How does a wicked person behave? About the possessed

About demons...

A person begins to hear other people's thoughts (let's say I'm your friend, I'll help you, I love you, I'll give you special knowledge). There may be "cosmic stories" of extraterrestrial Intelligence, and even deception, when the demon pretends to be a guardian angel, or the voice of God. This is done in order to gain confidence, the demon knows where your weak point is. A bet is made on pride - I chose you because you are better than others, they are worse than you. The demon manipulates you as he wants you to believe him and want to communicate with him. If you suspect anything, he will immediately have excuses so that you calm down and blindly trust him. Then the "Friend" and "Mentor" will begin to teach you and guide you along the path of Satan.

There may be a different situation. The person obviously does not hear any other voices, but he suddenly suddenly becomes completely different. The look, gait, movements, manner of speaking change dramatically, inside you feel a sudden impudent confidence, a sense of strength and authority. In such a state, a person who was previously very modest and virtuous is immediately drawn to sin. Often the catalyst for this state is a walk in the dark, drinking alcohol, a noisy disco with trance rhythms. Then the person realizes what he has done, and falls into bewilderment. How could he, so virtuous, do such a thing? And the reason is that he is inside him - a demon. The demon feeds on the energies of sin, and deliberately arranges for the victim to drink alcohol, go to a disco, etc., in order to receive the necessary energies.

The demon can incline a person to watch horror films, films on prodigal themes, films with scenes of bloodshed, cruelty, violence, while the person experiences pleasure from watching and longs for such views again and again, and some want to get these pleasures in real life, imitating favorite movie characters. During such pleasures, a person allocates the energies necessary for the demon, which the creature absorbs, a persistent passionate addiction is formed in a person. Thus, a person prepares himself for contact with the already real heroes of his favorite "horror movie".

A person may develop an inexplicable craving for occult symbols, which are sold in abundance in specialized departments of esotericism. The victim of a demon begins to be drawn to talismans, cards, figurines, audio materials with trance rhythms, meditations, lectures by psychoenergy therapists (listening to which a person enters a hypnotic state and opens up to demonic influences), aromatic burning incense, books on the occult, healing, magic, witchcraft . A person seeks to develop superpowers in himself, to open the "Third Eye" in order to become all-seeing and omnipotent, without thinking about what is making a deal with the devil.

A demon can inspire a person possessed by him that he has unusual abilities and needs to be developed, he is not like everyone else, and then, taking advantage of a person’s desire for knowledge, he begins to “process” a person, inclining him to study in the opening schools of magic, witchcraft , healing, etc., sometimes playing on the feelings of altruism and compassion of the victim, that in this way a person will help people, heal them, bring invaluable benefits to others, encouraging the victim that "everyone will know about you soon, you will be the best healer."

When a person’s will is greatly weakened, the demon can put the victim into a hypnotic state, literally ordering him to do sometimes wild things, even life-threatening (walk in an unfamiliar forest, hurt another, etc.), and at that time the person may not give an account of your actions. A person is brought to a state of mental disorder.

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The forms and degree of this severe disease are different. St. Diodochus, Bishop of Fitiki, writes: “There are two kinds of evil spirits: the subtlest, fighting on the soul, and the grossest, acting on the body. When grace does not dwell in a person, evil spirits, like snakes, nest in the depths of the heart, preventing the soul from looking towards the desire for good. When grace dwells in him, then they, like some kind of dark clouds, flash through the parts of the body, transforming into sinful passions and various ghostly dreams, in order to tear the mind away from conversation with grace through memories, entertainment with dreams. St. Diodochus speaks of such a degree when the subordination to evil spirits does not have noticeable outward manifestations. This type of dependence is characteristic of almost all people who do not have a spiritual life or spend it extremely inattentively. Possession becomes noticeable when demons take possession of the consciousness and will of a person, and through this the body. And here the degree and types of this disease are very different. The Gospel describes a terrible state of possession in which the Gadarin inhabitant was: he had a dwelling in graves, and no one could even bind him with chains, because he was repeatedly bound with shackles and chains, but he broke the chains and broke the fetters, and no one was able to tame him; always, night and day, in the mountains and graves, he shouted and beat against stones(Mark 5:2-6). The sacred text also reveals to us the reason for such a plight. It had a legion of evil spirits in it. The Roman legion consisted of 4,000 to 6,000 warriors. This word, apparently, does not indicate the number, but innumerable multitudes, demons that tormented a person. But even one demon can cause a lot of torment. The father who came to Jesus speaks of his sick son: he [rages] in the new moon and suffers greatly, for he often throws himself into fire and often into water(Matthew 17:15).

The nature of demon possession and the degree of pain also depend on the demon that has taken possession, for they have different strengths and not the same ferocity: “some are so furious and ferocious that they are not content to torment only their bodies with cruel torment, into which they have entered, but they rush still attack those passing afar and strike them with cruel blows, such as are described in the Gospel (Matt. 8:28), because of the fear of which no one dared to pass that way ”(St. John Cassian. Conversation 7th, ch. 32).

When a demon enters a person, his inner life is completely disrupted. The mind gradually becomes clouded. Only after the healing did Gadarene's demoniac regain his sanity. The inhabitants of that country, having come to the place where their herd of pigs grazed, found a man from whom demons had come out, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and of sound mind(Luke 8:35).

The will of the patient becomes unfree. “Just as in a dark and deep night some cruel wind blows and sets in motion, confusion and shaking all plants and seeds: so is a person, falling under the power of the dark night - the devil, and staying in the night and in darkness, terribly blowing the wind of sin is brought into vibration, concussion and movement; his whole nature, his soul, his thoughts and mind are in turmoil, all his bodily members are in tremor. Not a single member of the soul and body is free and cannot but suffer from the sin that lives in us ”(St. Macarius the Great. Spiritual Conversations. 2:4). Sometimes the consequence is blindness (Mt. 12:22), deafness and dumbness: Jesus, seeing that the people were fleeing, rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to him: dumb and deaf spirit! I command you, get out of it and do not enter it again.(Mark 9:25).

The demon-possessed becomes sullen. The soul loses the ability to be cheerful and joyful. Sometimes it resembles bouts of longing and fear. How painful this state is is shown by two letters of L.N. Tolstoy to his wife Sofya Andreevna: “On the third day at night I spent the night in Arzamas, and something unusual happened to me. It was two in the morning, I was terribly tired, I wanted to sleep, and nothing hurt. But suddenly I was attacked by melancholy, fear, horror such as I had never experienced. I will tell you the details of this feeling later, but I have never experienced such a painful feeling, and God forbid anyone to experience it. I jumped up and ordered to lay... Yesterday this feeling... came back while driving" (September 1869). In another letter, L. Tolstoy writes: “Since I arrived here, every day at six o’clock in the evening melancholy begins, like a fever, physical melancholy, the feeling of which I cannot better convey, like the fact that the soul is parting with the body” ( dated June 18, 1871).

The ultimate goal of the demons is to destroy the inner spiritual life. If it has never begun in a person, then prevent it. According to St. Nil of Sinai: “The devil, this culprit and at the same time the painter of vice, has the goal to plunge every person into heavy and inconsolable sadness, to make him far from faith, from hope, from the love of God.”

The believer should not be cowardly and incline towards fearlessness. He who dwells under the roof of the Most High rests under the shadow of the Almighty(Ps. 91:1). Demons are not given the power to harm at will. Only those who constantly live in sin without repentance, who proudly reject God's help, or who are infected with false teachings, have no protection. “So it is clear that unclean spirits cannot otherwise penetrate those whose bodies they want to take possession of, if they do not first take possession of their mind and thoughts. When they deprive them of the fear and remembrance of God or spiritual reflection, then as disarmed, deprived of God’s help and protection, and therefore easily defeated, they boldly attack, then they build a dwelling in them, as in the possession presented to them ”(St. John Cassian. Conversation 7 -e, chapter 24).

What is an obsession?

This term hides many states. One of them is when a person is under the strong influence of evil forces, spirits, the devil. Other is a term used in psychiatry. People can talk about the obsession in a positive way - "he is obsessed with the idea of ​​​​helping people." Yet obsession involves an unhealthy infatuation or those moments when a person cannot control himself. The possessed need help and sometimes the participation of the Church. Whether we are talking about a mental illness or a spiritual condition, Orthodox Christians believe that the Almighty God is able to help a person who is struggling with possession.

The Bible also gives us references to the fact that some people can be possessed by evil spirits. Therefore, Christians do not have to doubt the reality of the existence of possession.

In the Acts of the Apostles (19, 13-16) there is this story: “Even some of the wandering Jewish exorcists began to use the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying: We conjure you by Jesus, whom Paul preaches. This was done by some seven sons of the Jewish high priest Skeva. But the evil spirit answered and said: I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you? - and a man rushed at them, in whom there was an evil spirit, and, having overcome them, took such power over them that they ran naked and beaten out of that house. Before Jesus Christ the demons trembled, and in His earthly life there were also episodes of the healing of the possessed.

How do you know if a person is possessed?

There are no specific "symptoms" or signs of possession. In the Bible, references to possession refer rather to episodes when a person was overwhelmed by sinful thoughts that he could not cope with. We also often use this word in speech, talking about the fact that a person is "obsessed with jealousy" or "obsessed with malice."

If we talk about the mention of such states in Scripture, it was usually about the likeness of an epileptic seizure, loss of the gift of speech or unusual behavior, blasphemy of the saints. But if the Bible is an inspired text, then other reports of possession need to be taken with a grain of salt. Few people know that the state of "possession" is also mentioned in psychiatry. Possession even has an ICD code. The fact that obsession was more common in the literature and testimonies of antiquity, by the way, suggests that psychiatry, as a science in medicine, then practically did not exist or was rather punitive than aimed at helping people. During the Inquisition, many suffered due to the fact that mentally ill people were considered possessed.

Demon Possession or Mental Illness?

How to distinguish obsession from mental illness? Maybe the person is not possessed? Why do “reprimands” and exorcism sessions help if the possession is a consequence of a mental disorder?

Item F44.3 "Trance and Possession" describes what many might mistake for demon possession. However, in many cases it is a severe mental disorder that requires the help of a psychiatrist. Of course, turning to the Church and healing through the prayers of the Lord happens, but a person cannot take responsibility and deprive a loved one of qualified help if, in his opinion, a person is possessed. In case you suspect someone is possessed, take them to a psychiatrist. Doctors used to call obsession “kakodenomania”. People suffering from this disorder often, in fact, suffered from schizophrenia. Because of their split personality, they believed that one of their personalities was a demon. People with narcissistic tendencies often suffer from such disorders.

There are cases when people imitated obsession in order to attract attention to themselves. They also needed psychiatric help. Now the delusions of possession are not common, because in society it is not customary, as in the Middle Ages, to write off any condition in which a person has a personality disorder as possession.

In the case when a person with the disease “possession” was helped in the Church, doctors spoke more than once about the “placebo effect” and self-hypnosis.

Reports in Orthodoxy

The Orthodox Church, as a rule, does not conduct special rites for those who suffer from possession. This is possible with special permission from the ruling bishop. In turn, in the Catholic Church there is a rite of exorcism. There are many films and literature about this.

In Orthodoxy, “reprimand” is rather a rarity. In the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Father Herman (Chesnokov) is reprimanding. A reprimand is a special rank that is read to help people for whom evidence-based medicine is powerless. Believers turn to the Lord for help. Reporting does not cost any money, so believers can ask for help. And, nevertheless, first of all it is necessary to exclude mental illnesses. The line between pathology and supernatural intervention is not easy to draw in the case of possession. This should be done by a specialist. If you are afraid that a doctor who does not believe in God may miss the state of possession, then we hasten to console you - many psychiatrists are religious people and at the same time as a doctor you can seek spiritual help from the Church.

A priest who sees that a person has symptoms of epilepsy, which can be mistaken for possession, first of all, directs the person to an epileptologist, and not to a reprimand.

Reports in Protestantism

Interestingly, traditional Protestants (Lutherans) do not perform any rituals for people suffering from possession. A righteous life and prayers are the means that Protestants offer to those possessed by evil forces.

In Christianity, a unified attitude towards possession has not formed, since many of those who allegedly suffered from it, in fact, were victims of mental illness, pretended to get fame. Some also believe that the Lord allows possession is not accidental. When people see unusual and supernatural things done through evil, they may think about turning to God and about the fact that not only the body, but also the soul is real. The physical and mental state of a person can directly depend on what kind of life he leads.

Unfortunately, numerous examples show that a righteous life is not a guarantee of both mental and physical health. But, Christians should not build their lives in anticipation of rewards on earth. Jesus Christ conquered the world, so we are looking for rewards in Heaven.

How to prevent the demon from moving in

There are no recommendations and algorithms, by following which you can know for sure that the demon will not inhabit a person. The Church allows and conducts the consecration of a dwelling, a means of transportation, but the Christian faith does not imply rituals or ceremonies that reliably protect against possession. This is nothing more than superstition. Particular care should be taken with offers to save from possession on a commercial basis. Numerous priests offering amulets and charms from the evil eye or evil spirits have nothing to do with the Church. God has given us his grace for free.

Can I buy a report?

In the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, pilgrims are always grateful for a feasible donation, but the “reprimand” has no definite value and there are no ranks that exorcise demons from a person for money.

According to the teachings of the Fathers of the Church, it is difficult for an evil spirit to enter where the Holy Spirit dwells. People became open to evil when their souls were possessed by sin and evil thoughts. So Judas betrayed Christ, possessed by greed. Of course, there are no sinless people, but we must try so that sin does not take possession of the soul of a person, does not crowd out the presence of the Divine principle in a person. After all, we were created in the image and likeness of the Heavenly Father.

If a Christian lives a church life, confesses and takes Communion, sincerely wants to live according to the Testament of Christ, he should not be afraid that he will suffer from obsession. You should not pay attention to stupid superstitions that indicate the possibility of the evil eye, warn against contact with black cats and women who carry empty buckets. Evil spirits are powerless before Christ, which is directly indicated by His victory over death and hell.

Possession in the Bible

Was demon possession mentioned in the Bible? Does the Bible directly say that possession really exists and what danger it poses? Should believers be afraid of being possessed, and are evil spirits capable of inspiring their will to an entire nation?

There are references in the Bible that evil forces are looking for victims. The Apostle Paul says “your adversary the devil walks like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour”, while we know that God is stronger than the devil and Jesus healed the possessed.

In the book of Job, the devil really harmed a person, but by permission from the Lord. Everything the Lord does, He does for the good of man.

In Dan. 10:13 we also see evidence that possession can extend not only to one person, but to an entire nation. Many believe that the history of Nazism in Germany can serve as such an example.

Descriptions of possession can be found in several places of Scripture at once: (Mat. 4:24; 8:16, 28, 33; 9:32; 12:22; 15:22; Mark 1:32; 5:15-16, 18 ; John 10:21)

Help the Possessed

What to do if we think that a person is possessed? Call an ambulance for psychiatric help, pray, turn to exorcists from other faiths, or look for elders who give reprimands?

If you think that a loved one has signs of possession, first of all show him to the doctor. Sometimes people begin to behave atypically or aggressively due to mental illness or organic brain damage. This does not negate the opportunity to ask for prayerful and spiritual help in the Church, since the Lord heals a person from any ailments, if this is exactly what is required for the salvation of the soul. Check with your confessor or a priest you trust.

Possession is a terrible thing. People who have been possessed by any demon, spirit or devil are considered possessed. These people are completely under the influence of an evil spirit, which completely controls a person, completely determines his thoughts, words, deeds and behavior. There are well-defined signs of possession person. In Orthodoxy, the possessed are called possessed, people who, for one reason or another, have been possessed by a demon.

There is an opinion in Orthodoxy that the signs of a person’s possession may not appear in familiar circumstances and in ordinary life, but as soon as he comes to church or at least sees an icon in his house, then the demon immediately begins to manifest itself. There are very frequent cases when, during a service in Orthodox churches, one of the parishioners present, for no apparent reason, begins to cry loudly, rush about on the floor, howl, shout curses at God, and so on. All these are manifestations of human demonic possession. Church ministers explain these cases by the fact that the demon sitting inside a person tries to protect a person from divine influence.

Signs of a person's obsession can be divided into several signs. So, in one case, the demon whispers various obscenities to a person and encourages him to do evil, to go against the will of the Lord. In another case, the demon takes possession of the body of a deceased person, and begins to harass people in the form of all sorts of ghosts. There are also cases when a demon completely captures a person’s body and forces them to harm other people and themselves. Some theologians exorcise the devil from animals, sometimes from inanimate objects, it can be a mirror or a picture.

How can a demon enter a person? The holy fathers have an opinion on this matter: there is a place for the devil where there is sin. Through a sinful way of life, sinful thoughts, when the human soul is weakened by vice, it is then that the devil can take possession of a person.

Physical signs of a person's possession.

The holy fathers identified some phenomena by which it was possible to determine that a person is possessed. Peter of Tire, in his treatise On Demons, list the following manifestations:

- paralysis of some parts of the body, and sometimes all;

- a huge force for an ordinary person.

Some demonologists also distinguish:

- a huge protruding belly (in people who do not tend to);

- rapid weight loss, which leads to death of a person;

- imitation of animals;

- the smell of sulfur (since the demons come from hell);

- levitation;

- automatic writing;

- split personality;

- obscene thoughts and behavior;

- blasphemy against the Lord, communion and holy water;

- knowledge of languages ​​never known to man, mumbling in a non-existent language;

And this is not a complete list of signs of a person's obsession. Naturally, many of the above signs of possession are quite understandable and are signs of symptoms of certain diseases. For example, in the Middle Ages, the symptoms of epilepsy were often confused with possession. Public sexual activities were confused with mental disorders. Cases of imitating animals - with schizophrenia and so on.

The traditional "treatment" for possession is to exorcise the demon from the person's body. At the same time, the priests perform a special rite, with the reading of special prayers, fumigation with incense smoke, chrismation. Very often, when performing this rite, people possessed by a demon begin to resist very strongly, sometimes faint. That is why during the performance of the rite, in addition to the priest, there are several more ministers of the church. Of course, psychologists and doctors do not take these explanations of the church on faith, saying that these are just mentally ill people. But how to explain the fact that human attacks occur precisely in temples? Why does the ritual of casting a demon out of a person actually save people from suffering? Unfortunately, this question is still unanswered...

Signs of possession today. The Emily Rose Story.

Many, perhaps, have heard about the case of Emily Rose (maybe they watched the movie). This is one of the most striking examples of a person being possessed by demons. In fact, the name of the heroine of the film was Annalize Michel. When she turned 17, her life turned into a complete nightmare: she was attacked by paralysis in the middle of the night, it became very difficult to breathe, as if something very heavy was put on her chest. Doctors of a psychiatric clinic in the city of Würzburg were diagnosed with grand mal seizures, in a word, epileptic convulsions. In the end, she was put in a psychiatric clinic for a year. During her stay in the hospital, she began to see demonic faces that told her that she was cursed. Drug treatment did not help at all, rather, on the contrary, it only aggravated the patient's condition. She became very irritable, her faces did not disappear. She developed a deep depression. In 1970, Michel Analise was discharged from the hospital. She turned to the ministers of the church with a request to perform an exorcism on her, believing that it was a matter of possession by demons. However, the church refused her, advising her to lead a more religious and spiritual life.

Her condition began to deteriorate sharply. She began to bite family members, eat spiders and flies, injure herself, began to copy the habits of a dog. She also began to destroy the rosary, religious books and icons in the house. This went on for five years. After that, the relatives nevertheless managed to persuade the church to conduct an exorcism rite, with only one condition, that drug treatment would be continued in parallel.

In 1975, Bishop Josef Stangl commissioned two priests, Arnold Renz and Ernst Alt, to perform an exorcism with her. In September 1975, the ceremony began, and ended only in June 1976. During this time, according to the priests, they expelled from her body: Lucifer, Belial, Nero, Judas, Cain and Hitler. During the ceremony, which was held twice a week, the girl spoke with demonic voices in different languages, the voices of those people who died. During those ten months, her health deteriorated significantly. She practically did not drink or eat, saying that the demons did not allow her to do so. She was written a letter to the priest, in which she asked to stop the rites, saying that the Virgin Mary appeared to her and offered her two options for getting rid of the demons: immediate deliverance or letting the demons have the body longer, but in return receive the deliverance of the soul. The girl chose the second option, in addition, she managed to predict the date of her own death. On the night of July 1, 1976, she went to bed and did not wake up.

An autopsy revealed that she died of malnutrition and dehydration. No abnormalities were found in the study of the brain. Despite the fact that all the exorcism sessions were recorded on tape, two priests and her parents were charged under the article "Negligent homicide". They were found guilty.

This is the only recent case officially recognized by the church, when signs of possession person.

Possession, the holy fathers believed, can be of two types. There is possession in its extreme manifestations, when a demon lives in a person as a second personality, and the personality of the possessed one is in a depressed state. But the state of a person whose will is enslaved by passions, the saints also called obsession. Moreover, these two types may simply be different forms of possession.

The holy righteous John of Kronstadt, who observed a huge number of people, noted: “Demons enter ordinary people due to their simplicity ... An evil spirit instills in educated and intelligent people in a different form, and it is much more difficult to fight it.”

In addition, in our daily life, passions often take us over and sometimes make us uncontrollable. A vivid and very common example of this is irritation. Therefore, as long as the devil has something of his own in our being, we are more or less subject to him, which means that we are also in some sense possessed.

Through sin, our soul is exposed to demonic influence! The entry of the devil into the human soul can be compared to the entry of pathogenic bacteria into the human body. If a person is not physically protected enough, has a weak immune system, then he is open to the penetration of various microbes and viruses into him, the result of such an ingress is a disease. So the devil, when the soul of a person has no protection, gets access to it. But what is the protection of the human soul, its immunity, a barrier to demons, and by virtue of what can it lose this protection?

As long as a person slowly but stubbornly improves, while his spirit is directed towards God, while sincere repentance follows the falls, he is in the sphere of God’s action and in spiritual security, but when sin becomes a habit, when the whole being of a person is subject to some kind of passion - he loses the protective cover of Divine grace. He is deprived not because the Lord punishes the guilty: the Lord always loves a person, is always ready to help him. But this is precisely the height and exclusivity of God's love for man, that the Creator respects the freedom of His creation. And the person himself chooses with whom he wants to be: with God or with the devil. A person is only required to turn to God, with his heart, thought, with all his soul, and accept everything that the Lord offers him.

However, if a person turns away from God, he inevitably comes into contact with Satan, there is no third way: in everything good and beautiful - God, in the opposite (even if at first glance it is attractive) - the devil. Sin is our choice in favor of the devil; when we sin, we kind of turn our hearts to Satan. And this is the result of our free choice. In sin, a person, like Adam and Eve once, refuses the gifts of God, leaves, hides from Him and opens himself to the influence of demons. Now it is not God, but the devil who has influence over a person and gains access to his soul.

In the Gospel we find vivid characteristics of the relationship between man and the devil, into which the sinner enters. The Savior, addressing the Jews who questioned Him, once said: "your father is the devil." What did the Savior mean? Just as to be “sons of God” means to belong to the heavenly world, to be close to God, so to be “children of the devil” means to have close, direct communion with him. From the earthly father, children receive education, character traits, attitude to life, but, above all, they receive being from their father. In the same way, the children of God are like their Heavenly Father because they live His life. People who have turned to evil, in their sins, are also like the devil as their father, because from him they receive their sinful existence and live his life.

Repeatedly the Savior compares the stay of the devil in the soul of a sinner with the life of the owner in his house. A person ceases to be master of himself, someone else controls his soul and body. The owner is free to do whatever he wants with his house: he can clean up and repair it, or he can destroy it. Based on the fact that the essence of the devil is evil, that he is incapable of creation, but only of destruction, there is no doubt what the devil will do, being the master of the soul.

Here is what St. John Chrysostom: “Demons, once having taken possession of the soul, treat it so vilely and insultingly, as is characteristic of the crafty, passionately desiring our shame and death.” And St. Basil the Great explains this passionate desire of Satan in such an interesting way: realizing his impotence in the struggle against God, the devil seeks to take revenge on Him at least by inclining the image of God - man to sin.

The apostle Paul says of sinners that the devil “caught them in his will”iii. They are like birds caught in a snare, the hunter who catches them can do whatever he wants with them - they are in his power. Thus, a person who is seduced by the bait of the devil (this bait is the deceptive sweetness of sin) finds himself in his nets. “Only birds,” St. Innocent of Kherson correctly remarks, “are rushing about, trying to escape from captivity, but we rarely.”

“The kingdom of God is within you,” says the Savior. This means that not only after death, but even now, we can partake of the Kingdom of Heaven, acquire it in our hearts. The kingdom of God is within us, according to St. Simeon the New Theologian, "when God is with us in unity." But it is in our power to create in ourselves both the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of the devil. One enters the Kingdom of God through perfection in the virtues and knowledge of God, into the kingdom of the devil - “through rooting in vices” (St. John Cassian).

And just as it is in our power to open our soul before God and let Divine grace into it, or remain closed to him, so it is in our power to either let the devil into our hearts or prevent him. “The devil settles in possessed people because these people attracted evil spirits to themselves: they themselves prepared a dwelling for the devils - swept and cleaned; with their unrepentant sins, instead of the dwelling place of God, they become a receptacle for an unclean spirit,” says St. John of Damascus.

This is also confirmed by St. Theophan the Recluse: “Our internal is always enclosed; The Lord Himself stands outside and knocks for the door to be opened. What opens it up? Sympathy, predisposition, consent. For whom all this leans towards Satan, he enters into him ... That Satan enters, and not the Lord, the person himself is to blame.

Examples from life fully confirm this pattern. It is important to note that hardly any of the priests is skeptical about the possibility of the devil invading a person, since it is to them, in the temple, that people come to tell about the mysterious and frightening phenomena that they had to face.

Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko, a well-known priest who lived in the 19th century, collected a number of characteristic examples of demon possession in his book The Spiritual World. Let's take a look at some of them. It is important for us that all these examples illustrate the fact: obsession is not necessarily a consequence of extraordinary sins and threatens people who find themselves in some special situation; most often, one has to deal with the possession of the devil when the most ordinary person becomes ossified in the most banal vices.

So, the village priest tells about what happened in a peasant family belonging to his parish. The woman, the mistress of the house, was famous for her sullen disposition and quarrelsomeness, she was constantly seen cursing with someone. It is not surprising that after one of these quarrels, when she screamed at the neighbor’s children for an insignificant offense, terrible things began to happen to her, about which her husband said in horror: “My wife was so furious that it’s scary to start with her.”

In another case, the reason that opened access to the soul to the devil turned out to be what many consider not only not a sin, but, on the contrary, a positive trait, namely, an easy, frivolous attitude to life. Two girls chose the grave of one very sinful person as a place for "rest". Having drunk, they began to jump over the grave and ... dance. When the girls returned home from the cemetery, they began to scream and made inhuman sounds. Not knowing what to do in such a situation, the girls were locked in a separate room and a priest was called. If children had been in their place, there would have been no harm to them, but they were adult, conscious people ...

It must be said that there are known cases of obsession with children, moreover, at an age when they are not yet responsible for their actions, which means they cannot be guilty of instilling the devil in them. Of course, all this remains a mystery: why the Lord sometimes allows demons to dwell in an innocent creature, but there is still a logic here: most likely, this happens with the children of especially sinful people. Just as the child of drug addicts or alcoholics suffers as a result of the sins of his parents, so the soul of an infant may be given to the devil because of the inappropriate behavior of his parents. Just as in the case of parents who are drug addicts, there is no mystical punishment of God here, but the laws of spiritual life operate. The child develops in the atmosphere that he sees around him, he does not know another. If there is an atmosphere of holiness in the family, then from birth a child learns to communicate with God, learns to pray and a good, bright life. It is not for nothing that the children of holy parents often become well-known saints (let us recall, for example, St. Sergius of Radonezh). But if the devil dwells in the souls of the parents, then the child gets used to sin and his soul becomes open to demons.

I will cite a case that happened to us a few years ago, when we rested with the whole family in the south. We returned home from the beach by trolley bus. At the next stop, a rather young man and woman with children entered the trolleybus - a girl of about six years old and a boy of about the same age. The parents were obviously alcoholics, they talked rudely among themselves, laughed at some vulgar jokes. The girl, having stuffed everyone, sat down with her brother (or friend) next to us and began to behave so boorishly and vulgarly that Father Konstantin had to ask her to be at least quieter. Something unexpected happened here. The girl turned to us, her face contorted with anger, and she began to shout in a hoarse, shrill voice that she had seen Father Konstantin in the church, began to grimace and mimic the actions of the priests. We were dressed completely in a beach style, nothing betrayed in us a special involvement in the church, moreover, we arrived in this resort town the other day, and Father Konstantin had not yet appeared in the church. Yes, and from the cries of the girl it was clear that she really did not know anything. The mother tried to silence the girl, as the whole bus looked in surprise at the literally raging child, but she could not, and the whole family got off the trolleybus.

And in particular danger are children whose parents are either themselves engaged in the occult sciences, or turn to those involved in these people (for example, they carry a sick child to grandmothers to help in a magical way).

So, by consenting to sin, we put ourselves (and possibly our children) at the disposal of the devil, who penetrates into the soul and becomes fixed there as we become rooted in sin. And the holy fathers noted that sin does not enter the soul all at once, but gradually, passing through the stages of development from an outside, external impulse knocking on the soul, to the master's disposal of it.

about. Konstantin Parkhomenko