Tag: Spirit

Haunted Locations of Victoria, Vancouver Island

My new book The Haunting of Vancouver Island is now available. Many of these stories are told in full, complete with images.

The following is a list of haunted locations in the Greater Victoria Area. There is a separate post for the rest of Vancouver Island.

The list is source based, meaning locations have been added as they’ve received published recognition. The list is organized geographically. It begins in the Oak Bay neighborhood, then proceeds downtown before crossing the Bay Street Bridge. The final haunted location listed is in the Langford area. At the end of this list, I’ve included other paranormal reports that may or may not be considered hauntings.

A lot of people have left comments about their own experiences at the bottom of the page. If you’d like to share yours, please feel free to do so. Subscribe to the blog if you want to be notified when new posts are available.

Ross Bay Cemetery photo by Brandon Godfrey. 2009.

Victoria Golf Course, Oak Bay An apparition has been seen that is believed to be Doris Gravlin. She is also referred to as “The April Ghost” due to her usual appearance at this time of year. Ghost lights are also reportedly seen. There are incredibly high witness counts as the apparition often appears to groups or several people at once. Unmarried couples who see her are said to never marry. Might be a good way to get rid of that clingy someone once and for all!

  • The Haunting of Vancouver Island by Shanon Sinn (2017)
  • A Gathering of Ghosts by Robin Skelton & Jean Kozocari (1989)
  • Ghosts: True Tales of Eerie Encounters by Robert C. Belyk (1990)
  • Ghost Stories of British Columbia by Jo-Ann Christensen (1996)
  • Favourite Ghost Stories by Old Cemeteries Society of Victoria (1997)
  • Ghost Stories & Mysterious Creatures of British Columbia by Barbara Smith (1999)
  • Haunted Canada by Pat Hancock (2003)
  • Creepy Canada: Season 2, Episode 3

Tod House, Oak Bay (heritage site/private home) This site is no longer active. An apparition of a First Nations woman in chains was reported. Presence was also felt. A skeleton was later found on the property of a woman in chains believed to possibly be of First Nations descent. The haunting discontinued.

  • The Haunting of Vancouver Island by Shanon Sinn (2017)
  • Ghosts: True Tales of Eerie Encounters by Robert C. Belyk (1990)
  • Ghost Stories of British Columbia by Jo-Ann Christensen (1996)
  • Favourite Ghost Stories by Old Cemeteries Society of Victoria (1997)
  • Ghost Stories & Mysterious Creatures of British Columbia by Barbara Smith (1999)

Shelborne Street, Victoria (south of Hillside Center) There are claims that the entire street shifts to an earlier time, a phenomena known as “retrocognition.” Lone drivers have made this claim saying it occurred during the month of October.

  • A Gathering of Ghosts by Robin Skelton & Jean Kozocari (1989)
  • Ghost Stories of British Columbia by Jo-Ann Christensen (1996)
  • Ghost Stories & Mysterious Creatures of British Columbia by Barbara Smith (1999) 

Ross Bay Cemetery, Victoria Apparitions have been reported that some people believe are those of David Fee and Isabella Ross. An elderly couple has also been seen. Blog post.

Craigdarroch Castle, Victoria (heritage site) The castle itself does not acknowledge that the building may be haunted but rumours persist. An apparition of a little girl has been reported by volunteer staff, as well as the image of a maid. Woman’s feet have been seen running down the stairs. Music has been heard and the odor of candle wax is said to occur inexplicably.

  • The Haunting of Vancouver Island by Shanon Sinn (2017)
  • A Gathering of Ghosts by Robin Skelton & Jean Kozocari (1989)
  • Ghost Stories of British Columbia by Jo-Ann Christensen (1996)
  • Ghost Stories & Mysterious Creatures of British Columbia by Barbara Smith (1999)
  • Video (not on haunting)

Langham Court Theatre, Victoria (open) The apparition of “the Lady in the Loft” is reported. The theatre publicly acknowledges the ghostly presence.

  • A Gathering of Ghosts by Robin Skelton & Jean Kozocari (1989)
  • Ghost Stories & Mysterious Creatures of British Columbia by Barbara Smith (1999)
  • Langham Court Theatre: About

Beacon Hill Park, Victoria At one time, an apparition of a blonde woman would appear to joggers. She would look to be struggling with someone, or something, and screaming silently. Reports came from NW corner of the park. Later, in the same spot, a woman was murdered with dark hair. The apparition is then said to have taken on her appearance after the murder and is no longer a blonde woman but a brunette. This apparition is often called “the Doppelgänger of Beacon Hill Park.” Also, an apparition of the lower half of a male – from the waist down – has been reported as well.

  • A Gathering of Ghosts by Robin Skelton & Jean Kozocari (1989)
  • Ghosts: True Tales of Eerie Encounters by Robert C. Belyk (1990)
  • Ghost Stories of British Columbia by Jo-Ann Christensen (1996)
  • Favourite Ghost Stories by Old Cemeteries Society of Victoria (1997)
  • The Doppelganger of Beacon Hill Park (great blog post)

Emily Carr House, Victoria (heritage site) A presence is said to linger on the stairs as well as in the room of Emily Carr’s mother.

  • Ghost Stories of British Columbia by Jo-Ann Christensen (1996)
  • Ghost Stories & Mysterious Creatures of British Columbia by Barbara Smith (1999)

James Bay Inn, Victoria (open) Auditory phenomena is reported. Unexplained electrical occurrences are also said to occur. Apparition, possibly of Emily Carr.

Helmcken House, Victoria (heritage site) The apparition of a woman is seen in the upper floor window, believed to be Cecilia (Douglas) Helmcken. Piano music is also heard. Poltergeist activity is said to have occurred. This house is on the grounds of the Royal BC Museum.

  • Haunted Canada by Pat Hancock (2003)
  • Creepy Canada: Season 2, Episode 5
Haunted Locations of Victoria
British Columbia Parliament Building photo by Ryan Bushby. 2007

Parliament Buildings, Victoria An apparition has been reported and is usually believed to be architect Francis Rattenbury.

  • Ghost Stories of British Columbia by Jo-Ann Christensen (1996)
  • Ghost Stories & Mysterious Creatures of British Columbia by Barbara Smith (1999)

Empress Hotel, Victoria (open) Apparitions are reported in the hotel, the most famous believed to be architect Francis Rattenbury. The Empress is very near the Parliament Building. The apparition of a woman who is seen on the 6th floor is believed to be a former maid. An apparition of an older woman has been seen, as well. An apparition of a construction worker who was found hanging has also been seen.

St Ann’s Academy, Victoria (heritage site) The apparition of Emily Carr has been reported. She really does get around doesn’t she?

  • The Haunting of Vancouver Island by Shanon Sinn (2017)
  • Ghost Stories & Mysterious Creatures of British Columbia by Barbara Smith (1999)
  • The Canadian Encyclopedia Blog: A Field Guide to Ghost Hunting in Victoria

Cherry Bank Hotel, Victoria (open) Apparitions of a woman and a little girl are reported. A girl has been seen running in the hallway. Poltergeist activity.

  • Ghosts: True Tales of Eerie Encounters by Robert C. Belyk (1990)
  • Creepy Canada: Season 1, Episode 4

Pioneer Square (Location of Old Quadra Street Cemetery) Apparition is seen who is believed to be Adelaide Griffin. Another apparition believed to be Robert Johnson – who committing suicide – is reported here as well. Also, the apparition of a dark-haired woman in a white dress has been seen.

  • Ghosts: True Tales of Eerie Encounters by Robert C. Belyk (1990)
  • Favourite Ghost Stories by Old Cemeteries Society of Victoria (1997)
  • Favourite Stories From Lantern Tours by Old Cemeteries Society (1998)
  • Creepy Canada: Season 2, Episode 6

Royal Theatre, Victoria (open) An apparition of a man has been reported. Witnesses also claim to feel “psychically stabbed.”

  • A Gathering of Ghosts by Robin Skelton & Jean Kozocari (1989)
  • Ghost Stories & Mysterious Creatures of British Columbia by Barbara Smith (1999)
  • Ghosts: More Eerie Encounters by Robert C. Belyk (2006)

Roger’s Chocolates, Victoria (open) Claims that the apparitions of Charles and Leah Rogers have been sighted. Also, an unexplained child’s handprint was found.

Bedford Regency Hotel, Victoria (open) Two apparitions are reported by employees. Staff call them “Lady Churchill” and “Brady.” Lady Churchill has also been seen across the street at Camillo’s restaurant.

  • Ghosts: True Tales of Eerie Encounters by Robert C. Belyk (1990)
  • Canadian Ghost Stories: Volume 2 by Smitten, Thay, Jarvis & Oickle (2003)

Bastion Square, Maritime Museum & surrounding buildings, Victoria (open) An apparition of a bearded man is reported believed to be Sir Begbie the “Hanging Judge.” A lady in white is reported here as well. Bastion square in general, and Helmcken Alley, generate reports of various levels of activity. Tour guide John Adams gives downtown ghost tours every evening. Bastion square is the epicentre of many of these tours.

  • A Gathering of Ghosts by Robin Skelton & Jean Kozocari (1989)
  • Favourite Ghost Stories by Old Cemeteries Society of Victoria (1997)
  • Ghost Stories & Mysterious Creatures of British Columbia by Barbara Smith (1999)
  • Ghosts & Legends of Bastion Square by John D. Adams (2002)
  • Creepy Canada: Season 2, Episode 3 (Bastion Square)

Old Morris Tobacconists, Victoria (open) Poltergeist activity has been reported. Unexplained sounds have been heard.

Pounders Restaurant, Victoria (open) A female apparition has been witnessed on the stairs. Items have also been inexplicably moved.

  • Ghosts: True Tales of Eerie Encounters by Robert C. Belyk (1990)
  • Ghosts & Legends of Bastion Square by John D. Adams (2002)

McPherson Playhouse, Victoria (open) A male apparition and a lady in grey have both been reported at different times. Items are moved, and audible unexplained voices have been reported. Apparition of a “Frenchman”  is seen on the outside corner of Government and Fisgard on October mornings.

  • A Gathering of Ghosts by Robin Skelton & Jean Kozocari (1989)
  • Ghost Stories & Mysterious Creatures of British Columbia by Barbara Smith (1999)
  • Ghosts: More Eerie Encounters by Robert C. Belyk (2006)
The Skull-Faced Bishop: The Horrific Image of One Vancouver Island Ghost. St. Andrew’s Cathedral.

St. Andrew’s Cathedral, Victoria The Skull-Faced Bishop and the spirit of David Fee are believed to haunt this location. For the full story, click on the image above.

Fan Tan Alley, Chinatown, Victoria A ghostly presence pushes people aside. Sources claim that the entity is Chung, who once murdered a sing-song girl who scorned his affections.

Gorge Road Hospital, Victoria The apparition of a lady in white has been reported. White lights have also been seen.

  • Favourite Ghost Stories by Old Cemeteries Society of Victoria (1997)
  • The International Directory of Haunted Places by Dennis Hauck (2000)
  • Ghosts: More Eerie Encounters by Robert C. Belyk (2006)

Point Ellice House, Victoria (heritage site) The apparition of a woman in a blue dress has been reported believed to be Kathleen O’Reilly. The apparition of an older woman has been reported on the property believed to be Carolyn O’Reilly. A man’s voice has been heard. Poltergeist activity is often reported.

  • A Gathering of Ghosts by Robin Skelton & Jean Kozocari (1989)
  • Ghosts: True Tales of Eerie Encounters by Robert C. Belyk (1990)
  • Ghost Stories of British Columbia by Jo-Ann Christensen (1996)
  • Ghost Stories & Mysterious Creatures of British Columbia by Barbara Smith (1999)

Old Point Ellice Bridge, Victoria Ghost lights are reported at the tragic scene where the old bridge collapsed. This incident claimed 55 lives. A red light is reportedly seen, hovering “18 inches” off of the ground.

  • A Gathering of Ghosts by Robin Skelton & Jean Kozocari (1989)
  • Ghosts: True Tales of Eerie Encounters by Robert C. Belyk (1990)
  • Favourite Ghost Stories by Old Cemeteries Society of Victoria (1997)

The Princess Mary Ship Restaurant, Victoria (closed – no longer exists) An apparition of a woman had been reported. Unspecified unexplained occurrences had also been claimed at the time.

Spinnakers Pub, Victoria (open) An apparition of an older woman with longer grey hair has been reported along with unexplained noises. Presence is said to have become less active in recent years.

  • Ghosts: More Eerie Encounters by Robert C. Belyk (2006)
  • Ghostly Walks: Links

Ye Old England Inn, Esquimalt (open) An apparition of a man with a beard has been reported as well as that of “a beautiful woman.” Unexplained music has been reported and items have inexplicably been moved.

  • Ghosts: True Tales of Eerie Encounters by Robert C. Belyk (1990)
  • Ghostly Walks: Links
Haunted Locations of Victoria
Hatley Castle photo by Merry Kisses. 2006.

Royal Roads University/ Hatley Castle, Colwood (open) most activity is reported in Hatley Castle (aka Hatley Park). This includes the apparition of an old woman who is possibly Laura Dunsmuir. “Freezing cobwebs” have also been reported as well as the apparition of a man.

  • The Haunting of Vancouver Island by Shanon Sinn (2017)
  • Ghosts: True Tales of Eerie Encounters by Robert C. Belyk (1990)
  • Ghost Stories of British Columbia by Jo-Ann Christensen (1996)
  • Ghost Stories & Mysterious Creatures of British Columbia by Barbara Smith (1999)
  • Strange History: the Haunted Castle. Article (2014)
  • Creepy Canada: Season 2, Episode 11. Video
  • A Close Encounter of the Paranormal Kind. Video

Craigflower Elementary School, View Royal (closed 2013 due to road work) Doors are said to open on their own. Bells have been said to ring inexplicably. According to sources, manor is also said to have activity.

  • Ghosts: True Tales of Eerie Encounters by Robert C. Belyk (1990)
  • Ghost Stories & Mysterious Creatures of British Columbia by Barbara Smith (1999)

Four Mile House Bar & Grill, View Royal (open) The apparition reported in the gardens is believed to be that of Margaret Gouge. Another apparition of a man in a suit is also reported. Also, a ghost said to be Jake Matteson is seen. This is also the pub mentioned “near Christie Point” by authors who wrote of the apparition of a soldier crawling across the highway. Noises and poltergeist activity has been reported, as well as people claiming to have been touched. There is also a connection to the Thetis Cove Lady in White.

  • The Haunting of Vancouver Island by Shanon Sinn (2017)
  • A Gathering of Ghosts by Robin Skelton & Jean Kozocari (1989)
  • Ghost Stories of British Columbia by Jo-Ann Christensen (1996)
  • Ghost Stories & Mysterious Creatures of British Columbia by Barbara Smith (1999)
  • Ghosts: More Eerie Encounters by Robert C. Belyk (2006)
  • Creepy Canada: Season 1, Episode 5

Thetis Cove, View Royal The apparition of a lady in white is reportedly seen on the beach. She is said to be a woman who died awaiting her husband’s ship to return. Apparently, she’d often spent time at the old Four Mile House Inn (above) where there’s actually a stain glass image of her. There is a stain glass image of the White Lady of Thetis Cove at the Four Mile Pub.

  • The Haunting of Vancouver Island by Shanon Sinn (2017)
  • Ghost Stories of British Columbia by Jo-Ann Christensen (1996)
  • Ghost Stories & Mysterious Creatures of British Columbia by Barbara Smith (1999)
  • Ghosts: More Eerie Encounters by Robert C. Belyk (2006)

Six Mile Pub, View Royal (open) An apparition of a man has been reported. Unexplained footsteps have been heard.

East Sooke Road, Sooke An apparition of a lady in black has been seen along the side of the road and is believed to be May Stiff – although some have said it cannot be her. A pretty young woman in white has also been reported.

  • Ghost Stories of British Columbia by Jo-Ann Christensen (1996)
  • Ghost Stories & Mysterious Creatures of British Columbia by Barbara Smith (1999)
  • Ghosts: More Eerie Encounters by Robert C. Belyk (2006)

China Flats Highway, Sooke The highway described in accounts is likely #14 Highway, Sooke Road. An apparition of a Chinese man has been reported and is said to jump into traffic. No one is present when vehicles stop to investigate, however. He is believed to have been a man who was struck and killed in the 1940s while trying to get medical attention for his wife.

  • A Gathering of Ghosts by Robin Skelton & Jean Kozocari (1989)
  • Ghosts: True Tales of Eerie Encounters by Robert C. Belyk (1990)
  • Ghost Stories of British Columbia by Jo-Ann Christensen (1996)
  • Ghost Stories & Mysterious Creatures of British Columbia by Barbara Smith (1999)

Ma Miller’s Goldstream Inn, Langford Retrocognition has been reported at this site. Old Inn has been seen, even though it was no longer physically there.

  • Ghost Stories of British Columbia by Jo-Ann Christensen (1996)
  • Ghost Stories & Mysterious Creatures of British Columbia by Barbara Smith (1999)

Other Miscellaneous Reports from the Victoria area:

Burning Ghost Ship, South of Vancouver Island A burning fishing vessel with a UFO-type object above it was observed and reported by the Japanese ship Meitetsu Maru in 1957. There were also several other reports of unidentified lights in the area at that time. No missing boats were ever reported, nor was any wreckage ever found, even after a large-scale American and Canadian Coast Guard search.

  • Canadian UFO Report: Volume 2, Number 5 (1972)
  • Ghost Stories & Mysterious Creatures of British Columbia by Barbara Smith (1999)

Thetis Lake Monster Victoria, Vancouver Island Generally believed to have been a hoax, a monster was reported similar in appearance to the Creature from the Black Lagoon. I so want to believe this actually happened!

  • Ghost Stories & Mysterious Creatures of British Columbia by Barbara Smith (1999)
  • Canadian Ghost Stories: Volume 2 by Smitten, Thay, Jarvis & Oickle (2003)
  • Wikipedia entry

Sea Serpent Caddy, Vancouver Island Coastline A sea serpent is said to haunt the coasts of Vancouver Island, having been reported by multiple witnesses since at least 1932. Some speculate that the sightings may be of a surviving creature such as the plesiosaur, others that it might be an oarfish (video) There have been multiple reports of the serpent from all around Vancouver Island. “Caddy” is named after Cadboro Bay in Victoria following an early account. The bay was named after an early HBC vessel the Cadboro.

For a list of other Vancouver Island Haunted Sites please visit Haunted Locations on Vancouver Island.  This other list includes Sasquatch Sightings (which have also occurred in the Victoria area), and UFO reports as well. 

If you know of any other haunted locations in the Victoria area, leave a comment, or send me a private message. Thanks to you who already have!

Until next time, darkest nods!

Artist and Chief James Swan: on funerary rites, putting spirits to rest and the thunderbird (Part 3/3)

(Safe Journey. James UuKwaqum Swan*)

James, you were talking about letting the spirit of a person go after they’ve died by practicing what you called “dealing with things the right way…”

In our culture, we have a song called the yatsu-yatsu (sp?) and it lets the spirits go. We can’t have bad thoughts about a person, even from a photograph, or we will hang onto them. So we sing the yatsu-yatsu and it lets the spirit go.

We will also have a memorial ceremony, a potlatch. It’s really tough for people when a loved one has passed – to let them go – because we always want to have that person close to us forever.

Even with my dad’s death. He is always with me, my father (James Swan Sr). Half of what he was is always with me. Same with my mother, I am half of what she is. So my father, or my mother, will never be gone. I look at my daughter and I say to her, “Make (Grandpa) James” and she goes like this (makes a face). Jessie will make a frown on her face and when you will see it, it’s just the way he would look. So he’s always going to be around. All of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, they know who he is from his pictures, as well. His memory will always be around.

By putting pictures away when someone passes on we let their spirit go as well. When my dad passed away, all of the pictures of him we put away for one year after the memorial service. Usually, this is for four years, but our elders said only to do it for one year because all of our songs and dances were really popular back then and they wanted to have them back. They didn’t want them gone for four years, so we took them back one year after he passed away.

We had a memorial potlatch and took the pictures and songs back after we did the yatsu-yatsu. After all of the songs and dances were finished, we did ours and took them back that day. This was after the songs had been gone for one year. It was one year after my dad passed away.

In our belief, if something was really loved by a person we would also send that item with them when they died. We would take that special item and we would put it in a grave or in a cave with them. Nowadays, even if you went to our cemetery there are items there like somebody’s sewing machine. The sewing machine will be sitting on top of the grave of the person that loved that item they cherished so much. It is not very often that this happens any more, though.

So do people in your culture bury the deceased?

We do now, but I’m not going to be. I am going to be put up in a tree for one whole year waiting for my body to decay. I then want my bones put into a cave.

A cave? Is this the traditional place to be buried?

In caves, yes it is. The cave I want to be put in is in Manhousaht territory.

The old way.

Yes, the old way. Some people might say it won’t matter because I’ll be dead but I want it done this way. It’s all in my will.

Ahousaht School Mural of Thunderbird. 2012

James, you’ve been telling me about the spirits, and funerals, but I also wanted to ask you another unrelated question. I wanted to ask you whether your people have any stories about people coming from the stars or gods that live in the stars or anything like that?

Not that I’m aware of.

I’ve noticed that a lot of places in Ahousaht have paintings of the thunderbird on them. Can you tell me a bit about that story?

What we are told, from a long time ago, is that when you hear the thunder rolling out – when you first hear that thunder – it is actually rolling out to the ocean. It means that the thunderbird is actually going out to capture its prey; the whale.

Shortly after, you will hear it rolling back in, so if you listen very carefully you will hear the thunder roll, or rolling. It will roll out towards the ocean and it will come back in after it captures its prey. Every time you hear the thunder going out, that is the thunderbird that is going out hunting.

(I found out later that according to Nuu-chah-nulth lore, the thunderbird sometimes carries the sea serpent with him out to sea, and it is he who creates the lightning in the sky. Lightning is not very common off of the coast of Vancouver Island)

One of the things that we’re told is that there was this man that followed the thunderbird. He went over four mountains following the thunderbird. He saw the thunderbird going into a cave. The man followed it into the cave. The man then saw another man coming out of the chest of the thunderbird. So that is one of the reasons why you will see a man’s face on the thunderbird’s chest in our First Nation art.

So the man, is that the spirit of the thunderbird or a separate being?

I don’t know what it could be. It could be anything from the first visions and sightings of airplanes or it could be something else. When some people talk about UFOs that’s something that somebody actually saw. That is where that legend or tale came from in regards to that man coming out of the chest.

Even when I think about it, I think about a hanger. I think about an airplane when they say he got out of the chest of a bird. I think of an airplane with wings. That is kind of what I think of when I hear that story.

A long time ago our people went down to Victoria. They got into a canoe and went that way before we had motorboats and everything else. This was in the 1800s or late 1700s when Victoria was just being made. They went down there and they got scared because they heard this loud whistle. They found out later that it was from the train. So that’s where that whistle came from.

Our people heard that whistle for the first time and it spooked them. They came back. They never made it all of the way to Victoria.

Ahousaht Church. 2012

A lot of people in Ahousaht are Christian, or Catholic. There used to be two churches but your mom Mrs. Rosie Swan says that one burned down and now there is only one. Would you say that most people are now mixing the old beliefs with Christian traditions?

I think that there are a lot more coming back to the First Nation’s way. We don’t have a priest that stays in Ahousaht , but we have one that comes to Ahousaht. A lot of the old-timers, especially the ones who had it really rough in the residential schools had it shoved down their throat – Christianity and religion that is. My mom talks about it.

My mom prays to god and Jesus and I don’t disrespect her for that because I’m 100% First Nations. I pray to Nas (sp?), I pray to the creator. I don’t have any disrespect for Jesus or for god. I don’t have any disrespect for Allah or for any other religion or belief that anyone else has. I’m not saying it’s wrong.

What I believe in, in my culture, I practice to the best of my ability. That is what I have.

Thank you James for answering all of my questions, for showing me Ahousaht and your home, and for introducing me to your mom Mrs. Rosie Swan and your family. It truly was an amazing experience. Thank you.

You’re welcome! Now I need a coke! You made me talk for way too long! (laughs)

Whale near Ahousaht. 2012

Closing thoughts

James’ method of response to these questions was often layered and indirect. Each answer, however, would hold a great deal of information. When I first asked James Swan some of these questions, for example, he would sometimes seem to change the subject completely. He would then wrap around the topic slowly, before eventually responding to the question directly.

When I asked about Ahousaht ghost stories, James first explained his own scepticism – delicately – but seemed to be honor-bound by tradition to believe in the stories of the elders. Following this introduction and explanation, James then went on to tell me the original stories to the best of his recollection.

James would also usually include the original teller of the tale’s name. This method of storytelling allows the teller of the original story to be sourced. The story can then be linked to another person living or dead. It seems like a small thing, but it is this system of information-sharing that held many communities together for thousands of years. It’s easy to forget that reading and writing hasn’t existed on the west coast for very long. The Nuu-chah-nulth, like the Celts, had a strong surviving oral tradition instead.

As I wrote out these responses – from the recordings – I would sometimes suddenly realize that there were many things James had said that I hadn’t picked up on the first time. When talking about black magic, for example, he had a certain compassionate contempt for those who practiced this form of sorcery. Only later did I realize that James had listed out his own personal items (with his name on it) that a dark practitioner could steal to put a curse him, where those items could be found (usually unsecured), and how little he cared if they even tried to put a curse on him in the first place. I say “compassionate contempt” because contempt almost doesn’t suit the philosophical stance that James seemed to be taking. He had a genuine pity for these dark practitioners first and foremost. He knew that they would receive three times the negativity that they had directed at him. Much of the specific wording was edited out including where to find these personal items, but I included his response about the army labels to demonstrate his overall lack of concern, or perhaps his unshakeable faith.

There were a lot of topics we discussed that I couldn’t include due to the length of this post and the subject matter deviating too far from the original focus of the blog. Most fascinating to me were the conversations with Mrs. Rosie Swan and James regarding circle sentencing and criminals being sent to live in quasi-isolation on islands. We were also able to discuss the reasons for James joining the army, the return of the people to Ahousaht, the history of Manhousaht and the role of men in their culture. For good or for bad, the Nuu-chah-nulth truly are a male dominated society.

There has been a lot of suffering inflicted upon the people of Ahousaht and other First Nation’s people by agents of government in the not so distant past. Additionally, some Ahousaht families are said to be able to trace genetic differences in their family (like curly hair) to rapes committed by sailors aboard specifically named well-known historical vessels. The often-stated intentional spread of infectious diseases by early settlers is also well known… even outside of First Nation communities. There has also been a lot of publicity in recent years regarding the treatment of First Nation children in Catholic-run residential schools. Men in the name of religion, not so long ago, committed these atrocities on First Nations schoolchildren ranging from torture to rape. From the back of a boat, one of James’ aunts pointed out to me where the residential school was that they had all been forced to attend. My only response – unfortunately – on such short notice was, “I hear it was bad there?” She looked me directly in the eyes and silently nodded yes. There was no judgment there, but I felt guilty just the same.

According to James, the passing of time “has really brought a lot of healing” back to the people of Ahousaht. A return to the old ways seems to be helping a great deal as well. Problems like addiction or bootlegging become community issues to be dealt with by the elders instead of an excuse to cast members out of society forever. The Nuu-chah-nulth art, history, dancing, and storytelling must also give a whole new generation something to be incredibly proud of. At least they should be.

I feel honored that James trusted me enough to share these stories. With a new age moving in, much of the old lore might be forgotten or lost. James said that his mom, for example, is the last one in his family who remembers how to speak their language. This is a sad thing, for this is what the residential schools intended on doing in the first place. Children were beaten for speaking their own language. The ultimate goal, of course, was assimilation.

100 years ago a few writers went around the British Isles and asked other Celtic people about their beliefs while they shared their own. These same families changed over time, became modernized, and the world moved on. Fortunately, these early writers provided a snapshot into the belief and lives of the Celtic people of those times before most of it was lost. Hopefully, in this modern age of information, a greater amount of these stories will be written down and passed on from the Nuu-chah-nulth nation than those of other cultures like the Celtic Irish, for example. There seems to be many people committed to doing such a thing and in keeping the old ways alive. As we bear witness to this, I am sometimes left with a sort of longing, which seems to be wondering what my ancestors have long since forgotten?

The similarities between the Nuu-chah-nulth and the Celts is sometimes eerily blatant. There are clearly cultural differences, true, but the respect for the natural world becomes a commonality between the two cultures that entirely prevails. It would seem that when people have to grow, gather, or hunt their own food that they are prepared to be more thankful – in general – and are able to find a greater meaning from the natural world around them. When a person relies on the life of a fish from the sea – instead of a breaded piece of flesh from a box – it comes with a certain sense of understanding, respect and gratitude. Idealistically, the animal or tree is thanked for its sacrifice and we humans can in turn remain humble.

I fully intend on incorporating some of the practices James described into my own life. Since I’ve returned from the trip, I’ve been saving the bones from the salmon we eat. I intend on casting them back into the ocean while giving thanks for the fish’s sacrifice. I like the idea of respecting my food in this way. It’s something I don’t focus on nearly enough.

The Nuu-chah-nulth teaching I take from this experience is simple, it’s environmental, and it’s profound.  The law applies to all things from the spider to the wolf, from the darkest storm to the brightest day, from the twisted ancient tree to the brightest colored songbird.  The teaching is Hishuk ish tsawalk, and it means:

Everything is one.

(Father James Swan Sr. and Grandfather Luke Swan*)

(Jessie and James Swan*)

* These images are not the author’s and are used only with permission from James Swan

Ghosts of the Downtown Vancouver Bay Store

Ghost of the Downtown Vancouver Bay
Vancouver Bay Store, 1918

If you live in Vancouver – or visited downtown – you’ve probably been inside the Bay on Granville Street. It likely never occurred to you, that many people who’ve worked there over the years have had what some might call a paranormal experience. It’s been a common enough phenomenon, but one in which the HBC Company might not be keen on sharing.

The Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), historically, was largely responsible for shaping Canada and much of the United States by bringing British law and culture into the New World along with a profitable empire built on fur trade. The HBC was chartered in 1670, and at one time the company owned 15% of the North American landmass[i]. What had began as a fur trading company, would, over time, eventually become the Canadian retail giant that it’s known as today. “The Bay” branch of the HBC has some 92 existing locations in Canada[ii]. Many of these remaining buildings are very old, and some harbor rich and dynamic histories.

The Vancouver Bay store was built in phases starting in 1913 alongside an older 1893 building. This older building would be replaced completely by the third phase of the construction in 1925[iii]. As you can imagine, portions of the building are very old… and extremely creepy.

Countless people have been employed by and have worked out of the downtown Vancouver Bay store over the years. For many of them – even today – the Hudson’s Bay Company was their life. Who could even begin to guess how many restless spirits would choose to roam the building’s floors if they were given an option? Many believe, in fact, that some spirits do just that. I personally agree that there’s something to these tales, as well.

I don’t merely say this because one of the cleaning ladies was crying one early morning after she stated she had seen an apparition on the second floor. This lady had claimed to have seen a woman in a red dress floating along the aisle. In fact, I was told that the cleaning lady requested to no longer work on the second floor at all. Interestingly – and somewhat unrelated – a woman in red is also supposed to haunt the 14th floor of the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver a block away. This other haunting is much better known and is even considered public knowledge[iv]. Regardless, it takes a lot more than a single story to make me a believer, but I did have reasons of my own not to doubt her.

I used to be at the top of the alarm call-out list for the downtown Vancouver store. In fact, I was the Loss Prevention manager of this location from 2001 to 2005 where my duties included the arrest of those committing criminal offences (on or in relation to the property) camera installation, emergency preparedness, staff awareness training, and an overseeing of the physical security of the building itself.

Occasionally, I would get an unexplained motion alarm call out. This was during a period in which there were no overnight security guards on site. I would get the alarm call, attend, and then go into the store to investigate the cause. Due to budget constraints at the time, I would often attend the store on my own.

On more than one occasion, the elevators doors opened without explanation in the middle of the night. Reviewing cameras for that particular zone, which had been triggered by motion, would be interesting. On reviewing camera, I would observe the doors open. The light that was visible from the camera angle would then indicate that the elevator was going down or up. The elevator would then travel to a separate floor and open up again. The camera angle would sometimes provide me with a chance to look directly into that elevator when the doors finally opened. It would be empty.

I spoke with the engineers and they assured me that – technically speaking – this movement was impossible. Someone would have had to have been inside of the elevator, and would have had to press one of the buttons. This “person” would have had to push this button from inside the elevator or have called it from the outside by pushing the up or down call button. Neither of these actions could have occurred, though, because on camera there was nobody there. The alarm was not set off in this way very often, though. If it had been a malfunction, it would have occurred more often than it did. The elevators were very old and not computerized. They were not programmed to move in this way at all because they could not be programmed in the first place.

These elevators would always open up on the 2nd floor, or on the sub-basement level. They were usually the customer elevators, but this also occurred with the staff elevator, as well, which was located in a nearby back area. Other Loss Prevention (LP) associates experienced these incidents as well.

At the time, our loss prevention office was located on the mezzanine level between the first and second floors. This office was also our camera monitoring room. It was located beneath the 2nd floor washroom. During nights where one of us was on site – and in the office – the sound of wheels in the above washrooms was very common to hear. The camera would indicate that no one had gone into or out of the bathroom. If someone investigated inside the actual washroom, the sound would stop immediately (a second person was sometimes on camera and would remain in the office) and nothing would be found that could have caused the noise. The sound was similar to the noise that is made by squeaky wheels. This was experienced by almost everyone that I managed on the LP team. Some of these guys did not believe in anything paranormal, but were unable to offer a proper explanation for the noises nonetheless.

This was the full extent of the activity I experienced on the second floor myself. I must admit, however, that this floor did feel very “different” compared with most of the other store areas. Some staff members have, over the years, reported activity in the Seymour Room, which is a cafeteria-style restaurant on the 6th floor. I had never experienced, or felt, anything in this room myself, though.

The sub-basement was the area in which I did have the most convincing experiences, however. As I have already mentioned, the elevators sometimes opened up on this level unexplainably, as well. There’s a back corner of the sub-basement, in fact, which seems to be a hot spot of activity. In this corner, there’s a cafeteria and a staff kitchen. Before the renovation a few years ago, this had been a burger bar and a soup counter. Strangely, I would sometimes get a call from the alarm company of a motion alarm going off in this back corner.

Vancouver’s notorious for its Downtown East Side, which runs parallel to the Bay a few blocks away. Drug addiction was rampant in this neighborhood at the time, and our job could be very difficult. Addicts would sometimes stay in the store and try to burglarize the place or would try to smash their way out with high-end merchandise. When we tried to stop them they would sometimes be combative. The most common weapon pulled on us would be a syringe, but the hardware that they would potentially present was always varied. If multiple alarms went off in the Bay building, we would know that someone was there and we would enter the store with the police. If only one alarm went off, on the other hand, it would be a little strange. We generally thought that this was a false alarm, but we would still need to investigate. An item falling over or even a mouse could set off the alarm. If an intruder was fairly still they might set off an alarm only once. This has happened before as well.

Why I Believe in Ghosts
Vancouver Bay Store, 2012

I would glove up (Kevlar) and go into the area to investigate. Sometimes, I would carry a bat. If I did find someone in the store we would usually both be startled. These foiled thieves would usually allow themselves to be arrested without further incident. During these budget-cutback times, I would carry a radio and pretend to be talking to a second person and would even squawk it to make noise. I never gave the impression that I was alone but I often was. It was a very intense situation. Not enough evidence to call the police, no backup, and a dangerous type of addicted clientele that tried to take anything they could at any cost.

An intruder never seemed to be the cause of the alarm in the back corner, but at the time I was prepared for that to be the answer. Truthfully, to this day I do not know what set off these alarms. It was always important, however, to take these calls seriously.

Anyways, I particularly hated checking the sub-basement corner when it did go into alarm, because something just plain felt wrong to me. This feeling was not very friendly at all. It reminded me of the St. Louis Ghost Light’s angry buzzing, which I had described last week. It felt muggy, somehow, and there was an electric heaviness in the air as well.

I remember the times in which I experienced a heightened level of fear in that corner. The kitchen staff had an alarm clock by their sink. The thing went off twice right beside me as I walked past it! The time of night was different on each occurrence and the likelihood of someone setting the alarm to go off in the middle of the night was not very high. The first time I must have literally jumped out of my skin I was so startled. I was already on edge, for reasons I’ve already explained, just in case someone was actually back in that corner. I decided that the experience had a logical explanation the first time that it happened. I decided it was merely a coincidence.

The second time, however, I was thinking about this “coincidence” as I passed by the same alarm clock. Even though a part of me half expected it, the alarm going off for a second time really rattled me. I had to rule out coincidence. This realization made this particular feeling of fear just a little more unbearable. This occurrence was immediately followed by what I now refer to myself as “the hallway incident.”

I was walking up towards the hallway that led to the staff lockers and washrooms in this same corner. I was already rattled from the alarm clock. The area was sparsely lit and had an abandoned hospital look to it. The hall ran beneath the escalators going up to the Pacific Center mall. As I walked up to this propped open door I was taken aback by it violently slamming in my face. I kicked the door open in response. I was so wound up that I did not have a chance to think but just reacted. The door flew back open immediately.

As I had already known, however, there was nobody there. I had seen clearly down the hallway and it had been clear. The door did not shut that violently naturally. It was always left open with a stopper in place. There was absolutely no explanation. The stopper had been moved to the side and the slow closing door had somehow gained momentum on its own. No one was there, the doorway had behaved differently at that moment in comparison to any other time that I was aware of –  I also could not recreate the slamming door the next day when I tried to no matter how hard I pushed it- and it had slammed right in front of me as if it had been timed. The whole experience was very unnerving, I’m not going to lie.

“Okay. I get it. I know you’re here!” I stated aloud in an effort to sound confident. Saying this out loud always seemed to make me feel better. In retrospect, it also seemed to work on the ghosts of the Downtown Vancouver Bay store.

Nothing much happened to me in the store after that. I was still there for at least two more years. Being in loss prevention, though, others staff members would still sometimes tell me about what had happened to them. I would usually keep my own stories to myself, however. I didn’t really want to get into it, as I saw these incidents as a somewhat private affair outside of our department. What was most interesting to me over those years, however, was the fact that the 2nd floor and the sub-basement were the two areas attached to most of  – if not all – these ghostly claims made by staff.

Even over the few years that I was a manager in the store, there had been deaths in the building. If there was a lost soul in the Bay, it could have been a younger version of one of the many seniors who had passed away there, been an overdosed drug addict, one of the vehicle or pedestrian fatalities outside, one of the Skytrain suicides below the store, or could have even been a spirit from a far older time. There are more than a few possibilities as to where the ghosts of the Downtown Vancouver Bay store had come from.

I have heard it said that 47% of people in Canada believe in ghosts[v]. I imagine that some of these people are probably the whimsical types, while some are probably more similar to me… quasi-agnostic believers. Sometimes, a personal experience just can’t be ignored.

I know that there’s something that seems to coexist with us as humans, something that I cannot completely observe or understand. When I dismiss these experiences in my life, which I have done on occasion, it seems as if I can expect to receive a wake-up call of sorts. Something unexplained will happen similar to the hallway incident.

I do, however, now understand why some people believe in ghosts and why some people do not. In fact, if you told me that you had seen a ghost yourself, I would probably be very skeptical. I am a believer after all, but I’m also that self same agnostic. This seems to be a never-ending balancing act, and perhaps even a contradiction. I hope that one day, however, I will be able to fully understand these experiences and the others as well, those similar incidents which have also occurred off and on throughout my life.

Ghosts of the Downtown Bay Store
Hudson’s Bay Company Logo

[ii] http://www.thebay.com/eng/aboutus/aboutHBC.cfm (May, 2012)

[v] At the time of this writing on the Vancouver Fox radio station but read Qualicum Heritage Inn: the Great Haunted Condominium Sale for specific stats or Science & Ghosts.

* All images found on this post are of the public domain except for the 2012 image. This image belongs to the author.

Why I Believe in Ghosts: History of a Haunting

Why I Believe in Ghosts
The Home of a Ghost? Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. 1979

This may come to you as a surprise, but for the most part I consider myself agnostic. For those unfamiliar with the term, an agnostic believes that “the truth” is unknown or unknowable. This truth is usually in regards to religious or metaphysical reality, but the term can also be used in relation to other unexplained phenomena as well. Some might say that I’m stretching the term agnostic a bit here – and they might be right – but honestly I don’t care. The term makes it easier for me to express my leanings toward skepticism.

For example, as an Agnostic I may one day believe that there are humanoids from outer space visiting us in pimped out disco-like intergalactic flying saucers, or that large hairy monster-men are roaming the mountain ranges in search of non believing ATV-mounted outdoor enthusiasts, or even that there are creatures existing within the depths of our oceans, rivers and lakes just waiting to pull some unseasoned fishermen into their murky depths. Maybe I’ll be able to believe in all of these things one day. Maybe, but its not very likely.

These experiences may be completely legitimate, don’t get me wrong, but I’m not likely to believe in them unless I see them physically with my own eyes. Even then, I would likely be contemplating the more logical explanations. I would consider the possibilities of a hallucination, misinterpretation of data received through the senses, or even be considering devious trickery for that matter! If this particular “sighting” was profound enough, I would begin by reading books written by skeptics as I struggled to understand these mysteries from a more rational and down-to-earth viewpoint.

I have a hard time believing in almost anything extraordinary and sometimes even ordinary. Occasionally, I even question the most commonly accepted of truths. I question almost everything that most people would accept blindly. Close encounters with large businesses, the media, and a healthy dose of historic knowledge has reinforced my skepticism. I often wonder what a person can even accept as the truth anymore?

Ultimately, however, I’m forced to accept “facts” to a certain degree simply because they’re the beliefs that are also accepted by almost everyone else, but there’s a core of skepticism that lives within me. If I can’t measure something or touch it, I’m not necessarily convinced that it exists, has occurred, or is even real at all. In the end, however, I don’t usually care either way if its real or not. A person can get lost in conspiracy theories and become justifiably paranoid. A healthy dose of skepticism is never a bad thing as long as it doesn’t rule my life. I guess I’m just a skeptic, that’s all, most especially when it comes to those realms many call, the supernatural. It might be hard for an outsider looking in, then, to understand why I believe in ghosts.

 Why I Believe in Ghosts

My mother and sisters share my belief, that there’s at least one spirit attached to our family. Electrical appliances, lights, and the occasional faucet have been known to turn on or off. Objects have even disappeared and reappeared in separate places. Sometimes, I used to hear my name being spoken. Other times, I would feel a seperate presence in the room I was supposed to be alone in. This feeling seems familiar to me now, and I can only imagine that at one time it had just wanted to be noticed.

My mom, sisters, and I, can now talk about these experiences with one another openly as these seem to be attached to all of us despite location. What I mean by this statement is that these occurrences have taken place in many of the apartments I have lived in, my sister’s apartment, sisters’ houses, my mom’s house, three different childhood homes and many other residencies. It has never seemed to be attached to one place, like our early childhood home, for example.

Right about now you’re probably questioning how much of a skeptic I really am. Perhaps I need to explain something. I simply know that there is something. We assume it’s a ghost, because this now seems like the most logical of explanations. I use the term ghost loosely, however, because truth be told, I’m not so sure that what we consider to be a ghost is even necessarily the spirit of a deceased. The terms apparition, spirit, or ghost will be used here, simply because I don’t know for sure what this thing is. In fact, I’m not even 100% certain that there’s only one of these so-called spirits attached to us. There could easily be more. I really have gotten ahead of myself, however.

I was very young when I saw my first apparition. I had descended into the basement of our Prince Albert, Saskatchewan home to retrieve a toy. I believe I was 4 or 5. This seventies home was still relatively new then.

At the time, I didn’t understand why the room was foggy. I had a very strange feeling, yet I wasn’t afraid… at least at first.  I tried to look at that fog, which seemed to be rolling, in an attempt to make sense of what it was I was really gazing upon. The foggy image started to gather together and began to form into a pillar-type shape in the corner of the room. I became frozen as I began to experience fear. I had this feeling that if I stayed any longer, in that spot, that I would eventually see a ghostly being. I had seen enough, however. I did not want to see a dead person materializing in front of me. I fled.

I ran to my childhood friend who was playing upstairs and I told him what I had seen. He didn’t believe me, so I cautiously brought him into the basement. I was much more willing to be afraid in his eyes than to be seen as a fool or liar. Of course, there was nothing there. He did not believe me. At the time, my parents didn’t believe me either. They had not been inside at the time. The thing that still stands out in my mind was that this unexplained cloud was greenish in colour. The apparition, if you can call it that, had appeared to me as a green cloud.

If you’re curious to know, I had seen this “entity” in the basement corner closest to the power meter in the Polaroid picture above. Sometimes, when staring at this picture, I believe that I can see images that are not there. In the windows or as part of the discoloured smear at the bottom. I’m willing to believe, however, that these are figments of my imagination. They probably are.

Anyways, over the years I would shift back and forth between skeptical and gullible as other smaller unexplained things occurred. Eventually, I embraced the idea that something was around me based entirely upon these strange occurrences. I discounted that I had once seen an apparition, though. I thought that it must have been a figment of my imagination.

Interestingly enough, I later found out that other people in the neighborhood had seen things that they couldn’t explain, also making them believers. One neighbour was my mom’s brother, my uncle, and there were some strange stories coming from his place as well. An unverifiable rumor emerged. Apparently, the land had once been a Cree burial ground. This of course seems to be a recurring belief in North American urban areas where unexplained happenings occur, but truth be told, I’m not so sure that the Cree people even had cemeteries as we like to imagine them today.

Why I Believe in Ghosts
Cree Camp. Charles Horetzky. 1871

Regardless, I grew up believing that something unexplained was around me. As a kid that thing was clearly defined as a ghost. I believed then that it was a dead person.

As teenagers, my buddies and I would often go to a place called the St. Louis Ghost light. This is a reputably haunted site that thousands of people have had experiences at. It became a regular hang out for us. It’s a well-documented site having even appeared on the TV show Unsolved Mysteries. I own two books Haunted Canada and Ghost Stories of Saskatchewan, which speak of this “haunted” location[i].

We spent a lot of time there. In fact, I can comfortably say that I have seen this light hundreds of times. We eventually decided that we needed to find an explanation so we tested everything. Despite what others may say, the Saint Louis Ghost Light has never properly been explained away. A similar image can apparently be recreated for a small window of time but most say it does not look the same (the attached link to the video would then be of a car very far in the distance, refracting light and driving along a road).

I have seen the Saint Louis Ghost Light during the day, looking the opposite direction (also during the day – this destroys the theory further), seen unexplained shadow figures and I have even seen other unknown lights off of the old train tracks. We shot guns at it[ii] (as embarrassing as this is to admit now) and had even tried to catch up with it on foot or in vehicles (there was no roadblock back then). The closest we could get, appeared to be less than twenty feet away from the very bright light (we were definitely messed up kids).

I’ve never stopped going there. Sometimes, when I’m back in Saskatchewan visiting, I go there still. What I’ve never gotten over, though, is the bad feeling that seems to accompany this light whenever it is present. It did not seem like the other apparition that I’d seen in the basement. Instead, this one came with a certain accompanying feeling (an external angry buzzing) that I would always become skeptical of over time. It was this feeling that became the main reason that I would feel the need to return to this site over and over again throughout the years. It was a strange thing to wrap my mind around, but it was always there when I returned.

These experiences ended up having a very positive influence on me, however. I would, over time, become more and more spiritual. I followed a path that was almost entirely shaped by these early experiences. I became open towards somehow discovering what these encounters really were. Many more occurrences took place over the years that seemed to solidify my general belief in spirits. These were many and I’m sure that I will share some of them along the way.

The Saint Louis Ghost Light seemed evil. It was mostly a repetitive or residual haunting, but it could interact with a person as well. Very often cars that had been fine would stop working and we would not be able to start them again (dead batteries). Radios would go funky. The horn or lights would go on or off. Overall, the Saint Louis Ghost Light would become a huge reason why I believe in ghosts.

These other experiences helped me to trust that the green cloud – which had begun to return – felt good. I wonder now if it had returned because I was no longer afraid of it? As strange as this sounds, it sort of became mundane. It lost its novelty. Eventually, I stopped believing it was even real.

You see, somewhere along the way I had decided that these visual experiences were some sort of internally created manifestation. I would wake up and see it, or I would be in a very calm near meditative state before it showed up. This cloud was nothing more than a hallucination that would manifest itself as I was falling asleep. It didn’t matter if I believed in spirits or not, however, because the energy attached to it seemed positive and I felt good when it was around. It could not, or would not, harm me.

I eventually concluded that my mind – like it had so many years before as a kid in the basement – was continuously creating a symbol (aka a ghost) which my logical mind needed to interpret. I enjoyed waking up to that green cloud floating in my room. It was a cool sort of hallucination that I would watch until it faded away. It hardly mattered how often I saw it, though. I knew it was a trick of my mind. I had laid the foundation for my spirituality, grown older and maybe wiser, discounted the original experiences, and yet continued to go through the movements of a believer. I would light candles and incense for “the spirits” and would even speak with them (not that they would ever answer back in the way one would think). I was merely walking upon a symbolic and metaphoric path, that’s all. It worked for me, but I knew that none of what I was seeing was real. In retrospect, this was the period in which I had lost my faith.

One night, someone else saw it as well. I was staring at this thing in my typical state of apathetic enjoyment. She asked me – in fear – why I couldn’t see “that green cloud” which was hovering nearby. I really could, though. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I had not revealed these visions to her nor could she have known the colour of the manifestation most of all. We were not drinking and we did not do drugs. In one moment I was forced to reevaluate everything that I had come to comfortably believe.

I asked my roommate at the time what he thought. I asked him specifically, because he was a true agnostic and not some sort of noncommittal like me. He suggested that we had merely had a shared hallucination. It was a solid alternative explanation, but I thought it seemed even more of a stretch than the belief that something, whatever that something was, had been seen.

The incident seemed to validate something inside of me. It was a sort of belief that I had been fighting off and on for so many years. I decided, that this cloud had to be a ghost. I had simply had that same experience that people have been describing since the very beginning of time. I had seen a ghost! More than once! Now what exactly that ghost really was would become a whole other area of interest and speculation.

It would show itself a lot less often after that. The ghost seemed content that I now believed it was real.

Since that period of my life, which was much more than a decade ago, there have been other sightings of this green cloudy mist. Most recently, Elle saw it when she was alone in my place. I had never told her of its colour either. My skeptical mind had decided to hold back this information. I felt like a detective trying to catch a serial killer by holding back that one validating clue that no one else would have ever known about: the colour. Unfortunately, I have not seen that green cloud myself for a very long time, but it is ultimately the reason why I believe in ghosts.

It has been my experience that apparitions, whatever they are, seem to simply want to be acknowledged by certain individuals. They (?) have often ceased their activities when I have said out loud, “I know that you are here.”

I have many stories of these unexplained events that have occurred within my living spaces, too many to dismiss actually. Even fifteen years ago I was struggling to reason these things away. A TV turning itself on or off might be one thing to try to explain away, a light switch physically being moved to an off position when no one is near it is something else altogether. Try explaining an item which goes missing from a place you put it in only to have it reappear in the exact same place at a later point. In this case I lived alone. No one else was there. I left the room and came back and it had returned. There was nothing else on that bench. Not even a piece of paper. I had stared dumbly at it each time I had passed by knowing that my keys had been there. It then returned back to this spot only after I had declared loudly, “I know that you are here! I need my keys back!”

These are experiences that I cannot explain and reasons why I believe in ghosts to this day. We call it a ghost. Maybe it’s something else entirely, something that I cannot even begin to understand. Whatever it is, it seems to have intelligence. As strange as it sounds, logically, the most plausible explanation to me is that it’s the spirit of someone deceased. It feels like family.

That is the most interesting part of all. It feels like family to all of us. I have often wondered if it is attached to some old item that we had carried off of that farm[iii], or perhaps, it is merely the spirit of an ancestor, one of the many tragic deaths that has plagued our family’s past generation[iv]. That, however, is a story for another day.

Why I Believe in Ghosts
Plowing an Alfalfa Field by Tractor. Collier’s New Encyclopedia, 1921

Next week, I’ll share some personal experiences that took place in the old Bay building located on Granville Street in Vancouver.

[i] You can read about the Saint Louis Ghost at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Louis_Light or watch the Phil Campagna video found at http://www.philcampagna.com/stlouisghostlight/ghost2.html

[ii] The light would always turn red when we did this.

[iii] There is a couch that is suspect which once belonged to my great grandmother. I have my grandfather’s retro floor to ceiling lamp and my grandmother’s oil burning lantern in my home as well.

[iv] On the farm there was a house fire that killed the brother my grandmother was initially supposed to marry, a death by lightning, a farm accident with a combine, and at least one drowning. This list does not include all of those people who have died of “natural” causes. It was a very tragic generation.

* Scanned Polaroid picture is from 1979. All other images found in this post have been taken from Wikipedia and are public domain.

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