Reminder for Halloween - Ghosts have feelings too

A guest blog by Isadora, Pagan priestess and psychic.

Halloween is fast approaching and, as a Pagan, I celebrate the festival of Samhain (the Pagan word for Halloween). This would have been the time in the past when our ancestors would have decided which livestock to slaughter, to see them through the time when food would be short in the coming winter months. The old and sick of the tribe or village may not make it through a tough winter; there were countless reasons to think about death. This is why we believe the veil between this world and the next is thin at this time and why is an opportune moment to contact our ancestors and friends who have passed on and invite them to join us if they wish.

It is also believed that all kinds of supernatural beings walk at this time of year. Many old folk traditions live on today, including lighting lanterns and dressing up as ghosts and ghouls. I feel that this is harmless fun that at least has some connection with the folk traditions of Britain.

However, I find the increasing number of ghost hunts run by paranormal research teams, with a medium in tow, quite sickening.

I went to once in Powys. As a medium and psychic myself, I had been aware of presences during the day, watching what was happening at a mind, body and spirit fair.

Then, when everyone gathered in the theatre for the ghost hunt, the atmosphere turned to one of absolute terror and despair - not from the audience but from the disembodied spirits, once people who had lived their lives and laughed and cried in that place.

They realised they were now to be hunted and jeered at, goaded into performing tricks to prove their presence to satisfy the grisly needs of the paying public. I left in tears, feeling their pain and distress.

People forget what spirits are. They are disembodied people, for the most part. That’s right people; it could be your great grandmother; it could be a child the same age as yours who is wandering between worlds desperate for help to pass over to the light, to be reunited with their loved ones.

Very occasionally, I have met ghosts who love the attention they get during a ghost hunt. Far more concern me, particularly those who do not know they are dead and those trapped by unresolved issues. These are distressed spirits who need help to pass over. I cannot understand why, once researchers have discovered a spirit, they do not call a medium to find out what that spirit wants and then help it pass to the light? I believe this is their duty, if they are ethical.

In the Victorian era the wealthy paid to go to lunatic asylums, to poke fun at the mentally infirm. This horrifies us now and, I hope one day we will be equally appalled at the way we treat our lost spirits.

If you ever think about going on a ghost hunt, ask yourself this one question: would you pay to see a frail old lady or a child locked in a cage? One who can never feel the warmth of human touch or taste the sweetness of food and drink? Someone who is in distress because their family has disappeared and they don’t know why? A human being who will stay in this state for all eternity unless their anguished cries are heard and heeded?

If you wouldn’t support that kind of explotation, please don’t go on a ghost hunt.