Evil or imagination?

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IrishAm

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I waited a few days before starting this thread, just to collect my thoughts. First off, let me say I am not easily spooked or particularly inclined to be fearful. I’m pretty pragmatic.

Sunday night, however, I woke up about midnight, got up, and went into the office without turning on any lights to reset my computer which had been downloading some materials. Walking into the room, I had an overwhelming sense of something truly evil being present. I was really disturbed by it, took care of the computer, and got out of the room as quickly as possible. And the feeling just didn’t go away. I grabbed the Rosary off my nightstand – a new one that had just been blessed that day – and clung to it, finally putting it around my neck and praying for protection along the lines of "Blessed Mother, protect me and those I cherish from evil. St. Joseph, protect me and those I cherish from evil. etc etc etc. Fell asleep and woke up fine.

Nothing like this has ever occurred and I’m still a little disconcerted by the event. I am open to any thoughts you may have, but mostly just wanted to write this to get it off my mind. 😊
 
Sounds like a very disturbing experience. I’ve had one similar to it…I was alone in my apartment just sitting at my desk and watching tv. I then experienced a sudden rush of fear from no where. The hair on my neck stood up and I felt like someone was watching me and something very bad was about to happen. Something kept telling me, get out of the apartment. I have never experienced such fear in my life without something visible causing it. I got out of the apartment and went to my fiance’s. He thought I was crazy but my mother said I did the right thing. Evil is around us and sometimes it can break through so we can feel it and sense it. I think Christians can sense it more, so that we can protect ourselves. My neighbor told me later, after my experience, that she and her then boyfriend were getting into witchcraft and such. Who knows…Evil may break through but Jesus is always there. Also next time, IF there is a next time, keep a prayer to St. Michael the Archangel near by and your guardian angel.
 
I imagine that was very distrubing. I will pray for you.

Please look at some of the prayers on this website, try the Hedge Protection Prayer

First and foremost, remember that our Lord, Blessed Mother is so much more powerful than any demons, evil, etc.

God bless.
 
It isn’t always our imaginations either. Evil does exist…or do you discount the Gospels?
 
tessi said:
When we are alone it’s easy to imagine all kind of things.
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True, but the presence of a demon can cause a hair-raising sensation of being threatened that goes beyond just being a little spooked at things going bump in the night.

While it’s not healthy to live in fear of demons around every corner, we shouldn’t completely dismiss their existence, either.

The hedge prayer DJgang suggested is an excellent one. I’d keep some holy water on hand at home, too.
 
Hedge prayer is excellent . . . I hope it is alright for me to cut and paste the relavent section . . .

*And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” Then Satan answered the LORD, "Does Job fear God for nought? Hast thou not put a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. --Job 1:8-10]

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you men of double mind. – James 4:7-8*

Trusting in the promise that whatever we ask the Father in Jesus’ name He will do, I now approach You Father with confidence in Our Lord’s words and in Your infinite power and love for me, and with the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, Blessed Archangel Michael, my guardian angel, with all the saints and angels of heaven, and Holy in the power of His blessed Name, as ask you Father to protect me and keep me from the harassment of the devil and his minions.

Father I ask that You build a hedge of protection around me, like that which surrounded Job, and to help me to keep that hedge repaired and the gate locked so that the devil and his minions have no access or means to breach the hedge except by your expressed will.

Father, I know that I am powerless against the spiritual forces of evil and recognize my utter dependence on You and Your power. Look with mercy upon me. Do not look upon my sins, O Lord; rather, look at the sufferings of your Beloved Son and see the Victim who’s bitter passion and death has reconciled us to You. By the victory of the cross, protect me from all evil and rebuke any evil spirits who wish to attack, influence, or breach Your hedge of protection in any way. Send them back to Hell and fortify Your Hedge for my protection by the blood of Your Son, Jesus. Send your Holy Angels to watch over me and protect me.

Father, all of these things I ask in the most holy name of Jesus Christ, Your Son. Thank you, Father, for hearing my prayer. I love You, I worship You, I thank You and I trust in You. Amen.
 
These experiences can be disarming-but also educational in terms of waking us up and confirming Church teachings about the reality of evil. I’ve found that they’re more likely to occur at times of spritual growth when I’m drawing closer to God in some new way.
 
without discounting the demon theories, there are also other explanations.

The pc was on and active–could have been a surge of electricity in the atmosphere because of the pc or other electrical appliances like a heater or fan switching on by thermostat; sometimes the Electric Company tests after midnight and there may be a surge thruout the whole house–another good reason to have your pc plugged into a surge-protector if you leave it on; or a change in the barometric pressure outside such as happens when a storm is coming in–this is why many people fear thunderstorms. EMFs can cause physical symptoms of fear and dread.

So can some health problems–waking up suddenly with fear and dread can be caused by Sleep Apnea or other breathing abnormalities–that can happen chronically or just once. There is a pollen surge at certain times of the day and night in certain areas and even allergies can cause symptoms of fear and dread. These are all very real.

Of course, if humans are aware of these things then certainly demons are too—so it is not out of the question that a demon could not use a situation like this to cause angst and take advantage of the opening.
 
having had multiple experiances like this in the past, i am inclined to say that the experiance was exactly what the op says. sometimes this kind of thing happens. there is some truth to the electricity theory, but that generally applies to how electro magnetic impulses effect the dream state. I know the op’s experiance sounds strange, but i am inclined to believe it from my own passed experiances.
 
Have you blessed the doors and lintels of your house with holy water? You don’t need to be a priest to do this.

stcharleschurch.org/faith/prayer/houseblessing.htm

I do something similar to this before every hurricane. This is an Anglican hymn based on the Lorica (Breastplate) of St. Patrick which my cathedral choir sings. I sing this as I proceed from door to door and lintel to lintel.

cyberhymnal.org/htm/s/t/stpatric.htm

(The melody changes for the “Christ within me”) I like this translation better than any of the others for St. Patrick’s prayer.
 
glenaitken said:
having had multiple experiances like this in the past, i am inclined to say that the experiance was exactly what the op says. sometimes this kind of thing happens. there is some truth to the electricity theory, but that generally applies to how electro magnetic impulses effect the dream state. I know the op’s experiance sounds strange, but i am inclined to believe it from my own passed experiances.
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Me too, Glen.

To IrishAm, if you haven’t done anything that opens doors to demons, then as fhansen said a few posts up, sometimes they like to bully us when we are growing in our relationship with God. In that case, you can consider an “attack” like this a compliment: you’ve gotten on Satan’s radar by growing in holiness.

Holy people are a huge threat to Satan as they tend to bring those around them “up” too. St. John Vianney had a demon exclaim to him, speaking through a possessed man, “How you make me suffer . . . if there were three more like you on earth, my kingdom would be destroyed. . .you have stolen more than 80,000 souls from me.”
(Source: Evidence of Satan in the Modern World, p. 37)

Be not afraid. Demons are chained dogs and can do nothing that God doesn’t permit for your own good. Your best weapon is prayer.
 
beckycmarie said:
Be not afraid. Demons are chained dogs and can do nothing that God doesn’t permit for your own good. Your best weapon is prayer.
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well said, beckycmarie. Demons really are jerks. they’re like playground bullys. they’re bigger and stronger, and when they think that the teacher’s not looking they try to push you off the slide. keep in prayer and they run like hell. they will scare the bejeezes out of you if you let them though. you have to remmeber that your older Brother is always behind you- you can’t fight them of your own power. we must always turn to Christ when these things happen. sometimes they linger for a while, but the second that a person turns and focuses his whole self on christ- in particular the cross and ressurrection- they run.
 
Another aspect to this type of phenominon: (sp?) I think we are living in an age where the “veil” has been more transparent. It seems to me we are able to “see or feel” more things spiritual than in previous times. As OP has stated, never has anything like this happened, and OP tends to be more pragmatic. Also could be that the spiritual battle taking place now is so intense that sometimes thinks “peak through”. Just something to think about. You can be certain that the spiritual battle taking place now is greater than ever. Tangible happenings of this war is prominent everywhere. When Fr. Corapi says that the war is raging more violent and intense than ever, I would have to agree with him 100%.
 
glenaitken said:
having had multiple experiances like this in the past, i am inclined to say that the experiance was exactly what the op says. sometimes this kind of thing happens. there is some truth to the electricity theory, but that generally applies to how electro magnetic impulses effect the dream state. I know the op’s experiance sounds strange, but i am inclined to believe it from my own passed experiances.
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Google “EMF symptoms” I did not find one mention of these occurring in dream states. I am talking about conscious awake physical symptoms. And I did not discount the involvement of demons in the OPs experience, but it is irresponsible to ignore the real possibilities of other contributors. Any Church sanctioned investigation into similar incidents would first rule out these before jumping into an exorcism or such! Pray–of course! But keep your balance–demons prey on the unbalanced and blaming the Devil for everything keeps Him foremost in your mind and heart and could actually have the opposite effect of ATTRACTING demonic activity to you! I have heard many many priests advise to dismiss Him from your thoughts!
 
Ravyn_Guiliani said:
demons prey on the unbalanced and blaming the Devil for everything keeps Him foremost in your mind and heart and could actually have the opposite effect of ATTRACTING demonic activity to you! I have heard many many priests advise to dismiss Him from your thoughts!
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If you please sir or ma’am, change this so both the devil and
the word “him” are in lower case. I cannot bear to see this enemy of souls be given capital letters!:mad: :blessyou:
 
Ravyn_Guiliani said:
Google “EMF symptoms” I did not find one mention of these occurring in dream states. I am talking about conscious awake physical symptoms. And I did not discount the involvement of demons in the OPs experience, but it is irresponsible to ignore the real possibilities of other contributors. Any Church sanctioned investigation into similar incidents would first rule out these before jumping into an exorcism or such! Pray–of course! But keep your balance–demons prey on the unbalanced and blaming the Devil for everything keeps Him foremost in your mind and heart and could actually have the opposite effect of ATTRACTING demonic activity to you! I have heard many many priests advise to dismiss Him from your thoughts!
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Balance and discernment are very important and looking for a demon under every rock can become a harmful obsession. But what I’ve experienced when making new breakthroughs against sin and entering a deeper walk with God where I experience Him and the faith on a more profound level, and especially when, as Becky said, satans’ realm is being attacked by, say, my playing a part in turning someone towards God, then the sense of evil and oppression can surround me for quite awhile. I can’t explain it and I can’t prove it but it’s there. I don’t know if any of this applies to the OP.
 
This is a very interesting thread. I’ve seen “things” (i.e. paranormal things) my whole life and sometimes get an overwhelming sense of fear/dread for no reason. And it’s increased in frequency since I have become Catholic. I believe it is because I am closer to the Lord than I have ever been and therefore, may be coming under attack by demons/evil entities more than before as they try to derail me. There is a particular spot in my house that instills great fear within me at night to the point that I don’t look that direction if I get up in the middle of the night…I know no reason as to why this would happen (we have only been renting the house for 1.5 years and I know that both of the elderly previous residents died on the property from heart attacks.) Anyway, I never realized how much spiritual warfare was really going on until I felt like I was being attacked. Forces out there desperately want to pull us away from the light of Christ!
 
glenaitken said:
well said, beckycmarie. Demons really are jerks. they’re like playground bullys. they’re bigger and stronger, and when they think that the teacher’s not looking they try to push you off the slide. keep in prayer and they run like hell. they will scare the bejeezes out of you if you let them though. you have to remmeber that your older Brother is always behind you- you can’t fight them of your own power. we must always turn to Christ when these things happen. sometimes they linger for a while, but the second that a person turns and focuses his whole self on christ- in particular the cross and ressurrection- they run.
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Excellent metaphor and a very good point. 👍

I’ve experienced both versions of the bullying - for most of my life I had a completely irrational fear of the dark and sense of being threatened that I believe was a result of doing things that opened doors. After making my first good confession (first real confession since I’d omitted things purposely in the past) that fear disappeared.

I’ve also experienced some annoying things, and even some hostile words that I’m sure came straight from the mouth of Satan as a result of living in a state of grace. One example is my husband’s threatening to divorce me because he couldn’t tolerate the “180 I’d pulled” by living the Christ-life. This was minutes before he himself was going to confession that I’d talked him into making after being away from Church for 19 years. (He has since calmed down by the way, but after I recovered from that stinging verbal slap in the face, it occurred to me that if the worst thing Satan could come up with was that I’d become a better person, then that wasn’t such a bad thing.)

I’ve learned there is really nothing to fear as God is infinitely more powerful than those infernal hooligans. They may be bullies, but God is on our side and He can kick their you-know-whats. 😉
 
Ravyn_Guiliani said:
Google “EMF symptoms” I did not find one mention of these occurring in dream states. I am talking about conscious awake physical symptoms. And I did not discount the involvement of demons in the OPs experience, but it is irresponsible to ignore the real possibilities of other contributors. Any Church sanctioned investigation into similar incidents would first rule out these before jumping into an exorcism or such! Pray–of course! But keep your balance–demons prey on the unbalanced and blaming the Devil for everything keeps Him foremost in your mind and heart and could actually have the opposite effect of ATTRACTING demonic activity to you! I have heard many many priests advise to dismiss Him from your thoughts!
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Rayvn, i’m not trying to ingore the other possibiliteis. i am not aware of emf symptoms occuring in the awake state, and so i’ll check out your link. i think that your advice is good, it is my opinion that given the charectar of the op that it does seem to be legit- which of course no one in this forum but the op could prove. you’re right about dismissing the devil from your mind, and one should not dwell on the attacks or even psudo spiritual experiances- it does feed the negativity. thanks for the emf info, i’ll check it out.
 
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