Ghostly Phenomena - A Canadian Perspective
Matthew James Didier - Director GHRS
Canada is a funny country. Don't get me wrong, this isn't an anti-Canuck
rant... I'm as Canadian as they get but our three major cultural influences
really make looking at ghostly phenomena very strange.
For those unfamiliar, Canada is a Commonwealth Nation. We still have a
monarch (Queen Elizabeth the Second is Canada's Queen,) but we are a
definitely separate nation with strong ties to England. Canada's first
prime minister, Sir John A. MacDonald would bring a crowd to it's feet by
declaring "A British Citizen I was born and a British Citizen I will die!"
This thought has carried over even in todays landscape as Canada is very
"English". Keeping in mind that MacDonald was a definite Scot, he saw that
Canada was originally an English "colony" that simply needed to be a
country to be "great".
Now, let's add to this that good part of our country which is of French
descent dating back to the sixteen and seventeen hundreds. This is a strong
"old world" Catholic presence and still can be felt even today especially
in Quebec and parts of the East Coast as well as areas in Ontario and Manitoba.
Lastly, our neighbor to the South is of course the United States of
America. Being so close to the "states" is, as the late, former prime
minister Pierre Trudeau said, "...is like sleeping with an elephant; no
matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast, one is affected by
every twitch and grunt."
Looking at these three cultures and you can see how most of Canada views
it's ghostly legends.
The British revere, respect and learn from their ghosts. Ghost stories
throughout the UK are a combination of historical lessons and morality
tales. As opposed to exploiting, ignoring or fearing their ghosts, the
British embrace them. Sure, the minority may be non-believers and scoff at
their ghostly tales but dollars for donuts that almost every person in
England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales knows of at least ONE ghost story if
not more and it's usually tied into a historical situation such as a battle
or the monarchy. Even the early Anglo-Saxons had ghostly legends that
included the ghosts of ancient Celtic warriors!
The French have never been big on the Anglicized version of what we call
ghosts. Some do but most see demons, devils or angels. Again, looking at
the extremely close ties to the Catholic church and one sees where this
idea of the paranormal is coming from.
The Americans are unabashedly exploitationists. The entire American
philosophy is built on commercialism and the almighty dollar for the most
part. That's not to say that they ALL are like this but it is an accepted
fact that this is a primary concern. The "American Dream" is indeed built
on fame and money if one boils it down. Looking at the most famous "ghost
stories" in the US and one discerns a line of books, movies and other such
things. Ghosts, even back as far as the Fox sisters and The Bell Witch were
things to visit and view as in a zoo. People came to see and gawk at the
possibility of ghosts and hauntings.
We could also add to this the Native North American spiritual beliefs but
it's amazing how many people don't understand these beliefs and seem to
have issues dealing with it. Let's just say that the Aboriginal "ghost" is
definitely more of the "spiritual" side of things rather than a historical
'repeater'.
Now, these "descriptions" above are painting a lot of people with a very
large paintbrush and to be sure, the descriptions above do NOT represent
all of the people in these various locations but these descriptions seem
more to be the rule rather than the exceptions so please bear with me here.
Anyway, so where does Canada fit into all of this... Simple, we're all of
the above but lacking in certain areas.
Looking at the submissions and stories I have about ghosts in Canada
(granted, I shouldn't say this either as I do "specialize" in Ontario's
legends and ghosts only,) we get a little from column "A" and a little from
column "B".
Interested Canadians, for the most part, do seem to treat their ghostly
legends as the English do with reverence and respect without the "gory
glory" but for every two we get that fit this category, we get one that
seems to harken to the Americanized "versions". Either a "bloody,
screaming, nasty, violent, horrible" ghost or the angelic vision ghost
neither of which hold much historical or morale tale/legend value... well,
almost never.
Is there a "Canadian Way" of looking at the paranormal? Maybe, but it seems
to take from all of our cultural references... maybe that is truly Canadian
but what I'd like to see is us truly taking the best of all those cultures
and examining it as closely as possible.
Imagine mixing the English reverence for the historic and tragic with the
French way of seeing the Judeo/Christian side of it combined with the
Aboriginal spirituality and mixed with the American ability to actually
POINT OUT and not hide from a ghost story. (I could mix in the scientific
nature of North Americans/Britains but I hope that went without saying.) It
may be a bit confused but I think that this would definitely give you a
good coverall view of the phenomena.
My name is Matthew and I am Canadian and I love our ghostly legends and
history!
(C) 2001-2002 ONTARIO PARANORMAL RESEARCH COALITION