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While Spook was a semi interesting read, I have to admit it wasn’t the chuckle a minute I was expecting. Perhaps the subject of death is beyond even Ms Roach’s power of snark.
There weren’t nearly as many blog worthy snippets, but here are a few I thought strange enough to include.
The early chapters talk a lot about the soul. What it is, where it is, how much it weighs, and the sometimes odd ways religions define and honor it.
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Porta potties for the dearly departed? That qualifies as odd in my book. And if your family neglects the weekly grocery run you have to eat your own poop from the beyond the grave? Clearly the Egyptians have a different idea of heaven.
Discussions of the soul’s origin are plentiful.
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Semen derived souls? Stop and ponder that for a moment.
Communicating with the dead covered a few chapters… with methods ranging from xrays, radios, EVP, as well as medium transference during a seance. These were all the rage at the turn of the century and as expected, charlatans soon took advantage. Levitating tables, ghostly apparitions and screaming banshees were all part of the show. One of the weirdest so called phenomenon? Ectoplasm. Which surprisingly looks a lot like wet spaghetti.
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Ectoplasm (from the Greek ektos, meaning “outside”, and plasma, meaning “something formed or molded”) is a term used in spiritualism to denote a substance or spiritual energy “exteriorized” by physical mediums.
From water soaked cheesecloth to cow intestine, mediums would do anything to draw a paying crowd.
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Well, almost anything.
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River's world..... 
Ooops, there goes another soul…
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They’re dropping like flies.
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I though “Ka” meant spirit, not soul. But, then, due to Christian influence, too many people think soul and spirit are interchangeable. They are not. Souls only exist in religion, and only humans can gave them. Spirits exist in all living beings, and “embody” the life within each of us.
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Just by-the-bye, is there any difference in Egyptian kas needing a crapper, and a human soul feeling the pain of eternal fires? Or the boredom of the lucky souls eternally worshipping a god? To me, one is just as ridiculous as the other. But it sure convinces people to try to buy their way into heaven. When they talk about rich people having billions of dollars, no one ever talks about the Vatican, which owns more wealth than the Columbian cartels together with the Italian mafia. Now there is wealth!
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Take it up with Ms. Roach, I’m just the reviewer.
😉
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Lol.
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I had a lovely excoplasm al pomodoro at a little Italian joint once. It was to die for.
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Literally!
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I really screwed up the typing too! That…almost never happens…
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You…. or someone (thing) else?
👻
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Haha! You never know.
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Hmm, if only you personally knew an author that would love for you to review his books.
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If only….
😉
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Egyptians are a weird bunch, putting in a potty for their dearly departed.
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Clearly the dead can communicate. Everyday someone whispers in my ear “man, this is going to be another shitty day”, and I know it isn’t Cupcake.
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You need a different whisperer.
😉
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