The Element Encyclopedia of the Psychic World: The Ultimate A–Z of Spirits, Mysteries and the Paranormal. Theresa Cheung

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СКАЧАТЬ stress. In extreme cases this can lead to mental illness, such as schizophrenia. Another theory is that encounters are interactions with a higher realm of consciousness or the divine power that permeates the universe and are intended to further spiritual development. Sceptics argue that encounters with alternate realities are simply the result of over-active and highly suggestible imaginations.

      ENERGY BALANCING/MEDICINE

      Any type of complementary or alternative medicine whose methods involve working with the body’s natural energy field - the universal life force - in the hope of stimulating the body’s own healing mechanism. For example, traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurvedic medicine, acupuncture, reiki and spiritual healing.

      ENFIELD POLTERGEIST

      A poltergeist case that took place in the late 1970s in an ordinary suburban house in Enfield, North London.

      On the night of 30 August 1977, Janet Harper, aged 11, and her brother Pete, aged 10, went to their bedroom. According to reports later compiled their beds began to jolt up and down. When the children ran to get their mother, Peggy Harper, the movements stopped. The following night the children called their mother to their room again, claiming to hear shuffling sounds like a chair or table moving. Peggy took the chair downstairs and turned out the light. As soon as she did she herself heard the sound of shuffling. On turning on the light the children were both in bed with their hands under the covers. All three of them then heard loud knocks on the wall and witnessed a chest of drawers moving towards the centre of the room. Terrified, the entire Harper family went to their next-door neighbours.

      When the neighbours walked into the Harper house they too heard the knocking and could not explain what was causing it. The police were called and on arrival they witnessed the phenomena of unexplained knocking and moving chairs. The next day, when marbles and Lego began to fly across the room, the Harpers contacted the local press. A reporter from the Daily Mirror was sent out and he took a picture of a piece of Lego flying at him from out of nowhere. The paper called the Society for Psychical Research, who sent North London resident and psychical researcher Maurice Grosse to investigate.

      Grosse arrived at the house on 5 September, a week after the disturbances had begun. After a few days he heard a crash in Janet’s bedroom. Investigation showed that her bedside chair had been thrown across the room while she was asleep. It happened again a few hours later and this time a photographer was able to capture the event. Grosse was to spend the next two years investigating the house and there were many more strange occurrences.

      Children in puberty or about to reach puberty tend to be the focal point of many poltergeist cases and the Harper case is no exception: Peggy had two young children. The case also had another typical feature: internal family tension. Peggy was having problems getting over her divorce from the children’s father and the children were having problems adjusting to the new situation, and it is possible that the emotional trauma played a part in the disturbances.

      Two other investigators sent by the Society for Psychical Research, Anita Gregory and John Beldoff, were convinced that the phenomena were caused by trickery, and video cameras set up in the house did show Janet and Pete producing muffled voices - with their faces covered by sheets - and bouncing up and down on their beds. It seems that this remarkable case may have begun with genuine phenomena, but over time developed into fraud when the children began to enjoy the attention they were getting from the investigators and media.

      ENNEAGRAM

      See Gurdjieff, Georgei Ivanovitch.

      ENOCHIAN MAGIC

      A system of magic that uses the numeric symbols and letters of the Enochian alphabet, said to have been received from the angel Enoch by the Elizabethan court astrologer John Dee and his medium Edward Kelley. In many ways the magical tradition is similar to that used in the kabbalah to understand the Tree of Life.

      According to Dee’s detailed journals angels who appeared to Kelley communicated hundreds of pages of complex material known as Calls or Evocations to the watchtowers of the universe. These calls, which later formed the raw material for Enochian magic, were dictated letter by letter and backwards because, according to Dee and Kelley, the material was so powerful that even writing it down in the normal way might stir up unwanted magical powers.

      The Calls were not in English but in a language Dee referred to as angelic or Enochian. It was supposed to have been the language spoken by inhabitants of Atlantis. The Enochian language has its own alphabet, grammar, script and syntax, similar to Hebrew but not identical to it. The following passage from the Second Key will give a sense of the language’s flavour:

      Enochain spelling: torzu ghohe L zacar eca c noquod zamran micalzo od ozazum vrelp lap zir lo-lad.

      Pronunciation according to Golden Dawn: Torzodu gohe El; zodacare, eca, ca noqoda. Zodameranu micaelzodo oda ozadazodme vurelpe lape zodire Io-Iada.

      Translated: Arise, saith the first: move, therefore, unto my servants. Show yourselves in power and make me a strong seer of things, for I am of Him that liveth forever.

      Doubt has been cast over Kelley’s mediu-mistic abilities but on analysis the language does appear to be genuine, and linguistic scholars claim it is not possible to create an entire pseudo-language without the help of language experts and years of work. It is hard to imagine how Kelley could have faked Enochian and how he managed the amazing feat of memory to dictate it backwards.

      Dee’s diaries recording the language of the Enochian Calls are now in the British Museum but the Enochian language lives on. In Victorian times Golden Dawn initiates used the material to create their vast and complex system of Enochian magic, which, along with Dee’s original material, is still being studied today by occult enthusiasts.

      ENTITY

      See Discarnate entity.

      ENTOMANCY

      A form of divination, interpreting the appearance and behaviour of insects.

      To this may be referred the various omens and superstitions of popular folklore, such as crickets bringing good luck, deathwatch beetles bringing bad luck and ladybirds indicating visitors. The ancient Greeks had many beliefs about insects. For instance, the great wealth of Midas was allegedly foretold by ants coming to him as a boy while he slept; and bees were thought to indicate future eloquence, as illustrated by the story of Plato who, as a baby in the cradle, was supposedly visited by a swarm of bees which alighted on his lips.

      EPWORTH RECTORY

      Epworth Rectory in Lincolnshire was the scene of one of the earliest reputed poltergeist hauntings. For about two months from December 1716, although some accounts say 1719, the household of the Reverend Samuel Wesley experienced poltergeist activity, such as rappings and the movement of furniture.

      Epworth Rectory was a gift to Rev Wesley from Queen Mary. His wife bore him 19 children in 20 years, СКАЧАТЬ