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In traditional [[ghostlore]], and fiction featuring ghosts, a ghost is a manifestation of the [[Spirit (animating force)|spirit]] or [[soul]] of a person.<ref name="parasych">{{cite news|url=http://www.parapsych.org/glossary_e_k.html#g|author=Parapsychological Association|title=Paranormal|work=Glossary of key words frequently used in parapsychology|access-date=December 13, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110111023207/http://parapsych.org/glossary_e_k.html#g|archive-date=11 January 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> Alternative theories expand on that idea and include belief in the ghosts of deceased animals. Sometimes the term "ghost" is used synonymously with any spirit or [[demon]];<ref name="thefreedictionary">{{cite web|url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ghost |access-date=December 13, 2006|title=Ghost|website=The Free Dictionary}}</ref> however, in popular usage the term typically refers to the spirit of a deceased person. |
In traditional [[ghostlore]], and fiction featuring ghosts, a ghost is a manifestation of the [[Spirit (animating force)|spirit]] or [[soul]] of a person.<ref name="parasych">{{cite news|url=http://www.parapsych.org/glossary_e_k.html#g|author=Parapsychological Association|title=Paranormal|work=Glossary of key words frequently used in parapsychology|access-date=December 13, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110111023207/http://parapsych.org/glossary_e_k.html#g|archive-date=11 January 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> Alternative theories expand on that idea and include belief in the ghosts of deceased animals. Sometimes the term "ghost" is used synonymously with any spirit or [[demon]];<ref name="thefreedictionary">{{cite web|url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ghost |access-date=December 13, 2006|title=Ghost|website=The Free Dictionary}}</ref> however, in popular usage the term typically refers to the spirit of a deceased person. |
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The belief in ghosts as souls of the departed is closely tied to the concept of [[animism]], an ancient belief that attributed souls to everything in nature.<ref name="EncyOccult">{{cite book|entry=Animism|title=Encyclopedia of Occultism & Parapsychology|editor1-first=Leslie A. |editor1-last=Shepard |editor1-link=Leslie Shepard|editor2-last=Melton|editor2-first=J. Gordon|editor2-link=J. Gordon Melton|date=1996|edition=4th|publisher=Gale Research & Cengage Learning|isbn=978-0-8103-5487-6}}</ref> As the 19th-century [[anthropologist]] [[James George Frazer|George Frazer]] explained in his classic work, ''[[The Golden Bough]]'' (1890), souls were seen as the 'creature within' which animated the body.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion |last=Frazer |first=James George |author-link=James George Frazer |location=Herts |publisher=Wordsworth Editions Ltd |year=1993 |page=178 |isbn=978-1-85326-310-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FWLRXbPTC6oC&q=%22animal+inside%22}}</ref> Although the human soul was sometimes symbolically or literally depicted in ancient cultures as a bird or other animal, it was widely held that the soul was an exact reproduction of the body in every feature, even down to the clothing worn by the person. This is depicted in artwork from various ancient cultures, including such works as the [[ancient Egypt]]ian ''[[Book of the Dead]]'' ( |
The belief in ghosts as souls of the departed is closely tied to the concept of [[animism]], an ancient belief that attributed souls to everything in nature.<ref name="EncyOccult">{{cite book|entry=Animism|title=Encyclopedia of Occultism & Parapsychology|editor1-first=Leslie A. |editor1-last=Shepard |editor1-link=Leslie Shepard|editor2-last=Melton|editor2-first=J. Gordon|editor2-link=J. Gordon Melton|date=1996|edition=4th|publisher=Gale Research & Cengage Learning|isbn=978-0-8103-5487-6}}</ref> As the 19th-century [[anthropologist]] [[James George Frazer|George Frazer]] explained in his classic work, ''[[The Golden Bough]]'' (1890), souls were seen as the 'creature within' which animated the body.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion |last=Frazer |first=James George |author-link=James George Frazer |location=Herts |publisher=Wordsworth Editions Ltd |year=1993 |page=178 |isbn=978-1-85326-310-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FWLRXbPTC6oC&q=%22animal+inside%22}}</ref> Although the human soul was sometimes symbolically or literally depicted in ancient cultures as a bird or other animal, it was widely held that the soul was an exact reproduction of the body in every feature, even down to the clothing worn by the person. This is depicted in artwork from various ancient cultures, including such works as the [[ancient Egypt]]ian ''[[Book of the Dead]]'' (
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