Demonic Possession

[scorpiogirly]

Do you believe?

I've been watching a lot of podcasts on YouTube lately with exorcist from the church.

I'm torn. Do you believe?

That's the one starring the priest who is currently facing battery charges, after grabbing a 13 year old girl's hair, flossing his teeth with it then, several minutes later, sitting behind her growling at her.

He denies it, despite several witnesses having confirmed the incident.

I'm not sure that I'd be quick to trust his claims about his magical powers.

Cof E vicars if they are informed of a suspected entity or spirit in a house will contact their Diocese. There is a Deliverance Minister in every Diocese who also holds a the role of a Parish vicar. They will come out with the local vicar and do a house blessing and guide the perceived spirit to God's light. They have communion wih the person. I know our Diocese Deliverance minister and he said he's never seen a demonix possession. Most of his work is about blessing a house and person. Diocesan Deliverance ministers also have a psychiatrist link and will support people to access mental health services.

only gullible people believe in such things.

Nah, it’s utter bollocks.

This. Everyone assumes it’s about seriously mentally ill people convulsing on the floor when the reality is a lot more mundane. It’s unpleasant, but it’s also fairly unremarkable

How is it any different to very severe mental health issues?

The Pope's Exorcist. 2023 film.
No, I don't believe in angels & demons, heaven & hell etc but I find it all quite fascinating nonetheless. And I'll happily watch films about the supernatural etc.

Thank you - It's not a very regular dream, the last 4 days ago - but yes I will try -(might invest in some sage too). Thanks for reaching out.
It's not something which has a massive impact on my life, but it could.

i will try tonight

I'm a practicing pagan/witch/druid and my next door neighbour is an evangelical Christian.

She rants and raves about "finding all the witches in the neighbourhood and kill them all, one by one, and their children".

She's had all three of her children removed from her custody. I used to feel sorry for her till she started going off like this. I have a 2 year old and I see it as a death threat.

I've reported to the council and the police. I don't believe in demonic possession at all. It's made up Christian nonsense to literally demonise our British gods (Lord of the wild hunt, Herne the Hunter)

Not normally, but I’ve just come home from the supermarket. I’m a lot more open to the idea now.

Sounds like perimenopause 🤣 maybe try some cleansing hrt

Nope
Absolute twaddle

Of course not. It’s a way to abuse the vulnerable and the mentally ill.

No, of course not. Although I have sympathy for anyone that does believe in such nonsense as I’d think they’re mentally ill.

Not at all. As PP said: used to abuse people/ children

Look up Lori Vallow and Ruby Franke,
Lori Vallow murdered /caused the death of her children claiming they were possessed, in fact other people she claimed were possessed ended up dead , she is serving 3 life sentances,just been convicted again and awaiting another trial.

Ruby Franke - severly abused her children again in the name of ridding them of possesion
They are just evil women

both are mormons

I hadn’t heard about the further details of the allegations. He denies them.

I’ll reserve judgement. He is innocent until proven guilty and I can’t find any reports that a trial has been held.

Yes, this.

I’ve always found it interesting that sleep paralysis (a fairly common biological phenomenon caused by the body glitching slightly when shutting down certain processes for sleep) is also culturally inflected. The paralysis is often accompanied by a sensation of pressure on the chest, a feeling of dread, and being watched by a sinister presence — but exactly what it is that the person hallucinates, and how they interpret or try to treat their sleep paralysis, is strongly culture-specific, especially if you come from somewhere that has a pervasive folklore around it.

A study described over one third of sufferers in the Abruzzo region as thinking their sleep paralysis was caused by the ‘Pandafeche’, Egyptian sufferers are overwhelmingly more likely to ascribe it to a jinn attack. If you’re from a vampire culture, you’ll be more likely to ascribe it to that, Americans at various points in the 20thc to being abducted by aliens etc. Cultures more likely to view it as supernatural tended to report more frequent SP, and longer periods of immobility.

Some links here

www.psychologytoday.com/ie/blog/non-weird-science/202501/how-does-sleep-paralysis-differ-around-the-world

The actual curses might not have power, but the belief in them is real and can be very dangerous. I live in East London and often pick up cards from outside tube stations where people advertise their skills of exorcism, the removal of spells and curses etc. There are a great many people from many faiths, including Islam and Christianity, who do believe in witch craft, in devils, in spells and curses, and in the power of people with evil intent to damage other peoples lives.

People thought to be witches ( often children, or people with physical or mental illness) are often ostracised from their communities, and can be in real physical danger. Many years ago the body of a small child was recovered from the Thames and it was believed he had been subjected to some sort of ritual related to witch craft.

Oh, I completely agree - wasn't a belief in witchcraft instrumental in the death of Victoria Climbie? The beliefs and obsessions some people hold are very dangerous indeed.

I've seen it myself - I went to a church that believed virtually every problem people have has spiritual causes. It led to some extremely foolish behaviour, and some very dangerous practices.

Nope.

Centuries ago, when people had illnesses like schizophrenia or seizure disorders, the medicine didn't have a name for things like this and I believe ignorance created "demonic possession" as a way of explaining what was happening to poorly people with varying diseases or disorders that healers could not help.

I’d forgotten till you said it that in my now-distant ten years living in north-east London how often we got junkmail from churches or individuals offering exorcisms, as well as love spells, spells to cure illnesses etc.

Interesting. There’s someone, who periodically posts details of where we can find love spells and spells to cure illness on MN. They’re always swiftly deleted.

The actual curses might not have power, but the belief in them is real and can be very dangerous

So much this ^^

Just google “died during exorcism” or something similar for countless horror stories.
It’s not just those who believe someone else is possessed and then subjects them to an awful ordeal; if someone actually believes themself to be possessed they will be terrified and require psychiatric help, not reinforcement by chanting, black robes and crosses.

See any thread on here about experienced with Ouija. Some really think a cardboard game licensed by Hasbro has the power to do terrible things, and some even claim to have had awful experiences with lasting consequences.
Nonsense, of course, but the belief has the potential to hurt and distress suggestible people.

The actual curses might not have power, but the belief in them is real and can be very dangerous.
Extremely.
My nieces friends parents pay a pastor in South Africa to keep evil away, the friend herself believes that certain people can bless or curse you, they can see and prevent evil in the future for a price.
In the olden days Ireland had a strong belief in spirits, my grandmother claimed to hear the banshees many times.