Theresa Bane - Encyclopedia of Spirits and Ghosts in World Mythology

Also by THERESA BANE AND FROM MCFARLAND

Encyclopedia of Giants and Humanoids in Myth, Legend and Folklore (2016)

Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore (2016)

Encyclopedia of Imaginary and Mythical Places (2014)

Encyclopedia of Fairies in World Folklore and Mythology (2013)

Encyclopedia of Demons in World Religions and Cultures (2012)

Encyclopedia of Vampire Mythology (2010)

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGUING DATA ARE AVAILABLE

BRITISH LIBRARY CATALOGUING DATA ARE AVAILABLE

ISBN (ebook) 978-1-4766-2339-9

2016 Theresa Bane. All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Front cover image of ghost by the sea 2016 shaunl/iStock

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com

Dedicated to Lisa K. Richs mother, Thelma Mae Arrington,
a lifelong reader who gifted the love of books and
learning to her daughter at an early age.

All the best of me is from her.
Gone too soon and missed every day.

I thank you for reading this, my newest work published by McFarland, an encyclopedic reference on spirits and ghoststhose creatures and beings from the worlds folklores, legends, and mythologies which are largely insubstantial but influential and present as both aids and adversaries. If you are lucky enough to live near an actual bookstore, there would appear to be a number of books on the shelves discussing the subject of ghosts and ghost hunting, haunted places, possessions, and the like. In the same general area there are also a number of books on calling down and speaking with your guardian angel, exorcisms, possession, and specific haunted or possessed buildings and locations as well as the accurate and actual retellings of real-life hauntings. This is not one of those books.

Within these pages you will discover entries covering a range of spiritual beings, and monsterscreatures, some of whom were never mortal but always ethereal and insubstantial. It is true some of the above-mentioned types of books do have a dedicated page or two where they offer up one-sentence definitions of popular or related terms and their meanings; in this area it may list a GHOST or similar type of creature. APPARITIONS and DOPPELGANGERS are commonly listed but because of the niche these books fill they do not have the time, space, or inclination to delve into GAKI, NATS, NATURE SPIRITS, or the MAHORAGAS, to name but a few. I suspect people who find ghost-hunting books and cases of possession interesting to read will want to read this book, if for no other reason than to see just how much worse a haunting can be from a mythological being.

When I begin to work on one of my encyclopedic reference books, I start by pulling the relevant books off the shelves of my personal library before scouring for additional sources through my county library system. Ultimately, I supplement my needs with Google Books, a truly invaluable service. However, this time there was no need as I had just completed a massive work on mythological creatures, containing just under 4,000 entries. If it had ever seen press it likely would have been the size of the first four Harry Potter books, combined. Rather than publish such a massive, 500,000-word document, the project was divided into three books, one of which you now hold in your hands, the other two being the Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore and the Encyclopedia of Giants and Humanoids in Myth, Legend and Folklore. Once the entries were pulled and placed into their proper bookeither an encyclopedia of beasts and monsters, giants and humanoids, or spirits and ghostsall three were much more functional and focused. I wish I had the idea from the beginning, but with everything working the way it did, I actually wrote three books in the time it would have taken me to write one. I am very pleased with the end result and feel my fellow librarians, readers, and researchers will like this specific topic approach much more than the original everything but the kitchen sink.

Like my other non-fiction reference books, The Encyclopedia of Spirits and Ghosts does not contain those fictional creations generated from the imaginations of authors or a writing team. Not only were the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Yet to Come excluded, as they were the singular creations of Charles Dickens, but also omitted were Casper the Friendly Ghost, the controversial child ghost, and his pet fox Ferdie who first appeared in the childrens book entitled The Friendly Ghost (1939). They are also the creation of an author and later a design team when they made their cartoon debut in 1945.

Real-life ghostly encounters reported by eye-witnesses and investigative reporters are not included, and I intentionally steered clear of them. For instance, when The Amityville Horror: A True Story was first published in 1977, describing the terrifying experiences suffered by the Lutz family, it captured the nations attention. Even disregarding the controversy of the truthfulness of the events which were alleged to have occurred, the ghosts occupying the home on 112 Ocean Avenue would not have been included in this book. Setting aside polemic opinions of what actually did occur and why the family made the claims they did, let us assume for a moment the Lutzes told nothing but the truth. This alone would have been enough to discount the spirits of the infamous Dutch colonial, as I never include real world animals or beings in my mythology books. However, if we were to assume a less holistic and open-minded view of the situation the Lutzes suffered through, they and their otherworldly occupants still would not have been eligible for inclusion as the ghosts were the singular creation of the Lutz family, ghosts that were never a part of any cultures folklore or religion. At best, the tale told by the late Jay Anson is a fading urban legend.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s there was a flood of books appearing on the market on how to contact and maintain communication with a spirit guide, spirit totem, guardian angel, and the like. Although many such beings were named in these works I did not include them here either. For the most part these beings only appear in those books where they are mentioned; never does another similar-minded author admit they too have had contact with the spiritual entity named by another author, which might lend a layer of believability and credence to claims of communicating with intellects not of our dimension. On the other hand, both parties then run the risk of being labeled a nut.

Having written Haunted Historic Greensboro (2009), I am often asked if I believe in ghosts; I tell anyone who asks, No, I do not. But I do believe in history and I do believe there are stories associated and connected to historic sites. In doing research for that book, I came upon many people who had a story to tell (or knew someone who did) about local landmarks. It was rewarding but arduous work to go to each location, interview people, and research the history of each place. The individuals I spoke with all told their tales plainly and without exaggeration. I did not feel they were trying to convert or convince me; likely this was because I promised each and every person I would not judge but simply record events. I gave them my personal assurance that my book was not going to make anyone look bad or paint them in a poor light.