The nature of ghosts in "Abroad"

[spyells]

"A Wizard Abroad", Pg.34
"Wizard's knew that very few ghosts had anything to do with people's souls hanging around somewhere. Most apparitions, especially ones that repeated, tended to be caused by a kind of tape recording that violent emotion could make on matter under circumstances, impressing its energy into the molecular structure of physical things. Over long Periods of time the "recording" would fade now and then, for good reason or no reason, and upset people who happened to see it. And if those people happened to believe that such a thing was caused by human souls, the effects would get steadily worse, fed by the emotions of the living."

That was a lot to type. Okay my questions are as follows...So there are no ghosts? So in the book it is only saying that ghosts don't exist and it is only a recording? And if so how is that recording made? Where do people go when they die? I know in "Deep Wizardry" Carl (I believe he said it and not Ed) said, " What is loved lives." So when someone dies and they weren't a wizard, they can't go to Timeheart. So where do they go?

[dorotheia]

Where did you get THAT idea? That non-wizards can't go to Timeheart? Boy, you are a fast reader!
My defence:
(a) Nita's mom went to Timeheart when she died. It was in Nita's dream.
(b) Fred and the Lotus also go to Timeheart.
(c) I'm not sure, but I'm sure the Master Shark also went there.
True, these were all in a dream, but I think Kit and Nita know that is where they go. Do you see them making such a fuss? They would be, you know, if they didn't get there.
(d) What is actually said in WD is that Nita and Kit don't know how non-wizards see it. Not that they don't get there altogether!

So there are no ghosts? So in the book it is only saying that ghosts don't exist and it is only a recording? And if so how is that recording made? Where do people go when they die?

Sigh. You heard the quote.
Q1/Q2/Q3. Ghosts exist, but their definition is wrong. It's a recording instead of a wandering soul. Perhaps it would be better to say: It's a faded reenactment of an event with no impact on the physical whatever besides what people hear/see, and cause people to feel. The extreme emotions surrounding the event are what makes a ghost. Ireland has a lot of them because the land (and people?) remember old injuries and the havoc and emotion they caused. The recording replays like a reminder of the event, over and over... As if it's saying, "I happened! I happened! Do not forget meeee..." As to whether they're real or not... This is fantasy/fiction, you know! That's up to you.

I know it sounds like I'm beating up on your ideas. Still, I hold by my analysis. And probably I didn't answer your real question. Perhaps you need to rephrase it...

[Rhi]

Yep dorotheia, your analysis is sound. Now, as for whether in real life their are ghosts or not, I don't think that there are. My guess is that people have better things to do after death than hang around annoying people by jumping out and saying boo

[spyells]

True, I know that after I die I wouldn't want to stick around.

Dorotheia I was talking about the book not real life. The Master Shark had borrowed Nita's wizardry so maybe that was the cause of him going to Timeheart. And didn't Nita's mom have something to do with hurting the lone power when Nita was there in her body trying to get rid of her cancer? (I'm not on that A Wizard's Dilemma yet so please cut me some slack) Fred and Lotus also helped out the wizards. Maybe the non wizards only go to Timeheart if they help out a wizard in some way. I'm probably wrong but it's just a thought.

[Dragon Writer]

who wants to stick around? death's supposed to be another adventure...and i always love adventure, i must admit. *doesn't exactly look forward too it, but hopes i dont' shy away from death when it comes* though i might stick around long enough to see what ghostliness is like briefly.

[spyells]

Of course Young Reader don't we all want to stick around to see what ghostliness is like. I hope I don't shy away from death either. And you're right it is just another adventure. To me it is just a new life.

Has anyone ever seen a real ghost before?

[Garrett Fitzgerald]

Originally posted by dorotheia:
(a) Nita's mom went to Timeheart when she died. It was in Nita's dream.

Not quite -- it was before she died. We don't know if Nita saw her afterwards, and if she did, how that affected her grief. It doesn't look like it made it _much_ easier, if at all. (And I'm not sure "dream" is the correct term to use for a visit to Timeheart -- after all, she did it while (presumably) wide awake in DW.)

Originally posted by Spyells:
Has anyone ever seen a real ghost before?

No, but Ghost Hunters sometimes makes me wonder if I'm being too skeptical. :-)

[spyells]

Some of my family were raised in the country in Mississippi. (this was like in the 30's and 40's) My grandma and my uncles have a lot of ghost stories. The sad thing is I think some of them might be real.

"The Wizard's Dilemma", Pg. 398
"So this is it? Nita's mother said, gazing around with a look of awe and appreciation. "What you told me about: Timeheart?
"Uh," Nita said. "I'm not sure. I'm not sure how nonwizards see it."
"After all that," Nita's mom said, "am I a nonwizard.

This is what I was wondering about. Maybe if you use someone's wizardry or help the wizard out then you go to Timeheart. That's what I meant Dorotheia. I just couldn't find the quote then.

[Dragon Writer]

i haven't actually seen a ghost (that i'm certain of...could be hard to tell. :P though one girl i saw in the wrong state DID disappeare by the time i went looking for her...i thought i rmemembered her from new jersey, so what was she doing suddenly appearing in a staples in new york, and suddenly disappearing before she would have ha time to buy anything...) but other than that, nothing that i can certainly say is ghostly...WEll, other then the weird things that happen around me all the time. i do know people who say they've seen ghosts before, though, and i can accept the possibility...anything's possible until proven otherwise, and even THEN there's always a chance for human error.

[spyells]

I would be terribly afraid if I saw a ghost. I mean maybe there isn't anything to be afraid of but I would be so scared. I guess it's the thought of the unknown. And from the way some relatives in my family and all the books that I read (fantasy or not) it just sounds creepy and I hope I don't run into one anytime soon.

[Dragon Writer]

ghosts aren't that bad...you might not even know they WERE a ghost! i mean, would YOU automatically go "ok, that's a ghost" or think it was just a weird person...well, maybe WE"D say ghost, but most of the world would try to explain it away before accepting it...

[spyells]

I always imagine ghosts as pearly white. You know transparent. I also imagine them to be cold. If a ghost is here there has to be a reason for why they haven't moved on. And all I'm saying is that I don't want to become their main haunt.

[Rubywolf]

I always thought of ghosts as eerie, and cold, like getting thrown into a lake. I thought ghosts looked just like people, except they could dissapear really fast.

[Dragon Writer]

who says you could even see the ghost? and who SAYS they fit the stereotype? they might be something you'd never even imagined, and you might never know they were there...

[Rhi]

Who knows, one might even be watching you over your shoulder right NOW! Sorry, can't imagine what came over me...

I've had one strange encounter that might come across as vaguely ghostly: In the room of my grandparents house that my great-grandmother died in I always felt really uncomfortable. It still felt like someone was in it; even the smell of the room smelled like her in her last years. During one of my recent visits I finally just spoke aloud to my great-grandmother and told her that it was time to move on. After that I didn't have any more of that watching feeling when I went into the room. Strange, huh.