The Paranormal

POLTERGEISTS & PSYCHICS

Poltergeists – The dictionary defines this term as: ‘mischievous ghost or spirit manifesting itself by making noisy disturbance.’

Poltergeists are also thought to be able to move and throw objects/items through the air which can lead to injuries.

There is a famous poltergeist story which happened back in the UK in the 1970s. Maurice Grosse was the investigator. It was his first investigation and it caused headlines throughout the tabloid newspapers. He had prior to the investigation tragically lost his young daughter due to a fatal illness.

During the investigation a camera was set up in one of the family’s bedrooms and pictures were taken of one of the young girls (Janet) being suddenly thrown through the air. Maurice said there was no other explanation other than the actions of a poltergeist. Later on the young girl started talking in a deep guttural voice which was taped and said to be that of the poltergeist. Looking into the history of the house Maurice found that the previous owner had died in the house and the name given by the poltergeist was the same as the owner. The family did not know the previous owner. The family were not paid by the tabloids for their story. People have since gone back to talk to the family about the experiences but they have refused to comment to anyone about it.

Psychic – The dictionary defines this term as:

‘Ability to exercise powers outside of the physical realm’

Medium:

‘Person claiming to have communication with the spirits of the dead’

John Edward (on the right) started the programme ‘Crossing Over’ on the Sci-Fi cable channel in June 2000. It has been a big hit and continues to be so. People have doubted the claims that he has made and have studied the way he makes his statements about relatives of the people in his audience who have died and he says are trying to re-contact them. People who are against him call him a ‘cold reader’. This means the way he questions people is in such a way that he can ask them questions which seem like statements and then he can repeat them as if this is the information that he has been given from the spirit once the relative has confirmed that something like this has happened.

One episode from the show involves a mother and her daughter who recognise a clue which John Edward throws out at the beginning of his talk. He says does anyone have a cross, a red cross. Nobody responds until he says, ‘I’m getting the feeling that a cross, some type of cross is significant here.’ When the mother and daughter respond he then comes up with other areas which leads them to believe that it is their dead son/brother who is communicating with them.

It is down to you whether you believe the questions he asks and the responses he gives to the mother and daughter are genuine. What do you think about, his original question – out of the 76 people that normally appear on the show, X amount will probably be Christians, how significant is the symbol of a cross to a Christian?

Check out the website or get your teacher to video an episode of the programme. See what you think. How might he be able to fool these grieving relatives who come to the show OR is he genuine?

Harry Houdini (the famous magician) spent years trying to communicate with his mother, Cecilia Weiss, who died in 1913. So much time in fact that he eventually became a psychic debunker exposing the fraudulent spiritualists who preyed upon grieving families. He NEVER successfully achieved his goal of communicating with the "other side."

Before his untimely death in 1926, Houdini made a secret pact with Bess, his wife of thirty-two years. They made a ten word code which only each of them knew. Each would try their best to communicate with the other once they had died. The correct code would act as proof that it was really them coming through from the other side. For ten years Mrs. Houdini offered a $10,000 reward for any psychic who could communicate with Harry. Not a single psychic could produce the secret code, although almost all of them claimed to have communicated with Houdini himself on the other side. In her last séance in 1936, she tried one final time to reach Harry. After this final failure, Bess made this speech, "I do not think that Harry will come back to me, or anyone. I think the dead don't speak. I now regretfully turn out the light. This is the end, Harry, good night!" She then blew out the candle that she had lit after his death and that had been burning for him for ten years. Houdini's ten word secret code was based upon an old Vaudeville mind reading routine. With this unique code, Houdini's secret spelled out the word, "BELIEVE."

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