Residual Hauntings: A Theory

[scott]

The whole tape-loop concept just doesn't sit right with me. Yet so many of us accept this as one major type of haunting. Nowhere in nature do things keep repeating identically while being impervious to outside forces. Yes, the Earth rotates, and life operates in cycles, but isn't it all dependent on a delicate ecological balance to maintain its rhythm? Do you think the maintenance of battlefields and castles like the Tower of London is all that is required to keep the loops playing?

What do you think of the theory that while some spirits get stuck in our space, other spirits get stuck in time? Could the so-called residual hauntings be actual conscious spirits but in their own repetitive hell? Could the Gettysburg ghosts be teaming up to replay their nightmare like war veteran catatonics stuck in their own post-traumatic stress? Only these people died before they could recover. Just a thought. I'd love to know what you think.
--scott

 

[jritzmann]

I've thought sometimes that it could be a soul recalling a point in time. You know how traumatic events recall to us...we tend to replay that thought over and over sometimes. Perhaps thats what we see as residual. The soul may be "elsewhere" but the visual manifests here due to the strength of the emotions of the soul that is recalling it, along with perhaps the right environmental conditions.

The shop I recently lease as I said in another thread is on the grounds of a 1700's Inn that was the only stop between York PA and Baltimore. An old female has been seen going up the steps in a grey busel dress several times by the owner and guests (one included my no B.S. no-nonsense Grandma). The owner has conveyed to me that he's seen a man and woman together which interacted with him back in the early 70's-they welcomed him home and told him to sit and relax as they left the room, and somewhat recently saw a Union Solider in the oldest part of the house by the fireplace (which he said had blonde hair, and a perfect uniform...from the knees up-he had no bottom legs) which looked at him got wide eyed and dissolved right in front of him somewhat slowly.

Any of these could be residual (with the exception of the interaction) where the spirit seems to be in some kind of deep thought. Could it be the very thought that is manifesting? Or, are we causing the manifestation by being at the right place and time?

Who knows, but I find all of it really fascinating.

 

[Raevenskye]

I think that some residual spirits are "doomed" to replay the same act over and over, but I don't believe this explains all residuals/imprints. That may be the case if a spirit is striving to learn a lesson from their actions, or is still having trouble working something out. I still think, tho, that there would be some kind of interaction with a spirit that is actually there, and not just an imprint. Maybe that spirit would deviate slightly, in your presence, or something.
I saw my own imprint once, in an area of my old apt. where something traumatic had taken place months before. It startled and amused me, but it was definitely me, down to the clothes I was wearing at the time. I was on the fence about imprint until I saw that. I haven't seen myself since! This is how I believe most residual hauntings are created or "recorded". I would hate to think, however, that when I cross over, any part of my consciousness will go back to that place! In the context of my life, it was simply a blip on my radar.

 

[Aponi]

My theory is that so-called hauntings that seem to be the same event replaying over and over are not really hauntings, but more of an echo, of sorts. Maybe there is something about the magnetic field in certain locations, or particular environmental conditions that need to occur, or maybe it has to do with the energy expended during the initial event. Some combination of things happens and the event is recorded into the environment somehow. Those receptive to it can pick it up at certain times, just like moving the antenna on old TV set.

If there is interaction, response, or varied action on the part of the "ghost" then that seems more likely to qualify as a genuine haunting by an entity of some kind.

Both are equally interesting, though.

 

[CapnG]

What do you think of the theory that while some spirits get stuck in our space, other spirits get stuck in time?

Having lived in more than one house that seemed occupied by a ghost with a repetitive behaviour, I'd say it's pretty legit.

 

[Raevenskye]

What do you think of the theory that while some spirits get stuck in our space, other spirits get stuck in time?

Having lived in more than one house that seemed occupied by a ghost with a repetitive behaviour, I'd say it's pretty legit.

are you ruling out the possibility that the spirit may choose to stay here? (asuming a lot of things, of course)

 

[CapnG]

are you ruling out the possibility that the spirit may choose to stay here? (asuming a lot of things, of course)

Well, with a heavy dose of assumptions, no. We are creatures of habit after all, most of us tend to eat and sleep at the same time of day each day and so that desire for "structured activity" may exist beyond death. But that's making a boat load of assumptions. All I know is what I've personally experienced, which tends to be a repetitive pattern of activity.

 

[Poi]

My theory is that so-called hauntings that seem to be the same event replaying over and over are not really hauntings, but more of an echo, of sorts. Maybe there is something about the magnetic field in certain locations, or particular environmental conditions that need to occur, or maybe it has to do with the energy expended during the initial event.

That's something I've considered in cases of repetitive phenomenon. I wondered if human emotion had something to do with impressive imprints, coupled with other active processes such as thought, a magnetic force and whatever.

That's vague and unformed to a great degree too. It also doesn't explain some sort of interaction between the observers (guy/ghost.) Maybe that's a totally different phenomenon we've lumped with the repetitive stuff.

 

[Aponi]

"It also doesn't explain some sort of interaction between the observers (guy/ghost.) Maybe that's a totally different phenomenon we've lumped with the repetitive stuff."

Exactly. I think they are two entirely different things, and should be thought about and investigated in different ways.