Wandering Spirits - Why Cemeteries?

These are questions that were left as comments on one of my videos. I will eventually make a video on this topic, but let's discuss them here. 

You will hear me say in videos—and, in turn, on this blog—that we haven't proven ghosts exist yet. And we haven't. That's the goal of every paranormal investigator, and thus far, no one has been successful. So, everything put forward about the activity and behavior of ghosts is based on theory. I can answer these questions based on my own opinion. My opinion is not fact... because we haven't proven ghosts exist yet. 

As to the first part, this always made me laugh. If you believe you are face to face with a demon, telling it you don't give it permission to follow you is really bizarre. A demon would be an incredibly evil and powerful entity... that doesn't care about your demands. If it is a spirit... if it is a kind spirit, they may listen out of respect. And I do believe most spirits you may interact with would be the deceased souls of the formerly living, and thus, however they were in life. If I'm told not to follow someone, I won't. Out of respect. So that's the only way it would be effective, in my mind. 

Again, a lot of the answers to these questions are going to be based on the opinion of anyone reading it and some may be faith based as well. I don't personally believe in demons, but a lot of people do. A lot of people think all ghosts are actually demons. It depends on who you ask. 

The rest is very tough to answer in a blanket response. But I can tell you what I believe. 

I already think spirits can go where ever they want, depending on why they have remained behind in this world. Could be unfinished business, could be a form of purgatory or even hell, and if they are being punished they may be tied to a specific location or even their own burial ground. But I personally believe most if not all spirits can freely roam. 

As for cemeteries, lots of reasons these are popular places to investigate:

1. A lot of people find cemeteries to be peaceful/interesting. I fall into this category. I go to cemeteries all the time. 99% of the time I am not doing an investigation, I'm just there to see historic stones, visit graves I feel a connection with, or just be at peace in quiet nature. 
2. Ghost hunting in cemeteries makes great YouTube/TV. A lot of people are generally creeped out by them, add in the ghost hunting aspect, and there you go. Remember, a lot of YouTube/TV ghost hunting is there for the cheap scare only, not real ghost hunting. So they want the viewer scared or at least creeped out, so they believe more. Those videos depend a lot of people believing. I call it the Blair Witch Effect, and I did a video on this. 
   
   
3. Cemeteries are a good starting point for new paranormal investigators. If you don't know where to go, can't afford the locations (because most charge an astronomical amount of money these days and getting a free location is nearly impossible), and want to practice, cemeteries seem to make sense. I've done them, but I find it hard to believe spirits hang around there much... unless they did while alive. They have no use for their body anymore. I feel the same way about the location where they died. Why would they hang out there and be constantly thinking about how they died? So either they are tied to these places or aren't there at all. Tough to say for sure. 

There are a lot of beliefs around cemeteries, some have hung on, some have not. There are cemeteries that still have signs up telling you to brush off the bottoms of your shoes when you leave so attached spirits don't follow you home. Some people believe a command will break an attachment. Some people believe spirits will visit their own grave, especially if family still visits, or visit the graves of loved ones who have moved on out of the spirit world. 

A lot of things in the paranormal are based on personal belief and faith, mostly because it isn't proven science and we have to go off of what we feel is right. We don't know who or what is right yet. And having people follow their unique beliefs could be the way of getting answers to that. Someone has to be right, even if it is the person who doesn't believe any of it.