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In your religion do you believe ghosts are demons?Or that ghosts are not demons?

Sgt. Pepper

All you need is love.
In your religion do you believe ghosts are demons?Or that ghosts are not demons?:)

As I was saying in another thread, Wicca is not an organized religion, so there is no specific answer to your questions. Each Wiccan decides for themselves what they believe about spirits, the afterlife, and death. Wicca isn't a religion that arrogantly claims to be the only one with the correct answers to what happens after death. There are no scriptures, no widely accepted revelations, and no doctrines about what the afterlife might be. There are a few differing views found within Wicca when it comes to life after death, but there isn't an overseeing authority that instructs Wiccans to believe in any particular version about death or what to believe about spirits (human spirits or non-human entities). There are conclusions that many Wiccans share, but there are no "official" stances.

As I said before, the openness of Wicca regarding death and the afterlife is one reason why I like it. Spiritualists, on the other hand, have specific beliefs about spirits, the afterlife, and death. As a Wiccan and a spiritualist myself, I personally believe that there are demonic entities in the physical world, and as a psychic medium, I know that there are demonic entities in the physical world.

I have encountered them myself while investigating a couple of haunted locations. I'm also aware that these entities are capable of imitating children in order to trick and lure unsuspecting people (meaning those who don't have the psychic ability to detect them) into potentially dangerous situations. That being said, as a psychic medium, I can sense both evil and malicious entities; therefore, I don't believe that the earthbound spirits that I interact with and communicate with are demonic entities. I can distinguish between an earthbound human spirit and non-human entities, such as a demonic entity or an angelic being. For the record, it doesn't matter to me if there are Christians or other theists who don't agree with me on this subject because they don't see, hear, or feel what I see, hear, and feel, nor are they with me when I interact with and communicate with earthbound spirits. In other words, they need not bother arguing with me about what I've written in my post or the personal experiences I've had as a psychic medium and a sensitive.
 
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The Kilted Heathen

Crow FreyjasmaðR
I take "demon" in the original meaning of the word, not the Christian misuse of it. That being a spirit or divine power, great or small, even including our own spirits and emotions.
 

exchemist

Veteran Member
In your religion do you believe ghosts are demons?Or that ghosts are not demons?:)
I don't think the Christian churches take a definite position on whether ghosts, interpreted as being the spirits of the departed, can visit us in visible form or not. Some Church Fathers like Augustine of Hippo were very sceptical. Thomas Aquinas less so. But whether they do or not, they are not thought of demons, just spirits of people.
 

Quintessence

Consults with Trees
Staff member
Premium Member
"Demons" aren't really a concept that come up in Druidry, which isn't that surprising considering the mainstream cultural conception of demons is overtly Christian in its tones and assumptions.
 

Wandering Monk

Well-Known Member
In your religion do you believe ghosts are demons?Or that ghosts are not demons?:)

Great thing about make believe things is you can believe whatever you like without the nuisance of actually have to provide empirical evidence that they exist.

Just a stupid game.
 

Sgt. Pepper

All you need is love.
I'm open to the idea of there being both ghosts and demons. But I don't necessarily see the two as the same.

Nowadays, it is more typical in contemporary society to accept the reality of ghosts and other paranormal phenomena. The negative stigma attached to believing in the paranormal has significantly lessened during the past twenty years or so. It's widely accepted now.

Researching the paranormal is a hobby of mine, so I've done a lot of research on this trend, and the data I found online confirmed what I had thought to be true. Rather than starting from scratch, I decided to copy what I posted in another thread on a related topic.

According to a survey from October 2021, 63 percent of the participants (2,000 people aged 21 and over) believe in the paranormal in some form. The people surveyed said the most common unexplained beings they believe exist include ghosts (57%), aliens (39%), and Bigfoot (27%). A third (35%) of the people surveyed said they have felt an unexplained presence in their home, prompting them to believe that they’re being haunted. Here is the information about the survey: "Paranormal Nation: Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe in ghosts or aliens." These articles show that there has been an increase in paranormal belief over the past twenty-two years.

Gallup Poll: One Third of Americans Believe in Ghosts (2000)

Americans' Belief in Psychic and Paranormal Phenomena Is up Over Last Decade (2001)

Three in Four Americans Believe in Paranormal (2005)

Brilliant Scientists Are Open-Minded about Paranormal Stuff, So Why Not You? (2012)

Spooky Number Of Americans Believe In Ghosts (2013; updated 2017)

Pew Research Center: 18% of Americans say they’ve seen a ghost (2015)

Paranormal America 2017 Chapman University Survey of American Fears (2017)

Paranormal America 2018 Chapman University Survey of American Fears (2018)

You Gov America: Many Americans believe ghosts and demons exist (2019)

Reports Of Paranormal Activity On The Rise During Coronavirus Stay-At-Home Orders (2020)

57 Percent of Americans Believe in Ghosts — and Many Think There's Paranormal Activity in Their Home (2021)

Personally speaking, I think the reason so many people are fascinated by the paranormal is either because they're curious to know what will happen to them and to others after death or because they have had a personal paranormal experience themselves and are genuinely seeking answers to make sense of this life-changing experience. The latter applies to me. It's the reason I started.

My experiences with the paranormal have to do with the fact that I'm a psychic medium and a sensitive. In fact, I saw my first human spirit when I was six (read here). I've talked about my psychic mediumship abilities in other threads (click here and here), and I have posted several threads in the paranormal activities forum about the investigations I've done at various haunted locations. I posted a thread, "A question for paranormal enthusiasts and skeptics," because I wanted to discuss investigating the paranormal with others.
 
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PoetPhilosopher

Veteran Member
Nowadays, it is more typical in contemporary society to accept the reality of ghosts and other paranormal phenomena. The negative stigma attached to believing in the paranormal has significantly lessened during the past twenty years or so. Researching the paranormal is a hobby of mine, so I've done a lot of research on this trend, and the data I found online confirmed what I had thought to be true. Rather than starting from scratch, I decided to copy what I posted in another thread on a related topic.

According to a survey from October 2021, 63 percent of the participants (2,000 people aged 21 and over) believe in the paranormal in some form. The people surveyed said the most common unexplained beings they believe exist include ghosts (57%), aliens (39%), and Bigfoot (27%). A third (35%) of the people surveyed said they have felt an unexplained presence in their home, prompting them to believe that they’re being haunted. Here is the information about the survey: "Paranormal Nation: Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe in ghosts or aliens." These articles show that there has been an increase in paranormal belief over the past twenty years or more.

Gallup Poll: One Third of Americans Believe in Ghosts (2000)

Americans' Belief in Psychic and Paranormal Phenomena Is up Over Last Decade (2001)

Three in Four Americans Believe in Paranormal (2005)

Brilliant Scientists Are Open-Minded about Paranormal Stuff, So Why Not You? (2012)

Spooky Number Of Americans Believe In Ghosts (2013; updated 2017)

Pew Research Center: 18% of Americans say they’ve seen a ghost (2015)

Paranormal America 2017 Chapman University Survey of American Fears (2017)

Paranormal America 2018 Chapman University Survey of American Fears (2018)

You Gov America: Many Americans believe ghosts and demons exist (2019)

Reports Of Paranormal Activity On The Rise During Coronavirus Stay-At-Home Orders (2020)

57 Percent of Americans Believe in Ghosts — and Many Think There's Paranormal Activity in Their Home (2021)

Personally speaking, I think the reason so many people are fascinated by the paranormal is either because they're curious to know what will happen to them and to others after death or because they have had a personal paranormal experience themselves and are genuinely seeking answers to make sense of this life-changing experience. The latter applies to me. It's the reason I started.

My personal experiences with the paranormal have to do with the fact that I'm a psychic medium and a sensitive. In fact, I saw my first human spirit when I was six years old (read here). I've talked about my psychic mediumship abilities in other threads (click here and here), and I've posted several threads in the paranormal activities forum about the investigations I've done at various haunted locations. I also started this thread, "A question for paranormal enthusiasts and skeptics," because I wanted to start a discussion about investigating the paranormal.

I feel I've definitely had some weird experiences before.

My tackling the subject isn't the question of if I did. It's more the question of, how do I process and talk about it, and how far do I go with the subject? Do I treat it like a skeptic, weighing all options, or do I just finally throw in the towel after 5 or 10 weird things happening, and embrace the side that paranormal things do sometimes happen?
 

Sgt. Pepper

All you need is love.
I feel I've definitely had some weird experiences before.

My tackling the subject isn't the question of if I did. It's more the question of, how do I process and talk about it, and how far do I go with the subject? Do I treat it like a skeptic, weighing all options, or do I just finally throw in the towel after 5 or 10 weird things happening, and embrace the side that paranormal things do sometimes happen?

If you'd prefer, you can send me a private message so that we can further discuss your questions. I'm sure I can help you because I've been researching and investigating the paranormal for the past fifteen years, in addition to being a psychic medium and a sensitive.
 

Trailblazer

Veteran Member
In your religion do you believe ghosts are demons?Or that ghosts are not demons?:)
Ghosts are not a teaching of my religion but my religion does not say that ghosts don't exist. There are probably instances of ghosts appearing in my religious texts but I cannot recall them at the moment.

I believe that ghosts exist even though I have never seen a ghost, because I believe people who have claimed to have seen ghosts.

My religion teaches that demons do not exist as entities outside of ourselves, but rather demons represent the evil ego within us, our lower selfish nature.
 

sun rise

The world is on fire
Premium Member
Does he also say that they come back to this earth because they regret having committed suicide?

I have not read or heard anything about your question. I would guess that the person who committed suicide and caused pain and suffering to others would have to deal with that karma which would further the lesson.

I also believe that motive is very important and the kind of suicide I wrote about was ordinary suicide. People who, for example, die because of a hunger strike for a high-minded ideal have a different experience.
 
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