Do You Have a Spirit, Poltergeist, or Entity in Your Home?
The term “ghost” is typically used for all paranormal instances by many people. However, it is important to understand the different types of paranormal activities out there, especially if your house is haunted. The Manchester Paranormal Investigations explains each paranormal experience and how to better understand these “ghosts”.
Spirits
A spirit is the soul of a person or animal which has remained in this world after the death of the body. There are two types of spirits: trapped and free. Trapped spirits are the most common type of haunting, and is considered an “intelligent” haunting because the spirit is aware of its surrounding, aware of you and will try to contact the living.
Trapped spirits stay in this world for a few reasons:
- Unfinished business – There really is no convenient time to die, therefore a spirit may stay behind if they pass with unfulfilled goals or a need to stay with a loved one. A spirit will forever stay in our realm while the business is unfinished. These spirits may try to communicate with you and the paranormal activity may increase if it is unheard.
- Confusion – The spirit typically does not realize they are dead, especially if they experienced a quick or tragic death. Once the spirit realizes they are dead, they typically move on.
- Saying goodbye – This is a quick and most common occurrence when the spirit attempts to say goodbye to loved ones. This activity typically happens while the receiver is asleep, but can also occur during full consciousness. Some discredit this phenomenon as a dream, however, most occurrences happen when the receiver did not know that the visitor spirit has died.
- Help a loved one – these spirits will typically visit while the receiver is asleep. The main purpose of this visitation is to consul or help a loved one in need. Many times a scent is present with this visitation which is strong enough to wake you up and the smell will linger for a few minutes.
- Fear of judgment – If a spirit feels that they do not deserve or afraid of being rejected into Heaven, they are less likely to be convinced to move on.
- Fear – This spirit might be afraid of the light or afraid that their existences will end once they do move on.
While trapped spirits may need help moving on, some just want to stay right where they are and may not be convinced to move on. Unlike trapped spirits, free spirits have already moved on, but come back to this world for a particular reason.
Free spirits can return to visit for a few reasons:
- Acceptance – Spirits can visit to help us accept and get over their passing. They often let us know that they are fine so we can move on with our lives.
- Support – Spirits also visit to help us during a time of crisis and often offer their support to get us through tough times.
- Assist Trapped Spirits – Sometimes free spirits can return to help other trapped spirits into the light.
- Celebrate – some spirits like to be present during special events such as weddings, family reunions, birthdays, holidays, etc.
- Comfort – These spirits will typically come back to assist and comfort a dying loved one to help them enter the light.
Poltergeists
Poltergeists are centered on one person known as the epicenter. The epicenter is typically an adolescent going through puberty (usually girls) or adolescents going through a lot of emotional distress. Once an epicenter releases a vast amount of negative emotions, a poltergeist can form from the epicenter’s kinetic energy.
Another instance can occur if a spirit feeds on to this negative energy and becomes poltergeist-like entities. There have been instances of older adults as epicenters where poltergeists form out of repressed memories, financial problems, marital problems or other instances.
A poltergeist’s activity can range from subtle knockings to, on rare occasions, throwing objects at the epicenter or anyone else. The most common occurrences from poltergeists are moving objects on their own, whether it is moving your keys to the fridge or quickly moving heavy furniture or appliances around. This activity only occurs when the epicenter is present.
Entity (Angelic or Demonic)
Entities were never a human form and can project an overwhelming sense of good or evil. Angelic entities are messengers or protectors. Only those who are meant to encounter this entity will see or hear it. People who experience this entity will have a strong feeling of well-being and peace, usually during near-death experiences or times of severe distress. People who experience this phenomenon often undergo a massive lifestyle change and/or become deeply religious.
Demonic entities are often encountered when they are intentionally or unintentionally “invited” in. This invitation occurs during the practice of divinity – which includes séances and Ouija boards. Demonic entities will target someone with a weak psyche and slowly gain the trust of the individual. The individual will typically use the Ouija board to get answers to questions and the more that the board is used the likelihood of allowing the entity inside increases. Just throw the Ouija board away!
About the Author
Contacting the Dead Through Psychomanteum Mirror Gazing
Is it possible to connect with loved ones after they’ve moved on from this lifetime? Many people have reported apparitions or felt the presence of an otherworldly spirit at some point in their lives, but those experiences are often spontaneous or fleeting.
While séances and psychic sessions claim to produce connections with the departed, there is another lesser-known method that dates back to ancient Greece: the psychomanteum experience. This modernized practice of mirror gazing has been developed by Dr. Raymond Moody, a man who has devoted his life to studying near-death experiences and, through this process, has had some profound results.
The Ancient Greek Psychomanteum: A Portal to the Dead
In ancient Greece, people would go to a Necromanteion, a ziggurat-like temple that was devoted to Hades, Persephone, and the dead, in order to contact the spirits of their departed relatives. The word Necromanteion translates to “oracle of the dead,” and it was believed that these locations served as gateways between the worlds of the living and the deceased. The most famous of these temples was the Necromanteion of Ephyra, where visitors attempted to communicate with spirits.
Rituals at the Greek Necromanteion
To prepare for these encounters, visitors underwent elaborate rituals that included:
- A ceremonial meal – consisting of barley bread, broad beans, pork, and oysters.
- A cleansing process – involving purification ceremonies
- Animal sacrifices – offered to the Gods of the Underworld
- A mirrored hallway – created by filling a bronze cauldron with water, which was polished frequently to ensure a highly reflective surface.
Under dim lighting, with flickering lamps casting eerie reflections, participants gazed into the water, awaiting visions of their deceased loved ones. Temple priests guided the ritual, chanting invocations to summon spirits. If contact was made, apparitions appeared in the water, whispers echoed through the chamber, or messages came through the priests. To close the ritual, a banishing ceremony ensured no spirits lingered, allowing the living to return unharmed.
Dr. Raymond Moody’s Mirror Gazing
Dr. Raymond Moody, a philosopher, psychiatrist, physician, and author of Life After Life (1975) and Reunions: Visionary Encounters with Departed Loved Ones (1993) is best known for coining the term near-death experience and for his research on consciousness and the afterlife. Inspired by theater of the mind techniques found in ancient texts, Moody revived the concept of the psychomanteum as a method for making contact with spirits. He has dedicated his life to exploring NDEs and contact with the spirit world.
Dr. Moody’s psychomanteum approach differs from the Greek tradition by eliminating animal sacrifice and ritual meals, instead focusing on a structured and meditative environment designed to induce an altered state of consciousness. This process mirrors traditional scrying, also known as catoptromancy, where individuals use reflective surfaces to receive visions.
