Haunted

What is "haunted?" More specifically, what does it mean to be "haunted?" Is it even real? I suppose it depends on what you believe of the afterlife: what happens to us after we die?

"Haunting" actually has a couple of meanings. First, it can mean that something comes across as particularly poignant: "That piece of music is very haunting." Meaning, it evokes a profound meaning within ourselves that touches us at a deeper level.

"Haunting" can also mean to be "haunted;" that is to say, that  something or someone is haunting us. Classic "haunted" house lore would have us believe that a human spirit is "haunting" a house, and refuses to "move on" to whatever is after life.

(why all of the "quotes" and the use of italics?  It's because the words and/or phrases I quoted or italicized don't necessarily have a clear meaning, or that their meaning(s) are controversial to the point where just as many people believe as disbelieve their purported definition. So I err on the side of caution)

I digress. A classic haunting is generally associated with the horror genre in the world of entertainment, and involves ghosts or spirits, or even demonic presences that are associated with a specific place or a house. Some even say they can be attached to specific people as well. We think of things that go bump! in the night, or we scrunch under our covers in bed, making sure that nothing is sticking out, because god forbid something strokes our bare ankle in the middle of the night... w-what was that noise! Our imaginations run absolutely wild with fearful thoughts at things that we are unable to identify.

I like to believe that there are rational explanations to everything that is unexplained, and luckily for me so far, I've been right each and every time. And even with alleged haunted houses in specific, or creepy places in general, science has come to the rescue; although their explanations aren't generally as fun, are they?

Science tells that generally speaking places that creep us out, make us feel uneasy, or just plain scare us, have a very sound explanation, literally. Infrasound, or sound that is just below conscious human perception at around 19 hertz, can't be heard but apparently can still be felt by the body, and in fact is directly linked to feelings of discomfort, uneasiness, fear, and even nausea. Recognize the haunted house symptoms?

Scientists have investigated for this 19 hertz frequency in alleged haunted houses and have found-- you guessed it-- it is present in over 90% of the cases investigated. Those house settling sounds-- the creaking, the pipe noises, the moaning sounds-- all of it (or at least 90% of it)-- fall into that infrasound frequency. Quite eye-opening, no?

Does the imagination take us on journeys? Yes it does, even though sometimes we know the rational explanation. I'm actually here to propose yet another definition of what a haunting is-- the mind.

Hear me out-- as the mind goes, so goes the body. Another one of those pesky scientific principles. So if it's real in your mind, it's eventually going to be real in the body. To quote Jo Rowling from HPatDH: Harry asks, “Sir, is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?” To which Dumbledore sagely replies: "Of course it's happening in your head, Harry. But why on earth should that mean it's not real?"

I have come to believe a haunting-- in its simplest of forms-- is a lingering thought of a person. Not a voluntary thought, mind you, but a thought that pops into existence regardless of our attempts to keep it at bay, and one that we consciously have to banish. It comes on its own, but requires a purposeful mental process to banish it.

Sometimes it can be pleasant-- for instance, once in a while out of the clear blue I will get an urge to talk to my first muse— my Aunt Sadie, who passed a number of years ago. She will linger in my head for a bit, look over my shoulder, if you will, and continue acting as my muse, from beyond. It’s very pleasant, and I have that going with my Mom as well, and my Uncle Lou. Just the occasional presence felt-- perhaps a conversation ("...of course it's happening in your head... why on earth should that mean it's not real?" I think J.K.R. absolutely nailed it with that scene from "The Deathly Hallows").

And sometimes it can be unpleasant-- as with a snide comment from an ex-wife. Sometimes I'll accidentally allow it to devolve into a whole argument in my head before I finally pull the plug on it and banish it back into the netherworld of my deeper thoughts. It is disturbing though, each and every time. And then I feel silly, particularly with the ease at which it can be dismissed/banished. The interesting part of course is that I can "say" things in these “haunting” moments that I would have never said IRL, which can ultimately be quite therapeutic. Disturbing, but therapeutic. Of course.

Anywho-- those are my thoughts on "haunting," and/or being "haunted."

© Ray Cattie