Spiritual Warfare
After watching “The Haunting”, a program dedicated to the true stories of evil spirits and their haunting of individuals or homes, I was amazed at how little people understood about the dangers of the demonic. Many of the families were either naive, agnostic, or lax in their faith. These three spiritual states all enhanced the power of the devil or evil spirit in their home. After writing an article or two or occult influences and how Christians should respond, I figured I would relay some of the information here for the blog and other Christian Counselors.
How to deal with a haunting? The haunting can be of two natures. 1. It can entail a benign spirit who needs prayers, or 2. it can entail a malicious spirit and/or fallen angel. Haunting can also be termed infestation. The entity is tied to an object or place.
What is Spiritual Hygiene of the Home?
In most of these cases, spiritual hygiene is important. As one cleans their homes, they should also spiritually clean it. Blessings can be annually by oneself or a minister/priest. In addition to this, pictures of Christ and crucifixes in most if not all rooms is a good idea. Catholics also put St. Benedict medals on all entries to the home, as well as buried on all four corners of the property.
If dealing with an infestation that is not benign, one should try to find the history of the home, or if any odd objects were left from the previous owners since objects can carry attachment to evil spirits. Second, a minor exorcism of the home is required. In this case, the home owner or legal authority is to go into each room with holy water and a crucifix and command the entity in the name of Christ, his saints, St. Michael, and our Lady to leave and never return. Symoblically, windows should be left open. In addition to this, some cultures also encourage the burning of sage. Some cases, also require priests or ministers to aid, but usually a homeowner has enough power in Christ’s name to deal with it.
Another problem are curses. The reality of witchcraft, the occult, and white magic is only to real. Curses are not magic. but evil incantations or prayers where one asks an evil spirit to focus
itself upon you. These curses can be battled with a good holy life and sacramentals. A man of God should never fear the power of Satan. If armed with Holy Spirit, any curse can be rendered powerless. Most curses effect secular people who do not have the spiritual defenses necessary to battle it. Christian Spiritual Counselors can help people discover the defenses necessary.
Finally, demonic oppression or obsession is a final case. This is a preliminary to possession and usually is a haunting of a human being. The demon is attracted to the person for some reason and hopes to utilize the person’s vessel. Obsession can occur due to mere attraction, or due to occult practices. One who visits mediums, plays Ouiji Boards, or other occultic games can awaken the presence of a demon. Sometimes the demon is attached to someone who enters into your life. In some cases, children are given to Satan and later in life deal with removing the entity. Some people even deal with demonic abuse. Holy men such as Padre Pio and others dealt with demonic activity as victim souls. Similar to a blessing of a home, one should treat the person the same way. If you are a parent and your child speaks of an imaginary friend and the child’s behavior starts to change, you may want to bless your child and do an exorcism of your home. You may also wish to have a priest or minister bless your child. Like a home owner, a parent has legal authority over his child and can in the name of Christ fight the demonic entity.
During spiritual warfare, do not be surprised for a battle. Lucifer and his demons will fight back. They feed off fear and vice. If confident in our savior, and only with him at your side, you can defeat the evil one, but it will be a spiritual struggle. One that in the end, will strengthen your faith in God.
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By Mark Moran, MA