Beware the Ghost Who Calls Your Name
Friday February 22, 2008 8:20 AM
Ever hear a disembodied voice call your name out loud? If so, take care — it may be a bad spirit luring you to doom.
At least, that's the explanation given in a long tradition of folklore. "Calling ghosts," as they are sometimes called, speak out the name of a person to attract his attention. Sometimes people who live in or investigate haunted places say they hear their names called out, but no one is visible.
In folklore, calling ghosts lure people to their deaths. They are related to evil-minded spirits in mythology, as such the sirens of Greek lore: water nymphs whose beautiful singing lured sailors to their deaths. The sirens lived on an island between Circe's isle and Scylla. They sat on a flower bed surrounded by the rotting corpses of the men they killed.
Odysseus had to sail past the sirens. He ordered his men plug their ears with wax so they would not be lured onto rocks that would destroy the ship. But Odysseus wanted to hear the song himself, so he had himself tied to his ship's mast as it sailed past the sirens, as shown in the illustration.
In Hawaiian lore, calling ghosts are disembodied female voices who call your name behind you. When you turn around, you make yourself vulnerable to illness or death.
Calling ghosts are the basis of a superstition that you should never respond to a stranger who calls out your name — he might be a bad-omen calling ghost in disguise.











Comments (12)
Two times I have had the experience of hearing someone call my name out loud and very clearly spoken, but there was no one there. Both times it happened in the morning while I was sleeping. The first time I thought it was my dad outside my bedroom window calling me to get up. I asked him if he had done this and he said no.
Posted by Ellen | February 26, 2008 9:23 AM
Posted on February 26, 2008 09:23
I hear spirits call my name all the time. I do not feel like they are bad or dangerious.
Posted by Meg | February 29, 2008 5:24 PM
Posted on February 29, 2008 17:24
Back in 1984 my husband and I were outside at his mom and dads house when I heard my name called out but far away from the house by there small building. We investigated and no one was there. We asked his mom if she called me and she said no that she was busy in the kitchen. I never experienced anything bad happening afterwards.
Posted by Theresa Ewald | March 7, 2008 9:51 AM
Posted on March 7, 2008 09:51
I'm 15 and lately I've been hearing my name mostly at school but when no one was around like when I was walking down an empty hall or in the bathroom. It's always pretty quite but just loud enough for me to hear it. Just wanted to talk out loud and see what people think.
Posted by Cody Frazier | March 7, 2008 7:31 PM
Posted on March 7, 2008 19:31
On several occasions I have heard my name being called and no one was near. On two occasions it was close enough to feel the breath (of whatever was near) on my ear. I have had this happen since I was a little girl. I don't recall anything bad happening afterwards.
Posted by Amanda C | April 18, 2008 10:09 PM
Posted on April 18, 2008 22:09
A few weeks ago I was asleep and thought I heard my older sister calling me. I assumed it was my sister since it was a female voice. It was like a whisper but loud enough for me to hear. It called me by name a few time. Thinking it was my sister trying to wake me up and responded, "I'm coming!". I got up, dressed, and went to her bedroom. But when I knocked on her door to ask her what she wanted she said she'd been asleep the whole time and had not called me at all. I called her a liar but she swore she had not called me. My sister is not the type to play jokes. I haven't heard the voice since but it was the freakiest thing to ever happen to me.
Posted by Isabel G | May 17, 2008 12:01 PM
Posted on May 17, 2008 12:01
I am 24 years old and for as long as i can remember i have heard a ladie call my name. The funny thing is the voice is never the same person. The voice always sounds like a different girl that I've meet in my past. Now no matter what the female voice sounds like I don't have a bad feeling when I hear her. The strange thing is I was sitting at a friend's house one night and we were watching TV. when we both heard at the same time clear as day a female voice call my name.This was the first and only time someone other then myself has heard the voice. Every since my friend heard her voice she has stoped calling my name. Now i've heard a males voice three times in my life, once when I was younger and twice after my friend heard the female. Everytime I hear the males voice I get a really bad feeling.
Posted by Michael H | June 9, 2008 3:00 AM
Posted on June 9, 2008 03:00
twice now i have heard a female voice call my name. it was very soft and pleasant happening about a week apart. i did not feel scared or threatened by it however was really curious as to why this happens. if anyone can give my an idea i would appreciate it.is it bad or not? thank-you
Posted by roger | June 12, 2008 8:19 PM
Posted on June 12, 2008 20:19
I am 27 and have had a female voice calling my name my entire life. There have been no negative affects due to this name calling and I feel totally at ease with this experience. I would however like to know more about these phenomena that so many seem to relate to.
Posted by cassandra | June 17, 2008 3:40 AM
Posted on June 17, 2008 03:40
I heard my name called out one night while I was washing dishes in my kitchen. The voice was of a woman. Her voice was clear enough for me to hear. Her voice was nice, almost Goddess-like. However pleasant it was, she freaked me out! I dropped the dishes in the sink & mad-dashed out of the house. I was in our front porch until my family came home (I was home alone at the time). Reading this article about Greek sirens luring sailors to their deaths made so much sense. You know the saying "roses are beautiful but its thorns will hurt you" same thing with demonic voices, it might sound sexy & beautiful, but it might hurt you. I have no doubt that what I heard was a demonic woman's voice. I just don't understand why it was in that house.
Posted by I heard my name too! | July 9, 2008 1:53 PM
Posted on July 9, 2008 13:53
I live alone. In the last couple of years i've heard my name being called three times. Always by man, It never sounds threatening or scary.
The first time i was sleeping, it was a loud but gentle whisper, right into my ear. I woke up and looked around, but there was nobody there. I'm a rational person and tried to make sense of it by convincing myself i must have been dreaming.
Around six months ago it happened again, this time i was awake.
It was early evening and my boyfriend had just left. I was sitting at the computer and from the hall i heard a mans voice call my name, i looked around and expected to see my boyfriend had popped back for something, but nobody was there. So i turned around and carried on with what i was doing. A couple of minutes later - from what felt like right behind me, a man called my name again. This time it was so close and clear that i was sure it was my boyfriend trying to freak me out, so i got up and looked around my flat, i even checked under the bed because i was sure he had to be hiding somewhere. I was alone.
I haven't been able to make sense of this as i'm not a believer in the paranormal. I'm very confused about what's happened but i don't feel afraid, and nothing bad has happened to me whatsoever.
Posted by Sally | July 14, 2008 5:41 AM
Posted on July 14, 2008 05:41
Good day. I only have one question for you .
Are there any other means of physical contact
other than touching a person with a seems to be hand?
Nostuh
Posted by Nostuh | August 13, 2008 1:31 PM
Posted on August 13, 2008 13:31