LITTLE VOICES

My attention has recently been placed upon ‘inner voices’, which has got me thinking about the subject. At least, I think it’s me, or maybe it’s those little voices in my own head.
The most logical explanation for the voice is that it is a defence mechanism – to warn you when you are about to put yourself in physical danger, or maybe to tell you that what you’re about to do is immoral – you know, conscience.

Two brainers

The most likely explanation for the voice can be found in the split-brain concept, where the brain has two cerebral hemispheres, one of which seems to control rational function, whilst the other is artistic.
In normal life we use the rationalist – the typical left brainer – but when we dream, or go artistic, the right brain comes into its own. And it is here that the voice in the head can be particularly useful.
As well as the functions described above, my little voice used to get me into all sorts of trouble, but then I decided to control it and use it as the artist. Now it is my ‘muse’, and it diverts all its destructive power to helping me with ideas for stories, essays, etc.

Petulant little thing

In this sense, it’s become a useful little fella; although sometimes it refuses to speak, and for ages I’ll have no ideas. Then, suddenly, it will give me a brainstorm, and ideas will pour out of me, leaving me exhausted.
Hence, I have an uneasy relationship with my little voice, but I wouldn’t like to be without him. We talk often, deciding this or analyzing that. But the question is, does this make me just a slightly bit mad?
I suppose in a way it does – not because I have an inner voice, but that I talk about it. No, madness comes when you begin a dialogue with the inner voice, and suddenly you realize you’re not part of the conversation.

© Anthony North, August 2007

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SCRATCHING AT THE DOOR

The poltergeist. No phenomenon is more disturbing than this. In August 1977 a poltergeist manifested in the Enfield home of a single mother and her four children. One of the most virulent and highly researched cases on record, it remained with the family for fourteen months and carried out a host of phenomena from tapping on walls, through moving objects, to levitating some of the children.
One child in particular – Janet – found she could communicate with the poltergeist. At various times it took her over, during which she would speak in a deep man’s voice. At one time it claimed to be a resident of a local graveyard.

THEY GET EVERYWHERE

Did this poltergeist really exist, or was it a figment of the imagination? And if it did, was it really a spirit causing the trouble? The latter is the often used explanation. Researcher Guy Lyon Playfair would blame other forms of energy.
In one case he investigated, in Sao Paulo in 1973, activity began in the home of a Portuguese family when the son married. Carrying on for over six months and three house moves, Playfair himself witnessed clothes hurl themselves out of a window and a wardrobe catch fire. In the end the infestation was eased when a mystic blamed malevolent curses put on the house.
The word ‘poltergeist’ is German for ‘noisy spirit’. Sometimes it even takes the form of a spirit, as happened in 1966 with the Black Monk of Pontefract. Exhibiting classic poltergeist phenomena, it eventually manifested as a black monk, seen by several members of the Pritchard family. It even physically pulled one of the children downstairs.

POLTS FROM THE PAST

The earliest recorded case of a poltergeist appeared in the ‘Annales Fuldenses’ in 858. It concerned an ‘evil spirit’ which threw stones and made walls shake in a house at Bingen on the Rhine.
Another famous case was the Phantom Drummer of Tedworth who infested the home of magistrate John Mompesson, beginning in 1661. A vagrant claimed responsibility in 1663. William Drury had had his drum confiscated, which he liked playing in the streets, by the magistrate. He sent the infestation to get his own back.
Samuel Wesley – grandfather of the founders of Methodism – had his home infested with the poltergeist called Old Jeffrey. Phenomena seemed to cling to his daughter, Hetty and included knocking noises and inexplicable footsteps in the night.
In 1878 an infestation broke out in Amherst, Nova Scotia after teenager Esther Cox was nearly raped by her boyfriend. Phenomena included noises, floating furniture and spontaneous fires; as well as a strange voice which said things such as ‘Esther, you are mine to kill.’

THEORIES

Various explanations for the poltergeist have been offered other than the traditional supernatural explanation. Typical is the Geo-physical Theory …

This essay has now moved to Anthony North’s new website. Read more of it here, including his own theories and more data.

© Anthony North, August 2007