Spiritus

1: Origins of the Ghost

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What is a ghost? How long have we believed in them? For the re-debut of Spiritus, paranormal investigator and anthropology student Ivy Boyd offers insight into the earliest known beginnings of our belief in the "other" and how it may have altered through time.

Instagram: instagram.com/spirituspodcast
Contact: [email protected]
Music: "Beethoven Moonlight Sonata" by Gregor Quendel from Pixabay

Resources and Recommendations

Articles:

  • JoAnn Scurlock, “Mortal and Immortal Souls, Ghosts and the (Restless) Dead in Ancient Mesopotamia”, Religion Compass, 2016 
  • Joshua J. Mark, “Ghosts in the Middle Ages”, World History Encyclopedia, 2019 
  • Rob Dunn, “What Are You So Scared of? Saber-Toothed Cats, Snakes, and Carnivorous Kangaroos - The evolutionary legacy of having been prey”, Slate, 2012

    • Books:

    • Ann Braude, "Radical Spirits", second ed., Indiana University Press, 2001
    • Dr. Irving Finkel, “The First Ghosts”, Hodder, 2021 

      • Videos and Lectures:

      • Dr. Irving Finkel, “The First Ghost Stories”, Archaeology Now (YouTube), 2020
      • Dr. Justin Sledge, “The Evolution of Ghosts”, Esoterica (YouTube), 2025
      • Dr. Eleanor Janega, “Did People In The Medieval World Believe in Ghosts?, History Hit (YouTube), 2024

        • Project Gutenberg - Pliny the Younger Letters to Licinius Sura (LXXXIII) https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2811/2811-h/2811-h.htm#link2H_4_0083

        This podcast is researched, hosted, edited, and produced by Ivy Boyd.

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        SpiritusBy Ivy Boyd