The Real 'Exorcist'

Jesuits Discuss 1949 Demon-Purging Ritual That Inspired Novel And Film

 

ST. LOUIS -- ST. LOUIS (AP) — Saint Louis University junior Zach Grummer-Strawn has never seen "The Exorcist," the 1973 horror film considered one of the finest examples of unadulterated cinematic terror. He's only vaguely familiar with the monthlong 1949 demon-purging ritual at his school on which the film and William Peter Blatty's 1971 novel were based.

But just in time for Halloween, Jesuit scholars have joined a whole new generation of horror buffs in St. Louis to recount the supernatural incident. The university hosted a panel discussion Tuesday on the exorcism, which involved the treatment of an unidentified suburban Washington, D.C., boy. About 500 people crammed into Pius XII Library, with some spilling into the library aisles, leaning against pillars or sitting on desks.

"I'd like to believe it's the real thing," said Grummer-Strawn, a theology and sociology student from Atlanta. "But you just can't know. That's part of why we're here. It's the pursuit of truth. And it's such a great story."

The university scholars and guest speaker Thomas Allen, author of a 1993 account of the events at the school's former Alexian Brothers Hospital, emphasized that definitive proof that the boy known only as "Robbie" was possessed by malevolent spirits is unattainable. Maybe he instead suffered from mental illness or sexual abuse — or fabricated the entire experience.

Like most of religion's basic tenets, it ultimately comes down to faith.

"If the devil can convince us he does not exist, then half the battle is won," said the Rev. Paul Stark, vice president for mission and ministry at the 195-year-old Catholic school. He opened the discussion with a prayer from the church's exorcism handbook, imploring God to "fill your servants with courage to fight that reprobate dragon."

Some of the non-students in the audience spoke of personal connections to an episode that has enthralled generations of St. Louis residents.

One man described living near the suburban St. Louis home where the 13-year-old boy arrived in the winter of 1949 (his Lutheran mother was a St. Louis native who married a Catholic). Another said she was a distant cousin of Father William Bowdern, who led the exorcism ritual after consulting with the archbishop of St. Louis but remained publicly silent about his experiences — though he did tell Allen it was "the real thing."

Bowdern died in 1983.

Bowdern was assisted by the Rev. Walter Halloran, who unlike his colleague spoke openly with Allen and expressed his skepticism about potential paranormal events before his death a decade ago.

"He talked more about the boy, and how much he suffered, and less about the rite," Allen said. "Here was a scared, confused boy caught up in something he didn't understand.

"He told me, 'I simply don't know,' and that is where I leave it," the author added. "I just don't know."

Allen zealously protects the anonymity of "Robbie," despite others' efforts to track him down to this day.

Gary Mackey, a 59-year-old accountant who left work early to attend the campus event, said he also is unsure whether "The Exorcist" was a work of fiction or instead a riveting real-life account of barely comprehensible forces.

He does know this: He cannot forget the movie that he saw with a buddy four decades ago. They drove 100 miles from their home in Louisville, Ky., to the nearest theater showing it across the state line in Cincinnati.

"I saw the movie when I was 19 years old and it scared me to death," Mackey said. "I think it's the scariest movie ever made."

Searching for Ghosts & Spirits

Written by Mark Johnson

Now that we're in the month of October, most people's thoughts go to Halloween.  This is my personal favorite time of year when all things ghostly and scary become commonplace in the public eye.  I love the colder weather, the leaves changing and falling, and the mystical quality in the air as we approach All Hollows Eve.

 

Of course my interest in this time of year also stems from the fact that I've been hunting ghosts and paranormal activity for 12 years now.  In that time I've had the opportunity to investigate numerous locations that include private homes, businesses and historical locations.  Each case has something different to offer, and I've found that my views and opinions of the paranormal phenomenon that I have encountered has altered over time.  Instead of believing all phenomenon is caused by the Ghosts of a deceased person, I've realized that there is a much larger phenomenon taking place that can't all be neatly packed into a single category.  Even the word "haunting" no longer holds the same meaning for me as I've learned about different realities, and as science continues to make new discoveries on the nature of our universe.

 

 

Many people consider ghosts to be the soul or spirit of someone who has died.  But there are new theories that have come into play that draw many of our former conclusions into question.  Here's one example of a classic haunting:

 

An unsuspecting witness enters a room in an old home and sees a woman dressed in Victorian clothing.  The woman goes about her tasks as if she were still alive, then vanishes.  In some cases witnesses have reported similar situations, but where the "ghost" turns and sees the person, and their reaction shows they are just as startled as the witness!

 

Physicists such as Dr. Imichio Kaku who discuss String Theory argue that there are multiple dimensions existing in the same physical space as our three-dimensional reality.  Not only are their multiple dimensions, but also alternate universes -- entire worlds that exist just inches past our outstretched fingers.  These realities could exist within our time-frame, or even be windows to past times and events playing out within these realities.  So what happens if these realities briefly cross over each other?  For instance, lets say a woman in Victorian times is busy cleaning her house, and when she looks up she sees a person standing in front of her wearing strange clothing such as shorts and T-shirt.  She is startled to see this apparition before her who also looks startled by her presence, and after a few seconds it vanishes.  She's just seen a ghost....or has she?  What if instead that the conditions were such that a brief window or portal opened up between two time periods, and people living in each of those periods are quite literally able to see each other for a brief moment?  Instead of a living person seeing the "ghost" of a dead person, we have two people very much alive in their perspective realities who are momentarily made aware of each other's presence.

 

 

Another popular theory amongst paranormal researchers is that of a "residual haunting".  These types of hauntings are considered to not be caused by ghosts or spirits, but are more akin to watching a television program of a past event play itself out over and over again.  An example of this would be observing the ghost of a person known to be dead who appears at the same time in a specific time period, say once a month on the same day and time.  The figure always performs the exact same actions and movements every time without deviation.  Current theories state that a residual haunting is the energy of a past event that has somehow imprinted itself onto a physical location, and plays itself out over and over again.  Some researchers feel that locations that have high amounts of granite or iron in the ground could be a conductor for such energy, or even a location near running water.  None of these theories have ever been proven scientifically, and in fact feel like nothing more than researchers version of folklore that is regurgitated to the public over and over without any basis in fact.

 

But again, if we look at this phenomenon through the perspective of multiple dimensions and realities, then it begins to look more feasible.  Instead of energy being imprinted on a location, there may actually be conditions present that allow a portal to open up in the space-time continuum to allow us to view a past event in real time!  And although time in our reality continues to move forward, the portal continues to show the same moment of the past over and over in a repeated loop.

 

 

Of course there is also still the phenomenon of dealing with what seems to be invisible intelligences that can interact with our physical environment.  In many cases investigators such as myself will experience the traditional cold spots, hearing disembodied sounds, and we capture this phenomenon using video and audio technology.  While it is important to document this phenomenon, many groups will only focus on what evidence they can capture with their cameras and audio recorders while ignoring other tools such as a trained and validated psychic that can connect with spiritual energies and shed light on exactly what types of forces are present and how they can be dealt with.

 

That is why I joined Spirit Rescue International.  After years of conducting only scientific research I became dissatisfied with the fact that purely scientific research does nothing to help clients who are in desperate need to reclaim their lives.  Most groups will do an investigation, show the client what they caught, then move on to the next investigation without providing any true resolution to their problems.  SRI uses both scientific and psychic tools to get to the bottom of each client's situation, find the cause, and work to bring a resolution to allow them to find peace in their lives.  If there is a ghost or spirit present and it's not just a residual or multidimensional phenomenon, the SRI team can help these spirits move on to where they need to be and bring peace to the living.

 

 

 

Could Invisible Aliens Be Among Us?

The following article was written by SRI Founder Irene Allen-Block:

Like many I sat through the film "Predator" when it first hit the big screen, but that was only for the entertainment of my sons. The thought that anything invisible could ever be walking among us never entered my head, and even now for me it is hard to grasp what I saw a few years ago. 

I have never been one  to have an interest in anything alien.  Although I never dismissed all the claims, the very thought of it terrified me.  Luckily up till about 3 years I had been spared anything to do with this subject, but then something strange happened.

It was late at night and I was letting my dogs out into the garden for the last time before retiring to bed.  As I was standing at my back door watching them down at the bottom of the garden a movement on my patio caught my eye. The patio was lit up by the security light that had gone on automatically as the dogs had previously moved through the beam.

Crossing the patio and moving in my direction I saw what I could only describe was an outline of some being, I could see straight through it except for the area of the outline, it was about 5' in height and it was clear to see the outline of head, body and arms and legs, and it had a humanoid appearance to it. It's legs moved just like ours, one step after the other, just a bit more awkwardly.

At this point it seemed to show no fear of me.  When it got to within about 3 to 4 feet my curiosity went and I became wary of it.  My attention on my dogs was lost, and all I know is that they were still at the bottom of the garden. This thing had now come too close for comfort.  I put my hand up to it in the "don't go there" fashion and said in a determined voice "bug off". The next thing that happened shocked me -- it started to back up!  It didn't turn around, instead it was if it was taking steps backwards all the time facing me and then it disappeared completely.

I gathered the dogs together quickly and came indoors and locked up the house. I always thought that if something like this were to happen to me I would scarper so fast you wouldn't see me for dust.  But for some reason I was not afraid. I had felt no fear from it and I was quite proud of myself, even if I had no idea what it was.

It didn't stop here, since living here over the years myself and others have been witness to quite a few UFOs flying across the valley that I live in. Over a year after my first experience of the invisible being it happened again but this time it was different.

Again I was letting the dogs out in the garden for their last run of the night, but this time I used a different back door.  I live in a large detached house in the rural countryside and this house has 2 back doors, only where this one is situated there is no security light, and the light will only go on if anything moves in the vicinity of the other back door which could be seen from where I stood. The only light that was reflecting at this point was the one in the boot room behind me and that was an energy saving bulb that was quite dim.

The dogs ran out of the door and jumped down off the wall that surrounded my large patio and straight down the garden ,so they did not come within reach of the beam from the distant security light.  I watched them for a while running around down at the bottom of the garden, then they all ran up the side of the house and disappeared out of site.

Suddenly the security light came on down at the other end of the house but no dog had passed through the beam.  As I stood there again I could see something moving towards me, and again for some reason I was not afraid, just curious.  I looked straight at it and when it reached about 3 foot away from me a thought went through my head, "what the frigging hell are you?"  It stopped dead in its tracks and just seemed to freeze.

The appearance of this one was a bit different from the first one I had seen, although it was also transparent like the first.  I could see clearly the outline of the head, shoulders and body and the top half of its legs down to just below where the knees would be, but nothing from there on.  Maybe that had something to do with the fact that it was not moving.  This one was much taller than the first, well over 6 feet. The shoulders to me looked broad and muscular,  It was as if they had a width to them much like American footballers when they are all padded up. The arms were long and seemed to reach down to the area past where the knees would be, like a primate.

I sensed from it that it froze as it was more afraid of me then I was of it.  A thought went through my head as if it was thinking "oh bug, she sees me!"  To me it was shocked that I could see it.  I know it seems daft, but I do feel that there was some sort of ESP going between us.  It left me with the feeling that something it wanted me to know was impressed into my subconscious mind, although for the life of me I do not know what it was.  Mybe at this point in time I am not meant to know and it will only emerge when the time is right.

This thing had stood in front of me for what seemed ages, but in reality could only have been a few minutes. When I had had enough of it I called the dogs who came round from the corner of the house and instead of running across the patio to me just stood there looking in silence, as if they could see something that they didn't like.  They were silent and did not even growl or bark, they just stood there waiting.  Well I could understand this if it was just one or two dogs, but six? This I found strange as my dogs are trained guard dogs and obey my commands to the last letter.

At this point this thing was still in front of me and not moving, and the thought that went through my head was "I wish you would go."  With that it didn't back up or walk away, but just faded away.

Had I seen an extra-terrestrial, a time traveler from the future, I know it was not a spirit of any kind. I had no idea what it was except that it was afraid and wary of me, and also shocked to know that I could see it.  Somehow we communicated even if I couldn't remember what it was about.  But the most important thing I found out about it that night was that it must have been solid mass because it set off the beam of the security light.

If these are indeed an alien species are they the same beings that people report of after abductions. If so and they have the ability to cloak themselves, then why do the reports by people reveal that they see them in solid form?  They can’t be the same because it would make sense that if they were able to conceal themselves then they would do that whilst going about their abduction scenarios.

Could they be like the ghosts of dead aliens, their lost spirits wandering our planet after maybe dying here? Not impossible but highly unlikely.

Maybe people with psychic abilities are able to see inter-dimensionally.  Those that have a gift to be able to see ghosts and other phenomena are they vibrating on a similar frequency as this being which enables them to be seen.  Are realities existing side by side, just vibrations apart.  Was I actually vibrating on the correct frequency those nights and able to see these beings?

Are they time travelers from our future, human beings evolved into a different form?  Is there a time portal that they come through, gateways that allows them to fully materialize into solid form? By missing this gateway, does that prohibit the transformation stage and leaves them in this transparent form?

Whatever the answer, I know that on the second experience I had there was some sort of communication. Maybe I had been told the answer to who they were and maybe one day that information will come to the front of my mind and I will know. Until then, the more I think about it the more I think that there is an actual phenomenon that may be associated with non-terrestrial beings ,including the possible use of a time portal or multidimensional travel.

Connected Ghosts to Jack the Ripper

The following article was written by SRI Founder Irene Allen-Block.

Connected Ghosts to Jack the Ripper
by Irene Allen-Block:

Hanbury Street. E1.

The story of London’s famous serial killer Jack the Ripper is known to most. The brutal slaying of five women and maybe many more unknown has been over the years a topic for television and movies alike. But few maybe except for the odd enthusiast or tourist are aware of some of the ghosts that now seem to haunt the scenes of his crimes. 

The one murder that resonates with me is that of Annie Chapman. Many many years ago I had an experience in Hanbury Street where I encountered a specter of a woman dressed in Victorian garb. My story, I have reported in my book “Among the Spirits.” Annie was the second victim of the ripper and came to her end in the backyard of number 29 Hanbury Street at 6am on the 8^th of September 1888; here her brutally mutilated body was found. Today on the North side of the street stands the Truman Brewery, there was a time when strange chills would be felt in the boardroom especially around the time of the anniversary of her death. Annie’s ghost was often seen also standing near a wall that now occupies the spot where she died over a hundred years ago.     

Mitre Square. EC3.

Today the scene of the murder of Catherine Eddows in Mitre Square is nothing like it was. Surrounded on three sides by modern office blocks and a school on the forth side, Mitre Square bears no resemblance to the Victorian Square of long ago other than the cobblestones that still remain. People rush back and forth to work with hardly a thought that they could be treading on the very spot where one of the infamous murders took place.

The South West corner of the square is the position of where Catherine Eddows mutilated body was found. Catherine was the fourth victim of Jack the Ripper and was discovered at 1.45am on September 30^th 1888. It is said that on this date Catherine’s spectral figure can be glimpsed lying on the cobblestones where she met her gruesome end.

Westminster Bridge. SW1.

Westminster Bridge is one of many bridges to span the river Thames and the sight of where Jack the Ripper as legend would have it killed himself by plunging into the river itself. His madness has been doomed to repeat his decent into notoriety over and over again. December 31st the night of that famous jump if you stand on the bridge and look towards the east when Big Ben hails in the New Year as is tradition a shadowy figure is said to materialise on the parapet and leap headfirst into the depths of the waters of the river below. If you are lucky enough to witness this you have just been rewarded with a sighting of one of London’s most dark criminals.

The bridge also gives view on the occasional misty autumn morning to a phantom barge that drifts towards the bridge and passes underneath. Run to the other side of the bridge but you will never see it emerge, its disappearance remains a mystery.

Ten Bells Pub.

One of the most infamous pubs in London was linked to the legend of Jack the Ripper. Although it seems that none of the victims is known to haunt the pub maybe some lost souls are attracted by the negativity of the area.

The pub itself is situated in Commercial Street and has hardly changed. In the early hours of November 9^th 1888 Mary Kelly the last of the ripper’s victims left the pub. The next morning at Millers court in Dorset Street close by, her horrific mutilated body was found.

Over a hundred years later 1990, the pub itself gave cause for concern. The live in staff whose rooms were on the upper floors started to complain of frightening experiences they were having with the apparitional form of an old man dressed in Victorian clothes. Often they would be woken by an uneasy feeling in the dead of night and turning in bed would come face to face with his ghostly form lying beside them. As soon as they raised the alarm the phantom form would disappear. New staff that knew nothing about the ghost would soon report sightings and their description would be the same.

A new landlord made a decision to clean out the cellar. When doing this an old metal box was found hidden in a corner, opening it, the box contained the effects of a one George Roberts. Among the items was an old leather wallet that contained a press cutting that dated back to the early 1900’s. The cutting spoke of him George being murdered with an axe in a Swansea cinema. Research showed that George Roberts had been the landlord of the Ten Bells pub from the late 19^th to the early 20^th century. Had it been his ghost that the staff had been encountering?

In 2001 a tenant who lived at the pub often heard footsteps and a sinister laugh outside of his door, when looking out he would find the corridor outside empty. On occasion an invisible hand would push him in the back always when he was descending the stair case. A psychic was bought in to see if she could pick up on anything. When she reached one of the rooms upstairs she stopped dead and refused to go on. She reported that something terrible had happened in the room and was certain it was the brutal death of a baby from the 19^th century.

A researcher and expert on Jack the Ripper later visited the Ten Bells pub and on her walk round she was given access to the attic. Whilst up there she noticed material embedded in the floor behind a water tank. The researcher pulled it out and discovered it was a tied up sack, undoing it and removing its contents she found a set of moldy baby clothes. The clothes looked as if they had been slashed with a knife. The tank where the grizzly find was discovered was situated directly over the room where the psychic had picked up on the murdered child. Uncanny!  

In my day of living and working in London I have seen many strange things but the one that really stood out for me was as I mentioned earlier the ghost of Annie Chapman and the words I heard when confronted by the women I believe to be her “He throttled before he cut.”  My story of Annie and others like it can be read in my book “Among the Spirits.”

Past Lives, Reincarnation and Past Life Regression

Do you believe in reincarnation?  At times, do you feel like lived somewhere else in another time?  We all ponder the possibilities of what is, what was and what can be.  In this article, written by our team member Mark Johnson, we hope to engender curiosity and invite you to post your experiences with this type of phenomena, or on any topic, at our community forum:

www.spiritrescueinternational.freeforums.org

Past Life Connections

by Mark Johnson

 I’ve always been fascinated with the idea of reincarnation and past lives.  It’s intriguing to think that we could have been here before living in a different time and place.  I’ve read many books on the subject including Brian Weiss’s “Many Lives, Many Masters”.

 I had never had a past-life hypnotic regression, but a couple of years ago I had a woman contact me who was writing a book on the subject and she wanted to know if I would participate in her project.  I agreed and she sent me an audio recording of her voice that would put the subject into a state of hypnosis and allow them to explore a past life.  I gave the recording several tries, but nothing seemed to happen and I about gave up on it.  Finally, I gave it one final try and was surprised when something actually happened.

 The recording provided several steps that would allow me to go deeper and deeper into a state of hypnosis, until I eventually would find myself in another time.  During this last attempt, I suddenly found myself in what appeared to be a Victorian-style house, standing in what appeared to be a parlor or library.  All the furniture was old-fashioned, yet new and expensive.  I could tell that I was a young woman in Victorian-style dress of the early 1870’s that was blue and green plaid.  I walked over to a mirror to look at myself, and it looked like I was in my late teens or early 20’s.  It was then that I realized that the house I was standing in was my family home, and it was located in Boston.  The hypnotist asked me to remember my name, and the name Marion Howe sprang immediately into my mind.  I don’t remember much more than this and I quickly came out of hypnosis.  Now that I had a name, a time period and a location, I thought it might be possible to see if this Marion Howe actually existed.  So I began to do some online research, and it wasn’t long before I found her!

Her name was Florence Marion Howe (although in my mind I knew she preferred to be called Marion rather than Florence).  She was born in Boston in 1845 and was the daughter of Julia Ward Howe, the woman who wrote the lyrics to the famous Civil War anti-slavery song The Battle Hymn of the Republic.  Her father was Samuel Gridley Howe, who was a noted philanthropist and had founded a school for the blind. Marion eventually married attorney David Prescott Hall, and she authored a book on manners and etiquette. I did more digging and found that family photo of her when she was young.  I don't have any actual memories, but I had never heard of her before I did that regression, so it was incredible to find that she actually existed (bottom right).

 

 

I related this experiment to the SRI team and several members decided to try their own hand at past-life regression.  SRI Founder Irene Allen-Block figured out that the girl in the top right of the photo was herself in her last lifetime! Her name was Laura Elizabeth Richards and she was a famous author of her day. She wrote dozens of books, poems and short-stories, and she wrote a Pulitzer-Prize winning biography on her mother Julia Ward Howe. She would have been my younger sister. Here is her bio:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_E._Richards

 Other members of the SRI team had their own incredible experience with this experiment.  Jennifer Purcell had a vision as an elderly Native American man named Tahonta, who on his deathbed was surrounded by many family members who loved him.

 Teresa Chance discovered that she may have been Annie Sullivan, the teacher who taught Helen Keller.

This was truly an incredible experiment for the SRI team, and showed how death is truly not the end, but the beginning of an all new adventure.

We hope that you'll come extend your experiences on our forum.  In our next issue, we have new team members to introduce!  And, some spooky haunting stories for your Halloween reading.

As always, stay safe and be well...
Teresa