Reasons to Never Open Doors to ‘unwelcome spirits’
It’s good to be clear, here. We’re not talking about genuine wise monks who chant on top of Tibetan mountains, simply because they don’t follow England’s mostly Christian faith. But in recent years, there has been a huge interest in contacting ‘the other side’, or for a better word than none – the occult.
It’s all seen as a bit of fun. But in fact, all priests who work as exorcists say the same thing: for a ‘demon’ or unwelcome spirit to get into your head or consciousness is pretty difficult – unless you literally invite them in.
But that’s just what is happening, with nearly all towns these days having ‘fun psychic fairs’. But one priest says he literally rolls his eyes whenever he sees such posters. As he knows that often he will be getting phone calls a few days after, from people who have been spooked by eerie events.
Let’s be clear. Whatever your beliefs (and different people have different ones which is fine). Contacting dead people or playing about with oujia boards is not fun – it’s downright dangerous. You’re just letting negative spirits (and they do exist) to enter into your life. And they can be difficult to get rid of.
Of course, a lot of this recent nonsense has been simply due to selling tat: cheap gift and book shops are often selling such books, and some psychic evenings even ‘number the chairs’, so the ‘gifted psychic’ knows your name when you book (some even go through pockets of people’s belongings in the corridors).
No doubt a few may be doing this for genuine reasons (and who are we to say they are wrong?). But it’s a fair thing to say that nearly all religious texts (not just Biblical ones) say the same thing. Pray to God, not some ‘intermediary’ who is likely charging you money for doing so.
You normally find too, that the people paying for such practices are sensitive and vulnerable. Perhaps people who have lost someone dear, and are trying to cope with the grief.
What is far better is simply to take yourself along to a nice little church service, and listen to a sermon, some hymns (or vespers sung by old monks, which is wonderfully peaceful). Ancient and real.
Vincent P Lambert is an exorcist who was trained at the Vatican. He has conducted many exorcisms and has some good advice.
This American priest is just one of just under 200 licensed to conduct such services. He only performs services once a doctor and psychiatrist has ruled out other causes of strange behaviours (some people have approached him simply because they have schizophrenia). He says cases of rare demonic possession are extremely rare, mostly it’s due to people playing about with things they shouldn’t, leading to some worrying spiritual energy around. And usually can easily be fixed, if the person stops doing it.
He is quite annoyed that people view his job as some kind of party piece:
There is a growing trend to see the exorcist as a magician, that somehow I have a bag of tricks that I can make people’s problems go away. But again, it’s not about just casting the devil out. It’s also about inviting God in. I would even say that casting the devil out is the easy part.
It’s really about helping people to know that the greatest thing in life that we can know are not the sins that we do, but it’s God’s love and mercy. God is always ready to forgive if we simply give God that opportunity.
Back in the UK, Welsh Anglican priest Jason Bray is often asked to investigate haunted houses from ‘people who think that Auntie Brenda is lurking in the airing cupboard and she really shouldn’t be there’.
He says the most puzzling thing is when he comes across more people who believe in ghosts, but don’t believe in God.
Jesuit priest Mitchel Pacwa (who speaks 13 languages fluently!) is an expert on the occult, and says that readings have moved on with the times. From the old-style ‘knock three times if you can hear me’ to online ‘new age channelling’, where people will take money over Zoom for going into a trance to speak to angels.
One top US medium charges $700 for a 30-minute consultation.
God is not channelled. Nor are the saints, angels or souls of the deceased. For people who dabble in the occult, the end result is often despair. Father Lawrence J Gesy
How Harry Houdini exposed fake mediums
You’ve likely heard of Harry Houdini, a strongman who could get himself out of any chains, using a combination of picks and skills. What you may not know is that he spent a good deal of his time exposing fake mediums.
He was angry that such ‘scams’ were designed to exploit grieving people. Following his own mother’s death, he would attend seances in disguise, and then shine a torch to expose methods he was clever enough to know how they worked.
He even once built a cage to stop one medium moving and producing tricks during a reading (he was a trained magician).
Derren Brown (the modern day skeptic)
This is not to say that skeptics don’t believe for sure in a God, it’s just that they are often fed up of vulnerable and often grief- stricken people paying out money to people who (even well-meaning) are likely just imagining things. Or at worse, making things up.
Do not turn to mediums or consult spiritists, or you will be defiled by them; I am the LORD your God. Leviticus 19:31
Derren (known for his fancy hypnosis tricks) was actually a religious youngster. And has no problem with those who are. He says that he has talked to a couple of people who have seen ghosts, and he believes them to be genuine and authentic. It’s the other side of new age quackery he has issue with:
I imagine that the occult appeals more to the social outcast with a grudge, rather than the standard do-gooder, lobotomized flower-fairy.
He talks of a million dollar prize fund to any psychic who can prove what they do is real:
This is money that could be kept or given to a charity, not to mention the likelihood of also receiving a Nobel prize and the ability to give the world vital new knowledge that would change us forever. We can look forward to verified psychics working with governments and scientists to help us find peace and understand the nature of eternity, rather than merely pass on bland condolences or upsetting revelations from the Other Side. Or maybe they have better things to do.
