3 Year Old Girl Dead After Exorcism

I swear, this world makes me so sick.  I am literally sick to my stomach after reading about a tragic incident that occurred in Massachusetts recently.

Seriously this is the saddest story I have read in a long time and I think everyone should read it.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/nantucket-massachusetts-mom-accused-killing-toddler-daughter-exorcism/story?id=13158775&page=1

This poor girl lost her life because of medieval superstition, the belief that demons possessed her body.  I mean there is no doubt that the mother was and is completely insane, it is just a shame this crap had to happen.

Shadow People

Sometime in the 90’s a new phenomena started to occur in the world of the paranormal.  A figure often seen dashing out of the corner of your eye or you see this figure in your peripheral vision, when you turn to look at it, it is already gone.  This phenomenon has been dubbed floaters by optometrist Shadow People.

So what are the characteristics of this “other worldly being”?  According to Paranormal Researcher, Rosemary Ellen Guiley:

There are different types of Shadow People.  The core, dominant experience is the nighttime bedroom visitor: a tall silhouette of a man, often dressed in a coat or cape, and a brimmed hat.  The figure is blacker than black and 3-D, obstructing light and blocking the view of objects.  There are no facial features or eyes (sometimes red eyes are reported), but the experiencer knows he is being observed with great intensity.  The figures do not communicate, but often radiate a malevolent, trickster, or evil intent

In the typical experience, a person wakes up from sleep and sees a Shadow Person in the bedroom.  It stands right at the bedside, in a corner or in the doorway.  It may emerge from a closet or slide out from under the bed.  Some of them come through the walls.
The experiencer is usually terrified and screams.  A reaction often makes the Shadow Person disappear, either by vanishing into thin air, zipping down a hallway, or melting through a wall or ceiling (or back under the bed!).  People may feel paralyzed to do anything but shut their eyes, hoping that the figure will be gone when they open them.  Sometimes it is – and sometimes it isn’t.

Some people feel threatened by the Shadow Person.  It sits on the bed, or presses on them, making them feel as though they will suffocate or choke.  The experience ends before actual physical harm occurs, however. – www.Visionaryliving.com

First I want to mention, Rosemary just described a condition called sleep paralysis.  I mean she explained it 100%.  I myself suffer from sleep paralysis quite frequently and I understand how vivid and scary they can be.

Sleep paralysis is a feeling of being awake but unable to move. It occurs when a person passes between stages of wakefulness and sleep. During these transitions, you may be unable to move or speak for a few seconds up to a few minutes.  People having an episode of sleep paralysis may feel pressure or a sense of choking.  These episodes are not pleasant; people who suffer from sleep paralysis say they can feel an evil presence, often related to demons or shadow figures.  Bright lights and little people crowded around one’s bed is also trait of sleep paralysis, which can also explain alien abductions. 

These experiences can be so vivid; the person will actually feel like they are awake when in fact they are not.  It can be intensely scary and it often leads people to search for answers, leading them into the supernatural.  But as we can see, these experiences can be explained rationally.

But there is something else I wanted to talk about when dealing with these shadow people.  Another person by the name of Heidi Hollis claims to have coined the name Hatman, to describe a different “breed” of shadow people.  The description of Hatman is pretty much identical to shadow people, only a few differences:

The Hat Man’s gear consists of what can be described as him wearing a long-black trench coat, three-piece suit, white collared shirt, and a flat rimmed gaucho hat.  Some have even reported seeing a gold watch hanging on his side on a chain.  Some people describe seeing red eyes, others see solid black eyes if they see any eyes at all under the shadow of his hat. 

 He’s described as being pale, tall, thin and may or may not have a noticeable goatee and thin moustache.  He may grin, tip his hat, or stare undeniably at a person at length or briefly. 

 He appears in most any location, but most commonly is reported in people’s bedrooms as they sleep at night.  A feeling comes over the person where they wake up to find him watching them nearby.  – http://www.jesusisnojoke.com/theshadowpeople/id19.html

 After a quick search on google images I was able to find drawings of what people claim Hatman look like.

I found something very odd though.  There is a children’s network called Boomerang that plays reruns of old cartoons from the 70’s.  I caught an episode of Dynomutt, an old childhood favorite of mine.  It was released in 1977 and the episode was titled Shadowman.  I had to take a picture of the villain, re read the description while looking at the picture, he fits them perfectly and his name is even shadownman.

 

Now I can’t sit here and say that this thing people are calling shadow people are the result of a cartoon, but perhaps some may be, I don’t know, I just thought it was cool. 

However there are people who will ask “what about the shadow person I saw while I was awake?” 

Well usually the people I talk to, they don’t want a logical answer they usually want a supernatural explanation.  However what I think shadow people are is simply one’s brain making a pattern out of the low image quality of peripheral vision.  Another possible explanation could be floaters in the eye.  Or the one I think may be the most common is simply misidentification, seeing a shadow cast from an object and labeling it paranormal.  We have to understand, the human brain can be easily fooled.

When Good Games Go Bad

One of the most controversial tools ever used in spirit communication, a tool that is still used today, is a simple wooden board. It comes in many different sizes, with a variety of beautifully painted scenes and symbols. Yet they all share certain characteristics: located somewhere on the surface of these boards are the words “Yes”, “No” and “Goodbye“, the letters A through Z and the numbers 0 through 9. With this board comes a pointer called a planchette. The planchette is a triangular or heart-shaped device that will point to the letters, numbers or words, spelling out phrases, names and dates. The planchette actually predates these boards. Planchettes were originally used with a pencil attached for automatic writing (a method used a lot during the spiritualist movement). But now the planchette and this board go hand in hand. This board goes by many names such as a talking board, a witch board, or a spirit board. But most of us know it as the Ouija board.

The Ouija board is quite possibly the most infamous tool used in paranormal research. I would venture to bet that most people reading this have heard a terrifying story that has either happened to a friend or a friend of a friend that involves the Ouija board. But when was the Ouija board created? What’s the history of this fascinating tool of devilish mischief? Was it constructed under candlelight in a dark dungeon sometime in the Dark Ages? Or maybe it was created by a witch who practiced black magic and satanic rituals. Many will be surprised to learn that the Ouija board is fairly young and it was made as a novelty item.

On May 28th 1890, a patent was filed by three individuals: Elijah Bond, Charles W. Kennard and William H. A. Maupin. The patent was for a novelty item developed by The Kennard Novelty Company, and the first boards were stamped February 10, 1891. Kennard was the one who named the board Ouija. People say the name Ouija means yes-yes because oui is French for yes and ja is German for yes, but Kennard claims to have named Ouija after an Egyptian word for good luck. In all actuality the word scarab means good luck in Egyptian (or Arabic) and not the word Ouija. The story goes the board itself repeatedly told Kennard that Ouija meant good luck in Egyptian and the name just stuck. The company only produced the Ouija board for fourteen months but kept corporate control until 1898.

In 1898 the Ouija board was appointed to a man that would revolutionize the board’s history, William Fuld. It was this man who said that he invented the board and that the name meant yes-yes. In 1919 Fuld bought the remaining rights and sold millions of these boards along with other toys. Sadly Fuld would die from a horrible accident falling from his company rooftop while supervising a flag pole replacement. This didn’t stop Fuld’s children from taking over the business or the production of Ouija boards. In 1966 the business was sold to Parker Brothers who still own the rights today.

So what happened? When did the Ouija Board get associated with evil? The history seems harmless, so why is it so closely related to Satan and demons? Although I cannot be 100% sure, while researching the subject I found that almost all negative reports relating to the board came about in the 70’s, after a novel was published and then turned into a movie two years later. The movie is a classic horror story about a teenage girl who tells her mother she has been talking to a person named Captain Howdy through the Ouija Board. Later this girl becomes possessed by the devil, which causes her body to contort, she spits up the classic green pea vomit and her head spins 360 degrees. Yes, you guessed it, I’m talking about “The Exorcist.” Now The Exorcist is “based” on a true story of a 14-year-old boy who was possessed and actually required three separate Rites of Exorcism from three different Christian denominations: Episcopalian, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic. The case happened in 1949 and the boy did admit to playing with a Ouija board. One thing to remember here is that religious groups had already become involved when this claim came out, so the Church automatically would assume this was the reason behind the possession. Just because the Church assumes this doesn’t make it fact. After 1973 (the year The Exorcist came out) there was a skyrocket of claims dealing with Ouija boards and demons; that’s the fact but the movie isn’t all at fault. After this another group that heavily promoted the Ouija Board as the work of the devil would be Christians.

I personally have received many claims from people telling me their stories, and as I suspected most are second- or third-hand. One thing people kept assuring me was that evil has been associated with this board since at least the 50′s, possibly earlier. There are two things I noticed in these stories, though: A. Hardly any of them had demons or possession associated with them. B. All were told that the board was evil by clergy or family members with strong religious views. This still holds me to my theory that the Church has a large role in why this toy is evil. From experience growing up in Christian house hold, I know the Church views any type of spirit communication as a product of the devil. The church has two views on where a spirit goes when it departs from the body, ones that go to Heaven and ones that go to Hell. I have even been taught that ghosts are actually demons portraying loved ones to win over trust so we will “let them in.” With that being said, the very fact that the Ouija board claims to be able to contact spirits would automatically be looked down on by the church, whether it be a toy or not. But still I will say I believe the reason why people have associated this board game with the devil is largely due to the movie The Exorcist.

So one has to wonder whether the Ouija board really is a tool that contacts demons or even Satan himself? Maybe it isn’t demons but entities that exist on a lower plane. Maybe it isn’t anything except one’s imagination. When dealing with controversial subjects, I feel it is important that we have to look at both sides: the side of belief and the side of doubt. With that being said, let’s look at something called the Ideomotor effect, a term that was coined by William B. Carpenter in 1852. With the power of suggestion or expectation and the subtle unconscious movements made by the hand, one may trick oneself into thinking that something supernatural is occurring. William also states that the muscle movements can be made by the brain independently of emotions. This simply means we do not know we are the ones influencing the planchette to move. This same effect also could explain pendulums and dowsing rods (actually that’s why this explanation was created).

Another common factor in the Ouija stories I received (and have heard in the past) is most of them end with someone burning the board to get rid of the evil, but to their surprise it isn’t affected by the flames. I have heard many other stories that consist of the smell of flesh when the board is thrown in the fire pit, even a board screaming in the flames. But the biggest commonality is that the fire has no effect on the board. Could this stem from the belief that the Ouija board is closely connected with demons and the Devil, and the belief that fire is associated with Hell? It is difficult for me to believe something made out of wood could survive the fireplace.

Still this common factor is interesting, so I contacted a man by the name of James “The Amazing” Randi, to talk about this. For those who don’t know who James Randi is, he is an investigator of paranormal claims. His foundation “The James Randi Educational Foundation” currently offers a $1,000,000 check to anyone who can prove paranormal abilities and/or claims. You may have even heard of this as the “Million Dollar Challenge”. This challenge has been going on since the 70′s and has never been won. So Mr. Randi told me to present everyone here with an experiment, in his words: “Have everyone go out and buy a Ouija board and set it on fire. If it doesn’t burn, they’ll win a million dollars.”

  

Burning the Ouija Board

James Randi has also done tests on the Ouija board. To prove it is nothing more than the ideomotor effect, he blindfolded the operators, and the results produced were nothing but nonsense. No words, names, or phrases, no yes, no or dates–it was only gibberish. Surely demons or evil spirits would be able to spell the same whether the operator is blindfolded or not, so what happened? The logical explanation according to Randi is that it’s all done subconsciously by the operator. When the operator can’t see the board, the operator can’t produce positive results. It is also important to note that in controlled tests, the board has never produced any information that isn’t already known to the operators.

One major problem with the modern day paranormal investigator is lack of common sense.  People jump to conclusions way to quickly and let myths become fact.  Based on all the information I gathered while studying the Ouija board, I have to conclude the following.  The Ouija board is and has always been a board game, a children’s toy.  It has never been and is not a portal to hell, it does not let entities of any sort in through some invisible doorway, it does not conjure demons or Satan himself.  It matters not of your intent or belief, it is a piece of wood or cardboard with fancy paintings and designs, nothing more.  I have personally tested the burning of the Ouija board and it may surprise most readers, but it does in fact burn.  I heard no screaming, I smelled no burning flesh, it wasn’t waiting for me on the mantle magically rejuvenated, however it was a waste of 15 dollars.

My Take on the Eerie Image Captured in the Woods

This is a story that is a couple of weeks old but for some reason is still making its rounds around the internet. 

On the 13^th of December I was told to read a story about a deer hunter who picked up some strange image on his game camera.  The picture of this creature was said to be taken on a reserve in Berwick near Morgan City, Louisiana.  Anyway as the hunter was hiding in the dark, he claims that this “ghoulish” creature appeared out of nowhere.  It had glowing eyes and it looked into the game camera and vanished as it went back into the bushes.

Now the hunter wants to remain nameless *red flag* said he was so scared, that he broke his camera but luckily he was able to remove the undamaged memory card. 

So what is this ghastly creature lurking through the woods?  Could it be a rabid werewolf or a zombie bear?  There were many speculations on what this creature could be; I heard everything from a bear with mange to an alien humanoid to the Dover demon to a chupacabra.

One of the best discrepancies on this photo is the date.  One says 11/30/2010 and the other photo says 12/04/2010 *red flag*. 

Now on twitter Insomniac Games gave it away that this creature is a grim, which is a character from their Resistance series (Resistance 3 will be released September 6^th 2011).

“Whoops… looks like one got out. If you see a Grim on the loose… please return to Insomniac Games, Burbank, CA: http://bit.ly/fqGoXX”    

GRIM From Resistance 2

However Insomniac Games deleted this tweet saying that it was a total joke.

A lot of people are speculating that it could be an image from the up and coming movie titled Super 8, which is a Steven Spielberg and J.J. Abrams collaboration.

However there are a lot of people that are claiming this isn’t a viral campaign for either Resistance 3 or Super 8.  Personally I don’t see why it can’t be some person at home who faked an image.  I mean the hunter wants to remain nameless and the dates on the pictures don’t match, I don’t know how much more evidence one needs to see that this is a blatant fake.

Still there are people that astound me, for instance someone said on a message board I frequently post on that he/she has evidence that this white skinned creature really exists.

“this is my weirdest experience i have ever had, and still to this day cannot explain what it was, or why it happened but hear go’s, when i was about 11 years old, me and my friend were walking around the neighborhood going to the lake, i had another friend named Tim who lived two houses away from the lake, all of a sudden i saw movement out of the corner of my eye and i looked up and to the right, what i saw was unbelievable and i told my friend to look at it she saw it to, what we saw was a white demon like thing up in the tree in Tim’s front yard, if you have ever seen the show “chalk zone” this creature looked kinda like one of those characters, it was all white except for the outline of its body and its eyes and mouth. it had black beady eyes that stared at me the whole time, and it had an evil grin on its face, it had a chainsaw that looked like a cartoon to, it then started cutting down a big branch from the tree looking at me the whole time, and then the branch fell and as we watched it fall we looked back up and the creature was gone, it fell on Tim’s parents car and totaled it, they had to get it towed away it was in such bad shape, and they had to get a new one.
has anybody experienced anything like this? if anybody on hear is hell bend on calling me a liar, then don’t post, I’m looking for real explanations not for someone to psychoanalyze me, i did not imagine this, it was not a dream, it was 100 percent real, and it really did total their car, so if anybody can offer me an explanation or has had similar experiences I’d love to hear them, this event has bothered me ever since it happened, not cause it was scary but because i could never explain it and that’s why I’m posting this in hopes that someone can help me understand that event, what it was and why it happened.

thanks.”

I could spend all day explaining why this story is ridiculous but I will spare you that, however notice that the eyes were black, not glowing.  Also this isn’t evidence of anything, its anecdotal at best. 

So please everyone lets use our brains, don’t be afraid of white skinned, glowing eyed zombie humanoids walking the throughout the woods, pay more attention to reality.  Animals such as a grizzly bears or mountain lions, rabid skunks or porcupines, these are animals that live in the woods and can really inflict some damage upon you. 

Thanks for reading Pork Rhine.