We often focus much of our time and energy on attaining righteousness. Emphasis is placed on good. We sincerely pursue light, in terms of purity. If light exists then so does darkness. If good manifests, so does evil. In every civilization and culture the religions of that era and region influenced people to define good and evil. Even in visual expression good is defined by white and black denotes evil. But, there exists a higher realm of good and evil. The latter dwells in the darkest abyss: the human mind. It is a person’s belief and faith that perhaps helps them identify and overcome that which is evil.
Evil has for centuries been associated with mysticism and myth. It is manifested by various forms of violence, confusion, demonic oppression, occult ritual and paranormal activity. In our digital world today, many don’t have time to think of such topics, except perhaps, on ‘events’ such as Halloween when we are reminded of ghosts and zombies. But, apart from the brilliant makeup of Hollywood there exists a level of evil which deeply influences a person: it is a demonic possession. This is something beyond a psychiatric or scientific classification.
A person bound by such a foul spirit or entity will remain normal until such time they are tormented by that which controls their mind. It is then that we witness their violent behaviour supplemented by high pitched screams, muscle spasms and self inflicted injuries. Such a person causes great trauma in their homes, and families are rendered helpless. It is then that these wretched souls are taken for deliverance to people who have the divine ability to chase them away: the craft of exorcism. One must understand that demonic possession does not always result in people screaming and running semi nude as portrayed in movies.
As an ardent reader of criminal psychology, I have found that many serial killers were indeed strongly influenced by an evil entity: beyond the realm of ordinary premeditated murder (the criminal prosecution systems don’t highlight this, and thus, the accused is often declared as criminally insane). The cold blooded rapist, Ted Bundy killed 33 women in the US. His grandmother once testified that she witnessed Ted changing ‘into someone else’ which terrified her. In the case of Hamilton Howard, the “Brooklyn Vampire” the cannibalistic old man would entice and kill young boys and then cook their heart, liver and testicles in a stew pot. The cult leader, Charles Manson still in jail is another classic example of a demonized man. These souls certainly represented Satan.
There is much talk in Colombo about the English language movie ‘According to Matthew’ directed by veteran filmmaker Chandran Rutnam. The vicarage double murder of the 1960s committed by Fr. Matthew Pieris was a sensational trial. The learned but dominating priest was a self proclaimed exorcist; it was his reputation among Colombo’s elite.
I was privileged to watch the premiere of this brilliant film at the National Film Corporation auditorium. At the launch, actor Alston Koch (who portrays Fr. Matthew) shared some insight into the process of making the movie.
He vividly recalls an incident on location at Horana, when a staff of actress Jackie Fernandez (who portrays Dalreen) suddenly knocked on his caravan door at midnight. Alston opened the door to find the panic stricken man pointing towards a cluster of trees where three large black dogs were seated still. This was certainly bizarre. Reverting to yesteryear, many Christians believed that Fr.Matthew had ‘crossed the line’ in his attempts at exorcism and had himself become a victim of evil. How else could an ordained priest yield to double murder?
The Holy Bible shows many incidents of evil encounters. Jesus Christ cast out many demon possessed people and restored them. We read of the famous story when the spirit of Legion left the body of a tormented man and entered a herd of pigs. The confused swine then bolted over a cliff and fell into the sea. I witnessed my first incident at a church pastored by the late Rev. Rajendran who was able to deliver such people. I vividly recall a young woman seated still. When he approached her, the entity within choked her and caused her to scream. He commanded the source to flee in the name of Jesus Christ, and a few minutes later she collapsed and was set free.
Within the Christian denomination various forms of deliverance take place. Some priests are able to bind and break curses and spells. Others boldly confront demonized people and pray over them anointing them with holy water, which symbolizes the cleansing power of Christ’s crucified blood.
Opinions and doctrines differ, after all, the world is a massive democracy. Many folks in Europe and America tend to understand demonic possession as a psychiatric dilemma.
The medical fraternity often associates such violent and unfathomable behaviour with diagnosis of schizophrenia, body dissociative disorder and even advanced stages of mental paranoia.
It is true that such patients do display some common behaviour traits that resemble demonic influence like sudden mood swings, hallucinations complete with bloody screaming, outbursts of anger, repeatedly banging head on the wall, removing clothing and running naked. These poor victims are at times restricted in strait jackets and often sedated.
The fact remains that all of these actions are not normal human tendency. It awakens us to the reality that the human mind and soul is vulnerable to evil influence. It also creates a need for spiritual union with God. It further shows us that people have a tendency to seek evil ‘assistance’ often to seek revenge which is rooted in jealousy and insecurity. No matter what advances we make in medicine and science, we may not fully find a cure for such dark predicaments nor comprehend them.