The link between the paranormal and adolescence (Chris)

There has always been a strong link between the wild energy of a child to the unknown forces of the paranormal world. This is because it is said that the child's innocence actually reflects the lack of social interruption to the purity of a persons soul, therefore the individual is still more tuned to the spirit world. It is also to note that Children are relatively more imaginative than that of an adult, they see the world in a different way, perceive things to be magical or intriguing which as an adult the mind will find easy to comprehend. This leaves room for a perception on the world that most adults find difficult to grasp, thus making reality closer to that of a dream world, which is linked as a closeness to the spirit world itself. Meditative states are said to bring one close to ones own id, their guardian angel, or their spirit guide. This being said, when a Child is immersed in the tense hold of adolescence at the start of their path to adulthood they will still have the general mindset of a child, therefore being theoretically still connected to their own sixth sense and potentially able to unwillingly seduce the energy around them to create certain paranormal happenings.

• Poltergeist's

"The word Poltergeist is German for 'Noisy Spirit' and this particular phenomenon has been recorded for many years. This is probably the most destructive and terrifying of all paranormal activity. British paranormal investigator, Harry Price didn't hold back his objectives. Price stated that poltergeist can be cruel and spiteful. He also stated ghosts seem to haunt where poltergeists infest. There is a possibility that the haunting phenomenon and the poltergeist phenomenon may not be related, however, there does not seem to be enough scientific evidence for such a theory. Some scientific establishments refer to poltergeist activity as being caused by a suppression of sexual energy which is often found in
adolescents."

unknown. (Unknown). Poltergeist:Strange and Paranormal activity. Available: http://strangegr.tripod.com/strangeandparanormalactivities/id32.html. Last accessed 02/10/2011.

Image found at this link: http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=poltergeist&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1680&bih=864&tbm=isch&tbnid=qhG6HkDDvZjsVM:&imgrefurl=http://www.zurichmansion.org/ghosts/video1.html&docid=3VSNlZQGWkWfgM&w=642&h=469&ei=I_OSTtO1JdDKsgbVt5H9Dw&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=312&page=1&tbnh=140&tbnw=187&start=0&ndsp=32&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0&tx=135&ty=78

There is of course a film we all know based on this subject entitled "Poltergeist". In the film, we see a young Girl becoming possessed by the spirit of a demonic force which takes hostage to the house and inhabitants of the building it dwells within.

(Pictured above, the tragic child actor Heather Michele O'Rourke, who plays the character of the possessed innocent little blonde girl Carol Anne Freeling.) Link: http://free-extras.com/images/movies_poltergeist-11257.htm

Usually it is often found that little girls are the more likely to be more sensitive to the paranormal than boys of the same age. Therefore it is usually found that young girls are more uncanny, their intact innocence and uncompetitive, pre-social self destruction is yet to come of reality. Perhaps this is because males tend to be more corrupt to social pressures and more sensitive to upholding their real world surroundings even at a young age.

"The book set out to claim that witches did exist, and that they were usually women, who were weaker and easier for the devil to tempt."

Rachel Bellerby. (Jun 15, 2009). Witchcraft in the middle ages. Available: http://rachel-bellerby.suite101.com/witchcraft-in-the-middle-ages-a125228. Last accessed Jun 15, 2009.

Of course the other well known story of a child "possession", or demonic ability that the child isn't initially able to realise would be "The Omen". In this film, however, we see the character as a Male child. This however could be due to the fact that Damien, the apparent child of Satan, is of a more direct power to the paranormal itself. It ties into the subject of sexism, where Damien is the "son" from the start, born into the world as an entity of evil and isn't of his nature due to a weakness to the power of the paranormal as he is his own power. This is basically suggesting that the Male phsycic, paranormal figure is more dangerous or dominant to the original context of the power source, that the female is merely seduced by it due to her own weakness as a Woman.

Damien from the film "The Omen".

Image found at: http://superb-movie-reviews.blogspot.com/2011/06/omen.html

•  Adolescence

Boys and Girls change physically and mentally at seperate ages, but most prominently during the teenage years. In this period the Human being would undergo changes in strength, size, personality and sexual awareness. It is due to this transitionary stage that many beleive the weakness of a persons physical and personal well being can become supseptible to paranormal effects.

Carole Sutton (2000). Child and adolescent behaviour problems: a multidisciplinary approach to assessment and intervention. Leicester: British Psychological Society. pg9-320.

This chart gives some indication to the difference between Male and Female changes within the intense period of puberty. You could imagine how this behavioural pattern could be linked to something dark and distinctively unhomely, as the child's innocent apperance is undergoing real changes and new neurotic brain wave patterns that are most likely disturbed.

This can easily be assosiated with the apperance of some form of possession, or phsycological angst brought on to the child's behavioural patterns unwillingly. Over time of course these changes develop and settle, maturing the child into the adult and taking them away from the displeasant journey of adolsecence.

Chris