But, you're why I'm here

What if if spirits “haunt” a location until they’re forgotten?  Meaning, once all traces of a person’s life in physical form have been dissociated from their existence and they’re completely forgotten in every way possible way, it is then they are finally at rest for eternity.  What if the mere memory (subconscious, or even genetic memory) of a person who has passed-on is vital component – a key – a spirit needs from the living to empower them to communicate to us from beyond the grave in certain places and/or at certain times… And, if this concept is a potential reality, could this be just another angle of “it’s possible that paranormal activity (hauntings) originate from the living”, which would help explain why some people experience haunting activity in a location, while others who may reside in the same physical space, but at a completely different time, do not experience haunting activity. It’s not that the people are haunted, per se, it’s that they – themselves – are the mechanism which allows someone from the past to communicate with us in present times.  It’s not a psychic ability, or even a spiritual ability, but an actual physical connection via genetic code.  It’s a concept that’s pretty far fetched, but the possibility is quite intriguing.

Some say spirits hang around because they have unfinished business, and so it does make me wonder – If spirits can stick around because they’re still thinking about the living, then can spirits also be sticking around because the living keep them in their collective consciousness.  For example, a blacksmith from the early 1700′s passes on, and every living relative in his family tree also dies out over time.  He has no ties to anyone who is currently living, and since he lived a fairly uneventful life there are no reasons to think he is hanging around in spirit form.  But a politician, or a murder victim from the same time period, with similar attributes to their family heritage – they’re thought to still be here, haunting their old residences or the places of their final moments.  The difference?  The blacksmith was an “average joe”.  He has not been written about, no one has reason to remember him, and he’s left no legacy.  The politician, and the murder victim, have left legacies that have been put to paper and left good reason to be remembered through time.  They are in our minds in one way or another – someone remembers them, even if the reason for knowing something about these people is indirect and insignificant, their mark has been left on, at least, one person’s consciousness.  The unfortunate circumstances of a murder victim’s final moments – which have led society to change its behavior in certain ways, or the powerful politician who was instrumental in creating laws which still affect us today.  Whether we realize it or not, they left their mark, and we live by it.  And so I pose the possibility again – perhaps spirits haunt in our time because they’re in our memory and that’s what empowers them to do so.  Whether they’re in our collective memory or the memory of a location; whether their life made an impact on a very small number of people or a large number of people, an insignificant place or a place of monumental importance – there is no difference between any of them if the only thing a spirit needs, to haunt a location, is to have left a legacy of the minutest importance.

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