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Cleansing Rituals and Closure in Ghosthunting
by
Melissa Martin Ellis
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- Some teams close investigations with rituals
- Rituals focus on site and those involved
- Rituals for spirits common in some cultures
- Click here for The Everything Ghosthunting Book
Not all paranormal teams follow their investigations with a ritual. In other cultures, where the belief in spirits is commonplace, it is not a strange concept at all.
In Japanese communities throughout the world, August is a time to celebrate the Obon festival. It is widely believed that during this time, the spirits of ancestors return to the real world to visit their relatives.
The Japanese honor their ancestors in various ways, with festivals and food offerings, and by visiting graveyards and cleaning their ancestors’ graves. They hang lanterns to invite the spirits into their homes. At the end of the festival, floating lanterns are placed in rivers, lakes, and seas to guide the spirits back to the otherworld.
It is a widespread belief that the spirits of people who were unhappy or met a violent end may linger on in the physical plane as spirits called yurei. As is the case in many other cultures, these spirits linger simply to find closure.
We hear this same tale over and over again, from the British Isles to ancient Greece. The practice of ritual cleansing before and after contact with the supernatural is known to many cultures.
As a society that was formed from the cultural blending of many nations, Americans have a diversity of opinions and practices concerning the afterlife and ghosts.
Recently, a cultural consensus seems to have emerged, at least among those in the paranormal community, concerning what is deemed proper procedure after an investigation.
Most groups indicate that they think it is wise to bless the house, its inhabitants, and themselves at the end of an investigation. These rituals can range from the simplest to the most complex and differ widely from group to group and region to region.
...from The Everything Ghosthunting Book.
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