good ghosts, bad ghosts

The Codex speaks of Ghosts, but what are these mysterious symbols? Here is the reveal of one of the psychological insights that has fundamentally changed how I see myself and others.

Forget the mystical “Ghost” name for a second. Let’s move straight into an example.

A Story about Gurly and Gurla

Gurly and Gurla are two best friends. They both adore and follow an influencer called Bella Jolie. Bella has the most perfect face; she looks AI-generated. Gurly is a rich girl and, when she becomes 18, her dad gives her €20,000 for plastic surgery. Obviously, Gurly spends it, and she becomes as pretty as Bella. Or at least, the doctors did their best.

Now imagine how Gurla feels about all this. Gurla is poor; there is no way she can afford this. Gurla obviously becomes more insecure about her beauty, and also her financial status. She can never be like Bella Jolie or Gurly.

Now the story branches.

Option A: Gurly stays the same girl she was. The aesthetic procedures did not in any way alter her character towards her still “ugly” best friend Gurla. They remain besties.

Or Option B, which is slightly more common if Gurly places a lot of emphasis on aesthetics: Gurly becomes a bitch to her old friend. She shuns Gurla.

In Option A of this story, we can, in Codex terms, say: “Gurla developed some Crystals that made her Ice Trap more slippery.” Or, in normal terms, she became insecure, but this insecurity was mostly caused by herself; her now-pretty friend Gurly stayed the same.

In Option B of the story, the Codex terms change. We can say that pretty Gurly is “spreading Bad Ghosts”. Those Ghosts then condense as Crystals in Gurla’s Ice Trap. Or, in normal words, Gurly reinforces the insecurity of her old friend.

The point of this story is that we should name insecurities, see how they spread, and discriminate to what extent they emerge within the person themselves — Icy Crystals — or whether they are socially reinforced by others — Bad Ghosts.

Obviously, when zooming in, the difference between a Bad Ghost and a Crystal is fuzzy. You could say most insecurities are generated under external factors.

However, I feel we can argue about the degree of social reinforcement. Take the role of the influencer Bella Jolie in this case.

If Bella never talks about beauty and she just “exists” without that being a major subject in her communication, we can hardly blame Bella. These girls developed their Crystal under general societal beauty standards.

If Bella actively says things like “Girls need to be beautiful, otherwise they are worthless,” we can clearly say Bella is spreading Bad Ghosts.

If Bella does put a lot of emphasis on beauty, or if she does sell skincare products, but never explicitly devalues ugly girls, then we can debate how far Bella is spreading Bad Ghosts. She might be actively reinforcing an insecurity in girls without fully being conscious about the effects of it.

I hope the Crystals/Bad Ghosts differentiation prompts thought, instead of silly fingerpointing. As ever, the Codex would not judge. It only explains consequences.

How Bad Ghosts Spread

Another thing that is interesting to observe is the contagiousness of Bad Ghosts and Crystals in general. But Bad Ghosts especially, because of the active reinforcement, spread like a virus within a population.

In the story, Bella transmitted — knowingly or not — a Crystal to both girls. The rich Gurly then compounded this Crystal and gave it back to Gurla twice as hard. Gurla feels double shit: she is now uglier than both Bella and her best friend.

Thus, the lesson is: watch how Crystals are transmitted and especially watch out for Bad Ghosts, be they conscious or not.

The example earlier illustrated a very narrow case, but Bad Ghosts are everywhere in our society! They are rampant on social media. Think of all the toxic cultures: corporate culture (you’re poor and lazy), dating apps (you’re boring), hookup and Grindr culture (you’re sexually uninteresting), fashion (you’re ugly), masculine environments (you have a small dick), feminine environments (you’re not feminine)…

The list goes on, and on, and on. Don’t be scared, but Crimson City is a horror story. It actively rewards the competition and unleashes legions of Bad Ghosts onto its population.

Melting the Crystals

So, what is the solution?

There are many solutions. The thing with Bad Ghosts is that they are difficult to catch. They hide in your Ice Trap, torment River-Dweller, and vicious circles are their favourite Shape.

Healing can come from resolving the Ice Trap. Actually, that’s where it starts. Start shining Light onto those Ghosts — one by one.

This is an intense process, and I advise not to do this alone. Seek a loved one to talk to and process this. Otherwise, a therapist will also do an excellent trick. You don’t need therapy because you’re sick. You need someone to talk to about all the Bad Ghosts and Crystals. Someone who loves back while you show your horror story.

But it works. Therapy works. Talking works. Crystals can melt. Bad Ghosts can be dissipated. Trust me. Trust the Universe. Even if it seems like too much — you can do it. Seeing the Ghosts is the first step.

But there is another way. A next step.

Good Ghosts

The Codex would not be itself if there was not some counter movement.

The Good Ghosts exist too. And you better watch out for a person spreading them. They can sometimes scare the Bad ones away with nothing more than a smile.

I believe the Universe is beautiful. I think it is inherently positive. Yes, Life is shit and there are Bad Ghosts everywhere. But Good Ghosts are strong and equally contagious. Maybe even more so...

I think the core cause in extents of spreading between the two types, is that Good Ghosts require a degree of self-sacrifice. Being Bad is the easy thing to do. But being Good ultimately pays off — where the Bad ones stay stuck in a vicious cycle, the Good Ghosts escape through a self-reinforcing helix.

Spreading Good Ghosts works similarly to Bad Ghosts, but then positively. You give an honest compliment. You are selfless. You show Love in your actions, and nuance in your expressions. You dissipate a Bad Ghost and sublimate it into something better.

I believe this is the ultimate way to dissipate a maximum of Bad Ghosts. We can never remove all of them — the Ice Trap stays, social rules still condense as Crystals — but we try to melt those Crystals before they take deep hold.

I don’t think you need to be a fully integrated Timeseer to spread Good Ghosts. Anyone showing Love and Peace can. But I think becoming Timeseer and integrating the Codex’s principles can definitely amplify the spreading of Good Ghosts.

This might also be why people react so strongly to well-integrated individuals. Coherence can be more shocking than the familiar pain of Bad Ghosts. Kindness can feel alien in a frozen world. A Timeseer may be shunned because psychological coherence can be unwelcome and “intense”.

Fuck that. Yes, being spookily Good is hard, but at least then you know where the pain comes from. It’s quite a romantic pain in my opinion. Better than “Bella Jolie has a nose I can never have”…

So, to end on a definition: a Ghost is someone, or something, or some action, reinforcing psychological patterns socially. A Ghost can be Good or Bad depending on the valence one subjectively assigns to it.

Ghosts, like all Codex Names, are a subjective assessment of a Universally neutral pattern. Don’t devalue people who you think are Bad Ghosts. Show them the pattern you find problematic.

And then, show them what a Good one looks like, with nothing but a smile ;)