9781422280102

D o you believe in ghosts? If you answer yes, you are not alone. A 2013 Harris Poll found that 40 percent of Americans think that ghosts are real. Ghosts are spirits or apparitions of a dead person (or animal).They appear in the world of the living.Typically, they show them- selves as some sort of see-through figure, or they are invisible but causing a physical disturbance—a bump in the night or furniture sliding across the floor. Ghosts may be the most popular sign that there is some form of afterlife . Ancient Egyptians mentioned these spirits, as did the Chinese. In 786, Chinese Emperor Hsuan ordered his ministerTu-Po killed. Before he died,Tu-Po warned the emperor that he would come back to haunt him. In recounting the story, Chinese philosopher Mo Tzu wrote that three years after Tu-Po was executed, “Hsuan was killed with an arrow fired by an apparition resembling Tu-Po in front of an assembly of feudal lords.” Ghosts are often believed to be troubled or tormented souls that haunt the sites where they died. Often, these spirits suffered some sort of traumatic death on earth—an accident, a murder, a suicide. A common belief is that ghosts are spirits of people who have died too soon and are taking care of unfinished business. Believers say that some ghosts who died unfairly are looking for vengeance or justice. There are thousands of haunted locations—houses, castles, hotels, saloons, stores—around the globe, but a ghost also may attach itself to an object—a doll or jewelry. In addition, there have

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Life after death

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