CAN ENTITIES HURT?

Psychic entities can come in many forms, varying from incubi, to ghosts, to aliens, and even the ‘hallucinations’ conjured up by a magical adept. Yet the most virulent tend to appear during poltergeist infestations.
Occasionally such entities go further than simply being seen. There are attested cases of such entities actually hurting people, even leaving marks on the body. Does this suggest the entities are real, or can other elements explain the phenomenon?

To me, such entities are basically hallucinations.

The mind constantly interprets the data received from the senses, but should that data be interrupted, such as through tiredness, altered states, natural illusion, etc, a strange phenomenon occurs.
The mind begins to fill in the gaps of the missing data. This additional material can come from culture, or the person’s own fears. But what is then experienced is more than what is actually out there. Such a process is not ‘madness’, or anything like that, but what I class as a moment of sensory re-calibration.

What properties does such a hallucination have?

Most people think of a hallucination as something seen. In most cases, this is, indeed, all that is experienced. But a particularly intense hallucination can be much more than this.
It can have an effect on all the senses. In other words, it can be seen, heard, smelled, and even felt. And it is in this last sensory element that the question – can entities hurt – takes on a new meaning.

If something can be felt, does it work the other way round?

In other words, can you feel it if it touches you? Certainly, pleasure can be experienced through entity hallucination. This is often recounted in cases of incubi and succubi – entities that come at night and have sex with you.
Hence, if it can happen in terms of pleasure, it can surely happen in terms of hurt. So if all the senses are involved, and you hallucinate an entity which scratches you, for instance, then it is likely you would feel it.

Bearing this in mind, would it leave a scar?

Well, according to the testimony of many who have experienced the poltergeist, yes it can – the marks I have already alluded to. But how is this possible? Surely this is going further than simple sensory stimuli.
Hypnosis may be able to help here. It is known that, in certain circumstances, a hypnotized person has experienced suggested pain, and had a bodily reaction to go along with it. The suggestion of burning, for instance, has produced marks on the body.
Indeed, there is one phenomenon where such bodily reactions are infamous, even to the point of bleeding. This is Stigmata – the manifestation of the wounds of Christ.
No one knows exactly how Stigmata work, but that it does is well attested. And the most likely answer to the phenomenon is hysterically based religious fervour – in other words, a deep cultural belief.
Applying this process to entities, then yes, a hallucinated entity could well hurt, and leave marks as if it was real. But rather than automatically accepting it as a definite supernatural being, it can just as easily be psychological in nature. It’s just that psychology is rather more virulent than we presently accept.

© Anthony North, July 2008