISBN|1-139-78882-5}} pp. 44–56</ref><ref>Gelder, Ken ''The horror reader'' 2000, {{ISBN|0-415-21356-8}} pp. 43–44</ref>

[[File:Ball lightning.png|thumb|A 1901 depiction of [[ball lightning]]]]

David Turner, a retired physical chemist, suggested that [[ball lightning]] could cause inanimate objects to move erratically.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Muir |first=Hazel |title=Ball lightning scientists remain in the dark |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1720 |magazine=New Scientist |date=2001-12-20 |access-date=2011-01-15 |archive-date=2018-09-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180917143403/https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1720-ball-lightning-scientists-remain-in-the-dark/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Joe Nickell]] of the [[Committee for Skeptical Inquiry]] wrote that there was no credible [[scientific evidence]] that any location was inhabited by spirits of the dead.<ref name = "CSICOP">{{cite web |url=http://www.csicop.org/si/show/haunted_inns_tales_of_spectral_guest |title=Haunted Inns Tales of Spectral Guests |last=Nickell |first=Joe |author-link=Joe Nickell |date=Sep–Oct 2000 |publisher=[[Committee for Skeptical Inquiry]] |access-date=2009-12-19 |archive-date=2010-01-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100117150357/http://www.csicop.org/si/show/haunted_inns_tales_of_spectral_guest |url-status=live }}</ref> Limitations of [[perception|human perception]] and ordinary physical explanations can account for ghost sightings; for example, [[air pressure]] changes in a home causing doors to slam, humidity changes causing boards to creak, [[Failure of electronic components|condensation in electrical connections]] causing intermittent behavior, or lights from a passing car reflected through a window at night. [[Pareidolia]], an innate tendency to recognize patterns in random perceptions, is what some skeptics believe causes people to believe that they have 'seen ghosts'.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://skepdic.com/pareidol.html |title=pareidolia |last=Carroll |first=Robert Todd |date=June 2001 |website=skepdic.com |access-date=2007-09-19 |archive-date=2007-09-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070904011810/http://skepdic.com/pareidol.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Reports of ghosts "seen out of the corner of the eye" may be accounted for by the sensitivity of human [[peripheral vision]]. According to Nickell, peripheral vision can easily mislead, especially late at night when the brain is tired and more likely to misinterpret sights and sounds.<ref name=visit>{{cite web |url=http://www.csicop.org/sb/show/paranormal_visit/ |title=The Paranormal Visit |last=Weinstein |first=Larry |date=June 2001 |publisher=Committee for Skeptical Inquiry |access-date=2010-02-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100316131532/http://www.csicop.org/sb/show/paranormal_visit/ |archive-date=2010-03-16 }}
: "Once the idea of a ghost appears in a household ... no longer is an object merely mislaid .... There gets to be a dynamic in a place where the idea that it's haunted takes on a life of its own. One-of-a-kind quirks that could never be repeated all become further evidence of the haunting."</ref> Nickell further states, "science cannot substantiate the existence of a 'life energy' that could survive death without dissipating or function at all without a brain... why would... clothes survive?'" He asks, if ghosts glide, then why do people claim to hear them with "heavy footfalls"? Nickell says that ghosts act the same way as "dreams, memories, and imaginings, because they too are mental creations. They are evidence – not of another world, but of this real and natural one."<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Nickell|first1=Joe|author-link=Joe Nickell|title=Hawking 'Ghosts' in Old Louisville|journal=Skeptical Inquirer|date=2018|volume=42|issue=2|pages=26–29}}</ref>

[[Benjamin Radford]] from the [[Committee for Skeptical Inquiry]] and author of the 2017 book ''Investigating Ghosts: The Scientific Search for Spirits'' writes that "ghost hunting is the world's most popular paranormal pursuit" yet, to date, ghost hunters cannot agree on what a ghost is, or offer proof that they exist; "it's all speculation and guesswork". He writes that it would be "useful and important to distinguish between types of spirits and apparitions. Until then it's merely a parlor game distracting amateur ghost hunters from the task at hand."<ref name="Radford 2018">{{cite journal|last1=Radford|first1=Ben|author-link=Ben Radford|title=The Curious Question of Ghost Taxonomy|journal=Skeptical Inquirer|date=2018|volume=42|issue=3|pages=47–49}}</ref>

According to research in [[anomalistic psychology]] visions of ghosts may arise from [[hypnagogia|hypnagogic]] hallucinations ("waking dreams" experienced in the transitional states to and from sleep).<ref>{{cite journal|author=Klemperer, Frances|year=1992|title=Ghosts, Visions, and Voices: Sometimes Simply Perceptual Mistakes|journal= British Medical Journal |volume= 305|issue=6868 |pages=1518–1519|jstor=29717993|doi=10.1136/bmj.305.6868.1518|pmid=1286367|pmc=1884722}}</ref> In a study of two experiments into alleged [[hauntings]] (Wiseman ''et al.''. 2003) came to the conclusion "that people consistently report unusual experiences in 'haunted' areas because of environmental factors, which may differ across locations." Some of these factors included "the variance of local magnetic fields, size of location and lighting level stimuli of which witnesses may not be consciously aware".<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Wiseman, R. |author2=Watt, C. |author3=Stevens, P. |year=2003 |url=http://www.richardwiseman.com/resources/BJP-hauntings.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080829021019/http://www.richardwiseman.com/resources/BJP-hauntings.pdf |archive-date=2008-08-29 |url-status=live |title=An investigation into alleged "hauntings" |journal=The British Journal of Psychology |volume=94 |pages=195–211 |doi=10.1348/000712603321661886 |pmid=12803815 |issue=2 |display-authors=etal |citeseerx=10.1.1.537.2406 }}</ref>

Some researchers, such as [[Michael Persinger]] of [[Laurentian University]], Canada, have speculated that changes in [[geomagnetic]] fields (created, e.g., by tectonic stresses in the Earth's crust or [[solar variation|solar activity]]) could stimulate the brain's [[temporal lobe]]s and produce many of the experiences associated with hauntings.<ref>[http://www.richardwiseman.com/research/ghosts.html Richard Wiseman] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070830042118/http://www.richardwiseman.com/research/ghosts.html |date=2007-08-30 }}. Retrieved September 25, 2007.</ref> Sound is thought to be another cause of supposed sightings. Richard Lord and [[Richard Wiseman]] have concluded that [[infrasound]] can cause humans to experience bizarre feelings in a room, such as anxiety, extreme sorrow, a feeling of being watched, or even the chills.<ref name=sound>{{cite web |url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/09/08/1062901994082.html?oneclick=true |title=Sounds like terror in the air |date=2003-09-09 |website=Reuters |publisher=[[Sydney Morning Herald]] |access-date=2007-09-19 |archive-date=2007-10-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071022151033/http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/09/08/1062901994082.html?oneclick=true |url-status=live }}</ref> [[carbon monoxide poisoning#Haunted houses|Carbon monoxide poisoning]], which can cause changes in perception of the visual and auditory systems,<ref name="pmid11410684">{{cite journal|author=Choi IS|title=Carbon monoxide poisoning: systemic manifestations and complications|journal=J. Korean Med. Sci.|volume=16|issue=3|pages=253–61|year=2001|pmid=11410684|doi=10.3346/jkms.2001.16.3.253|pmc=3054741}}</ref> was speculated upon as a possible explanation for [[haunted house]]s as early as 1921.

People who experience [[sleep paralysis]] often report seeing ghosts during their experiences. Neuroscientists Baland Jalal and [[Vilayanur S. Ramachandran|V.S. Ramachandran]] have recently proposed neurological theories for why people hallucinate ghosts during sleep paralysis. Their theories emphasize the role of the [[parietal lobe]] and [[mirror neuron]]s in triggering such ghostly hallucinations.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Jalal|first1=Baland|last2=Romanelli|first2=Andrea|last3=Hinton|first3=Devon E.|date=2015-12-01|title=Cultural Explanations of Sleep Paralysis in Italy: The Pandafeche Attack and Associated Supernatural Beliefs|journal=Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry|language=en|volume=39|issue=4|pages=651–664|doi=10.1007/s11013-015-9442-y|pmid=25802016|s2cid=46090345|issn=0165-005X}}</ref>

==By religion==

===Judaism===
{{See also|Dybbuk}}[[File:Witch of Endor (Nikolay Ge).jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.3|''Witch of Endor'' by [[Nikolai Ge]], depicting [[King Saul]] encountering the ghost of [[Samuel]] (1857)]]

The [[Hebrew Bible]] contains several references to ''[https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H178&t=KJV owb]'' ({{langx|he|אוֹב}}), which are in a few places akin to [[shade (mythology)|shades]] of classical mythology but mostly describing [[Mediumship|mediums]] in connection with [[necromancy]] and spirit-consulting, which are grouped with witchcraft and other forms of [[divination]] under the category of forbidden [[occult]] activities.<ref>[[Deuteronomy]] 18:11</ref> The most notable reference to a shade is in the [[Books of Samuel|First Book of Samuel]],<ref>[[1 Samuel]] 28:3–19</ref> in which a disguised [[Saul the King|King Saul]] has the [[Witch of Endor]] conduct a seance to summon the dead prophet [[Samuel]]. A similar term appearing throughout the scriptures is ''[https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?t=kjv&strongs=h7497 repha'(im)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306043436/https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?t=kjv&strongs=h7497 |date=2019-03-06 }}'' ({{langx|he|רְפָאִים}}), which while describing the race of "[[Rephaite|giants]]" formerly inhabiting Canaan in many verses, also refer to (the spirits of) dead ancestors of [[Sheol]] (like shades) in many others such as in the [[Book of Isaiah]].<ref>[[Isaiah]] 14:9, 26:14-19</ref>

[[Jewish mythology]] and folkloric traditions describe ''[[dybbuk]]s'', malicious possessing spirits believed to be the dislocated soul of a dead person. However, the term does not appear in the [[Kabbalah]] or [[Talmud]]ic literature, where it is rather called an "unclean spirit" or {{Transliteration|he|ru'aḥ tumah}} ({{Langx|he|רוּחַ טוּמְאָה}}). It supposedly leaves the host body once it has accomplished its goal, sometimes after being [[Exorcism#Judaism|helped]].<ref name="Falk">{{cite book |last=Falk |first=Avner |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z10-Xz9Kno4C&q=dybbuk&pg=PA538 |title=A Psychoanalytic History of the Jews |date=26 May 1996 |publisher=Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press |isbn=978-0-8386-3660-2 |via=Google Books |access-date=5 November 2020 |archive-date=24 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231024084904/https://books.google.com/books?id=z10-Xz9Kno4C&q=dybbuk&pg=PA538#v=snippet&q=dybbuk&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=Encyclopædia Britannica Online |url=https://www.britannica.com/ |contribution=Dybbuk |contribution-url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/174964/dybbuk |access-date=2009-06-10 |archive-date=2018-01-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180126232606/https://www.britannica.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="EJ">[http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0005_0_05197.html "Dibbuk", Encyclopedia Judaica] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161009154955/http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0005_0_05197.html |date=2016-10-09 }}, by [[Gershom Scholem]].</ref>

=== Christianity ===
{{See also|Allhallowtide}}
In the [[New Testament]], [[Jesus]] has to persuade the [[Twelve Apostles|Disciples]] that he is not a ghost following the [[resurrection of Jesus|resurrection]], [[Gospel of Luke|Luke]] 24:37–39 (some versions of the Bible, such as the KJV and NKJV, use the term "spirit"). Similarly, Jesus' followers at first believe he is a ghost (spirit) when they see him [[Jesus walking on water|walking on water]].<ref name="Oxford">{{cite book |url= https://archive.org/details/peterpaulmarymag00ehrm_0 |url-access= registration |page= [https://archive.org/details/peterpaulmarymag00ehrm_0/page/17 17] |title= Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene: the followers of Jesus in history and legend|quote=Jesus then walks out to them, on the water. When they see him, in the middle of the lake, the disciples are terrified, thinking it is a ghost. Jesus assures them it is he, and then Peter, in a characteristically unreserved moment, calls out, "Lord if it is you, command me to come to you on the water" (Matt. 14–28).|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|author= Ehrman, Bart D. |year= 2006|isbn=978-0-19-530013-0 |access-date= 14 November 2015}}</ref>

Some [[Christianity|Christian]] denominations such as the [[Roman Catholic Church]] consider ghosts as beings who while tied to earth, no longer live on the material plane and linger in an [[Intermediate state (Christianity)|intermediate state]] before continuing their journey to [[heaven#Christianity|heaven]].<ref name="Emissary">{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=q469xc7mbksC&pg=PA69|title= A Faraway Ancient Country|quote= if we have ghosts, then where do we put them in the Christian universe? While they are tied to the earth, they are no longer living on the material plain. Heaven and hell are exclusive places, so it's extremely unlikely that people come and go from these destinations as they please. There must be a third state in the afterlife where souls linger before continuing their journey.|isbn= 978-0-615-15801-3|author1= Emissary|date= 2007-09-30|publisher= Lulu.com|access-date= 2010-03-27|archive-date= 2023-10-24|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231024084904/https://books.google.com/books?id=q469xc7mbksC&pg=PA69#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status= live}}</ref><ref name="UMC">{{cite news |url= http://www.umportal.org/article.asp?id=5101 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090421023719/http://www.umportal.org/article.asp?id=5101 |archive-date= April 21, 2009 |title= Heavenly minded: It's time to get our eschatology right, say scholars, authors |quote= John Wesley believed in the intermediate state between death and the final judgment "where believers would share in the 'bosom of Abraham' or 'paradise,' even continuing to grow in holiness there," writes Ted Campbell, a professor at Perkins School of Theology, in his 1999 book ''Methodist Doctrine: The Essentials'' (Abingdon). |publisher= [[The United Methodist Church]] |access-date= 2010-03-27 }}</ref><ref name="Eleanor Prosser">{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=1zasAAAAIAAJ&q=purgatory+ghost&pg=PA115|title= Hamlet and revenge|quote= Primarily the Purgatory ghost appeared only to ask for masses, alms, fasts, pilgrimages, and, above all, prayers.|publisher= [[Stanford University Press]]|isbn= 978-0-8047-0316-1|author1= Prosser, Eleanor|year= 1967|access-date= 2010-03-27|archive-date= 2023-10-24|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231024084905/https://books.google.com/books?id=1zasAAAAIAAJ&q=purgatory+ghost&pg=PA115|url-status= live}}</ref><ref name="Paulist Fathers">{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=X_kWAQAAIAAJ|title= Catholic world, Volume 162|quote= That the Ghost comes from Purgatory is evident from his description of his abode in the other world as primarily a state of purification, consisting of...|publisher= [[Paulist Fathers]]|author1= Fathers, Paulist|year= 1945|access-date= 2010-03-27|archive-date= 2023-10-24|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231024084907/https://books.google.com/books?id=X_kWAQAAIAAJ|url-status= live}}</ref> On occasion, [[God in Christianity|God]] would allow the [[soul in the Bible|souls]] in this state to return to earth to warn the living of the need for [[repentance]].<ref name="J.P. Somerville">{{cite web |url=http://history.wisc.edu/sommerville/367/367-102.htm |title=Ghosts, Fairies and Omens |quote=The Roman Catholic Church taught that at death the souls of those too good for hell and too bad for heaven were sent to Purgatory. Here they were purged of their sins by punishment, but might on occasion be allowed to return to earth to warn the living of the need for repentance. |publisher=[[University of Wisconsin–Madison]] |access-date=2010-03-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040423145229/http://history.wisc.edu/sommerville/367/367-102.htm |archive-date=2004-04-23 }}</ref> [[Christians]] are taught that it is [[sinful]] to attempt to [[necromancy|conjure or control spirits]] in accordance with [[Deuteronomy]] XVIII: 9–12.<ref name="Eric Stoutz">{{cite web |url=http://catholicexchange.com/2006/10/07/83644/ |title=Do You Believe in Ghosts? |quote=Ghosts can come to us for good, but we must not attempt to conjure or control spirits. |publisher=Catholic Exchange |access-date=2010-03-27 |date=2006-10-07 |archive-date=2010-08-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100831093104/http://catholicexchange.com/2006/10/07/83644/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Michele Klein">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tqG29pi8HPUC&q=conjuring+spirits+bible&pg=PA171 |title=Not to worry: Jewish wisdom and folklore |quote=Jews have sometimes engaged in conjuring spirits when worried, even though the Bible prohibits this behavior. |publisher=[[Jewish Publication Society]] |isbn=978-0-8276-0753-8 |last=Klein |first=Michele |date=2003-06-30 |access-date=2010-03-27 |archive-date=2023-10-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231024084905/https://books.google.com/books?id=tqG29pi8HPUC&q=conjuring+spirits+bible&pg=PA171#v=onepage&q=conjuring%20spirits%20bible&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>

Some ghosts are actually said to be [[Christian demonology|demons]] in disguise, who the Church teaches, in accordance with [[I Timothy]] 4:1, that they "come to deceive people and draw them away from God and into bondage."<ref name="Spotlight Ministries">{{cite web|url= http://www.spotlightministries.org.uk/hauntings.htm|title= A Christian Perspective on Ghosts and Hauntings|quote= The Bible warns of the very real danger of seductive spirits that will come to deceive people and draw them away from God and into bondage: "But the Spirit [the Holy Spirit] explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons..." (1 Tim. 4:1).|publisher= Spotlight Ministries|access-date= 2010-03-27|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100109131921/http://www.spotlightministries.org.uk/hauntings.htm|archive-date= 2010-01-09}}</ref> As a result, [[necromancy|attempts to contact the dead]] may lead to [[demonic possession|unwanted contact]] with a demon or an [[unclean spirit]], as was said to occur in the case of [[Robbie Mannheim]], a fourteen-year-old Maryland youth.<ref name="Sue Lim - Contact">{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=_ZH_CdJpxoUC&q=Phyllis+Mannheim&pg=PA98|title= Good Spirits, Bad Spirits: How to Distinguish Between Them|quote= Robbie's playing of the Ouija board gave occult spirits the jurisdiction or right to control him, which they did until they were commanded to leave (cast out).|publisher= Writers Club Press|isbn= 978-0-595-22771-6|author1= Lim, Sue|date= 2002-06-18|access-date= 2010-04-02|archive-date= 2023-10-24|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231024085405/https://books.google.com/books?id=_ZH_CdJpxoUC&q=Phyllis+Mannheim&pg=PA98|url-status= live}}</ref> The [[Seventh-Day Adventist]] view is that a "soul" is not equivalent to "spirit" or "ghost" (depending on the Bible version), and that save for the [[Holy Spirit in Christianity|Holy Spirit]], all spirits or ghosts are demons in disguise. Furthermore, they teach that in accordance with ([[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] 2:7, [[Ecclesiastes]] 12:7), there are only two components to a "soul", neither of which survives death, with each returning to its respective source.

[[Christadelphian]]s and [[Jehovah's Witnesses]] reject the view of a living, conscious soul after death.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://christadelphia.org/reject.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030408015940/http://christadelphia.org/reject.htm|archive-date=8 April 2003|title=Doctrines to be Rejected|date=8 April 2003}}</ref>

===Islam===
[[File:Muhammad ibn Muhammad Shakir Ruzmah-'i Nathani - A Soul Symbolized as an Angel - Walters W65944A - Full Page.jpg|thumb|Muhammad ibn Muhammad Shakir Ruzmah-'i Nathani – A Soul Symbolized as an Angel]]
''Rūḥ'' ({{langx|ar|روح|links=no}}; plural ''arwah'') is a person's immortal, essential self — [[pneuma]], i.e. the "spirit" or "[[soul]]".<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Carmona |editor-first=Alfonso |last=Bedir |first=Murteza |year=2006 |title=El Sufismo y las normas del Islam—Trabajos del IV Congreso Internacional de Estudios Jurídicos Islámicos: Derecho y Sufismo |chapter=Interplay of Sufism, Law, Theology and Philosophy: A non-Sufi Mystic of 4th–5th/10–11th Centuries |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_W8a2UbniY8C&pg=PA262 |pages=262–3 |publisher=Editora Regional de Murcia |isbn=84-7564-323-X |oclc=70767145 |access-date=2017-07-15 |via=Google Books |archive-date=2023-10-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231024085406/https://books.google.com/books?id=_W8a2UbniY8C&pg=PA262#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> The term is also used for ghosts.<ref>{{cite book |first=Gerda |last=Sengers |title=Women and Demons: Cultic Healing in Islamic Egypt |publisher=BRILL |year=2003 |isbn=978-90-04-12771-5 |oclc=50713550 |page=50}}</ref> The souls of the deceased dwell in [[barzakh]]. Only a barrier in [[Quran]], in Islamic tradition this refers to an entire intermediary world between the living and the afterlife. The world, especially cemeteries, are perforated with several gateways to the otherworld or barzakh.<ref>Christian Lange ''Paradise and Hell in Islamic Traditions'' Cambridge University Press, 2015 {{ISBN|978-0-521-50637-3}} p. 122</ref> In rare occasions, the dead can appear to the living.<ref>Werner Diem, Marco Schöller ''The Living and the Dead in Islam: Epitaphs as texts'' Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, 2004 {{ISBN|978-3-447-05083-8}} p. 144</ref> 

Pure souls, such as the souls of [[Wali|saints]], are commonly addressed as [[rūḥ]], while impure souls seeking for revenge, are often addressed as [[Ifrit|afarit]].<ref>Jane I. Smith, Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad ''The Islamic Understanding of Death and Resurrection'' Oxford University Press 2002 {{ISBN|978-0-19-515649-2}} page 153</ref> An inappropriate [[Islamic funeral|burial]] can also cause a soul to stay in this world, whereupon roaming the earth as a ghost.<ref name="Khan, S. 2024 p. 35">Khan, S. (18 Nov. 2024). Spirit of the Mind. Leiden, Niederlande: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004719033 p. 35</ref> Other souls are cursed by God to roam the earth restlessly .<ref name="Khan, S. 2024 p. 352">Khan, S. (18 Nov. 2024). Spirit of the Mind. Leiden, Niederlande: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004719033 p. 35</ref> Since the just souls remain close to their tomb, some people try to communicate with them in order to gain hidden knowledge. Contact with the dead is not the same as contact with [[jinn]], who alike could provide knowledge concealed from living humans.<ref>Werner Diem, Marco Schöller ''The Living and the Dead in Islam: Epitaphs as texts'' Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, 2004 {{ISBN|978-3-447-05083-8}} p. 116</ref> Many encounters with ghosts are related to dreams supposed to occur in the [[Malakut#Suhrawardi and the Imaginal Realm|realm of symbols]].

Belief in spirits have not ceased to exist in Muslim belief. Smile of new-born babies is sometimes used as a proof for sighting spirits, like ghosts. However, the connection to the [[Barzakh|other world]] fades during life on earth but is resumed after death. Once again, smiling of dying people is considered as evidence for recognizing the spirit of their beloved ones. Yet, Muslims who affirm the existence of ghosts, are carefully when interacting with spirits, as the ghosts of humans can be as bad as the jinn. Worst of all, however, are the devils.

Muslim authors, like [[Abu Hamed Mohammad ibn Mohammad Ghazali|Ghazali]], [[Ibn Qayyim]] and [[Suyuti]] wrote in more details about the life of ghosts. Ibn Qayyim and Suyuti assert, when a soul desires to turn back to earth long enough, it is gradually released from restrictions of Barzakh and able to move freely. Each spirit experiences afterlife in accordance with their deeds and condictions in the earthly life. Evil souls will find the afterlife as painful and punishment, imprisoned until God allows them to interact with other others. Good souls are not restricted. They are free to come visit other souls and even come down to lower regions. The higher planes (''[[Illiyin|ʿilliyyīn]]'') are considered to be broader than the lower ones, the lowest being the most narrow (''[[Sijjin|sijjīn]]''). The spiritual space is not thought as spatial, but reflects the capacity of the spirit. The more pure the spirit gets, the more it is able to interact with other souls and thus reaches a broader degree of freedom.<ref>Jane Idleman SMith Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad ''The Islamic Understanding of Death and Resurrection'' State University of New York Press Albany 1981 {{ISBN|0-87395-506-4}} p. 117-125</ref>

The [[Ismailism|Ismailite]] [[Falsafa|Philosopher]] [[Nasir Khusraw]] conjectured that evil human souls turn into [[Demon#Islam|demons]], when their bodies die, because of their intense attachment to the bodily world. They were worse than the jinn and [[Peri|fairies]], who in turn could become devils, if they pursue evil.<ref>Valery Rees ''From Gabriel to Lucifer: A Cultural History of Angels'' Bloomsbury Publishing, 04.12.2012 {{ISBN|978-0-85772-162-4}} p. 82</ref> A similar thought is recorded by [[Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi]].<ref>Gertsman, Elina; Rosenwein, Barbara H. (2018). The Middle Ages in 50 Objects. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 103. {{ISBN|978-1-107-15038-6}}. {{OCLC|1030592502}}. Retrieved 25 February 2020</ref>

The ghosts of saints are thought to transmit blessings from God through the heavenly realm to whose who visit their graves. Therefore, [[Ziyarat|visiting the graves of saints and prophets]] became a major ritual in Muslim spirituality.<ref>JOSEF W. MERI ''ASPECTS OF BARAKA (BLESSINGS) AND RITUAL DEVOTION AMONG MEDIEVAL MUSLIMS AND JEWS1'' in "Medieval encounters" 1999 NV, Brill Leiden p. 47-69</ref>

=== Hinduism ===
A [[Bhoota (ghost)|bhoota]] is the ghost of a deceased being in [[Indian religions]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kpd9lLY_0-IC | title=Students' Britannica India | isbn=978-0-85229-760-5 | last1=Hoiberg | first1=Dale | date=2000 | publisher=Popular Prakashan }}</ref> Interpretations of how bhootas come into existence vary by region and community, but they are usually considered to be perturbed and [[restless ghost|restless]] due to some factor that prevents them from moving on (to [[reincarnation|transmigration]], non-being, [[nirvana]], or [[swarga]] or [[naraka]], depending on tradition). This could be a violent death, unsettled matters in their lives, or simply the failure of their survivors to perform proper funerals.<ref name="ref88muliq"/> Belief in ghosts has been deeply ingrained in the minds of the people of [[Indian subcontinent|the subcontinent]] for generations. There are many allegedly haunted places in [[Indian subcontinent|the subcontinent]], such as cremation grounds, dilapidated buildings, royal mansions, [[haveli]]s, forts, forest [[bungalow]]s, burning [[ghat]]s, etc. Ghosts also occupy a significant place in the [[Bengali culture]]. Ghosts and various supernatural entities form an integral part of the socio-cultural beliefs of both the Muslim and Hindu communities of [[Bangladesh]] and the Indian state of [[West Bengal]].

The Bhutas (singular 'Bhuta'), spirits of [[Apotheosis|deified]] heroes, of fierce and evil beings, of [[Hindu deity|Hindu deities]] and of animals, etc., are wrongly referred to as "ghosts" or "demons" and, in fact, are protective and benevolent beings. Though it is true that they can cause harm in their violent forms, as they are extremely powerful, they can be pacified through worship or offerings referred to as Bhuta Aradhana.<ref>"Museums of India - National Handicrafts and Handilooms Museum, New Delhi" ({{ISBN|0-944142-23-0}}) by Jyontindra Jain and Aarti Aggarwala.</ref>

The [[Churel]], also spelled as '''Charail''', '''Churreyl''', '''Chudail''', '''Chudel''', '''Chuṛail''', '''Cuḍail''' or '''Cuḍel''' ({{langx|hi|चुड़ैल}}, {{langx|ur|چڑیل}}), is a [[myth]]ical spirit of a woman who died during pregnancy or childbirth, which may be a [[demon]]iacal [[revenant]] said to occur in [[South Asia]] and [[Southeast Asia]], particularly popular in [[India]], [[Bangladesh]], [[Nepal]] and [[Pakistan]]. The churel is typically described as "the [[restless ghost|ghost]] of an unpurified living thing", but because she is often said to latch on to trees, she is also called a tree-spirit.<ref name="test">{{cite book|author=Crooke, William |author-link=William Crooke|title=An Introduction to the Popular Religion and Folklore of Northern India|date=1894|url=https://archive.org/stream/introductiontopo00croorich#page/69/mode/1up|page=69|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> According to some legends, a woman who dies during childbirth or pregnancy or from suffering at the hands of her in-laws will come back as a [[revenant]] churel for revenge, particularly targeting the males in her family.

The churel is mostly described as extremely ugly and hideous but is able to [[shape-shift]] and disguise herself as a beautiful woman to lure men into the woods or mountains where she either kills them or sucks up their [[Vitality|life-force]] or [[virility]], turning them into old men. Their feet are believed to be turned the other way around, so the toes face the direction of their back. The churel is called as [[Pichal Peri]] in [[Punjab]] and [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]].

There are many [[folk remedies]] and [[folkloric]] [[sayings]] that elaborate on how to get rid of [[revenant]], bhoot and churels, and a number measures that supposedly prevent churels from coming to life. The family of a woman who dies a traumatic, tragic, or unnatural death might perform special rituals fearing that the victimised woman might return as a churel. The corpses of suspected churels are also buried in a particular method and posture so as to prevent her from returning.

==== Buddhism ====
In Buddhism, there are a number of [[plane (esotericism)|planes]] of existence into which a person can be [[wikt:reborn|reborn]], one of which is the realm of [[preta|hungry ghosts]].<ref>Firth, Shirley. ''End of Life: A Hindu View''. The Lancet 2005, 366:682-86</ref> Buddhist celebrate the [[Ghost Festival]]<ref>Jose Vidamor B. Yu ''Inculturation of Filipino-Chinese Culture Mentality'' Gregorian Biblical BookShop, 2000 {{ISBN|978-88-7652-848-4}} p. 110</ref> as an expression of compassion, one of [[Buddhist ethics|Buddhist virtues]]. If the hungry ghosts are fed by non-relatives, they would not bother the community.

==By culture==

===African folklore===
For the [[Igbo people]], a man is simultaneously a physical and spiritual entity. However, it is his spirited dimension that is [[Eternity|eternal]].<ref name="quodlibet.net">{{cite web|url=http://www.quodlibet.net/articles/ozumba-africa.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101116162056/http://www.quodlibet.net/articles/ozumba-africa.shtml|archive-date=2010-11-16|title=G. O. Ozumba: African Traditional Metaphysics - Quodlibet Journal|website=www.quodlibet.net|access-date=2016-11-22}}</ref> In the [[Akan people|Akan]] conception, we witness five parts of the human personality. We have the Nipadua (body), the Okra (soul), Sunsum (spirit), Ntoro (character from father), Mogya (character from mother).<ref name="quodlibet.net"/> The [[Humur|Humr]] people of southwestern [[Kordofan]], [[Sudan]] consume the drink Umm Nyolokh, which is prepared from the [[liver]] and [[bone marrow]] of [[giraffe]]s. [[Richard Rudgley]]<ref>Rudgley, Richard ''The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Substances'', pub. Abacus 1998 {{ISBN|0 349 11127 8}} pps. 20-21.</ref> hypothesises that Umm Nyolokh may contain [[N,N-Dimethyltryptamine|DMT]] and certain online websites further theorise that giraffe liver might owe its putative psychoactivity to substances derived from [[psychoactive plant]]s, such as [[Acacia]] spp. consumed by the animal. The drink is said to cause hallucinations of giraffes, believed by the Humr to be the ghosts of giraffes.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Ian Cunnison|title= Giraffe hunting among the Humr tribe|journal=Sudan Notes and Records|volume=39|year=1958}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cracked.com/article/81_6-animals-that-can-get-you-high/|title=6 Animals That Can Get You High|access-date=18 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171215131307/http://www.cracked.com/article/81_6-animals-that-can-get-you-high/|archive-date=15 December 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

===European folklore===
{{Further|Revenant|Necromancy|Samhain}}
[[File:Théodore Chassériau - Le Spectre de Banquo.jpg|thumb|right|300px|''[[Macbeth]] Seeing the Ghost of [[Banquo]]'' by [[Théodore Chassériau]]]]

Belief in ghosts in [[European folklore]] is characterized by the recurring fear of "returning" or ''[[revenant]]'' deceased who may harm the living. This includes the Scandinavian ''[[gjenganger]]'', the Romanian ''[[strigoi]]'', the Serbian ''[[vampire|vampir]]'', the Greek ''[[vrykolakas]]'', etc. In Scandinavian and Finnish tradition, ghosts appear in corporeal form, and their supernatural nature is given away by behavior rather than appearance. In fact, in many stories they are first mistaken for the living. They may be mute, appear and disappear suddenly, or leave no footprints or other traces. [[English folklore]] is particularly notable for its numerous [[reportedly haunted locations in the United Kingdom|haunted locations]].

===South and Southeast Asia===
====Indian subcontinent====
{{Main article|Bhoot (ghost)}}

A ''bhoot'' or ''bhut'' ({{langx|hi|भूत}}, {{langx|gu|ભૂત}}, {{langx|ur|بهوت}}, {{langx|bn|ভূত}}, {{langx|or|ଭୂତ}}) is a supernatural creature, usually the ghost of a deceased person, in the popular culture, literature and some ancient texts of the [[Indian subcontinent]].

===== North India =====
Interpretations of how ''bhoot''s come into existence vary by region and community, but they are usually considered to be perturbed and restless due to some factor that prevents them from moving on (to [[reincarnation|transmigration]], non-being, [[nirvana]], or heaven or hell, depending on tradition). This could be a violent death, unsettled matters in their lives, or simply the failure of their survivors to perform proper funerals.<ref name="ref88muliq">{{Cite book |title=Students' Britannica India, Volumes 1–5 |editor=Hoiberg, Dale |author=Ramchandani, Indu |publisher=Popular Prakashan, 2000 |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-85229-760-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kpd9lLY_0-IC |quote=Bhut also spelt bhoot, in Hindu mythology, a restless ghost. Bhoots are believed to be malignant if they have died a violent of premature death or have been denied funerary rites. |access-date=2016-03-14 |archive-date=2023-07-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725112555/https://books.google.com/books?id=Kpd9lLY_0-IC |url-status=live }}</ref>

In Central and Northern India, ''ojha'' or [[spirit guide]]s play a central role.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Biswas |first=Ankit |date=2020-11-24 |title=The Practice of Shamanism and Indigenous Art of India |url=https://www.karwaanheritage.in/post/the-practice-of-shamanism-and-indigenous-art-of-india |access-date=2024-09-16 |website=Karwaan: The Heritag |language=en}}</ref> It duly happens when in the night someone sleeps and decorates something on the wall, and they say that if one sees the spirit the next thing in the morning he will become a spirit too, and that to a headless spirit and the soul of the body will remain the dark with the dark lord from the spirits who reside in the body of every human in Central and Northern India. It is also believed that if someone calls one from behind, never turn back and see because the spirit may catch the human to make it a spirit.
Other types of spirits in Hindu mythology include [[Baital]], an evil spirit who haunts cemeteries and takes [[demonic possession]] of corpses, and [[Pishacha]], a type of flesh-eating demon.

===== Bengal and East India =====
{{Main article|Ghosts in Bengali culture}}
There are many kinds of ghosts and similar supernatural entities that frequently come up in [[Bengali culture]], its folklores and form an important part in Bengali peoples' socio-cultural beliefs and superstitions. It is believed that the spirits of those who cannot find peace in the afterlife or die unnatural deaths remain on Earth. The word ''Pret'' (from Sanskrit) is also used in Bengali to mean ghost. In Bengal, ghosts are believed to be the spirit after death of an unsatisfied human being or a soul of a person who dies in unnatural or abnormal circumstances (like murder, suicide or accident). Even it is believed that other animals and creatures can also be turned into ghost after their death.

====Thailand====
{{main article|Ghosts in Thai culture}}
[[File:XRF-krasue.jpg|thumb|left|150px|''[[Krasue]]'', a Thai female ghost known as ''Ap'' in [[Khmer language|Khmer]]]]
Ghosts in [[Thailand]] are part of local [[Thai folklore|folklore]] and have now become part of the popular culture of the country. [[Phraya Anuman Rajadhon]] was the first Thai scholar who seriously studied Thai folk beliefs and took notes on the [[nocturnal]] village spirits of Thailand. He established that, since such spirits were not represented in paintings or drawings, they were purely based on descriptions of popular orally transmitted [[oral tradition|traditional stories]]. Therefore, most of the contemporary [[iconography]] of ghosts such as [[Nang Tani]], [[Nang Takian]],<ref>[http://board.postjung.com/m/514876.html Ghosts of Thai folklore] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131101181521/http://board.postjung.com/m/514876.html |date=2013-11-01 }}. Board.postjung.com. Retrieved on 2013-03-21.</ref> [[Krasue]], [[Krahang]],<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20230307192742/http://www.thaighosts.net/ghost/phi-krahang?page=2 Phi Krahang]. Thaighosts.net. Retrieved on 2013-03-21.</ref> [[Phi Hua Kat]], [[Phi Pop]], [[Phi Phong]], [[Phi Phraya]], and [[Mae Nak]] has its origins in Thai films that have now become [[classic]]s.<ref>[http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj21/panyathai143/DSC01886_resize.jpg Movie poster showing Thai ghosts Krahang and Krasue with Count Dracula] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111155111/http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj21/panyathai143/DSC01886_resize.jpg |date=2012-11-11 }}. photobucket.com</ref><ref>'Ghosts and Spirits of Lan Na (Northern Thailand', in: Forbes, Andrew, and Henley, David, ''Ancient Chiang Mai'' Volume 4. Chiang Mai, Cognoscenti Books, 2012. ASIN: B006J541LE</ref>
The most feared spirit in Thailand is [[Phi Tai Hong]], the ghost of a person who has died suddenly of a violent death.<ref>[http://www.thaiworldview.com/bouddha/animism5.htm Spirits] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307192747/http://www.thaiworldview.com/bouddha/animism5.htm |date=2023-03-07 }}. Thaiworldview.com. Retrieved on 2013-03-21.</ref> The folklore of Thailand also includes the belief that [[sleep paralysis]] is caused by a ghost, [[Phi Am]].

====Tibet====
{{Main article|Ghosts in Tibetan culture}}
There is widespread belief in ghosts in Tibetan culture. Ghosts are explicitly recognized in the [[Tibetan Buddhist]] religion as they were in [[history of Buddhism in India|Indian Buddhism]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Conze |first=Edward |title=A Short History of Buddhism |edition=2|year=1993 |publisher=Oneworld |location=Oxford}}</ref> occupying a distinct but overlapping world to the human one, and feature in many traditional legends. When a human dies, after a period of uncertainty they may enter the ghost world. A [[hungry ghost]] ([[Standard Tibetan|Tibetan]]: {{lang|bo-Latn|yidag}}, {{lang|bo-Latn|yi-dvags}}; {{langx|sa|प्रेत|preta}}) has a tiny throat and huge stomach, and so can never be satisfied. Ghosts may be killed with a ritual dagger or caught in a spirit trap and burnt, thus releasing them to be reborn. Ghosts may also be exorcised, and an annual festival is held throughout Tibet for this purpose. Some say that [[Dorje Shugden]], the ghost of a powerful 17th-century monk, is a deity, but the [[Dalai Lama]] asserts that he is an evil spirit, which has caused a split in the Tibetan exile community.

====Austronesia====
{{Main article|Malay ghost myths|Ghosts in Filipino culture|Ghosts in Polynesian culture}}
[[File:Paul Gauguin- Manao tupapau (The Spirit of the Dead Keep Watch).JPG|thumb|right|''[[Spirit of the Dead Watching]]'' by [[Paul Gauguin]] (1892)]]
There are many [[Malay ghost myths]], remnants of old animist beliefs that have been shaped by later Hindu, Buddhist, and Muslim influences in the modern states of [[Indonesia]], [[Malaysia]], and [[Brunei]]. Some ghost concepts such as the female vampires [[Pontianak (folklore)|Pontianak]] and [[Penanggalan]] are shared throughout the region.
Ghosts are a popular theme in modern Malaysian and Indonesian films.
There are also many references to [[ghosts in Filipino culture]], ranging from ancient legendary creatures such as the [[Manananggal]] and [[Tiyanak]] to more modern urban legends and horror films. The beliefs, legends and stories are as diverse as the people of the [[Philippines]].

There was widespread belief in [[ghosts in Polynesian culture]], some of which persists today.
After death, a person's ghost normally traveled to the sky world or the underworld, but some could stay on earth. In many [[Polynesian culture|Polynesian]] legends, ghosts were often actively involved in the affairs of the living. Ghosts might also cause sickness or even invade the body of ordinary people, to be driven out through strong medicines.<ref>{{cite book |title=Hawaiian Legends of Ghosts and Ghost-Gods |last=Westervelt |first=William Drake |publisher=Forgotten Books |year=1985 |isbn=978-1-60506-964-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hVd46sXgkSAC |access-date=2020-11-05 |archive-date=2023-10-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231024085409/https://books.google.com/books?id=hVd46sXgkSAC |url-status=live }}</ref>

===East and Central Asia===
{{further|Preta}}

====China====
{{Main article|Ghosts in Chinese culture}}
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[[File:ZhongKui-by-GongKai.jpg|thumb|left|An image of [[Zhong Kui]], the vanquisher of ghosts and evil beings, painted sometime before 1304 AD by [[Gong Kai]]]]

There are many references to ghosts in Chinese culture. Even Confucius said, "Respect ghosts and gods, but keep away from them."<ref name=mincul>{{cite web
 |url = http://www1.chinaculture.org/gb/en_chinaway/2004-03/17/content_46337.htm
 |title = Chinese Ghost Culture
 |publisher = Ministry of Culture, P.R.China
 |access-date = 2010-07-07
 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100711183047/http://www.chinaculture.org/gb/en_chinaway/2004-03/17/content_46337.htm
 |archive-date = 2010-07-11
}}</ref>

The ghosts take many forms, depending on how the person died, and are often harmful. Many Chinese ghost beliefs have been accepted by neighboring cultures, notably Japan and southeast Asia. Ghost beliefs are closely associated with traditional Chinese religion based on ancestor worship, many of which were incorporated in [[Taoism]]. Later beliefs were influenced by [[Buddhism]], and in turn influenced and created uniquely Chinese Buddhist beliefs.

Many Chinese today believe it possible to contact the spirits of their ancestors through a medium, and that ancestors can help descendants if properly respected and rewarded. The annual [[ghost festival]] is celebrated by Chinese around the world. On this day, ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the [[underworld|lower realm]]. Ghosts are described in classical Chinese texts as well as modern literature and films.

An article in the [[China Post]] stated that nearly 87 percent of Chinese office workers believe in ghosts, and some 52 percent of workers will wear hand art, necklaces, crosses, or even place a crystal ball on their desks to keep ghosts at bay, according to the poll.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}} The prevalence of belief is such that the [[Chinese Communist Party|ruling party]] has actively sought to discourage citizens.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Esler |first=Joshua |date=2016 |title=Chinese Ghosts and Tibetan Buddhism: Negotiating between Mythological and "Rational" Narratives |journal=Modern China |volume=42 |issue=5 |pages=505–534 |doi=10.1177/0097700415604425 |jstor=24772270 |issn=0097-7004}}</ref>

====Japan====
[[File:Kuniyoshi The Ghosts.jpg|thumb|320px|[[Utagawa Kuniyoshi]], ''The Ghosts'', {{Circa|1850}}]]
{{Main article|Yūrei|Onryō|Japanese ghost story}}<!--

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{{Nihongo||[[wikt:幽霊|幽霊]]|'''Yūrei'''}} are figures in [[Japanese folklore]], analogous to Western legends of ghosts. The name consists of two [[kanji]], [[wikt:幽|幽]] (''yū''), meaning "faint" or "dim", and [[wikt:霊|霊]] (''rei''), meaning "soul" or "spirit". Alternative names include {{Nihongo|2=亡霊|3=bōrei}} meaning ruined or departed spirit, {{Nihongo|2=死霊|3=shiryō}} meaning dead spirit, or the more encompassing {{Nihongo|2=妖怪|3=[[yōkai]]}} or {{Nihongo|2=お化け|3=[[obake]]}}.

Like their [[Chinese folklore|Chinese]] and Western counterparts, they are thought to be [[soul (spirit)|spirits]] kept from a peaceful [[afterlife]].

===Americas===

====Mexico====
[[File:Catrinas 2.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[La Calavera Catrina|Catrinas]], one of the most popular figures of the ''Day of the Dead'' celebrations in Mexico]]<!--

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 -->{{Main article|Ghosts in Mexican culture}}<!--

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There is extensive and varied belief in [[ghosts in Mexican culture]]. The modern state of [[Mexico]] before the [[Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire|Spanish conquest]] was inhabited by diverse peoples such as the [[Maya people|Maya]] and [[Aztec people|Aztec]], and their beliefs have survived and evolved, combined with the beliefs of the [[Spanish people|Spanish]] colonists. The [[Day of the Dead]] incorporates pre-Columbian beliefs with [[Christianity|Christian]] elements. Mexican literature and films include many stories of ghosts interacting with the living.

====United States====
{{Further|Ghosts of the American Civil War|Shadow people|Ghost hunting}}
According to the [[Gallup Poll|Gallup Poll News Service]], belief in haunted houses, ghosts, communication with the dead, and witches had an especially steep increase over the 1990s.<ref>Newport F, Strausberg M. 2001. "Americans' belief in psychic and paranormal phenomena is up over last decade", Gallup Poll News Service. 8 June<!--year?-->[https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind04/c7/c7s2.htm#c7s2l5 "Science and Technology: Public Attitudes and Understanding-Public Knowledge About S&T: Belief in Pseudoscience"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100412093007/https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind04/c7/c7s2.htm#c7s2l5 |date=April 12, 2010 }}, Chapter 7 of ''Science and Engineering Indicators 2004'', National Science Board, National Science Foundation; ''Science and Engineering Indicators 2006'', National Science Board, National Science Foundation.</ref> A 2005 Gallup poll found that about 32 percent of Americans believe in ghosts.<ref name=gallup>{{cite web |url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/17275/onethird-americans-believe-dearly-may-departed.aspx |title=One-Third of Americans Believe Dearly May Not Have Departed |last=Lyons |first=Linda |date=July 12, 2005 |publisher=[[The Gallup Organization#Gallup Poll|Gallup Polls]] |access-date=2010-11-28 |archive-date=2010-08-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100830223749/http://www.gallup.com/poll/17275/OneThird-Americans-Believe-Dearly-May-Departed.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Depiction in the arts==
{{main article|Ghost story|List of ghost films}}
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| image1 = Eugène Delacroix. The Phantom on the Terrace, Hamlet.jpg
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| caption1 = The Phantom on the Terrace from Shakespeare's ''[[Hamlet]]'' (engraving by [[Eugène Delacroix]], 1843)
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| caption2 = [[John Dee]] and [[Edward Kelley]] invoking the spirit of a deceased person (engraving from the ''Astrology'' by [[Ebenezer Sibly]], 1806)
}}

Ghosts are prominent in story-telling of various nations. The [[ghost story]] is ubiquitous across all cultures from oral [[folklore|folktales]] to works of literature. While ghost stories are often explicitly meant to be scary, they have been written to serve all sorts of purposes, from comedy to [[morality tale]]s. Ghosts often appear in the narrative as sentinels or [[prophet]]s of things to come. Belief in ghosts is found in all cultures around the world, and thus ghost stories may be passed down orally or in written form.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Darrell Schweitzer |author-link=Darrell Schweitzer |title=The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Themes, Works, and Wonders |location=Westport, CT |publisher=Greenwood |year=2005 |pages=338–340}}</ref>

Spirits of the dead appear in literature as early as [[Homer]]'s ''[[Odyssey]]'', which features a journey to the [[underworld]] and the hero encountering the ghosts of the dead,{{Sfn|Darrell Schweitzer|2005|p=338-340}} and the [[Old Testament]], in which the [[Witch of Endor]] summons the spirit of the prophet [[Samuel]].{{Sfn|Darrell Schweitzer|2005|p=338-340}}

===Renaissance to Romanticism (1500 to 1840)===
One of the more recognizable ghosts in [[English literature]] is the [[King Hamlet|shade of Hamlet's murdered father]] in Shakespeare's ''The Tragical History of [[Hamlet, Prince of Denmark]]''. In ''Hamlet'', it is the ghost who demands that [[Prince Hamlet]] investigate his "murder most foul" and seek revenge upon his usurping uncle, [[King Claudius]].

In [[English Renaissance theater]], ghosts were often depicted in the garb of the living and even in armor, as with the ghost of Hamlet's father. Armor, being out-of-date by the time of the Renaissance, gave the stage ghost a sense of antiquity.<ref>Ann Jones & Peter Stallybrass, ''Renaissance Clothing and the Materials of Memory'', Cambridge University Press, 2000.</ref> But the sheeted ghost began to gain ground on stage in the 19th century because an armored ghost could not satisfactorily convey the requisite spookiness: it clanked and creaked, and had to be moved about by complicated pulley systems or elevators. These clanking ghosts being hoisted about the stage became objects of ridicule as they became clichéd stage elements. Ann Jones and Peter Stallybrass, in ''Renaissance Clothing and the Materials of Memory'', point out, "In fact, it is as laughter increasingly threatens the Ghost that he starts to be staged not in armor but in some form of 'spirit drapery'."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Holland|first1=Peter|title=Shakespeare Survey: Volume 58, Writing about Shakespeare|date=2005|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=40}}</ref>

===Victorian/Edwardian (1840 to 1920)===
{{multiple image
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| image2 = Pyle pirates ghost.jpg
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| caption2 = The ghost of a pirate, from [[Howard Pyle]]'s ''Book of Pirates'' (1903)
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The "classic" ghost story arose during the Victorian period, and included authors such as [[M. R. James]], [[Sheridan Le Fanu]], [[Violet Hunt]], and [[Henry James]]. Classic ghost stories were influenced by the gothic fiction tradition, and contain elements of folklore and psychology. M. R. James summed up the essential elements of a ghost story as, "Malevolence and terror, the glare of evil faces, 'the stony grin of unearthly malice', pursuing forms in darkness, and 'long-drawn, distant screams', are all in place, and so is a modicum of blood, shed with deliberation and carefully husbanded...".<ref>James, M. R. "Some Remarks on Ghost Stories", The Bookman, December 1929.</ref> One of the key early appearances by ghosts was ''[[The Castle of Otranto]]'' by [[Horace Walpole]] in 1764, considered to be the first [[gothic novel]].{{Sfn|Darrell Schweitzer|2005|p=338-340}}<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-30313775 "The Castle of Otranto: The creepy tale that launched gothic fiction"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190703063419/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-30313775 |date=2019-07-03 }}. BBC. Retrieved October 7, 2017</ref><ref name="Newman, pg. 135">Newman, Kim (ed.) ''BFI Companion to Horror'', Cassell: London, 1996, {{ISBN|0-304-33216-X}}, p. 135.</ref>

Famous literary apparitions from this period are the ghosts of ''[[A Christmas Carol]]'', in which [[Ebenezer Scrooge]] is helped to see the error of his ways by the ghost of his former colleague [[Jacob Marley]], and the ghosts of [[Ghost of Christmas Past|Christmas Past]], [[Ghost of Christmas Present|Christmas Present]], and Christmas Yet to Come.

===Modern era (1920 to 1970)===
[[File:Brown lady.jpg|left|upright|thumb|''[[Brown Lady of Raynham Hall]]'', a claimed ghost photograph by Captain Hubert C. Provand. First published in ''[[Country Life (magazine)|Country Life]]'' magazine, 1936]]
Professional parapsychologists and "ghosts hunters", such as [[Harry Price]], active in the 1920s and 1930s, and [[Peter Underwood (parapsychologist)|Peter Underwood]], active in the 1940s and 1950s, published accounts of their experiences with ostensibly true ghost stories such as Price's ''The Most Haunted House in England'', and Underwood's ''Ghosts of Borley'' (both recounting experiences at [[Borley Rectory]]). The writer [[Frank Edwards (writer and broadcaster)|Frank Edwards]] delved into ghost stories in his books of his, like ''Stranger than Science''.

Children's benevolent ghost stories became popular, such as [[Casper the Friendly Ghost]], created in the 1930s and appearing in comics, [[animated cartoon]]s, and eventually a [[Casper (film)|1995 feature film]].

With the advent of motion pictures and television, screen depictions of ghosts became common, and spanned a variety of genres; the works of Shakespeare, Dickens and Wilde have all been made into cinematic versions. Novel-length tales have been difficult to adapt to cinema, although that of ''[[The Haunting of Hill House]]'' to ''[[The Haunting (1963 film)|The Haunting]]'' in 1963 is an exception.<ref name="Newman, pg. 135"/>

Sentimental depictions during this period were more popular in cinema than horror, and include the 1947 film ''[[The Ghost and Mrs. Muir]]'', which was later adapted to television with a successful 1968–1970 [[The Ghost & Mrs. Muir (TV series)|TV series]].<ref name="Newman, pg. 135"/> Genuine [[psychological horror]] films from this period include 1944's ''[[The Uninvited (1944 film)|The Uninvited]]'', and 1945's ''[[Dead of Night]]''.

===Post-modern (1970–present)===
{{see also|List of ghost films}}{{Further|List of ghosts#Popular culture|Category:Fictional ghosts}}
The 1970s saw screen depictions of ghosts diverge into distinct genres of the romantic and horror. A common theme in the romantic genre from this period is the ghost as a benign guide or messenger, often with unfinished business, such as 1989's ''[[Field of Dreams]]'', the 1990 film ''[[Ghost (1990 film)|Ghost]]'', and the 1993 comedy ''[[Heart and Souls]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE3DE1339F93BA3575BC0A965958260|title=FILM; When It Comes to the Hereafter, Romance and Sentiment Rule|last=Chanko|first=Kenneth M.|date=August 8, 1993|website=The New York Times|access-date=2009-01-29}}</ref> In the horror genre, 1980's ''[[The Fog]]'', and the ''[[A Nightmare on Elm Street (franchise)|A Nightmare on Elm Street]]'' series of films from the 1980s and 1990s are notable examples of the trend for the merging of ghost stories with scenes of physical violence.<ref name="Newman, pg. 135"/>

Popularised in such films as the 1984 comedy ''[[Ghostbusters]]'', [[ghost hunting]] became a hobby for many who formed ghost hunting societies to explore reportedly haunted places. The ghost hunting theme has been featured in [[Reality television|reality television series]], such as ''[[Ghost Adventures]]'', ''[[Ghosthunters (TV series)|Ghost Hunters]]'', ''[[Ghost Hunters International]]'', ''[[Ghost Lab]]'', ''[[Most Haunted]]'', and ''[[A Haunting]]''. It is also represented in children's television by such programs as ''[[The Ghost Hunter (TV series)|The Ghost Hunter]]'' and ''[[Ghost Trackers]]''. Ghost hunting also gave rise to multiple guidebooks to haunted locations, and ghost hunting "how-to" manuals.

The 1990s saw a return to classic "gothic" ghosts, whose dangers were more psychological than physical. Examples of films from this period include 1999's ''[[The Sixth Sense]]'' and ''[[The Others (2001 film)|The Others]]''.

[[Asian cinema]] has also produced [[horror film]]s about ghosts, such as the 1998 Japanese film ''[[Ring (film)|Ringu]]'' (remade in the US as ''[[The Ring (2002 film)|The Ring]]'' in 2002), and the Pang brothers' 2002 film ''[[The Eye (2002 film)|The Eye]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E01E1D61330F93BA35755C0A9659C8B63|title=Why Asian Ghost Stories Are the Best|last=Rafferty|first=Terence|date=June 8, 2003|website=The New York Times|access-date=2009-01-29|archive-date=2008-05-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080507205425/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E01E1D61330F93BA35755C0A9659C8B63|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[Indian ghost movies]] are popular not just in India, but in the Middle East, Africa, South East Asia, and other parts of the world. Some Indian ghost movies such as the comedy / horror film ''[[Chandramukhi]]'' have been commercial successes, dubbed into several languages.<ref name=behind>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-movie-articles/movies-06/24-09-07-rajini.html
 |title=The Bus Conductor Turned Superstar Who Took the Right Bus to Demi
 |author=Mohamed, Shoaib
 |date=September 24, 2007
 |website=Behindwoods
 |access-date=2010-03-17
 |archive-date=2010-07-31
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100731165513/http://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-movie-articles/movies-06/24-09-07-rajini.html
 |url-status=live
 }}</ref>

In fictional television programming, ghosts have been explored in series such as ''[[Supernatural (American TV series)|Supernatural]]'', ''[[Ghost Whisperer]]'', and ''[[Medium (TV show)|Medium]]''.

In animated fictional television programming, ghosts have served as the central element in series such as ''[[Casper the Friendly Ghost]]'', ''[[Danny Phantom]]'', and ''[[Scooby-Doo]]''. Various other television shows have depicted ghosts as well. <!-- please do not add a list of trivia.-->

==Metaphorical usages==
[[Nietzsche]] argued that people generally wear prudent [[persona (psychology)|masks]] in company, but that an alternative strategy for social interaction is to present oneself as an absence, as a social ghost – "One reaches out for us but gets no hold of us"<ref>Quoted in Gary Gutting ed., ''The Cambridge Companion to Foucault'' (2003) p. 235</ref> – a sentiment later echoed (if in a less positive way) by [[Carl Jung]].<ref>C. G. Jung, ''Two Essays on Analytical Psychology'' (London 1953) p. 197</ref>

[[Nick Harkaway]] has considered that all people carry a host of ghosts in their heads in the form of impressions of past acquaintances – ghosts who represent mental maps of other people in the world and serve as philosophical reference points.<ref>Nick Harkaway, ''The Gone-Away World'' (2008) p. 380</ref>

[[Object relations theory]] sees human personalities as formed by [[splitting (psychology)|splitting off]] aspects of the person that he or she deems incompatible, whereupon the person may be haunted in later life by such ghosts of his or her alternate selves.<ref>Michael Parsons, ''The Dove that Returns, the Dove that Vanishes'' (2000) p. 83-4</ref>

The sense of ghosts as invisible, mysterious entities is invoked in several terms that use the word metaphorically, such as [[ghostwriter]] (a writer who pens texts credited to another person without revealing the ghostwriter's role as an author); [[ghost singer]] (a vocalist who records songs whose vocals are credited to another person); and [[ghosting (relationships)|"ghosting" a date]] (when a person breaks off contact with a former romantic partner and disappears).

==See also==
* [[Hauntology]]
* [[List of ghosts]]
* [[Paranormal activity]]
* ''[[Spiritism (book)|Spiritism]]''
* [[Spirit photography]]
* [[Susulu (mythology)]]
* [[La Llorona]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
* Finucane, R. C., ''Appearances of the Dead: A Cultural History of Ghosts'', Prometheus Books, 1984, {{ISBN|0-87975-238-6}}.
* Hervey, Sheila, ''Some Canadian Ghosts'', in series, ''Original Canadian Pocket Book[s],'' Richmond Hill, Ont.: Pocket Books, 1973, SBN 671–78629–6
* Hole, Christina, [https://books.google.com/books?id=x_LWAAAAMAAJ ''Haunted England''], Batsford: London, 1950.
* {{Cite book|last=Kroonen|first=Guus|title=Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic|publisher=Brill|year=2013|isbn=978-90-04-18340-7}}
* {{Cite book|last=Orel|first=Vladimir|title=A Handbook of Germanic Etymology|year=2003|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-12875-0|author-link=Vladimir Orel}}
* {{Cite dictionary|title=[[Oxford English Dictionary Online]]|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2021|ref={{harvid|Oxford English Dictionary|2021}}}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin}}
* Fairly, John & Welfare, Simon, ''Arthur C. Clarke's World of Strange Powers'', Putnam: New York, 1985.
* Felton, D., ''Haunted Greece and Rome: Ghost Stories From Classical Antiquity'', University of Texas Press, 1999.
* Johnston, Sarah Iles, ''Restless Dead: Encounters Between the Living and the Dead in Ancient Greece'', University of California Press, 1999.
* MacKenzie, Andrew, ''Apparitions and Ghosts'', Arthur Barker, 1971.
* Moreman, Christopher, ''Beyond the Threshold: Afterlife Beliefs and Experiences in World Religions'', Rowman & Littlefield, 2008.
{{refend}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline|Ghosts}}
* {{Wikiquote-inline|Ghosts}}
* {{Wiktionary-inline|ghost}}

{{Ghosts}}
{{Horror fiction}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Ghosts| ]]
[[Category:Afterlife]]
[[Category:Paranormal terminology]]