A Run on Demons!

      For many years I have been helping people who were being  haunted by spirits or in some cases, people who thought they were being haunted.  I treat all cases the same way. I remain skeptical but open-minded and wait to  see what I found. This could take days, sometimes weeks. In many cases, nothing  happened. Even if there was no haunting taking place, it was important to treat the people with respect and courtesy. Even if there was a mild haunting, it was  vitally important that the victims be treated with utmost respect. They needed to be believed, plain and simple. The overwhelming number of those cases  involved human spirits. That does not seem to be true today.

     In the past few years, I have been getting more and more cases where people believe they are being plagued by demons. Obviously there are demons  and those of us who work in this field know that demonic cases are on the rise, almost alarmingly so. Still, the truth of the matter is that demonic attacks on  humans are rare. So why the sudden rise? There are several reasons why this is  so. One reason is there are more movies about possession and exorcism around  today. The same is true of books. Even TV shows bring demons into peoples homes.  Many people read those warning signs and get the impression that they may be victims of demonic influence.

     The most important point I can make is that it takes a number  of those manifestations to occur before we can even begin to think there is  something demonic going on. One or two or three simply do not constitute a demonic haunting, let alone possession. It takes a professional to prove the  existence of the demonic. That person might be a clergyman; he or she may be a well seasoned paranormal investigator. The point is that one should never jump to the conclusion that demons are present. When someone comes to me and believes they are being demonically haunted, I try to let them know that I believe what they are telling me. I also try to convince them that the chances of demonic  involvement are extremely rare. Are they right sometimes? No, but that doesn't mean that one day I won't finally run into that rare case of a demonic haunt.

     In some cases, these people are suffering from a mental  illness. No one wants to admit they are mentally ill. There is a terrible stigma when it comes to mental illness. Yet for many people, they would rather believe they are demonically possessed than to accept the fact they have an illness. Our society plays a role in that too. We look at the mentally ill with such disdain or fear. We move forward with the new advances of our age but we do so while  looking backwards. This is especially true when it comes the mentally ill. To  think one would rather believe they are possessed than admit to an illness tells  us a lot.

     Demonic hauntings eventually make themselves well known. They sometimes start off slowly but they become rather obvious in time. Generally speaking, if a person is possessed, they likely won't realize it. Those who believe they are possessed may be under attack but they are unlikely to be possessed. For those who think they may be, prayer is a good solution.  Prayer is safe. If a person is under demonic attack, prayer may solve the problem. If there is no demonic activity at work, prayer certainly isn't going to hurt.  Sometimes people feel desperate enough to seek an exorcist. There are plenty of  people around who call themselves exorcists but going that route is playing with  fire. If the person is not legitimate and most of them aren't, terrible damage can be done. If the person is mentally ill, great harm can be done by feeding into their delusion.

     The mentally ill are not the only victims. There are frauds out there who will find someone who believes they are possessed. Believe me when I tell you they will find ways to suck every penny from the victims. It may start with rituals or the victim may be asked to build a kit containing oils, incense, icons, special candles or what have you. While they do work because my team uses them. Be wary of anyone who claims they have special powers over the devil. Be wary of people who tell you they can  free you from demons you don't even have for a fee. If you look for help over the Internet, don't just buy into the fanciest website you find. Do research. As for references. Never believe everything you hear. If you really feel your problems are demonic, go to a clergyman.

     Most of all, don't believe that the devil is behind all of your problems. He plays a role in our lives but it is usually in the background.  Live a good life, stay away from the occult, give reverence to God and you should have a life free from the devil.

MOMS, KIDS, AND THE PARANORMAL

     Children are naturally scary creatures, but what happens when your kid is more than run-of-the-mill scary and might actually be experiencing a haunting or demonic activity?


      One common theme that pops up in biographic ghost stories on television is that it is always the mother who first believes their child’s claims of paranormal experiences. In these narratives, dads typically brush off the stories or get angry at the suggestion that there might be something otherworldly happening.  It isn’t until the dads experience something personally that they become believers.  (Curiously—and I haven’t tabulated any fancy statistics to determine this—there seems to be less reports of moms who think their child may have been abducted by aliens.)


     On average, moms spend more time with their children than dads, and since various polls show more women than men believe in ghosts, it stands to reason that a mother would be more attune to her child having a case of the paranormals or ghost pox; which I guess can’t be cured with penicillin or a vaccine (What would a paranormal vaccine even involve, dead ghosts?  Ghosts are already dead.  It doesn’t make any sense, I mean, come on.).


     It doesn’t take long to find a mom on the Internet desperately seeking help for her child who is experiencing something unexplained.  It seems fair to ask whether these are some sort of pleas for attention on the part of the mom, or whether the child’s problems might best be dealt with by a psychiatrist or other medical professional, and there’s no doubt this is often the case.  But what if sometimes it’s worth taking moms seriously on these matters? Most moms love their children and would go to bat for them for anything; mine always did. 


     Yet if a child is experiencing something paranormal, they can’t take the child to a hospital to get cured, and coming forward with it publicly would bring on ridicule and questions over the mom’s sanity.  It has to be a tough position to be in. More generally, since moms often socialize kids the most, they can greatly influence their children’s beliefs on the paranormal. 

     Séances, Ouija boards, and fortune telling were of the utmost evil, which made them all the more appealing to me.   Yet there was a complete openness to the idea that spirits existed, and some might not have passed on. The possibility of demons or evil influences wasn’t discussed, but they were understood to exist.


     How might your mom have shaped your interests in the paranormal?  What stories did she tell or what beliefs did she pass on to you?  Did she believe you if you ever claimed you had a paranormal experience as a child?  If you never thought to ask, when you call to wish her a Happy Mother’s Day, ask her if she’s ever seen a ghost or a UFO, or experienced anything unexplained.  I’m of the opinion that these are the sorts of fun memories and conversations one should have with their parents.