Why We Chase Ghosts
Metaphysical PTSD – Temporality & Chasing Ghosts
“Some chase ghosts, and though their hearts may thump in their ears, the fear serves as a ladder to scale over the horror of impermanence.”
As humans, we have an advanced awareness of time. We understand the temporary nature of things. We know this won’t last forever. Humans have an awareness of death, their own death looms on the horizon, unlike other species. Cats are smart enough to figure it out, but they just assume everyone has 9 lives and don’t worry much about it. Our awareness of temporality is a symptom of our brains. Thus, we are traumatized, especially during youth when this awareness unfolds, and have an underlying anxiety about the loss of life, our own and others we love. We greatly desire to know that we, somehow, continue living, at least as a soul, after the body dies. Cultures through time and all around the world are intensely interested in the afterlife. Religion supports complex ideas, although divergent with each other, about what life is like once the body dies. Humans crave to know that there is something beyond because of our brain’s awareness of impermanence. Many humans zealously seek to understand the spirit world for this reason. They have a metaphysical PTSD. They want to abate the anxiety of death with a religious or spiritual cure. Some of us revel in the idea of ghosts. The fright of a wight is less scary than the fear of death. Ghosts draw us in, they call to us from the misty ethers. We are eager to know there is something in the beyond. Some chase ghosts, and though their hearts may thump in their ears, the fear serves as a ladder to scale over the horror of impermanence. Simply put: If ghosts are real, then it means we go on living after the body dies. Religion and superstition placate the metaphysical stress caused by our advanced brains, painfully aware of our own demise.
In my gothic fiction writings and my upcoming novel Along the Graveyard Lane (2020), I explore ideas about afterlife communication (talking to ghosts), and the possession of host bodies by wandering spirits. In my own way, by writing this story, I chase ghosts and expand an imaginary paranormal world. I gain a sense of pleasure and mystery when I write about the supernatural. I am also aware of my readers who might gain something from exploring a complex world, a paranormal alternate reality that one can immerse themselves in. I imagine the reader is gaining a sort of pleasure from the metaphysical depth of a fictional world containing its own nuances and system of hard magic, or hard metaphysics. Hard magic/hard metaphysics is present when an author details subtleties of his or her methods of magic. A soft magic system stays vague on matters of its operation.
An additional effect of indulgence in the supernatural, much like a children’s story of old, is the benefit of the normalization of death. It is a way to approach the subject without encountering it directly. Gothic fiction could be a disassociation and a normalization at the same time for someone unexperienced in matters of dealing with death. Whenever I see someone dressed in a contemporary gothic style, I often think that the person desires to normalize the darkness whether it is death, loss, grief, evil or anemia.
What attracts you to the paranormal? In what way do you chase ghosts?
SM Dotson 