Poltergeists: Fact or Fiction

Written by Jason Shields

The most common perception of ghosts is that they are shadowy or invisible beings who throw dinner plates and move pieces of furniture around rooms, occasionally materializing as fearsome entities, sometimes levitating people themselves for their amusement. As you will see throughout many of the articles I write on ghosts and spirits, there is actually a wide range of phenomena that are commonly categorized as ghosts and spirits. The ghosts that throw things and are generally responsible for the rather dramatic household disturbances are known as “poltergeists” which is the German term meaning “noisy ghost.”

Many paranormal researchers, including myself, believe that these invisible housebreakers are really not crazy and rude ghosts, but bundles of uncontrolled psychokinetic energy, the direct action of mind over matter. I also contend that these violent disturbances which often manifest in homes or around certain individuals are attributed to the sexual changes and adjustments that accompany puberty, the early stages of a marriage or union, or the feelings of inadequacy and frustration accentuated by some traumatic experience that an individual has survived. I believe that the majority of poltergeists fit into the above category: pure psychokinesis or Type I Poltergeist.

While there may be many instances in which the outbreak of poltergeist phenomena might be associated with the dramatic changes that adolescence brings to a child’s psyche, many of the classic cases of noisy ghosts throwing objects and severely disrupting the natural flow of things occurred where no adolescent was present. If the extrasensory ability of psychokinesis, mind over matter, can somehow cause an individual to become an unaware participant in haunting phenomena, then we may have to expand the theory of the poltergeist to include those instances in which the human mind, under stress, fatigue, sleep deprivation, and so forth, may release uncontrolled spontaneous energy that has the power to activate and interact with dormant spirit forces. 

What are dormant spirit forces? Ghosts. A ghost’s energy may lie dormant for years; even centuries until someone with the correct energy vibration awakens its energy. By using the term “awaken,” I simply refer to stimulating the ghost’s energy; it is kind of like striking a tuning fork which vibrates to the same frequency of the ghost. Many times, ghosts who have been on the earth for a while, have been reliving their lives over and over subconsciously, and never realizing that they are indeed dead. Such examples are inherent in suicides, murders, and tragic, unexpected deaths that took place at the hand of another. In essence, the person and many times an adolescent, like me at the time, will awaken the ghost’s energy by feeding its source using feelings and emotions.

When a poltergeist is at its peak, the person or family involved may be stressed to a psychological breaking point. Psychoanalyst Dr. Nandor Fodor maintains that a poltergeist is an unquestionably sadistic force. Fodor theorized that the projection of aggression by means of unexplained biological agents, such as poltergeists, is one way in which an adolescent can release hostility against parents and other figures of authority and still maintain his innocence. Such was my case as an adolescent. Growing up different had its challenges. In addition to dealing with the physical and emotional tormenting at school, I also began seeing more “dead people” hovering around me. It was an extremely lonely and awkward period for me. I had considered suicide on multiple occasions because I felt as though no one had a clue as to what I was going through. Anger was my central emotion and I often held it in. without an outlet of expression, the emotional energy found other avenues of expression: light bulbs bursting out of their sockets, computers at the school crashed, and televisions would change stations or turn themselves off and on, just to name a few. My parents at the time just chalked it up to faulty wiring or “coincidence”. By the time I had graduated high school, the disturbances stopped.

It was not until my early to mid-twenties that I began to figure it all out. The poltergeist phenomena started up again during a particularly stressful period of my life: I had purchased my first home and had lost my job during the loan process. Even though I had my psychic profession to fall back on, finances had become stringent and I was an emotional basket case, to say the least. Needless to say, I was prone to fits of anger which had built up slowly over the days and weeks of being unemployed. Finally, I found a job as a drug counselor at a methadone clinic in Indianapolis. Even though it lessened the financial burden, the mental and emotional toll of dealing with drug addicts and the methadone treatment process escalated.

At first, I began to notice poltergeist subtleties in my new home, such as objects on the tables (pens, photo frames) jerk suddenly out of the corner of my eyes. I would often find my car keys, which I always placed at one side of sofa table nearest the door, had moved their way to the opposite side of the table. During that time, for the life of me, I could not keep enough light bulbs on hand. They would continue to burn out after only a few days and sometimes within hours of being replaced. When I finally decided that the counseling job was not for me, and had decided to become a full-time medium counselor, the poltergeist activity slowed down dramatically. When I made the decision to take in a roommate, who now happens to be my business consultant Jon, the activity resurfaced.

By then, I knew all about poltergeist activity and that I was the main cause of the unusual disturbances. Having a new roommate come into your home when you are used to having things run your own way posed its challenges for the both of us. My clientele were also increasing and I began to see more and more people in my home. Jon, bless his heart, was extremely patient during the next couple of years which followed. He had been a skeptic when we first met, that is until I told him that his deceased father had been following him all around. Of course, with roommates you will have disagreements and we had our fair share followed by frenzied psychokinetic bursts of energy which resulted in a few glass vases bursting on their own, along with several prized pieces of my now late grandmother’s hand painted china. These instances were few and far between in occurrence but powerful nonetheless. In some cases, I would find glass shards literally sticking out of the paint in the walls of the room where the poltergeist event occurred.

I will never forget the first instance of psychokinetic poltergeist activity involving Jon and I. we were washing dishes and I had been talking about an ongoing problem we were having with one of the neighbors at the time. I was holding a glass coffee carafe by its plastic handle when all of a sudden, the carafe burst into a gazillion pieces into the sink and all over the kitchen floor. Ironically, neither one of us were injured. Actually, in retrospect, nobody in my life has ever received any real physical harm and it is seldom that anyone ever does during a poltergeist attack. Many if not most of my clients who have experienced poltergeist phenomena have never been harmed. It is mainly seen in the movies for dramatic flair.

So far, I have given you examples of psychokinetic Type I Poltergeist activities. Type II Poltergeist phenomena occurs when a spirit/ghosts’ energy interacts with a living being’s psychic energy to produce physical disturbances. For example, a few years ago, I had received a call one winter morning that a church member, a man in his early twenties, had committed suicide. I had known him relatively well from church; well enough that he knew I was a medium. Needless to say, his spirit showed up at my house frantic. His angry demeanor fueled his psychic energy momentum and propelled an entire shelf of plates which hung in my dining room through a plate glass table shattering it into bits. Let us just say that he received my undivided attention. Another less dramatic but amusing poltergeist event was when Jon and I came home from doing a lecture on paranormal phenomena and found my office furniture neatly stacked from floor to ceiling in the most unusual way.       

What do you do when you are in the midst of a poltergeist occurrence? Identifying the source of the phenomena is key to what action one will take in resolving the issue and this involves ruling out any of the possible explanations discussed above: emerging adolescence, a new marital union, extreme hormonal fluctuations and intense emotional feelings such as anger and frustration. If none are present, then one must consider the possibility of a ghost’s energy that has reawakened or a ghost who has attached itself to and is “feeding” on the energy of a living host. Both of these occurrences are quite common and can overlap. For example, an adolescent male going through puberty who is also frustrated in his struggles for independence and autonomy may easily attract or awaken a ghost’s energy that has lain dormant for years.

As a counselor, merely getting the client to discuss their issues in a non-combative environment usually resolves the poltergeist phenomena quickly. Everyone needs, at one time or another, an unbiased counselor to talk to; one who will not judge them and will actually listen to them undividedly. Remember, most poltergeist activity is pent up frustrated energies that manifest themselves in frenzied bursts of manifestations. If, on the other hand, the psychic researcher discovers a ghost is attached to the individual, other action is taken. In many of these instances, I have had to talk to the ghost directly or, if the individual is halfway across the country, I instruct the individual afflicted on how to address the ghost. The basic procedure is reminding the ghost that he or she is dead and getting them to literally see the light of Heaven, the doorway that we all choose to go through when we die. The mere process of talking directly to the ghost usually surprises them so that they are no longer subconsciously reliving their former death over and over. The ghost is able to stop and listen and see the Light of God. At this moment, they also are able to see their loved ones on the Other Side who have been waiting for them and they cross over.

Very few instances involve ghosts of malicious intent. Like I tell my clients, we do not lose our freewill the minute we die; we choose to go into the light of God and join our loved ones in Heaven. However, there are occurrences that have been recorded where the ghost of a murderer or someone who has done evil deeds during his or her lifetime stay behind for fear of being judged or they actually have the malicious intent of being an evil spirit. In such a case, psychic protection and ritual is called for. I remind my clients in those circumstances that they are the ones who are in control. As long as they have faith and love in their home and truly believe in the goodness of God, evil cannot prevail. My usual prescription is lighting a white candle in the middle of each room, burning sage incense and sprinkling sea salt in each of the four corners. I know that this is not the “scientific” protocol, but it has worked for generations of poltergeist hauntings.

Lastly, never forget the power of prayer. When you pray, your loved ones and guides immediately surround you with a bubble of psychic protection where it is simply your heart opening up to God. Pray for the lost soul’s energy to become actively conscious and alert to the Light of God. Invite your loved ones on the Other Side to join you in welcoming the spirit over. A little prayer goes a long way. A simple but powerful prayer is the Unity Prayer of Protection which I will leave you with:

The Light of God surrounds us

The Presence of God enfolds us

The Power of God protects us

Wherever we are, God is and all is well.