The Bell Witch: The Full Account (33 page)

place or violent death. For

object. Some theories suggest

example, the house the

that poltergeists can be linked

Association

deceased lived in or the

to multiple objects and multiple

place where the deceased

people, taking a fraction of their

died.

energy from each person or

object.

Appearance areas known

Can be triggered by a living

Apparitions

to the deceased before

person's trauma in any area at

their death. Unable leave

any time. Can travel.

those areas.

Built up over time, then goes

Energy

Continuous over time.

dormant and starts over again.

Energy climaxes just before

dormancy.

Not violent in a physical

At level-five (climax of energy),

Danger

sense. Its appearance can

can become dangerous to the

cause severe mental terror,

living – inflicting both mental

however.

and physical terror.

Figure 1: The major differences between ghosts

and poltergeists.

Poltergeist activity is known as a
disturbance
,

whereas ghost activity (fog, mist, transparent figures,

etc.) is known as a
haunting
. The reasoning behind

this distinction is that poltergeists are heard but not

248 P A T

F I T Z H U G H

seen, and ghosts are seen but seldom heard.

Fewer than one thousand poltergeist cases have

been documented over the years. A surprising

number of those cases were the result of a

prepubescent or teenage person’s unknowingly

evoking (bringing into existence) a poltergeist

through psychokinetic energy generated by the

subconscious mind, usually because of severe

physical or emotional trauma. This energy process,

commonly known as
Psychokinesis,
is the psychic

ability to move or change the composition of

inanimate objects; i.e., mind over matter.

Psychokinesis can be broken down into two major

types:
Voluntary Psychokinesis
and
Recurrent

Spontaneous Psychokinesis
. The former type is

based on the power of concentration, whereas the

latter type is completely independent of the

conscious mind and is responsible for the

spontaneous evocation of poltergeists. Despite

psychokinesis playing a major role in many

poltergeist cases, it should be noted that poltergeists

can be evoked by other means as well. A poltergeist

obtains its energy from the attention and fear paid to

it by other beings, both human and animal.

The poltergeist is a progressive entity in that it

passes through five, cumulative stages of power

before reaching a period of dormancy and restarting

at the first stage. Each stage in the progression

compounds additional energy with the energy

acquired at previous stages. The duration of each

stage can vary from days to years, depending on the

poltergeist’s origin, initial type of power, and external

influences.
Figure 2
on the following page illustrates

the five stages of poltergeist progression. It can be

seen clearly that Kate possessed a number of

poltergeist-like characteristics.

THE BELL WITCH: THE FULL ACCOUNT

249

Poltergeist Progression Stages

Stage Description

Characteristics

The activity mainly

Cold spots, strange noises,

1: Senses

revolves around the

hearing footsteps, pets

five senses of the

running from rooms,

human body.

feeling of being watched.

Strange noises and

Whispers, moans,

2: Communication
smells are more

animated shadows,

easily discernable

breezes in closed areas,

and direct.

marks on floors or walls.

The poltergeist

Appliances turning on/off,

clearly makes its

invisible hands touching

presence known.

people, doors opening and

3: Physical

What could have

closing by themselves,

been previously

strange knocks at doors

dismissed is now a

and windows.

real entity.

It might seem like a

Flying and moving objects,

harmless and

objects disappearing and

playful entity, but it

reappearing elsewhere,

is really gathering

shaking furniture,

knowledge of what

appearing as frightening

4: Trick

people consider

entities, creating visions or

frightening, which it

illusions, speaking in

will use to inflict

ordering tones; windows,

terror in the next

mirrors or other objects

stage and derive its

breaking for no reason.

energy from the

fright.

The poltergeist has

Biting, slapping or

reached its highest

punching people;

energy point, and

animating objects; blood

should be

on walls, floors and

considered

ceilings, attacks by unseen

dangerous. Violent

forces, flying knives or

5: Danger

and threatening

sharp objects, heavy

actions begin.

objects falling.

After this stage, the

Threatening writings or

poltergeist will go

visual signs of danger;

dormant and then

onset of unknown medical

begin the cycle

illness.

again at the first

stage.

Figure 2: The five stages of a poltergeist.

250 P A T

F I T Z H U G H

As you will recall, the first known way in which

Kate manifested herself was by appearing to John

Bell in the form of a creature resembling a dog and a

rabbit. Shortly after this incident, Kate manifested

herself to Drewry Bell in the form of a large bird

sitting on the fence by the lane. These apparitions

are consistent with the fourth stage of poltergeist

progression, the
Trick
stage. dd

To manifest in these forms, Kate must have at

some point passed through the three previous levels

of poltergeist progression; however, no earlier

accounts of strange incidents on the Bell farm were

reported.

Another way in which Kate manifested herself

early in the legend was by rapping on the outside

walls of the house and making “gnawing” sounds at

the foot of the children’s bedposts. These

disturbances are characteristic of the third stage of

poltergeist progression, the
Physical
stage. The

timing of these disturbances relative to the earlier

apparitions suggests that Kate had once reached the

Trick
stage, but was unable to fully function there

and reverted to the
Physical
stage as a result.

The Bells began hearing faint whispers after the

rapping and other sounds had continued for some

time, which suggests that Kate failed at the
Physical

stage and returned to the second, or
Communication

stage. A number of other incidents characteristic of

the
Communication
stage occurred during this period,

also. This would lead one to believe that Kate

remained at this stage for some time, apparently long

enough quickly pass back to the
Trick
stage because

more apparitions and pranks occurred over time.

The incident that most clearly identifies with the

Trick
stage was when Kate began speaking in varying

tones, similar to those of a low-pitched musical

instrument. This was also during the period when

THE BELL WITCH: THE FULL ACCOUNT

251

she kicked a chair out from under John Bell and

pushed the bureau that Drewry Bell was leaning

against, making him fall to the floor, which is a

classic example of the
Trick
stage.

Not long after this period, John Bell developed a

mysterious affliction and Elizabeth was often slapped

and pinched. Kate also physically abused guests

such as Frank Miles, Andrew Jackson’s “witch

tamer,” and Mr. Williams during this time. Kate later

claimed to have been responsible for John Bell’s

death. These incidents are consistent with the fifth

stage of poltergeist progression, the
Danger
stage.

Although Kate possessed many poltergeist-like

characteristics, dismissing the legend of the “Bell

Witch” as a poltergeist case would be presumptuous

and premature. A poltergeist’s regressing from the

fourth to the second stage, then progressing back up

to the fourth and fifth stages is not likely. In

addition, Kate’s speech was not limited to the low

melodic tones associated with poltergeists. She

possessed a
number of different voices and

characteristics of other supernatural entities as well.

One such entity to which Kate has often been

referred is the
demon
.

Demons

A demon is, in conventional thought, a being of

pure malevolence; essentially, an element of evil

consisting of the Devil and his many minions.

Demons not in the underworld are either free on

Earth or living temporarily in the
abyss
before going

back to
Gehenna,
the “lake of fire,” to join Satan,

other demons, and the unsaved. ee

One similarity in demons among several cultures

that embrace Christianity is the origin of the “head

demon.” It is frequently believed that the head

252 P A T

F I T Z H U G H

demon started out as an angel in good standing with

God, then after quarreling with God and being

defeated, was condemned to rule the underworld. In

the Bible,
Lucifer
begins as an angel, battles God,

and is sent to rule the underworld after his defeat.

In most cultures, demons personify evil, pain, and

suffering. A demon exploits a specific weakness in

man, creates a certain suffering for man, or wants

some special thing from man. Demons are said to

have many powers, such as prophecy, that are

alluring to men. One significant finding in the study

of demons is that multiple demons exist in most

documented cases, and frequently in a hierarchy

where each has its own name and unique

characteristics.

To the Ancient Greeks,
daimons
were minor deities

that were not necessarily good or evil. The good

demons were called
Eudemons
, and evil demons were

called
Cacodemons
. Many Eastern religions

recognize a number of different demons. For

example, ancient Buddhists had the
Mira
, which

embodied all that was evil; and the Indian demons

are lead by the powerful
Ravana
, believed by that

group of people to change shape and remain

invulnerable to all Spirits. ff

Only in its modern connotation does the word

demon
evoke the idea of evil Spirits. The Greek word

daemon
, from which the words
daimon
and
demon

are ultimately derived, means “genius and

intelligence,” and is applied indiscriminately to all

Spiritual beings whether good or evil. 51

People have done about demons what they have

done to angels. Just as they have imagined that

there are beings created perfectly from all eternity,

they have also imagined that beings created of lower

51 Shipley, Joseph T.,
Dictionary of Word Origins
.

THE BELL WITCH: THE FULL ACCOUNT

253

degrees are eternally evil.

The most prominent example of demons in the

legend of the “Bell Witch” is the “witch family” that

put on a series of demonstrations for the Bells and

their guests over a short period at the height of the

disturbances. Led by “Blackdog,” the family

consisted of “Cypocryphy,” “Mathematics” and

“Jerusalem.” Each character had its own name and

unique set of characteristics. “Blackdog” spoke in

the tone of a woman, “Cypocryphy” and

“Mathematics” both spoke in the tone of little girls,

and “Jerusalem” spoke in the tone of a little boy. As

is the case with many demons, the “witch family” not

only spoke, but also appeared.

The lone “witch family” appearance took place at

the Porter farm on Sturgeon Creek, and was

witnessed by Elizabeth Bell and her older sister,

Esther Porter. A woman, two little girls, and one

little boy appeared in the field across the road from

the Porters’ house and played by bouncing up and

down on some bent saplings. Esther’s husband, who

could not see the figures themselves, fired a shot in

the direction of where the saplings were bouncing

and made the figures disappear. Later that evening

at the Bell home, “Blackdog” made a comment to the