Monday, August 30, 2010

the dreaming


Ghost

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In folklore, fiction, philosophy, and popular culture, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person, taken to be capable of appearing in visible form or otherwise manifesting itself to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely: the mode of manifestation can range from an invisible presence to translucent or wispy shapes, to realistic, life-like visions. The deliberate attempt to contact the spirit of a deceased person is known as necromancy, or in spiritism as a séance.

The belief in manifestations of the spirits of the dead is widespread, dating back to animism or ancestor worship in pre-literate cultures. Certain religious practices—funeral rites, exorcisms, and some practices of spiritualism and ritual magic—are specifically designed to appease the spirits of the dead. Ghosts are generally described as solitary essences that haunt particular locations, objects, or people with which they were associated in life, though stories of phantom armies, ghost trains, phantom ships, and even ghost animals have also been recounted.

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According to the Gallup Poll News Service, belief in haunted houses, ghosts, communication with the dead, and witches had an especially steep increase over the 1990s. A 2005 Gallup poll found that about 32 percent of Americans believe in ghosts.

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photography by Edouard Plongeon
excerpt from "Myths and Mysteries of Washington State" by Lynn Bragg

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

the moon was full, and no one ever knew.


I like to think that I'm the kind of person that doesn't have to see something,
just to believe that it is true.
But sometimes, I catch myself not even believing the moon is still
standing up in the sky, if it has been blanketed by clouds for several days.
And how sad it must be, for an entire city to not know when the moon shines
full and bright, simply because it is hidden away.
I knew in my heart, I could not celebrate it's arrival, when it was not there.
I wonder if that means I've grown up too much.
That if a fairy or ghost came upon me, I would simply turn it away as
something easily explainable.
Sometimes, the hair that stands up on the back of your neck, or a pinch on
your leg that can not be explained should stay that way, unexplainable.
Then, at least, the imaginary world hasn't truly died off.

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Monday, August 23, 2010

Lillie's in the graveyard again, looking for ghosts.

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photographs by Roberta Ridolfi
title quote and excerpt from "Moonlight & Vines" by Charles de Lint



summer's ending.

Friday, August 20, 2010

desiring amnesia.


I've been distracted, but I'm not sure by what.
Something is drawing my attention away from what is real,
away from the world in front of me.
Something is filling my head with haze,
a blanket of smog that smothers the senses.
Something doesn't want me to move forward,
but can't keep me in the past.
Something is stopping time,
and I've stopped along with it.

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photos by tang chan.

Friday, August 13, 2010

if life was like the story books we read.


I haven't had time to write pretty lines and search for ghostly photographs.
the dark moon scooped me up, and took me to a place I only knew of in my dreams.
It was a memory place, a secret place. A place I wish I could never leave.

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