To understand our immortality is a fundamental issue for Spirits, not yet fully evolved, as well as for the billions of entities connected to the planet Earth.

When disincarnating, and due to this lack of knowledge, many cannot understand this natural and inevitable moment. In addition, they believe that everything ends with death. This is a serious mistake, because in this state of surprise and disturbance, they seek to maintain communication and live, as they did, with those still embodied - friends and family – who kept them company, before leaving for the definitive and eternal invisible world.

Thus, when they returned to their former homes, they helped to create the legends of haunted places. Skepticism and dogmatic religions tried to understand and explain this supernatural phenomenon, however, from their prejudiced and deficient point of view, they were unsuccessful, and the facts remained unexplained.

Humanity waited until the mid-nineteenth century to fully understand who haunted these places; how they caused apparitions and noises; whether or not there was a predilection for certain places; for what reasons these entities returned from beyond; why, apparently, they only appeared at midnight; and, perhaps most important, how to act in the face of these unusual events.

Significant evolved Spirits brought this work. It detailed this issue subject to an accurate analysis. The work, published in 1861, in France, was the second basic work of the Spiritist Doctrine, structured by the Lyonese sage Allan Kardec Its title is: The Book of Mediums.¹

Who haunts?

Popular jargon named these hauntings tormented souls. However, as we briefly saw at the beginning, they are nothing more than Spirits, created by God in the same manner as we were created. For various reasons, presented later, they return from space. Hhowever, some do not even leave the Earth's surface, acting after death as if they were still alive, and in flesh and blood.

Evidently, these entities are not representatives of the class of wise and good Spirits. On the contrary, they are still classified as inferior Spirits, but - not necessarily bad ones. Due to the effort and dedication in the understanding and practice of the divine laws, they will also evolve to the level of superior spirits and end up by reaching the position of pure Spirits.

It is common to associate these terrifying manifestations with the presence of the Devil, inhabiting these dismal places. However, it is not the case to blame this terrifying figure, due to a very simple reason: The Devil does not exist!

A creation of the ancients and, still seen in the 21^st century, countless religious people still insist on blaming this fictitious entity, the Devil  not only as responsible for the existence of these haunted places,but also for many of their acts contrary to the Law of God. Thus, they try to exempt themselves from the authorship of unseemly actions that they still avidly want to maintain. Poor Devil, blamed for everything we do wrong.

How do they produce the phenomena?

From a careful reading of The Book of Mediums, we learned that the material phenomena caused by the Spirits can be explained by the existence of matter in a fluid state - God's creation - which surrounds our orb and fills the Universe. These fluids, in their different modalities, can be manipulated by certain disembodied entities. There are also living beings who temporarily hold the faculty of mediumship. Among these, some can externalize their own fluids, enabling the handling of this fluidic matter, often without their knowledge, causing: movement of furniture, overthrowing and breaking of objects, appearance of lights, grotesques sounds , such as unusual noises, screams, cries, voices, sighs and whispers, among so many forms of material manifestations that have fluids as their source.

Sometimes, they appear through the materialization of their perispirits (an envelope that has the shape of the physical body and that involves all the Spirits). On other occasions, they can become visible to all those present, or only to those who have a certain degree of mediumship or by the so called double View.

Evidently, these phenomena are under the supervision of more evolved entities that allow these achievements for fully justifiable reasons - nothing happens by chance. All spirits that cause these events, and the living subject to these situations, have a more evolved entity that closely follows them, in order to help in the process of evolution of each one. No one is helpless, neither on this side nor on that side.

In which locations?

Legends say that there is a certain predilection on the part of these disturbing entities for medieval castles, old palaces, old buildings and, in fact, some are even haunted. However, disembodied spirits can manifest anywhere: apartments, modern houses, commercial properties. ..., it all depends on the reasons or motivations of these so-called dead.

In fact, there are a few billion beings on the invisible plane. Take as an example Emmanuel's text when he stated in 1952 that there are 20 billion disembodied souls.² Now, considering that the overwhelming majority is not interested in learning anything about his condition as an immortal Spirit, or, when he seeks information about the divine postulates, unfortunately, he finds absurd explanations, impregnated with incomprehensible dogmas, confusing him even more. Therefore, it can be said that there are many more haunted places than our vain philosophy dreams of!

Spirits are among us, in the streets, bars, stairwells, squares, halls, fields..., and whenever any of these, due to total ignorance of his dead state, appears, for example, sitting on a bench square, ready, starts another legend about a new haunted place.

From what is known, the statement that the suffering souls prefer the holy fields, that is, the cemeteries, is not valid. They usually go there when they are called by the thoughts of their relatives on All Souls' Day, for example. However, they do not choose these places, they are places like any others. Some even remain chained, by the perispirit, to their decomposing bodies, already buried under the earth, but these cases do not represent a condition of preference. Magnetism and the power of thought explain these singular connections.

They do not prefer isolated and remote places. They stick to the scenarios that best correspond to their personal nature. If they liked crowds, they mix there, if, on the other hand, they are solitary and aloof from social interaction, they naturally distance themselves from crowds.

For what reasons?

The extreme attachment to matter, a sensualist existence, the hallucinatory cult of one's own body, explain these particular situations when seers observe spirits sitting in their tombs without being able to move away, some embittering the time lost in the unbridled search for the immediate pleasures of life.

However, this is just one of the many reasons that explain why there are so many disincarnates who are literally prisoners of situations that they do not understand and from which they do not have the power to free themselves, they need external help.

Some become attached to their loved ones and often begin to obsess over them without realizing that they are doing so. They can also connect to objects they had when they were alive and, through magnetism, when they are free from their bodies, they become magnetized to these objects, unable to abandon them.

They are, sometimes, former residents of castles, churches, various dwellings. And, when they receive the call of death, they refuse to abandon their dwellings to other people, starting to torment those who remain there, terrorizing future residents, preventing them from assuming governance of their former properties.

There are cases in which the individual is surprised by death without having completed various material commitments, thus remaining on the earthly plane in a vain attempt to complete their business. They try to communicate with those still alive, without realizing that they are still alive, although without access to the earthly goods they have just left behind.

There are more scathing situations, where the newly disincarnated person wants revenge on behalf of some fault committed by those who still remained on the material plane. These are more serious cases that can last for a long time, as it is not enough to acknowledge that they are dead, for those who know, to move away naturally, they also need to forgive, perhaps the most difficult action to be achieved.

Atonements also cause the Spirit to remain in these places. Embittered by what they've done, atrocious acts, torture, various crimes, are magnetized to the place, not succeeding in extricating themselves from there, in a mixture of revolt, remorse and melancholy. They start wandering aimlessly through the premises of the property, whatever it may be.

Suicides are also subject to being imprisoned in their homes. Take, as an example, the case described by Yvonne Pereira when visiting the old Petropolis chalet. Due to her mediumship, on the first night she spent there, she heard noises on the floor, screams, murmurs, groans and, wanting to understand the situation, since the residents never accused any supernatural disturbance, after a few days listening to those unwanted noises coming from the ceiling from the house, in prayer, perceives, by clairvoyance, just above in the attic an unusual fact. There was a spirit struggling, a prisoner, bleeding, due to having committed suicide, for financial reasons, with a shot in the heart. He was the former builder of the residence. Urged to clarify the past, residents reported that the former owner had committed suicide ten years ago. Yvonne left the residence without knowing for sure the outcome of the case, but she helped the suicide in what she could.³

And, as incredible as it may seem, there are spirits who occupy themselves with having fun, when they notice that the incarnates are terrified by their antics. In this case, it is suggested that residents pay as little attention as possible to noises and apparitions, so that, without an audience, the tenants of the invisible withdraw peacefully. Incidentally, the playing of the glass can easily evoke one of these idle and disoriented people, starting from that moment on to haunt the place.

When do they haunt?

It is opportune to inform you that there is no preferential time or day. They can manifest at any time. It is illusory to believe that they prefer to appear at midnight. This understanding is linked to the past, when we were much more ignorant and our fear was also accentuated due to legends and beliefs in witches and wizards who preferred to act in the dead of night, because in daylight, if they were caught performing their rituals, sometimes macabre, they were promptly led to the bonfires.

Furthermore, at night, our imagination creates, in perfectly normal ways, diabolical figures, terrifying us greatly. It is the overexcited imagination.

The silence of the night also favors the association of normal noises, from some creaking of wood, for example, to supernatural knocks.

What to do?

Now, in the face of such reports, what would be the best attitude to take, if, by chance, we are connected to a haunted place?

Certainly, exorcisms would not be the wisest course of action, considering what we already know. Crucifixes, sacramental words, kabbalistic scratches on the floor, none of these devices have any power over spirits. There are even those who laugh at these medieval practices. When exorcism is successful, it is not because of the artifacts used. It is because of the goodness that exists in the heart of the exorcist called. It considers the way which he conducts the conversation with the supposed dead, and the merit of the incarnate, However, this good side, it can be present in anyone who could, in theory, carry out the clarification of the ghost, inducing it to move forward in its evolutionary journey.

Furthermore, in general, exorcism intends to dislodge the ghost by force, a practice not recommended by the Spiritist Doctrine, since the disturber is also a child of God, he needs to be clarified rather than expelled from the place.

If the harassment of these so-called ghosts is due to a test for the residents, then patience must be added as a necessary attitude, in order to give time to time and never blaspheme or get angry, tests ask for tranquility, acceptance, resignation, mild attitudes to overcome these challenges that never occur by chance.

What the Doctrine also recommends would be to attract good Spirits to the place, through prayers and evangelical studies to saturate the environment with good fluids. Readings aloud from passages contained in the Gospels are highly effective. Purely doctrinal studies also help, as they can enlighten the ghost to recognize its own undead status.

Always doing good and practicing the Gospel of the Home are very timely measures.

We can and should pray for the so-called dead, without any restriction, and, as a suggestion, we find in The Gospel According to Spiritism, examples of prayers to the Spirits that are temporarily inhabiting these terrifying places.⁴

Conclusion

Popular beliefs recognize that there are cursed places, disturbed by tormented souls, dwellings of ghosts or supernatural beings. However, after this information revealed by the Spiritist Doctrine, we must change our understanding, not believing that there is some spell or mandinga cursing the place, cast in the passed off as a supposed witch or sorceress.

They are natural manifestations. They are contemplated by the order of things, as we are still linked to a world of trials and expiations.

Perhaps as a definitive proof that these facts are within the divine order. It is enough to remember that Modern American Spiritualism, which preceded the elaboration of the Spiritualist Philosophy entitled Spiritist Doctrine, initially presented to humanity through The Book of Spirits. It had its starting point departure through ghostly phenomena that occurred in New York, in the year 1848, in the town of Hydesville, Rochester County, manifestations caused by a dead person, buried in the basement of the residence of the owners, the Fox family.

References:

1 KARDEC, Allan. The Book of Mediums. Translation by Evandro Noleto Bezerra. 2^nd ed. 1. print. Brasilia: FEB, 2013. item 132.

2 XAVIER, Francisco C. Roteiro. By the Spirit Emmanuel. 5^th. ed. Rio de Janeiro: FEB, 1980. The Great Educandario. chap. 9.

3 Pereira, Yvonne do A. Memories of mediumship. 4 ed. Rio de Janeiro: FEB, 2008. Testimony.

4 KARDEC, Allan. The Gospel According to Spiritism Translation by Evandro Noleto Bezerra. Brasilia: FEB, 2013. chap. XXVIII, items 15, 16 and 17, among others.