“THE DEVIL ON THE CREST OF THE WAVE”

A shocking movie, “The Exorcist,” in which a 12-year-old girl screams the most pornographic words and phrases ever heard in movies, vomits on exorcist priests, has been shaking up opinions around the world and achieving the highest box office records ever seen.  This film features scenes in which invisible agents sexually possess her, with horrific transformations into monstrous figures.

What is could be happening to all these people? The scenes are transferred to the audiences, where some throw themselves to the ground in hysterical fits, seized by strange movements, writhing in convulsions.  Psychiatric offices are unable to cope with the number of patients; one could say that a tremendous wave of disturbances has been unleashed in movie theater audiences worldwide, triggered by a film based on a real event that occurred in 1949 in the USA with a 14-year-old boy.  His bed began to shake, and the paintings and chairs in his room moved inexplicably.  Taken to Georgetown University Hospital, he got worse and began to blaspheme in archaic languages.  He was handed over to a Jesuit exorcist and, after two months of rituals and prayers, the boy was freed from the spirit that possessed him.

The film, as a psychological, social, and religious phenomenon, has been challenging researchers in these fields.  According to the author Hal Linsey, “there are spiritual powers at play during the screening of this film, which would only be preparing the ground for the future attack of the devil.”

Poor Satan, an ancient figure, had already hung up his carnival costume after more than seven hundred years, when he had reached his climax of terror to men.  Certainly, he was embarrassed by the “deeds” and “misdeeds” attributed to him for so long, and he no longer thought of coming to trial again.  The devil came back into fashion; he exists, he does not exist, he is guilty of this and that.  How much torment has this figure suffered, who, as a creature of God, is subject to the laws of evolution, cause and effect; how many transformations has he already undergone?  Yet, they went to get him back, unearthing the most horrendous paintings and pictures to show him again to men and bestow upon him the faults of the errors we perpetrate. The poor devil must have evolved a lot, having patiently accepted the role of “scapegoat” for so long.

Opinions on this entity are quite diverse, let us look at some:

ALBERTO LYRA, PSYCHIATRIST: THE DEVIL IS THE DYNAMISM OF THE UNCONSCIOUS.

In his recently released book “Unconscious, Magic and the Devil in the 20th Century,” Dr. Lyra tells us: “Today, believing in the devil is proof of total ignorance or incomprehensible prejudice, as even theologians avoid addressing the demonic hypothesis and speak as little as possible about hell.”

In the chapter “Demonic Possession,” the author lists the opinions of many writers – judges, priests, doctors – on various cases of possession, reported since 1258, when the first trial against witchcraft took place under the auspices of the Holy Inquisition.

In his analyses, Dr. Lyra comments: “In studying these so-called diabolic manifestations in detail, we have noticed that they have a malignant, perverse, vicious, and extravagant background.  “The set of phenomena, while showing an intelligence in action, is accompanied by various parapsychological phenomena – telepathy, clairvoyance, premonition, telekinesis, levitation, etc. – which academic science does not explain and whose existence it prefers to deny.”

The psychiatrist believes that “part of the phenomenology can be explained as the dynamism of the unconscious.  And, for him, the unconscious is the effect and not the cause, making itself felt as the mediator, the psychodynamic element of all phenomena, simply a mechanism, although in certain psychic phenomena (of living people), it is both cause and mechanism at the same time.”

“The hypothesis of the unconscious is valid and effective but giving it characteristics of omnipotence and omniscience is unscientific.  In this way, the medieval devil was simply replaced by the scientific unconscious. The devil can do everything: telepathy, clairvoyance, levitation, materialization, all would be the devil’s tricks to deceive the righteous. And at the end of time, according to the Bible, there will be so many prodigies that even the chosen ones would be lost, if that were possible.”

RESEARCH FROM THE CENTER FOR POLITICAL STUDIES IN THE US

The Folha de São Paulo of April 5, 1974, presents the results of a survey by an independent agency,  The Center for Political Studies, which studies social phenomena in the USA.  The conclusions show that in the population of the United States, the proportion of those who are completely convinced of the devil’s existence has grown in the last nine years from 37% to 48%.  This survey was conducted last year, before the presentation of the film “The Exorcist.”  Dr. Clyde M. Nuhn, the Center’s main researcher and a specialist in the sociology of religion, attributes the increase in the belief in the devil to the uncertainty and unrest of today.

FATHER OSEAR QUEVEDO: THE DEMON ACTS SECRETLY

On the Flavio Cavalcanti program, Channel 4, on Rede Tupi, São Paulo, broadcasted throughout Brazil on March 30, according to our tape recording, Father Quevedo answers the following question:

— “Are all cases of possession by the demon false?”

— “All cases in known history can be explained parapsychologically; they do not fit into a demonic explanation and only into a scientific parapsychological explanation.”

— “Could any of them be true?”

— “None.  No case is of demonic possession; there are no miracles of the devil.”

— “And what do you see as the difference?”

— “The Roman ritual, where the Church consults scientists on scientific matters, proposes three: speaking foreign languages in a somewhat broad way; xenoglossia, which parapsychology is tired of explaining, and I myself have explained in my books and in our parapsychology magazine.”

MANIFESTING SUPERIOR STRENGHT TO AGE OR CUSTOMS

The famous hyperdynamism, Samsonism, is not even always parapsychological.  A madman in a nervous breakdown is unstoppable without a straitjacket.  And, in parapsychological situations, a child can manifest strength by harnessing the last energies of his/her muscles, a fact that is hard to believe for those who do not know this.

MANIFESTING DISTANT, HIDDEN THINGS

Telepathy, clairvoyance, premonition, what people call Extrasensory perception (ESP), are well known in Parapsychology.  The scientists of ancient times believed that this was due to the demon.  And the Church consulted with scientists; the scientists failed, in the human order, which is not doctrine, and the Church went along with it.  As science advanced, the Church advanced in disciplinary matters of the scientific world, which has nothing to do with religious doctrine, they are observable facts.

QUESTION FROM JOURNALIST ABRAHAO CESTIN, FROM PARANÁ: — “You said that a Catholic priest can only perform exorcism with authorization from his bishop, so he admits the demon.  By denying it, aren’t you going against your own church?”

Father’s response: — “No, (laughter) quite the opposite.  Precisely because, as we  have seen, there is so much and so much superstition, people see the demon everywhere, and the Church, which has educated people, knows that this is not the case.  And the demon exists, but does not intervene, although perhaps it does too, since that is a matter of Science and Science has not yet clarified the case, but specialized parapsychology knows it is not like that.  But even before parapsychology, the Church saw that people attributed too many things to the demon and that is why it prohibited administering exorcism; it was superstition; people saw the demon everywhere.  And it is not that I am against the Church, quite the opposite, it is the Church that is on my side, in this idea, because it was the Church that prohibited administering exorcisms without a license. This would indicate that the Church is saying that the demon intervenes, and this does not have anything to do with the Church; it has to do with Science.  Currently the Pope has warned about the existence of the demon and the hidden, imperceptible action of the demon.  The Pope did not speak of demonic possessions, nor of observable interventions of the demon.  He expressly said a hidden, indiscernible, unobservable intervention, therefore, you see, the bishops were prohibiting performing exorcisms in the scientific observation order of facts.  However, the Pope does not get involved in the observation of facts, and so that we do not fall into the error of saying, because there is no demonic possession, to draw the conclusion that the demon does not exist, the Pope warns: there may be no demonic possession, nor demonic miracles, this belongs to observable science, but the demon exists and acts secretly, imperceptibly.”

LUCIANO DOS ANJOS, SPIRITIST, ON THE ACTIONS OF EVIL SPIRITS

In the Manchete magazine, dated May 4th of this year, in the article entitled “The Devil is in Fashion,” Professor Luciano dos Anjos, from the Brazilian Spiritist Federation, answers several questions, among which we highlight the following:

— Does the devil exist?

Answer: “Yes and no.  The devil does not exist.  But evil spirits do.  The only way to talk about the existence of the devil is to take him as a simple allegorical figure, as Christ himself did.  As for evil spirits, they are nothing more than creatures that once lived here on earth and that, after disincarnation, continue to hate and persecute their fellow men.  If there are evil spirits on earth – murderers, traitors, thieves, etc.- it is clear that they also exist in the spiritual world.  We must never forget that spirits, whether good or evil, are nothing more than men stripped of the physical bodies.”

— How can an evil spirit possess a person?

This is what Professor Luciano answers: “Yes, a disincarnated spirit can exert influence over an incarnated spirit.  The intensity of this influence can vary from simple fascination, subjugation, to total possession.  This influence can be identified by behavior, strange attitudes, illnesses and symptoms that medicine cannot explain, and other abnormal signs in the person being influenced.”

FATHER PAULO ENGÊNIO CHARBONEAU: THE DEMON EXISTS

Also on the Flavio Cavalcanti Program, on Channel 4 in São Paulo, on April 6th of this year, according to the recording in our possession, Father Charboneau answers the following question from Mrs. Maria de Lourdes Tabosa, from Pernambuco:

— Didn’t that demon that tempted Jesus Christ in the desert exist?  Did the other one that the apostle St. Peter refers to and that roars like a lion, looking for someone to devour, also exist?

Answer: “The problem of the existence of the devil is a theological one, a matter of faith.  So, both faith and theology that explain it have their roots in revelation.  From a theological perspective, I think it is undeniable that one must recognize everything that comes through the holy scriptures and some categorically affirm the existence of the demon, of Satan. There is no doubt about that.”

Mr. Flavio Cavalcanti asks: “So why Father Quevedo’s position?”

Answer from Father Charboneau: “I fully understand Father Quevedo’s position.  Saying that the demon exists is one thing; saying that the demon manifests in all sorts of ways, at all times, and that, as many people today think, including strangely among young people, that he acts physically is a different thing.  These are the issues that arose with the film ‘The Exorcist,’ from which viewers are  known to walk away, some fainting, others convinced that they are physically possessed by the demon.  So, saying that the demon exists and saying that he is constantly acting in each one of us and that he can take over us at any moment is a completely different statement.  In this, I think Father Quevedo, from what I understood of what he said, is completely right.  There is a series of psychological wear and tear, pathological situations, psychiatric cases that can sometimes give the impression that the devil is present, but which, almost all the time, are nothing more than mere natural phenomena and that should be evaluated and treated by expert professionals.”

THE SPIRITS’ WORD

Allan Kardec, in “The Spirits’ Book,” asks questions to the Spirits and they enlighten us substantially about the devil.

Question 114: — “Are spirits good or bad by nature, or do they improve themselves?”

Answer: “They improve themselves; and by improving, they move from a lower order to a higher one.”

Question 115: “Among spirits, were some created good and others evil?”

Answer: “God created all spirits simple and ignorant, that is, without knowledge.  He gave each one a mission with the aim of enlightening themselves and helping them gradually reach perfection through the knowledge of the truth and to bring them closer to God.  Eternal and total happiness for them lies in this perfection.  Spirits acquire this knowledge by undergoing trials that God imposes on them.  Some accept them with submission and reach the end destined for them more quickly; others do not submit without complaint and thus, by their own fault, remain distant from the perfection and the promised happiness.”

Question 116: “Are there spirits that remain perpetually in the lower classes?”

Answer: “No: they all become perfect; they change class, although slowly.  As we have said before, a just and merciful father cannot eternally banish his children.  Would you want God, so great, so good, so just, to be worse than you yourselves?”

Question 131: “Are there demons in this sense attached to this word?”

Answer: “If there were demons, they would be the work of God.  And would God be just and good if he had made beings eternally devoted to being evil and unhappy?  If there are demons, it is in your inferior world and in others like it that they reside.  It is these hypocritical men who make a just God into a wicked and vengeful God and who think they please him with the abominations they commit in his name.”

Question 459: “Do spirits influence our thoughts and actions?”

Answer: “In this case, their influence is greater than you think, for often it is they who direct you.”

Question 467: “Can we free ourselves from the influence of spirits who incite us to evil?”

Answer: “Yes, because they only attach themselves to those who solicit them by their desires and attract them by their thoughts.”

Question 473: “Can a spirit temporarily take over the body of a living person, that is, enter an animated body and act in place of the one who is incarnated in it?”

Answer: “The spirit does not enter the body as you enter a house: it identifies with the incarnate spirit who has the same virtues and the same defects, acting together. However, it is always the incarnate spirit who acts as he wishes upon the matter that envelops him. A spirit cannot replace the one who is incarnated, for spirit and body are linked for the entire physical existence.”

Question 475: “Can a person themselves drive away evil spirits and free themselves from their dominance?”

Answer: “It is always possible to escape their yoke, provided there is a firm will.”

Question 477: “Do exorcism formulas have any influence over evil spirits?”

Answer: “No. When these spirits see that someone takes it seriously, they laugh and become obstinate.”

The clarity and good sense in the spirits’ answers are noteworthy, enunciating with justice and balance the transcendental principles that govern our relationships with spirits and their destinies.

ANDRÉ LUIZ: IN THE UNDERWORLD OF SPIRITS

In the book “Liberation,” dictated by the spirit of André Luiz through the psychography of Chico Xavier, we follow an incursion into the dense spheres of the spirit underworld, where the spiritual Instructor Gubio, Elói, and the author carry out a rescue expedition in the somber region called the Crust. The rescuers undergo transformations in their perispirit, experiencing sensations of weight, fatigue, and mobility difficulties due to the fluidic density and the viciousness of the atmosphere in environments close to our physical plane.  In this region, there are armies of rebellious and recalcitrant spirits, commanded by perverse entities with sharp intelligence, devoted to hatred, mastering refined hypnotic processes and knowledgeable in handling viscous fluidic impregnations.  Using mental forms (ovoids) that act as leeches of human vital energies, these malevolent entities constitute a true empire crystallized in evil, fighting to maintain the continuity of hatred, revenge, vanity, and criminality in earthly circles.  A true Hell directed by diabolical spirits, insensitive to the subtle appeals of higher spirituality.

The narrations of André Luiz in this book document the liberation of one of these entities and, consequently, of countless spirits under its command, enriching and exemplifying in valuable detail the answers given by the spirits to the questions of the Lyon Professor, Kardec, listed above. These thousands of spirits, children of despair, competing among themselves for the domination of Earth, crystallized in rebellion, try to hinder the moral evolution of our planet, fighting for mental domination and vibrational involvement of those who, being careless, are carried away by feelings of revenge, power, pride, and discord.

CONCLUSION: WITH JESUS AND PAUL OF TARSUS

And we, as spirits in precarious evolutionary conditions, are still permeable to these inspirations from the regions of shadows.  Sometimes we become sensitive to the bright and wonderful current of noble entities, sublimated in love and renunciation who fight gloriously for the establishment of goodness, and oscillate between the ascending movements of liberation and descents to depressing zones, according to our greater or lesser persistence.  We conclude with the words of Minister Flacus (Chapter I of the book “Liberation”):

“Hell, therefore, is a problem of spiritual direction.”  “Satan is the perverse intelligence.  Evil is the waste of time or the use of energy in a direction contrary to the purposes of the Lord.  Suffering is reparation or renewed teaching.  For this reason, the Planet, for now, is nothing more than a vast sieve of self-improvement, from which only individuals exceptionally perfected by their own effort manage to escape towards the sublime spheres.”

Considering such a situation, the Divine Master exclaimed before the Judge in Jerusalem: “For now, my kingdom is not of this world.” And, for the same reason, Paul of Tarsus, after anguishing struggles, writes to the Ephesians that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

And those final words of Instructor Gubio to André Luiz, after carrying in his arms the spirit of Gregorio, freed by his heavenly mother Matilde from the murky regions where he remained in satanic madness, come to conclusively comfort us:  “Jesus rewards you, my son, for the role you played in this journey of liberation.  Never forget that love conquers all hatred and that good annihilates all evil.”