Catholic Beliefs: Ghosts / Spirits

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I’m interested in some very precise and concrete evidence for what Catholics believe when it comes to Ghosts and Spirits. I have a history of bad dreams and have reason to believe be suspicious that there is something bigger going on than just my imagination. I’ve been in a near-mortal-danger scenario several times when my heart rate exceeded a safe speed.

Basically, a lot of these issues are centered around sleep paralysis. I know the medical facts regarding this, and they myth of the “sitting ghost” which is related to that. Something more applicable, that worries me, are spirits or even “succubi”. I can describe the situation if necessary, but is there something I need to do to keep myself safe…or alive! I’ve never been as frightened for my life, ever, and I really just need some advice.
 
Above all in response, if you have reason to be fearful,
call on the name of JESUS

In this situation, if it’s not some deepseated emotional or mental issue,
amongst what we Catholics would do is to ask God’s protection, we would be inclined to ask the protection of the archangel; and of God’s holy angels.
Following is a prayer some would use in the circumstance, considering that Michael led the two third of faithful angels against the third that lost all beauty and love because of their rejection of God, and thus became devils.

Holy Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the malice and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls. Amen.

Daniel 12:1 “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of your people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time your people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.”

Revelation Chapter 12:8-12
*"Michael and his angels battled against the dragon. The dragon and its angels fought back, but they did not prevail and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. *
*The huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world, was thrown down to earth, and its angels were thrown down with it. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have salvation and power come, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Anointed. For the accuser of our brothers is cast out, who accuses them before our God day and night. *
*They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; love for life did not deter them from death. **Therefore, rejoice, you heavens, and you who dwell in them. But woe to you, earth and sea, for the Devil has come down to you in great fury, for he knows he has but a short time.” *
We don’t speak of ghosts and “succubi”.

434 Jesus’ Resurrection glorifies the name of the Savior God, for from that time on it is the name of Jesus that fully manifests the supreme power of the “name which is above every name”.2727 Phil 2:9-10; cf. Jn 12:28.
The evil spirits fear his name; (Catechism of the Catholic Church)

Therefore the best thing you can do in this situation is to call on the name of JESUS, repeatedly if you need to.
In Jesus we trust.
 
Devils, evil spirits, are fallen angels

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church
http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p1s2c1p7.htm

**II. THE FALL OF THE ANGELS **
**391 **Behind the disobedient choice of our first parents lurks a seductive voice, opposed to God, which makes them fall into death out of envy.266 Scripture and the Church’s Tradition see in this being a fallen angel, called “Satan” or the “devil”.267 The Church teaches that Satan was at first a good angel, made by God: "The devil and the other demons were indeed created naturally good by God, but they became evil by their own doing."268

392 Scripture speaks of a sin of these angels.269 This “fall” consists in the free choice of these created spirits, who radically and irrevocably *rejected *God and his reign. We find a reflection of that rebellion in the tempter’s words to our first parents: "You will be like God."270 The devil “has sinned from the beginning”; he is “a liar and the father of lies”.271

393 It is the *irrevocable *character of their choice, and not a defect in the infinite divine mercy, that makes the angels’ sin unforgivable. "There is no repentance for the angels after their fall, just as there is no repentance for men after death."272

394 Scripture witnesses to the disastrous influence of the one Jesus calls “a murderer from the beginning”, who would even try to divert Jesus from the mission received from his Father.273 "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil."274 In its consequences the gravest of these works was the mendacious seduction that led man to disobey God.

395 The power of Satan is, nonetheless, not infinite. He is only a creature, powerful from the fact that he is pure spirit, but still a creature. He cannot prevent the building up of God’s reign. Although Satan may act in the world out of hatred for God and his kingdom in Christ Jesus, and although his action may cause grave injuries - of a spiritual nature and, indirectly, even of a physical nature- to each man and to society, the action is permitted by divine providence which with strength and gentleness guides human and cosmic history. It is a great mystery that providence should permit diabolical activity, but "we know that in everything God works for good with those who love him."275

266 Cf. Gen 3:1-5; Wis 2:24.
267 Cf Jn 8:44; Rev 12:9.
268 Lateran Council IV (1215): DS 800.
269 Cf. 2 Pet 2:4.
270 Gen 3:5.
271 1 Jn 3:8; Jn 8:44.
272 St. John Damascene, De Fide orth. 2,4: PG 94,877.
273 Jn 8:44; cf. Mt 4:1-11.
274 1 Jn 3:8.
275 Rom 8:28.
 
Jesus,our Lords peace be whit You.
I do understand Your concern and fear,but You have nothing to be scared off. Trust in God whit all Your faith,and He will protect You against all evil. You could talk about this whit Your priest aswell if this matter still worries You. If this helps I can for my own side say that I do not believe in ghost and so on. As a child I did,but what child do not. I do worrie over the fact that we too often search for ansvers from places we should not do so. All dead are in heaven,waiting for the day the Book Of Life will be opened,and are for sure not comming back,I think I end this ansver whit a quote once said by sir Winston Churchill,“all we need to fear is fear itselfs”.
 
Rats come where there is garbage. Garbage being sin. Confess your sin. Catholics have the Sacrament of Reconciliation, but yes, God is gracious that He will hear your cry when you call out to Him. Read Psalms 51 for coming before God in repentance and Psalm 91 for entering into His protection. Another psalm that comes to my mind is Psalm 18 where God reaches down to take hold of you. “Let God arise and His enemies be scattered”.
 
GVC said:
I’m interested in some very precise and concrete evidence for what Catholics believe when it comes to Ghosts and Spirits. I have a history of bad dreams and have reason to believe be suspicious that there is something bigger going on than just my imagination. I’ve been in a near-mortal-danger scenario several times when my heart rate exceeded a safe speed.

Basically, a lot of these issues are centered around sleep paralysis. I know the medical facts regarding this, and they myth of the “sitting ghost” which is related to that. Something more applicable, that worries me, are spirits or even “succubi”. I can describe the situation if necessary, but is there something I need to do to keep myself safe…or alive! I’ve never been as frightened for my life, ever, and I really just need some advice.
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If you’re having problems with sleep paralysis attacks, and there’s a spiritual part of that, it has to do with demons not ghosts I would say. Demons like to appear to be other than what they are when troubling folks quite often.

When you’re physically unable to move it is more easy to induce fright, and they can cause the adrenaline to race too, just like that.

There is history of the souls in purgatory, appearing to people, but they are not malevolent. 🙂

If you’re having problems with attacks while asleep regarding impurity by demons, this is a well known problem, and you can find the spiritual solutions to it discussed by a number of different saints. There’s a little book by St. John Cassian, one of the most famous monks, on how to achieve purity despite these attacks, it contains the condensed wisdom of some ancient desert fathers – monks who gave up the world and lived in the desert.

Basically in the long run you’re going to have to solve the purity problem while you’re awake, to solve it while you’re asleep. Avoid near occasions of sin, get rid of all impure materials on hand and avoid media with it, and fix the attraction within regarding it by re-education as to your reactions.

It takes being Catholic to really make progress that way, and save your soul. You’re going to have to turn to the wisdom of the saints.

In the short run, I recommend getting some blessed St. Benedict medals (you can order some here if you call, or along with other blessed sacramentals). These are blessed with an exorcism blessing that is very helpful. They can put up a strong defense that makes it more work for the enemy to cause trouble to you. Demons can’t stand exorcism blessings. 🙂

Say prayers before you go to bed each night for protection, a number of them. Don’t let up when the enemy gets annoyed, the provoked reactions are because it’s working.

Catholics with purity issues and troubled by demons generally pray the St. Michael prayer and 3 Ave Marias, at least twice a day. The demons can’t stand these prayers, and these are great helpers in Heaven to those in need.

One should also pray ‘Lord have mercy.’ a good deal, and make acts of contrition and abandonment to God. You have my prayers! God bless you I pray!
 
GVC said:
I’m interested in some very precise and concrete evidence for what Catholics believe when it comes to Ghosts and Spirits. I have a history of bad dreams and have reason to believe be suspicious that there is something bigger going on than just my imagination. I’ve been in a near-mortal-danger scenario several times when my heart rate exceeded a safe speed.

Basically, a lot of these issues are centered around sleep paralysis. I know the medical facts regarding this, and they myth of the “sitting ghost” which is related to that. Something more applicable, that worries me, are spirits or even “succubi”. I can describe the situation if necessary, but is there something I need to do to keep myself safe…or alive! I’ve never been as frightened for my life, ever, and I really just need some advice.
Click to expand...
First of all I have to say im deeply sorry for what you experiencing as I know first hand how unpleasant and terrifying sleep paralysis can be. It occasionally happens to me as well.

Secondly, is there a particular reason why you feel that what you are going through is supernatural in nature? Perhaps you can elaborate more on what exactly happens to you that is causing you to be so cautious and afraid for your life.
You know the medical facts on sleep paralysis so im sure like me you ve found that there are very good, sound medical scientific explanations out there for this phenomenon.
I dont mean to dismiss your worries about the supernatural as Im no authority on that, however I hate to think that you are experiencing unnecessary anxiety.

Sleep paralysis on its own is nothing to be afraid of physically, though it can be traumatising. If you ever need to talk about it dont hesitate to let me know. Sometimes people who have never experienced it dont realise how frightening it is and often mistake it for other sleep/dream phenomena.

God bless you
 
Totterman said:
Jesus,our Lords peace be whit You.
I do understand Your concern and fear,but You have nothing to be scared off. Trust in God whit all Your faith,and He will protect You against all evil. You could talk about this whit Your priest aswell if this matter still worries You. If this helps I can for my own side say that I do not believe in ghost and so on. As a child I did,but what child do not. I do worrie over the fact that we too often search for ansvers from places we should not do so. All dead are in heaven,waiting for the day the Book Of Life will be opened,and are for sure not comming back,I think I end this ansver whit a quote once said by sir Winston Churchill,“all we need to fear is fear itselfs”.
Click to expand...
Great answer.👍👍 If we trust in God we have nothing to fear. Each of us has enough of our own “demons” to contend with.
 
GVC said:
I’m interested in some very precise and concrete evidence for what Catholics believe when it comes to Ghosts and Spirits. I have a history of bad dreams and have reason to believe be suspicious that there is something bigger going on than just my imagination. I’ve been in a near-mortal-danger scenario several times when my heart rate exceeded a safe speed.

Basically, a lot of these issues are centered around sleep paralysis. I know the medical facts regarding this, and they myth of the “sitting ghost” which is related to that. Something more applicable, that worries me, are spirits or even “succubi”. I can describe the situation if necessary, but is there something I need to do to keep myself safe…or alive! I’ve never been as frightened for my life, ever, and I really just need some advice.
Click to expand...
I pray that you do not experience such episodes anymore. Totterman and JaneGrey have given you good advice.

My daughter suffers from such paralysis and has such nightmares too. I think for her it is partly due to stress, her studies etc.I have asked her to do a bit of meditation before she sleeps.

If we trust in God we have nothing to fear. God has given us free will and God is not going to let ghosts or whatever take over us and thus take away our free will. We have enough to contend with within ourselves.

God bless.
 
Wow, thanks so much for all the advice. It’s taken me a while to get back, I’ve got to go through all the replies…
 
JaneGrey said:
First of all I have to say im deeply sorry for what you experiencing as I know first hand how unpleasant and terrifying sleep paralysis can be. It occasionally happens to me as well.

Secondly, is there a particular reason why you feel that what you are going through is supernatural in nature? Perhaps you can elaborate more on what exactly happens to you that is causing you to be so cautious and afraid for your life.
You know the medical facts on sleep paralysis so im sure like me you ve found that there are very good, sound medical scientific explanations out there for this phenomenon.
I dont mean to dismiss your worries about the supernatural as Im no authority on that, however I hate to think that you are experiencing unnecessary anxiety.

Sleep paralysis on its own is nothing to be afraid of physically, though it can be traumatising. If you ever need to talk about it dont hesitate to let me know. Sometimes people who have never experienced it dont realise how frightening it is and often mistake it for other sleep/dream phenomena.

God bless you
Click to expand...
To respond, I’m not absolutely positive that any of this is “supernatural” in nature, however sleep paralysis usually deals with strange visions and half-dream-state hallucinations. I’ve learned to not fear the sleep paralysis itself, and can even wake myself from it most times. There usually is a horrifying feeling of “doom”, and a guilt with a pleasurable tingling sensation that goes along with it, but again I’ve had these often and it could just be the chemicals my brain is releasing to induce sleep.

The suspect things that I experience happen when I’m awake…shortly after sleep paralysis. I don’t tend to dream anything strange, but the first time I struggled to wake myself a very clear voice emanated from my right ear and told me to “close my eyes”. At the moment I shut them (in my waking sleep), they simultaneously opened as I was truly awake…several hours later. Weird, but possibly explainable. My heart was racing of course.

This last time, I had a normal dream. Someone mentioned “salt water” (I still have no idea what this means) and my dream-self knew what this meant and immediately began struggling to exit the dream. I had no visuals, but I remember pushing something away from me, in a spiritual nature…and this caused a clamping sensation on my chest and my heart rate increased. I entered sleep paralysis and woke myself from it by making noises by taking heavy breaths. After I was awake, I felt threatened and a dark ominous presence as usual so I tried this “pushing” thing that I did in my dream…and it worked. Like pushing spiritual energy outwards ??. This could be an imagined sensation, however it very directly causes something to happen (what I’m not sure) and heart rate to increase enormously…of course I stopped there. I’m wondering if there is a muscle inside that effects this. (?) My chest still hurts and this was a week ago.

As much as I try to tell myself it’s just my mind, most of the time it feels more “real” than usual as there is an added dimension of “importance” to everything. I just have a gut feeling that I ought to do something about it…and I hate to say it…but I feel overcome by guilt and struggling for purity at these times. These are signs of something I ought to not just it brush off, though I’m very open to naturalistic explanation.
 
If one acquires certain habits while awake one can turn to them even in dreams while asleep.

So a habit of prayer while in trouble can be very helpful if while you are dreaming and under attack, you turn to prayer…

Such as saying the Our Father over and over again. 🙂

Also, try not to spend too much time on the computer, or using devices that put your mind more in a trance or hypnotic state during the day. By this I mean, ‘tuned out’, such as when you are watching entertainment, listening to music, etc.

The inbetween state between waking and sleeping is a particular state like that and a vulnerable one to spiritual attack. What predisposes us to it can be quite detrimental as well.
 
You should probably start with the “right” psychiatrist. That said, I think most of these folks have a tendency to dismiss the supernatural to quickly in this day and age. So I’m not sure how you make sure that you find a psychiatrist capable of discerning something other than “its all in your head.”

In the Catholic Church if you had reason to suspect repeated encounters with the demonic it is something that should be taken to your priest for review by someone recommended by your priest or bishop.

It would certainly not be assumed that the experience was supernatural, but after sufficient psychological and spiritual investigation, the Church could advise you on appropriate action to help remedy your issues.

The Church continues to train and maintain a body of Exorcists for a reason.

I’m not sure how you would seek out this kind of help as a non-Catholic? You might contact your local diocese for help.

Chuck
GVC said:
I’m interested in some very precise and concrete evidence for what Catholics believe when it comes to Ghosts and Spirits. I have a history of bad dreams and have reason to believe be suspicious that there is something bigger going on than just my imagination. I’ve been in a near-mortal-danger scenario several times when my heart rate exceeded a safe speed.

Basically, a lot of these issues are centered around sleep paralysis. I know the medical facts regarding this, and they myth of the “sitting ghost” which is related to that. Something more applicable, that worries me, are spirits or even “succubi”. I can describe the situation if necessary, but is there something I need to do to keep myself safe…or alive! I’ve never been as frightened for my life, ever, and I really just need some advice.
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