Poltergeist

1
Poltergeist

• In German, polter means a noise or uproar, and
  geist means spirit. Thus, a poltergeist is
  literally a noisy spirit. The term is used to
  describe an outbreak of unexplained events that
  is commonly ascribed to the actions of occult
  begins.

2

• Poltergeist accounts date back to the first
  century. The Roman historian Livy described an
  incident in which people were pelted by
  mysterious showers of stones. Many accounts of
  poltergeists were recorded in the Middle Ages,
  when they were attributed to demons later,
  during the Renaissance and Reformation,
  poltergeist occurrences often led to witch hunts.
  

3

• A famous poltergeist witness was the leading
  Protestant Martin Luther. He recounted that one
  day he had received as a gift a sack of nuts
  that night, the nuts had put themselves in
  motion and, jumping about in the sack, and
  knocking violently against each other, came to
  the side of my bed to make noises at me. Luther
  believed he had been visited by a devil.

4

• The first book published in English to discuss
  poltergeists was Ludwig Lavaters 1572 classic,
  Of Ghostes and Spirites Walking by Nyght, and of
  Strange Noyses, Crackes, and Sundry
  Forewarnynges. Despite his suggestive title,
  Lavater took a skeptical position, suggesting
  that many people embroider the sounds of passing
  cats and weasels, and the fretting of worms in
  the walls, into supernatural events.

5

• Although belief in witchcraft was in decline by
  the 18th century, encounters with poltergeists
  continued. The family of the founder of
  Methodism, John Wesley, endured two months of
  knockings and groanings of no known origin
  although a small animal like a badger or rabbit,
  which seems likely to be some witch, was
  spotted in the house on a few occasions.

6

• Poltergeist phenomena have persisted to the
  present day. Investigating such reports has been
  an important activity of psychical researchers.
  Several books have surveyed the poltergeist cases
  collected by the investigators. Gauld and
  Cornell undertook a statistical analysis of 500
  cases reported since 1800. Most outbreaks last
  between two weeks and two months, but about
  one-quarter of the episodes in Gauld and
  Cornells survey persisted for over a year.

7

• The most commonly reported feature is the
  mysterious movement of small objects, pebbles,
  glasses, ashtrays and the like. Sound of unknown
  origin, such as rapping, pounding, footsteps,
  scratching, rattling, panting and popping noises
  are typical. Heavy things like refrigerators and
  linen chests are alleged to move occasionally.
  Some poltergeists have shown a penchant for
  unstoppering bottles. In many instances, the
  trajectories of the flying objects are described
  as unlike that of thrown objects they are said
  to veer erratically or to float.

8

• The mysterious disappearance or reappearance of
  small objects is often noted. Less common
  poltergeist phenomena include starting fires and
  mysterious seepages of water from the walls or
  ceiling. Inexplicable odors, ranging from
  stenches to the scent of violets, have been
  noted. Occasionally, a poltergeist has been said
  to assault someone. Pinches, scratches and bites
  have been claimed to appear on the victims body.
  In an account from 1598, a playful poltergeist
  pestered a convent of nuns by tickling them
  nearly to death.

9

• Case studies suggest that most poltergeist
  outbreaks occur in the general vicinity of a
  particular individual, known as a focal person.
  The person at the center of the poltergeist
  storm is usually under 20 and female. Typically,
  there is evidence of emotional conflict in the
  focal person he or she is often not living with
  the natural parents and is in a situation where
  severe constraints are placed on emotional
  expression. Some focal persons have shown clear
  signs of mental or NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS.

10

• A range of theories has been advanced to explain
  the poltergeist. The most widespread and ancient
  explanation is that there is actually a noisy
  spirit involved. It is noteworthy in this
  regard that, according to Catholic annals,
  exorcism is notoriously ineffective against
  poltergeists.

11

• Following Lavaters suggestion, many researchers
  believe that at least some poltergeists can be
  explained in normal terms. A little vigilance
  reveals that the average living environment is
  filled with sounds of uncertain cause with some
  imagination, these could be interpreted as the
  acts of a noisy ghost. Small earth movements and
  the shifting of building foundations can
  sometimes cause objects to move unaccountably.

12

• Some have speculated that the focal person is
  seething with unexpressed sexuality (a not
  atypical condition for an adolescent, as so many
  focal persons are). If ordinary outlets for
  these feelings are not available, a sidetracking
  of the sexual energies in a maturing body may be
  responsible for the explosive manifestation.
  This sidetracking could take the form of
  deliberate fraud, or of the unconscious
  production of rappings and object movements via
  AUTOMATISM. Some researchers have suggested that
  the focal person may cause the poltergeist
  phenomena, not by tricks, but by PSYCHOKINESIS
  (PK). They refer to poltergeists as recurrent
  spontaneous psychokinesis, or RSPK.