Another controversial topic in the paranormal is possession. This is another subject that has been ignored by science and torn apart by doctors. Is this something that is the product of fantasy or explained medically? Or is it possible for entities to take over the body and mind of a living person? When dealing with possession there are actually many categories, for this article we will concentrate on evil control, that of the demonic.
Demonic possession is when the human body is taken over by demons or even Satan himself. There are 5 levels of possession. I would like to state that I am not a priest nor a demonologist, if you think you may be dealing with demonic possession seek help.
Manifestation
In this stage a person will unintentionally invite the demonic force in. There are said to be many different ways to on how this can happen, most commonly is playing with the Ouija board, performing séances and tarot cards. The demon will be attracted to the weak minded, low self esteem type individual. It is also said that people who are alcoholics, drug addicts and sex addicts are easy targets as well.
Infestation
At this level the demon will start using what may seem like typical intelligent haunting signs. The demon may present itself as the ghost of a loved one or even an angel. The point is to gain trust, so the demonic may influence the person and finally take full control. Some signs of demonic infestation include rapping’s, shadows and shadow like figures that move with no explanation, the sounds of footsteps, weird liquids the seep through the floor or walls.
Oppression
When an individual is under demonic oppression the demon starts to effect the person psychologically, psychically and emotionally. The purpose is to cause the individual to give up the fight or will to live and damn their soul, it said this can be accomplished by suicide.
Possession
When an individual hits this level it is called full possession. The demon or devil now has control over the individual thoughts, emotions and behavior. The evil is frequently in charge if not constantly. If or when the person is in control of their body they usually hear evil voices either threatening them or telling them what do at all times.
Death
The only purpose of possession is death of the host. The more pain and suffering the demon can cause from within the family the better.
Now that we looked at the levels or stages it takes to get to demonic possession, lets take a look at a couple real cases you may be familiar with.
Robbie Doe (The “Real” Exorcist story)
Robbie Doe started getting attacked in the year 1949 but an unknown source. His bed would shake uncontrollably along with his covers and sheets being torn away but an unseen force. Tables would move and other furniture would fly across the room. These occurrences supposedly started to happen after Robbie played with the Ouija board.
The first Rev. called in was that of the Lutheran faith. Robbie even moved in with this Rev. for a period of time, until the Rev. decided there was absolutely nothing he could do to help the boy except pray for him. Around this time Robbie was getting worse, he was now levitating off of the bed floating under the bed and being banged up and down on the bed springs. Robbie was also starting to get scratches and at this time the Lutheran Rev. decided the family should call a catholic priest, for Lutherans do not believe in the Rite of Exorcism.
When the family contacted the catholic priest and they were told to place holy water and light candles in Robbies room. When the mother placed the bottle of holy water on a shelf it unexplainably flew off and shattered on the floor, when she lit the candles the flames lit up so high they almost burned the house down. When the priest arrived Robbie was doing all sorts of unexplainable things, speaking in Latin a language the boy had no prior knowledge of. Robbie was taken to a hospital so he could be strapped to a bed. This is where the exorcism started. Many weird types of phenomena occurred, the bed moved from side to side and his food trays would fly across the room by an unseen force. There is even an account of Robbie slashing the priests arm causing him to get over 100 stitches.
After this incident the priest removed himself from any further exorcisms. Many other unexplained episodes such has words scratched in Robbies chest. Many priests came and went, but one stuck it out, a man by the name of Father Bowdern. Father Bowdern continued many exorcisms, until one day Robbie spoke in a different voice that of St. Michael. It is said that St. Michael commanded Satan and the demons to leave the boy, and after a fit of rage, as if a battle was going on inside of Robbie, the evil left.
Anneliese Michel (The real Emily Rose)
Anyone who is familiar with the movie The Exorcism of Emily Rose is familiar with the story of Anneliese Michel, this is the name of the real girl the movie was based off of. Anneliese was born September 21st 1952 in Germany. She was raised as a strict catholic and took her religion very seriously. In 1968 at the age of 16 Anneliese experienced her first seizure. During this episode she was unable to communicate to her parents or 3 siblings. She was taken to the doctors where she was then diagnosed with Grand Mal epilepsy (this condition causes very severe seizures). But seizures were not her only symptoms, soon she started to eat dead flies and coal, drink her own urine, self mutilate her body and try to attack her parents and sisters.
She claimed to hear devilish voices in her head, she claimed they were the same demons that possessed Cain and Judas from the Bible. By the age of 23 with many failed attempts in dealing with psychiatric hospitals and medications she finally received the rite to receive an exorcism, which lasted about 6 months. It seemed to be working at first but she would quickly go back down hill. Sadly tragedy would strike and Anneliese died in her sleep. The autopsy report stated she died of malnourishment and dehydration. The priest was charged and convicted with negligent homicide.
Were these cases authentic demonic possession? Or could they have all been explained by medical conditions?
Medical Explanations
There are 3 different diseases that all replicate symptoms of demonic possession, epilepsy, schizophrenia and hysteria. Epilepsy can cause a number of possession like symptoms such as convulsions, seizures that are sometimes accompanied by hallucinations. The report that a possessed persons eyes turn black is also a symptom of epilepsy. What happens is the pupils will dilate causing this blackness effect in the eyes. Some other major symptoms of epilepsy include muscle spasms, black outs and periods of lost memories. The seizures can also cause the person to make grunting or strange noises.
When dealing with a mental disorder like hysteria a person may experience uncontrollable violent movements, very scary convulsions which include very loud painful crying. A person may also experience body contorting, compression of the chest, the feeling of being strangled, loss of breath and memory loss.
Schizophrenia is another mental disorder that reflects demon like possession. One of the most common symptoms in schizophrenia is hearing voices. It is actually not uncommon to believe these voices are coming from demon or actually the devil. Other symptoms include delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech and thinking, a person may also go into a catatonic state.
It is easy to see why doctors and scientists view possession as nothing but silly superstitions when the symptoms are presented. But how do we explain unexplainable incidents when dealing with possession? Symptoms such as speaking different languages fluently, inhuman strength, the ability to foretell future events and the ability to levitate themselves and other objects.
Can demonic possession really happen? You be the judge.
Thank you for reading, if you have any information, questions or any other inquiries please feel free to email me at
Toledo_Paranormal@hotmail.com.
Comments
Loving your topics. Awesome!
The article is nonsense. Tarot cards do not invite demons. Tarot cards were originally used for games before people used them for fortune telling. And there are some people today who play real games with tarot cards.
I never said that I believed any of those things lead to demonic possession. I am simply stating the way the church feels can open a door to this subject. I am sorry you feel it is nonsese but before claiming something is nonsense read up on it. Fortune telling is strictly forbidden in the Bible, me personally I don't think there is anything wrong with this stuff. But these aricles are not my opinion they are written so people ask questions. I am not going to not mention tarot if that is considered one of the top ways to open the door to possession. Read my other articles on the Ouija board. But calm down no need to get deffensive about it.
Another great and controversial topic on the paranormal Bobby, Im glad to see someone throwing these subjects out there based on what the general public believes, maybe someday you can do follow up articles on what you personally believe about them. To Tarotgameplayer, he clearly was not stating that he believed that tarot cards were the cause of demonic possession, but if you pick up a book or even look on the internet you will see that is a VERY COMMON thought process, and being an avid Tarot game player, I would assume you would know a little more of both sides of the history of what you are playing with.
Great subject and what possession could be or not be. It just opens peoples minds to other possible causes.
Fortune telling might be forbidden by the Bible but tarot cards weren't originally intended for fortune telling. Tarot cards are not mentioned in the Bible because the cards would not appear until the 15th century. I also think the idea of demonic possession is dangerous because historically the mentally ill or handicapped people were mistreated because of it.
Ok but the Ouija came out in 1891, its not mentioned in the Bible but it is so closely related to evil. This isn't a topic of arguement here, this is the way the church feels on tarot cards. Try an experiment for me, call a local church and see if they are willing to let you give readings in the narthex. The roman catholic church views ouija, tarot, seance
Or anything like that a potential door way on becoming possessed. As I said before this article isn't a personal view of mine.
Bobby, thank you for a very balanced and thoughtful article. This is a vast subject, and you and I know it can't be condensed into a few paragraphs.
There can't be enough focus on infestation and possession, if only to alert the unwary out there to the dangers they could face from an unseen enemy.
You say you're covering the demonic this time round. Does this mean you'll be looking at other forms of possession in future articles?
I ask as an interested party, having co-authored The Dark Sacrament (HarperOne) with my wife, Christina McKenna. When researching th book we encountered several cases of possession that owed nothing to the demonic, but were caused by the spirits of the dead. It's a fascinating topic, if only because it dispels the idea that the Devil is not behind every infestation.
Keep up the good work!
I would not expect any Christian churches to sanction tarot readings or any other "psychic" type readings. However, I have converted a few Christians to tarot game playing by explaining the true history of these cards to them. Not only were tarot cards made for games but the original tarot symbolism is derived from Christianity and not occultism. It is not unreasonable for a church to have tarot game events provided we explain to them that our intentions are unrelated to occultism. As a card game, tarot is a wholesome family pasttime like Rook or Uno. We Americans need to understand that occult tarot is not the only kind of tarot nor is it the original tarot. This is what makes tarot different from ouija. Ouija and talking boards, on the other hand, were made for one purpose and are still used for that purpose. There is diversity in tarot but not in Ouija.
I am a christian and I serve and love my God with all of my heart. I also hear voices. My spirit can usually discern which voices they are. I have been visited by angels and the Lord Jesus, his self. However I have interpreted this blessing to also have come with a cursing. Simply put, I can hear both sides, Ijust refuse to listen to the ungodly. Is that not what the Lord meant, when he told us to try the spirits and see if they be of God?
A Christian that is a Christian in action and not word only can not be converted to playing around with the occult.Now in having said that if one educates themselves to knowing about the Holy Spirit then one understands that a child of God is indwelled by the Holy Spirit,that being God's spirit.Now certainly if Christians are indwelled by the Holy Spirit then God Possesses that person.If someone is not filled with the Holy Spirit of God then one is certainly going to be filled with some other type of Spirit and often we term this as a demonic possession.These types of possessions are very real.So if one is not a child of God indwelled by the Holy Spirit then you are indwelled by another type whither you believe this or not it is true.How this spirit manifest is through many ways.Often the person is well aware of the spirit inside of them.Not all possession's are in the nature of a Holly Wood movie.In fact most are not.Remember this when your next bad mood hits.Bad spirits!
Just Look at any deck of Tarot Cards and what each represents enough said on that...There is no defense for anything that opens any door to another dimension, the future, or is used communicate with spirits or ghosts regardless of what thier purpose was...
You actually beleive that cardboard opens doors to other dimensions? Look at tarot cards made for games. look at the original tarot decks which were made for games. Tarot was made for card games still played in many European countries. Go to Wikipedia and take a look for yourself at these other tarot decks not often seen by Americans. There is nothing occult about them. Tarot cards are really a type of playing cards. America has been duped by metaphysical publishers promoting the occult myths of tarot cards. I don't use tarot cards for reading and I don't encourage it but it would be better if Americans would question the occult myths of these cards.
Love the topics and stories I would'nt say I completely
believe in demonic possesions.Because I first heard about demonic
possesions on the show 'Ghosts Adventuers"& "Buffy the Vampire Slayer".
I believe in Demonic Possesion.
Evil is all around us wherever we go.
Demons are real. I'm Pagan so I've seen things and heard this others might never see.
Demons always seem to attack the weak minded and frightned. I fear demons but know, if one tries to ever hurt me or my family I will fight back. Demons feed off fear, show them fear and they will stay.
if you are a lutheran you believe in demon possession or christianity in general it says it in the bible that demons and satans will go on earth 4 1k years and try to decieve the 4 corners of earth
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