“I didn’t ask to be born this way”

“I didn’t ask to be born this way,”

Norman Babcock whispers this to his parents, after a paranormal experience that was challenging for him, a small child, and embarrassing for the adults in his life.

Paranorman is an animated film that follows Norman Babcock, a child medium, who has always been in constant communication with ghosts. While there is a familiarity with the ghosts he encounters on his daily walk to school, for me, there is an underlying sadness to his ability. Norman didn’t ask to see the dead. Norman didn’t have a choice with this gift. Norman doesn’t have a family who supports his gift, teaching him how to develop psychic boundaries and gain a sense of normalcy with his ability.

Instead, he’s treated like a pariah - in his home, at his school, and through the sleepy, colonial town of Blithe Hollow.

Norman finds (reluctant) companionship in one child, Neil. Unlike the rest of the town, Neil isn’t afraid of or embarrassed by Norman. Instead, Neil thinks Norman is pretty neat. 🥹🥹

There are so many interesting plot points to unpack as a Spiritist, but one of my favorite moments is when Norman shares with Neil that not all who die become ghosts, just the ones who still have work to do.

While oversimplified for the sake of the story, this concept is not totally inaccurate. Through Spiritist doctrine, we understand that there are spirits who remain earthbound - attached to their most recent lives - because they feel there is still work to be done.

For some, this attachment stems from fear - the fear of letting go of who they knew themselves to be, fear of time, experiences, and relationships lost, fear of the unknown that is to come.

For others, this attachment can take a more sinister turn… Many souls who were intentionally harmful in the flesh remain earthbound so that they may continue to terrorize the living - either in their ghostly form through paranormal activity, or by influencing those amongst the living to carry out their malevolent legacies.

Then there are others who have experienced harm, who experienced great pain, trauma, struggle, and it is that pain that keeps them earthbound - tied to their pain, pain that can turn to sorrow, or turn to rage.

And finally, there are those who just aren’t ready to let go of the life and the people they loved.

Different earthbound spirits require different types of remediation, and we can only come to understand how to reconcile by taking the time to understand who they are, who they were. The most common of these remediations is Elevation Rites.

Coming back to ParaNorman, in the film there is a tender depiction of the elevation of a troubled spirit. Norman takes the time to understand this spirit, to learn their story, to understand the nuance and context of their life, and how their experiences created the haunting circumstances of the present.

The film does an excellent job of showing us that not all troubled spirits are troubled by nature; that many of them have deeper, more complexed stories that explain how they came to be unhappy, unwell, unkind.

ParaNorman, at its core, a story of the lasting effects of puritanical hysteria - on the living, and the dead.

If you’re looking for something spooky to watch these season, I highly recommend this film.

If you’d like to learn more about Elevation Rites, Hauntings, Spirits, and more, I invite you to join Moonshadows, where you will find a wealth of resources that will help you not only navigate, but understand all who exist beyond the veil.

xo,

Mami 🌹