Are Cemeteries Haunted?

I get asked a lot of questions about the paranormal, almost as many as my husband gets asked about computers (he's a software designer). One of the most common questions I am asked deals with cemeteries. The actual question may vary a little, but the gist of it is always, "Are cemeteries haunted?" This is actually a very good question and one that takes a little explaining in order to understand the answer from a paranormal investigators point of view.

Hauntings are very much hit or miss. While the occasional spirit may pass through and stay for short periods actual hauntings are a little different. This is when a spirit (or ghost) hangs around a particular area (or areas) and doesn't really leave. While "pass through" spirits can and do cause activity they don't stay for long and there are various theories as to why, but I digress. One of the main arguments for haunted cemeteries is that there are so many bodies. But then the question becomes, "But aren't all of those bodies deceased, therefore lacking spirit?" While that answer is believed to be yes, there has been a belief in many past civilizations that if a body does not disintegrate the soul cannot properly be released. Since embalming seriously alters the natural process this could be a problem. Perhaps some souls just can't seem to let go of their mortal shell. Then again, the Egyptians thought that the body had to be preserved in order for the soul to be let free to wander. What a lot of paranormal investigators in present day think is that a spirit may be haunting a cemetery for one of only a few different reasons. One reason could be that family visits often and it is a fairly quiet (normally) place to spend some time together. Another reason could be that the spirit, for whatever reason, is unhappy about their final repose. One more reason could be that the spirit had some association with the cemetery before passing (such as caretaker). And yet another reason could be that somehow a spirit does indeed have to reconnect with it's physical body in order to "stay charged" with energy. Obviously the biggest problem with the final one would be the spirits that don't have a physical body to return to, therefore making that reason fairly shaky.

Whatever the reason is for a particular spirit to hang it's hat in a graveyard the fact still remains that a fair percentage of cemeteries are thought to be haunted. So how, as an investigator, can you tell? That question is a little easier to answer. Investigate it. See? Easier. Well... maybe not so easy. You see, a large number of cemeteries in the U.S. either have posted hours or stick with the dawn to dusk times. Because of that permission must be obtained before you go wandering around a cemetery at night. Personally I have had little trouble investigating many cemeteries during the daytime. Weekends do tend to bring more traffic but during the week it is fairly dead (pardon the pun). Do I get some odd looks? You betcha. But you learn to ignore them and/or work around interruptions. I have gotten some good EVP during the day as well as an odd photo or two. Actually, now that I think of it, many of the more convincing photos of anomalies or apparitions were taken during the daylight hours. If you capture something during the day you can always pursue trying to get permission for the night or you can stick to daytime investigations. To each their own.

So after having read some of the reasoning and some of my findings the question still remains, are cemeteries haunted? As you can see, it is not a simple yes or no answer and circumstances per cemetery can be quite different so there is no blanket answer either. The answer I tend to give those who ask is sometimes. Some cemeteries appear to be haunted while others do not just as some homes are haunted and some are not. If you are still wondering about a cemetery near you go and check it out. You may be surprised by what you find.