Ghosts and Spirits
鬼魂與靈魂
An ancient belief
Belief in ghosts is as old as mankind itself. In ancient cultures all around the world, people believed that the human soul left the body at the time of death and entered the afterlife. But if spirits go to live in the afterlife, why would they appear to the living in the form of ghosts? In Chinese tradition, the gates to the underworld open during Ghost Month—the seventh month of the lunar calendar—allowing the spirits of the dead to visit the world of the living for food and entertainment.
古代的信仰
自從有人類以來，就存在鬼魂的信仰。在世界各地的古文化中，人們相信在死亡之際，人的靈魂會離開身體，進入來世。但靈魂若是到來世生活，又為何要以鬼魂的形式出現在人間？中國傳統認為，陰間大門會在鬼月，也就是農曆七月開啟，讓往生者的靈魂到人間覓食和作樂。
In Christian tradition, the souls of the dead go to Heaven or Hell, where they remain for eternity. No wonder there are only two clear references to ghosts in the Bible. In the Old Testament, Saul, King of Israel, asks the ghost of Samuel for advice in defeating the Philistines; and in the New Testament, Jesus has to persuade people that’s he’s not a ghost after he rises from the dead. Yet while the Church discouraged belief in ghosts, there were so many sightings over the centuries that their efforts had little effect.
基督教傳統認為，死者的靈魂會上天堂或下地獄，並永遠留在那裡，因此聖經中只有兩處明確提到鬼魂也就不足為奇了。在舊約中，以色列的掃羅王向撒母耳的鬼魂請教如何打敗非利士人；在新約中，耶穌復活後要說服大家他不是鬼魂。不過，儘管教會阻止人民相信鬼魂，但幾百年來仍有許多看到鬼魂的傳聞，可見教會的控制成效不彰。
Ghosts enter the modern era
Ghost stories had long been popular with Victorian readers, but it was the work of Scottish writer Catherine Crowe that brought belief in ghosts into the modern era. In The Night Side of Nature, published in 1848, she collected accounts of ghost sightings and haunted houses from all over Europe. What made Crowe’s book different from other collections of ghost stories was the fact that she carried out careful research, requiring at least two firsthand witnesses for each account included.
傳入現代的鬼魂
鬼故事長久以來一直深受維多利亞時代的讀者歡迎。但將鬼魂信仰帶入現代的，是蘇格蘭作家凱瑟琳克羅維的作品。她在1848年出版的《自然的夜界》中，收錄歐洲各地看到鬼魂和鬼屋的報導。克羅維的書和其他鬼故事選集的不同之處在於她精心進行研究，所收錄的每篇報導，都至少有兩位第一手目擊證人。
The rise of spiritualism
While Crowe’s book did much to raise public awareness of the supernatural, it was an event on the other side of the Atlantic that turned belief in ghosts and the afterlife into a new religious movement called spiritualism. In the spring of 1848, when the Fox family of New York State was kept up by strange noises in their house, sisters Maggie and Katie discovered the source was a ghost, and that they could communicate with him by asking questions and interpreting the rapping sounds that he made.
通靈的崛起
正當克羅維的書推波助瀾大幅使大眾對超自然有進一步的認識時，在大西洋的另一邊正興起一場將鬼魂和來世的信仰發展成通靈的新宗教活動。1848年春季，紐約州的福克斯家因住家發出奇怪聲響夜不成眠，瑪姬和凱蒂兩姐妹發現聲音的來源是鬼魂，而且她們能透過提問跟鬼溝通，也能解讀鬼發出的敲擊聲。
The ghost claimed that he was a salesman who’d been killed by the house’s former owner, and when human bones were discovered in the basement, the sisters’ story spread across the country. They began traveling from town to town holding séances, where they communicated with other spirits using the same method. As their fame as mediums grew, many others found that they could also contact spirits, and a new religious movement was born. Instead of church, members attended séances, where mediums helped them talk to dead relatives and receive guidance from the spirit world.
那個鬼魂自稱是銷售員，是被那棟房子的前屋主所殺，屍骨在地下室被找到後，這對姐妹的故事傳遍全國。她們開始周遊各個城鎮，舉辦降神會，以同樣的方式跟其他鬼魂溝通。隨著她們的靈媒聲望越來越高，也有許多人發現自己能跟鬼魂溝通，於是新的宗教運動就此誕生。信徒不上教堂，而是參加降神會，靈媒在集會上幫他們跟死去的親戚溝通，接受來自靈界的指引。
鬼魂與靈魂
An ancient belief
Belief in ghosts is as old as mankind itself. In ancient cultures all around the world, people believed that the human soul left the body at the time of death and entered the afterlife. But if spirits go to live in the afterlife, why would they appear to the living in the form of ghosts? In Chinese tradition, the gates to the underworld open during Ghost Month—the seventh month of the lunar calendar—allowing the spirits of the dead to visit the world of the living for food and entertainment.
古代的信仰
自從有人類以來，就存在鬼魂的信仰。在世界各地的古文化中，人們相信在死亡之際，人的靈魂會離開身體，進入來世。但靈魂若是到來世生活，又為何要以鬼魂的形式出現在人間？中國傳統認為，陰間大門會在鬼月，也就是農曆七月開啟，讓往生者的靈魂到人間覓食和作樂。
In Christian tradition, the souls of the dead go to Heaven or Hell, where they remain for eternity. No wonder there are only two clear references to ghosts in the Bible. In the Old Testament, Saul, King of Israel, asks the ghost of Samuel for advice in defeating the Philistines; and in the New Testament, Jesus has to persuade people that’s he’s not a ghost after he rises from the dead. Yet while the Church discouraged belief in ghosts, there were so many sightings over the centuries that their efforts had little effect.
基督教傳統認為，死者的靈魂會上天堂或下地獄，並永遠留在那裡，因此聖經中只有兩處明確提到鬼魂也就不足為奇了。在舊約中，以色列的掃羅王向撒母耳的鬼魂請教如何打敗非利士人；在新約中，耶穌復活後要說服大家他不是鬼魂。不過，儘管教會阻止人民相信鬼魂，但幾百年來仍有許多看到鬼魂的傳聞，可見教會的控制成效不彰。
Ghosts enter the modern era
Ghost stories had long been popular with Victorian readers, but it was the work of Scottish writer Catherine Crowe that brought belief in ghosts into the modern era. In The Night Side of Nature, published in 1848, she collected accounts of ghost sightings and haunted houses from all over Europe. What made Crowe’s book different from other collections of ghost stories was the fact that she carried out careful research, requiring at least two firsthand witnesses for each account included.
傳入現代的鬼魂
鬼故事長久以來一直深受維多利亞時代的讀者歡迎。但將鬼魂信仰帶入現代的，是蘇格蘭作家凱瑟琳克羅維的作品。她在1848年出版的《自然的夜界》中，收錄歐洲各地看到鬼魂和鬼屋的報導。克羅維的書和其他鬼故事選集的不同之處在於她精心進行研究，所收錄的每篇報導，都至少有兩位第一手目擊證人。
The rise of spiritualism
While Crowe’s book did much to raise public awareness of the supernatural, it was an event on the other side of the Atlantic that turned belief in ghosts and the afterlife into a new religious movement called spiritualism. In the spring of 1848, when the Fox family of New York State was kept up by strange noises in their house, sisters Maggie and Katie discovered the source was a ghost, and that they could communicate with him by asking questions and interpreting the rapping sounds that he made.
通靈的崛起
正當克羅維的書推波助瀾大幅使大眾對超自然有進一步的認識時，在大西洋的另一邊正興起一場將鬼魂和來世的信仰發展成通靈的新宗教活動。1848年春季，紐約州的福克斯家因住家發出奇怪聲響夜不成眠，瑪姬和凱蒂兩姐妹發現聲音的來源是鬼魂，而且她們能透過提問跟鬼溝通，也能解讀鬼發出的敲擊聲。
The ghost claimed that he was a salesman who’d been killed by the house’s former owner, and when human bones were discovered in the basement, the sisters’ story spread across the country. They began traveling from town to town holding séances, where they communicated with other spirits using the same method. As their fame as mediums grew, many others found that they could also contact spirits, and a new religious movement was born. Instead of church, members attended séances, where mediums helped them talk to dead relatives and receive guidance from the spirit world.
那個鬼魂自稱是銷售員，是被那棟房子的前屋主所殺，屍骨在地下室被找到後，這對姐妹的故事傳遍全國。她們開始周遊各個城鎮，舉辦降神會，以同樣的方式跟其他鬼魂溝通。隨著她們的靈媒聲望越來越高，也有許多人發現自己能跟鬼魂溝通，於是新的宗教運動就此誕生。信徒不上教堂，而是參加降神會，靈媒在集會上幫他們跟死去的親戚溝通，接受來自靈界的指引。
