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Cold Of The Dead?

It is often depicted in stories and movies that when the spirit of a dead person comes into a room that the room becomes very cold. Is there any truth to this? I wonder why people associate a spirit with temperature. I have others talk about this, but they did not say anything about temperature change and in some cases even felt warmer.

Dead The Cold

Death has always been associated with cold. I guess it has to do with the spirit, which is perceived to be the warmth of a human, leaving the body. The warm soul leaving the body must take all the warmth in the surrounding area with it, causing an endothermic reaction. Of course this is all figuratively speaking, but, the mind is very influential, and can make the body think it is cold, when the temperature is actually not cold. A dead body is also cold, and we all know it is because of the lack of warm, flowing blood, but the misconception can also be there that dying and death causes the temperature to drop because of this. That's my 2 cents on the matter, I guess.

Cold Of The Dead? Beliefs Religious General

Wow, that's a very well put thought malexander.

I think some of it could also be a psychological occurence. I know when I have ever been around a deceased body, I tend to start shivering. I'm so used to seeing that person full or life and full of warmth, to see them lying there with no expression and no emotion tends to bring this somewhat ominous chill over me. It hasn't gotten cold in the room, but more than once I have found myself shivering.

I agree with malexander that it probably comes from the association with a cold, dead body. There is no heat in it any longer, and so we associate death with coldness.