Denmark is swept by a wave of "ghost addiction". Special TV programs are dedicated to ghosts, newspapers tell about "guests from the other world", and ancient castles and even standard modern houses are advertised as habitats for spirits. Even the Council of State for Science, which usually refuses to deal with all kinds of myths, this time sacrificed principles by funding a study on ghosts by anthropologist Kristen Marie Raahauge.
Society is trying to understand what is happening: is it about the desire of the media to tickle the nerves of jaded people in the street, or is there really a real phenomenon of the close contact of two worlds - the otherworldly and ours - on the territory of the Danish kingdom?
The four-month project "Haunted Houses" has just finished, and its results have amazed even experts in the "afterlife." A sociological survey conducted by Kristen Marie Raahauge showed that every tenth inhabitant of the country of Hamlet at least once in his life came across ghosts or manifestations of their activities. “I do not presume to say whether there are ghosts in reality, but now I am sure that there are a huge number of unexplained phenomena that my compatriots faced. The spirits of the dead usually choose Catholic countries for their "second life", but who would have thought that such a thing is possible in sane Lutheran Denmark! In the 70s of the last century, we certainly did not have such a revelry of ghosts,”Ms Raahuge comments on the results of her research in the Berlingske Tidende newspaper.
Most often, the Danes were faced with indirect manifestations of the activity of otherworldly forces. Employees of one of the provincial museums located on the site of the former castle, for example, have repeatedly heard the clatter of hooves on the cobblestone pavement, although the entire surrounding area is covered with grass. A gust of icy wind in a warm room where all the windows are closed, the smell of cigar smoke in an apartment where no one smokes, a sudden heart-rending scream, the sound of a stone or a horse's shoe thrown on the floor, a door in which the lock is locked by itself, the smell of a long gone past food … The Danes have named hundreds and hundreds of similar mysterious incidents in the course of their research.
“People of different ages, men and women, highly educated scientists and ordinary workers, representatives of all walks of life, faced the phenomena that defy logical explanation. Therefore, one cannot say that a certain category of the population is "committed" to ghosts, "says Kristen Marie Raahauge.
The widespread opinion that ghosts "choose" ancient palaces and castles, in which something terrible once happened, was not confirmed either. The spirits were found in standard city apartments, in suburban villas, in aircraft hangars and office buildings, the entire short history of which can be described as a calm routine.
It seems surprising not only that the ghosts have an unusually wide habitat, but also that they have the ability to adapt the achievements of modern technology to their needs. Many interviewees reported shadows appearing on TV screens, eerie sounds coming from CD players dusting on a shelf, and indistinct mumblings from a switched off cell phone. "The impression is that ghosts are increasingly choosing consumer electronics for communication with living people," the researcher concluded.
However, perhaps the most unusual outcome of the project was the conclusion about the relationship of people living in haunted houses with guests from the other world. Neither sacred awe nor horror was observed in most cases. Commoners most often experienced a slight annoyance at the discomfort caused by the spirits, treating them like rats, cockroaches, or difficult neighbors with whom to make peace or start a war.
“Many residents of houses in which ghosts appeared, started a real war with them for territory, without any mysticism or fatalism,” stated Dr. Raahauge, telling the following story in support of her words. A family bought a house a few years ago, the owner of which died and the widow moved to another home nearby. The spirit of the former owner of the house began to disturb its new inhabitants. Either a translucent male figure began to stroll around the living room, then some kind of indistinct swearing came from a mobile phone. As a result, the new owner of the villa was tired of the annoying "guest from the past". At his next appearance, he opened the door and invited him to ride in his Citroen: “Your wife has moved to another house, sit down, I'll take you to her.” A short walk with the ghost saved the family from the intruder. Since then, he has not appeared in the house. The widow of the deceased, on the contrary, ceased to experience loneliness: a translucent "something" moved into her apartment.