Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Source Material
These are my two primary sources, An Exorcist Tells His Story by Gabriele Amorth (one of the leading exorcists in Rome), and The Making of a Modern Exorcist by Matt Baglio, both of which I highly recommend. There is a bit of overlap, as Mr. Baglio also uses Father Amorth as a source. Other books I've read on the subject include More Stories by Father Amorth, and Hostage to the Devil by Malachi Martin. Hopefully I can broaden my library soon.
Monday, October 1, 2012
Stubborn Realities
"It's not real."
I remember hearing that explanation quite often when I was a kid. Ghosts aren't real. Witches aren't real. Magic isn't real. Spells aren't real. Curses aren't real. Don't worry, it can't hurt you because it doesn't exist. My mother was very firm and practical about it, and I was satisfied with that. After all, if we had a choice, most of us would prefer to live in a world in which dark spiritual complications don't exist. Unfortunately, I've been doing a bit of research over the past few years, and guess what . . .
It's all real.
Growing up in a Catholic home, we never questioned the existence of Satan. Demons were simply a fact of life, as were angels, heaven, hell, and purgatory. That, however, was the extent of our awareness of the spiritual world. To some degree we felt, like the rest of the modern population, that we lived in a rational scientific world in which things like witchcraft were at worst a pathetic waste of time. Now, as I read the accounts of respected modern exorcists who deal with preternatural phenomena on a regular basis, I'm discovering that some of those things we dismissed in our childhood are actually very real and can be very dangerous.
But, before anybody decides to sleep with the lights on, rest assured the Catholic Church has an answer for all these problems. Some people would prefer not to know about any of this for their own peace of mind, but ignorance is no protection. I would rather be informed and have a plan of action before I am ever confronted by something the exterminator can't explain away. Forewarned is forearmed, after all.
October is here. That usually means people are picking out their pumpkins and fussing over children's costumes. With Halloween and All Souls Day just around the corner, there's no time like the present to consider some of these spiritual realities which can be all too easy to ignore or forget. I'll be posting about them all month.
I remember hearing that explanation quite often when I was a kid. Ghosts aren't real. Witches aren't real. Magic isn't real. Spells aren't real. Curses aren't real. Don't worry, it can't hurt you because it doesn't exist. My mother was very firm and practical about it, and I was satisfied with that. After all, if we had a choice, most of us would prefer to live in a world in which dark spiritual complications don't exist. Unfortunately, I've been doing a bit of research over the past few years, and guess what . . .
It's all real.
Growing up in a Catholic home, we never questioned the existence of Satan. Demons were simply a fact of life, as were angels, heaven, hell, and purgatory. That, however, was the extent of our awareness of the spiritual world. To some degree we felt, like the rest of the modern population, that we lived in a rational scientific world in which things like witchcraft were at worst a pathetic waste of time. Now, as I read the accounts of respected modern exorcists who deal with preternatural phenomena on a regular basis, I'm discovering that some of those things we dismissed in our childhood are actually very real and can be very dangerous.
But, before anybody decides to sleep with the lights on, rest assured the Catholic Church has an answer for all these problems. Some people would prefer not to know about any of this for their own peace of mind, but ignorance is no protection. I would rather be informed and have a plan of action before I am ever confronted by something the exterminator can't explain away. Forewarned is forearmed, after all.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
The End of the Road
It will keep you awake at night, but everybody needs to see this. It confirmed what I already knew and painted an even bleaker picture than I expected. In hindsight, I wish I'd been bringing in a second income all this time to pay down these debts faster. I'm a little frantic now. Is there a patron saint of bad currency?
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