Sorry it’s taken me so long to get back to this. Every time I think I have my life on autopilot something unexpected shows up. So, my week turned out to be busier than I expected. Normally in our neighborhood our main worry is having things stolen, this week our problem was having unexpected things show up. But more on that later perhaps.
So, picking up from my last post.
Peggy’s home was in a solidly middle-class neighborhood. Well maintained lawns and homes were the rule. The neighborhood smacked of Pleasant Valley Sunday more than Poltergeist. But in all things appearances can be deceiving and the seeming normality didn’t reassure me too much.
The house was a split-level entry. Upon ringing the doorbell, a young lady of 14 or so opened the door. I noticed right away that the chandelier hanging from the ceiling just inside the door did have some slight motion but no more than you might expect from it catching a draft thru the opened door.
The family was calmer than they had been when I first saw them. There had not been as much activity over the past day which they attributed to following my advice about reading scripture out loud. It was gratifying that my advice had helped. I also suspected that the Spirits that had been calmed were theirs.
But as we came into their living room there was a change in atmosphere.
There were two small statues on an end table that, while I didn’t know yet what they represented, were quite unsettling to the eye. There were also two small plain looking leather bags hanging on a wall. The curtains were drawn and the room was quite dark. All in all, the rooms atmosphere gave both Dan and I, as I found out later, a distinct sense of unease. I should say that Dan is a native South African and, because many his family practice an indigenous religion, he had a much better idea than me as to what the statues were.
He had not been present for my first conversation with Peggy and her husband (for the life of me I can’t remember his name) so they related again what they were experiencing. After they were done we collectively walked thru the home going room to room. There were no more figurines or other similar decorations that we could see. In all other respects, the home appeared to be a comfortable family home.
Back in the living room the statues were the obvious place to start. They were gifts given to the family by Peggy’s mother-in-law who was Haitian. In the Haitian form of voodoo the statues were called “Loa”. They were messengers of the supreme creator god Bondye who is unknowable and does not interact directly with man. Also in some sense, I don’t really understand; at least some individual loa have a direct correspondence to some Catholic saints. The leather bags were also fetishes. Each one contained a scripture verse sown inside and prayed over by a vodou priest.
There are several distinct forms of voodoo. The one Americans are most familiar with is the Louisiana version with the voodoo dolls and such. The Haitian version (which is called Vodou) is not necessarily evil in its intent and the gift giver likely had not intended to cause any harm in the home.
But as Christians we understand that there is only one God and only one true vine. Anything else is false and misleading and no Christian home should have these things in them. Even if it’s “only art”
We went room to room praying and sprinkling with oil without incident and then explained to them that they should get rid of the icons, which they agreed to do, and to brighten up their home.
Peggy has since moved to California but she did come to Church one Sunday shortly before she left and during our conversation she did say that there had been no more strange events in their home.
So, what was really going on? The short answer is that I don’t really know. I know that there are fallen, evil, spiritual beings in existence that do not have our best interest in mind. It is possible that one of these minor entities had inhabited the home, perhaps by attaching itself to one of the loa. In some ways, I would prefer that explanation because it would mean Dan and I had hit a home run our first time at bat and thru the Grace of God had performed a successful exorcism.
But if I were a betting man that’s not where I would put my money.
Even though Peggy and her husband insisted the items were only decorative they were aware of their cultic origins. And as I said the figurines were very unsettling to look at. You can google voodoo images and get some idea of what I mean. So, I believe what they were going thru was more psychological than paranormal.
I believe in the back of their minds they thought that perhaps the loa really did have some power. They began to attribute every unexplained noise or misplaced object to them. Eventually as they became more and more convinced that strange things were happening the noises became whispers, creaking bedsprings became unwelcome visitors and shifting shadows became ghostly figures lurking in the hall. We all have a great capacity for self-delusion and in any scene the mind will always try to fill in the missing pieces.
I believe the supernatural exists and is active in our world. But to paraphrase Sherlock Holmes we should eliminate all other logical possibilities before looking for a supernatural explanation.
I have since learned that there are six different strains of voodoo each with a slight difference in spelling. In some of these strains there are sorcerers called “bokor” who serve both good and evil. I want to emphasize that regardless of your opinion of voodoo or any other cultic group those who practice it believe it is real. And that can make them very dangerous. Always tread carefully when you deal with them.
God Bless
Jax
So, picking up from my last post.
Peggy’s home was in a solidly middle-class neighborhood. Well maintained lawns and homes were the rule. The neighborhood smacked of Pleasant Valley Sunday more than Poltergeist. But in all things appearances can be deceiving and the seeming normality didn’t reassure me too much.
The house was a split-level entry. Upon ringing the doorbell, a young lady of 14 or so opened the door. I noticed right away that the chandelier hanging from the ceiling just inside the door did have some slight motion but no more than you might expect from it catching a draft thru the opened door.
The family was calmer than they had been when I first saw them. There had not been as much activity over the past day which they attributed to following my advice about reading scripture out loud. It was gratifying that my advice had helped. I also suspected that the Spirits that had been calmed were theirs.
But as we came into their living room there was a change in atmosphere.
There were two small statues on an end table that, while I didn’t know yet what they represented, were quite unsettling to the eye. There were also two small plain looking leather bags hanging on a wall. The curtains were drawn and the room was quite dark. All in all, the rooms atmosphere gave both Dan and I, as I found out later, a distinct sense of unease. I should say that Dan is a native South African and, because many his family practice an indigenous religion, he had a much better idea than me as to what the statues were.
He had not been present for my first conversation with Peggy and her husband (for the life of me I can’t remember his name) so they related again what they were experiencing. After they were done we collectively walked thru the home going room to room. There were no more figurines or other similar decorations that we could see. In all other respects, the home appeared to be a comfortable family home.
Back in the living room the statues were the obvious place to start. They were gifts given to the family by Peggy’s mother-in-law who was Haitian. In the Haitian form of voodoo the statues were called “Loa”. They were messengers of the supreme creator god Bondye who is unknowable and does not interact directly with man. Also in some sense, I don’t really understand; at least some individual loa have a direct correspondence to some Catholic saints. The leather bags were also fetishes. Each one contained a scripture verse sown inside and prayed over by a vodou priest.
There are several distinct forms of voodoo. The one Americans are most familiar with is the Louisiana version with the voodoo dolls and such. The Haitian version (which is called Vodou) is not necessarily evil in its intent and the gift giver likely had not intended to cause any harm in the home.
But as Christians we understand that there is only one God and only one true vine. Anything else is false and misleading and no Christian home should have these things in them. Even if it’s “only art”
We went room to room praying and sprinkling with oil without incident and then explained to them that they should get rid of the icons, which they agreed to do, and to brighten up their home.
Peggy has since moved to California but she did come to Church one Sunday shortly before she left and during our conversation she did say that there had been no more strange events in their home.
So, what was really going on? The short answer is that I don’t really know. I know that there are fallen, evil, spiritual beings in existence that do not have our best interest in mind. It is possible that one of these minor entities had inhabited the home, perhaps by attaching itself to one of the loa. In some ways, I would prefer that explanation because it would mean Dan and I had hit a home run our first time at bat and thru the Grace of God had performed a successful exorcism.
But if I were a betting man that’s not where I would put my money.
Even though Peggy and her husband insisted the items were only decorative they were aware of their cultic origins. And as I said the figurines were very unsettling to look at. You can google voodoo images and get some idea of what I mean. So, I believe what they were going thru was more psychological than paranormal.
I believe in the back of their minds they thought that perhaps the loa really did have some power. They began to attribute every unexplained noise or misplaced object to them. Eventually as they became more and more convinced that strange things were happening the noises became whispers, creaking bedsprings became unwelcome visitors and shifting shadows became ghostly figures lurking in the hall. We all have a great capacity for self-delusion and in any scene the mind will always try to fill in the missing pieces.
I believe the supernatural exists and is active in our world. But to paraphrase Sherlock Holmes we should eliminate all other logical possibilities before looking for a supernatural explanation.
I have since learned that there are six different strains of voodoo each with a slight difference in spelling. In some of these strains there are sorcerers called “bokor” who serve both good and evil. I want to emphasize that regardless of your opinion of voodoo or any other cultic group those who practice it believe it is real. And that can make them very dangerous. Always tread carefully when you deal with them.
God Bless
Jax
