Article by The Dragonfly Extreme
To the surprise of many, there are "misconceptions" and various beliefs about the dead that some have never thought about. Granted, during my time in this field, I have seen the results of these beliefs in front of me in the form of a terrified person, the source of these "feelings" actually have roots in history.
From cutting off the heads of the deceased to "keep the spirit busy looking for their head, thus keeping them away from the living" to closing the eyes of the dead for the same reason, although we do this today in the form of respect, the reasons always revolve of this inherient fear of the spirits of the departed or what we commonly call "ghosts". Interestingly enough, one thing that is an ancient practice on Sahmain (Sow-en), or "All Hallows Eve" which is modernly known as Halloween, the sacred Celtic New Year and Pagan holiday when the dead come back one night a year to visit the living, a huge part of the belief of Sahmain is placing a candle in the window to "guide the dead back home". Empty plates and seats at the dinner table are placed the night of Sahmain to welcome the deceased loved one's spirit back home on this sacred occasion. The belief is that if they make them happy for this one night a year by feeding them that they will leave the living in peace the rest of the year.
The more I study these types of beliefs the more central the objective of what we consider mundane or ordinary practices to the bizzar as doing things to confuse the dead as described above by cutting off the head of the dead to make the spirit busy looking for it center around the wide belif that for some reason the living and the dead do not belong together. These traditions were implemented to do just that, keep the living and dead seperate. This was seen by many as natural. However, shaman and other psychic and spiritualists see things very differently.
Some people that have awakened their psychic gifts, also called "sensitives" today, say that they can see the spirits of the dead and other types of spirits and communicate with them. It's a daily life thing for a psychic to see a "ghost". The main belief among psychics and shaman is that there are multiple dimensions and these dimensions intertwine. They say that we unconsciously communicate with the spirit world all the time and it's a very natural thing. As many as my try, some psychic phenomena just cannot be debunked. From Houdini to the fictional movie "Ghostbusters" to modern day "Ghost Hunters" and "Paranormal Investigators", the psychics or "sensitives" are always put to a harsh test to try to debunk their views and claims. Acceptance of the Unknown and thus the fear of it seems to be a central theme in all these concepts wether it be sharing "space" with spirits to communicating with them. As long as recorded history has existed, so have traditions and beliefs that involve the dead, or more correctly stated, keeping the dead confused, happy, and away from the living in many ways.
It is also a belief that doors, windows, mirrors and such are portals for spirits to enter or leave through. This is akin to the Pagan tradition for Sahmain of placing the candles in the windows. In addition to this, the legend of the Jack-O-Lantern comes into play. In Druidic practices, the Jack-O-Lantern represented the Head of Bran. It was a legend of a man named Bran that the Celts defeated and cut off his head, riding around on their horses with his head on their spears or flagpole as a sign of vistory over threat and prosperity for the Celtic people. The Head of Bran then became a symbol of protection of homes from this tale. This is what is known today as the Jack-O-Lantern. The Pagan belief that on All Hallows Eve, not only did the dead come back, the veil between the world of spirit and the physical world was almost dissipeared for this one night a year. Not only ghosts could and did come to the physical world, so did other "spooks" and "misfortune". Ghouls, goblins, the fairy folk that love to play pranks and other types of unwanted things would threaten their home. People played a part in this belief also, because given human nature, people would take advantage of these beliefs and customs and create their own mischief and danger to others. So, when the Jack-O-Lantern was placed on the doorstep of the home, it protected the home of all misfortune from all these sources or any source on All Hallows Eve. This is only one of many legends of the Jack-O-Lantern.
In other legends the Jack-O-Lantern is a light spawned by a warning spirit and thus considered protection from "the other side". Either way, the Jack-O-Lantern legends coincide with these beliefs and fears of the dead and Unknown.
Some people believed that the dead would return from the way they left, like through the open window as they did when they first died. They would open the window to let the departed back in the way they left and then seal the window to welcome the spirit. Some had special doors built for the dead so their doors they used daily would stay "clean" of spirits and this would mean their doors would stay clean from death itself. Many believed that contact with the dead would bring death to the home. I still find myself acting out some of those beliefs unconsciously in daily life such as the old tale if you hear your name being called and a living person did not speak, if you answer that call then you would die. This is akin to a misconception of a "Banshee".
In many cultures, especially Celtic traditions, a Banshee was a spirit that was not human that would wail or cry out in a manner no one living or dead could ignore or not hear the wail. When the wail was heard by the living, it was a warning that death would soon touch the family of the one or ones that heard the cry of the Banshee. It is described as a shrill scream and never described as sounding human at all in origin. Banshees are from the legends of the "little people", "wee people", or fairy folk. The word Banshee actually means "female fairy" but it somehow became baneful and dreaded and did many legends of the fairy realm. A popular Celtic legend involving the Banshee is they would go from door to door knocking. If you opened the door and didn't look to see if the knock was physical in origin or human in origin, then the Banshee would take you to your death right then or soon after. In this version, the Banshee would have a wheelbarrow to carry off the one that they took to "death". I still catch myself answering when I think someone called my name, finding no one to do so and immediately I think about the legend. I stop for a moment, even though my logic tells me differently. I do this unconsciously. I also always look out the peephole of my door to see who knocks. While this is practicle for safety these days, the reason on my mind at the time is not only safety but I automatically look for someone physical. I have done this before, opening the door without seeing what was knocking, peeping around the door not thinking to find no one there and BOOM, it hits me, that old legend of the Banshee and the wagon or wheelbarrow.
No matter how you feel about spirits or "ghosts", these beliefs are steeped in tradition and fear and we all will catch ourselves in a "protective" act every now and then or in a second thought about what just happened and what legend it's linked to.
Some people actually would make a hole in the wall to take the dead out through and then wall it up again just so the deceased's spirit would not have a way back in because the way through which they came is non-existent! They would also rush the coffin around to confuse the dead so they would not KNOW the way they left to find it again to come back. The grandchildren, if there were any, of the deceased were whisked round the coffin to get the attention of the dead while it was being rushed around, thinking since the grandchildren were most treasured that this would help distract them enough to get them out and the spirit not find their way back in. They also feared the treasured grandchildren were targets for the deceased and because of this love of them that the deceased would come back and take the grandchildren with them.
Even our ways of showing greif and respect for the deas was once used to scare the dead and in turn scaring away the ghost. Firing guns, wailing, ringing bells, and beating on the grave were used to scare the dead away. Another practice still used today is leaving gifts for the dead at the gravesite. This was done historically to "keep the dead happy". Some customs also buried leaders with the dead to which they attatched tubes so they could feed the dead. Nothing worse than a hungry ghost, 'eh? Where have I heard that before?
"Houseleaks", or a plant called "sempervivium" which means "ever living was believed that the dead could not stand to be in its presence. Jimson weed was believed by the Aztecs to protect people and places from the dead. This may have came from the common belief that the dead were jealous of the living for having life that they did not possess. Candles, bonfires and the Jack-O-Lantern all seems to serve the same purpose, to protect the living from the dead in many traditions.
People would leave candles by their bed to protect themselves from ghosts. The french equal armed cross is believed to protect from evil and Cabalists used hexograms to protect from evil and spirits.
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