Believing in ghosts is useful for changing behavior

News24xx.com -  Halloween is a moment when ghosts and spooky decorations are displayed in public, and it will reminding us about the world of the dead.

But can it also give important lessons about how to live a moral life?

The origins of modern Halloween start from 'samhain', a Celtic celebrations for the beginning of a dark winter. During that period the area between the living and the dead was believed to overlap so that ghosts could be found more easily.

In 601 AD, to help his mission to convert the population of northern Europe to Christianity, Pope Gregory I directed missionaries not to stop pagan celebrations, but made it a Christian celebration.

Not only did the beliefs about the spirits of the dead continue, but that belief also became part of many church practices at that time.

Pope Gregory I himself suggested that people who see ghosts should say a prayer for them. The dead, in this view, may need help from the living to travel to heaven.

During the Middle Ages, beliefs about souls trapped in purgatory led to the selling of indulgences — payment to the church to reduce the penalty for sin.

The belief of the wider community in ghosts made the sale of indulgences a profitable business practice for the church.