What is a poltergeist and how to get rid of it, Pt 1 of 2, Episode 3
Welcome back! I am Dawn Simmons and in this episode of Conquering Our Unseen Enemies we are going to be spending some time talking about something pretty common and greatly misunderstood…Poltergeists. We’ll break it down and I will be sharing some personal stories of my encounters with poltergeists. The causes and how we get rid of them. There is so much to discuss here that this is going to be split into two episodes, so make sure you listen to both episodes!!
So let’s start from the beginning and define a poltergeist. The word poltergeist literally means knocking spirit. It comes from German verb “poltern” which means to knock and “geist” which means “spirit”. Its objective is to cause fear, harass, and hinder the lives of the inhabitants of the property. The difference with a poltergeist is that it is not trying to indwell in a person or animal, but rather this type of spirit is satisfied with property or a location being their “house”. Once they have a legal right to be there, it will not leave unless it is legally forced to vacate in the name of Jesus. The difficulty with poltergeists first off is often we don’t even know they are there.
When I was 17-18 years old, it was my senior year of high school and I worked at a place called Frozzy’s, a frozen yogurt shop in Southern California. I worked late afternoon to close shifts several days a week and I think I worked one weekend day. It was a small strip mall, there were only 5 or 6 businesses in this L shaped strip mall, we were the biggest square footage wise, the small part of the L. There was a Little Caesars pizza that always seemed to have a high turnover and a Fantastic Sam’s, they do haircuts if you aren’t familiar with them. I got a really bad perm there, don’t ask me why but perms were in back then. It burned my hair, it was miserable, anyway, I don’t recall what the other businesses were in the mall. The yogurt shop had a pretty large front customer area, way bigger than we really needed. There was a counter when you walked in and back then you did not serve yourself the toppings, we did the toppings for you. Toppings were priced per item; not weight the way it is done now. Anyhow, we had empty space for tables, and we had a long window that ran parallel to the street that had a bar where you could sit and eat. There were 10-12 stools along the bar, which was probably 15 feet long. Then we had a ridiculously large back area, a lot of fridges, a private office, just way too much room if you want to be profitable. Sorry, I digress on things as I remember details. Well, because I closed the shop at night and whatever business next to us was a 9-5 place. There was no other business adjacent to us. Some nights when I was up in the front, I would hear people talking in the back room and I would hear footsteps. You couldn’t get to the back room without passing me, but I would still go in the back to check and when I entered the back room the talking would stop. There were no businesses behind us but I would still check. I would confirm the business next to us was closed and walk outside to make sure no one on the sidewalk playing games. It happened several times, it got to where I decided I would sneak up on it and try to listen without being seen. Finally, one night I did just that and I caught the voices. I couldn’t tell you now what they were saying, but they were speaking English. It was with an accent tho, it was a long time ago so I am remembering British or Irish, male voices, 2 of them talking about something as if they were people living a real life, discussing something serious. I remember the hair on the back of my neck and arms standing straight up and I barged in there and they stopped talking. I yelled at them something about Jesus not knowing what to say. I was utilizing the principle from Joel 2:32, “for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” which was all I could think to do. I was working with instinct from prior experiences where I had used the name of Jesus when encountering the demonic. I just cleaned up that night as quick as I could and got out of there.
Now across the street from the strip mall were some old houses and at one of the houses an older gentleman sat everyday outside just watching the world pass by and usually there would be one or two other men with him chatting the day away. I lived not far from there, so I had to pass by on my way home. So I generally saw him several times a day. One day I decided I wanted to know what was on that property before this strip mall. The owner of Fantastic Sam’s didn’t know so I figured the only person who might know was this older gentleman. I walked over, asked him, didn’t tell him why I was asking, and he happily told me that the land before had an old quanset hut on it. I didn’t really know what to do with that information at the time, there was no internet, there was no one else to ask. I wondered if it were Indian land, but with the accents, I decided against that. I hit a dead end so for years I settled with that. Before I left that job to leave for college I was casually talking with the manager and he began to mention he wasn’t happy there, he felt like he was losing his mind. He then began to describe how the stools that lined up to the bar would all be set in place, he would go to the back and when he came back to the front, they would all be moved to the other side of the room. He talked about things missing and hearing odd noises and that some of the other employees had mentioned to him they had weird things happening to them as well. He was becoming anxious, confused and he looked disturbed. I still remember his distress and the dark circles under his eyes. I didn't see him often so when I did, it was a noticeable change in his appearance. He didn’t stay there long, but neither did Frozzy’s, they closed within a year and shorted employees their last few weeks of pay.
Fast Forward to today. I was able to spend a few minutes researching the location and the quanset huts: I now know that quanset huts were used during WWII, sent overseas and were hospitals, housed soldiers, housed supplies and whatever else they needed. After the war, these quanset huts were sent to Port Hueneme, CA, not far from where I live today, and auctioned off, with many of them going to Ventura County (the high school gym where my kids attended is a quanset hut, many were also sent LA County, and Orange County, where the yogurt shop was located. I am convinced what was happening at that yogurt shop was tied to that quanset hut and how it was used in WWII. As we dig deeper into how poltergeists operate, you’ll see why I came to that conclusion.
So, let’s address manifestations. What are some of the common manifestations? If you have had some experiences, don’t forget to send them in and we can discuss them. So similar to my story one of the common things you will find are objects moving. Most of the time you don’t see them move, but you may hear them move. Also, the sound of chains, footsteps, there may be shadows present, glass shattering, lights on and off, doors and cabinets open and shut, cold spots. Those would be considered like level 1 type manifestations. You may be highly disturbed, but generally speaking you aren’t fearing for your safety. They do get worse depending on why they are there. So let’s take a look at why poltergeists locate themselves in certain places.
To fully understand why they are there, we need to go back, way, way back a few thousand years and learn about legal rights. So we are going back to about 1480ish BC in the Old Testament references. There are a few different ways to calculate the date none of which are important in our discussion.
Exodus 20:3-5 You shall have no other gods before[a] me. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God,
This is Moses receiving from the Lord: Ex 34:12-17, Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare among you. 13 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles.[a] 14 Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
15 “Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices. 16 And when you choose some of their daughters as wives for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will lead your sons to do the same.
17 “Do not make any idols.
Moses is giving the people the laws that they are to follow as they get ready to cross the Jordan and take possession of the land He is giving them.
Deut 4:15-19, 15 You saw no form of any kind the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, 16 so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, 17 or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air, 18 or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below. 19 And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars—all the heavenly array—do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the Lord your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven. (side note, Jewish art different that Roman or Greek art, Jewish art used fruit, plants, etc to obey this law of no graven images.)
Deut 7:25-26, 25 The images of their gods you are to burn in the fire. Do not covet the silver and gold on them, and do not take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared by it, for it is detestable to the Lord your God. 26 Do not bring a detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. Regard it as vile and utterly detest it, for it is set apart for destruction.
Now lets move forward to 51 AD, Acts 17:22 and see how Paul handled idols. 16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. 18 A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. 19 Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.” 21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)
22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.
In Athens, Paul was addressing their superstitious beliefs. The Agoura was lined with sculptures of hundreds of their gods. They created gods for different functions, much like the structure of demons. They were so superstitious that there was even a god they named unknown in case they forgot someone so they would not upset the gods. It had to have pained Paul to see how lost these people were in their belief in gods they created themselves that offered only destruction for them
If you want more information on Paul's visit to Athens, check out our YT channel, Life Journey with Dawn Simmons, we have several videos……titled……
So are you starting to see a theme here? Issues with demons who function as poltergeists are initially brought in through sin and idolatrous, or occult related practices. It may or may not be our own sin sometimes it is related to previous inhabitants, family members, someone living with you and may have nothing to do with you. At some point, a spiritual door was opened. Often in these types of situations you have no idea this is happening or has happened in your home, but a legal right has been established. As long as the condition exists that allowed the demon to enter, it maintains the legal right to stay. Think too about hotels, hospitals, public places, they are all equally available to a poltergeist.
So this is a good stopping point for this first episode. On the next episode we will list out some things found in our homes that create the legal right. Then we will review simple steps you can take to break that legal right including how to clean out our homes and include hospital rooms or hotels where you may be located temporarily.
But let's recap what we have covered so far on poltergeists:
Recap for first episode:
Top show points to remember:
· The word poltergeist literally means knocking spirit. It comes from German verb “poltern” which means to knock and “geist” which means “spirit”. Its objective is to cause fear, harass, and hinder the lives of the inhabitants of the property.
· Common manifestations are objects moving. Most of the time you don’t see them move, but you may hear them move. Also, the sound of chains, footsteps, there may be shadows present, glass shattering, lights on and off, doors and cabinets open and shut, cold spots
· Our scriptural references for open spiritual doors are: Exodus 20:3-5, Deut 4:15-19, Acts 17:22
· A poltergeist is a demon that has a legal right to inhabit a property and as long as the condition exists that allowed the demon to enter, it maintains the legal right to stay.
· Poltergeists are initially brought in through sin, idolatrous or occult related practices. It may or may not be our own sin sometimes it is related to previous inhabitants, family members, someone living with you and may have nothing to do with you.
We encourage you:
· To have an active Bible reading plan, it will be helpful in gaining wisdom and understanding and it is required for the gift of spiritual discernment
· Watch the video on our YouTube channel, Life Journey with Dawn Simmons for additional background on Mars Hill
What we ask of you:
· Subscribe! Subscribe! Subscribe! Share with friends
· Follow us on social media….
· Send us your questions and stories to share on an upcoming show. Send them to contact@conqueringourunseenenemies.com