Were most of you that believe in ghosts bought up by people that also believed?

Question

Is that how people who believe in the supernatural learn to think like that? When something strange happened did your mother say "Oh, that's probably just the wind causing that." or did she think you were being haunted?

The believers are constantly claiming to see and hear things that aren't there but also deny that there is aything wrong with them.

So this is perhaps what they have been taught to believe?

Answer 1

My father didnt believe in ghosts, but my mother was a strong believer and used to tell us ghost stories when we were small. Take a look at the link for some ghostly pics and vids.

Answer 2

My parents always played down that ghost's were not real. As did my Christian upbringing. Spirits got judged and sorted - they were not supposed to hang about.

I did get the myth through books though - cartoons etc, So I knew the basic theory.

Then I saw one. Couldn't make out what it was. - About 2ft long, chest hight, sort of a thick S shaped blob - with a definate darker eye at the front side (presuming there was another on the other side)

Just floated really slowly through my wall in a perfect straight line. I jumped up and had a really good look at it. Like a solid gray mist - then followed it untill it dissapeared slowly into the opposite wall.

As I was walking around it - (front to back because of furniture), I certainly don't think it was an illusion - I was moving all over the place - it's course was very constant.

Yes I now believe in them, but don't see them like that. I seem to get residual stuff at places, and experience things more than see with normal eyes.

Answer 3

I was brought up into thinking that ghosts didn't exist. When my sister and I thought something scary was outside when we were home alone, or the hairs on my neck stood up, we were told it was simply because we were being paranoid.

I'm a firm believer that ghosts exist, I've felt them, I've seen them, I've heard them. It's a natural phenomenon that shouldn't be labeled as something scary or ungodly.

It's real.. It's as real as the air you breathe.

It's sad that some people will never accept it. They're in serious need of a reality check.. And I'm not joking.

When the truth hits them in the face.. Chaos.

Answer 4

I was brought up in the Catholic Church. We were taught that saints could appear to people..but I think we thought they only appeared to good people or special people. When a saint etc. appeared to people I think we thought that meant those people were holy. I knew I didn't fall into the holy group. So I didn't think any of them would ever appear to me. I always wished Mary would appear to me. Jesus appearing was just too far out there to even imagine.  I don't think I thought about angels appearing..or people (except the above mentioned..I mean like family members)

But, I think after my daddy & mother died..if something happened..we might have said,"Well..that was Mama..or Daddy". It was never like an apparition or things flying around. We lived in a 2 story  house & I was scared a lot.I didn't know what I was scared of...just something bad..a bad feeling. I just recently found out that a young man hung himself in the house right before we bought it.Other things would happen to me..but I didn't realize it had anything to do with spirits.

  Then years ago...a LOT of spiritual things happened to me..and a great "awareness". I was astounded..never expected anything like that. It wasn't scary. It was very exciting and fascinating. But, I didn't understand that I was being deceived. So now I don't know if all of it was from bad spirits..or part of it from good spirits. I know I misunderstood a lot of what they were trying to tell me. I wondered why they didn't choose somebody smart..instead of a dummy like me who didn't know what to do with all of it. Wish they hadn't chosen me. It lasted for 10 years and ended badly.

Answer 5

I was not.  I did not know my father nor his people, but my mother was not a believer.

Answer 6

For my part my family encouraged active investigation as well as creative thought. Look for the source of the sound or what you might see. If you don't find it what could it be and how could you try to see if something could sound or look like that. I have had experiences that can be explained by rational examination (like semi-conscious information processed while sleeping seeming to be precognition) and experiences that still defy conventional explanations.

No, they are claiming no such thing you are claiming while not actually present or having their experience that their experience did not happen. Most people that have experiences would argue that there was something there to hear and see (of course even a hallucination is something that can be seen if not captured for study). I tend to believe the people that are actually present rather than arm chair after the fact analysis from people that have already decided based on their belief systems that such things can't happen. This is what Martin Truzzi co -founder of CSICOP that left in disgust meant when he coined the term psuedoskeptic.

Yes, they deny that there is anything wrong with them just as most medical doctors that examine them and mental health professionals that evaluate them also agree that they do not have any medical conditions or mental disorders that could explain their experiences.

I agree that certainly belief systems can play a part in how people approach their experiences and the world around them. For example some people support open minded investigations where others prefer to believe that only having something wrong with you can explain an unusual experience. You will see on this forum that some people take a religious approach while others take a more physical sciences approach, while still others take a human experience/psychology approach.

Psi

Answer 7

I believe in ghosts because I saw my first one at 6 years old.

I have seen many since.

Answer 8

I was having some experiences and my mother didn't understand but my grandmother did and warned me not to talk to anyone else about it just her - she is gone now but she knew

Answer 9

My parents dismissed a lot as the wind and over active imagination.

It was not until my late teens when I finally confronted them and told them of what I had seen and heard, that they let me in on their beliefs. Both of my parents are skeptical believers,

a fact that was hidden until I had come to my own conclusion.

Answer 10

My mother was a like a dark entity. She was negative about everything, so she was not a believer.

However, the house I grew up in had a lot of different activity. That's how I became interested in it.

My dad had some experiences as well, especially when my mother had died.

When my dad was about to re-marry, the lights in the house kept flickering. So dad addressed the issue by assuming it was a message from my mother.

He told her to stop bothering him, that he was going to get married. And then the lights stopped flickering.

Answer 11

My mother strongly believes in ghosts because she has seen them.  My father on the other hand said that ghosts do not exist and he would sleep alone in the most so-called "haunted" place in the world without even thinking twice.  I think he was just bluffing!

Answer 12

I was brought up in a very Catholic home.  Ghosts and the paranormal were never discussed, but when I saw my grandfather's ghost as a child and told my mother, she thought it was an overactive imagination.   I just never told them that grandpa was visiting us a lot!  When I was about 8 or 9, I saw a whole houseful of ghosts in an old residential school being torn down close to our home.  Again, I didn't share this with my family, knowing they wouldn't believe me or worse, ground me!  You ask how we believers learn to think like that?  Experience is what taught me.  I knew I was seeing ghosts, I didn't need anyone to teach me that.  I can hear them, see them, feel them.  That isn't taught, it's really a wonderful gift, in my opinion.

Answer 13

No. The parents were strict religious zealots. The spirit goes to heaven they would say. But, I have seen three ghosts. And, they were very real. I have yet to talk to any, but I believe this can be done.

Answer 14

No.  No one in my family believes in "ghosts".

Some learn to believe thru religion & most others learn to believe thru experience.

Just because one has an experience that cannot be explained or one that is not seen by human eyes does not mean that they have something mentally or physically wrong with them.

That is the real problem these days, is that when someone dose experience a "paranormal event", they are automatically deemed to have something "mental" wrong with them.  That is simply untrue in some cases.  

Maybe if the scientific profesionals would look outside the book & what is normal, they would take some honest steps to investigate.

On the other hand, there are some that mistake events for being paranormal.  Honestly, the Hollywood industry has a lot to do with that.  Glamorizing the unkown, when there is no glamour in it at all.

Then you have influence of family, friends & so on.

BTW, not all believers are "constantly" claiming to see & hear things.  People who have a genuine interest in the paranormal will first find a "logical" answer to what has happened.  What could have caused this?  The land formation, faulty wiring, hardware not in proper working order & so on.

So your claim of the "believers", is simply overstated & untrue.