*creepy as fuck!!!*
Story behind the recording:
This'll be the first time I sleep with the lights on in over 17 years
Story behind the recording:
"A sixteen-year-old girl sits in a chair in a Russian Orthodox Church. She is being held down by her mother. Light filters in from high windows and the air is thick with tension and the smell of holy incense. A priest stands over her reading the rite of exorcism. The girl squirms in her mothers arms, groaning and growling as if the priests words were a torment to her mind and soul. The girl struggles violently, her groans becoming inhuman howls and deep, guttural moans of
psychological pain. Then she lashes out at the priest, and in a voice that seems not to be her own, spits words of defiance.
This is not a scene from a Hollywood production. This is a partial description of an actual exorcism that took place in a Russian parish on May 1, 2004.
This recording was made by Eugene Safronov, who is an assistant to one of the exorcists in the Russian Orthodox Church. Although he did not assist in this particular case, he was a witness, and has assisted another priest in many other instances.
Exorcisms on the Rise
The ideas of demonic possession and exorcism seem archaic and a peculiar anachronism in the high-tech, scientifically enlightened world of the 21st century. Most rational people regard the notion of demons as superstition. People who in the Middle Ages were thought to be possessed by demons and other evil spirits are now usually considered to be suffering from such brain disorders as Tourette Syndrome, schizophrenia, epilepsy or any number of psychiatric problems. At best, they are people with overactive imaginations under the negative influence of the occult and related media.
Yet the battle between the possessed and the exorcists continues today, with a growing number of people believing that it is all too real:
In February, 2005, about 100 Catholic priests signed up for a Vatican-sanctioned course on exorcism. According to the LA Times, In Italy, the number of official exorcists has soared during the last 20 years to between 300 and 400, church officials say. But they aren't enough to handle the avalanche of requests for help from hundreds of tormented people who believe they are possessed. In the United States, the shortage is even more acute.
In January, 2005, psychiatrist M. Scott Peck published a book, Glimpses of the Devil: A True Story of Evil, Possession, Exorcism and Redemption, which he says is an account of some of his patients that he believes were possessed by the demonic. Although most of his colleagues say that possession is just mental illness, Peck told The Dallas Morning News in an interview, Possession is a mental illness, with a demonic involvement.
Even the book and subsequent movie, The Exorcist, was loosely based on a real exorcism that took place in St. Louis in 1949. The last priest involved in the case, Rev. Walter H. Halloran, died on March 1, 2005. Although the book and film took liberties with the actual events of the case, Halloran said he observed streaks and arrows and words like hell that would rise on the childs skin.
Eugene did not know the girl in this case personally, but as an assistant to an exorcist in the diocese he attends many of the deliverance services that take place in various parishes across Russia. This is how he came to record this exorcism, which was conducted by Father Basil.
The deliverance ministry in Russia, Eugene explains, is relatively new, but growing. It is similar to such ministries in the Anglican Church in England, which has a long tradition. In Russia, these ministries are becoming more organized, working with open-minded psychiatrists and other medical professionals for people who come to them (or are brought to them) with significant problems.
How the girl came to be possessed is not known. Eugene did not have an opportunity to speak with the girl or her mother, but as he understood it, she had some involvement with the occult, either in practice or she consulted with an occult practitioner.
The people who go to such practitioners go for personal advice, much as people go to storefront psychic readers in the U.S. They claim to be able to rid their customers of curses and such. The problem is, Eugene says, things go wrong and can make a problem much worse for someone who might have a psychological problem. It may be an entry point for the diabolic.
After this exposure to the occult, the girls mother noticed a radical change in her daughters behavior and brought her to the deliverance service. (It is not known what kind of medical or psychiatric treatment, if any, was sought first.)
Besides individual exorcisms, Russian parishes offer open deliverance services to which any number of people can come. A less formal rite is conducted at these services.
There are similar ministries in the U.S., such as Bob Larson Ministries among others, whose exorcising services are even televised. During the ceremony, audience members who supposedly have demons in them spontaneously jump up, begin shouting, babble in incoherent language or go into spasms until the minister casts the demons out (and then asks for donations, of course).
In Russia, Eugene has witnessed unusual things at these open deliverance services. He says he has seen demons speaking [through people] to one another in the church. "The demons use the people's voices and speak to one another in the church and also discuss things that the people in which they live could not possibly know," Eugene says.
In the case of the sixteen-year-old girl, she was in a one-on-one session with Father Basil. Watching from just several feet away, Eugene could see that the girl possessed extraordinary strength as her mother struggled to keep her seated. As can be heard on the recording, her voice changed radically. Her face contorted and displayed total hate for the priest as she cursed at him.
Toward the end of the recording, the girl, with an unearthly voice, shouts something in Russian at the priest. The translation, Eugene says, is, I am not leaving her! I am not!
The demonic voice sounds like something right off the soundtrack of The Exorcist. Was the girl imitating the Linda Blair character in the movie? Eugene, who has been assisting in these exorcisms for several years, does not think so. Those movies are not well known in Russia, he says.
Although the exorcism lasted about a half hour, Eugene says that it was not a success, and he didnt know if the girl and her mother would seek further treatment. Eugene Safronov can be contacted at: safronow@yahoo.com or uloma@yandex.ru
This'll be the first time I sleep with the lights on in over 17 years
