Why ghosts?
Part of an address given by Meryn Jones to the annual meeting of the Celtic Society
As some of you know, I have studied many philosophies, many histories, many religions in this lifetime and in many others. Those of you who have read my books know that I have assimilated much from these sources, and also from my own meditations. Many scholars and churchmen disagree with me. That is of course their privilege. But for those who seek answers may I put forward this small contribution to the understanding of some of the more unusual phenomena which sometimes puzzle those to whom they occur.
Like Hamlet, I believe there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of in our philosophies.
Like many religions of the world, I believe the soul goes on many journeys through many lifetimes, in many forms. It is given choices and it makes them. And it never dies. The ideal destination of the Celtic soul is of course Tir n’an Og, the land of the Ever Young. The Isle of the Blessed.
But, like the Celt, I also believe in a form of reincarnation. Some believe, and I agree with them, that the soul, on occasions, splits into three parts on death, one part to reincarnate, one to go to the Blessed Isle and one part to enter another life form – perhaps a bird or a shooting star. Others believe, and I agree with them, that sometimes the entire soul returns to this Earth in a new body. Others again believe, and I agree with them also, that the soul can choose to return to this Earth as a spirit. As a ghost. Indeed sometimes this occurs inadvertently and the soul finds itself trapped on this Earth.
The Celts believed passionately that one’s ancestors stayed in touch. They consulted them much in the way that many eastern religions still do. They are told all the news. They are available for consultation and advice and have strong views on everything. This implies of course that sometimes the soul just stays somewhere on another plane, ready to be of service in this way, and that too I believe.
On top of these strands of belief we have an assumption that everything has spirit. Not just animals, but plants – trees – rocks – everything. To the modern and to the Christian mind this has up to now been an anathema, but particle physics would appear to be bringing some interesting new angles on this. This is valuable for people who need scientific reassurance for everything they believe for fear they may be considered flaky and New Age. The Celt believes the evidence of his own eyes, his own inner or second sight and his intuition.
The choices the soul makes can leave it unhappy. The life it has led may not have been full of glory. It may have ended in anger, sorrow, unfulfilment. Some will go for another crack of the whip in a new lifetime. But others haunt the scenes of their last life. And in doing so they can grow frustrated and angry because they find that people on the whole cannot see or hear them. If they find people who can and who welcome them, they will make use of them.
Most souls, like most people, gossip inconsequentially. They seize on things to say which they feel will reassure or convince. Hence some of the less than world-shaking comments that mediums so frequently relay.
But some souls have a huge agenda. And this is where danger can lie. The men and women who inadvertently allow them into their lives can find themselves drawn into events over which they have no control and which can put their lives and their sanity in danger.
Beware, my friends. Think carefully before you let a passing stranger inside your head. I have seen what happens if you do.