When you are under ten years old, you never make the distinction
on what a graveyard is actually or, it is a place to be laid to rest, so that
your loved ones can visit whenever they wish.
For a kid under ten it is a creepy, cool place to look at old headstones
with old date markings and strange and odd sounding, old fashioned names and
taking on the challenge of trying to pronounce them out loud as you pass by.
As we grown older we play tag in the graveyard when the
sun goes down, adding to the creepy factor as we scare each other and
ultimately, ourselves in the process.
We always assumed this would be the place to see a ghost
if there ever was one, right? Over the
hill in the back of the cemetery, a woman wearing a white dress, would float
down the hill towards me and send me running out the front gates and not stop
until I reached home.
Kids never mean to be disrespectful by looking around a
cemetery, they are trying to understand our races' understanding of death and
how we prepare and deal with it. Adults
think kids are up to no good or possibly out to vandalize, I am sure there are
some that are set out to do this, but the majority of us, are trying to understand
what death is all about at an early age.
Why do we plant our dead bodies in the ground? You would think once we leave our physical
vessels that burning the remains would seem far simpler and make much more
sense. We continue to put them in boxes
and into the ground. It seems an odd
filing system, like someday we may be back and we will need to know which row
and which section our body was placed and cataloged in case we need to retrieve
it. Carry over rituals from Egypt
perhaps, build a tomb to house our body and all your belongings so that you can
have them when you "cross over?"
When I became a ghost hunter I lost my fascination with
cemeteries along the way. I am not sure
why or how, you would think it would have increased but that was not the
case. I have a theory why this could be,
as I travel all over and investigate what might be around us that we do not see
or hear (for the most part), it makes me think that we move out of our physical
bodies and onto something new. We have no
need for our former shells. I have done
plenty of investigations in cemeteries and have captured some interesting
voices, but I think for the most part, not many people hang out, staring at
their gravestones. Who would? Are you supposed to wander around the
"Forever Lawns" looking for unfinished business? Who cares by this point? Life has begun anew, why would you live the
life of mystical folklore and ghost stories?
If I was in this situation, I would head straight to the movies or see a
play, etc. No job, no commitments? Why
bother?
The mystery of the graveyard has weakened, even though I
appreciate the efforts of the headstones and crypts and architecture that was
put into them as a reminder and a marker of someone who once walked the earth
and did exactly the same things we all do at some point in time.
I visit cemeteries and still wonder who people were and
what life was like for them. I still try
to pronounce names (now with better luck) and still do some Electronic Voice
Phenomena as well (hey they may be looking for a grave as well you know!).
I don't have any fears of cemeteries nor am I afraid that
I might spot a mystical ghost wavering over the hill, headed my way. I would love that, but I put little faith
into ever seeing such a vision.
I will continue to visit all the "Forever
Lawns" of the world through different outlook and eyes.
Anthony Anderson
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