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Haunted Cottage - Where Do Spirits Go?

 

Firstly, this is more of a question pertaining to the existence of a spirit once their place of haunting is destroyed. But I will include the back-story...

My family formerly owned a property on Lake Muskoka in Ontario that was known by several extended family members and old family friends to have been haunted by my father's mother who died in 1968. Part of the house was over a hundred years old (the rest built in the 1950s) and the property had been owned by the family since the early 1900s. It was the favorite place of my grandmother who had spent her whole life visiting there until she passed away.

From the early 1970's onward, numerous people, including two of my three aunts (my father's sisters), physically saw the ghost of their mother, on numerous occasions, in what we called "the third bedroom" sitting on the bed and also in the kitchen. They also said they could feel some sort of "connection" when the spirit was present.

My great-aunt (the spirit's sister) claims to have sat next to the spirit on one of the couches in the main living room during one of the big parties in the summer and to have strongly felt her presence while visiting the house. My grandfather's mistress also claimed to have experienced the spirit while sitting in an antique rocking chair and being quite violently shoved out of it while she was visiting at some point.

These people are (mostly) "normal" individuals who are not the types to fabricate stories such as these and, therefore, I cannot help but believe them to be true to some extent. Personally, I never experienced or saw anything involving this spirit, nor did either of my parents, my brother, or any of our guests during our times there as far as I'm aware.

A few years after my grandfather's passing, around 2001, my father and his sisters decided to sell the property. The new owners tore the old house down and built a new house on roughly the same spot. The property has since been bought and sold twice.

My question is, what would have happened to the spirit of my grandmother? Would it be likely that she is still there, attached to the property? Or, would she have simply disappeared once the original house was torn down?

I've not really had much of a chance to discuss this with anyone (my parents don't really believe in these things), but I'm very fascinated by it. I still have quite an attachment to the old property and I still visit the area about once a year and every time I see it, I get very drawn-in and curious. I really miss the place, but I don't miss trying to go to sleep at night in "the third bedroom" after hearing about all these experiences!

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The following comments are submitted by users of this site and are not official positions by yourghoststories.com. Please read our guidelines and the previous posts before posting. The author, marko88, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will read the comments and participate in the discussion.

Wish-Not (16 stories) (534 posts)
+1
9 years ago (2015-01-07)
Griff84- That's a really good point. I have heard of residual and intelligent hauntings of spirits walking through walls. Only to find out there use to be a door located at that exact location.
Griff84 (5 stories) (289 posts)
+3
9 years ago (2015-01-07)
Hi marko88, welcome to YGS.

I am in agreement with the everyone else, and as they have said, its really down to personal beliefs etc. I agree especially with elnoraemily in that spirits are energy, and energy can not be destroyed, but perhaps she is not tied to the land and travels around seeing family and places she loved.

One thing is that maybe she does not see the new house as it is, and when she visits, its still as she knew it, I would like to think that personally.

Thanks for sharing 😊
Swimsinfire (11 stories) (556 posts)
+1
9 years ago (2015-01-06)
This is a topic we could go with for a while. There was a poster on here from India who said it had to do with the person's desire when they died. Kind of makes sense.
ifihadyoux (6 stories) (607 posts)
+2
9 years ago (2015-01-06)
i guess this is where religion comes into play and it depends on what you personally believe. Are we reincarnated? Do we go to Heaven/Hell? Do we walk the Earth forever? Do we become stars in the universe? It's a hard question to answer.
BadJuuJuu (guest)
+2
9 years ago (2015-01-06)
I've wondered before where entities go once their place of residence is gone. I've got a few theories lol.
Firstly, I believe Wish is right that ghosts travel around sometimes. It's possible that a ghost may begin traveling, and find that they enjoy not being bound to one place.
I also think it's possible that a ghost that is attached to a home may either stay on the land the home once occupied, or move to another home as near to the old site as possible.
Another possibility is that a ghost may seek out family, and take up residence with a relative.
I like to think, though, that losing the house would encourage a ghost to leave this plane behind and seek our their true afterlife. It's a nice thought that whatever held them back has been removed, and that they are free to cross over should they choose.
That's my 2 cents. That much rambling is probably closer to dollar tho.
elnoraemily (guest)
+1
9 years ago (2015-01-06)
Really, I think it would come down to people's personal beliefs on that matter. No one really knows anything on what happens to spirits, energies- though there are plenty of theories on the matter. Each person likely has their own theory on the subject.

Energy cannot be destroyed and since a spirit is energy, it would have to go somewhere.
Wish-Not (16 stories) (534 posts)
+3
9 years ago (2015-01-06)
marko88- Let me be the first to welcome you to YGS. That is a very good question. Allow me to share what I understand from my experiences and from what I have read here on YGS.

For the past several years, at our current location, we have visitors that stop by. Some stay for a period of time while others only for a day. So to me that says that they do travel about.

On the other side of it, I have read stories of haunted grounds. As if the spirits are connected/stuck to a particular location. Therefore anything that is built over time will have that particular haunting.

Weather your grandmother is connected to that location is hard to say, from my experience. However, there are some very knowledgeable folks here with YGS that might be able to give a more definite answer for you.

Thanks for sharing.

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