Ghosts – Page 9 – Living Library

Ghostly Images: Ross Bay Cemetery and Hatley Cemetery

The images below were submitted by Stephen following a discussion that took place in the comment section of my blog post Haunted Locations of Victoria, Vancouver Island. The first two Images are from Ross Bay Cemetery. Stephen says that these were taken on a clear night. Ross Bay Cemetery is believed by many people to be haunted by the spirits of David Fee and Isabella Ross. Apparently, the apparitions of an elderly couple have also been seen.

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Science and Ghosts

“Science itself does not always know why a thing is so.” – God’s World: A Treatise on Spiritualism (T. W. Stead. 1919)

Ghosts, they’re everywhere! From the pages of the Bible to the old building down the street, people have been reporting hauntings for thousands of years. Every family has a ghost story or two, as does every town. They’ve even spawned a multimillion-dollar industry in the form of books, movies and television. Whether we see them as a fantastical source of entertainment, or as dark messengers from an unseen world, one thing’s entirely certain: ghosts are here to stay.

If you’ve ever made even a cursory visit to any of those online ghost sites, however, you would’ve noticed that there’s an even darker side to the stories of hauntings: Trolls! Hundreds of people – maybe even thousands – have taken it upon themselves to declare – because they claim they’ve never seen or experienced anything “paranormal” themselves – that the rest of us are just plain, bat-shit crazy.

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Qualicum Heritage Inn: The Great Haunted Condominium Sale

The Qualicum Heritage Inn on Vancouver Island has long been reputed to be haunted. Robert Belyk found the stories so compelling he opened his 1990 (2002) book Ghosts, True Tales of Eerie Encounters with over ten pages of the Inn’s haunted past. Later, in 2002, OLN’s Creepy Canada also featured the Inn. Additionally, previous Inn guests have left tales of paranormal encounters on various hotel review sites online, while former staff members have made public statements regarding their own personal experiences within to online and print sources, as well.

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The Origin of Fire: A Nanaimo First Nations Ghost Story

This is a short First Nations ghost story taken from Franz Boas’ 1895 text, Indian Myths and Legends from the North Pacific Coast of America, which was translated from German by Dietrich Bertz.

The city of Nanaimo – where I live – received its name from the Anglicized spelling of Snanaimuq (Snuneymuxw or Snuh-NAY-Moo), which is the name of the First Nations people whose traditional territory I live in.

The Origin of Fire

In the beginning, the ghosts (of the dead) owned fire.

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Ireland’s Samhain

Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland was published in 1887. In it, Lady Wilde lets us look into the minds of the Irish peasantry of the time. She did this by interviewing the elders of a dying faith now referred to as the “fairy religion,” or sometimes simply as witchcraft. Sections of the book have not always been considered authoritative according to some sources, such as Sacred-Texts.com.

This should be taken in context, however. In the preface, Lady Wilde separates herself from the individuals whose stories she’s about to share. She explains the historical and cultural importance of the tales themselves. Wilde then reminds the reader that this might have been the last chance for anyone to record the stories from the dying generation before they would be lost forever. She also offers other reasons for being interested in the pagan subject as well, including a love for anything Irish. Finally, she concludes her apologetic preface by reminding the reader that she’s a woman.

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