Dabblers Beware!
This is a story that clearly illustrates the dangers in dabbling with the unknown. A few years ago, a friend of mine reported some disturbances she was experiencing in her house. The activity was strange enough to warrant an investigation. She reported seeing furniture move, seemingly on its own. Doors opened and closed repeatedly. Items would fall off tables despite the fact that no one was near them. It sounded like a case of recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis. RSPK is a term used by parapsychologists to describe a phenomenon in which objects move seemingly by themselves but which are actually being moved by the subconscious mind of someone present. It is felt that most, if not all cases of poltergeist activity fit into this category. On that, I disagree. While there is certainly some validity to theory of RSPK, many types of phenomena have been witnessed that cannot be adequately explained by this theory alone. RSPK tends to be mindless bursts of energy. In poltergeist hauntings, something is directing the activity. The fact that there appeared to be no intelligence at work seemed to rule out a poltergeist.
Upon arriving at the house an initial interview was conducted. In addition to questions about the activity, this consisted of questions about family backgrounds, religious beliefs and belief systems in general. These interviews can be helpful in determining not only if something is there but also what it might be. It can also give you a good idea of why it is there. That is very important because it will determine how to go about trying to stop the phenomena. Frankly, after the initial interview, there did not seem to be any obvious reason for the activity she was describing. She didn't dabble in the occult. She and her family were religious, positive people. Also, she had been living in the house for several years, apparently without a problem. It didn't seem likely that either the laws of invitation or attraction had been violated. Also, the problem was probably not indigenous to the house. The phenomena had begun about 6 weeks prior to her contacting me. When I asked her if there had been any significant changes in her life around the time the activity started, she said she did not know of any. This was perplexing.
While touring the house, she stated that strange things were happening all over but much of it centered in one bedroom. That was the obvious place to start. Surprisingly, that one door was locked. A friend of the family had just moved in there while he was looking for a place of his own. He told her that he didn't want the children in there because he had some very expensive items. She produced a key and we went in. My ability to discern, although somewhat limited, was strong enough to know that something was wrong with that room.
A quick look around showed nothing except a statue of the Blessed Mother. Further investigation revealed some interesting items placed carefully under the bed. There was a devotional candle with 7 colors. Also, there were two bowls. One was filled with water and the other one was filled with what appeared to be blood. There was a chicken leg and a partially smoked cigar. Having seen this before, it was a pretty good bet that these things represented Santeria, a religion that is a combination of voodoo and Catholicism. Each color of the candle represented one of the seven African powers. However, there were a few things though that didn't seem to fit. I asked her when her friend moved in, she said it had been "about 6 weeks ago." Bingo. There is a lesson to be learned here: always be alert. Important information often comes up in casual conversation after your formal interview. When she was told what these things represented, she got visibly upset. Being from the Dominican Republic, she had heard of Santeria and in fact, believed in it. I had no idea what he was doing but there was no doubt that this is where the problem started. I told her that and suggested that she talk to her friend and ask him to stop doing whatever he was doing until he found his own apartment.
That night, we talked to her friend who assured her that what he was doing was intended to be good, although he did not elaborate. During that interview the thing that bothered me came to light. What he was doing was not strictly Santeria; his practices were eclectic. There were elements of Palo Mayombe and Brujeria mixed in. These are religions similar to Santeria but tend to be used more for darker purposes. He admitted that he wasn't really following Santeria exactly and that much of what he was doing, he made up himself. When the potential danger of what he was doing was explained to him, he seemed genuinely surprised. At that point, my friend told him that she did not want him doing that in her house. The activity was bad enough by itself but she was especially concerned for her children. He assured her he would stop this practice. This is not an indictment on anyone's religion; it is just that what he was doing was dangerous. By mixing in a little of this and a little of that, he was dabbling with forces beyond his understanding and certainly beyond his control.
Things seemed to calm down after that. Two weeks later, my friend came to me quite upset. She said the activity was back and it was worsening. She also said that it was now spread throughout the entire house. She told me of hearing knockings, always in threes, a bad sign. She also told me how a pack of batteries her son had just opened had exploded on the bed. Fortunately, he was not injured. Also, she began hearing footsteps when she was alone in the house. Needless to say, this set off a lot of warning bells. It also lay to rest any thoughts of RSPK. It now seemed likely that there was a spirit at work. Another appointment was made to see the house. Once there, I went straight to that one room. In it, I did not find anything obvious. The bowls were gone as was the statue. It appeared that her friend had stopped what he was doing. As we were leaving the room, something caught my attention. There seemed to be a grayish powder on the floor by the door. In fact, when we traced it, we found that it encircled the room. When he was asked about it later that day, he told her that it was ground bones, human bones! He went on to explain how he believed that the bones of the dead could help those of the living. He was actually trying to protect himself from the very things he brought in to help him! There is a lesson to be learned here. Spirits are not going to do our bidding. They are only going to do what pleases them and for that, they will exact a terrible price. We are fools if we think otherwise.
Well, we cleaned the room totally. I then sprinkled holy water where the powder had been. A priest friend of mine once told me that an effective way to clear out spirits is to do a four-corner blessing in the room. Father Ritchie, interestingly enough, has performed exorcisms in Guatemala, where he is assigned. Together, we said a prayer designed to rid the house off all evil influences. That prayer was repeated in every room. Shortly after that, the man involved moved into his own apartment. I kept in contact with her for about two years. It seemed that the activity had ceased once and for all. Hopefully, that is still true today. As we all know, we are never quite sure what the final outcome will be. Only time can answer that question. It seemed that stopping the precipitating activity along with the prayers were enough to stop the activity in this particular case. For that we have to thank God. What would have happened had he continued with his rituals, we can only wonder. It certainly would not have been anything good. In fact, it would have led to a serious haunting and one that would have been difficult to stop. Hauntings caused by spirits of the occult are the most difficult to deal with because they almost always involve demonic spirits. Fortunately, the problem was stopped before the spirit had a chance to get a strong foothold.
It is always dangerous to play around with things that we know little about. It is easy to open doors to the spirit world but it can be difficult to close them. Sometimes we mistakenly try to harness powers that are far more powerful than we are, powers we were never meant to interact with. Fortunately, this case had a happy ending but dabblers, beware…
What follows is one prayer that I have used successfully. There are many available.
A CLEANSING PRAYER
Heavenly Father, I ask that your Blessing be upon this house and all its occupants. Protect all who dwell here and deliver them from any and all evil influences. Bind and remove any unclean spirits that may be here and protect this family from further attacks. I ask this in the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord. I bless this room (making the Sign of the Cross) In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
© 1998 T. Cooney