Let me begin by saying:  this post kicks off a new series.  One which I have felt lead to explore and one which will ask for YOUR input.  I have spoken with many of you over the past few years and have discovered a common ground among us.  A subject about which we all have questions, so I would like to open a conversation, but a conversation cannot take place with only one involved.  If you find yourself curious about the unknown; if you have had experiences that made you “say hmmmmm”; if you find yourself asking questions to which there are no “rational” answers, then this series may be of interest to you.  And although this initial post may be longer than most, I’d like to begin by setting a foundation.

Spirituality is one of those things we all tend to skirt around, wanting neither to tread upon another’s toes (so to speak), nor to put ourselves out on that proverbial limb through expressing what it is we Believe. Even in one of my favourite holiday movies “The Polar Express”, the train conductor is careful to stop his passenger from sharing what it is he Believes, saying:  “It’s nothing I need to know.” Somewhere along the way we became timid of spirit, where once we were unabashed and fearless. The crusades are a perfect example and, while it is fundamentally wrong to force anyone to convert their Beliefs to match our own, the fact that we once held our Beliefs so vitally important that we went to such extremes, where now we are often vigilant in concealing them, speaks volumes.

Life, Death, and the Beyond affect us all, every day; yet we do our utmost to avoid those subjects about which we know so little.  I Believe, however, that it is through the honest and open communication of what we Believe that we gain understanding.  I also Believe that it is not really a matter of who is right and who is wrong, but rather, it is a matter of who is Able to Believe and who is not.

I also Believe that being Able to Believe is an act of courage more than of faith, it always has been; particularly when expressing our Beliefs may have led (or may lead) us down the path of ostracism, cruelty and even death. Not so much has changed on that score (sadly), but this post is not about our hate and the unthinkable things we do to each other.  This post is about Believing.

Believing in what, you might ask?  Those We Do Not Speak Of, I answer.  Those who have lived this Life and passed through Death into the Beyond.  Where and what the Beyond is, I am also not here to debate.  Heaven, Paradise, Valhalla, Stovokor; it matters very little what you or I may choose to call it.  What matters is: are you Able to Believe it exists and that those who pass through to the other side of existence abide there or are you not?  If you are Able, an entire realm of possibility opens; as do a myriad other questions in which we may be Able to Believe, or not.

What happens to the Essence of who we are once we pass into that new realm?  Do we become pure energy; the perfection of everything we tried to attain in flesh?  The final expression of what our Spirits truly Are without the limitation of physical bodies, of fears, violence, doubt, and the calamity they create?  Do we move into a place that is Beyond perception or do we simply become a form of energy that our physical beings are not able to perceive, process or comprehend.  Taxing questions, to be sure and HEREIN lies the crux of my babbling.

Spirits.  Ghosts.  Apparitions.  Ringwraiths.  There are as many names for our Essence once it leaves our bodies as there are names for the realm into which we pass; yet, again, I say, the name itself is not important. What is important is: are we Able to Believe in them or not?  Does their existence depend upon our Belief or do they exist regardless of what we are Able to Believe or not?  I Believe there is far too much evidence of their Presence to say they do not exist.  The argument that we simply wink out and are gone forever seems far less possible than the notion that we do not.  There are stories that are passed down from ancient times, tales of ghosts and haunted places; legends of wisps; songs of lost lovers who return for one final touch and the newer, perhaps less intriguing manifestation: the popular televisions shows like Ghost Adventures, Ghost Hunters, and Most Haunted, which lead us to other taxing questions.

Do we find ourselves inescapably curious about “the paranormal” because we try so hard Not to Believe?  Do our own Spirits whisper truths to us about those same things that we try to deny?  Are we curious because, deep in our Essence, we already Understand, but because of the frailty of our physical being, we are not Able to Believe?

I Believe we must open a conversation about these things, not merely to hash out what we are Able to Believe or not, but so we can discuss other, equally important matters.  If Ghosts exist, how do we Perceive them?  Can we Communicate with them?  Are they Aware of us as well or do they perceive us on the same limited, peripheral basis as we do them?  Can we touch the Beyond through Belief alone?  Does Love/hate Abide even without physical being and  can they Cross the Divide?

These Questions are not meant to be answered, but simply asked; explored, so we might, possibly, broaden our Understanding.  I invite you to join me in this exploration and to Share those questions and experiences about which you wonder.  Lets Wonder together and explore the Wonder all around us!

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~Morgan~

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Beautiful Original Photography by: Nelleke Pieters at nelleke.deviantart.com