The Exorcist's Bestiary

My participant sat there for a long time, waiting for the Holy Spirit to reveal himself. “Nothing’s happening,” they said as they lifted their arms and gestured.

“Wait,” they interrupted themselves. My eyebrow raised as they kept their eyes closed and moved their arms around. “I’m a very rationally-minded person, so I don’t know how to explain this, but I’m wearing armor.” They ran their left hand across their right arm, hovering an inch above their skin. They then checked the other arm before checking their helmet. “It’s pretty worn down,” they reported.

I hadn’t seen a Holy Spirit sensory encounter like this before. Remembering that weapons often have names in fantasy stories, I asked, “Holy Spirit, does this armor have a name?”

“The armor of Ephesus?” the participant replied. “There seems to be a voice filling my head that just said that. But I’ve never been to Ephesus. So why would—wait… Paul wrote an epistle to the Ephesians.”

“Yeah, Ephesians 6. It’s a classic passage about putting on the armor of God so that you can endure spiritual warfare. The belt of truth, the helmet of salvation, and so on.”

“I’m missing the shield of faith,” they responded. “And I hear the voice telling me that it’s completely understandable as to why.”

My heart melted at this statement. The church can be quite scolding when people doubt, yet here was the Spirit of Jesus himself, recognizing his lack of faith as understandable. Throughout their life, the participant had faced a number of attacks that had obliterated their shield. God understood why they doubted.

In time, I believe God will help them regain their shield and buff out their armor. But for now, the Holy Spirit has helped them to recognize the spiritual reality of what they’ve been through so that they may find the strength to move forward.