The Church in Wales cleric told Wales on Sunday that specially trained priests are being recruited by families too afraid to stay in their homes because they are haunted by evil spirits.

Bishop of Monmouth, Dominic Walker, is a trained exorcist and said clergy across his diocese deal with two or three cases of “property possession” at any one time.

He also revealed on rare occasions it is not just homes that are possessed but people too.

More often than not both problems can be solved by saying a few prayers or blessings or holding a requiem mass.

But occasionally a full exorcism must be held.

The bishop, who is a senior figure within the Church in Wales, has a special interest in the ministry of deliverance – a term used to describe the process by which a person, believed to be under the control of an evil supernatural entity, is set free.

And during his 35 years with the church he said he has performed countless acts of deliverance along with six exorcisms.

According to the bishop, the practice of deliverance is more likely to involve a person with a psychiatric problem who believes they see evil spirits whereas the art of exorcism involves “real demonic forces”.

In both cases he said the church works closely with psychiatrists to ensure the people involved are given the best possible care.

Only a handful of priests across the country are qualified to carry out an exorcism and in order to do so they must first seek permission from their bishop.

“When people turn to us for help they’re normally fairly desperate,” Bishop Walker said.

“Our clergy are very good because we usually always have two or three cases on the go in the diocese at any one time.

“Most priests will go throughout the whole of their ministry without ever carrying out a full exorcism or being asked to.

“But we all get people saying ‘we’ve got a ghost, we’ve got poltergeist activity, I feel there’s a presence in my house which I don’t like’ and people get very disturbed.

“In fact I’m advising a priest at the moment whose got a family who just want to move.

“They want to sell up and get out because they feel they’ve got some sort of presence in their home.”

And surprisingly, Bishop Walker said the people most likely to seek help from the church are those who are not particularly religious.

“Sometimes there are people who say ‘before this happened to me I didn’t believe in ghosts and I don’t want to believe but I can’t deny what is happening’,” he said.

The frequency of church-led exorcisms fell dramatically at the start of the 20th Century as the credibility of Sigmund Freud’s and Carl Jung’s theories of analytical psychology grew.

Suddenly there was a feeling among the congregation that the apparent presence of evil spirits could be explained as psychotic behaviour, leading to the decline in demand for exorcists.

Yet in recent years, according to Bishop Walker, the Church has come to realise that exorcisms can be used alongside psychological care.

“[The Church] realised in the ‘50s and ‘60s that people were knocking on vicarage doors saying ‘I’ve got a ghost’ or ‘I’m possessed’ and the clergy didn’t know how to deal with it because they had not been trained.

“Exorcism was seen as medieval mumbo-jumbo but suddenly they realised they had to minister to these people in need.

“It’s trying to deal with the person as a whole person – the body, mind and spirit – you can’t deal with just one part,” he said.

Since then, clergy have been on the look out for parishioners who demonstrate symptoms of spirit possession – from being able to speak in different voices to having paranormal strength.

Yet even when it appears someone is possessed, Bishop Walker said the need to carry out an exorcism is very rare.

“I’ve been here [Monmouth] nine years and we haven’t carried out any exorcisms in the diocese during that time,” he said.

“In the 35 years that I’ve been involved in deliverance ministry I’ve probably carried out six exorcisms and they’ve always been as a last resort and they’ve always been with psychiatric care.”

One of the occasions Bishop Walker has had to carry out an exorcism was on a woman who found herself speaking in three different male voices.

On that instance he ruled out a personality disorder, concluding she was in fact possessed by three different spirits.

Yet not all cases of apparent possession will end up with an exorcism being performed.

“We’ve got a case at the moment in which it seems a child is attention seeking,” he said.

“The child is seeing ‘it’ as it describes it.

“[The child] is seeing something but the child knows when they go to bed that mum will come and give them attention.

“Trying to get the mother to see that this might actually simply be attention seeking though is quite difficult as she is quite convinced the child is genuinely seeing a ghost.

“Very occasionally you do get situations which you just can’t explain where people have not responded to psychotherapy, they’ve not responded to drugs, they’ve changed in personality and something appears to have taken them over.

“But when you say the prayers of deliverance, the prayers of exorcism, they suddenly make an instant recovery.”

All of Bishop Walker’s six exorcisms have been successful to varying degrees.

“Afterwards, you are always left with the question ‘what on earth have you exorcised?’” he said.

“The church is quite divided in that respect – there are some who believe there are demonic forces which you have to get rid of and they sometimes attach themselves to people and we don’t know why unless the person has deliberately invited it.

“And others who say the demons are actually from within – they are fragmented parts of our unconscious that have overwhelmed us.”
Source: Wales Online [March 25, 2012]

At first glance, there is nothing untoward and the image has divided the internet between the people who can see it, and those who cannot.

Once it is pointed out, however, it is difficult to take your eyes away from the face that suddenly becomes clear

Can you see it? Click on the photo to get a bigger picture and to download it for free. The scary face is well hidden, but once you see it a shiver will pass down your spine

The origins of the picture are unclear, but it’s possible that it was actually created by someone hiding behind the cushion while being photographed.

Or it could be something that somebody has been created using Photoshop. However it was made, it is hard to look away or get the image out of your head.

If you’re still struggling to spot it look to the left of the picture, underneath the cushion on the plain brown sofa.

Twitter user Ryan Evans wrote: ‘It genuinely made me Jump when I saw it, be warned!’

Another, @casioroee, wrote ‘Embarassingly, it really make me jump.’
One person who saw the image on website imgur said: ‘I was leaning WAY too close to the screen when I saw that … thanks for the heart attack imgur.’

When most students move to Ball State they expect to share their residence hall with hundreds of other students. But not with hundreds of students and a ghost.

Known on campus for being the “over 21″ hall, Elliott Hall’s other claim to fame is that it’s haunted.

Jesse Fivecoate, senior cultural anthropology major, is the president of the anthropology club, which studies and conducts tours about on-campus paranormal activity. According to him, the following is the story surrounding the Elliott haunting:

“There is no official story in regards to the ghost in Elliott, but the most known version of the hall’s haunting involves a young man named William Schamberg. After fighting in World War II, Schamberg came to Muncie with the intent of attending the university. During his time at Ball State, he lived in Elliott and due to the mental and physical scarring the war left him, he never left the building. He was said to become a social introvert due to his war experience.

In addition, William suffered from depression after his girlfriend dumped him. He decided to end his suffering by taking his own life in the fourth floor library of Elliott. Some have reported that William hung himself from the rafters of the library and on occasion, if one listens, the replaying of his suicide can be heard. The sound of a table or chair being dragged across the floor followed by the sweeping sound of William’s feet against the floor as his lifeless body sways from the rafters.”

Colleen Boyd, an anthropology professor, said she is no expert in paranormal studies but has heard of multiple student encounters and very few faculty encounters with the ghost of Elliott Hall.

Boyd said she finds what students report and their beliefs in the paranormal to be interesting. She said students have approached her about overseeing a paranormal club but for now, she is interested in people’s paranormal interests.

“One interesting encounter I have heard of is a student being awoken by a book being thrown at her head,” Boyd said. “Students have experienced other encounters with this figure, and I have studied their experiences. No one knows the real story behind the ghost, but there has been consistency with the tale shared amongst the campus.”

Despite William’s tendency to throw things, Fivecoate said he believes Elliott is safe for students to live in.

“I have not come across any story of the ghost that puts the person in any danger, other than the occasional book or small object thrown at them,” he said.

Though Deane lives in a building with paranormal activity, she said living at Elliott is like living anywhere else on campus.

“I am not really bothered by the ghost in Elliott,” sophomore journalism education major Samantha Deane said. “I’m more cautious about things and more paranoid about little noises, though. There’s a different atmosphere in Elliott as opposed to the other dorms and it’s not because the building is haunted.”

Jessie Cortesi, sophomore history major, chose to live in Elliott in search of a more active living community. She said she isn’t freaked out by the paranormal activity in her campus home.

“The ghosts don’t bother me but when I go home, my roommate won’t sleep in the room alone,” she said. “Elliott is a beautiful building, and I love living here, even with the ghost.”

Elliott Hall was built to replicate a housing facility at Princeton University. Students believe it brings a Hogwarts aspect to Ball State. Whatever way it’s looked at, Elliott Hall contributes to the classic character of the campus.

The smallest residence hall on campus was originally opened as a men’s hall in 1938. It now serves as a coed abode to about 120 residents. The building has three floors for residents: the first designated for students who are at least 21 years old and the second and third floors for any students.

The residence hall was named for Frank Elliott Ball, the son of Frank C. Ball, who was one of the five founders of the Ball Corporation and involved in the creation of Ball State.

Author: Lindsey Riley | Source:The Ball State Daily News [January 12, 2012]

“It was overcast but not raining, and in the middle of the afternoon,” Doug said. Since the day was shadowless he didn’t understand what he saw on his way home from the store.

“As I approached the corner to turn onto my street, I saw something black sticking beyond the bushes in the front of my house,” Doug said. “I yelled, ‘Andre,’ and started running toward my driveway where the bushes are.”

But the dark figure wasn’t Andre. A black, man-shaped shadow rose from behind the bushes in this gray afternoon and began running toward Doug’s house.

“After a few steps I saw the shadow running down my driveway toward the back yard,” he said. “I ran up the driveway to the gate that leads to my back yard. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I watched a pair of legs running through the yard and through the fence at the far end.”

Doug stood at the gate, staring into the now empty yard.

“I was not afraid, I was just shocked,” he said. “I couldn’t stop thinking about it. This thing. What could it be? Why was it black when most stereotypical stories said that ghosts were white? Could this be demonic? Could it be like me, just a person?”

The questions from his first encounter with shadow people haunted him for years. But this encounter wouldn’t be his last.

Eight years later, at the same house, Doug woke from a deep sleep and lay in the gray room, staring at his bedroom wall.

“I woke for no reason, had no weird dreams, and I wasn’t groggy or half asleep,” he said. “My room was dark other than some stray beams coming through the blinds, and I could see a man, darker than the night like a void.”

The figure, shrouded in a cloak, stood at the end of the bed.

“I could only make out the silhouette of his head and shoulders. The rest of him just went straight to the floor,” Doug said. “There were no legs or feet. No red eyes, no facial features whatsoever.”

Terrified, Doug slid low in bed, pulling the covers slowly over his face, watching the black, man-shaped figure standing over him until his blankets hid the horror from his view and Doug fell back to sleep.

Doug is now 29, and although he doesn’t know what these shadow beings were, he knows he saw them.

“These are the two instances where I specifically saw shadow people,” Doug said. “Only in the past couple of years have I been able to find anything on the subject matter. It’s almost like re-victimization when reading stories from other people that describe experiences like mine. I never knew it could be so widespread and am still dealing with the shock.”

But the shadow beings haven’t left Doug. They visit him in his sleep.

“I have dreams of floating black heads with red eyes and extremely bright, tiny white teeth,” he said.

In these dreams, the shadow beings stare at him. In 2011, he realized these shadow figures might not be just a dream.

“Last summer, the first night I slept in my last apartment, I woke up in my old bedroom in the dream,” he said. “I thought I saw a shadow go past the doorway, and as I turned and stretched enough to be able to check, the most ungodly deep voice breathed my name in my ear and down my neck. It was so real.”

Doug is convinced his dreams of shadow people are more than dreams, and that these shadows are torturing people’s minds.

“That’s the thing with shadow people, I think they confuse people when appearing to them, make them question their sanity, only to show up again and make the person go through that whole process again,” he said. “They’d leave long enough for one to question themselves, only to reinforce their existence a few years down the road.”

Author: Jason Offutt| Source: From the Shadows [January 11, 2012]

Held at Poland’s Roman Catholic Jasna Gora monastery, home to the venerated Black Madonna icon, this year’s congress “examines the current fashion for vampirism in Europe and the world-over, schizophrenia and other mental disorders as well as the devil’s deceit during exorcism,” according to the monastery’s radio station.

Also attending are “priests and lay people who work with exorcists or who are themselves practitioners in cases which do not involve possession but rather other forms of harassment by evil spirits,” Polish exorcist, Father Andrzej Grefkowicz was quoted as saying.

Hailing from India, world-renowned exorcist Father Rufus Pereira as well as chief exorcist of the Archdiocese of Vienna Larry Hogan are among the participants, the radio reported. The unusual meeting is held once every two years.

The Jasna Gora monastery’s venerated Black Madonna icon is believed by many Poles to work miracles.

Legend has it that it was painted by the apostle Saint Luke on a table top from the home of the Holy Family, according to the Jasna Gora website. Records suggest the icon arrived in Poland during the 14th century.

With around 90 percent of the population declaring themselves Roman Catholic, Poland remains one of Europe’s most devout countries.

Source: Yahoo News [Jul 15th, 2011]

But when Emma Keeitch called in ghostbusters in a bid to eject the malevolent spirit, they also ran off terrified. Paranormal investigator Steve Kneeshaw said: “I have done many investigations but this is the worst one yet. It even freaked me out. “It was a very intense evening. Some of what happened was totally bizarre.”

Emma, 31, and partner Jamie Owen, 25, left home with four-month-old daughter Phoebie after waking up to discover “Move” written in the condensation on their bedroom window. It was the final straw after a series of mys-terious happenings – including radios suddenly switching on, pictures spinning round on the wall and even a plank of wood flying through the air. Continue reading, Daily Star

And you’re not alone.
Sleep Paralysis (SP) and its associated visions, known as hypnagogic hallucinations (HH), are still a mystery to medical science, even though 40% of the world’s population has experienced it at least once in their lives. Although a common symptom of narcolepsy and other sleep disorders, sleep paralysis can also be induced in healthy dreamers due to factors like sleep deprivation, jet lag, or too much cannabis before bed.

Normally in REM sleep, the body is paralyzed to prevent us from acting out our dreams. In sleep paralysis, the REM paralysis persists momentarily after we have “woken up.” But we’re not really awake—rather we are aware in a fugue state in between dreaming and the waking world. We literally project the dreamscape onto the landscape of our sleep environment.

The apparitions associated with sleep paralysis include aliens, angels, and ancestors, depending on your cultural upbringing and your level of fear. Like lucid dreaming, this nightmare is really a co-creation between the dreamer’s (or visionary’s) expectations and the murky-murk of the unconscious or perhaps the collective realms beyond the personal mind.

It’s truly an extraordinary conscious state, but not many people talk about it because to be haunted by demons in the 21st century, this Age of Information, is to be doubly cursed. Contiinue with story, realitysandwich.com