"Am Dead, Will Travel"

And so, another day goes by and another thought ambles its way through my tiny brain.  I have been perusing thoughts of why people believe that spirit energy, by and large, remains in one spot throughout the "lifetime" of its haunting.

I began thinking about this in earnest a few months ago when I received an email for my group's website which questioned why so many paranormalists investigated cemeteries.  His contention was, "Wouldn't it make more sense that spirits would be haunting the sites of their deaths, not the sites of their burial?"

It was an intriguing question and I pondered it for awhile.  Of course, most of us would be quick to point out that the spirit inhabits cemeteries due to the fact that its mortal remains are located there.  In just about every piece of folklore and fiction, the people attempting to put a spirit to rest do so by destroying or finding a proper place to lay such remains (be they skeletal, partially decomposed, etc.).

I began thinking about how many homes are haunted with departed souls and discovered that there appears to be quite an abundance of hauntings in this setting, but equally, there appears to be a multitude within graveyards and burying grounds.  So, the question then becomes, "Are these spirits traveling from one place to another?"

We never really stop and wonder why ghosts appear to be in a particular location at intervals, but are absent for long periods of time as well.  During these absence periods, are they somewhere else . . . perhaps visiting old "haunts" from their lifetime . . . or even the place where their mortal remains have been laid?

I read about Irish and Scottish traditions of family members lifting up a recently deceased corpse and literally dancing with it in the graveyard in order to "fool" the spirit into believing that the family is happy and content following the passing of this soul.  According to the belief, if a spirit witnesses weeping and mourning, it will follow the family back to the home because it is now under the impression that it is missed.  The celebratory charade is there to ensure that the spirit stays put and does not travel back to the home.  Similarly, in Italy and many other European countries, the mere act of gazing back at the gravesite once a family member or loved one has departed is more than enough reason for the spirit to follow the living back to the home.

So, it's obvious that people did (and presumably do) believe that spirits can travel.  The question is, "Do they all travel and is it on a regular basis?"  Can I be visited by a ghost passing through my home on its way to the cemetery behind my house?  Can random hauntings or one-time sightings be explained by this travel theory?

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