Poltergeist

"Poltergeists" (from the German "poltern" (to knock) and "geist" (spirits)) are generally defined as mischievous and sometimes malevolent spirits. Reports of poltergeist activity typically feature raps, bumps, thumps, knocks, footsteps, and bed shaking, all without a discernible point of origin or physical reason for occurrence. Many accounts also report objects being thrown about the room, rains of dirt or other small objects, vile smells, furniture being moved, and even people being levitated or assaulted. Historically, poltergeist activity was ascribed to the Devil, demons, or witches; such activity is now often thought to be an unconcious use of psychokinetic abilities.

Famous Poltergeist Cases

Like many paranormal phenomena, poltergeist stories date back well into history. Poltergeist activity was reported as early as 530 C.E., in the home of the chief physician to the Ostrogoth King Theodoric. In 858 C.E., a report of supernatural stone throwing comes from the small town of Bingen on the Rhine, where Romans were fighting the gauls.

One of the most famous poltergeist cases was the Epworth Poltergeist, which haunted the Wesley family in 1716, in the small town of Epworth, Lincolnshire. Considered to be one of the most well-documented poltergeist cases in the history of British paranormal research, no satisfactory explaination has been put forth to explain the loud rappings and noises, as well as the running footsteps, groans, and the lifting of a door latch that the Wesley family experienced in their house over the course of several months.

Other well-known instances of poltergeist activity include the Tidworth Drummer (1661), where poltergeist activity and phantom drumming noises plagued a magistrate who arrested and confiscated the drum of a vagrant drummer, as well as the Bell Witch (1817), activity surrounding the Fox Sisters, whose experiences started the Spritualism Movement of 1848, and the Livingston Wizard (1797) of West Virginia, where all cloth items were cut into spiral shapes, and objects flew about without explaination.

The twentieth century saw an increase in the recording of poltergeist phenomena. With more scientific interest in parapsychology, more researchers investigated poltergeist activity from a scientific perspective. Cases like Eleonore Zugun, a Romanian girl during the 1920's who experienced over four years of poltergeist activity, were investigated by psychical resesarchers like Austria's Fritz Grunweld and the world-famous English researcher Harry Price.

The Rosenheim Poltergeist (1967), where an Bavarian attorney's office was plagued by electrical phenomena such as the unscrewing and bursting of lightbulbs, the tripping of switches, and phone numbers called thousands of times, was investigated not only by psychical researchers, but also psychologists and physicists, as well as the electric company. It was found that the phenomena always occured in the presence of a 19 year old female employee.

The Miami Poltergeist case (1967) centered around a disgruntled and recently suicidal employee in a warehouse, around whom items would fly off the shelves and break. Researchers recorded 224 separate incidents, and numerous tests were carried out to rule out fraud. The paranormal phenomena were witnessed not only by parapsychologists, but also by police officers and a professional magician.

Characteristics of Poltergeists

The most commonly reported type of poltergeist activity is generally a combination of loud, unexplainable noises and the movement of objects. Objects can include everything from rocks to household appliances. Movement can occur on a small scale, or may involve the moving of large, heavy objects or the violent hurling of smaller ones. Electrical disturbances, such as the turning on/off of appliances or lighting, can also occur. In some extreme cases, poltergeists have been reported as violently attacking their victims, including sexual assault.

Poltergeists are said to have five levels of activity:

• Level One, called "Senses Attack", involves cold spots, strange noises, and a feeling that one is being watched. Pets may behave strangely, and odd smells or offensive odors may be noticed.
• Level Two, called "Communication", is an increase of Level One. Noises become more definable, turning into whispers, shrieking, moans, or giggles. Cold spots become cold rushes of air, small objects are thrown, and small marks may appear on walls.
• Level Three, called "Electrical Control", involves the turning on/off of appliances, disturbances happen with telephones, and windows and doors open/close and lock/unlock. Unseen hands may grab or touch people, and furniture may move.
• Level Four, known as "The Trickster Stage", is even more violent. Objects disappear or move violently, and sometimes burst into flame. Apparitions and voices appear, violently threatening people with foul language. People feel dizzy or naseous, and may be physically attacked.
• Level Five is known as the "Danger Level", and is the highest energy level. Biting, scratching, punching, and even sexual assaults may occur. Kitchen knives or other deadly weapons are aimed at people, and blood may appear on the walls, floors, or ceilings. Where previous activity was frightening, level five activity is actually life-threatening.

Poltergeists are said to cycle through the above levels, which may take days, months, or even years. After level five, the poltergeist is said to go into a kind of dormancy, until eventually activity begins again with Level One.

Poltergeist activity is usually considered to be temporary, sometimes lasting as little as a day or two. Unlike ghosts, poltergeist activity is generally centered around an individual, not a place, and is generally more destructive.

Theories

Historically, poltergeists were often thought to be manifestations of the Devil or demons, or the work of witches and sorcery. Modern research tends to put poltergeist activity into several main catagories: individual entities (either malicious or simply michevious), unconcious psychokinetic activity, and physical explainations (such as electromagnetic forces). Additionally, some purported poltergeist activity is nothing more than fraud.

Devil, Demons, and Spirits

Poltergeist activity was commonly thought to be the work of devils or witches. An account from the late 1600's describes a "Stone-Throwing Devil", or "Lithobolia" that plagued a New Hampshire family. Objects both inside and outside the home were moved, rocks were thrown violently about, and the family members were personally attacked. An elderly neighbor was said to be suspected of witchcraft. Particularly in superstitious times and/or cultures, witchcraft and demons were blamed for most poltergeist activity, as well as instances of crop failure or sickness. The idea of poltergeists as demons, however, is still present in much of Christian theological thought; some Christians believe that, since human dead are either in heaven or hell, and unable to roam the earth in the spirit world, that poltergeist activity must be the work of demons. Proponents of this theory argue that poltergeist activity has strong evidence of a conscious intelligence, and that the nature of poltergeist attacks is often annoying, malicious, and sometimes viciously dangerous, and is intended to confuse, bewilder, and frighten victims.

Individual Entities

Some believe poltergeists may be the confused, lost, or angry spirits of the dead, unable to move beyond the "earthly plane". One version of this belief posits that poltergeists originate after a person dies in a powerful rage. In another theory, ghosts and poltergeists are nothing more than "recordings" from persons no longer present. When there is a powerful emotion, in death or life, a recording of such an energy is then "embedded" in a place, or in the "fabric of time" itself. This recording will continue to play over and over again until the energy embedded disperses. Others believe poltergeists simply exist, like the "elementals" described by occultists.

Some poltergeists have seemingly had distinct personalities and the ability to articulate themselves, which suggests some sort of self-awareness and intent. Practitioners of astral projection, such as author Robert Bruce, catagorise a number of beings that exist on the astral plane, and report the existence of unfriendly astral life forms, called "negs", who have the ability to harm as well as cause objects to move during psychic attacks.

Poltergeist activity originates with agents

The observation that poltergeist activity often occurs around an "agent", or a person that seems to act as a magnet for the activity, has led to the idea that the agent him/herself may well be responsible for the activity. Agents are most often young; many are pre-pubescent. In the 1960's, researchers at the Psychical Research Foundation in Durham, North Carolina studied 116 written reports of poltergeist activity, and came to the conclusion that children and teenagers used subconcious psychokinetic (PK) abilities to express hostility without fear of punishment. Children were not aware that they were causing the disturbances, but were generally pleased that they occurred. Interestingly enough, poltergeist activity can stop once the child goes through puberty, as in the case of Eleonore Zugan.

A great deal of poltergeist cases seem to center around a single agent, and when that agent is not present, poltergeist activity ceases. In the case of the Miami Poltergeist, poltergeist activity only took place when the disgruntled employee Julio Vasquez was present. A Cuban refugee, Vasquez was unhappy in his job, was often depressed and angry, and had recently attempted suicide. On days Vasquez did not work, all was calm, but when he was present, and particularly if he was experiencing strong negative emotions, the poltergeist activity was frequent. This suggests that the mental state of the agent can influence or create poltergeist activity.

Caused by physical forces

Some scientists propose that all poltergeist activity that they can't trace to fraud has a physical explanation such as static electricity, electromagnetic fields, ultra-, and infrasound and/or ionized air. In some cases, such as the Rosenheim poltergeist case, the physicist F. Karger from the Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik and G. Zicha from the Technical University of Munich found none of these effects present and psi proponents claim that no evidence of fraud was ever found, even after a sustained investigation from the police force and CID, though criminologist Herbert Schäfer quotes an unnamed detective watching the agent pushing a lamp when she thought nobody was looking. However, whether this is true or not, police officers did sign statements that they had witnessed the phenomena. John Hutchinson has claimed that he has created poltergeist effects in the lab. Also worth noting is that some scientists now propose that poltergeists and ball lightning may be linked phenomena. Some scientists go as far as calling them pseudo-psychic phenomena and claim that under some circumstances they are caused by obscure physical effects. and parapsychologists William G. Roll and Dean Radin, physicist Hal puthoff and head of electrical engineering at Duke University who specializes in electromagnetic field phenomena, claim that poltergeist phenomena [the movement of objects at least] could be caused by anomalies in the zero-point field, http://www.scientificexploration.org/jse/articles/pdf/17.1_roll.pdf, this is outlined in the above article and in Roll's book "unleashed" and mention is made of it in a chapter of Dean Radin's book "entangled mind." The basic theory is that poltergeist movements are repulsive versions of the casimir effect that can put pressures on objects. Thus, anomalies in this field could conceivably move objects. This theory has also been mentioned in the current book on paranormal phenomena "science" by Marie D. Jones http://www.amazon.com/PSIence-Discoveries-Existence-Paranormal-Phenomena/dp/1564148955 The theory is not complete, however, because it accounts for the movement of objects but not for the strange voices, seeming personality, and strange electrical effects displayed in some cases.

Self-delusion and hoaxes

Skeptics of poltergeist phenomena point out that humans can be easily fooled, either intentionally by others or by their own minds, into accepting that perfectly natural events have supernatural causes. A Kentucky family experienced a number of events that convinced them they had a poltergeist, including flying telephones, moving objects, and appliances that started by themselves. Upon investigation, it was determined that each of these incidents had a simple explaination, and the homeowners were relieved to find they did not in fact have a poltergeist.

There have also been numerous cases of intentional fraud. Some create a fraudulent poltergeist for attention, some for entertainment, and others for publicity or monetary gain. Teenagers are often the culprit in cases of fraud. In 1984, fourteen year old Tina Resch perpetrated a poltergeist hoax on her adoptive parents, where telephones would fly across the room and lamps would swing and fall. Young Tina used the media attention to help her find her biological parents. A group of four North Dakota children terrorized their teacher and classmates with poltergeist pranks simply because they enjoyed the excitement and publicity.

A common argument of critics of parapsychology is that paranormal investigators are blinded by their desire to believe in paranormal phenomena, and are thus oblivious of the possibility of fraud.

Poltergeists in fiction

Both the name and concept of the poltergeist became famous to modern audiences in the Poltergeist movies and the subsequent TV series Poltergeist: The Legacy. The first poltergeist movie actually gave an excellent depiction (during the first half of the film) of a "typical" poltergeist infestation, right down to the depiction of the focus as a prepubescent girl.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Clarkson, Michael. 2006. Poltergeists: Examining Mysteries of the Paranormal. Firefly Books. ISBN 1554071623
• Houran, James and Rense Lange (Editors). 2001. Hauntings and Poltergeists: Multidisciplinary Perspectives. McFarland and Company. ISBN 0786409843
• Kettelkamp, Larry. 1980. Mischievous Ghosts: The Poltergeist and Pk. William Morrow & Co. ISBN 0688222439
• Wilson, Colin. 2002. Poltergeist! Caxton Editions. ISBN 1840672846

External links

• Andrew Lang, The Poltergeist and his explainers, The Making of Religion, (Appendix B), Longmans, Green, and C°, London, New York and Bombay, 1900, pp. 324-339.
• Haunted Ontario - Founded in 1996 by Bob Milne, Haunted Ontario chronicles the ghosts, spirits, spooks, and poltergeists said to haunt Canada's most populated province.
• Poltergeist: The Legacy Website
• Dehaunting Techniques
• International Journal of Parapsychology
• Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research
• Skeptic's Dictionary
• [1] The Entity Case

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