Sure I've seen ghosts, haven't we all? It's scary because it's a portrayal of half a being. An opague image that suggest that the other half has transcended, stepped through, knows what's on the other side. Yet there is something very natural about ghosts, they almost seem absorbed by the energy field of the earth itself. That is why apparitions in outer space are something altogether different. But the one thing that made me realize with immediate clarity that ghosts are purely (and I say purely and not merely because they can still feel extremely scary) a projection of the witness's subconscious, is the clothes they wear.
Hollywood picked the glowing white frocks for apparitions, but most other accounts can describe the wardrobe with vivid accuracy. Did the ghosts choose it's wardrobe? Is it the fate of every spirit to be stuck with the garb it died in? (hopefully a nice cardigan and a pair of comfortable loafers rather than a smelly two day old jock strap and black wool socks) Is there a big old clothes rack in the sky? What does a spirit fashion stylist charge by the eternity? These are the type of questions that at once invalidate and dispel the idea of ghosts. But if it is true and the clothes maketh the monstrosity, I hope they have a pinstripe Cavali from the summer '04 collection in a "42 waiting for me...
- Russo
