The Ghosts of Dickens' Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens' story, A Christmas Carol, is a favorite among many people. But how realistic are the ghosts in the story?
Marley's ghost appears to Scrooge and rattles his chains.
"The chain he drew was clasped about his middle. It was long, and wound about him like a tail; and it was made (for Scrooge observed it closely) of cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses wrought in steel." -Dickens, "A Christmas Carol"
Today, we rarely hear of a ghost rattling chains. In fact, ghosts which appear in forms similar to the living, rarely make any noise. Ghosts which knock, rattle objects (including chains), and even speak, are usually invisible.
However, there are exceptions. In the first century CE, Pliny the Younger documented a ghost who was seen and heard by Athenodorus, at a villa in Athens. The ghost wore chains, and pointed to a spot in the garden before vanishing. The next day, Athenodorus had that spot in the garden dug up, and a skeleton in chains was found buried. They re-buried him in a proper cemetery, and the ghost never appeared again.
But ghosts in chains are not entirely in the past. Even today, a tall, evil-looking man appears on back roads and highways in Yorkshire, England, and jumps out to frighten late-night travelers. He's known as "Jack in Irons." Most people who've seen him comment that the ghost appears wrapped in chains.
Of course, Marley is not the only ghost in Dickens' famous tale. There are the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future.
As Scrooge is led through scenes of his past, his ghostly companion informs him, "These are but shadows of the things that have been...They have no consciousness of us."
This is a superb description of paranormal phenomena we call "residual hauntings." These hauntings are like a hologram or video, played on a continuous loop. Events from the past appear to be played like a movie, over and over again. The participants may or may not be spiritual entities. Most are probably mere images of people who took part in the events, many years ago.
One of the best examples of residual hauntings, is the visions of war seen in the United States, at Civil War battlegrounds.
Residual hauntings are a ghost hunter's best opportunity to see a "ghost" that appears in human-like form. However, these forms rarely react to or interact with people viewing them. In fact, most ghost hunters believe that these hauntings are just energy imprints on the environment, replaying the events on a repeating and regular schedule.
In the United States, one of the clearest examples of a residual haunting is
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