If you have watched The Ring or The Grudge then you know what Asians think of when they think of a malevolent ghost: A woman wearing white with long dark hair draped over her face.
That’s not just a thing of horror movies, that’s directly from their folklore. It’s also not limited to the Japanese; the Koreans have a tradition of marrying such a ghost to a male ghost in an attempt to exorcise both spirits.
Is it possible for such ghosts… these long haired female apparitions… to manifest in our Western culture? What about to a white person born and raised in a Western culture? If not, then why not? What would prevent them from doing so? Are the visual manifestations of spirits determined by the belief of the local people, or do all spirits from all over the world take all forms regardless of the ideas of the living?
Here’s a curve ball for your thoughts: What if video of an Asian-style female apparition was caught in a White Western’s home, and the video was caught by people who are all white Westerns themselves? To up the ante even further, let’s say that apparition is of white Western woman. If the visual manifestation of a spirit is determined by those who are watching it then should such a thing even be possible?
These questions are spurred by exactly that, interestingly enough. The catch? I saw it on the show Ghost Hunters, so you’ll have to decide if you believe what they find in that show or if you believe that it’s somehow all trickery.
Yet if the video is real then the questions that it poses are - to me - extremely fascinating. Perhaps some of that fascination comes from spending this semester studying the Korean language and culture. Thus this video was an exciting combination of two of my favorite subjects.
Either way, if the scenario lead to some interesting speculation, thought, and theory for you then this post has served its purpose.
Good night all,
~Stephen
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