There are many types of hauntings from the mundane to the downright terrifying. JANET QUINLIVAN explains how a ghost is not just a ghost by giving us a beginners guide to hauntings.
Elemental Hauntings
Elementals are known as spirits of the Earth. They look after the land, the skies the water and the plant life. Elementals typically don’t like city areas and do most of their work out in the open countryside and parks. Elementals don’t take kindly to damage and destruction of the land and are said to cause ‘act of god’ like disasters like floods, landslides and earthquakes. There are four different type of elemental spirit:
Earth Elementals
These are known as Elves, Gnomes, Brownies or tree people. They tend to live in the roots of trees and underground in forests and wooded areas. They are willing to help humans if humans show them kindness but they can be very mischievous.
Water Elementals
They are called Undines, they appear very human like and are known as very graceful and beautiful creatures. Water Elementals live in waterfalls and under lake and river plant life. They control the tides and the flow of the water and look after the plant life of the seas, lakes and rivers. They have a King called Necksa, whom they adore.
Fire Elementals
Fire elementals are called Salamanders, they would often appear as lashing tongues of fire or fire balls. Salamanders have a fire king called Djin who is said to be terrifying and awe-inspiring if seen. It’s said no fire would exist without a salamander being present and they are said to be the most powerful of the elementals.
Air Elementals
These elementals are called Sylphs. It’s said that Sylphs live mostly on mountain tops with their Queen Paralda living on the top of the tallest mountain on earth. Although with this being the case many say that they can be seen in the sky in the shapes of the clouds and will appear as human for a short time. They are the most beautiful of the elementals appearing with wings of green and blue. They control the air we breathe, the wind and clouds.
Poltergeist Hauntings
Known as supernatural beings that causes disturbances such as the moving of furniture, making lots of noise and sometimes affecting people with levitation and physical attacks. For hundreds of years the Poltergeist was thought to have been demons on earth playing with and tricking their victims.
It’s said a Poltergeist is caused by recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis. This would mean it is brought on by a person living in the home rather than a spirit being attached to the home, land or an object. Sometimes the person can be going through exceptional trauma or stress and other times is down to adolescence, although poltergeists are not always linked to teenagers as the movies would have you believe.
Human Spirit Hauntings
Sometimes we think of ghosts as the soul of a person who is trapped between this life and the next or a soul who has come in visitation to a certain place or person. Its said that ghosts can be attached to a person, a place or even an object. This generally comes in two categories.
Residual Haunting
This is more like a tape recording, where the actions of the ghost are repetitive. They may not see or hear you or react to a person being there. They will perform the same actions and movements as they did when they were alive. Even sounds can be residual, such as when I heard the steam train on an old railway line closed for 60 years!
Intelligent Haunting
This type of spirit will react to your questions and are aware of their surroundings although they may not be aware of the year or indeed the that they are dead. Sometimes they may require help to ‘cross over’ to the next place or they may just be happy doing what they are doing.
Shadow People Hauntings
These hauntings are not usually forthcoming in answering questions or acting residually. They are a whole other category and are often said to be a bad omen for a place. Some believe they are people having outer body experiences or time travellers. We often see them as a fleeting glimpse of a black human form for the corner of our eye or sometimes we see them there fully. They are solid black and not the typical ‘see through’ look of a ghost.
Demon Hauntings
Demons are totally different to all of the above and are classed as intelligent, cunning and evil. They can manipulate and control, they can possess and outsmart. A Demon haunting begin similarly to the poltergeist hauntings, it will be subtle but quickly progress. Sometimes the power will go, or bulbs will burst however this will escalate to a long power out with water leaking and things moving around the house.
Most ghost hauntings happen throughout the day or night whereas demonic hauntings tend to begin around 9pm and stop around 6am. Demons can change shape and often pretend to be spirits to fool the homeowners into thinking it’s a standard haunting, they can also do harm such as scratching, biting or slapping. They are not something to be confronted easily, there are specialists out there that study the art of demonology to help others in need.
Have you seen any of these? Tell us in the comments section below!
