Fighting Malevolent Spirits: A Demonologist's Darkest Encounters (12 page)

Instead of the house bursting into demonic flames while I splash the rooms with holy water, the house slowly begins to calm as the white sage smoke gently lulls everyone into a calmer state. It’s similar to group meditation or yoga in the morning—with a side of uncertainty—but almost everyone feels at peace.

I heard Shannon and Kacey quietly reciting prayers in the living room and I encouraged them to be as loud as they wanted and to command the demon out with conviction and authority. This was
their
home, not the demon’s, and it no longer had any right to be there. The women needed to finally feel in control and to sense that they, too, had a significant role in casting out the entity. I am not some special, holy person. I am just a normal being who wants to help others finally escape the abuse and oppression caused by a demon.

“Are you sure?” Kacey asked with an uncertain tone.

“Yes. Feel free to be as loud as you want. The demon needs to hear you, and to realize that you are
not
going to be bullied anymore. You are taking your life back and you are reclaiming your home. This is when your anger and frustration with the haunting can be proactive and help motivate you.”

Kacey began to holler into the spaces throughout her home. “In the name of God … you need to leave
now
, demon! This is
my
home! Not yours! This is my family! Not yours! And this is
my
life! Get out now!”

I was a bit surprised with how much confidence and gusto Kacey performed. It’s fun and touching to see some people finally let loose and to climb out from underneath the thumb and oppression of evil. It’s like a revelation for them, and I can see the light coming back into their hearts and minds.
I can defend myself
…
I can help make this entity leave
, they suddenly realize. It is truly liberating.

Even though both women were shouting their prayers and commands, little Holly laid calmly in her mother’s lap dosing off to sleep. She was protected. As Kacey and Shannon continued their effort in the battle, Carl and I headed down into the basement to confront the entity head-on.

Although most basements are cooler than the main floor level, I could feel a severe and dramatic drop in temperature as we descended the stairs. The atmosphere had become damp and clammy. The cold clung to the hairs on my arms and I felt weighed down by the heaviness in the air. It reminded me of a time when I fell into extremely cold water and my lungs had a hard time opening for air. I wanted to breathe but it was staggered and I struggled for oxygen.

“Wow …” I muttered to Carl. Carl was silent and I assumed he was experiencing the same intense sensations as I was. I sometimes pictured a demon crouching in the corner of the room, beckoning me with a crooked finger “
come closer
…”

Demons seem to enjoy luring me into their “domain.” Demons always seem to have an animalistic quality about them. There is nothing human about them and, aside from their intelligence, they are as foreign as a wild animal pretending to be a human. Although they appear to have “emotions and thoughts” they could care less for human life and obtain all the foulest characteristics you could imagine: jealousy, rage, hatred, gluttony, sexual perversion, violence … the list could go on. The majority of people would never harm an animal and would be nauseated at the thought of taking an innocent puppy’s life. Not a demon. They simply do not have any remorse, guilt, or sorrow. It is like an empty, vacant sociopath that would stare you in the eyes and tell you that
it
enjoyed disemboweling your favorite pet.

I have a healthy hatred for demons. But I also, ironically, feel sorry for them because they live such a pointless, miserable existence and are so far from the light of God that the darkness must be all-consuming and dreadful.

When I reached the bottom of the stairs in the basement, we decided to remove the blankets and sheets that were blocking the door’s window into the garage room. As the fabric fell to the floor in a pile I saw into the dark and seemingly empty room. However, it was far from empty. I felt the distinct sensation of having stared the entity directly in the eyes, although no visible evidence was there. It felt like I had made eye contact with the serial killer I was about to go to trial against in court. It was literally a face-off.

Carl distracted me as he began anointing the walls in the corner by Holly’s playroom with olive oil and his blessed cloth.

I headed towards Carl. As I moved away from the garage room I saw a dark shadow dart past the door. The demon was making a break for it and was trying to find refuge in another area.

“In the name of God, any dark, evil, and unclean spirits must leave this home at once! You have no right to be here. May the light of God shine down upon you and scatter you from this home! By the power of God I command you to leave!” I wafted the heavy plumes of smoke into every corner and felt the smoke sterilizing the darkness and negativity. It almost had a sanitizing effect. “You may not scare or harm this family. You are not allowed to bully them or to subdue them with fear. This is a house of God and you cannot exist amongst the light of God. Where God is present, you shall perish! Leave now!”

As I continued my efforts in the basement, Shannon broke away from her prayers upstairs and kept saying, “Oh God!” I called up to her and asked if she was okay.

“I just keep seeing that screaming face in my mind’s eye. It is the same face I saw on my bedroom’s ceiling!” Shannon was close to tears.

“Shannon, you have to stay strong!” I yelled to her. “The demon is trying to put up a final fight and you have to be strong. Since it is most attached to you, it will try to intimidate you. Do not feel fear. You will only feed it further. I want you to imagine a bright, white light enveloping you and your entire body. It is the presence of God. Pray that God protects you and helps you through this.”

Shannon grew silent and I knew she was battling with the demon inside her mind. It’s hard to envision the light of God when being swallowed by darkness. I had finished my rounds with the white sage in the basement, but still needed to bless the garage room. I pulled open the heavy door, which required more effort than I expected. A wave of ice-cold air hit me and traveled through my core. As I entered the room, a stale and terrible smell permeated the air. The room felt heavier than when we examined it during the walkthrough. It seemed as though I were attempting to walk through a dense fog.

“Here we go.” Carl valiantly pressed forward and joined me in the room. “It smells terrible in here!”

I agreed and began blowing on to the white sage bundle, trying to encourage more smoke to rise. Amazingly, the smoke began to billow out of the shell and towards the floor, as if I were handling dry ice. Last I knew, heat and smoke were supposed to rise, not sink. “This is really strange. I have never seen that before.”

Carl looked to see what I was referring to and I saw his expression change to confusion as he watched the smoke fall towards the floor. “Just keep going and let’s clear out this room.”

Finally, I ignored the strange behavior of the smoke and headed into each corner. Even wafting the smoke with the feather wand felt heavier than normal.
Then again, what was
normal
? During moments like this I nearly accepted any
strange phenomena as normal and nothing to fret about—it was how I coped with the oddities I came across in the paranormal world. Sasquatch could have strolled into the room with an evening suit on and I probably would try to stay calm and continue on with the blessing. I had to stay focused.

Carl went through each area with the olive oil and his blessed cloth and finished the blessing in the room. It was a relief to feel the room lighten and to actually breathe comfortable air. I no longer felt like I was stuck in some meat locker, but rather, I was in a normal basement. Although I do not like entertaining investigations with demonic cases, I would have been fascinated to see if there were measurable changes in the temperature that correlated with our blessing.

We started our way up the stairs to the main floor and I could sense that the entity had not yet released its grasp on the home and family. “How is it down there?” Kacey asked.

I still had to finish blessing the whole main level of the house but it felt a lot better. I reassured her that I was seeing positive results and that the entity was weakening. I was amazed to see that Holly was still fast asleep in Shannon’s arms despite the unsettling experience Shannon had while we were in the basement. Sometimes I really do believe God or angelic spirits protect the children during a blessing.

After opening all the closets and doors, I made my way through the kitchen, the bathrooms, bedrooms, and finally into Shannon’s bedroom. Carl and I each chose separate corners to begin blessing when we heard a peculiar sound—a low, deep rumble. I glanced around to see what the disturbance was, only to find that Shannon’s dresser was vibrating.

Carl and I both stopped our movements to make sure the floorboards were not causing the commotion. The vibrating continued. I walked over to the dresser and began praying over it while my hand was placed on top. After a minute of time had passed, the rumbling subsided as if an engine were slowly coming to a halt. We resumed blessing the bedroom and prayed that there would not be any further distractions in hopes of finally finishing the ceremony.

As if on cue, I finished reciting the last of the prayers when I felt the darkness lift from the home. I felt as if the house breathed a sigh of relief and a black sheet was pulled off of the roof. Maybe the white sage was getting to my senses, but everything seemed brighter again and more vivid. The euphoria present in the home was overpowering and I felt as relaxed and smooth as room-temperature butter (real organic butter, not margarine).

“Well, there you have it!” we laughed. God’s light and love poured in through the windows and doors of the home like a warm ocean wave washing over the family, healing their cuts and wounds.

Great Spirit’s power never ceases to amaze me. After experiencing such intense encounters with the dark, I will never deny that there is a God. I hope that you, too, will consider the unseen world and that there are never coincidences, and everything is meant to happen for a reason—for a lesson.

After holding a closing prayer and giving thanks with the family, I went about the usual routine of packing away my supplies and belongings. Now that I had finished my rounds with their demon, I had to return home to face my own demons … homework and writing a thesis.

The last time I spoke with Kacey, she said that her home had finally returned to normal and they were no longer experiencing paranormal encounters of any kind. I sent information and techniques for Kacey to use in order to protect herself while at work in the cemetery. Shannon’s attitude improved greatly and their disputes returned to a minimal level. Holly is now living in a safe and loving home and my mind and heart have been put to rest. I hope their lives continue to improve and that they are never plagued by darkness again.

[contents]

CHAPTER 6

TAYLOR, MICHIGAN CASE

—INCUBUS/SUCCUBUS

N
ot all hauntings
are successfully removed. Sometimes it takes repeated attempts to cast out an entity. Other times the clients or the parties involved give up for various reasons. For whatever reason, the battle against the dark is lost and resolution is not found. This is one of those cases, and I still am haunted by the lack of closure.

In June of 2009 a distraught woman contacted me about a haunting she and her family were experiencing. Clarissa was a mother of four and a wife to Rick; they had recently married each other after leaving previous spouses. Clarissa asked me where she could find white sage smudging supplies as she intended to perform a house cleansing. She stated that she wanted to remove a negative spirit from her home and wondered if I knew of any stores nearby that carried the supplies. I gave her some references and advice and told her to let me know how her cleansing went. I had taught many individuals how to remove hauntings and to cleanse their homes with much success. Clarissa seemed ambitious and strong enough to properly conduct a cleansing, so I had considerable faith in her efforts.

Two weeks later I sent her a follow-up e-mail to see how the cleansing went and if she still needed help. I never heard from her again until seven months later in January of 2010. I was surprised to receive her second e-mail; so much time had passed since we last spoke. I had assumed that everything had gone well and she did not need any further help. I was wrong.

It seems like it’s getting stronger,
she wrote. Clarissa explained that another paranormal group from the area had attempted to perform a cleansing, which they botched, and on several later occasions the group stood the family up. The activity flared up and more damage was done at the hands of the inexperienced group.

Clarissa mentioned that Rick would anoint the headboard in the sign of the cross every night with holy water, only to be tormented by horrible nightmares. They sought assistance from their family’s church but received little help other than an invitation to join in on the church services.

One morning Clarissa spoke to the entity in her home and sarcastically said, “See you in church!” After attending Mass that day, she awoke later with a temperature of 104.6 degrees Fahrenheit and became violently ill for a long period, without a viable rationalization from the doctors. Clarissa sought more outside help; she contacted priests, but they were reluctant to assist.

I could sense her frustration. I am disappointed in the lack of assistance from many churches these days. Very few ministries are willing to help and I feel they have forgotten their obligations to the public and God. Clarissa had exhausted every possible route aside from bringing in an exorcist.

Clarissa’s youngest daughter Cally reported seeing moving shadows in her room at night and a “catlike figure”—a small, black creature with eyes like a feline. I knew I was not dealing with a typical human spirit. This was something more sinister.

Clarissa was exhausted and wanted this entity removed. She wrote that she hadn’t slept much in almost a year. Clarissa’s employer was becoming aggravated with how much work she was missing and she was always severely fatigued on the job. Even her coworkers began to think she was crazy after overhearing her talk about the entity.

Clarissa was desperate for help and felt very alone. I worried for Clarissa and Rick, and especially for their young children, and wanted to pursue this case immediately. First I had to ask the previous paranormal group several questions about the cleansing they performed and find out what exactly went wrong. Unbeknownst to me, I walked into a political and territorial scene in the paranormal community.

I was taken aback to find out that some paranormal groups are unfortunately working on behalf of lower ambitions. These groups seem to be set on acquiring as many cases as possible, fame and thrills—forgetting that their primary objective should be helping the clients. The paranormal group I contacted still felt they had “rights” to the case despite not returning phone calls to Clarissa, ignoring her for many
months, conducting a failed cleansing, and making matters worse. I never intrude on another group’s case, but it was clear they had put this case on the back burner or had given up.

Clarissa made it very clear to me that she wished to no longer associate with that group and that she welcomed my help. I relayed the message to the previous group and subsequently received many confused and harassing e-mails from them. The leader greatly struggled with comprehending that Clarissa resigned their group from the case. Trying to remain professional, and keeping the goal of helping Clarissa in mind, I ended communications with the group. I was given little information and walked away from the situation more confused than I was before talking with them. It was useless but a good lesson learned.

With all the political drama behind me, I could now continue with scheduling a blessing for Clarissa and her family.

She wrote: “
P.S. I think it can read our thoughts. Is that possible?”

Although Clarissa described a very powerful entity in our discussions, I was not prepared to hear the horrific details upon meeting with the family. It was surreal.

On February 12, 2010, Carl and I prepared to perform our afternoon cleansing for Clarissa’s home. I was drying my hair in our bathroom that morning when I witnessed something not of this world. I had flipped my hair upside down and was brushing through it when some movement in the corner caught my eye. I looked into our living room area and saw what was at least a seven-foot-tall entity dart across the room. It was black, lanky, and moved at an incredible speed.

My heart raced as I threw down the hair dryer. I ran into the living room. I spun around, looking about the room.
Nothing was there
. I somehow found my voice through the violation I felt. “Get the hell out of my house! You are not welcome here! Whether you like it or not, we’re still coming to do the cleansing! You’re not going to scare me off!” I yelled as if I were kicking a drunk out of a bar. I looked outside the kitchen window and saw Carl with my two English Bulldogs by the garage.

I opened the screen door and called to Carl. “A seven-foot-tall demon just flew through our freaking living room!” I’m grateful our neighbor didn’t hear my wild accusations. I had never seen anything like it before.

Carl became upset that it had visited me in our home, trying to ward me off from performing the day’s cleansing. I felt safe in the rental home, whether it was actually protected or not, and having a demon visit
inside
the home immediately tossed that idea right out the window. The Bulldogs, Jack and Annabelle, of course had no idea what had just happened and were content with chewing away on their toys and soon drifted off to sleep. I am glad that neither Carl nor the dogs had to experience what I saw—it was truly disturbing. After regaining my composure, I continued getting ready and was soon prepared to leave.
Another strange morning
.

We arrived at Clarissa’s house earlier than expected and pulled up to the condominium home. I like to play a “first impressions game” in which I try to psychically pick up on the home and the spirits present before speaking with the clients.

“How do you feel, Carl?” I asked inquisitively.

“I feel … amorous,” Carl said with confusion. I didn’t realize until later how foreshadowing that comment was in regards to the nature of the case.

Carl and I met with Clarissa’s husband Rick to figure out how and why the entity had come into their lives. Clarissa was away at work, but during her lunch break she was able to come home for a half hour to talk with us briefly. During the discussion and interview, I was told that Clarissa’s ex-husband was familiar with the dark arts and had performed Santeria hexes before. After reviewing the possible causes of the presence, I theorized that her ex-husband had sent her a demonic entity in retaliation after learning that Clarissa was getting remarried. In fact, following the notice of the upcoming marriage, her ex-husband sent her a text message reading, “Die.” Shortly after, Clarissa and Rick began experiencing the entity in their home. It seemed more than coincidental.

I recorded the interview on my digital voice recorder for documentation reasons, not fully expecting that I would capture a very disturbing EVP. Rick had been talking about how I should try lying down on their master bed, like the previous paranormal group did, to experience the inappropriate touching of the entity. The entity seemed to enjoy the idea of me laying on the bed and wanted to encourage me to participate.
The EVP entails a sleazy and cunning male voice saying, “Sweetheart, try this, won’t you?” This was directly in response to when Rick discussed the touching on the bed at the time the EVP was recorded
.

I never did lie on the bed but instead pushed forward with the interview and cleansing. After later hearing the EVP I was glad I didn’t participate in the “bed experiment.” I never want to give an entity an advantage or a way to manipulate me—I had to stay on track with my objective to remove the demon.

As I sat there taking notes about the case, I was mortified to find out that the entity was sexually assaulting and raping Clarissa and Rick. They had never mentioned anything this severe in their e-mail and I was a bit shocked. Now I understood why Carl was picking up on the sexual nature of the case when I asked him his first impression, and I wonder if this same entity influenced Carl long after the case.

I had read numerous case studies in which victims were being sexually harassed, but it was entirely different to hear these clients share the same experiences right in front of me. They described a telepathic connection with the entity in which they would mentally instruct the entity to perform a certain sexual act. As if reading their minds, the demon would follow the instructions precisely. “We thought it was funny at first,” Clarissa explained. “We thought it was just some horny ghost.” As the “fun and games” progressed, eventually they were forcefully penetrated and raped by the entity. It was finally showing its true colors.

Interestingly enough, the entity seemed to switch be
tween sexes depending on whom it was presenting itself to. If
it was molesting Rick, the entity would have female characteristics such as breasts and a vagina. If it was molesting Clarissa, the entity would have a distinct penis and male genitals. My stomach sank as I realized we were dealing with an incubus and a succubus.

On a quick side note, I actually believe that this incubus and succubus could be the same entity. Demons are well-known for shape shifting and manifesting themselves into various illusions—why couldn’t it simply change sexes depending on which victim it was harassing? We have numerous organisms on this earth that can change sexes; perhaps the same phenomena exists in the paranormal world. Also, Clarissa and Rick were never assaulted at the same time, thus leading me to believe there was only
one
entity performing the sexual acts at any given time. The only thing preventing me from fully accepting this theory for this case was that there were two distinct male and female voices captured as an EVP during my interview with Clarissa and Rick. However, for the sake of writing I will simply refer to the incubus and succubus as one entity in this story.

During this discussion the digital voice recorder picked up another EVP of a female voice, panting and moaning in a sexual manner, followed by her saying, “It’s a job.” As if the succubus’s sexual harassment and raping was something it considered being a job and a chore. Years later I wondered if the entity actually said “Izajasz,” which is a birth name that means “God is salvation.” Demons seem to love to mock the holy and divine, so it would be fitting and in poor taste—something demons excel at.

In the back of my mind I felt that Rick may have been having an extra-marital affair; however, I could have been sensing
the private sexual relationship he shared with the succubus. The sexual connection Clarissa and Rick had with the entity would be enough to cause a deep rift in their marriage—just as a third-party affair would cause. It was completely unhealthy for their relationship and now the entity was destroying the couple’s trust and faith in each other.

As with many of the cases mentioned in this book, there are numerous ways to break down the trust and structure of a family or relationship. In this particular case, the demon chose to use humankind’s sexual desire against Clarissa and Rick to gain a hold on their lives. What started off as just pure sexual behavior soon turned into violent rapes and assaults, proving that demons will often first appear as something entirely different and innocent, then turn more sinister.

As we sat talking with Rick and Clarissa, their small Maltese dog began barking and growling. Sitting in the dining room chair, I had my back to the dog and the couch it sat on. Slowly, the dog began climbing up the couch and perched itself on the highest part, sniffing the air and growling. When we first arrived the dog was very friendly towards us and I gave it lots of affection. Now, it leaned forward and began inspecting the back of my neck. At the same time, I felt the evil presence of the demon come into the room. I believe the entity then stood close to me, trying to bait the dog towards me in an angry manner—perhaps trying to startle me.

“It’s here,” Carl stated.

Rick and Clarissa both confirmed that they also felt a change in the room. I sat there calmly, figuring that the demon was likely stirring up trouble, waiting for a reaction and trying to distract us. Clarissa scolded the dog and eventually it returned to its spot on the couch. I was slightly concerned that the dog would try to bite my neck and was happy to see it retire to the sofa.

I finished my long interview with Clarissa and Rick and decided it was time to proceed with the house blessing. Clarissa had to return to work, as she was already running late from her lunch break. I was sad to see her leave, but she hoped to return from work later in the evening to a changed home—a peaceful and relaxing place for her family to live.