NHS calls in exorcist

[scorpiogirly]

That's correct.

An exorcist has been called in by the NHS to a hospice because of many paranormal incidents and sightings of the ghost of a girl in a red dress, witnessed by staff and also patients.

You'd think there has to be something in this right? And if not, what on earth could be going on?

Peig! Is it yourself? 😆

My Dad was a CofE vicar and was occasionally asked to do things like this. I asked him about it once and he said although he didnt believe in hauntings, the people he was serving did. He saw it as just part of his ministry. Often the people who asked for his help were lonely, had unresolved loss or trauma, and a chat over a cup of tea and a biscuit helped them much more than the blessing did.

Don't bother me now, I'm too busy balancing with one foot in the grave and the other one on the edge!😀

And this is the problem.

People find them thrilling and entertaining so the people who tell them start to feel important, with people hanging on their every word.

Eventually they end up believing their own stories and they love the attention it brings.

So in their own minds, they don't feel as though they're lying or hugely exaggerating - whichever term you prefer.

Ooh, Barry Murphy ❤️!

Absolutely. My priest friend saw it in exactly the same way -- as a cry for help.

Sort of a missed opportunity for a haunting really. Sounds like it was just crying out for a ghost story. The spirit world could really do with getting their act together and identifying these areas of potential expansion

The placebo effect IS scientific.

Exactly! Just think, the supply boat could have found me, running naked and mad along the beach, gibbering, or lying dead at the bottom of a cliff with gulls picking out my eyes, and an unfinished diary entry raving about rappings on the door, howlings in the wind, the phantom faces of drowned sailors pressed against the windows begging me to come out and help them.

I mean, wouldn't it make a change from turning the lights on and off, moving small objects around and occasionally whispering through baby monitors in Surbiton?

Come on, spirit world. Don't be so pedestrian.

That's so interesting, i know how a lot of staff felt about being there (I think someone else posted up thread too), I never saw anything myself but I know people who did, but given we did discuss it I suppose it may have influenced our feelings, but very interesting you felt that atmosphere from being there without anyone saying anything.

This^

Maybe there are……

Don't get many stories about Neanderthal ghosts or any other early humans. Can only homosapien sapien become spectral spirits?

It's this one https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5482752-places-that-make-you-feel-uneasy?page=6

Have you seen the comedy series Ghosts on TV?

Robin in that is a neanderthal man.

I know it's rare and that the Vatican isn't necessarily representative of everyday Catholics. My point is that it IS a thing to some degree, it's not a wholly baseless stereotype.

Does he read the bit where Jesus casts out demons as more metaphorical then for mental illness?

Officially the Catholic Church believes in both angels and demons but in practice I expect many are like your friend...

I wouldn’t count on it. Our local school had a severe CO leak, it could have been so much worse

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly2y3wzyw4o

I’m in Bristol, what do you mean by the old Bristol General?

the Dower House by the M32 that used to be an asylum? That’s all posh flats now and I wouldn’t live there - always thought it would be the ideal spot to be in a zombie apocalypse though!

😂 I would watch this film!!

It's this building in Guinea Street (St Mary Redcliffe/harbourside)

www.zoopla.co.uk/to-rent/details/71876871/?search_identifier=bcaf238c25914f3751ebc4a68325a5a8ee0a8543c457c939bf40634dc1b13ff8

He's not Catholic he's Anglican. He's a Chaplin so does all kinds interesting pastoral things. I think he fully believes in all the Christianity stuff, blood of Christ etc but ghosts are a step too far it seems.

I suspect that he believes in a lot of the demonic stuff as a concept but doesn't believe that his students are being possessed.

Tbh I'm an atheist so it's all bizarre to me...

I find the qmc so bloody creepy my grandad was on the major trauma ward in 2024 so I spent a lot of time up there, it was so creepy I hated walking the corridors in the evening. I've spent loads of time at the city hospital and never felt that way there except for the stairwell up to the maternity ward.

Years ago someone put up a link to a nurses forum re ghost experiences there were pages of tales of happenings. Some of them overlapping where another nurse had worked at the same place.

I lost a lot of time reading those.

I'm pretty sure every CofE diocese has someone who is the designated exorcist, but they call it "spiritual wellbeing" now. A lot of this kind of stuff goes on without the general public being aware. After all, if you are having problems with spooky spiritual stuff happening in your home or are seeing weird stuff you're very unlikely to want to go to the mainstream media and publicise it.

I think it's kind of arrogant to think that these things don't happen or that it's all down to mental illness. I believe that there are both good and evil spirits. If you haven't experienced it then you won't believe in it. Fair enough. But I've seen things myself and heard similar things from others enough to be convinced that the spiritual world is real. I dont go around talking about my experiences because people are so quick to scoff about it. I suspect most people who've experienced spiritual stuff are also reluctant to make it public. It doesn't mean it doesn't exist.