The Demonologist: The Extraordinary Career of Ed and Lorraine Warren (32 page)

Besides loss of self and “metamorphosis,” a third factor unseen in cases of mental illness is the occurrence of distinctly supernatural phenomena in the vicinity of the possessed individual. “In cases of possession, external, observable phenomena occur about fifty percent of the time,” Ed notes. “The activity tends to be of the order of levitation, teleportation, materialization, and dematerialization of physical objects. The demonic spirit brings about unnatural activity to
prove
to witnesses that inhuman powers are in effect In a nutshell, the distinction between mental illness and true diabolical possession is often as different as night and day.”

When a person has truly come under possession by the demonic, only exorcism will reverse this humiliating seizure of a human being. But it is not simply the body that the demonic takes into bondage, but ultimately, the soul—the metaphysical essence of the human being. “If you want to understand why exorcism is necessary,” says Ed, “then you’ve got to understand what man’s got going for himself. He’s got life, he’s got free will, and he's got that
touch of grace
called soul. The life and free will part belong to man, but, theoretically, the soul belongs to God. So to use an analogy, the soul is like a relic of God that man’s been given and told not to lose. But along comes the demonic spirit that sees man as the hateful image of God, and so it attacks the soul, for no other reason than spite—to withhold it from God as a show of force. In
The Exorcist
case, the letters
S-P- I-T-E
actually showed up in red welts on the possessed boy’s chest.

“Nevertheless, the demonic spirit can’t just possess a body and take the soul—because if it could, it would! Instead, it's got to find a way to get it from you. This it does either by breaking down the will, or by influencing the will away from the positive and toward the negative. In time, if permission is granted or if the influence has been successful, there comes a point when possession must almost inevitably take place. And in most cases of possession, the spirit claims it has
earned
the soul because it was able to effectively dominate the person’s will. Even if the person has been tricked, this is basically true; so the only thing that can be done is to exorcise the spirit, then reeducate the person to the black facts of life.”

Exorcism
literally means “to cast out evil spirits in the name of God.” All major religions have some form of exorcism ritual as part of their liturgy. The ritual with which most people are familiar is the
Rituale Romanum
which was developed by the Church of Rome for the express purpose of exorcising diabolical spirits from the body of man. Not all exorcisms are of a major order, however. As a religious procedure, exorcisms vary in type and function.

“There are minor and major exorcisms,” Ed Warren explains. “Minor exorcisms take the form of a blessing. In fact, it’s a rare person who hasn’t undergone the most basic rite of exorcism. Although it’s not generally known, baptism is actually an exorcism ritual, and one of the chief reasons why so few people come under spontaneous possession during the course of their lives.

“Beyond that, minor exorcisms are intended to clear a house of demonic spirits, or rid a person of negative spirits that may be bringing about oppression. The point is, a negative influence can dominate a person or dwelling simply because there isn’t any positive influence to counteract it. When a blessing is performed, positive supernatural power is deliberately and methodically brought to bear to counteract the negative. The clergy man conducts the ritual in the name of God. As a result, if the demonic violates the exorcism, it doesn't have to contend with the clergyman, but with the wrath of God.”

Even though minor exorcism may clear a dwelling of negative spirits, in reality, the demonic does not possess homes or objects. Reverend Christopher Neil-Smith, an Anglican clergyman and one of the better-known exorcists in the world, explains it this way in his book
The Exorcist and the Possessed:

Exorcism is not intended essentially to deal with ghosts or even houses, but with states of soul of living people molested by evil spirits.... Evil comes through people and [exorcism] only has a secondary or residual effect on places or houses. Places are affected because the people who lived there enacted evil deeds.

Thus a home has no soul; the devil has no soul. Only a person has a soul; and it is that unique commodity, that key to immortality that the demonic seeks to possess—if only to destroy it. For this reason, major exorcism of the possessed is not a passive blessing, but an active expulsion of spirit entities that will not leave unless properly commanded to do so. In contemporary terms, demonic spirits are inhuman terrorists that possess an individual’s body and hold the soul as hostage; major exorcism is therefore a prayerful procedure for freeing the soul from such tyranny. “When a major exorcism must be conducted, it means that an inhuman spirit has possessed a person’s body and soul, and that soul has
got
to be saved,” Ed declares.

In the West German case, the ritual of exorcism performed over Anneliese Michel was the
Rituale Romanum,
the
major
ritual of exorcism. It is a black day indeed when this ritual must be performed. Because if it has been determined necessary to perform a major exorcism, church authorities will have so judged after long and diligent deliberation that a human being has been possessed by that which calls itself Legion. And this is no frivolous decision; in fact, before church authorities will even contemplate a major exorcism, the evidence for possession must be unchallengeable and overwhelming. All natural explanations must be eliminated, while all supernatural claims must be proven and verified.

The individual under possession will have to be thoroughly examined by a medical doctor. Brain tumors, hormonal imbalances and narcosis, for example, are just three of many routine factors that can alter an individual, physically or mentally. Even if examinations, X-rays, and medical tests show the person to be physically sound, a psychiatric examination will be called for next Abnormal psychology is tricky and complex, and the consulting psychiatrist is charged with determining whether or not the person is possessed or experiencing delusion, hallucination, multiple personality, or any of a variety of mental disorders that seem like possession.

While the individual’s physical and psychological health are being checked out, church authorities will assign a demonologist to the case.

“The demonologist is responsible for conducting an onsite investigation to determine the validity of any alleged case of possession,” Ed explains. “This investigation involves interviewing all persons related to the case, including the individual purported to be under possession, to learn if factors were present, or actions were committed, that could have permitted an in human spirit to inflict possession. If external phenomena have been reported in association with the case, the demonologist must personally witness the occurrence of any such activity; then determine whether that activity was caused by natural or supernatural agencies. Lastly, the demonologist must witness the possession in order to assess the nature, power, and number of spirits involved, and if at all possible, attempt to learn the identity of the possessing entities.

“Yet the demonic spirit is hardly eager to reveal itself to someone in authority who would be able to bring about its expulsion,” Ed goes on. “So in cases where possession is not readily apparent, which happens about half the time, the demonologist is forced to use religious provocation—kind of like using tear gas—to bring the entity forward.”

When asked for a specific example, Ed rattles off at least a dozen cases where he’s had to use provocation to test for possession, and then expands on one particular case that certainly illustrates the process.

“In this case, I was dealing with a very refined, very beautiful Hispanic woman, about twenty-five years of age, who drew a demonic spirit into her home by fooling around with an automatic writing device,” Ed relates. “As is often the case, the possession was noticed not by the victim but by members of the immediate family. These folks became aware of the problem when they heard crude, coarse men’s voices talking out loud in this young woman’s bedroom. When family members, concerned for her safety, actually went into the bedroom, they were astonished to find that the voices were
coming out of the woman,
although she was sound asleep at the time. When they tried to rouse her, she would raise up out of bed and come at them snarling, with her teeth bared, and her fingers curled up like claws.

“Before I became involved in the case, the family had already gone the whole route with doctors and psychiatrists who gave these people no help whatsoever. Having reached an impasse, they consulted their own Baptist minister, who was then instrumental in putting the family in touch with me.

“Upon interrogating the family about the young woman’s unnatural behavior, I made an afternoon appointment to interview her during the daylight hours when she was home. Now when you’re dealing with the demonic, you’re dealing with something that’s dangerous. For this reason, when I went to the family’s home, I arrived with three big football players who attended a nearby college. Also present in the house that afternoon was the woman’s father and the Baptist minister, both of them as big and burly as the football players.

“Before I went into the house, I told these young fellows I was going to have the young lady sit in the middle of the living room couch, and then I picked the two biggest guys and told them they were to sit on either side of her. I gave one of them a small silver crucifix to put in his pocket. I explained that when I nodded, the young fellow was to reach into his pocket, cup the crucifix in the palm of his hand, discreetly place his arm up on the back of the couch, and then move the crucifix up behind the nape of her neck.

“The usual test for possession is accomplished by the recitation of prayers, readings from the Bible, or by exposing the possessed to a crucifix or some other
blessed
holy object. The object or method of provocation naturally depends upon the demonologist’s religious persuasion. I’m Catholic, so I use Christian methods. But it’s not my style to stand around reading prayers and whatnot, so when I have to provoke—as you may have noticed—I use a blessed crucifix because I find it to be the quickest and most certain test

“When we went inside, the father and Baptist minister were waiting with the young woman. I asked her to take a seat in the middle of the couch. The two football players then sat next to her, as I’d instructed them to do. I asked the third young fellow to stand nonchalantly beside me, yet be ready to grab the girl if necessary. With that, I began asking the young woman a run of ordinary questions: ‘How do you feel?’ ‘What do you do for a living?’ and so forth. After about five minutes, I nodded to the fellow with the cross, who casually put his arm up on the sofa behind the woman’s neck.

“The moment he brought that crucifix up to the nape of her neck, a big studio chair on the far side of the room tumbled over on its own. A few seconds later, a table turned over and crashed to the floor. Knockings and rappings started up in the walls, followed by concussive poundings on the roof that sounded like a giant was walking on top of the house. Next, a big table lamp lifted up in the air, flew across the living room, and smashed against a wall.

“Seeing and hearing all this, the father was utterly terrified,” Ed says compassionately, “and I thought the poor Baptist minister was going to go out of his skull right then and there. As this was happening, the beautiful young woman's features transformed into that of a gross, subhuman beast. Growling animal sounds began emanating from her body, and at the same time she clawed up her fingers and tried to come at me and tear my face apart. All five of those men, the three football players, the father, and the minister—weighing well over a thousand pounds—were just barely able to restrain her. In that case I subdued the spirit by holding a second crucifix right between the woman’s eyes, and then commanded the possessing entity to leave, which it did after about five minutes.”

Having related this provocation incident, Ed then plays the original tape recording of the episode in the young woman’s house. It proved to be an awesome, ugly demonstration of inhuman hate, rage, and violence.

“Briefly, therefore, as a demonologist, I interviewed the family, witnessed external phenomena occur in the room with the possessed, and confronted the entity in the presence of witnesses. Having gained this information, I recommended that exorcism be carried out in her case, which was then performed some two weeks later. As a consequence, that woman is free today and lives a respectable life in the New York City area.”

Although reports and recommendations submitted by medical examiners and the officiating demonologist may often be enough to convince church authorities of the need for exorcism, usually additional evidence must be brought forward to ratify that need overwhelmingly—especially where the
Rituale Romanum
is concerned. For example, tape recordings, photographs, test instrument readings, materialized substances or objects have to be submitted as hard physical evidence that distinctly “preternatural” phenomena have occurred. Also, credible witnesses will be required to testify to changes in the possessed’s character and demeanor, and when applicable, confirm that unnatural activity has gone on in their presence. The criteria for judging possession, particularly for Catholic exorcisms, are strict Because in addition to all the above, no judgment of exorcism will be given unless there is at least one
yes
answer to these four critical questions:

• Has the individual divulged hidden or future knowledge?

• Has the possessed individual spoken in “tongues” or languages previously unknown to him?

• Has the individual demonstrated inhuman powers, or brought about activity distinctly beyond the bounds of human ability?

• Has the possessing entity identified itself by name or given some indisputable sign of a diabolical presence?