The Exorcist's Bestiary

“Why would you ask me to pray that?” my participant said as they started to tear up during our exorcism session.

“Say what?” I replied. “The words, ‘Heavenly Father, I want to live?’”

“Yes,” they said as they shrunk back further.

“I’m confused,” I responded. “Of course I want you to pray about wanting to live.” The pain in their eyes became stronger. Something was off. I gave them a baffled look as I puzzled over the situation. Finally I asked, “What did you hear me say?”

“That you want me to die,” they cried.

“What? I didn’t say that!” I exclaimed as I tried to find my bearings. My participant was just as confused as me, but they were starting to believe that my words were getting hijacked, despite the fact that they heard my voice saying the exact opposite of what I had been saying.

“Let’s try this again. Heavenly Father, I want to live,” I started.

“Heavenly Father, I want to d—.”

“No, no, no,” I interrupted, pointing to my ear.

They gave me a strange look for a few seconds and then said, “I’m hearing things?” I nodded. “I want to live?” they continued.

“Yes!” I nodded and smiled. “Let’s keep going. Heavenly Father, I want to love my life.”

“Heavenly Father, I want to hate my—“

“No!” I said pointing to my ears again.

“Love?” they asked as I nodded vigorously.

This would not be the only time these demons would hijack my participant’s hearing during a session. If they ever saw me pointing at my ears, they would stop and recognize they were hearing things. Sometimes we’d manage to stop this kind of attack, but other times the participant would simply reverse the demonic words they were hearing.

Repeat-after-me prayers have the potential to carry a lot of tension in an exorcism. Demons know when they’re losing ground and they are desperate to keep it. Always keep your eyes open during a session so that you can get a good read on your participant’s facial expressions and posture. It’s important to see how they’re registering things.