In 2014, our colleague Nikita Tomin visited the German city of Dortmund. It is believed that it was there that the term "poltergeist" appeared.
Here is what Nikita wrote in his article for Ufocom:
Little is known, but the first term "poltergeist" in 1713 was used by the doctor Berthold Florian Gerstman, a resident of the German city of Dortmund. Thanks to his carefully documented work "An Accurate and True Representation of Ghosts and Poltergeists in Dortmund", we know that in the period from May 5 to June 2 in 1713, some anomalous element terrorized the Gerstmann family and house (cases moved spontaneously, books and candlesticks flew , broken dishes, etc.). The doctor dubbed this element a "poltergeist", having done this, apparently, the first.
Interpretations and definitions of the term
encyclopedic view
V.A. Zhmurov, PhD, psychiatrist, in his book "Psychiatry. Encyclopedia", writes the following:
Poltergeist - in parapsychology - the movement of supposedly really existing objects, their sudden appearance, sudden disappearance, occurring, according to eyewitnesses, mostly at home. In terms of psychopathology, all such evidence can point to the phenomena of allometamorphopsia, illusions, deceptions of perception. In addition to the visual poltergeist, there is an acoustic poltergeist - the sounds of moving objects, opening doors, steps, slamming windows, doors, etc. Similar phenomena often occur in patients with elementary hearing deceptions.
A.Yu. Panasyuk, Ph.D., in his book "The Great Encyclopedia of Parapsychology", writes the following:
Poltergeist - is a relatively long - from several days to months - a spontaneous manifestation of a wide variety of actions in the environment of a person and in relation to the person himself: acoustic - in the form of knocks, whistles, howling, roaring ...; kinetic - like levitation and movement of objects, turning on and off devices and other devices, sometimes such actions are accompanied by the destruction of objects; pyrovyh - in the form of spontaneous combustion of any objects; hydrate - phenomena associated with water.
A.P. Dubrov, PhD and V.N. Pushkin, in his book "Parapsychology and modern natural science", writes the following:
Poltergeist - refers to a phenomenon close to psychokinesis, but of a different nature, associated with spontaneous movement, flight, movement of various household items. During this phenomenon, noises, knocks, spontaneous opening of doors, water taps, disruption of electrical household equipment - radios, televisions, electricity meters, refrigerators, the appearance of water, graffiti, temperature changes, and in some cases the movement of heavy furniture (cabinets , sofas, refrigerators, chairs).
Definitions formed in Soviet and Russian organizations and groups for the study of anomalous phenomena
Chief specialist of SibNITS AYA on poltergeist N.S. Novgorodov:
By poltergeist, we mean a relatively rare and very complex anomalous phenomenon, consisting in a wide variety of manifestations of a spontaneous nature that occur with a violation of visible cause-and-effect relationships.
L.L. Vasilyev's Parapsychology Foundation in their publications points to the definition formed by the head of the Fund - A.G. Lee, Ph.D., MD:
Poltergeist - A rare phenomenon that manifests itself in the spontaneous movement of objects, their disappearance and appearance in a new place, a sharp change in their temperature, even self-ignition. Perhaps the appearance of water, the occurrence of inexplicable sounds, smells, an unpleasant sensation of someone else's presence, strange lighting effects (images of human figures, flashes of light). The suddenness of the beginning and end of the phenomenon is characteristic.
Coordinator and deputy coordinator of the Poltergeist-Kosmopoisk sector Ph.D. N.V. Tomin and Ph.D. I.S. Butov formulated the following definition:
Poltergeist - refers to a phenomenon close to psychokinesis, but of a different nature, associated with spontaneous movement, flight, movement of various household items. During this phenomenon, noises, knocks, spontaneous opening of doors, water taps, disruption of electrical household equipment - radios, televisions, electricity meters, refrigerators, the appearance of water, graffiti, temperature changes, and in some cases the movement of heavy furniture (cabinets , sofas, refrigerators, chairs).