What is a poltergeist?

Question

I have heard conflicting definitions.

Answer 1

The term literally means noisy ghost. It has traditionally been believed to be just that. Today some are saying this is wrong and are applying this term to disturbed young adolescent girls who unknowingly move things by psychokinesis.

I still use the term to describe a noisy ghost, after all that is what it means. I have not come across any Pk instances myself.

So in a nutshell it is a noisy ghost, playful ghost Mischievous ghost etc.

BB

Answer 2

The literal translation of poltergeist (it's a German word) means noisy ghost. People used to (some still do) believe that this was a ghost that could throw things (move objects). The current theory is called RSPK (recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis) which suggest that a person with unexpressed emotional conflict is releasing energy that causes objects to move. The person is usually unaware they are the source and blame a ghost. There are usually things in common with such cases like the activity only occurs when one person (the agent) is present and objects broken often belong to another individual (family member of business owner). called the focus or target.

The books "The Poltergeist" by William Roll and

"Poltergeists" by A.D. Cornell & Alan Gauld are good sources of information that take different approaches.

Michael John Weaver, M.S.

Answer 3

The movie is not a good example.  It used to be that people thought that the ghost was the one making all the noise, hence the name poltergeist...meaning noisy ghost.  But now we no longer think that to be the case.  All the knocking, banging, tapping, disturbance of household items is paranormal but it has nothing to do with a haunting in most cases.

Kinetic energy is still in large a mystery.  Some mainstream scientist are coming to the conclusion that it might exist.  Kinetic energy is usually the culprit because it can cause alot of the above named symptoms.  So where does this energy come from.  Almost without fail, the source is an adolesent child.  It can occur with boys, however it is more common with girls.  They usually have been experiencing an emotionally troubled time in there life.( Ladies, we all remember how troubling our teen years were from time to time)  The child has no control over the events and it is all done without any idea that they are the cause.

It is possible for the source to be an intelligent haunting.  These ghost are trying to get your attention or to make their presence known.

If you or someone you know is having these things happen and there is a teen in the home, I would offer that you need to consult a competent mental health professional first.  If things do not quiet down after that, call a investigation team to see if they can determine the cause.

Answer 4

A poltergeist is said to be a ghost that manifests itself by making noisy sounds and/or moving objects.

Poltergeist activity is often assumed from simple, natural phenomena that nevertheless seem to cause some people to think they are paranormal in nature. The reason this is so is because so-called "poltergeist activity" often catches the person off-guard and so they are not aware enough to discern the natural cause for the perceived activity. In addition, being caught off-guard can be a little jarring, adding to the "scare factor". If the person is prone to believing in ghosts, they might automatically attribute the activity to a ghost instead of investigating the actual physical cause of the event, which may or may not be very clear after the fact.

Answer 5

If u read Harry Potter then Peeves is a poltergeist...

otherwise i dont know..

Answer 6

Yeah, the term is misused.  Generally these days, a poltergeist is generally any mischievous ghost.

If a they are multiple ghosts in  a haunting, then the poltergeist is usually in charge making the other ghosts do their will.  The next step up from that would be a demon.