Demons 悪魔

In talking of the enemy in a direct manner it only seems fit to begin in prayer:
Saint Michael the archangel, defend us in battle, be our defense against the wickedness 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, cast into hell satan and all the evil spirits. Amen

The prayer that you have just read was provided in 1886 by Pope Leo XIII following a devastating vision that he saw. Though details of the vision are few, Leo was shown events surrounding a period of time when the devil was to be given free reign on the world. Before that period, it was as though the devil was being held back by chains. At the appropriate time, as a means of testing the faith of the true believers (not unlike the story of Job) the devil was to be unshackled. What exactly flashed before his eyes shook the Pope so badly he sought out paper and immediately wrote the above prayer. I, personally, think that we very likely are living with an unshackled devil.

That however is not my main topic. The topic is basically the paranormal from a catholic perspective. Many of us have encountered friends who seem to have these "powers" if you will. I, myself, would at one time readily professed a certain capability in this realm as well as having a friend with a certain ability for "healing." What bothers me is; How then are we to ascertain what is of God and what is of the evil one?

Fr. Gabriele Amorth, the head exorcist for Rome writes that "Satan has the authority to give certain powers to his faithful." (Amorth38) And he goes on to further state some of these "powers" and how hard it is to differentiate their origins. Just as Moses "magic" performed before Pharaoh was often able to be replicated by Pharaoh's magicians, the actual "power"/"magic" or whatever word you want to assign to that sort of thing does not directly identify its origins.

There is a great example that is on page 40 in Fr. Gabriele Amorth's An exorcist tells his story on this matter. The parts that are italicized are notes that were added by Fr. Amorth to the newspaper article he was quoting:

"A few years ago, I experienced the game of the glass, without realizing that it was a form of spiritism. The messages that I received during this game spoke of peace and brotherhood (notice how the devil can conceal himself under the appearance of good deeds). Sometime later, while I was in Lourdes practicing my ministry, I was given strange faculties (this is also noteworthy: there are no places, no matter how sacred, where the devil cannot enter).

Parapsychology defines the faculties that I was given as extrasensorial, that is, clairvoyance, mind reading, medical diagnosing, reading of hearts and lives of people both living and dead, and other powers. A few months later I received another faculty: the ability to take away pain merely by the imposition of hands. I could eliminate or alleviate any sort of suffering; could this be "prana therapy"?

With all these powers, I had no difficulty contacting people, but after our meetings, they would walk away, shocked at my conversation and profoundly disturbed because I could see in their soul, and condemning the sins that they committed. However, as I was reading God's word, I realized that nothing had changed in my life. I continued to be quick to anger, slow in pardoning, easily resentful, and given to take offense at nothing. I was afraid to pick up my cross, I was afraid of the future and of death.

After a long journey in search of answers and many painful experiences, Jesus directed me to the renewal movement. There, I found brothers who prayed over me, and we realized that what happened to me was of diabolical origin, and not divine. I recognized and confessed my past sins, I rejected every form of the occult. These powers came to an end and God forgave me; for this, I thank him. "