I read a piece in the paper a little while ago, all about how some people think their dreams can predict the future and how that's all...well, a load of rubbish really. It was by Richard Wiseman, a scientist whose books already adorn my shelves, so I bought his latest one, 'Paranormality' (from which the article had been taken) and devoured the whole thing in a day. And I'd recommend it for an interesting and interactive romp through the history of the paranormal and how none of it's real (there's even an exercise that induces seeing a 'ghost'...don't try that one when you're on your own in the house!)
I've never seen a real 'ghost' - or at least I don't think I have. Once, when I was very young (I must only have been about six years old) I had a dream about my Nan's mother, who had died in her forties when my Nan was a little girl. I'd never seen her (obviously!) but it was one of those dreams where you just know who people are supposed to be. The following day my Mum, sisters and I went to see my Nan, and as I was sitting at her dining table innocently drawing a picture, the kitchen door opened and in walked the lady I'd seen in my dream. She didn't look real, she looked like a glowing outline of a person...like the image you get when you look at an illuminated lightbulb and then close your eyes. She came in, smiled at me, then just disappeared. My sisters were playing in the corner of the room, and my Mum was chatting to my Nan just at my side. I had been the only one who saw her. I wasn't afraid, and I said nothing, just carried on with my picture.
Nearly thirty years later, the details of this dream have stayed with me as though it only happened yesterday. I am almost certain that the 'vision' at my Nan's was simply an extension of the dream I'd had...but it's that "almost", isn't it? "Almost" pretty much defines that whole attitude to spirituality and those who believe in, and practise it. Psychics never get full details of the 'people' they communicate with, just a few snippets of information that "almost" make sense. Dreams "almost" predict the future by incorporating a few details, not the whole picture. People don't know if they've really seen ghosts or not...they're "almost"sure.
I have to say, I like life's "almost"s and "not quite sure"s, and I think other people do, too. Because it makes our existence seem a bit more interesting; as though there really are mysterious things out there that will never be understood. I also like and am interested in scientific discovery, though I could never do it myself as it's too black and white. Richard Wiseman is absolutely, not almost, certain that "the paranormal" doesn't exist except in our minds, and he is probably right about that. But I like that I'm not completely sure about it. I don't know whether that makes me stupid, or gullible, or open-minded...or all of those things.
(Regarding that dream, it probably wasn't a ghost I saw. I had a dream around the same time about Status Quo coming round to babysit, and that absolutely didn't happen. Or...did it?)
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