The Dark Sacrament (48 page)

T
HE COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS:
Carl Gustav Jung (1875–1961) was born and spent most of his life in Switzerland. As a pioneering psychiatrist, he collaborated with Sigmund Freud for many years until they had a notorious falling-out after
WWI
, owing to Freud's fixation on sexuality as the root of numerous psychological problems. Jung became immersed in spirituality and the symbolism of dreams. He developed many theories on the subconscious mind, including the notion of the collective unconscious (which he later referred to as the objective psyche) and the archetypes: symbols common to all human beings and arising in that part of the psyche “shared” by all.

The New England Transcendentalists, a group of writers led by Ralph Waldo Emerson, perceived a similarity between Jung's collective unconscious and the concept of the oversoul. They believed that both ideas referred to a force pervading the universe upon which all individual human souls may draw, thus enabling one to communicate with God. It transcends the individual soul or consciousness.

DEVILRY ON THE DINGLE PENINSULA

D
EAD BLACK FLIES:
Flies seem to figure in an inordinate number of hauntings that have unpleasant overtones. In this regard it is intriguing to
note that the archdemon Beelzebub is sometimes known as Lord of the Flies. Indeed, this appears to be a Hebrew-Aramaic translation of the name itself, in earlier texts rendered as Baalzebûb. It is also cognate with the Philistine god Ba'al, who may or may not have been a malevolent entity.

D
EALING WITH THE PRETERNATURAL:
It is often thought that the terms
preternatural
and
supernatural
are interchangeable. In fact,
supernatural
should be used only in reference to God and that which is of God. A preternatural entity, such as an evil spirit, is considered to be superior in power to a human being but inferior to the divine.

H
OLY WATER AND INCENSE:
The use of incense predates Christianity by many centuries, if not millennia. There are countless references to it in the Old Testament, for example: “And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning…a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations” (Exodus 30:7–8). The New Testament also mentions it, for instance, in Revelation 8:3–4: “And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.” However, there is no record of its Christian use until the fifth century. The symbolism of incensation is threefold: the burning zeal of the faithful, the fragrance of virtue, and the ascent of prayer on high. The cloud it produces may also symbolize the incorporeal nature of the divine.

APPENDIX 1: EXORCISM AND HISTORY

S
ANSKRIT:
One of the oldest Indo-European languages, written Sanskrit is some 3,500 years old. Today it occupies a position similar to that of Latin in the Christian Churches, being the liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. There have been recent attempts to revive it as a vernacular.

B
OOK OF TOBIT:
From 6:8. Protestantism regards this biblical book as apocryphal. In older Catholic Bibles it is known as the Book of Tobias, Tobias being the son of Tobit, a Jew who was exiled in Nineveh, Mesopotamia.

P
OPE
C
ORNELIUS:
The emperor Caius Messius Quintus Decius reigned in Rome from
AD
249 until his death in 251. This was a time of great persecution of Christians, enthusiastically continued by his successor, Caius Gallus, who, it seems, died in the same year as the exiled pontiff. Although Cornelius was declared a martyr, there is no evidence that he suffered a violent death. Novatian, the theologian who took his place in 251, thereby creating a schism, was also exiled and was said to have died a martyr.

E
AGLE
M
OUNTAIN:
The god Lugh, father of Cúchulainn, had his place in all the Celtic pantheons. The Welsh knew him as Llew Llaw Gyffes, “Lew of the Versatile Arm.” To the Gauls he was Lugos. In ancient Ireland he was known as Lugh Lámhfada, or “Lugh of the Long Arm.” He was a solar deity possessed of many skills, including medicine and brewing. He was also a shape-shifter, his favored animal being a raven, sometimes an eagle. This last might account for the old name of Croagh Patrick.

M
OSES IN THE
S
INAI:
“Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb” (Exodus 3:1). The biblical Horeb, where Moses communed with God, was renamed Mount Sinai by Greek Orthodox monks in the fourth century
AD
. There is some confusion today when identifying it; Gebel Mûsa (Moses's Mountain) is taken to be the original Horeb, although the nearby (and smaller) Mount Serabit seems a better contender, being the site of an ancient Egyptian temple to Hathor.

The temple site was excavated in 1904 by Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie. Mount Serabit (Serabît el-Khâdim) lies some twenty miles east of the Gulf of Suez and nearly one hundred miles from the border with Israel.

S
T.
A
NTHONY ON HIS MOUNTAINTOP:
Sometimes known as St. Anthony the Great, he was born in upper Egypt in
AD
251 to wealthy parents, became a hermit, and wandered in a mountainous desert region some sixty miles west of Alexandria. His hagiographer, Athanasius, recorded that Anthony was subjected to a bewildering gamut of dreams, hallucinations, and temptations. These last have had an enduring influence on Christendom, becoming the inspiration of several painters, from Hieronymus Bosch to Dali.

In 1874 the French philosopher Gustave Flaubert published his masterpiece
The Temptation of St. Anthony.
It is a drama that features a bewildering cast of players, from ancient kings to the Devil, all of whom try to tempt the hermit away from the spiritual path. The dream aspect of the work influenced the young Sigmund Freud.

Flaubert's translator, Lafcadio Hearn, summarized the more lascivious temptations: “His thoughts wander…he dreams of Amonaria, his sister's playmate…. He beholds the orgies, the luxuries, the abominations…and the Queen of Sheba descends to tempt the Saint with the deadliest of all temptations. Her beauty is enhanced by oriental splendor of adornment; her converse is a song of witchcraft.”

L
UGH NA
D
EAMHAIN:
It is unfortunate that the name of the Celtic deity Lugh is so close to the old Irish word
lug,
which means “hollow” or “valley.” The word has survived unaltered in other Irish place names that have undergone a crude anglicization, e.g., Lugnaquilla or Lug na Coille, “The Wooded
Hollow.” The addition of the aspirative
h
may well have been an attempt by the early Church to demonize Lugh. Interestingly, his name is also a cognate of the Latin
luceo,
“to be bright,” from which the name Lucifer, or “Shining One,” is derived. Lugh was the Celtic solar god, the bringer of light and, as such, an important heathen deity. It would have been natural for the early churchmen, in their efforts to supplant the “false” gods, to identify him with an evil entity.

A
N
D
IABHAL:
The Devil has a fascinating etymology. Linguists trace the word's origin to the Sanskrit
deva,
meaning “god” or “giver of light.” (Intriguingly, it is also close to
diva,
the leading light of the opera.) Via the Greek verb
diabalein,
meaning “to oppose,” the word entered Latin as
diabolus,
Italian as
diabolo,
French as
diable,
and English as
diabolic
. German and Dutch rendered the consonantal sounds as
Teufel
and
duivel,
the latter becoming “devil” upon reaching Britain. It is possibly no more than coincidence that the Irish version,
diabhal,
contains within it
dia,
“god.” This is derived from the Latin
deus
and has another root entirely. The word
god
seems to be largely a late European innovation. It appears in German, Dutch, Danish, and Swedish as, respectively
Gott, god, gud,
and
gud
. There have been attempts to trace the root back to the Sanskrit
hu,
“to invoke.” It seems a weak argument. That root has indeed come down to us, though in a different context: the “hue” of “hue and cry.”

F
IRST
I
RISH WITCH TRIAL:
One would expect that Ireland, given its reputation as the “natural” home of all things paranormal, had more than its fair share of witches and sorcerers. Not so, according to St. John D. Seymour, who, in 1913, published
Witchcraft and Demonology in Ireland,
an exhaustive work that examined the phenomena from 1324 to 1808. He concluded that witchcraft was far less prevalent there than in England and Scotland and offered a curious explanation. He noted that fairy lore was largely confined to the “Celtic” section of the community, whereas the “English” in Ireland—the descendants of the Anglo-Norman colonists—were more likely to practice witchcraft. In short, witchcraft and sorcery were principally Protestant phenomena. He wrote:

M
ADE THE SIGN OF THE CROSS:
The symbolism of this minor ritual has a colorful history. Obviously, it represents the cross upon which Christ was crucified, which came to symbolize the Christian Church. It is used by Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Eastern Rite Catholic Churches, and the Orthodox Churches.

Reverend Kenneth W. Collins notes a curious interpretation of the Western style. He believes that the movement from left to right represents Jesus's descent into hell, or Hades (the left side), and his ascension into heaven (the right side). This is consistent with the tradition that holds that all matters demonic, including black magic and Satanism, belong to the “left-hand path.”

The sign of the cross was not exclusively Christian. In the ancient world, Indian Buddhists as well as members of Hindu sects used it when anointing the forehead.

A
RCHBISHOP
J
AMES
U
SSHER:
Also written Usher (1581–1656). He was born in Dublin and was Anglican archbishop of Armagh from 1625 to 1656. His scholarship was legendary, as was his fervent anti-Catholicism, despite his mother being Catholic. He is best remembered for having dated the Creation, a date still recognized by many Christians as being the true one. Ussher was able to narrow it down not only to the year but to the very time of day: dusk on October 22, 4004
BC.

H
OLY
F
ATHER'S INTERVENTION:
Pope John Paul
II
, during a 1987 visit to the Temple of Saint Michael in Perugia, Italy, spoke of “the battle against the Devil, which is the principal task of St. Michael the Archangel.” He reminded the faithful that it is “still being fought today, because the Devil is still alive and active in the world.” He spoke of evil in the modern world and its causes. “The disorders that plague our society,” he declared, “man's inconsistency and damaged state, are not only the results of original sin, but also the result of Satan's pervasive and dark action.”

This book would not have been possible without the contributions made by a great many people, on two sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

On the Irish side, our thanks go to Fergal Tobin of Gill and Macmillan, Dublin, who encouraged us to undertake the project; to Reverend W. H. Lendrum and Father Ignatius McCarthy, who provided their spiritual guidance and generosity; to many other religious, who gave of their time and wisdom; to the men and women who related their experiences out of the goodness of their hearts.

On the American side, our thanks go to the publishers: Roger Freet, our editor, who recognized the importance of the book, and whose enthusiasm infected and inspired so many; including Kris Ashley, whose dedication to quality never flagged; Terri Leonard and Lisa Zuniga, our production team at HarperOne, whose professionalism proved invaluable when preparing the work for printing; and, finally, Beck Stvan and Kris Tobiassen, whose cover design and page layout truly brought our work to life.

—
DAVID M. KIELY AND CHRISTINA MCKENNA

Aberglaube

Acts of the Apostles

alcohol abuse

astral travel and

Amantini, Candido

American Revolution

Amityville Horror The
(film)

Amorth, Dom Gabriele

Anderson, Reverend Peter

angels

Angican Church, exorcism

Anima Christi

anorexia

Anthony, St., antianxiety medications

antidepressants

apocalyptic visions

art

Ashwood, John

Assyrians

astral travel

astrology

Atharvan

Atharvaveda

Attila the Hun

Augustinians

Australia

 

Babylonians

Balbriggan

banshee, myth of

baptism, Batcheldor, Kenneth J.

Baudelaire, Charles, “The Generous Gambler,”

Beast, The

Belfast

Benedict, St. Berkowitz, Sam

bestiaries

Bible

See also specific books

black magic

Blair, Reverend Robert

Blatty, William Peter,
The Exorcist,

blood

board games,
See also
Ouija board

Bond, Elijah J.

boredom

Bosnia

brain

Branch Davidians

Breastplate, St. Patrick's

Brehen, Angela, astral travel experience of

Buddhism

bullying

 

Canice, Brother, car accidents

Catholic Encyclopedia

Catholicism

clerical sexual abuse, exorcism, iconography, misogyny and, Rituale Romanum, See also specific exorcisms, iconography, and priests

Celtic Cross

Celtic spirit world, chalice

Chicago

Child of Prague, children: abuse of, "spirit,”

child Sarah, exorcism case of, China, chopper

Church of England

Church of Satan, San Francisco

Cistercians, clairvoyance

Clifden, clocks, time changed by ghosts on

collective unconscious

Communion

Compline

Confession

Connemara, consumerism

Cornelius, Pope

Cornici, Maricica Irina

Corogeanu, Father Daniel, County Antrim

County Clare

County Cork

County Donegal

County Down

County Fermanagh

County Galway

County Kildare

County Kilkenny, County Louth

County Sligo

County Wexford, cross, Crowley, Aleister,
Confessions,
crucifix,

crucifixion

Cuneo, Michael, American Exorcism,
Curé d'Ars

Curran, Robert,
The Haunted: One

Family's Nightmare,

 

Davage, Vincent

Delany, Rhoda, delirium tremens, demons, Angela Brehen astral travel case

Downey farm case

Dubois and the housewife case

Dwyer farmhouse case, Erin Ferguson case, Malachi Gant and the neighbor from hell case, Heather case, history of exorcism, Lucy and the phantom family case, Gary Lyttle case, prayer used against, Sarah case, sexual abuse by,
See also
Devil; evil; exorcism; ghosts depression

Derry

Deuteronomy

Devil, The Beast and, etymology, pacts with,
See also
demons; evil; exorcism; hell diabetes

Diazepam

Dingle Peninsula

disease, disembodied heads

Divine Mercy Chaplet, doctors

Dominic, Father

Dorrity, Father

Downey, Hugh

Downey, Katie

Downey, Patricia

Downey farm haunting case

dreams

“falling,” out-of-body experience and, drug abuse, astral travel and

Druids

Dublin

Dubois, Pierre, exorcism case of

Dungiven

Dwyer, Edward and Cornelius

Dwyer, Moya

Dwyer, Shane, Jr.

Dwyer farmhouse, exorcism case of

 

Eagle Mountain, early Christianity, and exorcism, eating disorders

Egypt

Ehrlich, Walter

Einstein, Albert, electricity, power outages

electroencephalogram (EEG)

Ellel Ministries

Emerson, Ralph Waldo

Endor, witch of

Enlightenment

Enniscorthy

Ephesus, epilepsy

Epworth Poltergeist

Eucharist, as part of exorcism

Europe,
See also specific countries
evangelical movements, generational, history of exorcism, surrender to

Exodus, exorcism, Angela Brehen astral travel case, Buddhist, definitions of, Downey farm case, Dubois and the housewife case, Dwyer farmhouse case, early Christianity and

Eucharist as part of

Erin Ferguson case, Malachi Gant and the neighbor from Hell case, Heather case, history of, Lucy and the phantom family case

Gary Lyttle case, of Mary Mesopotamia and the Holy Land, Patrick mythology and, prayer used in

Sarah case, successful, witches and

Exorcism of Emily Rose, The
(film),
Exorcist, The
(film)

 

fairy forts

Faith Movement, fasting

Fatima rosary

Faustina, Sister

Ferguson, Erin

Fidchell

Finlay, Dr. Anthony,
Demons! The Devil,

Possession, and Exorcism,
xxx Flaubert, Gustave,
The Temptation of St.

Anthony,
flies, forgiveness, fortune-telling

Foulow, Reverend Bernard, framed photographs, reversed

France,

Francis, Brother

French Revolution

Freud, Sigmund

Friedkin, William, furniture, moving, Fursey, St.

 

Gabriel, St.

Gaelic games

Galway City

Gant, Blenny

Gant, Malachi, and the neighbor from

Hell, gargoyles

Gary, exorcism case of, generational evil

Germany, Hessians

“gestalt” therapy, ghosts

Downey farm case

Dubois and the housewife case

Dwyer farmhouse case

Erin Ferguson case, Heather case

Lucy and the phantom family case, Gary Lyttle case

physical injury to people by, Sarah case, sexual abuse by

Gillespie, Ian

Gillespie, Linda

Gillespie, Lucy, exorcism case of

Golden Dawn, good

Great Britain

Ouija board production in

rule over Ireland

Great Hunt

Great Silence, “grooming,”

Guazzo, Francesco Maria,
Compendium

Maleficarum,

 

Hair
(musical)

Hammond, Frank and Ida Mae

Harvey, William

Hasbro, Inc., heads, disembodied

heart disease, hearthstone, Irish obsession with, hearthstone ghost, case of

Heather, exorcism case of, heaven, visions of, Hessian haunting case, Hessians, “spirits,”

Higgins, Father Maurice

Hinduism

Holy Land, holy oil, holy water

homosexuality, hormones, puberty and, horsemen

Hoskins, Cyril Henry,
The Third Eye:

The Autobiography of a Tibetan Lama,

“humors,” hypnagogic state, hypnopompic state

 

iconography, Christian.
See specific iconography

Immaculata, Sister

Immaculate Conception, incense, incest, incubus, history of,
See also
sleep, sexual abuse by demons during inhuman sounds

Ireland

after Patrick

British rule, Ouija board production in, Patrick mythology, Rising of 1798

witches

See also specific cities and counties
Isaiah:

Islam

Israel

 

James, Father

Japan

Jerusalem

Jesus Christ

history of exorcism and, name used in exorcisms

John Paul II, Pope, JohnPope

Jones, Jim

Judaism, exorcisms

Judas Iscariot

Jude, St.

Julie and the demon Dubois, exorcism case of

Jung, Carl Gustav

 

Kilmartin, Joe

Koresh, David

Kowalska, Helen

Kyteler, Dame Alice

 

Lauds

LaVey, Anton Szandor

Lawless, Father, Lazarus

Leary, Timothy

Leeds

Legion

Leicester

Lendrum, Alison

Lendrum, Reverend William H.

Confronting the Paranormal,
Dubois and the housewife exorcism

Heather exorcism

Lucy and the phantom family case

Gary Lyttle exorcism

on Ouija board use

Sarah exorcism

LeoPope

Lessay

Letterkenny General Hospital Lewis, C. S.,
The Screwtape Letters,
Lomax, Dr. Nigel, London

Lord of the Flies

Lord's Prayer

Lorica of St. Patrick

Lourdes, low spirits

LSD, luck

Lucy, exorcism case of, Lugh

Luke

Luxor

Lyons, Father, Lyttle, Gary, exorcism case of

 

magic, black

white, magpie, Irish superstition about,
Malleus Maleficarum,

Manson, Charles

Mark

Martin, Malachi

Hostage to the Devil: The Possession and Exorcism of Five Contemporary

Americans,

Martin de Porres, St.

Mary Magdalene

Mary the Virgin

Mary X exorcism of

Mass

materialism

Mathers, S. L. McGregor, Matthew: 4:24

McAll, Dr. Kenneth

Healing the Family Tree,
McCarthy, Father Ignatius

Angela Brehen astral travel case, Downey farm haunting case

Dwyer farmhouse exorcism

effects of, Erin Ferguson case, Malachi

Gant and the neighbor from Hell case

McConnell, Brian

McMenahan, Father Frank

McNulty, Barry, meditation

Medjugorje, Our Lady of, mental illness

Mesopotamia

Methodism

Michael the Archangel, St., prayer to

Michel, Anneliese

Miller, Florence

Milton, John, Paradise Lost,
Mirjana misogyny, and Catholic Church

Mitchelson, Dessie

Mitchelson, Heather, exorcism case of

Moloch

Monroe, Patrick, moral decline

Moran, Dr.

Morocco

Moses

Mulgrew, Dr. Sally

Mulryan, Liam

Murphy, Father John

 

Nan Sal

Neville, John

Neville, Julie, exorcism case of

New Age movement

New Testament, night, apparitions seen at, nightmares, None

Novatian

 

odors and coldness

O'Gribben, Dan O'Gribben, Ed

O'Gribben, Martha

O'Gribben, Michael, O'Gribben, Quentin, oil, holy

Old Testament

O'Malley, Father Duncan

Orthodox Church, Ouija board, demon Dubois and the housewife case, history of Gary Lyttle case, name, planchette, production, surrender to evil and, workings of

Oujda

Oulart Hill, out-of-body-experiences, oversoul

 

paganism paralysis, paranormal,
See also specific types of activity and cases
parapsychologists

Parker Brothers

Parris, Betty

Patrick, St., Breastplate of (Lorica of St. Patrick),
Confessio,

Paul

Paul, Pope

Peck, M. Scott,
Glimpses of the Devil, People of the Lie,
pedophilia

Peoples Temple, perfect spirits

Petronilla of Meath, pets, phonecalls: blocked by demons, psychic, physical injury, inflicted by paranormal agency, pictographs, pig noises, plague, plural, demonic use of

Poland, poltergeists, child Sarah case, puberty and, pornography

“possessed gravity,” possession, history of exorcism and,
See also
demons; Devil; evil; exorcism; ghosts power outages

prayer; for the dead; of exorcism; to Michael the Archangel; St. Patrick's Breastplate; used against demons;
See also specific prayers

Prayer Against Every Evil

Prayer Against Malefice, pregnancy, teenage, Presbyterianism,; exorcism, preternatural

Prince, Derek

Protestantism, exorcism,
See also specific exorcisms, iconography, and reverends

Proverbs

Psalms: psychiatry, psychic phone lines, psychokinetic (PK) theory

puberty, poltergeist activity and

purgatory

 

Qabalah

 

Rafters, Bernadette, Rampa, Tuesday Lobsang,
You Forever,
Hoskins, Cyril Henry,
The Third Eye: The Autobiography of a Tibetan Lama,
rape, of children, by demons

Raphael, St.

Redemptorist Fathers, relics, remote viewing

Revelation

reversed photographs

Rhine, Joseph Banks

Richards, Reverend John,
But Deliver Us from Evil,

Riesinger, Theophilus, “ring of angels,”

Rising of, Rituale Romanum, Robbie, exorcism case of

Romania

Romans

Rome

Rooney, Stephanie and Declan, rosary beads

 

Sacred Heart

St. Brigid's Cross

St. Louis, Missouri

Salem witch hunts

Samuel, First Book of

Sanskrit

Sarah, exorcism case of, Satan.
See
Devil satyr

Saul, King

Saxon Revolt, scented wooden balls

schizophrenia

Scot, Reginald,
The Discoverie of Witchcraft,

Scotland

Scrabble

Scully, Father John, seance, second-degree spirits, seizures, Sext, sexual abuse, of children, clerical, by demons

Seymour, St. John D.,
Witchcraft and Demonology in Ireland,
Sherrin, Charlie

Siberia

“signals,” sign of the cross