Ok, I've mentioned this a few time, had PM about it, and figured that some WBW might be interested.... this is long. But some may be interested.
Before I start this story, I’ll mention a few things. These events happened. I have no affiliation with any church or religion; my belief in God is sketchy at best. The guy I’m writing about is still messed up over the events I’m about to recount; he’s one of my best friends, and it’s still affecting everyone around him. The actual practice of exorcism (not the Hollywood version) is still kept a secret in the Catholic Church; they don’t generally publicize such events. The ritual is different from the Episcopal, Orthodox, and Jewish ones—all of which are still practiced. The Catholic Church has recently changed their procedure in this practice. No one knows why, but speculation is that these exorcisms are occurring more and more often, and without success. Whether it’s a psychological condition or an actual demon… you can decide for yourself. But I haven’t, and I was there.
Most of the early stages have to be recounted through hearsay, as it occurred while my friend and I attended separate schools. I’ll refer to him as John… easier that way. Basically, John went through a radical teenage rebellion phase. Most people go through it, but John’s was more extreme. As a child, he had few friends, was a quiet guy, the one all the mothers thought was a nice boy. Entering his college years, he became violent. Unusual, yes, but not uncommon. He’d go for days without sleep; do drugs a lot; get in fights with strangers—sometimes friends. I talked to one, a couple of years later (which I’ll detail), and he said that during the fights John became like an animal, scratching and biting. Sometimes he’d win, sometimes he’d lose. Like I said, nothing out of the ordinary when it comes to fucked up behavior, except for one detail. When he lost badly, sometimes he would stay lying on the ground, smiling, and in a voice which I heard (though not say this) repeat over and over “Kill me kill me kill me kill me.” No pause, no breath for air, the voice was not male or female.
Around this time, everyone lost contact with John. From what I gather, the family hired a private investigator to track him, found him living in the poor section of his college town; he was a fucking mess and had to go to the hospital. Heroin addict, apparently had been raped… most of this, as I said, is hearsay. Most of it, though, I believe. Outlandish, I know, but the entire thing remains that way. Keep in mind, though, this was the ‘good boy’ of the neighborhood when I was growing up.
After he’d been cleaned up, his parents took him home. Like most, they refused to have him locked up. When I came back from college, I went by to visit him. He wasn’t bedridden or anything, he was fully capable. The change in him, though, is difficult to explain. Having been through trauma, one would expect for the ‘good boy’ to have been hurt, harmed, shell-shocked.
And he was, sometimes. Sometimes he wasn’t; sometimes he wanted more of the hell that he’d lived through. We went out to a bar once, where he walked up to a rough looking guy and started hitting on him. Hitting on him isn’t the right word… he was saying “I wanna suck your cock, drink your cum, bathe in it” in the voice which I described—it was the first time any of us had heard it. Disturbing stuff, and he kept on saying it when the guy started to rough him up. He was lucky to escape, everyone in the bar was shocked, as we were.
Later, he was diagnosed as schizophrenic, which is common among most people who have exorcisms performed on them. Anyone familiar with it knows it isn’t just multiple personality disorder… and sometimes isn’t that at all. He spent some time in a clinic, but his family was rich, so they had him moved out and had a doctor visit regularly, along with a live in nurse. His case was extremely severe, but I came from a well to do place where people could afford such things.
Roughly, John’s conditions: extreme changes in appearance (he lost a lot of weight and had cuts all over his body); seemingly multiple personalities that effected both actions and voices; became a severe insomniac, though had tons of energy (I’m an insomniac, and have virtually no energy); lost all interest in former activities/family/friends; would shift from being hostile to passive, almost instantly.
At this point, while very sad, nothing was ‘supernatural’, and nothing was considered that, either. Though his family was Methodist, John was not religious, and the household was not one of fanaticism. His parents had tried both doctors and medicine, none of which had worked, but they still continued. His chanting of ‘kill me’ continued, though he didn’t need a fight to bring it out. John cursed everyone regularly, and told them to give in often—no one understood what that meant, and I still don’t.
There were two things that began to enter the realm of the ‘supernatural’, and occurred sometime after John had moved into the house, where he stayed under lock and key. Continually, things would move. A chair would rock, lamp would fall down, a light bulb would pop, you get the point. Nothing with creepy sounds or anything. Something that if it happened, you wouldn’t think twice; the way it was described to me was like when you’re lying in bed at night, and your house makes a creak or popping noise. Only, it happened continually. Small nuisances, happening often. Just enough to notice and keep in the back of your head.
The other ‘thing’ was much more severe: John would occasionally break into Latin. He studied Spanish in school. I studied Latin, received A’s. We had a conversation... and he understood the language (as well as the literature, both Catholic and non) to a degree that I did not. Make of that what you will.
It was some time before a priest was brought it; the conditions certainly merited a consultation. No priest in our region was ‘qualified’ to perform the ritual, so before one was sent for, one priest had to judge whether or not someone had to be sent for. From what I understand, he was granted access to the medical files (he was a doctor, but I know little specifics; I talked with him briefly), he talked to the doctors, he talked directly with John, he spoke with his parents, he spoke with me and several other friends. The priest asked about specific events, what John was like before, asked if he had spoken in Latin to me, asked whether or not his other ‘personalities’ had identified themselves. They had not. (I later learned the Catholic belief is that demons, as they are fallen angels, are not just considered an ‘evil spirit’. There are different ones, different personalities, and accordingly, different ways of performing the ritual, which is why he asked the question)
At this point, everyone involved is scared shitless, except for John, who seems to know exactly what’s going on. Hard to describe… yet again.
The priest deemed the case to fit the criterion. What that is, I’m still unsure, but from what I gathered the two supernatural events that I knew about ‘qualified’. I don’t know what his parents or doctors had said.
It took some more time once the Exorcist (from New York, which seemed odd) arrived. He had performed one before, but had judged several cases before. Once again, he talked with everyone, read all the reports, and brought in two doctors who were unfamiliar with John. Say what you will about the Church, they took this seriously, and didn’t want to mess with someone who was simply suffering from a mental condition. He arrived during the summer… most of us had visited occasionally to see how John was (much of the same)… most of the town was quiet about the news.
When the exorcism occurred, John’s mother wanted several of us there. We arrived before the priests (two, the man from New York and one I hadn’t seen before, who was to remain unconnected and write a report for the Vatican. The first priest wasn’t there). She said she thought that it would be good if old friends where there… stuff about harmony and whatnot. John, in the voice, was laughing upstairs and shouting gibberish—or at least something I didn’t understand. We could hear him pacing around his room and jumping up and down; they had put locks on the outside. At one point he began shouting in pain, saying that he’d split his head on the wall and was bleeding. No one opened the door, and I later learned that he didn’t hurt himself.
The priests arrived, wearing full garb, and the man who I hadn’t seen before asked us all to write brief reports for him to add to his story and give them to the Father from New York at a later date. The priest from New York told us all we had to leave. I read up on it: according to some, during exorcisms, the demon reveals personal, hidden facts about someone and ridicules them. It can physically affect the person being ridiculed. Like I’ve said many times, I have no idea if I believe this, but it’s the reason that we were told to leave.
The exorcism took three days. I know nothing of went on. I never asked John’s parents, and I doubt they really knew. John’s bedroom was a wreck, and most furniture had to be replaced. He was extremely sickly afterward, he had nearly no memories of the past year or so of his life, he didn’t know Latin, the voice never returned.
He continues to be haunted by memories in his dreams, he says. John still lives at home, never graduated from college, still sees doctors. I can understand why. We keep in touch. John is now religious, which isn’t surprising. He never preaches, never mentions it.
If there are any questions or anything about any of this… ask. I know there’s plenty of stuff I didn’t include that someone might be interested in. I can fill in details, though this is pretty lengthy and I imagine many of you simply skipped once you saw all the type. Save your comments about calling me a bullshitter or a stupid drunk; I’m just writing what happened, and, as I said, these events still affect most of us who were involved.
And, if anyone out there has experienced similar, post.
Before I start this story, I’ll mention a few things. These events happened. I have no affiliation with any church or religion; my belief in God is sketchy at best. The guy I’m writing about is still messed up over the events I’m about to recount; he’s one of my best friends, and it’s still affecting everyone around him. The actual practice of exorcism (not the Hollywood version) is still kept a secret in the Catholic Church; they don’t generally publicize such events. The ritual is different from the Episcopal, Orthodox, and Jewish ones—all of which are still practiced. The Catholic Church has recently changed their procedure in this practice. No one knows why, but speculation is that these exorcisms are occurring more and more often, and without success. Whether it’s a psychological condition or an actual demon… you can decide for yourself. But I haven’t, and I was there.
Most of the early stages have to be recounted through hearsay, as it occurred while my friend and I attended separate schools. I’ll refer to him as John… easier that way. Basically, John went through a radical teenage rebellion phase. Most people go through it, but John’s was more extreme. As a child, he had few friends, was a quiet guy, the one all the mothers thought was a nice boy. Entering his college years, he became violent. Unusual, yes, but not uncommon. He’d go for days without sleep; do drugs a lot; get in fights with strangers—sometimes friends. I talked to one, a couple of years later (which I’ll detail), and he said that during the fights John became like an animal, scratching and biting. Sometimes he’d win, sometimes he’d lose. Like I said, nothing out of the ordinary when it comes to fucked up behavior, except for one detail. When he lost badly, sometimes he would stay lying on the ground, smiling, and in a voice which I heard (though not say this) repeat over and over “Kill me kill me kill me kill me.” No pause, no breath for air, the voice was not male or female.
Around this time, everyone lost contact with John. From what I gather, the family hired a private investigator to track him, found him living in the poor section of his college town; he was a fucking mess and had to go to the hospital. Heroin addict, apparently had been raped… most of this, as I said, is hearsay. Most of it, though, I believe. Outlandish, I know, but the entire thing remains that way. Keep in mind, though, this was the ‘good boy’ of the neighborhood when I was growing up.
After he’d been cleaned up, his parents took him home. Like most, they refused to have him locked up. When I came back from college, I went by to visit him. He wasn’t bedridden or anything, he was fully capable. The change in him, though, is difficult to explain. Having been through trauma, one would expect for the ‘good boy’ to have been hurt, harmed, shell-shocked.
And he was, sometimes. Sometimes he wasn’t; sometimes he wanted more of the hell that he’d lived through. We went out to a bar once, where he walked up to a rough looking guy and started hitting on him. Hitting on him isn’t the right word… he was saying “I wanna suck your cock, drink your cum, bathe in it” in the voice which I described—it was the first time any of us had heard it. Disturbing stuff, and he kept on saying it when the guy started to rough him up. He was lucky to escape, everyone in the bar was shocked, as we were.
Later, he was diagnosed as schizophrenic, which is common among most people who have exorcisms performed on them. Anyone familiar with it knows it isn’t just multiple personality disorder… and sometimes isn’t that at all. He spent some time in a clinic, but his family was rich, so they had him moved out and had a doctor visit regularly, along with a live in nurse. His case was extremely severe, but I came from a well to do place where people could afford such things.
Roughly, John’s conditions: extreme changes in appearance (he lost a lot of weight and had cuts all over his body); seemingly multiple personalities that effected both actions and voices; became a severe insomniac, though had tons of energy (I’m an insomniac, and have virtually no energy); lost all interest in former activities/family/friends; would shift from being hostile to passive, almost instantly.
At this point, while very sad, nothing was ‘supernatural’, and nothing was considered that, either. Though his family was Methodist, John was not religious, and the household was not one of fanaticism. His parents had tried both doctors and medicine, none of which had worked, but they still continued. His chanting of ‘kill me’ continued, though he didn’t need a fight to bring it out. John cursed everyone regularly, and told them to give in often—no one understood what that meant, and I still don’t.
There were two things that began to enter the realm of the ‘supernatural’, and occurred sometime after John had moved into the house, where he stayed under lock and key. Continually, things would move. A chair would rock, lamp would fall down, a light bulb would pop, you get the point. Nothing with creepy sounds or anything. Something that if it happened, you wouldn’t think twice; the way it was described to me was like when you’re lying in bed at night, and your house makes a creak or popping noise. Only, it happened continually. Small nuisances, happening often. Just enough to notice and keep in the back of your head.
The other ‘thing’ was much more severe: John would occasionally break into Latin. He studied Spanish in school. I studied Latin, received A’s. We had a conversation... and he understood the language (as well as the literature, both Catholic and non) to a degree that I did not. Make of that what you will.
It was some time before a priest was brought it; the conditions certainly merited a consultation. No priest in our region was ‘qualified’ to perform the ritual, so before one was sent for, one priest had to judge whether or not someone had to be sent for. From what I understand, he was granted access to the medical files (he was a doctor, but I know little specifics; I talked with him briefly), he talked to the doctors, he talked directly with John, he spoke with his parents, he spoke with me and several other friends. The priest asked about specific events, what John was like before, asked if he had spoken in Latin to me, asked whether or not his other ‘personalities’ had identified themselves. They had not. (I later learned the Catholic belief is that demons, as they are fallen angels, are not just considered an ‘evil spirit’. There are different ones, different personalities, and accordingly, different ways of performing the ritual, which is why he asked the question)
At this point, everyone involved is scared shitless, except for John, who seems to know exactly what’s going on. Hard to describe… yet again.
The priest deemed the case to fit the criterion. What that is, I’m still unsure, but from what I gathered the two supernatural events that I knew about ‘qualified’. I don’t know what his parents or doctors had said.
It took some more time once the Exorcist (from New York, which seemed odd) arrived. He had performed one before, but had judged several cases before. Once again, he talked with everyone, read all the reports, and brought in two doctors who were unfamiliar with John. Say what you will about the Church, they took this seriously, and didn’t want to mess with someone who was simply suffering from a mental condition. He arrived during the summer… most of us had visited occasionally to see how John was (much of the same)… most of the town was quiet about the news.
When the exorcism occurred, John’s mother wanted several of us there. We arrived before the priests (two, the man from New York and one I hadn’t seen before, who was to remain unconnected and write a report for the Vatican. The first priest wasn’t there). She said she thought that it would be good if old friends where there… stuff about harmony and whatnot. John, in the voice, was laughing upstairs and shouting gibberish—or at least something I didn’t understand. We could hear him pacing around his room and jumping up and down; they had put locks on the outside. At one point he began shouting in pain, saying that he’d split his head on the wall and was bleeding. No one opened the door, and I later learned that he didn’t hurt himself.
The priests arrived, wearing full garb, and the man who I hadn’t seen before asked us all to write brief reports for him to add to his story and give them to the Father from New York at a later date. The priest from New York told us all we had to leave. I read up on it: according to some, during exorcisms, the demon reveals personal, hidden facts about someone and ridicules them. It can physically affect the person being ridiculed. Like I’ve said many times, I have no idea if I believe this, but it’s the reason that we were told to leave.
The exorcism took three days. I know nothing of went on. I never asked John’s parents, and I doubt they really knew. John’s bedroom was a wreck, and most furniture had to be replaced. He was extremely sickly afterward, he had nearly no memories of the past year or so of his life, he didn’t know Latin, the voice never returned.
He continues to be haunted by memories in his dreams, he says. John still lives at home, never graduated from college, still sees doctors. I can understand why. We keep in touch. John is now religious, which isn’t surprising. He never preaches, never mentions it.
If there are any questions or anything about any of this… ask. I know there’s plenty of stuff I didn’t include that someone might be interested in. I can fill in details, though this is pretty lengthy and I imagine many of you simply skipped once you saw all the type. Save your comments about calling me a bullshitter or a stupid drunk; I’m just writing what happened, and, as I said, these events still affect most of us who were involved.
And, if anyone out there has experienced similar, post.
* This post has been modified
: 19 years ago
