POLTERGEIST
Posted by anthonynorth on March 9, 2007
If you want a deeper analysis, see Scratching at the Door
In 1977 a single mother and her four children were haunted in their Enfield home by an entity that could throw furniture and levitate some of the children. Many researchers consider it one of the best documented cases of a poltergeist on record.
Other famous cases include the Black Monk that caused a host of paranormality in the Pritchard household from Pontefract, and the Bell Witch that attacked Tennessee farmer John Bell and his daughter in 1817. The Rosenheim poltergeist played havoc with the machinery in a lawyer’s office in 1967. At one point it repeatedly rang the speaking clock. There were some forty witnesses to the events.
A poltergeist is said to be a destructive spirit that manifests phenomena, from throwing objects to speaking. An infestation is one of the most frightening areas of the paranormal, lasting from a few weeks to as long as six months.
Occasionally an actual spirit is seen, whilst in other cases, it is said to levitate people and even possess someone. Usually occurring in the family home, the possession can include Stigmata-like phenomena and speaking in strange voices.
Traditionally, the poltergeist is not, infact, always malevolent. Folklore speaks of fairies coming into people’s houses and even tidying up for them. This is classic poltergeist phenomena, so if you have difficulty finding things … who knows.
In most cases the malevolent poltergeist infests the home of a family undergoing some form of trauma. This suggests the trauma may be part of the process, the poltergeist a manifestation of troubled energies in the house.
Alternatively, the poltergeist has been put down to naughty children, banging things and creating an atmosphere of apprehension. Once such a feeling is in place, some researchers are sure any phenomena are caused by hallucination and hysteria.
The identification of children plays a big part in the phenomenon, with many researchers believing the poltergeist is a manifestation of pubescent energy within a household. Certainly, as in the above cases the focus is quite often a young teenage girl.
My own ideas on the poltergeist take a wider psychology angle. In most cases there is the possibility of psychological trauma in a family member, or members. This leads to erratic behaviour, leaving the household on edge.
A culture of fear can arise, and in this state hallucination and hysteria can easily manifest. As the poltergeist is perceived, a form of psychodrama begins, changing the reality within the family group.
The only question is: does this communal mind state create ‘real’ phenomena or imagined?
© Anthony North, November 2006
While you’re here, why not try the Mysteries page, above?
Go to Eye On the World for my paranormal archives page.
August 16, 2008 at 5:32 pm
Hello there!
I remember reading a science article about some serious research done on a series of poltergeist occurrences in Miami, Florida, in the early 1980s. Police investigators and psychology specialists based their research on the working hypothesis that the poltergeist phenomenons which were being reported at the time, was somehow connected to a young man who was going through a traumatic experience of a kind that was not disclosed in the article. As it happened, the poltergeist phenomenons ceased to occur once the young man’s trauma had come to pass.
Now, I wonder: do you (or anyone else) know of any good internet sites that might be dealing with the paranormal (spiritual) aspects that may or may not be of relevance to the understanding of trauma, as a psychological and indeed also a social concept?
Thanks.
August 16, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Hi Magne,
The scenario for the phenomena you speak about is typical of such cases. I can’t answer your specific question, but if you click MYSTERIES at the top of this site, you’ll find a link to a list of useful sites on the general subject.