Introduction
Through history, humans have been intrigued by paranormal and mysterious phenomena. Some of these experiences have captured our imagination as seen in various books, podcasts, and Hollywood movies. There are some experiences that are not as extreme and are lesser-known to many people. But for those who experience them, they can be part of their everyday lives and can help them better navigate through life. One such phenomena is referred to as the ‘Death Knock’ and can be found throughout most cultures around the world. There are many variations of this experience whereby individuals clean to receive a foreboding visitation in the form of a knock shortly being a tragedy or death. For the purpose of this blog, I will go into the enigmatic world of the ‘Death Knock’ and explore other related paranormal premonitions, pulling from both anecdotal and scientific studies.
The Death Knock: A Deadly Omen
The ‘Death Knock,’ also referred to as the ‘Death Visit’ or ‘Angel of Death,’ is a paranormal phenomena where people report encounters with a ghostly figure or mysterious presence that is seen as an omen of death. These omens are associated around the world with various cultures as well as embedded into folklore and legends. Many skeptics dismiss it as mere superstition, however, countless accounts have sparked curiosity and compelled investigators to dig deeper into its possible origins.
Growing up I would would oftentimes hear my grandmother and other family members discuss their experiences with the ‘Death Knock’. However, it wasn’t until around the age of 13 that I began hearing these spectral knocks. First, they started as random loud sounds causing me to jolt up in bed and investigate. However, it wasn’t until later that I began hearing the knocks themselves. Sometimes they would come from the front door, while other times my bedroom door itself. It’s always three incredibly loud knocks that wakes me up from bed causing me to run to the door and see what’s going on. Upon opening the door there’s nobody there. That’s when I realize what it was and that I needed to prepare myself for bad news.
In most instances, they were acquaintances not necessarily close to me at the time of their demise. I’ve begun to speculate that perhaps this was the result of my state of mind during deep sleep being receptive to future events that were yet to pass. In some instances, the phenomena is associated with spectral entities or figures, as with the Banshee of Irish mythology. These three knocks were sometimes associated with the mocking of the holy trinity, but more importantly, the entity would be heard screaming or shrieking loudly through the Irish countryside. This female ghoulish entity would be associated with the death of close family members and would serve as a warning for people about to enter a dangerous or deadly situation. Many of these accounts have led researchers to explore the psychological and metaphysical dimensions of the ‘Death Knock’ itself believing it may have a deeper significance.
Psychological Origins
Many skeptics argue that the ‘Death Knock’ along with other paranormal premonitions are attributed to psychological factors such as confirmation bias, selective memory, and cognitive dissonance in itself. For example, with confirmation bias, it causes people to recall only information that helps support their own beliefs while completely overlooking any contradictory evidence. With the case of premonitions, individuals only remember the instances they experienced eerie feelings before the actual tragedy, thus ignoring the countless times they experienced nothing out of the usual.
To look at even deeper, the human mind is incredibly powerful and skilled at analyzing and recognizing these patterns which can serve as part of their survival mechanism. In other words, what may seem as completely random events our mind is already unconsciously analyzing patterns to help prevent subscuming to harmful situations. Some researchers believe that when a family member unexpectedly passes away after an eerie experience, the brain retroactively tries to connect the two separate experiences, thus creating a link between the premonition and the actual event. The cognitive process of reactively putting together two seemingly unassociated experiences is what psychologists believe may account for the ‘Death Knock’ and other premonitions of doom.
Exploring the Parapsychological side
Since the era of Spiritualism many researchers have tried exploring the reasoning behind the ‘Death Knock’ as well as other unexplained precognitions. Researchers in the field of parapsychology belief that these experiences can be attributed to ESP (or extrasensory perception) which allows the individuals with ‘psychic’ intuition or ability to perceive events beyond the normal day to day. This being contradictory to mainstream science, parapsychologists argue that there still needs to be more critical scientific studies to further explore this hidden side of science.
As with the Ganzfeld experiments of the 1970’s research was conducted to explore the existence of ESP. Participants were placed in a meditative state and exposed to sensory deprivation with white noise or a vividly colored environment. Results of some of these studies claim to have found evidence in support of ESP, meanwhile, skeptics were quick to debunk the methodologies and statistical evidence presented.
Cultural Significance
As with the ‘Death Knock’ cultural beliefs can also play a role in how individuals interpret paranormal events. For some people these deathly omens come in the shape of different mythological figures. Just with black cats bringing bad luck, in some cultures seeing crows or even owls are said to be omens of death. As previously mentioned, the Banshees of Irish folklore was said to warn family members of death through loud wailing outside sometimes accompanied by knocks.
The ‘lechuza’ of the Southwestern states is said to be an omen of death. Similar to the banshee, ‘la lechuza’ or owl is the embodiment of a shapeshifting witch of Mexican folklore who is said to take the form of a witch and travel through the night. In some of these cases, families claim to be tormented by these owls landing on their roofs and making screeching sounds which would signal a death in the family. There are some variations of the myth whereby the lechuza, or owl, whistles to people as they walk by themselves outside, which is to warn them that they’re being watched or followed.
Other cultural premonitions have to do with specific roles within the community. For example, when it comes to dream premonitions, they are usually passed through by the shaman, curandero, or medicine man which is then interpreted and passed along to the community. These interpretations are usually basic, usually due to the symbolic nature of the dream which has to be interpreted through cultural terms. As mentioned previously in my other blog, Embracing the Unknown: how I learned to cope with otherworldly experiences, some of the dreams I had growing up would be intertwined with actual events. It becomes difficult trying to interpret the dream and separating what was the event and what was part of the dream. For example, when I had a dream about an earthquake it was rather exaggerated, buildings collapsing, going into survival mode, etc. So even though my dream centered around the earthquake, you can see how easy one could interpret the dream as something bigger than it really was.
Conclusion
To wrap up, we can begin to see how the ‘Death Knock’ and other paranormal premonitions remain rather enigmatic, and even today it evokes strong emotions and memories. As skeptics continue to dismiss all these experiences as solely psychological in origin, many cultures and parapsychologists believe that these occurrences need further contemplation and exploration.
As society progresses further from the ancient caves we lose these intuitive parts of our psyche that allowed us to be more intuned with our natural surroundings. The boundaries between physical and spiritual realms are slowly beginning to become more and more undeniable. The scientific methodologies themselves must also begin to acknowledge and undergo a new paradigm shift in order to explore these experiences. Beyond merely dismissing claims as pseudoscience, we must start opening up to a new world of possibilities.
Citations:
- Green, C. (1960). “Apparitions.” Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, 51, 17-24.
- Wiseman, R., Smith, M., & Milton, J. (1998). “The ‘Ganzfeld’ effect: A case study of the cognitive psychology of belief.” The Skeptic, 11(2), 22-27.
- Houran, J., & Lange, R. (2001). “Hauntings and Poltergeists: Multidisciplinary Perspectives.” Jefferson, N.C: McFarland & Co.
- Bering, J. M., & Shackelford, T. K. (2004). “Voices in the dark: Evolutionary psychology and death-related phenomena.” Review of General Psychology, 8(4), 381-391.