Mystical Paths (46 page)

VI

‘Now just you listen to me,’ said Lewis once we were established in a secluded booth and a waiter had produced a bottle of claret. ‘You may be a grown man but as a psychic you’re a baby. You’re gifted, you show promise, but you’re a baby. Psychically you know nothing, and the main reason why you know nothing is that your so-called "gnosis" isn’t special knowledge at all – it’s just a heaving mass of belief, intuition and wild, woolly guesswork.’

‘But Lewis –’

‘No, you still don’t understand. The concept is too advanced for your infant mind. Let’s try again. Of course I’m not denying that you have genuine psychic experiences. Nor am I denying that very occasionally the meaning of the experience is so obvious that even you can understand it; your bout of foreknowledge at Marina’s party would fall into that category. But every psychic should have hanging over his bed a sign which says: I CAN BE WRONG. Now, just reflect on that sentence for a moment. Say to yourself quietly, calmly, intelligently: "I CAN BE WRONG."

‘‘But I’m not wrong most of the time, and –’

‘Ye gods and little fishes,’ said Lewis, finishing his first roll and grabbing another from the bread-basket. ‘At this rate I shall wind up as demented as poor Perry.’ He took a large gulp of claret.

Nervous in case he lost his temper again I said hastily: ‘Okay, I know nothing. I can be wrong.’

‘That’s better. Now apply those two vital facts to the concluding moments of our visit to Albany, the moments before you went clean over the top with your weird and wonderful talk of a coal-cellar. You were trying to force Perry to accept my help, weren’t you? But that was a bad mistake. Never force paranormal help on anyone because the resulting back-lash is usually so great that all possibility of such help is destroyed.’ ‘But surely in order to save Perry –’

‘The trouble with the young is that they always want instant results. I
was
saving Perry. I think he’d have come round to the idea of receiving help from a priest, but now, of course, thanks to you bawling out debased and inflammatory words such as "demonic" and "exorcist" – words which I took immense care never to use –’

‘Okay, I blew it. I’m sorry. But surely in order to save Perry you’ve got to exorcise that flat before it drives him completely round the bend?’

‘No, the flat’s not of the first importance here.’

I stared at him. ‘But the atmosphere! As soon as we crossed the threshold –’

‘Yes, but that had nothing to do with the flat.’

‘Nothing to do with the flat? But I know it did!’ ‘No, Nicholas, you don’t
know.
You believe.’

‘But –’ I broke off in great confusion but finally said: ‘In that case I understand nothing here.’

‘Well done,’ said Lewis. ‘You’re growing up.’

‘But surely –’

‘An exorcism of the flat would be helpful, certainly; I’m not denying that. It would have the therapeutic effect of showing Perry that I was on his side, helping to fight the force that’s threatening him, and there’s nothing wrong whatsoever in offering that kind of support to someone who’s in extreme distress. Oh, and I could eliminate the cold spot, of course, but that’s a minor detail because the cold spot isn’t the source of the trouble. It’s a symptom of trouble — perhaps very bad trouble — but it’s not the source. The real evil isn’t centred on the flat.’

‘You mean —’

‘It’s centred on Perry,’ said Lewis.

VII

At that point our first course arrived and while it was being served I drank some wine to calm me down. Lewis was already poised for action with his soup-spoon.

When you encounter a bad atmosphere like that,’ he said as soon as we were alone again, ‘your first task is
not
to jump to conclusions but to form a rational opinion about where the atmosphere’s coming from. You said you noticed the atmosphere as soon as you crossed the threshold; so did I, but who was across the threshold? Perry. And now cast your memory back to that moment when I deliberately got rid of him by asking for ice. Did you notice —’

The atmosphere lightened.’

‘So you did notice. Well done. If I can only train you not to jump to conclusions, not to think your psychic powers make you infallible and not to crash around like a runaway bulldozer at the wrong moment, you may one day cease to be a menace and even, if you’re very lucky, become a useful member of society.’

I ignored this. Why did you go into the dining-room in Perry’s absence and listen with closed eyes?’

‘I wasn’t listening. I was sampling the atmosphere. The closed eyes were an aid to concentration, and the purpose of sampling the atmosphere of another room was to check that the pollution wasn’t emanating from the flat.’

I took a deep breath. ‘Is Perry possessed?’

‘I don’t know. That’s the next thing you must learn, by the way: the humility to say not only "I can be wrong", but "I don’t know".’

‘But if he’s producing an atmosphere like that something must be horribly wrong!’

‘That’s indisputable, but psychic impressions such as the one we both received tonight are usually capable of more than one interpretation and you can’t rely on your much-vaunted "gnosis" to tell you which is correct. Try to understand, Nicholas: what makes a first-class psychic isn’t the psychic experience itself; any fool can have one of those. The first-class psychic is the one who can interpret the experience correctly, and a cor- rect interpretation requires reason, intelligence, maturity and training.’

I finally accepted my psychic infancy. After a moment spent thoughtfully stirring the soup in my bowl I said in my politest voice: ‘Please could you explain why you’re unsure whether or not he’s possessed?’

The evidence was contradictory and therefore inconclusive.’

Lewis, eating much too fast as usual, paused to shovel away some sliced onions. Then he said: ‘But let’s be sure you can define "possession". We can distinguish it from mental illness because the sufferer is sane; he feels he’s periodically being invaded by a malign force, but this isn’t a delusion stemming from paranoia. However, the condition’s extremely rare and the :semblance to some forms of mental illness makes it difficult to diagnose.’

‘But you’ve had experience, surely,’ I persisted, ‘in making the diagnosis.’

‘Yes, but don’t run away with the notion that the classical exorcism of people is a normal part of my ministry. The exorcism of places — yes, that’s usually straightforward and I’m often called out to deal with ghosts and cold spots (which are just two different aspects of one problem). And modern exorcism — the casting out of psychological suffering by prayer and counselling — yes, that too forms a significant strand in my ministry.

But the classical exorcism of a possessed person requires extensive preparation and an army of helpers – in fact I’d never attempt such a thing unless I had a psychiatrist, a psychotherapist and possibly a social worker in attendance along with at least three strong men, all of whom, ideally, should be priests. In other words, it’s quite definitely not the sort of challenge one encounters regularly and wraps up in half an hour.’

‘Are you implying it’s most unlikely that Perry’s been afflicted by something so rare?’

‘It’s certainly unlikely, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened. What I’m really implying is that one should approach the possibility of possession with extreme caution, and the first point to note in this particular case is that I saw no physical sign that Perry was, in the classical sense, possessed. There are certain movements of the body which indicate possession – and sometimes you can even see the possessor in the eyes when the possessed is temporarily overpowered – but none of those symptoms was on display this evening. On the other hand, he did present the famous mental symptom of possession: he was convinced he was sane but being periodically invaded by a hostile force.’

‘Couldn’t this be the onset of possession,’ I suggested, ‘with the physical symptoms occurring when we weren’t there?’

‘It could. But it could also be the onset of paranoid schizophrenia or, more prosaically, a nervous breakdown.’

‘I don’t think we should have left him,’ I said. ‘I think we should have stayed.’

‘And done what? Held his hand? Let me repeat, Nicholas: you can’t force your help on people. That’s because the healer’s a mere channel for the Holy Spirit and the power won’t flow effectively if there’s a faulty connection between the channel and the mind of the sufferer. There’s got to be faith and trust between the healer and those who require healing, and because faith and trust can’t be extorted on demand, the healer’s first task is to try to create the conditions in which they can exist.’

I digested this lesson as I ate my soup. Then I said: ‘I think – that’s to say, I tentatively believe – though I could bewrong –’ Lewis laughed – that Perry is possessed by Christian’s spirit.’

‘Fine. But now tell me the objections to that theory.’

I stirred my soup thoughtfully again but was finally forced to say: ‘Okay, I give up. You tell me.’

‘Well, for a start, why should Christian possess Perry so unpleasantly? It seems an odd way to treat a loyal and devoted friend. And why should Christian’s spirit be so malign?’ ‘Those last six months of his life –’

‘Yes, I agree they were a disaster, but if he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown he could be classified as sick, so perhaps he should still be viewed with compassion. One can say with confidence, I think, that he was muddled, miserable and occasionally downright monstrous (one thinks of your brother) but was he actually evil? I’m inclined to think not. But of course . I could be wrong.’

‘But if Perry’s sure it’s Christian who’s taking him over – and in a way that creates such revolting psychic pollution – surely that implies Christian’s an evil force?’

‘Not necessarily. The boot could be entirely on the other foot.’

I boggled at him. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Christian’s memory could be activating an evil force in Perry.’

I continued to boggle. ‘So you’re saying the Devil’s already planted a demon in Perry? Or are you saying it’s the Devil himself who’s now taking Perry over? Or are you saying –’ ‘Stop!’ said Lewis good-humouredly, polishing off the remains of his soup and setting down his spoon. Food was making him more benign. ‘Rein in the old-fashioned picture-language before you’re tempted to sell your ideas to Hollywood, and let’s see if we can get a clearer picture of the truth by adopting the primary school easy-reader approach. Now, using the simplest possible language, how would you describe Perry as he appeared to us tonight?’

‘Drunk, disturbed and frightened.’

‘Correct. Very well, we know this behaviour is linked with Christian’s death but we don’t know why. How do we know there’s a link?’

‘Because the behaviour began after I visited him and resurrected the subject —’

‘Correct again.’

‘— and because the paranormal incidents he’s experienced since have all involved Christian.’

‘I wouldn’t call any of them paranormal except the cold spot, and we don’t actually know that’s connected with Christian at all.’

‘But the sighting — the footsteps in the kitchen —’

‘Both those incidents are unremarkable if you remember he was unbalanced by bereavement and stoned by drink.’ ‘Yes, but —’

‘Let’s just set the paranormal aside for the moment and keep this very simple. The most obvious explanation of Perry’s collapse is that he’s suffering from an excruciating form of survivor’s guilt and that he can’t forgive himself for living while his friend died; he suppressed this guilt at the time of the accident when he was in a state of shock, but now it’s surfaced in a form which is additionally virulent because it’s been untreated for so long.’

‘But what about the cold spot?’ I persisted, impressed by the psychological explanation but reluctant to have all my paranormal phenomena treated as irrelevant.

‘The cold spot may or may not be real. Let’s focus for the moment on what we know to be real: Perry’s collapse. Now if my theory’s right, the solution to the problem is not to submit him to a classical exorcism but to refer him to a first-class psychiatrist.’

‘But couldn’t you counsel him yourself?’

‘Yes, but as a non-believer he’d probably be more comfortable with a medical man. Ideally, of course, the psychiatrist and I would work together, but I don’t think Perry would want that.’

Our soup-bowls were collected, our wine glasses refilled; someone brought us more rolls. When our privacy had beenrestored I said: ‘So what you’re saying is he’s having a nervous breakdown.’

‘That’s the most likely explanation,’ said Lewis, ‘but it needn’t be the correct one. Your theory that Perry’s possessed by Christian’s spirit still remains a possibility, but we’d have to prove that at the end of his life Christian wasn’t just behaving badly as the result of stress but was deliberately choosing to act in a manner which could be classified as evil. As I’ve already indicated, that seems unlikely to me, but nevertheless I can imagine a possible script. Supposing, for example, Christian tried to kill Perry but Perry killed him in self-defence.’

‘But why would Christian want to kill Perry?’ I said amazed. ‘Oh, I can imagine a possible script for that too — in fact I can imagine numerous scripts, but wild speculation unsupported by a shred of evidence is merely a waste of time and energy ... And talking of wild speculation, what’s all this about a coal-cellar?’

I described Perry’s celebrated museum-piece.

‘And how exactly did you make the connection between the cold spot and the coal-cellar?’

‘Oh, I was just jumping from hunch to hunch. Of course I’m sure now I got everything wrong.’

‘I hate to undermine this new-found humility of yours,’ said Lewis, ‘but there’s always the chance you got everything right. Can you outline your journey as you jumped from hunch to hunch?’

Carefully I reviewed my memory. ‘We decided to leave,’ I said, recalling the events one by one. We went out into the hall. In the hall a wave of psychic pollution seemed to surge up the stairs from the kitchen — although now I realise that was a false impression; the pollution must have been emanating from Perry who was by that time standing at the head of the stairs. However even though the impression was false it nailed the word "kitchen" to the front of my mind, and this automatically linked up with information that Perry had given us earlier: he said the sound of Christian’s footsteps had come
from the kitchen.
At that point I was associating the kitchen with both psychic pollution and paranormal phenomena, so it was hardly surprising that I jumped to the conclusion it was also the location of the cold spot.’

‘But what made you zero in on the coal-cellar?’

‘Oh, that was mere "gnosis", or what I now recognise as a wild, woolly guess based on a mindless word-association. After I’d unmasked you as an exorcist and bawled out all the stuff about possession, I noticed Perry was looking at me as if a black pit had opened up at his feet. The word "black" then instantly conjured up the word "coal" — which in turn produced the memory of the coal-cellar. But of course it was all a false hunch.’

‘But was it?’ said Lewis. ‘That’s the question.’

I stared at him but he was looking around restlessly as if hoping to see the waiters approaching with the main course. ‘I too was suspicious of the kitchen,’ he said, turning back to me when his hope was disappointed. ‘My immediate reaction was to wonder why the sound of the footsteps had come from there and not from anywhere else. Then almost simultaneously I remembered that the kitchen was where your interview with Perry last Friday had taken place —’

‘So it was!’

‘— and I asked myself if Perry had been disturbed not just by the persistent questions but by the fact that they were being asked in a room which had some sinister significance for him. Then Perry mentioned the cold spot. Now, there was certainly no cold spot in either the drawing-room, the dining-room or the hall, which were the three rooms I visited tonight. It could have been in the bedroom, the bathroom or the lavatory, but Perry clearly stated that after his encounter with the cold spot he had kept well away from it. This seemed to rule out the possibility that a small room was involved, and I thought that in an old-fashioned place like Albany a basement kitchen would be not only large but would include an area by the tradesmen’s entrance which could be avoided for some time. So I decided this was the most likely location of the cold spot, and if the coal-cellar’s in that area then maybe your wild, woolly guess isn’t so wild and woolly after all.’

I was sufficiently encouraged to say: ‘I did think at the time that I’d hit a nerve.’ Why?’

‘It was the way he looked at me when I said the coal-cellar should be exorcised. Didn’t you notice?’

‘I was too busy trying to will you to shut up. How did he look at you?’

‘As if he’d just seen a bear-cub transform itself into a six-foot grizzly. People often look like that when a psychic hunch hits the mark, so naturally I did wonder if —’

‘Nicholas, you’re on no account to go back to that flat unaccompanied, and if Perry invites you there I want to know about the invitation straight away.’

I stared at him again. ‘But why?’

‘I think he might try and kill you,’ said Lewis as our main course finally arrived.