Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. 1 Peter 5:8
A long time ago in a factory far far away, I had a job. (Gasp! I know, right?! Hang with me.) I built clutch discs for a heavy equipment company who shall remain nameless. It was a hot and nasty job and I sought refuge in the air conditioned office as often as I could, usually during lunch and breaks. One such day, I was talking to the quality control guy about something completely work related…honest! No, actually I was dragging my feet before I had to go back to the 107 degree floor and we were talking about movies. The quality control guy shared an office with the factory engineer. He was much older than the 2 of us and I’m sure he tired of our constant goofing off. I happened to mention that I was having a horror movie marathon that weekend when the usually quiet factory engineer piped up and said, “You shouldn’t watch those. You invite demons into your soul when you do.”
I thought he was joking and was going to come back with a smart remark but when I saw the serious look on his face and the unyielding conviction in his eye, I shut my mouth and decided it was best to go back to work. I had no desire to get into a religious debate and I respected his belief but I didn’t believe it for a minute.
Years later I still don’t buy that but I do believe that there are certain things that we should not mess with. I am a christian. I go to church regularly and I pray regularly. (NOTE: I don’t want a religious debate or hateful comments. I respect your right to believe what you want, please respect mine.) Yes I have seen and felt many things that make me believe there is a God and he loves all of us beyond understanding but with belief in the good comes the belief in the bad.
In 1949 in a little suburb of Washington D.C. there lived a young boy. His name has been protected over the years and most use the synonym “Roland Doe”. Roland was an only child who lived with his parents and maternal grandmother. There was nothing abnormal about him, just a typical 14 year old albeit a little introverted.
He had an aunt named Harriet. He and Harriet were very close and spent a lot of time together. Harriet was a professed “spiritualist”. Spiritualism is the belief or doctrine that the spirits of the dead, surviving after the mortal life, can and do communicate with the living, especially through a person (a medium) particularly susceptible to their influence.
Aunt Harriet introduced Roland to Spiritualism one day. Among many other things that she introduced him too was the ouija board. A device consisting of a small board, or planchette, on legs that rest on a larger board marked with words, letters of the alphabet, etc., and that by moving over the larger board and touching the words, letters,etc., while the fingers of spiritualists, mediums, or others rest lightly upon it, is employed to answer questions, give messages, etc.
Ladies and gentlemen, I’ve learned a few lessons over the years. Never let a dog watch your food for you. Never say yes when someone asks if they look stupid and NEVER mess with a ouija board. I know..I know..it’s just a game, it won’t hurt anything…blah blah blah. My blog my rules. No ouija boards. You open yourself up to some bad mojo. End rant.
Not too long after she introduces the game to Roland she passes away (not because of the ouija board. Just good old natural causes.) Roland was devastated. He took to his room and grieved in isolation. He spent hours trying to contact Harriet using the ouija board. Soon, everyone in the house began to hear someone walking with squeaky shoes and scratching sounds came from the walls. Roland’s mother remembered what Harriet said about communing with a spirit by rapping, or knocking on something. Ask the spirit a question, one knock for yes, two knocks for no..that kind of thing.
So here we have a bereaved family, probably at their weakest, that are slightly desperate to know that their loved one is all right. They don’t really know what they are doing just that maybe possibly they can still hear from their beloved family member. They have no protection in things of this matter and have not taken any precautions. They just have a slight second hand knowledge. Sometimes when you look into the unknown the unknown looks back.
Soon after Roland and his mother tried to communicate with the spirit inexplicable things began to happen. Sometimes things would tip over or fall. Objects were said to fly through the air, especially if Roland was around. Scratches began to appear on his body but it didn’t stop there. Apparently, this poltergeist activity followed him to school. One day his desk lurched into the aisle and bumped into other students desks. Roland swore he didn’t do any of these things and many witnesses came forth and swore that these things were actually happening seemingly without Roland’s help.
Soon Roland’s personality began to change. Small things at first like staring at nothing like he was in a trance or his limbs would sometimes twitch. He eventually became violent, spitting and cursing in people’s faces. When this began his worried parents took him to see medical doctors, specialists, even a few psychiatrists but they could offer no explanation of what was ailing the boy. Distraught over their son’s issues they turned to a local Lutheran minister, Reverand Schulze. Reverand Schulze did not quite know what to make of the claims and decided he needed to see this activity with his own eyes. He decided to keep watch over the teen as he slept. He soon began to see what Roland’s parents were talking about. The teen’s bed began to shake and before it could subside a chair tipped over on its own accord. Startled and not believing in bad spirits or spiritual possession, he suggested prayer as a remedy. When that proved to be fruitless he suggested maybe the parents should consult a Roman Catholic Priest.
They soon found Father Albert Hughes. Hughes agreed to examine the boy and after witnessing some phenomena himself agreed to conduct an exorcism at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, but during the exorcism somehow the thrashing Roland was able to slash the priest’s arm with a bed spring. The exorcism was stopped and Roland was sent home.
The phenomena continued to get worse until the words “St. Louis” were seen to inexplicably scratch themselves onto a screaming Roland’s chest. The parents were desperate and they did have relatives in St. Louis, maybe they could help. They soon packed up and headed to Missouri.
Meanwhile, efforts were redoubled to communicate with Aunt Harriet. The theory was she was the one responsible for all the mayhem and if they could just reach her it would all stop. It didn’t work.
While they were staying with relatives, Roland’s cousin contacted a former professor of his, Reverand Raymond Bishop. Bishop mentioned the case to a friend of his, Father William Bowdern. Bowdern agreed to visit the family with his friend, Bishop, and see if there was anything they could do.
While they were at Roland’s home Bowdern noticed Roland’s aversion to anything sacred. They also witnessed a shaking bed, flying objects, scratches appearing on Roland’s skin by what appeared to be an unseen hand, and perhaps most startling, Roland speaking in a deep demonic voice.
The priest and a couple of his associates went room by room and blessed the house. Father Bowdern safety pinned a relic of St. Mary to Roland’s bed clothes to protect the boy from further nightly disturbances. Not long after Roland retired for the night, the mattress began to sway and vibrate while Roland remained perfectly still.
Father Bowdern sprinkled holy water in the sign of the cross over Roland and the bed. For a moment the disturbance ceased. But as soon as the priest walked into the hall to speak with Roland’s worried parents, the activity came back with a vengeance! There was a loud crash and the sound of glass breaking. The relic of St. Mary had been unpinned from the bed clothes and thrown into the mirror. The mattress began to shake violently and Roland screamed in pain. Angry red zig zag scratches showed up on his abdomen moments later.
After witnessing all of this, Father Bowdern sought permission from his archbishop to perform an exorcism. The archbishop agreed.
The next night Father Bowdern, Father Bishop, and a Mr. Halloran went to the boy’s house. Father Bowdern helped Roland examine his conscience and make an act of contrition. All present in the home came into the bedroom and prayed as the Father began the prayers of exorcism.
As soon as it began there was an immediate response. Large scratches began to appear on the screaming boy. Soon there were so many that one appeared to be an image, the image of the devil. As the prayers continued the boy thrashed violently and appeared to be fighting an unseen force. The thrashing began to get so bad that Roland had to be held down. Those that held him down were spit upon, cursed at, and hit. Knocking the men back several times.
This continued on through the night and finally about 7:30 am that morning the boy fell into a deep sleep. Father Bowdern knew, however, that this was only the beginning. When the priest demanded to know how many demons were inside the boy a large letter X was scratched onto Roland. The priest was afraid 1 time would not be enough.
To be continued……
The Freak Geek 