All living things are classified into different species, which we call a taxonomy. Last century, the famous ghost hunter and parapsychologist, Peter Underwood, did the same with apparitions and classified ghosts into a taxonomy of 8 different types of manifestation.
The Elemental.
A non-human entity that is most often found around pre Christian sites, such as burial mounds, standing stones and other ancient places. These might be considered as beings such as faeries, bogie men and, from a Christian perspective, Demons. Capable of inducing madness or even death, in those that set eyes upon them.
Poltergeists.
Made famous through the lens of Hollywood, the Poltergeist - German for ‘noisy ghost’ - is most often connected to a living adolescent human, commonly female, with poltergeist manifestations coming about as a result of repressed anger and frustrated sexual desire. In fact many have compared the violence of poltergeist phenomena to a teenage temper tantrum.
Mental Imprint Manifestations.
Arguably the most common of ghostly manifestations, these spirits continue to walk the paths they walked in life, in death. When a spirit is seen to walk through a solid wall; to disappear into a floor or to rise into the air, then it is highly likely that the spirit is using doors or stairs that existed during their lifetimes, but are now long gone. Typically, a mental imprint manifestation will appear at the same place, often at the same time and go through the same set of motions or actions. Examples of this type of spirit would include the Hanging Princes and Rosie of the Salutation.
Crisis or Death Survival Apparitions.
These have a long history and again, are not manifestations of the dead. Most often a Death Survival Apparition will appear to a close friend or family member with whom they have a close bond, at the very moment when they are experiencing a life-threatening ordeal, from which death is a very real, almost inevitable prospect.
Time Slips
The Time Slip experience became popular around the beginning of the twentieth century and has been compared to walking onto a Hollywood film set, where everything around you; the people and the place, take on the appearance of another time entirely. This has been popularly recorded in the gardens of Versailles and on many an English Civil War site.
Spirits of Living People
In 1886, two volumes entitled ‘Phantasms of the Living’ were produced by the Society for Psychical Research, containing over seven hundred accounts of people who had witnessed the spirits of living people. Closely related no doubt to the Death Survival Apparitions, this is where witnesses see apparitions of someone, often a close friend or loved one, most likely at a location well known or beloved by both, when the person of the apparition is many miles away, often asleep or in a comfortable reverie. This phenomena was famously associated with the poet, Lord Byron, who was frequently seen near his Nottinghamshire haunts, whilst away fighting in the Greek war of independence.
Haunted Inanimate Objects
These are items that appear to be either cursed or blessed or may even contain the essence of a spirit. Nottingham is very fortunate in that we have two classic examples of this phenomena, both of which are to be found in Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem. The first is the Cursed Galleon that hangs above the bar in the Rock Lounge, where to touch it is said to cause death within a year. In contrast to the galleon, we have the pregnancy chair, which, rather than cursed, is blessed.
Traditional or True Ghost
Here we meet the true spirits of the dead; aware of themselves and aware of you too. These are the ghosts of legend; the spirit that properly spans the world of the living and the dead. It can be the spirit we most fear, but, at the same time, it can also take the form of a loving relative, whose spirit has remained to look over us.