Question: What is a poltergeist?
Answer: "Poltergeist" is a German word meaning "noisy spirit or ghost" Current research indicates, however, that poltergeist activity may have nothing to do with ghosts or spirits. Since the activity seems to center around an individual, it is believed that it is caused by the subconscious mind of that individual. It is, in effect, psychokinetic activity. The individual is often under emotional, psychological or physical stress (even going through puberty). Effects can include rappings on walls and floors, the physical movement of objects, effects on lights and other electric appliances - even the manifestation of physical phenomena.
During a poltergeist experience, the agent, in an attempt to relieve emotional
stress, unknowingly causes the physical disturbances using mental forces. The
mental mechanism that allows the poltergeist agent to unconsciously cause these
physical disturbances is called psychokinesis. Psychokinesis, PK, more commonly
known as "mind over matter," is the human ability to mentally affect the
physical environment. Because the psychokinetic activity of the poltergeist
agent is recurrent and spontaneous, this form of psychokinesis is termed RSPK or
recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis. Most agents are unaware that they are
causing the physical disturbances, and even those with vague awareness usually
have no conscious control over how and when the disturbances will occur.
The Poltergeist
Experience: In poltergeist cases, typical reported disturbances
include strange noises and knockings, and objects moving about as if under their
own power. Objects have been reported to fly about in bizarre trajectories, to
crash to the floor and break, to break or shatter in place, and to disappear and
reappear, sometimes in different locations. Beds are sometimes reported to shake
and furniture to rearrange itself. In more rare cases, small, innocuous fires
have started, water droplets or bursts have fallen from nowhere, stones have
pelted homes, and vague apparition-like forms have been seen. Whatever the
nature of the physical disturbances, poltergeist phenomena can inevitably be
linked to an "agent."
The Poltergeist Agent:
Though the agent can usually be narrowed down to one person, in some cases the
agent appears to consist of two or more people who co-create a psychological
dynamic that causes one or more of the people to mentally "set off" the physical
disturbances. Studies and investigations show that agents are typically
experiencing repressed or unresolved emotional stress. Adolescence is commonly a
stressful life period (psychologically and physically) and not surprisingly, the
majority of reported poltergeist cases involve adolescent agents (the age range
is from 12 or 13 to early 20s). However, people of all age groups are potential
poltergeist agents (although there has been a noticeable lack of agents under 10
or 11). Studies have also shown that people with epilepsy or epileptic-like
activity in the brain are sometimes associated with poltergeist activity. This
does not mean that everyone under stress or with epilepsy will be a poltergeist
agent. In fact, the phenomenon is very uncommon, even though minor PK events may
occur throughout someone's lifetime. Even in severe cases of repressed stress or
epilepsy, poltergeist activity rarely occurs.
Patterns and
Metaphors of Poltergeist Activity: With the exception of rare
lengthy cases, poltergeist phenomena generally last from two to six weeks (short
term 1 week, long term about 18 months). Cases are nearly always reported in
homes, offices or workplaces – wherever a dynamic of human interaction takes
place. Poltergeist activity, with its connection to unresolved stress, appears
to be a rare form of stress relief. Instead of the stress releasing itself in
"normal" ways, the agent unconsciously "blows off steam" with the PK activity.
Patterns found in the disturbances are generally symbolic and can give clues as
to the identity of the agent and the nature
Practical Problem Solving:
Since poltergeist cases have psychological stress and emotional dynamics at
their core, investigations involve detailed observation of the human interaction
present in such cases. All family members or co-workers are interviewed
separately and en masse in order to assess the nature of the disturbances and
the emotional interplay. Many personal questions are asked, and in some cases,
medical information may be requested. Patterns in the disturbances are noted and
participants may be asked to re-enact scenes when the disturbances occurred.
Because the investigation may alter the emotional dynamics, leading to
difficulty in finding the agent, on some case the investigator(s) may request an
extended stay on the premises in hopes that the dynamics return to their usual
state. Throughout the study, "normal" disturbances are separated from those that
may be "paranormal." Often the participants believe the disturbances to be the
result of a ghost or outside entity. Because stressful emotional dynamics are at
the core of such cases, this "ghost" is used as a scapegoat for the occurrences
and even for the events or issues that are causing the stress in the first
place. In addition, people are often more sensitive to anything out of the
ordinary in the environment during such situations. In many cases, participants
may misinterpret overlooked physical occurrences with normal, though not obvious, normal
explanations. Finally, because there is often a ghostly scapegoat to blame,
there may be a mixture of real RSPK events with intentionally caused
disturbances surreptitiously carried out by the agent and/or other participants.
A lot can be done in the name of stress relief when there's a ghost present to
take the blame. In cases such as this, the intentional disturbances are not
generally an attempt to dupe the investigator, but are rather directed at other
members of the family or group as a more "normal" form of stress relief. Such
non-malicious fraud can make a poltergeist investigation very challenging. At
worst, such "mixed" cases may be dismissed as normal when paranormal elements
are actually present. The stress inherent in a poltergeist case, as well as the
stress caused by one, does make counseling very important. Not only the agent,
but all participants can benefit from individual or group counseling.
Poltergeist activity tends to stop when the stress is identified, addressed or
released, or when the stressful situation itself is identified, altered or
ended. Poltergeist activity also tends to stop when the agent realizes he or she
is responsible for the phenomena (and especially if the agent accepts
responsibility for it). One the activity has ceased, follow-up therapeutic work
may be crucial in order to help resolve the underlying causes of the poltergeist
outbreak. Finally, for the poltergeist agent, there always exists the potential
for learning to focus and apply this psychokinetic ability in positive ways.
UKs first REAL Poltergeist case (Enfield Poltergeist)
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| Janet Hodgson, aged 11 at the time, appeared to be possessed. It could have been a scene from the film The Exorcist - but it was real |
What IS the truth about the Enfield Poltergeist? Amazing story of 11-year-old
London girl who 'levitated' above her bed.
The rasping male voice sent a chill through
the room. Hauntingly, it delivered a message from beyond the grave, describing
in graphic detail the moment of death.
What was going on? This was the case of the Enfield Poltergeist, which held the nation spellbound 30 years ago, puzzling policemen, psychics, experts in the occult and hardened reporters alike.
A policewoman even signed an affidavit that she had seen a chair move. There were more than 30 witnesses to the strange incidents.
Most inexplicably, the young girl at the centre of the events seemingly acted as the mouthpiece for Bill Wilkins, a foul-mouthed, grumpy old man who had died in the house many years before. His son contacted investigators to confirm the details of his story.
The events unfolded for more than a year behind the door of an ordinary-looking semi-detached council house, on a suburban street filled with similar houses, and left those they touched permanently scarred.
Naturally, many questioned whether it was all a hoax — but no explanation other than the paranormal has ever been convincingly put forward.
Now, the episode is to be revisited in a film, planned for release at Halloween next year.
Just what happened in Enfield, then, all those years ago? Where are the Hodgsons now, and have they escaped their ghosts? Could they have made the whole episode up? And who lives at 284 Green Street now?
The story, as the Hodgson family told it, begins in 1977. Peggy Hodgson was unusual, at the time, in that she was a single mother to four children — Margaret, 12, Janet, 11, Johnny, ten, and Billy, seven — having split from their father.
It was the evening of August 30, 1977, and Mrs Hodgson was keen to get her children into bed. She heard Janet complaining from upstairs that her and her brothers’ beds were wobbling.
Mrs Hodgson told her daughter to stop mucking around. The following evening, however, there was an altogether more bizarre disturbance.
Mrs Hodgson heard a crash from upstairs. Cross, she went to tell her children to settle down.
Entering their bedroom, with Janet’s Starsky & Hutch posters on the wall, Mrs Hodgson saw the chest of drawers move. She pushed it back, but found that it was being propelled towards the door by an invisible force.
It seemed as if some supernatural presence was trying to trap the family in the room with the heavy oak chest.
Many years later, Janet would tell a Channel 4 documentary: ‘It started in a back bedroom, the chest of drawers moved, and you could hear shuffling. Mum said: “I want you to pack it in.”
‘We told her what was going on, and she came to see it for herself. She saw the chest of drawers moving. When she tried to push it back, she couldn’t.’
Janet’s sister Margaret explained how the activity increased.
‘There were strange little noises in the house, you couldn’t make out what was going on. None of us got slept.
‘We put on our dressing gowns and slippers and went next door.’
The family appealed for help from their neighbours, Vic and Peggy Nottingham. Vic, a burly builder, went to investigate.
He says: ‘I went in there and I couldn’t make out these noises — there was a knocking on the wall, in the bedroom, on the ceiling. I was beginning to get a bit frightened.
Margaret adds: ‘He said: “I don’t know what to do.” I’d never seen a big man like that looking scared.’
The Hodgsons called the police, who proved to be similarly mystified. WPC Carolyn Heeps saw a chair move.
She said at the time: ‘A large armchair moved, unassisted, 4 ft across the floor.’
She inspected the chair for hidden wires, but could find no explanation for what she had seen.
Eventually, the officers left, telling the family that the incidents were not a police matter, as they couldn’t find anyone breaking the law.
Next, the Hodgsons contacted the Press. Daily Mirror photographer Graham Morris, who visited the house, says: ‘It was chaos, things started flying around, people were screaming.’
Some of the events were captured on camera, and the images are disturbing. One shows Janet’s elfin form apparently being thrown across the room.
In others, her face is distorted in pain.
The BBC went to the house, but the crew found the metal components in their tape equipment had been twisted, and recordings erased.
Next, the family sought help from the Society for Psychical Research (SPR). It sent investigators Maurice Grosse and Guy Lyon Playfair, a poltergeist expert who subsequently wrote a book, This House Is Haunted, about the affair.
The author Will Storr spoke to Grosse, who has since died, when researching his own book Will Storr vs The Supernatural, which also features the case. Grosse told him: ‘As soon as I got there, I realised that the case was real because the family was in a bad state. Everybody was in chaos.
‘When I first got there, nothing happened for a while. Then I experienced Lego pieces flying across the room, and marbles, and the extraordinary thing was, when you picked them up they were hot.
‘I was standing in the kitchen and a T-shirt leapt off the table and flew into the other side of the room while I was standing by it.’
The investigators found themselves caught in a maelstrom of apparently psychic activity, with every poltergeist trick thrown at them. Sofas levitated, furniture spun round and was flung across the room, and the family would be hurled out of their beds at night.
One day, Maurice and a visiting neighbour found one of the children shouting: ‘I can’t move! It’s holding my leg!’ They had to wrestle the child from what all involved insisted was the grip of invisible hands.
The ongoing knocking was one of the most chilling aspects of the case. It would run down the wall, fading in and out as it apparently played an unnerving game with the family — who became so scared that they slept in the same room, with the light on.
Most of the activity centred on 11-year-old Janet. She went into violent trances, which were awful to behold. On one occasion, the iron fireplace in her bedroom was wrenched from the wall by unseen forces.
Family members also claim to have seen her levitating — floating clean across the room.
She told Channel 4: ‘I felt used by a force that nobody understands. I really don’t like to think about it too much. I’m not sure the poltergeist was truly “evil”. It was almost as if it wanted to be part of our family.
'It didn’t want to hurt us. It had died there and wanted to be at rest. The only way it could communicate was through me and my sister.’
Some cast doubt on the events, however. Two SPR experts caught the children bending spoons themselves, and questioned why no one was allowed in the same room as Janet when she was using her gruff voice, apparently that of Bill Wilkins.
Indeed, Janet admitted that they fabricated
some of the occurrences. She told ITV News in 1980: ‘Oh yeah, once or twice (we faked phenomena), just to see if Mr Grosse and Mr Playfair would catch us. They always did.’
Now aged 45, Janet lives in Essex with her husband, a retired milkman.
She told me: ‘I wasn’t very happy to hear about the film, I didn’t know anything about it. My dad has just died, and it really upset me to think of all this being raked over again.’
She describes the poltergeist activity as traumatic.
‘It was an extraordinary case. It’s one of the most recognised cases of paranormal activity in the world. But, for me, it was quite daunting. I think it really left its mark, the activities, the newspaper attention, the different people in and out of the house. It wasn’t a normal childhood.’
Asked how much of the phenomena at Green Street was faked, she says: ‘I’d say 2 per cent.’
She also admitted playing with an Ouija board with her sister, just before the activity flared up at the house.
She says she was unaware that she went into trances, until she was shown pictures.
‘I recall being very distressed by the photos when I was a child, I was very upset.
‘I knew when the voices were happening, of course, it felt like something was behind me all of the time. They did all sorts of tests, filling my mouth with water and so on, but the voices still came out.’
She says: ‘It was hard, I had a short spell in the Maudsley Psychiatric Hospital in London, where they stuck electrodes on my head, but the tests proved normal.
‘The levitation was scary, because you didn’t know where you were going to land. I remember a curtain being wound around my neck, I was screaming, I thought I was going to die.
'My mum had to use all her strength to rip it away. The man who spoke through me, Bill, seemed angry, because we were in his house.’
The situation had a huge effect on the family.
Janet says: ‘I was bullied at school. They called me Ghost Girl and put crane flies down my back.
‘I’d dread going home. The front door would be open, there’d be people in and out, you didn’t know what to expect and I used to worry a lot about Mum. She had a nervous breakdown, in the end.
‘I’m not one for living in the past. I want to move on. But it does come to me now and again. I dream about it, and then it affects me. I think why did it happen to us?’
Her brother was called ‘freak boy from the Ghost House’ and people would spit at him in the street.
Janet herself was on the front page of the Daily Star with a headline: ‘Possessed by the Devil.
She left home at 16, and married young.
‘I lost touch with everything, all the coverage of the case in paranormal books. My mum felt people walked over her at that time. She felt exploited.’
Shortly after the Press attention drifted away, Janet’s younger brother Johnny died of cancer, aged just 14. Janet’s mother then developed breast cancer, dying in 2003, and Janet suffered the loss of her own son, in his sleep, when he was 18.
She rejects any suggestion that the whole story was faked in pursuit of fame or money.
‘I didn’t want to bring it up again while my mum was alive, but now I want to tell my story. I don’t care whether people believe me or not, I went through this, and it was true.’
Asked whether she believes the house is still haunted, she says: ‘Years later, when Mum was alive, there was always a presence there — something watching over you.
'As long as people don’t meddle the way we did with Ouija boards, it is quite settled. It is a lot calmer than when I was a child. It is at rest, but will always be there.’
Janet reports that it was a priest’s visit to Green Street that resulted in the incidents ‘quietening down’ in autumn 1978, although the occurrences did not stop entirely, she says, with her mother continuing to hear noises in the house.
Janet says: ‘Even my brother, until the day he left that place after Mum died, would say: “There’s still something there.” You’d feel like you were being watched.’
Janet said she continues to believe in the poltergeist, saying: ‘It lived off me, off my energy. Call me mad if you like. Those events did happen. The poltergeist was with me and I feel that in a sense he always will be.’
Who lives at 284 Green Street now?
After Peggy Hodgson died, Clare Bennett and her four sons moved into the house.
Her sons would wake in the night, hearing people talking downstairs. Clare then found out about the house’s history. ‘Suddenly, it all made sense,’ she says. They moved out after just two months.
One of her sons, Shaka, 15, says: ‘The night before we moved out, I woke up and saw a man come into the room. I ran into Mum’s room and said: “We’ve got to move,” and we did the next day.’
The house is currently occupied by another family, who do not wish to be identified. The mother says simply: ‘I’ve got children, they don’t know about it. I don’t want to scare them.’
Though cynics may scoff, the story of the Enfield Poltergeist has clearly lost none of its frightening power.
You can listen to recording that are here on youtube. Please listen and there real Haunting to here this REAL case http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OWgImgIRic
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