Phantoms and Monsters

"...when the fog clears"

Peterson, the cabin boy, peered despondently over the guard rail and out into the surrounding fog. Without averting his gaze, he addressed the first mate.

“When can we go home, Mr Dobson?”

“Now lad, I’ve told you before. The captain won’t steer for home until our hold is full with seal, and we can’t start sealing until the fog lifts.”

Before either of them could speak again, their attention was diverted by the gentle lapping of water against a foreign object. Both of them stared intently into the grey fog. The noise gradually became more consistent and then they heard the sound of idle rigging clanging against a ship’s mast.

The first mate looked up at the bridge. Capt Amundsen was standing at the doorway desperately trying to peer through the fog as if trying to penetrate its murky depth by sheer force of will. He had heard the approaching ship also. He raised his arm, signalling to the sailor manning the wheel to ease off to port.

Barely 50 feet off the stern the fog began to swirl as the bow of a wooden sailing ship started to emerge. The cabin boy and the first mate watched as the old sailing vessel cut through to pass across their stern. Its sails were hanging helplessly without any wind. Its deck was void of any human existence. It was a clinker-built schooner and dark strips of varnish had peeled off much of the wooden hull to expose lighter patches of worm-riddled wood. Nobody could be seen on board as it drifted past with agonising sluggishness. The ship’s name was scarcely visible – its black lettering faded by the corrosion of the salt air. Peterson read out the name slowly: “O . . . RO . . . P . . . ESA.”

Amundsen walked around the outside of the bridge, following the vessel’s progress as it drifted slowly away from them. It re-entered the mist, giving the illusion that it was being swallowed alive.

As the old ship was enveloped, an unnatural silence began to return as the eerie clanging of idle ropes and lines faded into the distance.

The ship gone, Amundsen watched the cabin boy and the first mate talking. Dobson then turned and made his way up the ladder leading to the bridge.

“What was the boy saying?” asked the captain.

“He’s convinced he’s just seen a ghost ship, the first mate said, smiling as he did so at the boy’s stupidity.

“Foolish lad,” the captain replied.

“I keep telling him,” Dobson continued, “we are the ghost ship.”

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Japan Earthquake Victims Haunted By Ghosts

More and more victims of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake are reporting that they are suffering from visions of ghosts and other supernatural sensations.

The disaster brought many people face-to-face with death and many believe the apparitions may be a manifestation of their emotional wounds.

As Japan has no governmental office that deals with this kind of issue and many people feel uncomfortable consulting family members, leaders from several different religious organizations in Japan have come together to provide emotional and mental support for the victims.

An elderly couple living in temporary housing in Sendai, the largest city in Tohoku to be impacted by the disaster, went to visit to a local Jōdo Buddhist temple earlier this month. After exchanging greetings with head priest Mizuki Nakamura, the couple confessed they were troubled by something they felt was supernatural and they didn’t know who to turn to for help.

“There’s someone at the temporary housing grounds. We think that something may have happened there,” said the husband.

Mr. Nakamura offered to hold a mass for the dead at the grounds and after completing the ritual the couple thanked him with an expression of relief.

Many victims report seeing more vivid images, such as eyeballs appearing in puddles of water or people walking on the surface of the ocean.

Others say that they’ve been visited by the ghosts of missing family members, begging to find their bodies and give them a proper burial.

However, like the elderly couple in Sendai, many of these people don’t know how to cope with such problems.

The Sendai branch of the United Christ Church (UCC) in Japan currently provides emotional support services regardless of religious affiliation. “The government can’t do anything about it and it’s difficult to discuss the issue with family or other people in the neighborhood,” says Reverend Naoya Kawakami.

Working together the UCC church is head priest Taiou Kaneda of Tsudaiji Temple in Miyagi prefecture, who adds: “Regardless if they are real or not, these people are seeing apparitions. We weren’t prepared to lose all of those lives. Religion must patiently give counsel to these people until they can accept the death of their family and friends, until they can lift their heads up again.”

The two are a part of the Miyagi Prefecture Religious Institution Liaison Council, which provides telephone consultation services with monks and priests of several different Buddhist and Christian sects.

Mr. Kaneda urges anyone to call freely for disaster-related support in general, not just supernatural issues.

At the invitation of the neighborhood council head, Reverend Kawakami and Mr. Kaneda visited a temporary housing settlement in Sendai last September to give a lecture on the issue to residents.

“Many people passed away, so it is natural for you to see their apparitions. Please do not be scared,” spoke Mr. Kaneda. “This can also become an opportunity for you to take a moment and think about life and death for yourself. You should make this a first step towards moving forward in this life.”

In Ishinomaki city, Miyagi Prefecture, Christian priests and Buddhist monks of the same organization held an informal discussion at a Buddhist temple on Christmas day. Organizers believed the location and time made it easier for residents to get together.

And since the Liaison Counsel holds no particular affiliations, people feel much more comfortable discussing their issues with them than they do with government officials.

Mr. Kaneda comments: “There are no sects or churches when we are faced with the wreckage of our own homes and doctrines hold no water before the absurdity of nature.” - RocketNews

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Twitching disorder affects 12 girls at New York high school

Twelve female students from Le Roy Junior Senior High School in upstate New York are experiencing a mysterious medical condition. Their symptoms include stuttering, uncontrollable twitching movements and verbal outbursts.

Health officials say the symptoms are consistent with "conversion disorder."

Dr. Jennifer McVige, a pediatric neurologist at the DENT Neurologic Institute who is treating many of the students affected, said, "Conversion disorder is a physical manifestation of physiological symptoms where there is traditionally some kind of stress or multiple stressors that provoke a physical reaction within the body." McVige said the symptoms are real. "This is unconscious. It is not done purposefully."

Thera Sanchez, a senior on the honor roll at the school, said she has been fighting this affliction since October. She said after waking up from a nap, "I got upset, I couldn't stop stuttering." During an interview with CNN's Jason Carroll, her symptoms were apparent: She was twitching uncontrollably, flailing her left arm and jerking her head to one side. Sanchez said she also faints and has seizures. The seizures are a result of her pre-existing epilepsy disorder, which had been under control for years.

Lydia Parker, also a senior at the school, is exhibiting similar symptoms. "I took a five-minute nap. I passed out for five minutes and I woke up stuttering," Parker said. She said her symptoms also started in October. Parker has a bruised forehead after banging it on her bedpost during a fainting spell, she said.

Officials at the school hired an independent third party to conduct mold and air quality tests but found no environmental cause for the girls' illnesses. A statement posted on the school's website said, in part, "The medical and environmental investigations have not uncovered any evidence that would link the neurological symptoms to anything in the environment or of an infectious nature."

Sanchez's mother, Melissa Phillips said she does not agree. "I don't think that all physical aspects of this have been exhausted; not enough testing has been done."
Teens' uncontrollable mystery illness
Mystery illness strikes 12 teens

Phillips said she found out other girls were exhibiting the same symptoms when she brought her daughter to the hospital. The nurse said Thera was the fourth girl in a week to come in with the same issues. "I was very irate to not know that other girls were going through this."

She also disagreed with McVige's assertion that the girls are improving, saying, "Nothing is getting better, you know, the girls are still getting worse. They have good days and bad days."

McVige is not sure why so many girls at the same school are suffering all at once. "I do know that traditionally when they've (doctors) looked back at different events that occurred in a similar nature, a majority of the time it is girls."

According to the Mayo Clinic, females are much more likely to get conversion disorder and it is more common in adolescents or young adults.

McVige said she used the "diagnosis of exclusion" to determine what happened to the girls, which means using the process of elimination. She ruled out a laundry list of factors to reach her diagnosis, including infections, drug use, food allergies and vaccine reactions, specifically Gardasil.

The New York State Health Department agreed with McVige's diagnosis after speaking with several doctors who evaluated the students. "There are many causes of tic-like symptoms. Stress can often worsen them," said spokesman Jeffrey Hammond. "The doctors all agree that the symptoms these girls are experiencing are real."

This isn't the first time reports have surfaced of multiple students at one high school experiencing twitching symptoms. In 2007, nine female students and one teacher were reported to have the same issues at William Byrd High School in Roanoke, Virginia. The school spent $30,000 testing the school and the surrounding area but found no evidence of any environmental factors that may have contributed to the illnesses.

The school principal, Richard Turner, said after closely interviewing the students, they found six of them were faking the symptoms. The teacher who was affected is now symptom free and still teaching at the school. One student who got better within days, according to Turner, was determined to have had a reaction to medication.

The other two students' symptoms were eventually resolved.

All of them graduated. "We haven't had any other reported incidents since then," Turner said.

The Virginia Department of Health also did an investigation and told CNN it found no contributing environmental factors and concluded the students' symptoms, though varied, were consistent with a social phenomenon called "mass psychogenic hysteria," which suggests real symptoms but no biological cause.

Thera Sanchez said all she wants is to get better so she can go to college next year. "I don't think this is in my head."

McVige said she wanted to assure the public that this illness will not spread. "I feel we need to put an end to feeling that this is a mystery, that someone is going to catch something contagious." She expressed confidence all the girls will get better, adding they have "an excellent prognosis." - CNN

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A Gathering of Spirits: Japan's Ghost Story Tradition: From Folklore and Kabuki to Anime and Manga

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I NEED A SMALL FAVOR

Hey folks....I could really use some help with 'recommendations' and 'likes' on my Strickler's Celebrity Autographs Facebook page. Supporting my business in turn allows me to take time for 'Phantoms and Monsters', SRI and the BTE radio show...as well other odds and ends. I appreciate your help! Simply 'like' the page and/or add a recommendation. Thanks...Lon - Strickler's Celebrity Autographs Facebook Page

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