Top 12 Ball Lightning Folklore from Around the World: #7 Will Send Chills Down Your Spine

4. The Wandering Souls of Japanese Folklore

Ball lightning is sometimes linked in Japanese tradition to the idea of "hitodama," or wandering souls. These ghostly lights are thought to represent the outward expression of a person's spirit when it passes from the body soon after death. Traditional wisdom holds that hitodama show as tiny, brilliant blue, white, or even red light spheres floating softly in the air. Usually found in graveyards, hospitals, or other venues where someone recently passed away are they are In some parts of Japan, the color of the hitodama is thought to be indicative of the type of departed soul - blue for a tranquil passing, white for a neutral spirit, and red for a vengeful or furious ghost. Usually described as a ball of fire roughly the size of a basketball, the phenomena moves slowly and might even pass through solid things. According some stories, people approaching their own death or those with spiritual awareness can see hitodama. More complex narratives have these soul orbs reported to occasionally combine to create bigger, more potent spiritual entities. Although hitodama are usually not seen as evil, seeing one is sometimes interpreted as an omen of approaching death or as evidence of restless spirits of the dead. This link between ball lightning and the human soul captures the fundamental Japanese conviction in the continuity of life beyond death and the thin layer separating the domain of the living from the domain of spirits. Many Japanese ghost stories, artwork, and contemporary pop culture have included the idea of hitodama, which still enthralls imaginations and supports the enigmatic character of ball lightning in Japanese mythology.