SUPERSTITIONS ON GHOSTS
Posted by Ghosts Knights Investigations on Sunday, January 15, 2012
Under: Folklore
"Ghosts and Fairies in the Middle Ages," ghosts were often thought to be the damned souls of, women who died in childbirth, children who were never baptized, blasphemers, people who were not Christians and those who committed suicide. While their ghosts roamed the Earth, the people themselves were destined for an eternity in Purgatory. In contrast, if someone wanted to bring forth a spirit, they would need to wash a slab of steel in mugwort juice.
Other religions also had superstitions surrounding ghosts and spirits. Eleazar ben Judah of Worms was a Jewish scholar who lived from 1165 to 1230. He wrote that spirits were akin to a flicker of fire. He believed that, when light was seen at cemeteries, it was really spirits talking to one another. Another Jewish ghost figure was called a "dybbuk," a departed soul that clung to a human.
Irish of the Middle Ages believed that the Banshee was a specific ghost that could be heard howling at night. The Banshee was a phantom female who was sometimes called the Angel of Death, according to "Irish Mythology: The Banshee" written by Ciara O'Brien. While some myths thought that she came in the form of a washerwoman or an old crone, others state that she was a wraith with silver hair. When she wailed, it was to warn human beings that they or someone they loved was about to die.
In Iceland, many superstitions regarding ghosts were centered on animals. For example, an owl was synonymous with death and wherever an owl nest was built, a ghost would linger in the area until the bird abandoned its home. Rooster crows were thought to tell ghosts that it was time for them to vanish until night falls again.
According to "Superstitions" written by Stephanie Lechniak-Cumerlato, people during the Middle Ages would put lit candles by the bed to keep spirits away. If a candle suddenly turned blue, that meant that a ghost was lurking nearby. In the days before criminals were hung at the gallows, ladders were used. Because of this, people believed that the ghosts of the condemned lived in the space under open ladders, heaping bad luck on anyone who walked under the ladder
Read more: Ghost Superstitions in the Middle Ages | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/info_8478501_ghost-superstitions-middle-ages.html#ixzz1jZP8OpLd
Other religions also had superstitions surrounding ghosts and spirits. Eleazar ben Judah of Worms was a Jewish scholar who lived from 1165 to 1230. He wrote that spirits were akin to a flicker of fire. He believed that, when light was seen at cemeteries, it was really spirits talking to one another. Another Jewish ghost figure was called a "dybbuk," a departed soul that clung to a human.
Irish of the Middle Ages believed that the Banshee was a specific ghost that could be heard howling at night. The Banshee was a phantom female who was sometimes called the Angel of Death, according to "Irish Mythology: The Banshee" written by Ciara O'Brien. While some myths thought that she came in the form of a washerwoman or an old crone, others state that she was a wraith with silver hair. When she wailed, it was to warn human beings that they or someone they loved was about to die.
In Iceland, many superstitions regarding ghosts were centered on animals. For example, an owl was synonymous with death and wherever an owl nest was built, a ghost would linger in the area until the bird abandoned its home. Rooster crows were thought to tell ghosts that it was time for them to vanish until night falls again.
According to "Superstitions" written by Stephanie Lechniak-Cumerlato, people during the Middle Ages would put lit candles by the bed to keep spirits away. If a candle suddenly turned blue, that meant that a ghost was lurking nearby. In the days before criminals were hung at the gallows, ladders were used. Because of this, people believed that the ghosts of the condemned lived in the space under open ladders, heaping bad luck on anyone who walked under the ladder
Read more: Ghost Superstitions in the Middle Ages | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/info_8478501_ghost-superstitions-middle-ages.html#ixzz1jZP8OpLd
In : Folklore
