Fighting Malevolent Spirits: A Demonologist's Darkest Encounters (9 page)

Carl sat on the couch listening intently to the additional audio recordings that Whitney and David had documented. “You have to hear this!” Carl announced. I grabbed the headphones and Carl began playing back the segment. To my disbelief, I heard a distinct pig-grunting sound that I had only read about in demonology books. I never understood how or why demons made these audible sounds, but the EVP confirmed we were not dealing with a human spirit. With her
permission, I used my digital voice recorder to record the playback of Whitney’s EVPs. I wanted to take a copy of the recordings
home and review the audio in further detail.

As Whitney and David shared their stories with us in the living room, I had been quietly watching and observing their son Stephen. Stephen was nearly twenty-nine years old by my guess and didn’t appear to be very happy. Based on his personal energy and expressions, I sensed that he might be unsure of where he stood in this world.

Stephen was distant and uninterested in the cleansing and our intentions to help his mother, as if his mother’s terrors weren’t a concern of his. “It doesn’t ever bother me,” Stephen explained in a complacent manner when I asked him if he would like to have the entity removed from the home. Perhaps he enjoyed seeing his mother being tormented, or maybe he felt a connection with the entity and it was now manipulating him. I wasn’t sure. Regardless, it seemed as though he didn’t truly want the entity to leave. I was apprehensive of his objectives.
Why wouldn’t you want something dark to leave your house and to stop tormenting your family?

Carl, Mike, and I all perceived a certain darkness that surrounded Stephen and yet none of us could pinpoint exactly what it was. I felt that Stephen might be withholding information from us when discussing the entity in their home, as if he were avoiding the truth. Sometimes it felt as if he were trying to challenge the belief that this entity was negative. I was here to help the family, and I could not force Stephen to cooperate. But I also could not guarantee a successful cleansing with Stephen’s stance and opposing feelings about the entity.

I had asked Whitney over the phone if she and her family believed in a Higher Power and she stated, “Yes we do.” I then heard her mumble something about Stephen “complying” when it came to saying a group prayer at the end of the cleansing. I found the statement to be odd and later realized what she was referring to. During our phone call, Whitney had given me the impression that Stephen wasn’t religious but he was just spiritual—which was completely fine with me. However, during our visit I was shocked to discover that Stephen was not spiritual, nor did he believe in a Higher Power at all. Stephen was a recent atheist and found it very difficult to agree to recite a nondenominational prayer at the end of the blessing. The group prayer at the end of a cleansing asks a Higher Power to remove any evil inside the home. I had hoped that Stephen would consider participating in the prayer for the sake of his mother’s well-being. I specifically brought and used that prayer because almost anyone from any belief can use it. I respect athiests but was unsure how to handle the situation. Stephen clearly believed in some sort of spiritual realm, having experienced the entity and knew of the harm it was doing to his mother, and yet he didn’t seem to want it to leave.

I excused myself outside, saying that I had forgotten some supplies in the car, and had Mike and Carl come with me. We all agreed that we were not sure the cleansing would work if Stephen wasn’t in agreement with his parents and did not believe in a divine force, but we decided we would try our best to help the family. While we were outside, our digital voice recorder was unknowingly still recording inside the home. I later heard Stephen’s protest after reviewing the voice recorder at home. After Whitney begged him to “just go along with it and say the prayer,” Stephen replied: “I think it is bullshit that I have to pray and pretend in some God! I do not want to fucking do it!”

As much as Whitney wanted to believe that Stephen was spiritual and that he would not affect the house blessing results, these things cannot be forced.

Carl, Mike, and I returned back inside after gathering our thoughts and method for approaching this delicate case. We were ready to begin the house cleansing, but we had a few remaining questions. I would try to connect with Stephen to see if we were able to pinpoint what his exact beliefs were, and thus we could customize the blessing so we were not offensive or imposing.

“Stephen, do you believe in a positive energy or a higher being that exists in this world?” I asked him, trying to be gentle about such a delicate subject.

“I believe in energy, but I don’t think it’s good or evil. I think it is all the same.” This stumped me and I tried altering the prayer so that Stephen could participate in it without feeling forced or coerced into a foreign religion. I feel it is very important to be respectful of every client’s beliefs and to never impart my beliefs on him or her. Upon further review, Stephen relayed that he used to believe in God but no longer did. “Too many bad things happen in life for there to be a real god.” This saddened me, because I never want someone to feel they are alone in life or that Great Spirit has forgotten them.

It’s very common to see clients turn away from God because they believe that He is at fault for someone’s death, illness, or a tragic event. People become confused and assume that God was the one that allowed something terrible to happen. I believe that we actually choose to experience certain events and lessons in our life before being born, some of which are very painful, to further develop our “soul.” Great Spirit always gives us a choice—not that we will consciously remember these choices. No one should blame God for their losses or painful experiences, as there is always a greater reason as to why things happen here on Earth, even though we may not understand at that time. There is always a reason, there is always a lesson, and we are constantly learning.

“You are very right, there are a lot of dark and ugly things that happen in this world, much of which is caused by us humans. Sometimes it becomes overwhelming, but it’s important to keep your head and heart above it all. As long as you have something to believe in that motivates and inspires you, you can make it through.” I made a truce with Stephen and left it at that. I turned my attention back to the entire family.

“Well, it does sound like you have a demon. You have heard scratching, two-footed steps with claws, growling, black figures, perverse whistling, and so on. Is there anything else that you have experienced that we haven’t covered?” I asked. Whitney sat in contemplation for a while and then her eyes widened.

“I forgot this! One day I was coming upstairs with the clean laundry and set the clothes on the bed to fold. As I stood there folding the clothes, I began hearing a weird sound in that storage room next to our bedroom.” The storage room reminded me of an attic area but was on the same level as their bedroom. It led directly to the roof of the home. There were no signs of pests in the room, but lots of noises originated from there, according to the family. “I moved closer to the storage room door and stopped, trying to hear the sound better. I didn’t hear anything for a while until I leaned my head against the door. Suddenly I heard this heavy panting and patting sounds. Then I heard grunting sounds! God, this gives me the creeps! It—it sounded like someone was masturbating in the storage room! I remember I gasped out loud in shock but the noise kept getting louder. Like it enjoyed freaking me out!”

David rubbed Whitney’s shoulder to try to comfort her as she struggled to share the story. It was obvious that Whitney was severely disturbed. “I couldn’t finish putting away the laundry until David came home.” Whitney’s life was being controlled by the entity.

Stephen seemed to lack any reaction or feelings of sympathy while sitting there listening to his mother share her experiences. Perhaps I did not understand their relationship, but Stephen was behaving unconcerned, which unsettled me greatly.

“Another thing we experienced,” David said as he looked over at Whitney, “sometimes we would feel a fist punching us through the bed mattress or underneath the couch. I had missed having Whitney sleep in bed next to me, so I would try and cuddle her on the couch. Whenever I would try to snuggle up with her, something would pound underneath the cushions! And I mean, there was literally a fist punching the bottom of the couch! How do you explain that?” David was perplexed.

I tried reassuring them that they weren’t insane and their accounts were valid. I told them of a famous demonic case in which the family wasn’t permitted much sleep because they felt a fist punching underneath their bed. I reasoned that if a demon can keep a couple from sleeping or bonding with each other, all the better. The client becomes emotionally and physically exhausted, and the demon hopes that you will give in to their harassment. I then asked David and Whitney to
explain their health, finances, and any experiences with the
occult.

“Well, after we tore into the fireplace, both Whitney and I started having trouble at our workplaces. In the midst of all these weird experiences, she and I
both
lost our jobs. It was devastating.” The entity had succeeded in oppressing the family in various ways. “We started having issues with severe depression after that. I couldn’t find work and Whitney wanted to keep working on the house, but we just did not have the money to do it. We’re still struggling.”

As we continued our discussion with the family, David ad
dressed the fact that his best friend Matt used to read the “black bible,” or a satanic bible. Matt frequently visited the
home and grew up with David. “He was into some darker shit. I remember when he started getting into that stuff, I didn’t really know what to say. I was hoping it was just fictional and had no power.”

David continued describing his relationship with Matt. Although he never said this directly, it was implied to us that David involved himself in Matt’s dark practices. David then revealed a crucial piece of information to the case. “The shadows I’ve seen have been following me for twenty-five to thirty years now.” He had been experiencing these dark entities most of his life and the timing seemed to correlate with Matt’s dabbling in Satanism.
Was this whole haunting a result of David’s past with Matt and the dark arts?
I was unsure I would be able to find an answer, but it seemed that the house blessing had quite a dirty laundry list to clean.

Some individuals who involve themselves in satanic rituals assume that over the years the consequences or “side effects” of such practices subside, or magically go away. Although I have seen individuals leave the dark arts and turn themselves towards good, sometimes it is critical to verbally denounce your involvement with evil and to formally accept Spirit back into your life. God is always waiting and forgiving, but there seems to be a needed “announcement” or verbal declaration that you have changed your ways for it to fully work.

Stephen’s lack of faith and desire to help, combined with David’s possible indirect involvement with evil proved to be a double whammy, but we informed the family that we would do our best to remove the entities despite these circumstances. They didn’t have anything to lose and we wanted to help the family with our greatest efforts.

Finally, we were all on the same page and came to an agreement that a house blessing should still be performed. I began preparing my house blessing items and I could tell that Stephen grew more nervous.

Many of the rooms in the house were filled with debris and renovation materials, making it difficult for us to access the entirety of each room. Climbing over piles and trash, we pressed forward with the blessing. Soon the house was saturated in the white sage aroma and I felt that whatever entity resided in the home was in hiding. I was expecting a fierce confrontation from the demon but was surprised when we experienced no intimidation or antics. The house was very quiet, something I was not used to.

As we entered the upstairs storage room and attic, I made sure to waft the smoke into the rafters for several minutes—just to be thorough. Perhaps the demon was hiding in the attic above the master bedroom, but I had no means of accessing that area.

Carl, Mike, and I all repeated our prayers and commands out loud, demanding that the entities leave the home. I was accustomed to feeling a dramatic change in the home once the entity left.
Maybe it’s already gone
… I thought to myself, but I was always skeptical and held my breath. The house felt lighter, happier, and brighter, but I didn’t feel a remarkable release from the demon leaving. Like Whitney, I had also been losing a lot of sleep over the case prior to our visit, and perhaps my senses were dulled down from the lack of rest. Maybe I could not sense it leaving; I was burned out. I asked Carl and Mike what they thought and they said they felt pretty good about the cleansing, but were also undecided.

After finishing with the olive oil and salt, I then began making my rounds through the house while using holy water. Perhaps I have obsessive-compulsive disorder, but I always have the need to be thorough.

Carl and Mike continued their path through the house, praying out loud and wafting the dried sweet grass smoke into the air. Sweet grass is a wonderful herb to promote happiness and to bring positive energy into a home. I hoped this was the final step needed to remove the entity.

Stephen left the house to have a cigarette outside and the door slammed behind him. It bothered me that we didn’t have his full participation. It felt as if he were thinking,
Well, let the crazies do their thing and let’s just get this over with. This is just really stupid.
I wish I had been permitted to have a heart-to-heart talk with Stephen that day. However, he wasn’t open to it and I could not force light and love into his life unless he was inviting and accepting. I tried to concentrate on finishing the blessing as I completed the master bedroom. Minutes passed and finally I felt inner quiet and solitude. I prayed that the entities were gone.