Are demons real? In my view, it doesn't matter whether
or not they exist in an objective or literal sense. The point is that
we are all plagued by split-off, unintegrated portions of our own
and other people's phyches. They behave exactly as if they were dia-
bolical entities--demons, djinns, dybbuks, and devils-- working at cross
purposes to our conscious desires.
In dealing with their hassling interventions, I endorse the approach
described by Paul Foster Case in his book The Tarrot: A Key to the Wis-
dom of the Ages. There he suggested that mirth is the best way to beat
the devil. Laughter is prophylactic,: he wrote. :it purifies subconscious-
ness and dissolves mental complexes. In a hymn to the sun god Ra we
read, Thy priest go forth at dawn, washing their hearts with laughter.'
This is a precription we may foolow to advantage."
My friend and teacher, Vimala Nostradamus, echoes Case. "The
best way to neutralize the devil is to laugh at him," she says. "Satan's
most effective recruiting technique is to get people to take themselfs
too seriously." To examplify her argument, she once told her daughter
in my presence about a foolproof way to avoid being hassled if you're
a women walking by a crew of construction workers: "Pick your nose."
The novels of Tom Robbins provides spiritual guidance about deal-
ing with diabolical spirits, both those that originate within us and those
that come without. Here's a sample tip from his Jitterbug Perfume:
"Play--more than piety, more than charity or vigilance--is what allows
human beings to transcend to evil."
We regret to report that futher help on this matter is not available
from the holy books of the worlds major religions. None of their authors
ever figured out that an excellent weapon against the fragmented, shad-
owy portions of our psyches is humor, tomfoolery, and laughter. This
ignorance may be a greatest mystery in history.
But Cristianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucian-
ism, Taoism, Shintoism, Zoroastrianism, and Jainism aren't the only spir-
itual traditions that have failed to take advantage of evil's primary weakness.
The esoteric spiritual paths of the West, includeing Hermeticism, Rosicru-
cianism, and alchemy, also suffer from an inexplicable lack of jokes and
fun at the heart of their practice. Shamanism, paganism, yoga, and tantra
are, for the most part, similary bereft.

Do It Yourself Exorcism


If your average,you'r demonically possessed not just by split-off, portions
of your own and other people's psyches, but also by 20 million ads and 200,000
televised acts of violence stored in your brain.

The good news is that as you practice the art of pronoia, you'll attract
steady streams of amusing experiences that are effective at neutralizing
those toxins.
Every time you laugh, you'll most likely purge a nihilistic image or insane
story that had been depleting your energy.
A belly laugh may flush out the imprints of as many as 500 commercials.

riverhousebill!

I believe in demons, both figurative and real. Laughing is all right for dealing with the figurative ones, but I have found in dealing with real ones, turning your back firmly while feeling fully confident in your inherent goodness is the best strategy. Now that I think about it, this is a good strategy for figurative demons, too. Thanks for posting; as always--refreshingly provocative!

What about evil people who laugh at human misery?

I was thinking that I don't believe in the devil.

But then I remembered this saying: "The devil's in the details".

And I like the phrase, "devilish grin".

There's an animal called the "tasmanian devil".

And a little whirlwind storm called a "dust devil".

I guess devil's do exist. And for sure there are people who do such terribly bad things, it's difficult to figure why. But I can't accept that there is any evil being who is evil only, without any good anywhere in their being. I can't accept that Creation would have it.

Thanks for bringing this up Riverhousebill.

Riverhousebill,

I didn't know what pronoia was, so I looked it up. According to Wikipedia, "John Perry Barlow defined pronoia as 'the suspicion the Universe is a conspiracy on your behalf'".

Or as Jules Marshall wrote, "the sneaking feeling one has that others are conspiring behind your back to help you."

Rob Breszny wrote a book called, "Pronia is the antidote for paranoia: How the World is Conspiring to Shower You With Blessings"

Ha, ha! I love it!

There are laughing groups that started in India and are now all over the world. There is a Laughter Yoga Foundation:

[www.laughteryoga.org]

Riverhousebill,

thank you, thank you, thank you! My bandmates and I have been searching all day today for the right name for our jazz group, and you just gave it to me: Pronoia! What a beautiful concept and a perfect name for a group that wants to use music to create positive energy in the world. :-))))))

And yes, I can definitely believe that the world's religions have missed the boat on conquering evil, because I feel they have tended on the whole to make enlightenment much too difficult and complex an affair, often programming us to expect no spiritual gains without catastrophic and insurmountable struggle, suffering (perhaps over thousands of eons), privation and sacrifice. No doubt I'm exaggerating it, but sometimes when I read orthodox religious treatises, it seems like they often paint a very gloomy picture of human potential that almost surely evokes the 'dark side' to manifest itself in the human psyche.

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]

communitybuilder,

"What about evil people who laugh at human misery?"

Demonically possessed, dear. What can ya do?

You have to recognize the demons or else they'll
annoy you like mosquitoes. But if you acknowledge
their existence, if you say, 'All right' here's
a cookie, go sit in the corner," then you can go
about your work and you dont have to go into depression
because of it."
James Broughton scary fairy airy cookie monster boo!

suncloud Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> There are laughing groups that started in India
> and are now all over the world. There is a
> Laughter Yoga Foundation:
This sounds like a plan. I'm going to
have a good laugh before I go to bed tonight. I don't
feel like laughing, so will have to 'force' it at first,
but hopefully the 'natural' laughter will soon flow, and
I'll have a peaceful nights sleep.....WY

[Are demons real?]

Yes, and in modern day scientific terminology we call them psychopaths or people suffering from antisocial personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, these are people without empathy, with limited or no conscience, who lie, cheat steal, hurt, humiliate and so forth with absolutely no brakes.

This is 5% or more of the population. If you encounter one, the best thing you can do is cut them off completely, limit interaction to the fullest possible extent. These people will really hurt you if you let them.

And above all, don't have their babies, because lack of conscience and manipulativeness have a strong genetic component.

arugula,

Totally agree with you, but I will go further and posit that the most genuine demons are the organic, rather than the clinical sociopaths. The majority of sociopaths are "created" and have clinical pathology; organic ones are born that way. I've encountered both and one of the organic type was a student of mine--bone chilling. The organic sociopath is the far more terrifying because it is evil personified in a way that those that practice at cruelty shall never achieve.

jeeee whizzzzerzz!

last 2 posts are scaring me
so i am going to take riverhouse bills advice and just go :

HA HAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!

slapping my knees

I would like to be able to rid myself of toxic images, but would have to laugh a lot as have watched a lot of tv, and not even violent stuff, cause cant stand it

Evil people, are not necessarily evil, I believe that they have a chemcial imbalance, and am pretty positive about this, and it is because of the digestive enzymes, etc, and genes, and if they ate more raw food, bottom line, they would do/be/act better and it would restore adequate conscience, cause their brains are essentially starved of the proper nutrients.

tryingitandworkssofar,

I agree that in most instances, it's an atrocious diet combined with lack of proper parenting/socialization. In some instances, there is perhaps a hypothalamic deformity that results in organic, rather than typical clinical sociopathy(which is the kind in sentence 1, above). But, I do believe that in rare cases, there is actual demonic possession, or that people become become personified vessels for amorphous evil, in other words. It's not like "The Excorcist;" rather, "The Omen."

I definately believe in apparitions, and Ill tell you why. When I was small I woke to a man clicking at me. when I was a teen I woke to a man with no face but smoke and a black tophat and tails. I was so scared that I would not sleep on my right side because i did not want to have these dreams/. I finally dismissed them as dreams and tried to forget about it/ Well, a few years ago, I saw the first movie white noise, and in the credits before the movie, they discuss the fact that the typical apparation that is being reported by thousands if not hundreds of thousands, wears a black tophat and tails. and this, of course, blew me away. I do believe it was something, but dont know what/ juat about a month ago, I was outside a church. it was raining and I saw this man in a cape and hood, and i looked in the rear view mirror to confirm and i hoped it was a statue or a reflection of one, but there were none to be found. I do not know if the form was a devil type entity or an angelic form, but is seemed more evil. I tell you I am rather scared, since I sleep by myself, to wake up to something. it is rather disconcerting, and sorry so slpyy but i believe there is something out there trying to communicate iwth us or something. this world is so weird, cause we are floating on this ball that doesnt fall and space is endless and the more i think about it the more scared i get, so oh well, but i know there is an evil entity because it gives people imbalances which cause evil and because the world can be physically cruel with death and destruction, and i know there is some sort of good because we have taste buds and other hormones which are meant to give us pleasure, but look at the first men, and see how hard it was for them to eat and sleep and exist, so i dont know what to think anymore. i am still searching for answers tho and wont stop

Imagine, tho, that this sociopathic person was your loved one, and you could not bear to see them in such emotional torment. I mean we have bipolar people, autistic people, parkinsons tourettes anxiety depression obsessive and the list is endless and they cannot change themselves, by themselves, so how can a sociopath, narcissistic or antisocial person change themselves. we give them too much credit because we think they are brutal on purpose, but I do believe it is a form of compulsive and obsessive behavior, and they are clueless that they are acting this way, sort of like mania. we need to help them and not judge them, cause if they could help themselves they would

tryingitandworkssofar,

First, do not fear these things you see. Do not give anyone, corporeal or noncorporeal your power. And remember, the Earth is cradled in the inviolable bosom of gravity, and since there is no up or down or left or right in space, we're not gonna fall, OK?

Second, there's a difference between mental illness and sociopathy: although sociopaths may be mentally ill, not all mentally ill people are sociopaths, right?
It's a fine line, and one which neuroscience hasn't discerned yet, between chemical imbalance; brought on by poor diet or genetics, and the unconscious or externally incited leaning toward objective evil. What I am talking about is that individual that does not experience the "don't" moment--don't molest this child, don't rob this bank, don't kill this cat. In what cases is this moment where "DON'T" should be spoken by the soul created by mental illness, or by the presence of evil? In what cases is the evil inherent in the individual, and in what cases is it contracted from forces/entities in the environment, like a contagion? What determines susceptibility? I don't know . . . .

All very interesting.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/08/2009 02:15PM by Tamukha.