Ghosts
Gail Tiffee
Ghosts are nonmaterial embodiment or essence of an organism, especially of
a human being. The term is sometimes used virtually as a synonym for soul
or spirit, and in the Christian religion, in the form Holy Ghost (now, more
often, Holy Spirit), it has a specialized meaning.
More frequently, however, the term ghost is applied to an apparition,
usually of a dead person, that varies in apparent solidity from a mere
foglike mass to a perfect replica of the person. A wraith, in contrast, is
the visible spirit of someone still alive.
A doppelganger is a special form of wraith that makes its appearance at a
time when the physical body of the subject is observed at some distant
place.
In many religions, and particularly in primitive faiths, the belief exists
that the spirit wanders away from the body during periods of
unconsciousness such as sleep. Such religions also teach that after death
the spirit lingers near the body of the dead person. A common practice of
groups holding such beliefs is to propitiate the ghosts of the dead by
offerings of food, clothing, and other objects that the ghosts may find
useful in the spirit world.
In many primitive civilizations the personal possessions of a dead man,
including his weapons, his pets, and sometimes even his wife, are buried or
burned with his body. The practice of ancestor worship, as well as the
mourning rites of many modern civilizations, probably originated in the
belief in ghosts.
Funk and Wagnalls Encyclopedia