Demonic Possession

Demon Possession

Demon Possession in supernatural belief systems, is a form of spiritual possession whereby certain malevolent extra-dimensional entities, demons, gain control over a mortal person's body, which is then used for an evil or destructive purpose. Unlike in channeling 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 also believe that demons can also possess animals, plants, deceased persons or inanimate objects – Source Wiki

It’s a phenomenon that has never ceased to amaze me. We’ve pretty much all seen the movies, The Exorcist, The Haunted, The exorcism of Emily Rose. You watch in near religious terror as wholesome family gets destroyed by the forces of darkness.

Then you ask yourself…what do I, (you), believe?

I asked myself the question after many years of being afraid to broach the question. We had some very strict RE teachers at school and believe it or not, I took it to heart when they said films of this type were the devils work. I also believed them when they said they can leave a mark on you. Like a calling card, should a wandering demon know of your interest you increase the risk.

Anyway, after learning later in life that its OPINION and not FACT these statements were based on I am very much open to looking at the phenomena and what it entails.

What stories am I tempted to believe? Now that’s hard because you never know these days how much ‘spin’ has been placed on a film to hype attention. We’ve all seen absolutely fantastic reviews then sat through a shit flick, cursing the name of shock and awe publicity. I mentioned three film titles above and out of the three, The Haunted, is the most credible account I feel I have seen.

The written account was a multi written effort by:

Robert Curran – a long time family friend and priest
Ed and Lorraine Warren – notably respected paranormal researches and investigators
The Smurl family – victims of the haunting and demonic infestation

Why do I believe that more than the other two you ask?

The Warrens and their involvement for one, their work in the field of authenticating paranormal/spiritual phenomena is immense. Lorraine Warren is an extremely sensitive medium and had identified many ghostly presences and talked with many more. Ed, who passed last year, was known to have a no bullshit attitude to investigation and suffered no hoaxes. If something wasn’t on the level, he brought it out into the open. What they didn’t believe was in giving credibility to hoaxers even if did bring notice to the field of paranormal investigation.

Secondly, Robert Curran, a man of the cloth, something I think many people can put faith in regardless of the tattered reputation of men/women of the faith. Yes there are ‘bad’ priests, this man did everything he could to help this family; he put himself at risk many times and suffered odd illnesses every time he got deeply involved. There was no personal gain for him via his involvement.

Finally, and this may sound odd, it was made into a crappy .made for TV’ movie. No big screens and flashing adverts for this movie. Just a small TV movie that frightened me very much a long time ago, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102007/

So in closing for this brief look at demon possession I asked myself the question:

Why is the phenomenon no longer as prevalent or reported as it was 25 years ago?

I kind of already knew the answer to this; we live in very jaded times. We doubt each and everything because we are the generation being lied to on a daily basis by the media, government officials and just about anyone who thinks they can make a buck out of it.

There is no value in truth anymore!

Further to that we have a very large decline in faith and the following of religions. Almost ALL religions are open to the idea of possession and demons. They have their own names and purposes and they exist for more or less the same reasons.

Christian theology, in the Middle Ages, deemed the concept of demonic possession heretical, so anyone displaying unusual behaviour or a strange personality was automatically suspect of being possessed by the Devil. (The Devil or his demons who did the possessing were called the 'energumenus,' and the possessed person was the 'energumen'). In this era people were closer to Christ and God, and therefore more fearful of the Devil. – Source Mystica.com

I would recommend reading the following titles:

The Haunted: One Family's Nightmare
The Demonologist: The Extraordinary Career of Ed and Lorraine Warren.
Graveyard: More Terrifying Than Stephen King - Because It's True! – by Ed and Lorraine Warren

I believe in Demon Possession - 80%

Thank you for reading.