Interview About Ghosts

 

1. Can everyone see ghosts? If no then who in particular?

 

 

Before I begin, I wish to make it understood that the answers I give to these questions are based upon my past experience in researching and experimenting with paranormal/occult related phenomenon, as well as my later research conducted as a born again Christian. The things I learned after becoming a Christian at 21 years of age, involved Biblical studies, to include, but not limited to, my personal library of paranormal books, several versions of the Bible, multiple commentaries, and Strong’s Enhanced Lexicon, which covers Greek and Hebrew translations. I have written several books that combine my overall research in both secular and Christian sources and personal experiences, and I also continue to write for paranormal and Christian sources. This is an unusual feat, because of the incompatibility issues stemming from both paradigms, which are often at odds with each other.

 

Now to answer the above question, I must narrow the scope and add definition. 

 

First of all, exactly what is a ghost? Is a ghost the disincarnate spirit of a person that is deceased, or could there be some other phenomenon at play which is frequently categorized as being ghosts, but actually has nothing to do with disincarnate spirits? I suspect everything that is lumped into the term ‘ghost’ is vastly complex and involves an enormous range of phenomenon at play.

 

Secondly, how would a person know if he or she was actually looking at a ghost, if the ghost in question looked exactly like a normal person? A very close friend of mine, for example, has seen many ‘ghosts,’ and the only way she knew that some of them weren’t normal people is because nobody else could see them. To her, they looked just like flesh and blood people. In one instance, they were more like statues, frozen in time, associated with antiques in a relative’s house. They were wearing the period era clothing of their time, and didn’t seem to be aware of their surroundings. In another instance, however, the ‘ghost’ in my studio apartment was a normal looking man who had his hair slicked back, thick with gel, and was wearing blue jeans and a white T-shirt, like a 1950’s greaser. My friend said to me, “You don’t see that guy, sitting RIGHT THERE, chewing on a match stick?”

 

I said, “No, what, you see someone there?”

 

She didn’t answer my question; rather, she bolted out of the room like a streak of lighting. The only way my friend could tell she was seeing a ‘ghost,’ is because I couldn’t see it, whatever it was.

 

For all we know, we could be seeing ghosts every day, and never know it. Any given stranger on the street could be a ghost. How would you ever know, if they look like real flesh and blood people – or animals?

(Yea, animals can be ghosts too. A friend of mine saw my cat in the yard, a week after he died. Buster even rubbed against this person’s leg).

 

Maybe what you’re getting at is do only certain people with psychic abilities see ghosts? My answer to this is that it depends. I think certain people might see them more often than others, for many different reasons, but depending on what the phenomenon is, probably anyone can see them. For example, if ghosts can be recorded on film, then anyone can see them, because film is not psychic. However, in the case of my friend, she could see them all the time, when other people couldn’t. Her ability to see them, I think, spanned beyond the natural senses. But for all intents and purposes, the reasons for seeing what we call ‘ghosts’ could be endless, depending on the nature of the phenomenon.

 

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 Question:

 

2. How can you communicate with ghosts?

 

 

As a Christian, I’m not proud to admit that I answer this question based on personal experience; it’s incredibly easy to communicate with disincarnate spirits. If you made something up, just out of your imagination, like a method of creating the alphabet by throwing sticks on the ground, it would probably work. Things out there want to communicate with us, there’s no doubt about it. I’ve experimented using several techniques, and they all worked. I did these things, however, before I became a dedicated Christian, and before I knew about the dangers that lurked in the underworld.

 

According to the Bible, in Deuteronomy 18:10-12, it says “There shall not be found among you anyone…that is a consulter with familiar spirits…or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord.”

 

There is a good reason for this Scripture in the Bible. I know a few ways to communicate with intelligences that I can not see with my eyes, but conducting such activities is extremely dangerous, and forbidden in scripture. While my own limited experiences left me fairly unscathed, because I believe I was protected through these young years of stupidity, I have an old friend who was not so fortunate. He was an agnostic that I frequently debated the Bible with. While he wasn’t sure about the Christian concepts of the after-life, the idea of ghosts fascinated him, and his interest eventually led him to take up the hobby of ghost hunting.

 

His ghost hunting eventually led him to what I call an electronic Ouija board; using his computer, he established contact with what he said was a woman who died back in 1946. I warned him about what it says in the Bible, but he disregarded my warning, extremely excited about his new friend in the spirit realm, who I would call a familiar spirit.

 

After two weeks of communication through his computer program, he eventually didn’t need his computer to communicate anymore; he could hear them speaking to him all the time, through the background white noise of electronic devices. One of them, the woman he first made contact with, followed him around wherever he went. He saw it from time to time, as a small orange light that floated around him, usually two to three feet away from his head, up and to the right. He took photos of this orb, and many others. He was a big fan of ghost photography, snapping shots of ‘orbs’ all the time, and posting them to www.ghostweb.com.

 

On one occasion, while he was at work, the voice said to him, “So, you doubt me? You think you’re going crazy, and I’m not real? Let me prove to you I’m real. See George over there? He cheated on his wife last night with a woman named Marsha. Go ask him; see what he tells you; watch how he acts.”

 

He asked his coworker the question, as prompted by the voice, and his coworker turned white as a sheet, and demanded he tell no one of his infidelity. He also wanted to know how in the world he knew, because no one knew of this secret.

 

Despite the many validations my relative had, that the voices he was hearing were not him losing his mind to schizophrenia, he eventually got to the point that he could no longer function normally. With each passing day, new voices arrived, more sinister, darker personalities. After two more weeks, he heard the screaming of loved ones that had died in his family, burning in hell, followed by demonic voices roaring in his ears, “That was your grandfather! How did you like that? Did that sound nice? Here, listen to him AGAIN!” The voices tormented him day and night, frequently waking him up in the middle of the night, with their howls of horror. It came to a head one night when a gurgling guttural voice demanded he confess all his sins to his wife; his chest was gripped with pain, and he believed that if he didn’t start confessing his own sins to his wife, he was going to have a heart attack and die.

 

This wasn’t all. Demonic children-like figures crept around in his house at night, giggling from dark corners. His two children began to have chronic nightmares every night. A friend who visited him saw something that scared him so badly that he screamed running from the house, never to return. His wife, too, started hearing voices throughout their home, though she never used the computer program that opened up this gateway of communication.

 

His entire family came to my house one evening; his hands were trembling as he stood on my front porch. He was a nervous wreck, twitching and shaking, and asked me to pray over him. He admitted his mistake. He said the voices were telling him not to go to my house, and that I wasn’t home. They didn’t want him to see me. He said the little light that normally followed him around was gone when he came to my house.

 

It was time for spiritual intervention.

 

We prayed over their family, and they met with some relief shortly thereafter, but it was only temporary. The Bible says that when demons are cast out, they go to the desert for reinforcements, and return to test the faith that cast them out, (Luke 11:24-26). Concerning demonic spirits, they will challenge spiritual authority on the grounds of whether or not someone’s faith is authentic. If someone runs to God to get rid of the problems, but doesn’t completely purge his/her lifestyle of sin and make a serious turn-around, the door will not remain shut. Once opened, it takes profound dedication and a lifestyle commitment of righteous living to close it and keep it closed. And even then, sometimes holding onto false beliefs might also be a cause for the door remaining open, but that takes a more extended discussion to say the least.

 

After that visit to my house, my home became temporarily haunted for that night. I woke up around 3 AM and saw a shadowy grim reaper-like figure in my bedroom. I got angry and got out of bed and rushed at it, and its figure dispersed into the darkness. I wondered if I was just imagining it, due to the creepy conversations with R-man (my friend). It wasn’t very clear, but the entire house felt creepy that night. I tromped through my home, demanding that whatever it was leave immediately. The next day, I mentioned to my wife what I thought I imagined, and she told me she saw it as well.

 

We prayed over our house, reading Psalm 91 in every room of the house as we prayed. Things were back to normal after that.

 

R-man later lost his job, his house, and his marriage fell apart. He’s now on disability, and lives with his father. The last time I saw him, he said so long as he takes his medication, he’s okay; apparently the medication that works for schizophrenia shuts up voices, regardless of whether their internal or external. Now the average psychiatrist would close the case on R-man’s diagnosis, but I know better. What kind of computer program makes a person schizophrenic? What kind of mental illness gives a person accurate information about other people, that he would have had no way of knowing?

 

On the upside, R-man is no longer an agnostic. He is a committed Christian, but so far, only drugs have been able to close the door he opened. His issues have subsided dramatically, but I could go on and on about what the possible reasons are as to why he’s now depending on drugs to function normally. In the end, only God truly knows the answer to that question.

 

SO, do you really want to know how to communicate with a ghost? I know how, but I’m not going there, and I certainly don’t encourage anyone else to go there either.

 

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 Question:

 

3. Do all ghosts haunt people? And do they only haunt people they may have known?

 

 

Again, as before, it depends on what you define as ‘ghosts.’ Let me elaborate here on 5 possibilities of what could create what most people would call ghostly phenomenon. These possibilities are in exclusion of the most obvious and simplest explanation of all, naturally, which would be those instances where there is nothing supernatural going on at all, but rather overactive imaginations, mental illness, or hallucinations brought on through various means, i.e. drugs, alcohol, lack of sleep, etc.

 

A. Unknown forms of energy:

 

There is a psychic phenomenon known as psychometry, whereby psychics can touch objects and obtain sensory information from them. It is a known fact that psychics using this ability have aided police in finding missing persons and solving crimes. The fact that this phenomenon involves inanimate objects gives a clue that the objects in question are impregnated with some form of energy that psychics can perceive. Such energy can be chalk full of information, ranging from audio, visual, or even emotional states of the person or people associated with the object(s) in question. If such energy can be obtained from objects, then it stands to reason that it can be obtained from anything associated with people, i.e. walls, couches, the floor, a table, a back seat in a car, or a flat rock overlooking a valley on top of a mountain; anything. Perhaps many times what people are seeing is not a ‘ghost’ at all, but rather a memory, or an event, of something left behind that was present in the past, but no longer. There is a common theme with psychometry phenomenon; emotionally charged situations seem to act as a catalyst that create this energy. It’s especially associated with brutal murders. Perhaps it’s a unique form of energy that the brain or spirit of a person generates when emotionally charged, and given the right circumstances, said energy can be translated into brain-wave patterns by people with the gift of psychometry.

 

B. Dimensional crosstalk:

 

What do we know about the world we live in? Exactly what constitutes our perception of reality? These are questions asked by our most brilliant minds, quantum physicists and the like. One popular theory known among such intellectuals is called String Theory, which was derived while pondering the dilemma of our inability to calculate the speed and position of an atom simultaneously. String Theory is bizarre, because it suggests that the structure of the physical universe is somehow, oddly enough, linked to consciousness. One element postulated from String Theory is the idea that for every choice a sentient being of freewill can make, there is a separate, alternate reality that branches off for that particular choice. In short, there are many parallel universes, and that the universe itself, would actually be more accurately described as a multi-verse. Even in the spiritual arena, while parallel universes are not discussed in the Bible, the idea that the Earth is a composite of different dimensions of existence is common knowledge among Bible scholars.

 

For example, most Christians know that the center of the Earth contains magma, and that no civilization can actually exist down there in our own dimension. However, the Bible speaks of a place called Hades, and mentions its location as being inside (within the heart of) the Earth; therefore, the concept of a multi-dimensional Earth is fully elaborated upon in the Bible. Beings there can see each other, and actually communicate, and neither of these activities would be possible if the beings in question were completely engulfed in lava.

 

The Bible actually mentions five separate areas within the Earth, each serving a unique function. In order for these areas to truly exist there as the Bible states, the Earth, and in fact the entire universe, must be composed of a multi-dimensional construct. This concept is actually agreed upon by both scientists and theologians.

 

Accepting that the Earth is multi-dimensional, we can understand the layering of dimensions through the concepts of frequency division multiplexing, or temporal division multiplexing, as they apply to a broadband signal. Consider a simple television satellite signal. A single broadband signal transmits down to a satellite dish, but within that signal are multiple channels covering many different frequencies, divided by special devices called multiplexers. They all peacefully co-exist, and for the most part, they have nothing to do with each other. However, on rare occasion, a bit of crosstalk occurs and the channels get a little mixed up, resulting in bizarre pixilation patterns. Someone might be watching Sponge Bob one second, then get a few seconds of Clint Eastwood saying “Go ahead, make my day,” then pop back over to Sponge Bob giffling.

 

What if what we’re seeing with ‘ghosts,’ is simply crosstalk from other dimensions? Instead of a multiple frequency signal, the actual atoms of our universe resonate at multiple frequencies, similar to a signal. If that’s the case, the entities aren’t disincarnate at all, but could actually be really physically there; it’s just that ‘there’ isn’t what we think it is. It’s somewhere else. And if we see them, and they see us too, then we probably look like ghosts to them!

 

C. Dimensional gateways:

 

Similar to crosstalk, I believe there is such a thing as a dimensional gateway that can be opened to disincarnate entities. Perhaps some of the other dimensions out there aren’t physical as we know it? Or maybe beings in those other dimensions are physical in their own dimensions, but when they cross over into our dimension, they aren’t physical anymore, or they are somehow less physical – perhaps semi-transparent?

 

For starters, I have to mention my friend R-man again, as a case in point. His house wasn’t haunted until he made it that way. He reached out, something answered, and he opened a door of sorts, because once the initial contact was made, the floodgate of paranormal activity was released into his home, and ultimately, his life. Things started flooding into his home, and they followed R-man around wherever he went. In essence, the crosstalk phenomenon is capable of being produced at will, which he did by communicating with spirits. If repeated enough times, as he did, it can create a weakness in the dimensional barriers that keeps worlds divided from each other, thus, forming a dimensional gateway.

 

On a positive note, the Bible mentions a more pleasant form of dimensional gateway. While R-man’s gateway opened up to darker worlds below, the pool of Bethesda mentioned in John 5:4, maybe an example of our world opening up to heavenly realms. Angels were said to touch the water on occasion, and give it healing properties. Call it a guess, but I suspect continual prayer in the same location, given by faithful people praying earnestly, creates an open door to heaven.

 

SO, if there is such a thing as dimensional gateways, as it states in the Bible, what people might be seeing aren’t all necessarily disincarnate entities; rather, they might be seeing into other dimensions, and perceiving whatever is there, be it physical or otherwise.

 

D. Temporal crosstalk:

 

So often I encounter Christians that simply label all ghostly phenomena as demonic, yet I wonder exactly how much of it actually is. To label some unknown thing so candidly and forget about it, as if the mystery is solved, is preposterous in my opinion. I don’t discount the realm of the demonic for what it is, but still, not everything is demonic. After all, what exactly do we know about our universe and the way it ticks? What controls the boundaries of time-space? What might influence the fabric of the cosmos in strange and unexpected ways?

 

According to Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, time and space are linked together. If you tweak one, you tweak the other. A wormhole punched in time-space that folds the fabric of space will affect not only space, but time as well. This too, links into the String Theory model, because of the grandfather paradox, which precludes the possibility of a freewill agent changing the past, thereby preventing the catalyst that changed the past in the first place. In other words, cause might not always precede the effect, which throws the linear time paradigm of human perception into a blender of confusion to say the least.

 

But time travel is definitely possible, at least as far as perception is concerned. The Bible is chalk full of something known as prophecy. In Jesus’ life alone, there are over 300 fulfilled prophecies, some dating to over 700 years before He was born. Fulfilled Bible prophecies are a widely regarded mystery, for even secular historians have difficulty in explaining how certain passages of scripture can be carbon dated prior to the dates of the events they predicted.

 

The prophets of Old and New Testaments of the Bible saw into the future; it was a common thread among all of them. They were holy men, anointed with the glory of God, and that glory gave them a peculiar vision into the future.

 

The Bible speaks of something associated with glory, called blessings and curses, almost as if they’re a physical property of the universe. I suspect they have something to do with dimensional variance. Blessings are good, such as the entire nation of Israel being blessed by the prophet Balaam in Numbers chapter 22, and when Isaiah blessed his son Jacob in Genesis 27:22-42. The same powerful energy of blessing was so saturated within the deceased body of the prophet Elisha that his dead bones brought a dead man back to life when his dead body touched them, according to 2 Kings 13:21.

 

On the flip side, curses represent a type of anti-glory; a death-like energy of destruction. The Bible speaks of places of cursed ground, like Sodom and Gomorrah, a barren wasteland where nothing grows, even to this day. The Bible also specifically states that the ground (defiled) is cursed in the event of murder (Numbers 35:33-34).

 

Perhaps the curse associated with murder, results in a thinning of the veil that divides our current dimension from one of the upper levels of hell? Is that not what haunting activity is? This, again, points back to the crosstalk example above, but with a temporal twist. Maybe instead of perceiving into another dimension, another possible side effect to the erosion of dimensional barriers can also include time. That being the case, it could be that in places where such a curse is in effect, a temporal distortion into the past is created, which might be perceived in the present, albeit dimly, or semi-transparently. This could explain several attributes of ghosts commonly thought to be confusing, such as the fact that ghosts are normally depicted wearing clothes. Why would they wear clothing, if they are purely spiritual in substance? How can clothes have an after-life, if they were never alive to begin with?

 

Again, maybe people aren’t seeing ghosts at all; maybe they’re actually seeing people and events in the past, because of a temporal distortion in time-space? What’s more, if places can be blessed or cursed, people can be blessed or cursed as well, as scripture clearly states in many places. Might such spatial or temporal distortions also affect blessed or cursed people wherever they go?

 

Ever wonder why the people of God mentioned in the Bible could see into the future? Maybe this is why? Blessed places and people erode a temporal inversion into the future, and spatial inversions into higher dimensions, namely the first of the three heavens mentioned in the Bible. Cursed places and people, on the other hand, erode a temporal inversion into the past, as well as a spatial inversion into lower dimensions, namely the dimensions of Hades in varying levels within the Earth. If this is true, then it might be the case, that people that see ‘ghostly’ haunting activity and tout their psychic abilities as something to be desired are actually cursed?

 

E. Actual entities:

 

Finally, so far, the above four examples mentioned types of physical phenomenon affecting the structure of the universe, and all four examples preclude the classic definition of a ‘ghost’ as commonly defined. But there are other explanations that don’t include physical phenomenon. For example, has every form of life been documented and categorized by biologists? Perhaps there are unusual, highly intelligent forms of life on Earth, which exist in states that we couldn’t even imagine? For all we know, there could be energy beings that can assume the shapes of other beings. Maybe they come from other planets, too? How can we ever be sure they don’t? Just because you don’t know about something, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

 

Not too long ago, I saw a story on a paranormal-type show about a woman who kept having dreams of the perfect house. This house was so real to her, she became obsessed with it. She drew out the floor plan, and told everyone in her family about it in infinite detail. She insisted that it had to be a real house somewhere, and someday, they would find it, buy it, and live there. Then one day, as the family was driving along in their car, the woman screamed at her husband to stop the car. There the house was, exactly as she saw it in her dreams, with a For Sale sign in the front yard.

 

She flew out of the car and ran up to the front door, yelling frantically back to her husband that they absolutely had to purchase the house at any cost.

 

When a man answered the door, he turned as white as a sheet when he saw the woman on the doorstep. “You’re the ghost we’ve been seeing in our HOUSE!” he yelled at her in terror. She was the reason they were selling the house, and for dirt cheap at that.

 

Just as the woman remembered in her dreams, the house fit every detail of her description she gave to her family. She knew the house, because she had BEEN there many times before.

 

Was she dead? No, she wasn’t. She was disincarnate, somewhat, but a better term to describe her was not as a ‘ghost,’ but rather, as someone who was astral projecting. It could be that many ‘ghosts’ people see aren’t dead people, but people that are alive and well, and astral projecting, either knowingly, or unconsciously.

 

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 Question:

 

4. Where can you find a ghost? And how?

 

 

I suspect ghosts can be found anywhere. Anyone who is constantly looking for them will find them. I don’t advise this activity; those who find ghosts may regret it.

 

I think that many spirits, especially demons, are constantly on the lookout for individuals, who are looking for spirits and experimenting with the occult, and they follow these people around, trying to get their attention, and ultimately their desire is to lead them down the path to demonic possession. The capstone achievement of any demonic entity is possession, for that is how demons fulfill their desires best–through the body of a host, and often an unwitting host.

 

The Bible doesn’t go into a lot of detail about how possession takes place, but all indications point to having a sinful lifestyle. It may be controversial to say this, but I have noticed in my years of ministry that sexual immorality in particular, especially homosexuality, breeds demonic activity more than just about anything else. My old pastor told me the story of his most dramatic poltergeist-infested confrontation while praying over the home of a practicing homosexual.

 

Please don’t get me wrong; I do not advocate hatred in any form; I know and love people caught up in the homosexual lifestyle. It’s just that the Bible defines it as sinful. God personally destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah primarily because of sexual immorality (Genesis 13). The men in the city wanted to rape God and his two angels when they entered the city; not a pleasant welcome, to say the least!

 

These days, they teach in the public education systems that homosexuality is an acceptable alternative lifestyle, but this is no surprise to me, because Jesus prophesied that this would occur. In Luke 17:29, Jesus is quoted as saying that in the end times, people would be just like those living in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Guess what? They are. These days, we have an entire generation of American youth that are being taught in the public schools that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were living acceptable alternative lifestyles. I don’t think God agrees with that assessment.

 

Unlike many Christians, I have many ideas and theories about ghosts that are not typical among Christians, but that doesn’t mean I don’t believe in the existence of demonic entities. I suspect that the world is saturated with both demons and human disincarnate entities, but the demons are far more powerful than human spirits, and therefore dominate the underworld. This is probably the primary reason why the Bible warns against communicating with spirits. Most likely those who do, end up with demons even if they don’t start with them.

 

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 Question:

 

5. Can ghosts protect you like an angel?

 

 

If we take the definition of ‘ghost’ as a disincarnate human spirit, then we need to distinguish their point of origin; are they visiting from heaven, or are they trapped on/in the Earth?

 

For those trapped on/in the Earth that are not in the presence of the Lord, and are therefore lost souls, even they used to be people, and they do all the things that people do, One thing to keep in mind about them, however, is if they’re lost souls, over time, they will become more selfish; if there was any love in them worth redeeming, they would appeal to God on His terms, but their refusal to accept God for who He is, and what He’s done for them, gives all the indication we need to see that they’re all primarily selfish. SO, if they protect someone, it could be that they haven’t been dead for too long and they might still exhibit some selfless qualities, but more likely than not, the longer they are dwelling in the darkness of the underworld, the more selfish, bitter, and hateful they become. In most cases, I think that communicating with deceased disincarnate humans is probably just as bad as communicating with demons.

 

Now on the flip-side of this question, I do believe that deceased human spirits in heaven can visit us on Earth, and perhaps help us, just like angels do. They’re instructed to keep a low profile, for certain very important reasons I’m sure, but I have no doubt they do this all the time.

 

My Great Grandmother Thelma, for example, saw her deceased husband as a young, vibrant man, surrounded in light, standing at the foot of her bed one morning; he was holding his hands out to her, calling for her to come to him. She told her daughter that day, “Rant came to me this morning, holding his hands out to me, wanting me to go to the Lord with him. I won’t be here much longer.” The very next day, she had a massive heart attack and died in seconds.

 

Now I’ve actually had Christians argue with me about this, telling me that what my Great Grandmother saw, was a demon disguised as an angel of light. My question to this is, why bother? My Great Grandmother was Christian of Christians – Holy Roller extraordinaire. Demons work to deceive and perpetuate evil; what evil was perpetuated in giving my Great Grandmother comfort in her salvation? It’s not like she didn’t have faith; she even saw Jesus twice in her lifetime, once accompanied with the complete healing of her paralysis she incurred after a stroke. She said Jesus walked into her hospital room and smiled at her, then left the room. When He left, so did her paralysis. So tell me, what would a woman like this have to be deceived about, with her husband holding his hands out to her, saying “Come on, your test is over now – get on up here and start the REAL LIVING!” I don’t see it; I think she saw my Great Grandpa Rant.

 

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 Question:

 

6. What’s the difference between a ghost and a demon?

 

 

This is a somewhat weighty theological question that takes some explaining.

 

To begin with, most people think that demons/devils and fallen angels are all the same things. They’re not. Angels, both faithful and fallen, are physical beings capable of physical interaction in the real world just like living people; they don’t possess anyone, because they don’t need to. They have their own bodies, which are fully immortal, and actually incapable of dying, (Luke 20:36). The Bible refers to them as ‘spirits’ in some instances, but just because they are ‘spirits’ doesn’t mean they don’t have bodies. Living humans are spirits too, and our spirits are clothed by our physical bodies.

 

For an example of angels exhibiting physical qualities, examine the angels that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19:1-3 that I just previously mentioned. In order to talk with Lot like a normal person, eat food, and grab and pull Lot’s arm on two occasions, (later in the same chapter), they had to be physical entities.

 

Then there’s Jacob, patriarch of the Old Testament, who even wrestled with an angel (Genesis 32:24-30, also referred to in Hosea 12:2-4). Wrestling is a seriously physical activity. Another extreme example of physical activity is found in Genesis chapter 6, also referred to in Jude 1:6, and 2 Peter 2:4. The Angels in these passages were interbreeding with people; this is as physical as physical gets. What’s more, they produced offspring, called the Nephilim; abhorrently evil, tyrannical giants, that reeked havoc on the Earth and were the root cause of bringing about the flood of Noah.

 

Angelic flesh is a different type of flesh than human flesh; in Jude 1:6-7, the Sodomites were said to go after strange flesh, also translated in the Greek as “heteros,” meaning “other” flesh. This is most likely in reference to the Sodomites having sex with angels. When God and two angels showed up in the city to destroy it, the people’s lustful reaction to them was most likely not something new. This city was most likely visited by lustful fallen angels who indulged themselves with the men and women of the city on a regular basis, just like the fallen angels did back in Genesis 6. The fact that giants, (the offspring of angelic/human intercourse), returned to the land of Canaan following the flood of Noah is proof that the events of Genesis 6 continued to occur after the flood of Noah, as it states directly in Genesis 6:4. God stopped these fallen angels the first time by bringing the flood of Noah; he stopped them again down in Sodom and Gomorrah by destroying those cities.

 

But the whole point of going off on this tangent is to explain that angels do have a type of flesh, albeit glorified flesh. They are powerful beings capable of supernatural feats, like flying and teleporting from place to place, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t physical.

 

When speaking of demons/devils, however, the Bible never gives a single reference to a demon that is capable of interacting in the physical world like living people do. Demonic beings are disincarnate, non-corporeal entities, and their only means of interacting in the physical world like people do, is by possessing people. That’s why whenever the Bible refers to them they are mentioned as being cast out of people.

 

So what are demons, and where do they come from?

 

Angels don’t die, but human/angel hybrids, the Nephilim offspring, did die; they were mortal just like people are. What’s more, one of the Greek terms used interchangeably with the term “Nephilim,” is “Rapha,” or “Raphah.” This term, which refers to the Nephilim, is the exact same word used for ghosts of the dead, shades, and spirits. Demons, therefore, are the ghosts of the Nephilim. These unnatural abominations have no hope of salvation; God revealed through the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 26:14 that the Nephilim have no resurrection. They wouldn’t have cared anyway because they were so evil, proud, and rebellious by nature—but God knew of this in advance, and felt compelled to inform the prophet Isaiah about it.

 

So to answer your question, the difference between a ghost and a demon depends on what the definition of ‘ghost’ is. If ‘ghost’ is used in a generic sense to refer to the disincarnate spirit of a being that once had a physical body, then demons are the ghosts of the Nephilim, human/angel hybrids dating back to Genesis 6, some 6,000 years ago. They are ancient beings, extremely powerful, and incredibly evil. They are not, however, to be confused with fallen angels.

 

One of the biggest reasons that I believe human spirits can wander the Earth, is because according to the Bible, demons are said to be able to do this. I’ve heard the argument that disincarnate human spirits can’t leave hell because in the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, the rich man requested that Lazarus warn his (the rich man’s) relatives about hell, so they would repent. Lazarus never left Abraham’s bosom (located in the paradise portion of Hades), however, even to warn the rich man’s living family members to repent (Luke 16:19–31). Because of this, it is commonly assumed by most Christians that no one would ever be allowed to leave hell (even the paradise portion of hell, which no longer exists) for any reason. I see a valid point in this reasoning, because I’ve never heard of anyone being warned by a deceased relative to repent or burn in hell. But I still don’t think this one parable about this one person is sufficient to draw a conclusion that applies to every situation. 

This one parable does not definitively disprove the existence of ghosts. The simple fact remains that the Bible documents many demonic possessions, and there has to be an explanation as to how this takes place. What if, for example, a murder curses the ground and creates an atmospheric anomaly that allows specific cursed beings access into that region of space? After all, Satan and his minions only have power in places where they’re given a foothold. This rule probably applies to people too. The rich man clearly had no right or authority to enter into Abraham’s bosom, nor did he have any right or authority to be given special access so he could warn his family members who were still alive—but then again, the rich man wasn’t brutally murdered. If he were, he might have been given special access to that location.

 

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 Question:

 

7. Do some ghosts look like people? And/or do some look like shadows?

 

 

Ghosts have many varying appearances; some aren’t visible at all, but only audible. For example, when I was thirteen years old, one night a voice roared my name in my ear so loud, it practically burst my eardrum. I was dead asleep, but the shout in my ear, which was physically painful by the way, made me leap up in my bed. The room was pitch-black, and the feeling of someone watching me was so thick in the air, I scrambled for the light to turn it on. There was something definitely there watching me, but I couldn’t see it. I turned on the light in our hallway and ran to my mother’s room, and her door was shut and locked. My mother never shut her bedroom door, much less locked it. I banged and kicked on the door for about five minutes, yelling as loud as I could to wake her, but something appeared to be keeping her from waking up. I ended up turning on every light in the house, and I also turned on the stereo and TV and cranked up the volume.

 

On another occasion, when I was six years old, I actually did see ghosts in my room. We had a visitor staying at our house that night; I didn’t know it back then, but now I know that person was a child molester.

 

On that night, the ghosts in question were most likely demons. They were about two feet long, semi-transparent, glowing green. They looked like little blobs of mist darting about the room, with two black holes for eyes, and a black frown for a mouth. They gave off an aura of paralyzing fear. I tried to call out to my brother on the other side of the room, but they removed my voice, and all I could do was whisper. When I tried to move, they rushed into my face, filling me with such gripping fear, all I could do was cry. I laid awake all night, occasionally opening my eyes to see if they left yet, and they wouldn’t leave until the sun came up the next day.

 

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 Question:

 

8. Can some people only see certain ghosts?

 

 

The Biblical term ‘familiar spirit,’ indicates that the same spirit(s) tend to associate themselves with certain people. That doesn’t mean that people who see spirits don’t see different spirits all the time, but for some strange reason, they do apparently tend to see certain specific spirits frequently. There is no specific reason why that I know of for this, but if there is any merit to the idea of people being assigned guardian angels, the flip-side of a guardian angel would be a familiar spirit. Perhaps the quaint mockery of the spirit realm, with a little devil on one shoulder, and a little angel on the other shoulder, contains more truth to it than we might think? While the overused joke seems silly, it actually holds theological merit.

 

The whole reason any being is allowed to exist, opposing the will of God, all boils down to God’s insistence that His sentient creations be allowed to have and express their freewill, so that their love for Him bears true meaning. God is love, (1 John 4:16), and without freedom of expression, love cannot exist.

 

Now this doesn’t mean freewill agents will be allowed to wreak havoc indefinitely; there is a time of testing; a time of mercy and grace, but ultimately, the great Day of Judgment waits for us all. And here is my point in mentioning this: it is on this day, when we all will see face to face, the identities of those voices that whisper choices in our ears, and it is then when we shall see which of those personalities we listened to, and trusted the most. Will it be those who dictated to us to ‘Take care of #1,’ to live for ourselves first and foremost, or will it be to those who whispered in a still, quiet voice, to consider others before ourselves?

 

Now aside from the issue of familiar spirits and guardian angels, just as I said before, seeing spirits is probably a spiritual gift, so some people have a propensity for it. But there are nearly an infinite number of variables that can create exceptions to this rule.

 

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 Question:

 

9. Are ghosts people who have died but never went to heaven or hell?

 

 

The Bible says that for believers in Christ, to be apart from the body is to be in the presence of the Lord, (2 Corinthians 5:8). That part of the question is easy to answer, except for the possibility of good spirits visiting the Earth. There is no mention in Scripture that I know of, of saved, redeemed spirits, being forbidden to return as angels to help us on occasion. I suspect angelic help in the form of redeemed believers, is actually common, but our conscious interaction with these spirits, appears to be rare. However, I’ve read of several accounts, where someone’s life was saved by a mysterious person, who was later revealed to be a deceased relative. On a show titled Beyond Belief, there was a true story about a woman walking through the forest crossed a rope bridge that partially snapped, and she almost fell to her death. Another woman in a nurse uniform happened to be on the other side, and she helped this woman across. Before thanking her for saving her life, the nurse was gone. Now the woman who was rescued remembered that this nurse had a name tag on her uniform, so she asked everyone she knew about this specific name. It was then that her parents confessed, that they adopted her as a baby, and they never told her. Her birth mother was a nurse with that exact name.

That story aside, as well of others in a similar vein, in general, angels give glory to God. They are usually very discreet, and avoid attracting attention to themselves. More often than not, they save us, and we don’t even realize it. We might figure that we had a close brush with death, and maybe God saved us, but that’s about it.

 

According to Scripture, there may be some legality issues regarding the matter of angels communicating and intervening in the affairs of humanity; read the book of Job—it speaks volumes regarding the odd relationship between God and Satan. As ludicrous as it might sound, Satan is big into fairness, of course, only when it involves him getting what he wants, but never when it involves him having to give something up. He’s the father of lies, and as such, also the father of hypocricy.

 

Satan’s accusations against God often involve our freewill, and include various tests that we go through, which all are designed to reveal the true intents of our hearts. That’s why God allows these tests. They involve an equal level of access to truth, and deception, blessings and curses—all of which work together to bring out the truth of whether or not we truly desire to follow God. SO, for every truth we are exposed to, a proportionate lie most likely comes with it. Whatever it is good spirits do, Satan will most likely argue his case to God that he should be allowed to send a proportionate counterfeit. Perhaps it is for this reason, that the good, faithful spirits in heaven limit their interactions with us. They don’t want to disturb the delecate balance God has in place, regarding our freewill.

 

As for those who do not believe in Christ with a saving faith, we generally assume from Scripture that they go to Hades, which has a wide variety of descriptions in the Bible. Hades is most prominently described as being inside of the Earth, and every description of this place sounds like a real, physical place, with a lot of pain and suffering involved.

And some of the worst places, in the lowest parts of Hades, are engulfed in flames.

 

How can Hades be physical, when our bodies have physically died? Easy, our bodies are just like the Earth we live on; they are multidimensional constructs. They physically die in our dimension, but live on in a lower dimension, with a less tangible consistency. Disincarnate spirits still have a type of body, albeit less physical as we know it.

 

The Bible indicates that there are multiple levels to hell. For example, Deuteronomy 33:22, and Psalm 86:13, both use the term “lowest hell,” which caries with it the idea that hell has different levels; the Earth is actually like an onion, with layers of dimensions. Therefore if someone dies and does not go to heaven, it can generally be assumed that that person goes to one of these levels of hell. The more debase the soul, the lower the lost spirit descends.

 

The parable of Lazarus and the rich man, which I already mentioned, is the most prominent and precise description of hell that most refer to when trying to prove a point that all unsaved people go to hell, but I suggest that it could be that only some people to go places in hell which are confining to the extent described in the parable, while other levels of hell are not as bad. The idea of a “lowest hell,” indicates to me at least, that the lower one goes, the worse it gets. Also, the clear description of a lowest hell in Scripture, implies that there are higher levels to this lost realm of the underworld.

 

A theory that I postulate in my books, is that areas where the ground is cursed, (because of sin, and especially the sin of murder), most likely overlap our current dimension into the upper levels of hell. It is in these places where demons, (or perhaps even disincarnate human spirits), are capable of entering our world in order to be seen by, and/or possess people. Multiple layers of bad things; a high order of frequent and consistent disobedience to the will of God in certain places, combined with people indulging in flagrant sinful activities visiting these places, are most likely the ingredients that lead to spirit possession.

 

With all of this information, to answer your original question, NO, ghosts are not people who have NOT gone to either heaven or hell.

If they are truly disincarnate human spirits crossing over into our dimension, they are either visiting from heaven, or roaming about in one of the upper dimensions of hell where they are perceived by people in our dimension. If there is a confusion about this, it is because of our understanding of the definition of hell, and the possibility that it can overlap into our current dimension, via curses, which might create portals.

The causes creating this phenomenon are wide and varied, but they do not equate to people somehow escaping God’s judgment. And in instances where some of the upper levels of hell might not seem so bad, keep in mind that even hell in its entirety, with all its inhabitants, will be thrown into the Lake of Fire at the conclusion of Judgment Day in the future.

 

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 Question:

 

10. Are ghosts mostly good or bad?

 

 

Disincarnate human spirits in heaven are saved; disincarnate human spirits not in heaven are lost. According to Jesus, none of us are good – not even one, so the question is saved vs. unsaved, not good vs. bad. That’s why Jesus died on the cross to save us. The cross wasn’t an option for Jesus, which is why He prayed to His Father in the Garden of Gethsemeny with such agony, asking if it was possible for “this cup” of his suffering on the cross to be taken away. The answer He received from His Father was, No. He prayed so ernestly, He was infliected with hematohidrosis, sweating blood, but the answer was still No.

But is it possible for any ghost to be good? Might some of them simply be lost, and searching for help? Might they be wrestless, as Able was after his brother Cain killed him, and his blood cried out to God from the ground? (Genesis 4:10). Hebrews 11:4 reiterates, that by faith, Abel spoke from the dead.

Abel was innocent, so in his case, he was saved – but not yet in heaven. That presents an interesting conundrum, to which there is a theological explanation, the full details of which span beyond this post, but I can at least say a few things. This happened before the cross, when there still existed a really nice place in the underworld, known as paradise, or Abraham’s Bosom, but it wasn’t “Heaven” where God’s throne is. Jesus very likely vacated that place when He died on the cross (Isaiah 61:6). That said, instances of saved saints from the Old Testament, appearing as ghosts, such as Abel, or Samuel’s ghost summoned by the Witch of Endor (1 Samuel 28), could be examples of spirits in the place of the righteous dead, in the underworld – in the heart of the Earth. But I think most scholars think that place was vacated.

Anyway, for this day and age, it could be that those who are not in heaven might exhibit what seem to be good qualities. Overall, we are to test the spirits, and judge all things according to its fruit. Any spirit proclaiming another Gospel, is a deceiving spirit. Any spirit that predicts things – that end up being wrong, is a a deceiving spirit. But what if there is such a thing as a Casper – a spirit that doesn’t seem to do any harm, or maybe even helps people from time to time?

What if a spirit is lost, or crying out for justice, or somehow trapped?

We can always pray for their salvation. There’s no prohibition against praying for the departed in Scripture, and I do it all the time when I sense spirits around me. I especially do this in places where I suspect a curse might have been unleashed – as what happened with Cain and Able. We hear of hauntings all the time, so maybe good spirits can get stuck, and they’re just wanting for angels to show up and escort them home? Scripture says, to be apart from the body, is to be in the presence of the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8). The insinuation hints that this transition is immediate, but what if it isn’t? What if there’s a slice of time in between? What if the spirit in question has unfinished business? What if they see the light, and the invitation to go there is before them, but they’re not quite ready to go yet, because their care for loved ones weighs so heavy on them, that they would choose to delay that union with God?

Or what if a horrible injustice was committed, and the blood of their spirit is crying out?

Just sayin…

I know that the Apostle Paul criticized some folks for their practice of baptizing the dead, because he seemed to think it was silly that they did so. They were Scribes, and didn’t believe in a resurrection of the dead in the future, so why did it even matter to them? (1 Corinthians 15:29). However, it’s interesting to note that his reasoning for criticizing them, was to point out the discrepency in their beliefs, rather than to suggest that there was no afterlife. Indeed, Paul belived there is an afterlife.

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11. Do little kids see ghosts better?

 

 

Perhaps; the ghosts (or probably demons in my case), I saw in my bedroom, I saw when I was 5 or 6 years old. I have never seen any so clear as that ever since. If this is true, I have no idea why. Perhaps children are more open to everything around them, or their atomic resonance vibrates at a higher frequency because of thier innocence and purity.

 

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 Question:

 

12. Can ghosts try to tell you something? Can they be messengers from the dead?

 

 

Regarding spirits that have gone to heaven, I already touched upon this; there are most likely some cosmic legality issues regarding angelic communication with the living.

Also, Scripture is clear about divination being forbidden. We shouldn’t attempt to consult with the dead using occult practices/techniques. The reasoning for this likely has to do with the vast amount of deception in the underworld. The lower realms are under the dominion of powerful demonic entities. Even in this realm, Satan is the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2), so his hold over the underworld is probably even more intense. Bottom line: most of the entities that are trapped there, have used their freewill to reject God for various reasons. By doing that, they forfeited their divine protection.

Regarding lost souls, whether saved and sticking around, or truely lost and rebelling against God, they are often trying to tell us something.

Consider the fact that most, if not all lost spirits, seem to have one thing in common: they put other things before God, up until their day of death. Many if not most, have exchanged their desire to know and unite with God, who is infinite love; the source of their creation, for tangents, for temporal obsessions; for lies. Even those with unfinished business related to other loved ones, are not trusting the God that they see before them, residing in the light. Seeing that light, why doesn’t it occur to them to go directly to the source of all creation, and intercede to Him directly, placing all their gut wrenching prayers at His feet? I have to ask – where’s the trust? Do they honestly think they can do more for their loved ones by sticking around as ghosts, rather than making their appeals directly to God?

That being said, is it any wonder that we hear such an odd mixture of messages from beyond the grave? Haunting activity is varied, but usually involves some type of obsession; a mother searching for a child, lovers who took a suicide pact, a firefighter still on the job, a former owner of the house that never wants to leave, and on and on it goes. All these souls definitely have things to say, but they need to be making their appeals to God, not us!

 

Thanks for your interest in my research, and please feel free to send me an email or check out my website anytime. I’m not sure how you heard of me, since I’m an obscure author, so in case you didn’t know my website, it’s http://www.JohnMilor.com.