Physical Attack
As if psychic attack isn't bad enough, investigators can also find themselves being physically attacked. Nelia Petit, Kym Black, and Andrew Laird all recount tales of coming to physical harm when on an investigation. In the most common type of attack, the person is shoved or thrown against a wall. Black fell victim to an angry spirit in the Paine House who called her a witch and threw her against a wall, knocking her out. Petit has been thrown to the floor, hurled against a wall, and pushed down a flight of steps.
Laird tells of being on an investigation at the Rhode Island Training School when he apparently angered an entity. The 275-pound, 6-foot-5-inch man was picked up and tossed against a wall as if he were a lightweight before being repeatedly hit and punched. He wanted to go to an emergency room but couldn't figure out an explanation for his injuries. As he said, “What are we supposed to tell the doctor? ‘We just got our butts kicked by Casper?’”
Amazingly, in none of these cases were any bones broken or any permanent damage done. Petit believes the dark spirits have limits placed on how far they can go when attacking, and the extent of the damage is limited to bumps and bruises.
You can take steps to protect yourself. Petit recommends protecting yourself with the white light of God or the Goddess. Black bathes in white light and dons her psychic armor, replete with mirrors, in a meditation she performs before an investigation.
Sometimes the attacks are not as violent and manifest as dizziness, disorientation, the feeling of bugs crawling over the skin, or a tingling sensation. These weird sensations may also mean a spirit is trying to make contact in the only way it can.
Poltergeists rarely cause accidents that result in serious injury. Though observers may be struck by flying objects and subjected to glancing blows, people are almost never seriously injured. The exception that proves the rule is that rare case that gets all the publicity. These same rules seem to hold true for hauntings, where occasionally the investigators may get punched, clawed, or shoved by an angry entity. In cases of possession requiring an exorcist, claw marks and grotesque swelling may appear, virtually disfiguring the unfortunate victim. If the exorcism is successfully completed, these injuries heal quickly and are soon hardly noticeable. Interestingly, even the fires associated with poltergeist activity are usually quickly discovered and put out.
