The Difference Between Spirit Hauntings ...

The Difference Between Spirit Hauntings and Time Slips

Jul 16, 2020

Imagine this, you're on holiday and thought it would be fun to take one of those haunted city tours. The guide leads you under the city, into the catacombs, they show you into various rooms and tells you about the most famous killers and their victims. They also tell you, of stories other patrons have told. Some have felt a breath at the base of their neck, others have seen a figure move through an empty hallway, others hear voices. Forget, for a moment, if these tales are fact or fiction, if they are indeed true, are they hauntings or are they a time slip phenomenons? In this blog, I will analyse both terms and help you better understand the difference.

Let's start with the most commonly used term "haunting". According to the Cambridge Dictionary, this is the definition: Verb - (of a ghost) “to appear in a place repeatedly.” We already knew that, though, right? Hauntings are commonly thought of as times when a spirit, entity or being is present in a specific spot. Usually, these hauntings occur in a place of great tragedies. Hence some of the most famous haunted houses are homes that have seen murders and other violent crimes. In these instances, people claim to see or hear spirits re-enacting a moment in time, like Little Jackie who drowned in a swimming pool on the RMS Queen Mary.

It is a less common fact that hauntings are not only done by spirits. An angered Fae can create the effect of a haunting, like in the fictional story of The Chipenden Boggart in the Spook's Bestiary by Joseph Delaney. This story tells the tale of a cat-shaped boggart, the fictional character was summoned to deal with this boggart who was haunting a working mill. The workers there were unappreciative of the boggart's hard work, and it proceeded to bang and scratch at the wooden floors or move and hide their tools. Later in the story, the boggart, having found a new home, was rather displeased and started doing much the same as well as destroying plates and whatnot. Though this is a fictional story, those who work with the Fae can likely attest to similar things having happened to them when they have forgotten an offering or two.

A haunting typically happens when a being is stuck between the worlds of the living and the dead, and it is scarce that this being will leave the area. Hence why most, if not all, hauntings are named "haunting of ..." But not all hauntings are evil, sometimes spirits stay because they feel they need to repent for something, or they want to protect a space. When my mother was young, she lived peacefully with a spirit, at least, until her father returned home. He was a sailor and spent most of his time at sea. Like most households, my grandfather had his spot, an armchair in front of a bookshelf. When he was at sea, both my mother and my grandmother would see a figure sitting in his chair. Needless to say, this spirit did not like it when my grandfather was home, books from the bookshelf would land on him, without reason, they would just fall off the shelf. This particular spirit was not malicious if only a bit territorial. Whoever they were, they kept the house and those in it safe.

Moving onto time slips, a phenomenon when there is a crack in time. This crack allows a moment, from past, future, or an alternate present through. This slip can be visual or audible. There are interesting stories of people who have visited sites, seen one thing then returned the next day to see a building has disappeared, or a storefront has changed. Alternatively, some claim it to be when you step into another time, usually past. But today we aren't talking about time travel.

The most prominent time slip I have continuously come across in my research is one on Bold Street in Liverpool, England. However, some have also been reported to happen in Versailles Palace in France.

I have experienced a time slip of my own, I brushed it off at the time, but now I look back and realize what it is. It was two years ago; we were driving home from Scotland and had stopped for lunch. We took a few hours at an old English Heritage house; it was in a pretty remote area and there weren’t any other visitors. The particular phenomena occurred in the basement of the main house, specifically what used to be the old kitchen. This house was mostly left in its original state, it didn't have much in the way of signs or furniture, and no audio speakers had been installed. I walked into the basement with my sister, and I could hear faint singing, I ignored it, thinking maybe there were speakers in the basement, though unlikely. We perused the surroundings and found our way into the kitchen, suddenly the singing was louder. Yet, my sister could not hear a thing, there went my speaker theory. Later I asked if the others in my group had heard anything when they went through the basement, but nobody did, it had only been me.

Time slips are generally not harmful, you cannot interact with the people you are seeing or hearing. It's like looking through one-way glass, you can see them, hear them, talk to them, but you won't receive a reply, and they won't acknowledge you either. However, there are of course, exceptions to the rule. On occasion you can find reports of people who say they were noticed by someone in the time slip, but this is very rare.

To recap, a haunting is when an entity, be it a spirit, Fae or otherwise, can interact with its surroundings to scare or harm someone.Occasionally, a haunting is also a spirit, or spirits, forced to relive a horrific moment in time for eternity. A Time Slip, however, is a moment in time presenting itself at a point that is not its own.

Have you experienced either of these?

Blessed Be

  • Izabelle 🌹

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