Have you ever seen a shadow out of the corner of your eye? Seen an orb-like form of energy just out of reach? Ever been touched? Or had your hair bopped so it swung like a pendulum? It could be nothing. It could be a spirit, however. A spirit that just wants to mess with you. Or is it something more sinister? Let’s go back through the history of ghosts and spirits. Where did this all come from? Where did it all begin? Is there a difference between a ghost and a spirit? Is what you see real? Is it all in your head?

Well, in ancient times, yes, it was very real. Each culture has its particular lure/legend to what a spirit is, where it goes, what happens after they die, and everything else. Here are three that caught my interest!

Mesopotamia: In Mesopotamia, those who died went to Irkalla. It’s translated as the land of no return. It was dark, and much like Dante’s novel Purgatorio.

The spirits would eat the dirt off the ground. No matter how good of a life they lived, each was the same. The land was ruled by the dark queen Ereshkigal. No soul would ever leave Irkalla unless otherwise granted. Permission was given if the spirit was on some kind of mission to finish with the living.

Sickness in Mesopotamia was considered an outward manifestation of some sin that was being punished either by the gods or by the spirits of the departed and was always assumed to be the fault of the one who was ill until it was proven otherwise. Their spirit was called a Gidim and it was maintained by the personal identity of the individual who was dead. Generally, they could not leave Irkalla, but some could be naughty and torture the living for no good reason. For this, they would be punished by the sun god Shamash.

Meso- American: Just like before, seeing a ghost was bad business. The Maya belief system held that ghosts were intolerable and not expected to return to the earthly realm. The spirit would leave the body and be conducted across a great expanse of water by a spirit dog who would then help the soul navigate through the various trips and traps of the Lords of Xibalba to reach the Tree of Life which the soul had to climb up to paradise.

Spirits who returned, therefore, were considered unnatural unless, as with other cultures, they appeared in dreams and were recognizable as friends or family members (though even this was not always the case).

Celtic: Here is where things get more interesting and less doom and gloom. This shift in the season of the Day of the Dead in Mesoamerica came about because of the Catholic church's policy of "Christianizing" previously existing pagan festivals. These are some of these pagan beliefs. (I do not practice paganism.) To them, life was cyclical and when one life ended the next began. This celebration was called Samhain. Pagans believed that during this time, the veil between the living and the dead grew thin and the dead could walk again in life. This took place in late October/early November and traditionally is considered to begin at sundown on 31 October and go until 2 November.

Samhain is depicted in Supernatural, if you’ll remember, as being an actual person that they were afraid of. In the episode, Sam’s research took him to say that the costumes that we wear on Halloween were to hide from evil spirits.

Wherever legend takes you, I can assure you there is truth behind it.

This ghost lure is a huge part of culture and history and it’s important to keep in mind. The Bible warns us to keep an eye out for spirits, and that not all of them are good. Even in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, when Prince Hamlet doubts that the ghost he has seen is actually his father returned from the dead and says, "The spirit that I have seen/May be a devil, and the devil hath power/To assume a pleasing shape, yea, and perhaps/Out of my weakness and my melancholy/As he is very potent with such spirits/Abuses me to damn me" Ghosts are mentioned in the Bible in passages such as Matthew 14:25-27, Mark 6:48-50, and Luke 24:37:39. Among the most famous passages concerning a ghost is the one from I Samuel 28: 7-20.

And yes, I have had personal experiences with the paranormal. They started from a very young age and only grew more intense as I grew up. The first experience, I was four years old, to my most powerful and meaningful one at 19. I know for a fact, the most recent experience was real, was from God, and the spirit that visited me needed help and permission. It wasn’t easy to make that kind of energy I saw. It was very special. Though that was a great experience, all of them have not been good. Some quite terrifying, and only the name of Jesus ran them off.

There is a difference between Spirits and Ghosts. Ghosts, based on research, have died probably violently. This research is based off of bestselling author and paranormal investigator Joni Mayhan

She thinks that ghosts can sometimes want to stick around to maybe solve their own crime. They missed the chance to go to the light, although I don’t think it works like that. Now, you’re stuck here. You have the same problems, the same urgent issues, but you suddenly no longer have a body to wear. You’re just floating around, invisible to everyone and frustrated that you can’t communicate with anyone. This would make you a ghost. The biggest problem with ghosts is the lack of divine intervention. They don’t even know that their body was nothing more than a simple vehicle for their soul to ride in. The worst part is that some of them might also be downright evil.

I have experienced ghost encounters, but my powerful experience was a spirit. If you’re a spirit you walk through that door and have your life reviewed for you. Once you’ve gone through your life review, you have the chance to come back to Earth to visit loved ones. Most of them won’t know you’re there, but some will pick up on your presence. You might give them a loving pat on the back or leave a pure white feather on their doorstep as a reminder.If this were your reality, you would be a spirit.

So the difference between a spirit and a ghost is the attitude of the person that died. Did they go towards that light? Or reject a love so pure? When God calls you home, will you answer?