Science has proven existence of other dimensions – psychic

Ghosts, ghouls, demons and spirits from the other side, apparitions in crystal balls and suddenly animated dolls.

It’s the stuff of horror films but many of the nightmares shared are often not simply from the imaginations of the scared.

Seeing a spirit, talking to the other side, possession and exorcism have been a staple of soothsaying and the religious industry for millennia.

The Enfield Poltergeist

Apple TV’s The Enfield Poltergeist is a documentary that’s as chilling as it is interesting. The show shared actual footage of a haunting, exorcisms and possession.

Films like The Exorcism fictionalise apparently supernatural goings-on on the set of the 1973 horror classic The Exorcist.

In Johannesburg several pop-up ghost tours fleece the curious of cash on ghost hunting expeditions every now and then.

Natural healer Anna-Marie Viviers of Heavenly Healing in Benoni said possession is often portrayed as a terrifying experience where a supernatural entity, such as a demon, takes control of a human body.

In The Exorcist, we see a young girl, Regan, possessed by a powerful demon, leading to a series of horrifying events.

“This portrayal taps into deep-seated fears of losing control over one’s own body and mind,” she said.

“The concept of possession isn’t limited to demons; it can also involve spirits or other supernatural beings too.” Famously American spirit guru Jack Purcell has made a fortune channelling an entity called Lazaris.

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Controlled possession

Videos, audio and books unpack the entity’s pearls of wisdom on life, the universe and everything in between.

It’s a form of possession, say some, but controlled. Sceptics write it off as hogwash. Viviers said that over hundred of years religious conservatives have shunned the possessed and burnt witches at the stake.

Often innocent people suffer under their strong belief system. Exorcism is horror darkly romanticised.

The practice dates back centuries as a dramatic confrontation between good and evil. It’s rooted in the belief that demonic forces can take control of a human soul, and religious institutions have historically deployed trained exorcists to expel these malevolent entities.

The ritual to expel the invisible, often involving intense prayer, holy water and the invocation of saints, is as much about the spiritual battle between the good, bad and the nasty as it is about psychology.

Horror films tap into our fears of the unknown, folklore and almost genetically ingrained beliefs that it must all be real, because it pairs with faith in an afterlife. South Africa, too, has its share of ghost stories.

The abandoned Kempton Park Hospital is fast becoming the source of local haunting legend while the tale of the bike rider at De Deur in the Vaal Triangle has been retold thousands of times.

Another roadside tale of the Uniondale ghost involves a young woman that is said to appear, asking for a lift. When motorists pull over and pick her up, she vanishes from the vehicle without a trace.

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Ghost nurse

There is also the Groote Schuur Hospital ghost. Legend has it that it is the spirit of a nurse who took her own life and now haunts the hospital, appearing to staff and patients alike.

Her presence is often accompanied by a sudden drop in temperature and the feeling of being watched.

“Supernatural powers encompass a wide range of abilities that defy the laws of nature,” said Viviers.

“These can include telekinesis, teleportation and even immortality. Supernatural powers could be real. Unfortunately movies bring out the horror rather than the true gift,” she said.

Gift or hair-raising curse, the supernatural is divvied up into a few subcategories.

Commonly ghosts, said Viviers, are the spirits of the deceased with unfinished business, and the subject of shows like Crossing Over with John Edward, where the entities speak through a medium to the living.

“Poltergeists, a more specific type of spirit, are known for their noisy and disruptive behaviour, often manifesting through physical disturbances like moving objects or unexplained noises,” she said.

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Tokoloshe is real

Demons, said to be straight from hell and soldiers of the devil, are malevolent entities that can possess humans and make them act against their will.

And then, Viviers said, there are ghouls, or zombie-like creatures that are undead beings that feed on human flesh and are able to defy natural laws.

According to a sangoma, the legendary South African ghoul, known as the tokoloshe, is very real.

It’s either a spirit summoned to harm or spy on others or, the healer said, a purposefully deformed human that was cultivated to do the bidding of its master, strengthened by the magic of an evil practitioner.

People place their beds on bricks because the entity is short, making it more challenging for him to reach up and harm its target.

It’s all very terrifying, but some consider the supernatural as part and parcel of reality. Psychic medium Merle Spiessens pointed out that science has proven the existence of other dimensions.

She cited Einstein’s theory of relativity that suggests that time can be bent, and thus other realities might exist.

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