Many of us know poltergeists from the classic film series of the same name. A poltergeist is perhaps the best-known — and most feared — type of ghost, German for “noisy ghost” or “noisy spirit”. The word poltern, (“to make sound” and “to rumble”) and Geist (“ghost” and “spirit”. In ghost lore, a poltergeist is a type of ghost or spirit that is responsible for physical disturbances, such as loud noises and objects being moved or destroyed. They are purportedly capable of pinching, biting, hitting, and tripping people. Most accounts of poltergeists describe the movement or levitation of objects such as furniture and cutlery, or noises such as knocking on doors.
They have traditionally been described as troublesome spirits who haunt a particular person instead of a specific location. Such alleged poltergeist manifestations have been reported in many cultures and countries including the United States, India‚ Japan, Brazil, Australia, and most European nations. Early claims of spirits that supposedly harass and torment their victims date back to Ancient Roman times, but references to poltergeists became more common in the early 1600s.
Loud knocking sounds, lights turning on and off, doors slamming, even fires breaking out mysteriously have all been attributed to this type of a spiritual disturbance. Another frightening aspect of the poltergeist is that the event usually starts out slowly and mildly, then begins to intensify. And while many times poltergeist activity is harmless and ends quickly, they have been known to actually become dangerous. Some experts explain it as a mass form of energy that a living person is controlling unknowingly. Whatever the case may be, poltergeists have caught the attention of paranormal enthusiasts and experts, scientists and many others who are just plain curious.
Some parapsychologists view poltergeists as a type of ghost or supernatural entity which are responsible for psychological and physical disturbance. Others believe that such activity originates from “unknown energy” associated with a living person or a location.
Unlike ghosts, poltergeists are said to feed directly off of the emotional state of a particular person rather than being linked with a place. A person-focused poltergeist tends to (but not always) involve a female adolescent who is suffering from emotional turmoil when the activity begins. That said however, not all so called “focal agents” are teenagers. The age of people reporting experiences of poltergeist activity ranged from eight to 78 years.
Poltergeist activity is usually preceded by a trauma, such as a car accident, divorce or family death. Poltergeist activity is not necessarily related to a ghost or legend, it can move around with victims or can remain in one location. Poltergeist activity can appear in any location, castle, house, shop, pub. It is not location specific. There appear to be two distinct poltergeist types – one connected to a classic haunting where the poltergeist activity is simply part of the ‘haunting’ – the ‘ghost’ may move things for instance. Secondly, where the activity is connected to a person or place and does not display any classic haunting elements such as phantoms or adherence to a legend.
Poltergeist activity typically starts with minor isolated incidents. This could include unexplained sounds or familiar objects such as your keys or your phone moving from their usual place. Then the activity will become more intense, manifesting itself through voices and even the appearance of full apparitions. Furniture may slide across the room and beds may shake. Many shows are based on this type of haunting because it tends to be the most terrifying and rarest type of haunting that occurs. Some poltergeists have also been reported to scratch and harm those whose house they share. But while poltergeist activity is typically short-lived – manifestations typically lasting around five months – some cases have persisted for several years.
The Chilliwack poltergeist in Canada, for example was active for only two months between 1951 to 1952. During this time the Poltergeist produced loud and violent hammerings on walls accompanied by occasional flying objects. The Brother Doli Case, on the other hand, included a range of phenomena – stains, carvings of images and Welsh words, generally of a religious nature – and these persisted for several years.
One of the most famous poltergeist cases to happen in the UK involved the Hodgson Family, and their newly occupied council house in Enfield, North London. The family experienced nearly everything from disembodied voices to levitation. Between 1977 and 1979 it was the scene of demonic voices, objects moving without explanation, levitation, and strange noises. Events focused on the two teenage daughters Margaret and Janet.
Several reliable witnesses observed phenomena – these witnesses included a police constable, a press photographer and investigators from the Society for Psychical. While investigators did discover some evidence of pranks and fakery, it was believed that many of the poltergeist incidents were genuine.
Although the word’s definition implies that a poltergeist is a specific type of ghost (as do some other sources), many experts believe they’re actually completely different entity. “Poltergeists have nothing to do with ghosts or spirits at all,” explained Psychic Elements on its site. “The best way to describe it is active kinetic energy that causes physical disturbances.” This makes sense, as ghosts are generally unable to break through to the physical realm in the extreme ways that make poltergeists unique.
Some ghost hunters and paranormals propose that poltergeists are actually the emotions of troubled individuals – built up during times of stress. This theory, known as Spontaneous Recurring Psychokinesis suggests that this built-up stress then unconsciously projects outwards in the form of mental energy, which effects the physical environment and produces the phenomena attributed to poltergeists. But there is little evidence to support this notion.
“Poltergeists are not angry spirits seeking retribution, but psychic disturbances surrounding an unhappy person, often a teenager,” explained Psychic Elements. And as stated by Ghosts And Gravestones, “Some experts explain it as a mass form of energy that a living person is controlling unknowingly.” For this reason, poltergeists are known to follow energy or a person, rather than occupying a particular space like a ghost does, and the reason they’re known to be linked with teenagers is because of the extra-strong emotions and turmoil that comes with adolescence and puberty.
Most of the time you will find that one person in the house seems to be more affected by the haunting than anyone else. It may seem that most of the activity doesn’t happen unless that certain person is present. Usually, the activity appears to stop when that person leaves the home. The majority of the time poltergeists are experienced by several people, but again they seem to center around one certain person. This person may be highly stressed as of late or maybe this person has gone through some type of extreme emotional situation. If this is the case, see that the individual involved gets some medical care, and soon afterwards the poltergeist will subside.
Many people believe that spirits of the dead are responsible for poltergeist activity. This is said to be because people who experience them perceive an underlying intelligence and meaningful communication with an otherworldly being. This view proposes that a disembodied consciousness – or soul – survives bodily death. But again, there also isn’t any compelling scientific evidence to support this view either.
It is a spirit that is said to harass and torment its victims. This harassment typically includes minor but mysterious and disturbing events such as loud sounds, moving furniture, sheets and covers being pulled off beds, small objects inexplicably falling off shelves, stones rising off the ground and being hurled at people, and so on.
The interpretation of mysterious disturbances as being caused by a ghost specifically is a fairly recent development; a few centuries ago such events might have been attributed to witchcraft or even Satan.
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