It was merely force in a state of tension.
It was sheer physical noise that made the disturbance, as I can testify, for I have slept, or rather, tried to sleep, there.
Where a ghost is seen, it is usually also heard because for a form to be sufficiently substantial to be visible there must be a modicum at least of ectoplasm in its composition, and ectoplasm is capable of exercising force on the physical plane, in some degree at least.
Where a ghost is both seen and heard, we may be sure there is an actual haunting.
Where it is seen, but not heard, it may possibly be that a person with psychic tendencies is perceiving the images in the reflecting ether, the photographic plate of Nature, and there may be no actual entity present.
Where the disturbance is heard, but not seen, it may be due to astral forces set in motion by ritual magic, and which continue for a while after the original impulse is withdrawn.
These may be perfectly harmless, save that they disturb the sleep in the same way that a rattling window would do.
On the other hand, if powerful evocative rituals have been performed, and the clearing of the sphere has not been properly done, profound disturbances may result and the whole situation be exceedingly unpleasant.
Examples will again help to make the problem clear.
As an instance of a non-ritual haunting, I may cite the case of a friend of mine who went to live in a block of modern mansions.
From the first she was not happy there, and as time went by the oppression and distress strengthened.
Coming into her drawing-room one evening at dusk, she saw in the half-light a man standing with his back to the room, gazing intently out of the window.
She switched on the light, and found that there was no one there.
On several occasions her maid saw someone walk down the passage leading to this room.
Moreover, the hall door had a knack of coming open of its own accord.
My friend’s depression deepened until finally, when standing herself at the drawing-room window one day, she had a sudden impulse to fling herself out.
Then she realised that things were serious and that liver-pills and a week-end at the seaside would not put them right.
Being an occultist, she understood the significance of the happenings that had been going on in her flat, and she made enquiries concerning the history of the square in which this block of modern mansions had been built.
She learnt that it was the site of an old madhouse of sinister reputation.
The form that she and her maid had seen was probably that of some unfortunate patient of suicidal tendencies who had succeeded in giving effect to his impulses on a spot corresponding to the situation of her room.
The terrific emotional forces generated by his brooding and last desperate act were photographed on the atmosphere, as it were, and suggested to her mind thoughts of self-destruction just as the ill-temper or depression of a companion will induce a similar mood in ourselves without any word spoken.
Another example within the sphere of my experience, although it was not actually my case, is of much interest in that it combines an example of a very definite poltergeist haunting with vampirism.
I was once consulted by a mental healer to whom a very curious case had been brought.
Some charitably disposed people had raised funds to found a home for unwanted babies, and a suitable house had been purchased on the outskirts of a village not far from London.
The house had been a conspicuous bargain and they were very pleased with it.
Soon, however, they began to be disturbed by some very curious phenomena, and also by inexplicable illness and seizures among the babies.
One child, in fact, actually died, and its death was not satisfactorily accounted for.
Then one of the nurses, an Irish girl, began to be affected also.
The universal fluid or medium of occult philosophy — Lévi's Great Magical Agent — that transmits will, thought, and magical influence between minds and matter, and preserves the impress of all forms and actions as a book of consciences; cognate with akasha and the anima mundi. Distinct from cosmic_sympathy (a doctrine of hidden affinity) in being a substantival medium that can be charged, directed, and abused.
The text describes the 'reflecting ether' or 'photographic plate of Nature' that preserves emotional forces and images, aligning with the definition of a medium preserving impressions.
A ritual intended to drive out an unwanted possessing or afflicting spirit from a person or place, restoring it to its unafflicted state. Distinct from spirit_conjuration (the operator summons and binds a spirit that was not already present, rather than expelling one) and from possession (the affliction this ritual answers, not the ritual itself).
The text references the necessity of 'clearing of the sphere' to prevent profound disturbances from residual magical forces, akin to an exorcistic cleansing.
The interference of a discarnate human soul, or the lingering condition of a particular place, with the living — Dion Fortune's distinction between a soul in distress that clings out of ignorance and ties itself to a person or locality, versus deliberate malice. Distinct from animism (indwelling nature-spirits inherent to a place by nature, not a specific dead individual's soul) and from psychopomp_journey and ancestor_veneration (guiding the dead onward, or the living's ongoing ritual obligation to the honoured dead) in naming the pathological case: a soul that has NOT been guided onward and instead interferes, whether with a person or a place.
The passage is centrally dedicated to defining, categorizing, and providing examples of hauntings, distinguishing between actual entities and residual impressions.
The condition, often unconscious on the vampire's part, in which one person chronically drains the vital force of another in close relationship, leaving the victim persistently exhausted or ill while the vampire is sustained. Distinct from psychic_attack in mechanism (a parasitic, often unintentional energy-transfer within an ongoing relationship, rather than a deliberate willed assault) and in being a chronic condition rather than a discrete event.
The second example explicitly identifies a case combining poltergeist activity with vampirism that causes inexplicable illness and death among the inhabitants.
The grimoire-tradition practice of ceremonially commanding or binding a spirit through consecrated seals, circles, divine names, and prescribed instruments, compelling its appearance and obedience. Distinct from theurgy in the direction of the power relationship — theurgy is reverent engagement with the gods on the premise of the operator's own ascent, this is subordination of a lesser spirit to the operator's will — and from word_power_incantation and sacred_names, which name components (verbal force, name-power) this practice deploys rather than the ritual structure itself.
The passage mentions disturbances caused by 'astral forces set in motion by ritual magic' and 'powerful evocative rituals', implying prior conjuration.