Ghost

Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to realistic, lifelike visions. The deliberate attempt to contact the spirit of a deceased personis known as necromancy, or in spiritism as a séance.
The belief in manifestations of the spirits of the dead is widespread, dating back to animism or ancestor worship in pre-literate cultures. Certain religious practices—funeral rites, exorcisms, and some practices of spiritualism and ritual magic—are specifically designed to appease the spirits of the dead. Ghosts are generally described assolitary essences that haunt particular locations, objects, or people they were associated with in life, though stories of phantom armies, ghost trains, phantom ships, and even ghost animals have also been recounted.[2][3]
Ghosts in Mexican culture

There is extensive and varied belief in ghosts in Mexican culture. The modern state of Mexico before the Spanish conquest was inhabited by diversepeoples such as the Maya and Aztec, and their beliefs have survived and evolved, combined with the beliefs of the Spanish colonists. The Day of the Dead incorporates pre-Columbian beliefs with Christian elements. Mexican literature and movies include many stories of ghosts interacting with the living.

Aztec beliefs

After death the soul of the Aztec went to one of three places: Tlalocan,Mictlan, and the sun. The Aztec idea of the afterlife for fallen warriors and women who died in childbirth was that their souls would be transformed into hummingbirds that would follow the sun on its journey through the sky. Those who drowned would go to Tlalocan, the first level of the upper worlds. Souls of people who died from less glorious causes would go to Mictlan, the lowest level of theunderworld, taking four years and passing through many obstacles to reach this place.[1]
The Cihuateteo, spirits of human women who died in childbirth, were not benevolent. On five specified days of the Aztec calendar they descended to earth and haunted crossroads, hoping to steal children whom they had not been able to have themselves.[2]
The Cantares Mexicanos is an important collection of lyric poetrytranscribed from Náhuatl into Roman letters around 1550 CE, about 30 years after the fall of Tenochtitlan. In his 1985 edition of these poems, John Bierhorst interprets the poems as "ghost songs" that were intended to summon the spirits of dead Aztec warriors back to earth to help their descendants under Spanish rule. If the songs were successful the ghosts would descend from heaven fully armedand ready to fight, demanding payment in human sacrifice.[3] This interpretation is, however, controversial.[4]
Maya beliefs
The traditional Maya live in the continual presence of the "(grand)fathers and (grand)mothers", the usually anonymous, bilateral ancestors, who, in the highlands, are often conceived of as inhabiting specific mountains, where they expect the offerings of their descendants.In the past, too, the ancestors had an important role to play, with the difference that, among the nobility, genealogical memory and patrilineal descent were much more emphasized. Thus, the Popol Vuh lists three genealogies of upper lords descended from three ancestors and their wives. These first male ancestors - ritually defined as "bloodletters and sacrificers" - had received their privatedeities in a legendary land of origins called "The Seven Caves and Seven Canyons" (Nahua Chicomoztoc), and on their disappearance, left a sacred bundle. In Chiapas, at the time of the Spanish conquest, lineage ancestors were believed to have emerged from the roots of a ceiba tree.[5] Comparable beliefs still exist amongst the Tz'utujiles.[6]
Day of the dead

The Day of the Dead (Spanish: El Día...