Today, millions of people openly pray, "Deliver
us from evil," yet it may be worth asking
how readily we recognize that this is directed
at the many evil spirits and demons or their
work in the world. But for many of us, Paranormal
investigators and weekend ghost hunters making
the jump from the concept of evil to the reality
of evil spirits can be difficult. That's why
I want to focus your special attention on
the fact that not everything haunted is just
a ghost.
When haunted by a ghost some think that the
actual haunting may either be due to lost
souls seeking help, prayers or attention.
Still others conjecture that it could be an
infestation, meaning evil spirits are frequenting
the place. In the case of haunted houses,
it is best to look at the history of the place
and when the paranormal occurrences began.
Always ask questions is my motto: Has something
evil happened here? Were there violent events?
Were occult practices performed in the place?
Such factors attract evil spirits. Bringing
in a person sensitive to the presence of spirits
can also help discern paranormal activity.
(See:
Sensitive Investigators - Don’t Leave
Home Without One by Paranormal Task Force's
Greg Myers)
The English word "spirit" is derived
from the Latin spiritus, meaning
"breath" (compare spiritus asper),
but also "soul, courage, vigor",
ultimately from a PIE root *(s)peis- (to blow).
In the Vulgate, the Latin word translates
Greek, pneuma (Hebrew ruah), as opposed to
anima, translating psykhe. The word was loaned
into Middle English via Old French The distinction
between soul and spirit became current in
Judeo-Christian terminology (e.g. Greek. psykhe
vs. pneuma, Latin anima vs. spiritus, Hebrew
ruach vs. neshama or nephesh; in Hebrew neshama
from the root NSHM or breath.)
By this definition - Souls are those of the
living gone to the afterlife and a spirit
is a entity that has not lived a mortal life.
Many believe the world over that spirits inhabit
many material forms from animals to tree,
stones or the very air we breath. In this
thought we must realize that their are good
as well as evil spirits. A positive force
equaled in each also a negative force of equal
power and ability to counterbalance. As to
say for every well wishing spirit their is
one that wishes evil. Some ghost may be angry
or just down right crazy. (See:
CRAZY GHOST: HAUNTED
DEMENTIA FROM A-Z
also: Are you the real
victim of a ghost bullying you?)
Belief in the good the bad and the ugly influences
of spirits is nothing new by any means. In
Chinese thought, the world is populated by
a vast number of spirits, both good and evil.
Such spirits include nature demons (kuei-shen),
evil spirits or devils (oni), and ghosts (kui).
These evil spirits are believed to avoid any
type of light, so many rituals involving fire
and light have developed, such as the use
of bonfires, firecrackers, candles and torches.
Evil spirits are also traditionally believed
to travel in straight lines, which explains
many curvy roads throughout China.
But not all spirits are evil — some
are just unhappy. As evidenced by the practice
of ancestor worship, most Chinese people believe
the souls of the deceased endure after death
and must be kept happy by offerings and honor.
PAZUZU : The Famed Demon of
The Exorcist Movies
Although frequently regarded
as a malevolent demon of the underworld, Pazuzu
seems also to have played a beneficent role
as a protector against pestilential winds
(and particularly the south-west wind). Moreover,
Pazuzu's association with Lamaštu led
to his employment as a force against her evil,
forcing her back into the Underworld. Amulets
of the demon Pazuzu (or simply of his head
and face) were therefore often situated in
houses or hung about the necks of pregnant
women. (See:
PAZUZU : The king of
the demons of the wind)
If a spirit is not kept happy, perhaps because
it had a bad death, an improper burial or
has no descendents to perform the proper rituals,
it becomes a ghost (sometimes called a "hungry
ghost," a term with Buddhist origins).
Ghosts may attack human beings to prompt them
to meet the ghosts' needs or at least to draw
attention to the reason they are haunting
a person or location or object. (See:
HAUNTED POSSESSIONS)
Fireworks and their strange sound, during
the Han dynasty (~200 B.C.), frightened people
and animals terribly. The Chinese still believe
that if it scared living creatures so much,
it would probably scare away evil or malicious
spirits - particularly an evil spirit called
Nian, who they believed to ate crops and people.
After that, it became customary for them to
throw green bamboo onto a fire during the
Lunar New Year in order to scare Nian and
other spirits far way, thus ensuring happiness
and prosperity to their people for the remainder
of the year. The Chinese were using bursting
bamboo for other special occasions, such as
weddings, coronations, and births. The "bursting
bamboo", or pao chuk as the Chinese called
it, continued to be used for the next thousand
or so years.
Ghosts receive the most attentions during
Ghost Month, the seventh month in the Chinese
lunar year, and especially during the Ghost
Festival on the fifteenth day. The firecrackers
for religious festivals were often made out
of red paper. The fuses were plaited together
to make long strings of firecrackers. When
these were set off, they made a lot of very
loud bangs and little bits of red paper were
scattered far and wide. Evil spirits were
supposed to be frightened of red, and so they
would be kept away by the scattered pieces
of red paper long after the firecrackers had
finished. Chinese firecrackers are still used
in huge numbers every year in Chinese festivals
to chase away these foul demons that might
cause ill or evil to befall the living.
Common among Filipinos is the belief that
sickness is the work of evil spirits or vengeful
ghost. Possesion is very well noted even today
and local exorcist are still abundant in the
small remote villages. To scare the spirits
away and to cure those afflicted by the evil
spirits, the curative practices are: to flog
the patient, put signs of the cross on his
forehead or at every post of his house, and
make all kinds of noises; sacrifice some live
animals or offer some food, “buyo”
and oil to appease the offended spirit; and
wear amulets (anting-anting) to neutralize
the machinations of the devil.
Amulets or “anting-anting”s protect
the wearer from illnesses and help counteract
witchery. They also promote good health. Also
an evil spirit usually goes with the fragrance
of flowers at night. Anyone who smells it
would also suck in the evil spirit who will
eat the bridge of the nose until it crumbles
down.
Filipinos (See:
ISLAND SCARES: GHOST
STORIES FROM THE PHILIPPINES by Jose
G. Paman) seem to be particularly susceptible
to the phenomena of demonic possession because
our faith is still not that pure, says this
official exorcist for the diocese of Metro
Manila. “We still practice a lot of
occult folk Catholicism and this includes
subscribing to pre-Christian animist beliefs
practiced by our ancestors. Some examples
are the use of anting-anting (amulets) and
magical rituals for protection, offering animal
sacrifices for good luck, and going to the
manghuhula.”
excerpt from: http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/sim/sim/view_article.php?article_id=29363
In extreme cases, when the person gets really
violent and there seems to be some difficulty
in expelling the demon, the parish priest
can contact the Office of Exorcism. The two
priests assigned to the Office have the faculty
from the Cardinal to perform solemn exorcisms.
Others still since early times have sought
the powers of evil spirits to do their bidding
through use of ceremonial magic. (Also
see: Demonology)
In early Christian theology, Satan or the
Devil was seen as chief of all other demons.
But soon this changed and Hell was divided
in several hierarchies of demons. This was
presumably due to the division of angels in
hierarchies or choirs taken from Judaism (see
Demonology), and as demons were angels before,
their organization had to be similar.
During the Middle Ages, many other schema
were proposed, some drawing on and expanding
on Pseudo-Dionysius, others suggesting completely
different classifications. One of these divisions
is offered by Sebastien Michaelis, who divided
demons in three hierarchies (first, second
and third), not making allusion to their rulers
(see Michaelis' classification of demons).
Soon this division took another sense, and
nobility titles were granted to demons as
if they were part of an earthly monarchy.
Demons were Great Marshals, Knights, Presidents,
Great Presidents, Earls, Great Earls, Dukes,
Great Dukes, Marquises, Great Marquises, Princes,
Great Princes, Kings, Great Kings, and the
ruler of all them the Emperor. As in the earth,
some of them had more than one title. Curiously
the titles of Baronet, Baron, Viscount and
Viceroy were not used. It is unclear if Earl
was used as a synonym of Count, or with the
ancient meaning of Eorl (Old English for 'nobleman,
Prince, Warlord, chief of soldiers'), because
the Latin term 'comes' has both meanings.
Other hierarchies mention physicians, superintendents,
demons in charge of keeping the fire of Hell
lit, etc. The rest of the demons were divided
in legions.
Several grimoires rank demons according to
titles of nobility, among them The Great Book
of Saint Cyprian, Le Dragon Rouge, and The
Lesser Key of Solomon.
Demonic possession is often the term used
to describe the control over a human form
by the Devil himself or one of his assigned
advocates. Descriptions of demonic possessions
often include: erased memories or personalities,
convulsions, “fits” and fainting
as if one were dying. Unlike in channelling
or other benign forms of possession, the subject
has no control over the possessing entity
and so it will persist until forced to leave
the victim, usually through a form of exorcism.
Many cultures and religions contain some concept
of demonic possession, but the details vary
considerably. Some cultures, in particular
the Roma people believe that demons can also
possess animals, plants, deceased persons
or inanimate objects.
Spirit possession is a concept
of paranormal, supernatural and/or superstitious
belief in which spirits, gods, daemons, demons,
animas, or other disincarnate entities may
take control of a human body, resulting in
noticeable changes in behaviour. The concept
of spiritual possession exists in Christianity
and other contemporary religions and can also
be seen in the mythology and folklore of many
cultures
Some branches of Buddhism affirm the existence
of Hells peopled by demons who torment sinners
and tempt mortals to sin, or who seek to thwart
their enlightenment, with a demon named Mara
as chief tempter. Most of these "demons"
are considered to be representations of mental
obstructions. Hinduism contains traditions
of combats between its gods and various adversaries,
such as the combat of Indra and the asura
Vritra.
In Chaldean mythology the seven evil deities
were known as shedu, meaning storm-demons.
They were represented in winged bull form,
derived from the colossal bulls used as protective
genii of royal palaces, the name "shed"
assumed also the meaning of a propitious genius
in Babylonian magic literature.
THE SEVEN EVIL SPIRITS
R.C. Thompson, translator [The Devils and
Evil Spirits of Babylonia, London 1903].[1]
Raging storms, evil gods are they
Ruthless demons, who in heaven's vault were
created, are they,
Workers of evil are they,
They lift up the head to evil, every day to
evil
Destruction to work.
Of these seven the first is the South wind...
The second is a dragon, whose mouth is opened...
That none can measure.
The third is a grim leopard, which carries
off the young ...
The fourth is a terrible Shibbu ...
The fifth is a furious Wolf, who knoweth not
to flee,
The sixth is a rampant ... which marches against
god and king.
The seventh is a storm, an evil wind, which
takes vengeance,
Seven are they, messengers to King Anu are
they,
From city to city darkness work they,
A hurricane, which mightily hunts in the heavens,
are they
Thick clouds, that bring darkness in heaven,
are they,
Gusts of wind rising, which cast gloom over
the bright day, are they,
With the Imkhullu [2] the evil wind, forcing
their way, are they,
The overflowing of Adad [3] mighty destroyers,
are they,
At the right of Adad stalking, are they,
In the height of heaven, like lightning flashing,
are they,
To wreak destruction forward go they ,
In the broad heaven, the home of Anu, the
King, evilly do they arise, and none to oppose.
When Enlil heard these tidings, a plan in
his heart he pondered,
With Ea, exalted Massu of the gods, be took
counsel. Sin, Shamash, and Ishtar, whom he
had set to order the vault of heaven,
With Anu he divided the lordship of the whole
heaven,
To these three gods, his offspring
Day and night, without ceasing, he ordained
to stand,
When the seven evil gods stormed the vault
of heaven,
Before the gleaming Sin, they set themselves
angrily, [4]
The mighty Shamash, Adad the warrior, they
brought on their side,
Ishtar, with Anu the King, moved into a shining
dwelling, exercising dominion over the heavens,
[Nearly ten lines here are unreadable.]
Day and night he was dark (i.e., Sin), in
the dwelling of his dominion he sat not down,
The evil gods, the messengers of Anu, the
King, are they,
Raising their evil heads, in the night shaking
themselves, are they,
Evil searching out, are they,
From the heaven, like a wind, over the land
rush they.
Enlil saw the darkening of the hero Sin in
heaven,
The lord spoke to his minister Nusku,
O My minister Nusku, my message unto the ocean
bring,
The tidings of my son Sin, who in heaven has
been sadly darkened,
Unto Ea, in the ocean, announce it."
Nusku exalted the word of his lord,
To Ea, in the ocean, he went quickly,
To the prince, the exalted Massu the lord
Nudimmud.[5]
Nusku, the word of his lord there announced
Ea in the ocean heard that word,
He bit his lip and filled his mouth with wailing;
Ea called his son Marduk, and gave him the
message:
"Go, my son Marduk,
Son of a prince, the gleaming Sin has been
sadly darkened in heaven,
His darkening is seen in the heavens,
The seven evil gods, death-dealing, fearless
are they,
The seven evil gods, like a flood, rush on,
the land they fall upon, do they,
Against the land, like a storm, they rise,
do they,
Before the gleaming Sin, they set themselves
angrily;
The mighty Shamash, Adad the warrior, they
brought on their side."
NOTES:
[1] This story is the sixteenth tablet of
a series called the "Evil Demon Series,"
of which we have an Assyrian with a parallel
Sumerian text. Presumably, therefore, it was
a very ancient legend.
[2] The Imkhullu appears also in the Creation
Epic.
[3] Adad is god of storm, Anu of heaven, Enlil
of storm, Sin of the Moon, Shamash of the
Sun, and Ishtar of love and fruitfulness.
The meaning of Massu is unknown; but Ea was
long the chief ruler.
[4] The evil gods darken the moon by an eclipse,
Shamash helping them by withdrawing his light
from the moon, and Adad by sending cloudy
weather.
[5] A name for Ea.
DESCRIPTIONS OF "THE SEVEN"
I
Destructive storms and evil winds are they,
A storm of evil, presaging the baneful storm,
A storm of evil, forerunner of the baneful
storm.
Mighty children, mightv sons are they,
Messengers of Namtar are they,
Throne-bearers of Ereshkigal. [1]
The flood driving through the land are they.
Seven gods of the wide heavens,
Seven gods of the broad earth,
Seven robber-gods are they.
Seven gods of universal sway,
Seven evil gods,
Seven evil demons,
Seven evil and violent demons,
Seven in heaven, seven on earth.
II
Neither male nor female are they.
Destructive whirlwinds they,
Having neither wife nor offspring.
Compassion and mercy they do not know.
Prayer and supplication they do not hear.
Horses reared in the mountains, Hostile to
Ea.
Throne-bearers of the gods are they.
Standing on the highway, befouling the street.
Evil are they, evil are they,
Seven they are, seven they are, Twice seven
they are.
III
The high enclosures, the broad enclosures
like a flood they pass through.
From house to house they dash along.
No door can shut them out,
No bolt can turn them back.
Through the door, like a snake, they glide,
Through the hinge, like the wind, they storm.
Tearing the wife from the embrace of the man,
Snatching the child from the knees of a man,
Driving the freedman from his family home.
[1 ]The mistress of the netherworld, while
Namtar is the god of pestilence.
CHARM AGAINST THE SEVEN EVIL SPIRITS
Seven are they, seven are they!
In the channel of the deep seven are they!
In the radiance of heaven seven are they!
In the channel of the deep in a palace grew
they up.
Male they are not, female they are not.
In the midst of the deep are their paths.
Wife they have not, son they have not.
Order and kindness know they not.
Prayer and supplication hear they not.
The cavern in the mountain they enter.
Unto Hea are they hostile.
The throne-bearers of the gods are they.
Disturbing the lily in the torrents are they
set.
Baleful are they, baleful are they.
Seven are they, seven are they, seven twice
again are they.
May the spirits of heaven remember, may the
spirits of earth remember.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/ane/index.htm
Exorcising the Paranormal
Some victims of evil spirit infestations
and paranormal activity, in the hopes of finding
fast release from the haunting's they experience,
call in help to find evidence of their experience
and thereby prove their own sanity. There
are some that call in actual exorcist from
the church to banish these wretched foul spirits
back to Hell. Then there are some who call
for help because there is a genuine danger
in what they are experiencing, and they definitely
want it removed. Paranormal investigating
encompasses all that is natural and un-natural.
The concept of possession by evil spirits
and the practice of exorcism are very ancient
and were widespread, and may have originated
in prehistoric Shamanism beliefs.
Exorcism (from Late Latin exorcismus, from
Greek exorkizein - to adjure) is the practice
of evicting demons or other evil spiritual
entities from a person or place which they
are believed to have possessed (taken control
of). The practice is quite ancient and part
of the belief system of many religions.
The person performing the exorcism, known
as an exorcist, is often a member of the clergy,
or an individual thought to be graced with
special powers or skills. The exorcist may
use prayers, and religious material, such
as set formulas, gestures, symbols, icons,
amulets, etc.. The exorcist invokes God, Jesus
and/or several different angels and archangels
to intervene with the exorcism. The Catholic
Church revised the Rite of Exorcism in January
1999, although the traditional Rite of Exorcism
in Latin is allowed as an option. The act
of exorcism is considered to be an incredibly
dangerous spiritual task; the ritual assumes
that possessed persons retain their free-will,
though the demon may hold control over their
physical body, and involves prayers, blessings,
and invocations with the use of the document
Of Exorcisms and Certain Supplications. Other
formulas may have been used in the past, such
as the Benedictine Vade retro satana. In the
modern era, the Catholic Church authorizes
exorcism rarely, approaching would-be cases
with the presumption that mental or physical
illness is in play. In mild cases the Chaplet
of Saint Michael should be used.
Painting by Francisco Goya
of Saint Francis Borgia performing an exorcism.
In general, possessed persons are not regarded
as evil in themselves, nor wholly responsible
for their actions. Therefore practitioners
regard exorcism more as a cure than as a punishment.
The mainstream rituals usually take this into
account, making sure that there is no violence
to the possessed, only that they be tied down
if there is potential for violence.
From house blessings and smutting, to burying
a St. Joseph statue to sell a house or throwing
rice at a wedding all of this is a form of
exorcsim evil spirits and malicious ghost
that seek the ruin of the living. To being
blessed by holy men and priest to ensure our
good well being.
In kabbalah and European Jewish folklore
(which does not believe in possession by demons),
possession takes on a different (and often
much more positive) context. A person may
be possessed by a spirit called a dybbuk —
which is believed to be the dislocated soul
of a dead person, returned from Gehenna (a
Hebrew term for the in between world or purgatory
that all spirits go to before entering heaven.
It literally refers to the valley outside
Jeruselem where the city's garbage and dead
bodies were burned. The word later came to
mean "the valley of dead", and became
very loosely translated as "hell"
by later Christian researchers). According
to those beliefs, on rare occasions a soul
which has not been able to fulfill its function
in its lifetime is given another opportunity
to do so in the form of a dybbuk. The soul
then seeks out and "attaches" itself
to a living person who is going through things
or in a similar "life position"
to what the soul was in during its lifetime.
It is believed there are good dybbuks and
bad, with a good dybbuk's "attachment"
performing more the role of a "spiritual
guide" there to help the person through
their current trials and tribulations that
the soul was attracted to. These "good"
possessions are usually referred to as a 'sod
ha'ibbur.
In the case of a negative dybbuk, the spirit
is not there to help as much as cause the
same mistakes and chaos that it originally
experienced during its own lifetime.
In the case of exorcism, there are generally
two types - though both take on a much less
negative confrontational manner than in the
Christian context.
Briefly, the first involves a non-invasive
approach (which generally is applied to the
non-negative type of attachment but can be
used in both) and involves treating the person
and attached entity as a whole. Helping "him"
to identify his goal or path in life (his
true identity and purpose) and guiding them
along it. In the case of a positive attachment,
the spirit will leave when the "path"
or purpose is significantly engrained and
pursued. In the case of a negative, the pursuant
of the "path" keeps it in check
and eventually causes it to lose its connection
(sometimes referred to as the "void"
in the host) thereby forcing it to move on.
 |
Many still today in the 21st century
believe lighting a candle or two at
night will keep away ghost and evil
spirits. |
|
The second approach is a little more confrontational,
but still far less than those commonly seen
in Christian rites. It involves 10 people
(including the rabbi) who surround the possessed
individual. Each person (including the rabbi
leading the ritual) represents the 10 kabbalistic
sephirot. The rabbi that leads the ceremony
also requires a shofar, which is interestingly
used in a manner similar to the bell in Buddhist
and other east Asian meditative practices.
The group repeatedly recites Psalm 91 and
then the rabbi proceeds to blow the shofar
in a specific pattern. This "shocks"
both the possessed and the possessor, causing
a loosening between the two enabling the addressing
of each individually. The rabbi then enters
in to dialogue with the spirit to find its
purpose, and the group proceeds to heal it
through dialogue and prayer meant to have
it feel it has accomplished its goal. This
is also done for the possessed. As Rabbi Gershon
Winkler puts it: "We don't drive anything
out of anybody. What we want to do is to heal
the soul that's possessing and heal the person.
It's all about healing -- we do the ceremony
on behalf of both people
†
Notable Exorcisms
Salvador Dali is reputed to have received
an exorcism from Italian friar, Gabriele Maria
Berardi, while he was in France in 1947. Dali
created a sculpture of Christ on the cross
which he gave the friar in thanks.
According to a New York Post article of 19
February 2002, John Paul II personally performed
three exorcisms during his tenure as pope.
The first exorcism was performed on a woman
in 1982. His second was in September 2000
when he performed the rite on a 19-year-old
woman who had become enraged in St Peter's
Square. A year later, in September 2001, he
performed an exorcism on a 20-year-old woman.
Anneliese Michel was a Catholic woman from
Germany who was said to be possessed by six
or more demons and subsequently underwent
an exorcism in 1975. Two motion pictures,
The Exorcism of Emily Rose and Requiem are
loosely based on Anneliese's story.
A boy identified by the pseudonym "Roland
Doe" was the subject of an exorcism in
1949, which became the subject of The Exorcist,
a horror novel and later film written by William
Peter Blatty. Blatty heard about the case
while he was a student in the class of 1950
at Georgetown University. The exorcism was
partially performed in both Cottage City,
Maryland http://www.strangemag.com/exorcistpage1.html
and Bel-Nor, Missouri by Father
William S. Bowdern, S.J. and a then Jesuit
scholastic Fr. Walter Halloran, S.J.
In the sixties The phrase the devil made
me do it was cute now a days as well as through
out past history the sinister evil behind
that statement still bares it's true meaning.
