empty and had been so for more or less the same amount of time that she had been experiencing her problems.
‘The young couple who lived in that flat were a bit odd-looking,’ she said. ‘I was glad to see them go really, because I didn’t feel comfortable around them and they used to have some very strange-looking visitors.’
I sat back in my chair and closed my eyes. As I sat quietly I could feel Sam drawing closer to me. I heard his voice. ‘Fools!’ he said. ‘They were fools—dabbling with ouija boards and the like!’
Ouija (which is a combination of the word ‘yes’ in French and German) boards have been popular since Victorian times, when invoking the spirits was considered something of a parlour game. The letters of the alphabet, the words ‘yes’ and ‘no’ and the numbers one to ten are arranged in a circle and a glass tumbler is used to point to them. Today it is possible to purchase a pre-printed board game which uses a plastic planchette as a pointer.
People sit around the table, each with a finger resting lightly on the base of the upturned tumbler. The spokesperson for the group will then request that any spirit who wishes to make contact with the group do so. This is where the immortal words ‘Is there anbody there?’ stem from. The theory is that should a spirit presence be summoned, that spirit person will use the energy of the people in attendance to move the tumbler around the tabletop, indicating letters of the alphabet which will spell out a name or a response to any question asked of it. It will answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ by gliding over to those words and will give dates by visiting the relevant numbers.
I have come across incidences of people using a ouija board on numerous occasions. It may be a serious attempt to invoke a spirit, it may be idle curiosity or it may merely be a party game. Whatever the reason, it is a grave error of judgement to use one of these boards unless you are fully aware of the possible consequences. I do not like them and would not encourage anybody to use one myself.
The trouble generated by ouija begins with the fact that the people using the board are rarely conversant with the workings of spirit. They know nothing of the lower realms of the world beyond, the realms inhabited by spirits who can cause a variety of problems: all sorts of attacks, disruption in the home, items being moved, obnoxious smells, inexplicable noises—in fact just the type of annoyances that poor Eva was experiencing.
The only way to bring Eva some relief from the problem was to close the vortex or portal that had been opened by the irresponsible people who had up to recently lived in the flat above her. A vortex or portal is a ‘doorway’ in our ether used by spirits to enter or leave our earthly atmosphere.
I explained to Eva that the events she had been experiencing were nothing whatsoever to do with her—she had simply been the victim of other people’s foolhardiness. I asked whether she would agree to me conducting a candle rite in her home. This would close the portal left in the atmosphere and would protect her and her home from further intrusion. ‘Anything, Derek! I’ll do anything to put an end to all this!’ she replied.
I had suspected before I had left home that there might be the need for protection of this dear old soul, so I had come prepared with my candles and a plain white sheet. Eva supplied me with bowls of salt and water. I said my prayer of invocation and proceeded with the candle rite.
After this I am happy to say that Eva kept in touch with me from time to time and was able to report that she was living happily and peacefully in her home once more.
Poltergeist is German for ‘noisy ghost’ and poltergeistal activity is commonly linked to children, especially girls, approaching puberty who have displayed signs of psychic ability. It is generally agreed, and is also my opinion, that a poltergeist is not the manifestation of a spirit person, rather an abundance of energy generated by and drawn to adolescents or people suffering severe emotional stress.
Usually poltergeistal activity is limited to noises—rustlings, tappings, knocks and dragging sounds—but occasionally disarray can be caused within a home with items being thrown, furniture moved and obnoxious smells created. There have also been some reports of poltergeistal energy causing the person affected to levitate from their bed.
In most cases the problems subside if the affected individual is removed from the premises and reappear when that person returns. Obviously the person who is attracting the poltergeistal activity is unaware that the entity is drawing on their emotional energy.
It is unusual for poltergeistal activity to be of any duration. In some cases it lasts only for a few days; in others, a number of months.
There are always exceptions to the rule, however. This was amply demonstrated by an early 1950s case when the poltergeistal activity focused on not one person, but two, and in both cases males. The events took place at 1 Byron Street in Runcorn, Cheshire. Sam Jones and his grandson, John Glynn, then 16 years of age, shared a bedroom in the family home. One night, having just retired to bed, they heard a scratching noise coming from the dressing-table drawer. An investigation showed nothing and, thinking it might have been a mouse scared away by them opening the drawer, they both returned to their beds and thought nothing more about it. The following night, however, not only were there scratching noises but the drawers began to rattle and the dressing table moved, despite being extremely heavy.
After that numerous acts of poltergeistal vandalism took place—a clock was smashed, chairs were thrown against the wall and books flew through the air as though thrown by some invisible hand. There were many independent witnesses, including reporters from the Runcorn Guardian newspaper, two policemen, two Methodist ministers and various psychic researchers. No logical explanation could be given and it was declared to be a definite case of poltergeistal activity.
Over the years I have come into contact with poltergeistal activity on numerous occasions. Sometimes it has been of extremely short duration—a sudden burst of disruption that is over as soon as it has started. There have been other occasions, however, when people have become so frightened that they have moved out of their home, only to find that the disruption follows them to their new house.
One incident that I remember well involved a lady named Jean. She called me at my office sounding very agitated. She had been living together with her son Stephen, aged 12, and her daughter Lindsay, aged 15, since the breakdown of her marriage a year or so earlier. It had been an acrimonious divorce which Jean and her children had found extremely upsetting. As time had passed, however, they had come to terms with their new life and everything had seemed to be more settled. That was, until a few weeks before Jean’s call to me.
Jean told me that strange things had started to happen—not very much at first, just little things like odd noises and belongings being moved. In fact initially it was more irritating than frightening. As the days turned into weeks, however, the noises had become more sinister. They seemed to be concentrated around Stephen’s bedroom, which was situated above the family lounge. When Jean and her children were watching television in the lounge, it sounded as though something heavy was being dragged along the floor of the room above. On investigating, they would find that bedclothes had been disturbed and books had been thrown around the floor. Stephen became afraid to go to his bedroom to sleep. He reported that when he did so, he felt as though his bed was vibrating. On one occasion Jean told me that he had been literally thrown out of the bed. After that he had insisted on sleeping on the sofa downstairs.
Upon arrival at Jean’s home, I stood outside looking at the house. It was unremarkable, but I knew psychically that all was not well within the four walls. I knocked on the door, which was opened a few moments later
