Aeiirii

Aeiirii, also known as a poltergeist, demon, elemental, tommyknocker, bucca, gremlin, domovoi, gnome, goblin, or kobold

Origin: this type of spirit has its origins in the most ancient human folklore, but the term Aeiirii first appears in the Carnacki supernatural detective stories of William Hope Hodgson.

Description

Aeiirii are a type of non-human, incorporeal, invisible, generally malevolent spirit which can produce sound and other effects without fully materializing, and may even be able to manipulate solid objects - "the usual Aeiirii forms of semi-materialisation".

In folklore and parapsychology, the related concept of a 'poltergeist' (German for "noisy ghost" or "noisy spirit") is a type of ghost or spirit that is responsible for physical disturbances, such as loud noises and objects being moved or destroyed. They are purportedly capable of pinching, biting, hitting, and tripping people. Most accounts of poltergeists describe the movement or levitation of objects such as furniture and cutlery, or noises such as knocking on doors. They have traditionally been described as troublesome spirits who haunt a particular person instead of a specific location. Such alleged poltergeist manifestations have been reported in many cultures and countries for millennia.

The related concept of 'elemental hauntings' refers specifically to a type of spirit that was never a living a human being, but rather something that was never a human being, and probably never had a physical, corporeal form. The signs of a haunting by an elemental spirit are varied, but are associated with mental imbalance, confusion, disorientation, heightened emotion, generalized anxiety in their victims; violent mood swings, manic-depression, and even hysteria in their victims; mysterious sounds (like knockings and tappings); small objects that disappear or move (or sometimes appear/reappear) on their own; animals frightened or disturbed by the (unseen) spirits; disembodied (and typically bizarre, frightening, or alien) voices; peculiar and unexplainable smells, otherwise unexplainable malfunction of mechanical or technical devices due to tampering by the spirit;

These entities rarely manifest themselves in crowded, urban settings, and seem to instead prefer isolated, often natural settings, though they can attach themselves to specific human beings or objects and "ride" their hosts as the hosts move to a new setting, and occultists and other humans have noted that certain occult practices can deliberately or accidentally open the door to the spirit world and create a an elemental haunting. Most cultures have developed methods of sacrifice to such spirits in the form of small offerings or gifts of food, treasure, space in or near the home to occupy, etc. in a bid to placate the spirits and prevent them from disturbing humans. Others have developed rituals of exorcism crafted to drive such spirits away from locations, objects, and/or people.

Associated Mythos Elements

• tome: Sigsand Manuscript contains descriptions of the spirit obtained from "Ab-human Priests of the Raaee"
• tome: "The Saaamaaa Ritual" allegedly provides some relief or protection from oppression by these spirits
• cult: the Carnacki Institute has popularized the term
• cult: the Ab-human Priests of the Raaee seem to have had some special insight into the nature of these beings

References

• fiction: William Hope Hodgson's Carnacki the Ghost-Finder stories, and Simon R. Green's pastiche Ghost Finders series
• film: Judas Ghost (2015 film)
• film: Poltergeist (1982 franchise)
• film: The Haunting (1963 film) and the Shirley Jackson novel of the same title the film was based on (in the reference to a rain of stones that supposedly fell on Eleanor's house as a child)