The Demonologist: The Extraordinary Career of Ed and Lorraine Warren (10 page)

“The phenomena are there, really there! That’s why I say, either you know
or
you don’t know spirit phenomena exist. If you don’t know, go investigate the findings yourself, but don't tell me you don’t believe in spirits. Because I'll
prove
them to you: in fact, I’ll show you things that go on in this world that you wouldn’t believe could happen!”

Despite the vast amount of data scientists and other investigators have been able to collect, the scientific approach nevertheless remains somewhat of a double-edged sword. Although the scientist may be able to confirm unusual phenomena, he is really in no position to judge whether that activity is being
caused
by spirit agents. For this reason, the most appropriate role for science in the study of the supernatural is to show where strange events are
not
the work of spirits. Because, more often than not, natural explanations can be found for the occurrence of unusual activities in a home.

“Misinterpretation, misidentification, delusion, and hallucination account for a great deal of reported ‘supernatural’ activity,” Ed points out "A string of coincidences may lead a family to jump to the conclusion that they’ve got a ghost. Other people may hear ‘spirit voices’ when actually their hi-fi speaker is picking up radio waves on its own. Faulty house wiring will cause lights to flicker or appliances to fail when the circuits are overloaded. And, people with paranoid tendencies will seize on any unusual activity to satisfy their fantasies.

“Many times people will read a horror story or watch a scary movie and spook themselves. In a few weeks, these people come to believe they have a ghost in the basement or a vampire in the attic, and you can’t convince them otherwise. So they hire so-called experts to come in and get rid of their ‘ghost.’ These experts will come into the house, parade around in wizard robes, set off smoke charges from a magic shop, recite a bunch of mumbo-jumbo, and generally put on a performance! Then they’ll charge thousands of dollars for occult services rendered. This will go on until they've wrung every last cent out of these poor people. I know of one instance where these kinds of fakers bilked two women out of fifty thousand dollars!”

Perhaps the primary
legitimate
explanation for peculiar goings-on in a house is
psychokinesis,
the power of the mind to levitate or teleport small objects through space. PK, as it’s abbreviated, is caused by the transfer of psychic energy to objects. Typically, the individual giving off this energy is under a great deal of stress. Frustrated or angry children are quite often the source of PK activity. Though unusual psychokinesis may be similar to phenomena brought about by spirits," Ed indicates, "PK levitations rarely involve weights of over one pound. No experiment has yet shown the human mind able to move weights of over two pounds. Demonic spirits, by contrast, regularly move furniture or appliances that would require two strong men to lift.

“Sometimes there are everyday physical reasons for strange movements,” he continues, “such as magnetic or geological disturbances in the area where strange movements are reported. Now and then, electricity creates forces that bring about a suspension of gravity or other unusual effects near walls. Electrical baseboard heating can generate static electricity that may attract or levitate lightweight plastic or paper items. Inside the walls, steel pipes and other metal objects have been known to become magnetized, thus giving them the power to attract small nails or paper clips. Although such activity may
look
mysterious, what’s really happening is perfectly normal. On those occasions when there is neither a human nor a physical explanation for strange events, then spirits do in fact tend to be the cause of the disturbance. And when spirits
are
at fault, then over half the time the activity can be attributed to
in
human spirit agencies."

Yet, unusual phenomena, in and of itself, are not the demonologist’s primary concern. That tends to be the work of the parapsychologist, who studies unusual phenomena from the scientific point of view. In the past, parapsychology received a lot of bad press because those who called themselves parapsychologists were often self-ordained experts waving mail-order degrees as credentials. Nowadays, though, the subject is a legitimate area of inquiry, being studied by accredited professionals in major universities and research organizations.

“In general,” Ed asserts, “the parapsychologist is looking for one thing and one thing only: a link between unusual phenomena and the latent abilities of man’s mind. However, when the parapsychologist comes up against inhuman spirit phenomena, he tends to refer to it as 'poltergeist' activity.
Poltergeist
is an old German word meaning ‘noisy or mischievous ghost.' The term is poor bookkeeping though, because it doesn’t specify or come to grips with the
true
cause of the disturbance.

“Yet parapsychology, because it is allied to science, can offer only explanations falling within the range of approved scientific concepts and testing techniques. As a result, the parapsychologist is often put in the contradictory position of analyzing the supernatural realm with principles that apply only to the natural realm. Unfortunately, given this limitation, the parapsychologist frequently concludes that what he can’t test is not there at all. Hence, he uses a noncommittal word like ‘poltergeist’ when more specific language is called for.”

As Ed notes, “Much spirit phenomena is invisible and unmeasurable; the outward manifestations represent only part of a much bigger picture that can’t be measured with testing instruments. Though parapsychology has given us much data on unusual phenomena and its link to man, it has still never approached an understanding of the true principles of metaphysics governing most of spirit phenomena. In fact, as a rule, the parapsychologist does not believe in the existence of spirits—sometimes even to the point of being ridiculous. Just recently, for example, I was in a home where I knew a spirit was causing the trouble. I casually mentioned this to the head researcher on the project. ‘There’s no such thing as spirits,’ he told me. Well, no sooner did he say that, than a tissue box lifted up in the air, flew across the room, and hit him squarely in the head. ‘I think I stand corrected this time,’ he said, astonished.”

The Warrens do not consider themselves parapsychologists, since there is a fundamental difference between parapsychology and demonology. Parapsychology gives no credence to the supernatural; whereas demonology is concerned
only
with supernatural events. Although both the parapsychologist and demonologist may investigate the same case, each tends to look at the same phenomena from entirely different perspectives.

“My work,” says Ed, “is to make sure people aren’t hurt—physically or mentally—and to put a stop to the phenomena, or get hold of someone who can. When the demonic is involved, that ‘someone' is ultimately the clergy. The parapsychologist, in my experience, seems only concerned with his log book. He’s usually at an investigation because he’s been sent there, or he’s working on some sort of grant. He looks at
people
as being the source of the problem, and his job is to list and record as much phenomena as he can. And he jolly well better not go back to his superiors with an explanation that a ghost was behind the disturbance!

“I don’t have these problems. I go into a case as a psychic investigator first,” Ed continues. “I go in
not
expecting to find spirit activity. If I satisfy myself that no spirit is involved, I leave. As a demonologist, I am only interested in
supernatural
phenomena: if it’s natural, it’s not my thing. Natural activity will go on aimlessly and eventually resolve itself. But supernatural disturbances take place for a
reason.
The scientist may have spent months at a haunting site and nothing testable happens. Then I come on the scene one afternoon with religious objects,
provoke
what’s there, and suddenly, right in front of witnesses, all hell breaks loose. These are unnatural phenomena: you’ve got to go beyond the science book to find the answers here.”

“In our work,” Lorraine picks up, “we’re not just interested in the phenomena, as the strict scientist tends to be. The basis of our work is with people because most of the time, spirit activity is directed
at
people. We’ll come in on a case where the family has been under siege for some time. Often the police, psychologists, parapsychologists will have told these individuals that they’re imagining things, or aren’t telling the truth. They say this because they don’t understand—or don’t
want
to understand—spirit phenomena.

“Given our experiences, we see things differently; we see otherwise normal people in the grips of true terror. We don’t summarily dismiss them as being off balance, or tell them they’re overreacting. We ask them
why
their feelings are so intense. You know, sometimes people in a case will stay out all day long, then come home late at night just to avoid their home because they know it’s haunted. Other times, people will be oppressed to become prisoners in their house and never go outside. This
is
not normal behavior.”

“To put it another way,” says Ed, “when I had to get the keys from George Lutz to go into the Amityville house, George wouldn’t come any closer than four blocks to his own home! This is a big, burly man with a red belt in karate, an ex-Marine. He doesn’t respect what’s not there. Before moving into that Amityville house, George’s attitude was that the dead are dead and can’t hurt anything. That night when he handed me the keys, I asked him what he saw inside the house. He looked me right straight in the eye and said, ‘Mr. Warren,
you know what I saw.’

“That’s the people aspect,” Ed points out. “But the phenomena are also important. As a demonologist, I look for certain types of activity, because it’s my job—and that of the specialist clergy—to determine if there is an external agent; if, in fact, there is an intelligence behind the activity—an intelligence that is supernatural in origin.”

But how can the Warrens know if an intelligence is truly behind the disturbance, when that external agent is invisible?

Lorraine explains it this way: “Although this intelligence often chooses to remain invisible, there
is
no mistaking what’s behind the phenomena, especially if it is an inhuman demonic spirit. Activity will occur in circles, in reverse, counterclockwise, or in distinct violation of the laws of physics. Stones, for instance, or nuts and bolts will fall out of the blue sky onto a home under demonic attack. These stones will come down with such force that they may actually penetrate the roof. We have seen the same downpour of stones happen
inside
a house as well. And so that it will be understood that these events are
not
of natural origin, the objects will fall in a zigzag manner, in defiance of the laws of gravity so there is no question as to what’s really behind them. This falling of stones or even small animals like frogs or fish isn’t rare, by the way—it happens somewhere in this country about once a week.

“And it won’t just be objects falling: a dozen other unnatural things will be happening inside the home at the very same time. And all the while this outward show of phenomena is going on, a similar, subjective assault will be launched against the people themselves. Terrifying things, like innocent children becoming debased monsters with superhuman strength. Or adults suddenly aging overnight, or taking on features of the dead. And many times, these effects are not totally reversible. Yes, these things happen! This is very real, very serious business. When the demonic is responsible for a disturbance, lives are often ruined."

When the Warrens are called in to investigate a possible demoniacal presence, what procedure do they use to determine the nature of the spirit present?

“When a case is referred to us,” Ed answers, “it’s usually through church authorities. Once we learn about the problem, we immediately contact the principals involved. Naturally, time is of the essence. We are dealing with something quite capable of causing injury, even death.

“Once we arrive at the scene, I sit the family down and interrogate them completely. I tape-record these interviews. I’ve got thousands of cases on tape. Generally I say very little so that the people have to tell
me
what they’ve experienced. I listen for certain clues and characteristics that distinguish the performance of the demonic spirit from other types of phenomena.

"I’ll want to know, for instance,
when
the family experiences the activity. Most spirit problems occur during the night, after the sun goes down. Has the family noticed odd smells in the house or quick fluctuations of temperature? Often a spirit projects odors to signal its presence, or draws energy from the room, leaving it freezing cold. Have they heard noises that resemble the sound of a stranger in the house? Doors that slam by themselves, muted talking, heavy breathing, lights being switched on and off are strong indications of a spirit presence. Is the family awakened at specific hours of the night? Many times a spirit will re-create its own tragedy at the same time every day, usually at the moment its physical life was ended. Is the family afraid to enter some particular room or area of the house? A human spirit will tend to remain in a room that was familiar to it in life; an inhuman spirit will dwell in an area of the house that it finds the most psychically hospitable.

“If I get yeses to a number of these questions then I go further and ask have they used a Ouija board. This is the most common way negative spirits are brought in. Have they conducted a séance? Those who encourage invisible entities to enter their home often draw in spirits of a kind they never knew existed. Have they performed satanic or black witchcraft rituals? People may laugh about selling their soul to the devil, but the sorry fact is, it can be done—and quite easily, at that. Has anyone in the family been inside a haunted house? A person who shows enough interest to go into a truly haunted house is apt to bring a desperate spirit home with him. Have they been having realistic dreams or threatening nightmares that later come true? Many times, sudden knowledge of future events is a sign of a spirit presence. Spirits often communicate to people through the dream state when the unconscious is open and receptive. Have they killed anyone, by accident or otherwise? The grave is not the end, and a ghost seeking revenge for an untimely death is sometimes capable of exacting its own form of justice. Has a member of the family been in contact with someone who is possessed or who routinely performs occult rituals? More often than not, individuals who are possessed or engage in the black arts are surrounded by a multitude of spirits. A vulnerable person who comes in contact with the possessed—or even with a dabbler in the occult—risks coming under the influence of spirits himself, whether the influence is wanted or not. Does anyone in the family know if he has been cursed? This sounds like superstition, but I’ve personally dealt with dozens of cases where people were cursed or damned by others in a methodical way. One of the worst cases of possession ever recorded by the Roman Catholic Church in America occurred in the 1920s when a father cursed his own daughter to the devil.