Since August I’m living in a little apartment in Rotterdam South; basically the intercultural part of Rotterdam or the ghetto if one wants to be just as exact.
It’s a lovely little place, all orangy Autumn colours, art on the walls and the aroma of Asian cooking and incense linger in my livingroom. I’ve got a black sleeper couch and a black fatboy, large beautiful plants and a spacious emptiness so as not to clutter my view (so no bookcase).
And a poltergeist.
This obviously raises various questions and problems, but I’ve distilled them down to three. The first being how on earth does an atheist deal with a poltergeist. The second being how does one get rid of a poltergeist and third has something to do with verifying if it actually is a poltergeist or not.
So let me start by the third first.
Cup your hand and smack it down on a wooden table. That’s the sound. It never happens during the day! It only happens after dark! So, the time isn’t important, it only happens when it’s dark outside. The sound can be a couple of thumps and then silence and sometimes the thumps get angry and thump away for a couple of minutes. Sometimes up to 30 minutes. There’s no rythem to them. Just short bouts, long bouts, angry bouts and a couple of lose thumps. All during the night.
Expecting the worst I called David who’s an electro / mechanical engineer and asked him to have a look in the cupboard. It’s a cupboard with a big white thing in it which has something to do with the heating. I thought that the most likely culprit for the nightly thumping (considering it sure as hell isn’t my sex life).
He checked everything out. Nothing. Then the thumping started up and he checked everything, from toilets flushing to the pipes (he even checked gas in my water pipes… which to me just sounded nasty). Nothing. But the banging was there.
“Well Mark,” he said, “You’re screwed.” And went home, presumably to drink beer.
So there you have it. There’s nothing electrical or mechanical in mine or the neighbour’s housing which is causing the nightly thumping.
What should I do? Call in a priest?
What the hell is a poltergeist anyways? Say it’s a kiddy poltergeist, is it safe in a priest’s hands?
And the thumping… well, when it’s the angry thumping it’s really annoying. But otherwise, it’s not really that bad.
What do priests do to get rid of poltergeists? Is it painful?
And then there’s the bigger question… how on earth can I, an atheist, have poltergeist troubles. They don’t even exist!!
And yes. Other people have heard the thumping, so it’s not solely down to drugs abuse.
Any suggestions?
Originally posted by shavixmirAnyone else in the building hear it?
Since August I’m living in a little apartment in Rotterdam South; basically the intercultural part of Rotterdam or the ghetto if one wants to be just as exact.
It’s a lovely little place, all orangy Autumn colours, art on the walls and the aroma of Asian cooking and incense linger in my livingroom. I’ve got a black sleeper couch and a black fatboy, lar ...[text shortened]... her people have heard the thumping, so it’s not solely down to drugs abuse.
Any suggestions?
Originally posted by shavixmirHow about next door?
Not as far as I know. Only when they're in my house!
I'm wondering if the energy that causes the noise to manifest in your cupboard originates elsewhere.
That's not as cliched as it may sound.
In my home, I have a metal rail over a cupboard that vibrates audibly to the exact pitch of a certain propellor aircraft (DC9 type of thing) that flies over at 4am.
Originally posted by shavixmirYou've the water temperature turned up too high in your heating/immersion system. The fact that it only happens when it is dark is probably due to you using nightsaver electricity.
Cup your hand and smack it down on a wooden table. That’s the sound. It never happens during the day! It only happens after dark! So, the time isn’t important, it only happens when it’s dark outside. The sound can be a couple of thumps and then silence and sometimes the thumps get angry and thump away for a couple of minutes. Sometimes up to 30 minutes.
D
We have ghosts here too Shavi. Truley. They steal things. Watches and the like. Small items. It's not that we are misplacing them, they just disappear from our lives. We can also hear them. We can hear them talking in the room next to our bedroom. I thought it was just me, but my wife has confirmed that she hears it too. It's kind of like they are a group and in a party or social atmosphere. We can't discern what is being said, it is like the murmur of a large group of people. What is weirder is that their conversation used to be in the open, "live". Now it comes over the radio even though it is not turned on.
When I had my eye surgeries I spent several weeks at home alone during the day. Without failure they would turn the upstairs radio on, very loudly. So I would have to go upstairs and turn it off. It happened at the very same time every morning. I think they were just screwing with me. A little fun at my expense.
So, we just live with it. Or them. We suppose they were here long before we were. The house is 125 years old. We think it's people who used to live here.
And like you, we are atheists. Perhaps what we call the human "spirit" is the purest form of energy. And as we all know, energy can not be created or destroyed. Only changed.
So that's our ghost story. Anybody else want to share?
Originally posted by shavixmirYou need an exterminator.
Since August I’m living in a little apartment in Rotterdam South; basically the intercultural part of Rotterdam or the ghetto if one wants to be just as exact.
It’s a lovely little place, all orangy Autumn colours, art on the walls and the aroma of Asian cooking and incense linger in my livingroom. I’ve got a black sleeper couch and a black fatboy, lar ...[text shortened]... her people have heard the thumping, so it’s not solely down to drugs abuse.
Any suggestions?
