香港佛教殯儀

美國總統林肯的鬼魂

美國第16任總統亞伯拉罕林肯在1865年4月14日被行刺死亡，他生前雖然貴為總統，任職總統期間亦為美國人民做過很多好事如解放黑奴，而死後他的家人、美國人民及美國各地教會之神職人員每天也為他禱告，希望他安息，但林肯之靈魂卻未能上天堂，而是做了遊魂鬼！

他的鬼魂還經常在美國總統辦公室白宮出現，第29任美國總統柯立芝之夫人、第30任美國總統胡佛、第32任美國總統杜魯門、第39任美國總統里根及女兒、荷蘭女皇於1941年及英國首相丘吉爾於1942年出訪美國期間均聲稱見過林肯鬼魂在白宮出現。

除了白宮外，林肯鬼魂也發現在行刺死亡的地點華盛頓福特劇院與行刺者布斯之鬼魂對罵；有時林肯鬼魂也會在他的墓地出現。

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  白 宮 猛 鬼　布 殊 細女 聽 到 夜 半 歌 聲美 國 白 宮 （ White House ） 外 表 光 鮮 ， 誰 知 內 鬼 影 幢 幢 。 現 任 總 統 喬 治 布 殊 （ George W. Bush ） 女 兒 「 細 孖 」 詹 納（ Jenna Bush ） 最 近 透 露 ，曾 經 在 睡 房 聽 到 夜 半 歌 聲 ， 一 時 又 聽 到 駭人 琴 音 ， 稱 白 宮 十 分 猛 鬼 。

詹 納 所 住房 間 ， 向 來 是 歷 任 總 統 子 女 的 睡 房 ， 已 故總 統 詹 森 （ Lyndon Johnson ）的 女 兒 琳 達 （ Lynda ） 也住 過 ， 同 樣 聲 稱 在 房 內 見 過 異 象 ， 現 在 輪到 詹 納 了 。

「 白 宮 內有 很 多 鬼 」

她 接 受 2008年11 月號 美 國 《 德 薩 斯 州 月 刊 》 （ Texas Monthly ） 訪 問 時 說 ： 「 我 真 的 聽過 鬼 吼 ， 有 一 晚 我 聽 到 火 爐 有 鬼 魂 在 唱歌 劇 ， 我 告 訴 姐 姐 ， 她 不 相 信 ， 一 周 後 我們 夜 半 在 房 內 未 睡 ， 都 聽 到 1950 年的 鋼 琴 音 樂 。 但 我 這 樣 說 ， 別 人 一 定 會 以為 我 瘋 了 。 」 但 她 不 諱 言 ： 「 白 宮 內 有 很多 鬼 ， 我 有 時 都 會 被 嚇 怕 。 」

不 是 趁 萬聖 節 講 鬼 故 事 ， 但 白 宮 出 名 猛 鬼 ， 已 故 列根 總 統 和 羅 斯 福 總 統 夫 人 都 稱 曾 撞 鬼 ， 遇刺 身 亡 的 林 肯 總 統 （ Abraham Lincoln ）就 被 傳 在 那 陰 魂 不 散 ， 林 肯 不 甘 心 未 能履 行 連 任 的 任 期 就 遇 刺 ， 於 是 死 了 鬼 魂 也不 肯 離 開 白 宮 。 1950 年代 白 宮 琴 師 杜 魯 門 （ Harry Truman ）就 說 見 過 林 肯 的 鬼 影 ， 更 盛 傳 有 人 見 過 「他 」 與 兇 手 鬼 魂 一 起 出 現 ， 兩 鬼 在 吵 架 。

美 國 《 達拉 斯 晨 報 》

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Abraham Lincoln’s Ghost

Abraham Lincoln was the sixteenth President of the United States of America. He is best known for leading the United States during the American Civil War. He greatly opposed slavery and is known for issuing the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and as a strong promoter of the thirteenth amendment which abolished slavery which had been passed before his death.

Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s theatre on April 14, 1865. Since then, many presidents have reportedly seen and felt Lincoln’s presence in the White House. Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, and Harry Truman have all reported unexplained rappings on their bedroom rooms and believe that it was Lincoln. Calvin Coolidge’s wife has also reported that on several occasions she had seen the ghost of Lincoln looking through a window of the Oval Office with his hands behind his back. One of the maids of the White House also claims to have seen his ghost sitting on a bed taking his shoes off.

Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, while spending a night at the White House, heard a knock on the door of her bedroom. When she had answered it, she saw Lincoln’s ghost staring at her in the hallway. She had fainted and when she woke the ghost had disappeared. Another visitor to have seen Lincoln’s ghost was Winston Churchill while he was spending a night at the White House during Word War II. After returning from taking a bath, Churchill discovered Lincoln standing by the fireplace in his room. Churchill spoke to Lincoln’s ghost and said, “Good evening, Mr. President. You seem to have me at disadvantage.” due to the fact that Churchill had been naked. Lincoln’s ghost had smiled softly disappeared.

After the Truman administration, there haven’t been many sightings of Lincoln’s spirit. Some say that the reason for this is due to the remodeling that took place during Truman’s presidency. However, President Ronald Reagan’s daughter, Maureen Reagan, claims to have seen Lincoln’s ghost several times in the Lincoln bedroom.

There are other locations where witnesses claim to have seen the ghost of Abraham Lincoln. One location is Ford’s theater, where he had been shot by Booth. Witnesses said that they have seen both the spirits of President Lincoln and Booth in the balcony where his assassination took place. Another location is Lincoln’s burial grounds in Illinois.

President Lincoln had foreseen his assassination. Lincoln said that he had a dream of seeing a dead body on the floor. When asking the crowd around the corpse, one soldier had said “The president is dead”.

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The Ghost of John Wilkes Booth

A few months after his capture and death, John Wilkes Booth was sited in McVicker's Theatre, the Madison St. theatre where he had performed a couple of stints in Chicago. No one said it was a ghost, though - they simply said that it was evidence that he hadn't really died at all. Conspiracy theories of this nature are still going around; for years, a mummified version of the REAL Booth was a big hit at carnivals.

In 1866, a seance to contact Booth's spirit was held in a house on the West side. His ghost came when called (or, anyway, the medium made it SEEM as though he did - these things were pretty generally bogus) and his voice was heard, but he did not appear visually, since "the devil would not permit it."

In any case, the "ghost" gave a whole new version of the assassination story, stating that he fired at Lincoln from the front, but that the President turned his head, which is why the bullet entered from the back. He also stated that he broke his leg not in the jump to the stage but by falling from his horse later (this, in fact, happens to be correct).

He went on to say that he had also planned to kill Vice President Johnson (which, in fact, was someone else's job). He was most emphatically glad that he had killed Lincoln, but equally glad that he hadn't killed Johnson, who he liked very much (which makes sense, since Johnson was probably the most racist president ever; Booth's ghost was sure he would re-establish slavery). He wouldn't support his re-election, though - he argued for McClennan (a Union general who spent most of the early days of the war sitting on his butt, then ran against Lincoln in 1864) or Robert E. Lee as the next President and even mused about a McClennn / Lee "dream ticket."

He was then asked:

Q: "Are you in heaven?"

A: No.

Q: Are you in the other place?

A: Yes.

Q: Is there a devil there?

A: YES!

Q: Does he treat you rough?

A: YES! (the tabble jiggered violently here).

Q: Do you think you deserve it?

A: NNNNOOO!!!

He went on to admit that he was a pretty bad actor (he was fairly eccentric in his portrayals of well known Shakespeare rolls, but the Trib called him a genius), but was just as good as his brother, Edwin (who was widely thought of as the greatest Shakespearean actor of the day), and went on at great length about President Johnson and the type of people who supported him in the form of "automatic writing" before disappearing abruptly.

Seances like these - with knocks on tables, etc - were all the rage around the time of the Civil War. Mediums found all sorts of fascinating ways to fake them, up to and including pulling cheese cloth out of their more nefarious orifices and calling them "ectoplasm." Even the most die-hard believers knew that most of the "mediums" were frauds.