In my career investigating hauntings “Poltergeist” cases have been some of the most extreme and intense cases. They are also the most quickly to resolve on their own and remain largely misunderstood and elusive.
The word Poltergeist means essentially “Noisy Ghost”. Poltergeists are thought to differ from what is traditionally considered a ghost. Ghost, or spirits of deceased humans are spirit based souls that cross into the physical plane after their death. Poltergeists as entities have very little in common with the traits of a ghost or typical “spirit haunting”. Poltergeist energies seem to be able to interact with our material world in a powerful, intelligent and sometimes malevolent force.
But what causes these events or powerful energies to manifest? According to some parapsychologists their existence emerges not from supernatural entities but from the human psyche. Theories or ideas suggest that the poltergeist activity typically occurs in places where violence, suffering and tragedy have occurred and possibly in tandem where people themselves are experiencing these things. This is otherwise known as “recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis” and it refers to tension from a human agent. Emotions such as hostility, anger and fear emerge in the form of external energy and manifest in inexplicable ways.
Hallmarks of poltergeist hauntings can be loud knocking or rapping’s, electrical interference, levitations, the disappearance of objects and sometimes physical attacks or spontaneous fires within the home.
Another idea is that the onset of puberty can facilitate a poltergeist haunting. It is believed that the profound emotional and physical changes that occur hormonally can unconsciously release physical energy into the environment in such a way to affect an individual’s surroundings, acting as a catalyst essentially for the activity to manifest.
Most poltergeist hauntings are short lived and usually only last a few days or weeks. Once the stressor or event has passed or dissipated the activity usually ends on its own without any formal intervention.
Whether or not poltergeists are supernatural entities or psychic experiences is still under debate. These hauntings are generally believed to be a “psychic affect” without a “spirit agent” as a facilitator. Another possible indicator that we are guided by light and energy and that some people in certain situations can act as agents to alter or defy our common knowledge of psychics with respect to gravity and matter.
