...continued from part nine.
16. The Power of Church Exorcisms
Having been in the priesthood for more than 30 years and interacting with people of various statuses, I have heard more than once from some that evil spirits do not exist, and that the so-called possessed are either sick with natural ailments, or pretend to be so in order to avoid work, or to seek compassion for themselves in rich but superstitious people.
I will not enter into any considerations about the existence of spirits: for an Orthodox Christian this truth is beyond any doubt. I will only point out examples of such ailments that I have seen, which cannot be explained either by natural causes or by pretense: they were truly cruel, and yielded only to the power of the exorcism prayers laid down by the Church for the expulsion of evil spirits.
On August 12, 1856, I was with my wife in the provincial town of Oryol on business. In our absence, my eight children, especially the younger ones, were out playing, frolicking, and joking. My ten-year-old son Orestes stood out more than all of them. The household and neighbors laughed at him a lot and marveled at his various inventions. Two days later, toward evening, we returned home and, thank God, found all the children healthy. At dusk, the worker, as is his custom, went out to the field with the horses for the night, and I went to my vegetable garden with two children, Orestes and another, my nine-year-old son Arkadios, to guard the vegetables there from the cattle wandering around at night. I don’t know whether my sons prayed to God when they went to bed with me or not, but they soon fell asleep, and I didn’t sleep for a long time. Around midnight, suddenly my Orestes jumped up quickly, started running around the haystacks and seemed to be catching something. Seeing this, I said to him: "Orestes, why did you get up and what are you doing?" And he said to me: "Please wake up Arkadios: we'll catch this cat and kill it; it jumped from the haystack onto my chest, woke me up and hurt me badly."
While he was speaking, he kept on catching something. I woke up Arkadios and ordered him to help Orestes catch what he was catching. Arkadios, waking up, thought that his brother was catching some bird, ran to him and asked: "Where is it?" - "Here, here, catch it." - "There's nothing here." - "You are like a blind cat; you see, the cat is running." That's how Orestes imagined it all.
Not allowing the children to quarrel, I ordered them to lie down on the bed again. Arkadios soon fell asleep, and Orestes groaned and moaned. At dawn he went home, but from the pain in his chest he barely made it to the door. In addition, the veins under his knees began to cramp, his back began to ache, an unbearable pain appeared in his head, and soon after that terrible convulsions began, his breathing became heavy, his eyes became bloodshot. He could neither drink nor eat, and from a beautiful and slender child he became a freak.
A week later we took him to the city of Oryol to a well-known doctor, Dashkevich. I told him about the time and reasons for my son’s illness. The doctor was surprised by my stories and ordered me to take him to the hospital, where he himself soon arrived. Here he ordered the attendant to carry the patient into the hospital hall; he ordered the paramedics to undress him, stretch his legs and straighten his body. The patient screamed with all his might. After examining him, the doctor turned to me and said mockingly: “Why did you bring a freak? Are you testing my knowledge? I see that he was born a freak and cannot be treated.” “Have mercy, doctor,” my wife and I remarked to him, “we have no need to test you because we consider you the best doctor, and that is why we have turned to you with the most humble request to help us in our grief. He was not born like this, but became like this only a week ago.” Then the doctor said: “Well, this does not concern our science, but take him to the Russian babkas, and buy some cod fat in reserve, smear it on him and give him a tablespoon to drink in the morning and at night, and make him a bath of hay dust so that he gets steamed and sweats; change his linens more often. That’s what I, for my part, can advise you!” He said this and left.
Having bought some cod fat, we brought the patient home and did everything the doctor prescribed, but the patient became worse: his breathing became short; delirium appeared; the child became close to death, which he himself desired because of the unbearable pain. We all grieved for him, and especially his mother. She went to the neighbors and told them that the doctor refused to treat him, but ordered that the patient be taken to some Russian babka, did anyone know anyone? Then an old neighbor, a widow of the clergy, having listened to my wife’s story about her son’s illness, said to her: “An evil hour has befallen him, mother; the evil eye has fallen on him, dear one. Do not take him to the babkas, mother, but serve a prayer service to the Mother of God of the Three Hands, and give him over to the will of God.”
My wife told me about the advice of the old woman neighbor; it was in the evening. At dawn, I and all the children took the sick boy in our arms, carried him to the church and laid him before the holy icon. I served a prayer service with an Akathist to the Mother of God and with the blessing of water sprinkled him with holy water and read the Gospels over him, namely from John chapter 1, Mark and Luke, then gave him holy water to swallow. After this, although with support and difficulty, he was already able to walk from the church to the house, where they laid him on the bed, and he soon fell asleep.
During his sleep the patient would groan, sigh, stretch and yawn, and sleep for a whole day almost without waking up. At dawn the next day, straight from his bed, he quickly ran to his mother and joyfully said: "Mama! Stop crying about me, I am completely healthy now." And indeed, from that time on he recovered and is now studying at the Oryol district school.
Another incident: on June 23, 1858, towards the 24th, in the village of my parish, a peasant's wife, about 40 years old, named Vera, of a sullen and quarrelsome disposition, was arguing heatedly with the neighboring children for some trivial offense caused to her. I heard this, since she lived near my house, but I did not want to stop her, putting off reprimanding her until the next day. That same night, very late, her husband Vasily came to my window and knocked. I asked: "Who is there?" - "I am, father," he answered, "please come see the sick person." - "Who is sick?" - "Yes, my wife is dying," was the answer, "I was not at home yesterday, but at the corvée; I came home late, and now something very bad has happened to her." I took the church keys and wanted to go with him to the church for the monstrance, but he told me that I didn’t need to take the Holy Gifts, but that I should take the book from which I read over my son Orestes during his illness. Then he added: “My wife is so furious that it’s scary to even approach her.”
Then I went straight to their house with a prayer book and an epitrachelion. There was a crowd of people there, and the possessed woman, in just a shirt, with disheveled hair, was sitting on the stove, looking at me with a savage expression and began to spit, then she began to cry bitterly, saying: "My poor little head, why did he come?" - "Why are you crying, Vera?" - I asked her, not going close to her. She, having cursed me in the marketplace manner, said: "I am not Vera, but Ivanushka the young man, and why did you come?" - and threw a log from the stove at me, which flew past my head and hit the door frame. Then I said to those standing there: "Take her and bring her to me." Four strong men barely managed to drag her off the stove, and others helped them bring her to me. She, meanwhile, cursed me in every way and cried. Despite this, I covered her with an epitrachelion and began to read prayers over her for the expulsion of demons, and at each prayer I asked: “Will you come out?” “No, I will not come out,” he answered, “I am fine here.” “Fear God, and come out.” And he answered: “I will come out,” then “no.” Finally, the time came for me to go to matins, and I ordered her to be carried with me to the church. They brought her.
When the people had gathered, I asked everyone to kneel and pray earnestly to God for Vera's deliverance from the demon, and I myself again began to read the prayers and the Gospels shown above. Then the demon, in Vera's voice, cried out loudly: "Oh, oh, oh, I am sick, I am sick!" Vera began to cry in an inhuman voice, saying: "I am afraid, I am afraid, I am sick, I am sick, I will go out, I will go out, do not torment me." All this time I did not stop reading. Then Vera began to sob and fainted on the floor and became as if dead. About a quarter of an hour passed. I sprinkled her with holy water, and she came to her senses, then gave her some water to swallow, and she said a prayer, crossed herself, stood up and asked that a prayer service be served to John the Baptist.
The third case. In my parish there is a village called Zaitseva; peasants live there, belonging to the department of the Ministry of State Property, well-to-do and Orthodox people. But the most well-to-do of all are two brothers living in special houses, both married and having children, only their wives often quarrel. One day, in fine weather, the wife of the younger brother decided to dry her dowry property, and she hung it on the fence of her estate. About two hours later, while collecting the hung dress, she suddenly saw a stain cut out on her calico shirt on the chest, right opposite the heart, the size of a copper penny, and she thought of her eldest daughter-in-law, with whom she often quarreled. Then she felt an unbearable pain in her chest and aching bones. From that time on, neither her husband nor her children had any peace for the whole night: she screamed and raged, demanded a knife or a rope to destroy herself and others. She no longer imagined anything familiar, nothing sacred; there was neither modesty nor the former prudence. Her husband had to inform the neighbors of her actions. The neighbors gathered, looked at her, and all unanimously decided: “This is a curse, we must take her to the old healer to dissuade her.” But one old woman said: “No, do not sin, do not take her, but go to the priest, let him look at her.” They came for me. At this time the sick woman began to go crazy even more. As soon as I appeared in the room with the cross and the prayer book, she began to shake all over and, pale as snow, looked at me from under her brows, like a beast. “What is the matter with you, Avdotya?” I asked. “And what business is it of yours?” she answered. “Nothing.” I ordered them to bring her to me. They did. When I began to read the prayers and the Gospels and at the same time blessed her with the sign of the cross during the reading, she was shaking, spitting, hiccupping, cold as ice, turning black and red. After finishing reading the prayers, I sprinkled her with holy water, made her cross herself, gave her holy water to drink and asked: "Do you feel better?" She bowed at my feet and said: "Thank you, Father, I am now healthy, only my bones ache." Now she is completely healthy. (From the magazine "Wanderer").
16. The Power of Church Exorcisms
Having been in the priesthood for more than 30 years and interacting with people of various statuses, I have heard more than once from some that evil spirits do not exist, and that the so-called possessed are either sick with natural ailments, or pretend to be so in order to avoid work, or to seek compassion for themselves in rich but superstitious people.
I will not enter into any considerations about the existence of spirits: for an Orthodox Christian this truth is beyond any doubt. I will only point out examples of such ailments that I have seen, which cannot be explained either by natural causes or by pretense: they were truly cruel, and yielded only to the power of the exorcism prayers laid down by the Church for the expulsion of evil spirits.
On August 12, 1856, I was with my wife in the provincial town of Oryol on business. In our absence, my eight children, especially the younger ones, were out playing, frolicking, and joking. My ten-year-old son Orestes stood out more than all of them. The household and neighbors laughed at him a lot and marveled at his various inventions. Two days later, toward evening, we returned home and, thank God, found all the children healthy. At dusk, the worker, as is his custom, went out to the field with the horses for the night, and I went to my vegetable garden with two children, Orestes and another, my nine-year-old son Arkadios, to guard the vegetables there from the cattle wandering around at night. I don’t know whether my sons prayed to God when they went to bed with me or not, but they soon fell asleep, and I didn’t sleep for a long time. Around midnight, suddenly my Orestes jumped up quickly, started running around the haystacks and seemed to be catching something. Seeing this, I said to him: "Orestes, why did you get up and what are you doing?" And he said to me: "Please wake up Arkadios: we'll catch this cat and kill it; it jumped from the haystack onto my chest, woke me up and hurt me badly."
While he was speaking, he kept on catching something. I woke up Arkadios and ordered him to help Orestes catch what he was catching. Arkadios, waking up, thought that his brother was catching some bird, ran to him and asked: "Where is it?" - "Here, here, catch it." - "There's nothing here." - "You are like a blind cat; you see, the cat is running." That's how Orestes imagined it all.
Not allowing the children to quarrel, I ordered them to lie down on the bed again. Arkadios soon fell asleep, and Orestes groaned and moaned. At dawn he went home, but from the pain in his chest he barely made it to the door. In addition, the veins under his knees began to cramp, his back began to ache, an unbearable pain appeared in his head, and soon after that terrible convulsions began, his breathing became heavy, his eyes became bloodshot. He could neither drink nor eat, and from a beautiful and slender child he became a freak.
A week later we took him to the city of Oryol to a well-known doctor, Dashkevich. I told him about the time and reasons for my son’s illness. The doctor was surprised by my stories and ordered me to take him to the hospital, where he himself soon arrived. Here he ordered the attendant to carry the patient into the hospital hall; he ordered the paramedics to undress him, stretch his legs and straighten his body. The patient screamed with all his might. After examining him, the doctor turned to me and said mockingly: “Why did you bring a freak? Are you testing my knowledge? I see that he was born a freak and cannot be treated.” “Have mercy, doctor,” my wife and I remarked to him, “we have no need to test you because we consider you the best doctor, and that is why we have turned to you with the most humble request to help us in our grief. He was not born like this, but became like this only a week ago.” Then the doctor said: “Well, this does not concern our science, but take him to the Russian babkas, and buy some cod fat in reserve, smear it on him and give him a tablespoon to drink in the morning and at night, and make him a bath of hay dust so that he gets steamed and sweats; change his linens more often. That’s what I, for my part, can advise you!” He said this and left.
Having bought some cod fat, we brought the patient home and did everything the doctor prescribed, but the patient became worse: his breathing became short; delirium appeared; the child became close to death, which he himself desired because of the unbearable pain. We all grieved for him, and especially his mother. She went to the neighbors and told them that the doctor refused to treat him, but ordered that the patient be taken to some Russian babka, did anyone know anyone? Then an old neighbor, a widow of the clergy, having listened to my wife’s story about her son’s illness, said to her: “An evil hour has befallen him, mother; the evil eye has fallen on him, dear one. Do not take him to the babkas, mother, but serve a prayer service to the Mother of God of the Three Hands, and give him over to the will of God.”
My wife told me about the advice of the old woman neighbor; it was in the evening. At dawn, I and all the children took the sick boy in our arms, carried him to the church and laid him before the holy icon. I served a prayer service with an Akathist to the Mother of God and with the blessing of water sprinkled him with holy water and read the Gospels over him, namely from John chapter 1, Mark and Luke, then gave him holy water to swallow. After this, although with support and difficulty, he was already able to walk from the church to the house, where they laid him on the bed, and he soon fell asleep.
During his sleep the patient would groan, sigh, stretch and yawn, and sleep for a whole day almost without waking up. At dawn the next day, straight from his bed, he quickly ran to his mother and joyfully said: "Mama! Stop crying about me, I am completely healthy now." And indeed, from that time on he recovered and is now studying at the Oryol district school.
Another incident: on June 23, 1858, towards the 24th, in the village of my parish, a peasant's wife, about 40 years old, named Vera, of a sullen and quarrelsome disposition, was arguing heatedly with the neighboring children for some trivial offense caused to her. I heard this, since she lived near my house, but I did not want to stop her, putting off reprimanding her until the next day. That same night, very late, her husband Vasily came to my window and knocked. I asked: "Who is there?" - "I am, father," he answered, "please come see the sick person." - "Who is sick?" - "Yes, my wife is dying," was the answer, "I was not at home yesterday, but at the corvée; I came home late, and now something very bad has happened to her." I took the church keys and wanted to go with him to the church for the monstrance, but he told me that I didn’t need to take the Holy Gifts, but that I should take the book from which I read over my son Orestes during his illness. Then he added: “My wife is so furious that it’s scary to even approach her.”
Then I went straight to their house with a prayer book and an epitrachelion. There was a crowd of people there, and the possessed woman, in just a shirt, with disheveled hair, was sitting on the stove, looking at me with a savage expression and began to spit, then she began to cry bitterly, saying: "My poor little head, why did he come?" - "Why are you crying, Vera?" - I asked her, not going close to her. She, having cursed me in the marketplace manner, said: "I am not Vera, but Ivanushka the young man, and why did you come?" - and threw a log from the stove at me, which flew past my head and hit the door frame. Then I said to those standing there: "Take her and bring her to me." Four strong men barely managed to drag her off the stove, and others helped them bring her to me. She, meanwhile, cursed me in every way and cried. Despite this, I covered her with an epitrachelion and began to read prayers over her for the expulsion of demons, and at each prayer I asked: “Will you come out?” “No, I will not come out,” he answered, “I am fine here.” “Fear God, and come out.” And he answered: “I will come out,” then “no.” Finally, the time came for me to go to matins, and I ordered her to be carried with me to the church. They brought her.
When the people had gathered, I asked everyone to kneel and pray earnestly to God for Vera's deliverance from the demon, and I myself again began to read the prayers and the Gospels shown above. Then the demon, in Vera's voice, cried out loudly: "Oh, oh, oh, I am sick, I am sick!" Vera began to cry in an inhuman voice, saying: "I am afraid, I am afraid, I am sick, I am sick, I will go out, I will go out, do not torment me." All this time I did not stop reading. Then Vera began to sob and fainted on the floor and became as if dead. About a quarter of an hour passed. I sprinkled her with holy water, and she came to her senses, then gave her some water to swallow, and she said a prayer, crossed herself, stood up and asked that a prayer service be served to John the Baptist.
The third case. In my parish there is a village called Zaitseva; peasants live there, belonging to the department of the Ministry of State Property, well-to-do and Orthodox people. But the most well-to-do of all are two brothers living in special houses, both married and having children, only their wives often quarrel. One day, in fine weather, the wife of the younger brother decided to dry her dowry property, and she hung it on the fence of her estate. About two hours later, while collecting the hung dress, she suddenly saw a stain cut out on her calico shirt on the chest, right opposite the heart, the size of a copper penny, and she thought of her eldest daughter-in-law, with whom she often quarreled. Then she felt an unbearable pain in her chest and aching bones. From that time on, neither her husband nor her children had any peace for the whole night: she screamed and raged, demanded a knife or a rope to destroy herself and others. She no longer imagined anything familiar, nothing sacred; there was neither modesty nor the former prudence. Her husband had to inform the neighbors of her actions. The neighbors gathered, looked at her, and all unanimously decided: “This is a curse, we must take her to the old healer to dissuade her.” But one old woman said: “No, do not sin, do not take her, but go to the priest, let him look at her.” They came for me. At this time the sick woman began to go crazy even more. As soon as I appeared in the room with the cross and the prayer book, she began to shake all over and, pale as snow, looked at me from under her brows, like a beast. “What is the matter with you, Avdotya?” I asked. “And what business is it of yours?” she answered. “Nothing.” I ordered them to bring her to me. They did. When I began to read the prayers and the Gospels and at the same time blessed her with the sign of the cross during the reading, she was shaking, spitting, hiccupping, cold as ice, turning black and red. After finishing reading the prayers, I sprinkled her with holy water, made her cross herself, gave her holy water to drink and asked: "Do you feel better?" She bowed at my feet and said: "Thank you, Father, I am now healthy, only my bones ache." Now she is completely healthy. (From the magazine "Wanderer").
Application
Ecstasy and Possession (Demonization)
Ecstasy and Possession (Demonization)
A major hysterical attack can take many different forms, with one or more phases being missed, and the others consequently giving the attack a specific form. These particular forms played no small role in the development of superstition, and, depending on the nature of the attack, they were attributed either to the manifestation of God's will or to the machinations of the devil. We are speaking primarily of two forms: ecstasy and possession. We will briefly describe each of these forms.
Ecstasy
Among the many cases described by Richet, I will select one that is distinguished by a variety of features.
“G. sits down; sometimes her head retains an almost natural position, her eyes are directed slightly upward, her hands are folded in prayer. In other cases, she assumes the pose in which the Illuminati, Saint Teresa, and others are usually depicted; her head is thrown back, her gaze is directed to the sky, her face takes on the imprint of infinite meekness and expresses ideal satisfaction; her neck is swollen, her breathing is barely noticeable, her body is absolutely motionless. Her hands, folded in a cross on her chest, further complement the resemblance to the images of saints in paintings. The patient maintains all these poses for ten to twenty minutes or even more. However, the attack always ends with the same changes in facial expression that conclude ordinary attacks; erotic delirium begins, which is even more striking due to the contrast with the first state. An observer, seeing everything for the first time, cannot look without amazement at these facial features distorted by sensuality and the uncontrollable manifestations of passionate desires.”
Here, then, the attack takes on various forms according to the feelings that overwhelm the patient. If one mood predominates, for example, religious, then the ecstasy is always of a monotonous nature. Such were undoubtedly the cases that history tells us about, and the same was observed in Louise Lateau (See about her in our book "From the Realm of the Mysterious," pp. 292-294). The latter was so imbued with the impression of the Passion of the Lord that she developed bruises on the places of her body where the wounds of the cross had been. In her ecstasies, which were regularly repeated on Fridays, she accurately depicted the entire history of the crucifixion of Christ. One eyewitness describes this scene as follows:
“Suddenly she becomes silent, her eyes become motionless; for several hours she maintains the position once assumed and seems to be immersed in deep contemplation. About 2 o’clock she bends forward, slowly rises and then suddenly falls face down on the ground. She lies there, her whole body stretched out, her head resting on her left hand; her eyes are closed, her mouth is half open, her legs are stretched out in a straight line. At about 3 o’clock, with a sudden movement, she throws out her arms crosswise and places her right leg on her left. She maintains this position until 5 o’clock. The ecstasy ends in a terrible scene. Her arms fall along her body, her head sinks onto her chest, her eyes close. Her face becomes deathly pale and covered with cold sweat, her hands are cold as ice, her pulse is barely perceptible, she wheezes. This state lasts from 10 to 15 minutes. Then the warmth returns, the pulse beats faster, the cheeks regain their former color, but the indescribable expression of ecstasy lasts for some time."
Possession
Some of the patients on whom Richet studied major hysteria, in addition to the usual attacks, sometimes undergo others that have the character of possession. In this case, the second period - clownism - comes to the fore very sharply, large movements are performed with terrible force. The wildest convulsions and writhings follow one another. The patient tries to bite herself, tears her face and chest, tears her hair, lets out terrible cries, howls like a wild animal, and tears off all her clothes. It is not surprising that the appearance of such an attack suggests the idea that an evil spirit has entered the patient. In ancient descriptions and images of the possessed, we almost always find well-known features that are observed in our time.
Richet's patients lack the entire somnambulistic stage, during which the patient hallucinates, believes himself to be possessed by demons and speaks in their name, but in the old descriptions it is precisely this stage that stands out most strongly. Richet's patients do not believe in a personal devil, and therefore in the possibility of him entering a person. If such a belief exists, the last period of the attack takes on a characteristic imprint precisely in this sense. During the epidemic in Morzine, young girls became completely furious against religion, priests, etc., and answered questions only by peppering their speech with terrible curses, despite the fact that in the intervals between the attacks they were calm, modest and pious. Thus, these modest girls did not hesitate to publicly utter the most indecent words, "However," says an eyewitness, "it was not they, but the devil who entered them, speaking in his own name."
Northern legends have also preserved a wonderful description of madness. In the book "Køge Huskors" we find a description of a hysterical epidemic that gradually engulfed all the inhabitants of one house. Although the description was made by a simple townswoman at the beginning of the 17th century, the characteristic features of great hysteria are very clearly noted. For example, it is said about the boy Jacob: "Then Satan set about him even more persistently: sometimes he crucified him so that no one could move him; bent his head to one side, and threw his legs one over the other, just as the Savior hung on the cross; twisted the whites of his eyes, as if he were dead." Obviously, here we are talking about severe contractures. In other inhabitants of the house, gradually overcome by the disease, we also discover the familiar symptoms of hysteria. About the landlord Hans Bartskær it is further said: "From day to day he was subjected to great attacks. Every day from 11 to 2 o'clock the evil enemy sat on his back like a big sack of flour, and sometimes curled up on his side like a hen's egg." (The hysterical ball is an almost constant symptom of hysteria). However, things get even worse when the youngest member of the family falls ill. "We had a little boy of nine years old. Something so strange happened to him that it was impossible to understand what hurt him. He said that something was running through his body and pricking him. We gave him baths and tried various tips, but he got worse. We sent to the barber surgeon to ask what illness he had. He could not give us any advice, but said that a healer had arrived in our place and that we could consult her. They sent for her: she said that an evil spirit had entered the child, and could give no other advice than to pray to God. We suffered much grief trying to get rid of such a guest. Once I was standing in the room, and the child was lying in a wicker bed like a basket; suddenly it rose into the air about a yard and a half and began to jump up and down. I ran for Hans and brought him. When we entered, the boy was lifted out of bed and was standing on his head, with his legs up and his arms outstretched. With great difficulty we put him to bed. From that day on, he and I had much grief. An evil spirit ran around him like a piglet and swelled his belly so that it was terrible to look at; he stretched out his tongue to his neck, and then twisted it like a rag, so that blood flowed from his mouth. The demon grunted in his belly like a piglet, and contorted his limbs so that four healthy lads could not straighten them out. He crowed like a rooster, barked like a dog, drove the boy into the attic, onto the wood in the yard, and, having led him there, threw him down. The boy sat there, cried, and could not come down. The demon even threw him over the fence to his neighbor Jacob Meyer. He pulled his eyes into his head, and also his cheeks, and made him so hard and stiff, like a stick, that someone who did not know it would say that he was made of wood. We leaned him against the wall, and he stood there like a wooden idol. In the evenings, when we sang Luther's hymn or read (the Bible), he neighed like a horse and mocked us as best he could."
Here one can recognize all the phases of a hysterical attack, although all the phenomena are very confused: there is even a final delirium, where Satan blasphemes in the language of a child. The story becomes more interesting when the priest, Master Niels Glostrup, intervenes. "When the pastor came to see us one day, Satan addressed him: 'If I did not fear the Great Man, I would deal with you to shame; you pray too earnestly to the Great One for this child and for the whole house, and thereby torment me. Today I have already climbed into your dress, but when you prayed for the boy, I fell down and was ashamed.' Master Niels answered: 'You have already disgraced yourself, cursed spirit.' Satan answered: 'I know it myself.' Master Niels said: 'When will you, cursed spirit, leave this dwelling and leave this boy in peace, whom you torment day and night?' Then Satan said through the mouth of the boy: 'Do you want me to go away?' 'God Almighty,' answered the master, 'will banish you to where the eternal fire burns.' Satan answered: 'When the Great One says: go away, then I will have to go.' The master spoke to him in Latin, and Satan mockingly answered that he did not want to rack his brains over this."
Since the trance into which mediums fall differs significantly from the fits of demonic possession, a few words must be said about it.
Possessed Mediums
When describing a trance, it is sometimes difficult to define the characteristic features of this state. At one time it may be only autohypnosis - this is probably the most frequent case - at another time it is a hysterical attack with predominant phenomena of somnambulism, during which the medium, under the influence of autosuggestion, believes himself to be possessed by a spirit.
I once witnessed such an attack at a spiritualistic seance, although a detailed investigation of the matter in a meeting of believers was out of the question; besides, I did not have the necessary equipment with me, and I had no experience in using it, so I could not establish the hysterical nature of the phenomena. But the entire course of the attack, accompanied by vomiting, groans, convulsions, a strong tendency to clownism (an arched position) left no room for doubt that before me was an attack of hysteria, ending in a very prolonged somnambulistic state. In this case, the spirit of a Swedish priest entered the medium. The priest's sermon was interrupted, however, more than once by scolding and blasphemy, which was very reminiscent of demonic possession. Spiritualists gave this explanation that the spirit of the priest had to give way to another spirit, very imperfect and suffering. The latter began to be expelled with all kinds of solemnity, with prayers and incantations, so that it turned out to be quite a medieval scene.
Mediums of this kind seem to be quite common. One of the most famous of our time is the American Mrs. Lenora Piper. She has been seen and examined by many, but unfortunately not by doctors. It has only been established that her visual acuity and the size of her field of vision are normal, but this, of course, does not exclude the possibility that she has symptoms of hysteria, which is confirmed by many reports.
Thus Richet writes: “Mistress P. occupies a middle position between ordinary American mediums and our French somnambulists. Magnetic passes do not plunge her into sleep, but directly lead her into a trance; only she does not fall into it spontaneously, but must hold someone’s hand for this. In a semi-dark room she takes someone’s hand and remains calm for several minutes. Then she begins to have small convulsive contractions, gradually increasing and ending in a weak epileptic seizure. After this she falls into a kind of fainting fit for several minutes, from which she awakens with a loud cry. Here her voice changes, and we have before us no longer Mistress P., but Doctor Phinuit, who speaks in a rough male voice and with an accent representing a mixture of American dialect with the French jargon of the Negroes.”
From this description it is clear that we are dealing here with a hysterical attack and a change of personality. This is also indicated by the fact that Mrs. P. cannot always bring about a trance state at will, but the change of personality sometimes occurs against her will and when she does not expect it, for example, in a dream.
The somnambulistic state in which she is with Dr. Phinuit lasts from a few minutes to an hour, most often about an hour. The attacks first appeared when Mrs. P. in 1888 consulted a blind medium, Mr. Cock, for medical advice, who was “controlled,” i.e. possessed, by the spirit of a French physician named Finney. Already during the second visit she fainted and was possessed by the spirit of an Indian girl. After this she developed a mediumship and was “controlled” by the spirits of Dr. Phinuit and others: Sebastian Bach, Longfellow, Commander Vanderbilt, etc., but in the end Phinuit undoubtedly predominated. Phinuit gives the following information about himself: he was a French physician; born in Marseilles in 1790, died in 1860; and they gave detailed accounts of his studies, visits and residences. However, despite all their efforts, they could not find the slightest trace of the real existence of such a person anywhere. Of course, he is a pure fantasy of Mrs. P., created by auto-suggestion. The most surprising thing is that this Frenchman could not speak French. He justifies himself by saying that, living for many years in Metz, he was constantly among the English, which is why he forgot his native language. In any case, it is surprising that a person living in his native land could forget his language. Mr. Hodgson made the same remark to Phinuit during one of his sessions, and added that, in his opinion, the following interpretation was much more probable: the doctor could not explain himself in his native language because he was forced to use the brain of Mrs. P., who did not know foreign languages. In one of his subsequent sessions, Phinuit gave this explanation as his own; therefore, he was susceptible to suggestion. Dr. Phinuit's specialty is to give opinions on the most intimate matters, known only to the person whose hand Mrs. P. holds during the trance. Astonishing stories have been told of his answers, and this was the main reason why the English Society undertook an investigation of the matter. At first it was thought that Mrs. P. was collecting information about her clients through detectives, so they began to follow her, but this led to nothing. In addition, complete strangers were brought to her séances under false names, but to them Phinuit gave a wealth of information about their private affairs. At last the members of the Society for Psychical Research invited her to England; she lived successively under the strictest supervision in Cambridge, Liverpool and London, where she knew no one. She was tested at many séances and her answers were taken down in shorthand: the result was always the same.
Of course, not all of Phinuit's communications are of equal value; many of them are largely untrue. Sometimes he carefully probes the questioner and himself puts preliminary questions, the answers to which enable him to orient himself. It is certain, however, that in many cases he answered questions which even the interested party could hardly answer, and, moreover, correctly, as it turned out later. We cannot dwell at length on the enormous material collected about him and his activities; but all the data lead to the conclusion that the matter comes down to reading and transferring thoughts, sometimes even those of which the author himself is not clearly aware. We have already spoken more than once about how, unnoticed by the questioner, answers to questions posed by him can be suggested in an elusive whisper. This may explain the fact that foreigners who do not know English did not receive answers from Phinuit, who in turn knows only English. To all the questions that Richet put to his compatriot and colleague, he answered incorrectly. Only the name of Richet's dog was correctly indicated, and even that was mispronounced. Thus, Phinuit's information is not at all supernatural: he only repeats what the hysterical sleepwalker Mrs. P. hears during the session (See the book "The Illustrated History of Superstitions and Magic", Dr. Alfred Leman. Vol. X, Moscow, 1900).
PART ELEVEN
