Demons

by dh 17 Replies latest jw experiences

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  dh

  another post to add to my list of things i wanted to ask ex jw's but never had the chance.

  have you ever had any unexplainable experiences or encounters with something paranormal and been told by jw elders that 'it must be the demons' literally, or 'we'll pray to jehovah for help' due to some 'demonic' thing you are going through, being tormented or whatever, if so, what do you put it down to? do you subscribe to a belief of angels & demons? do you believe these beings, if they exist can interfere in our day to day lives or do you dismiss anything 'paranormal' as being in the head of the person who thinks it happened to them?

  i'm sure a lot of people who were jw's in the early 90's will remember the way the society used to write about places like papua new guinnea etc, a place a lot of people would call a home of these things, and i know sound minded people from a lot of remote parts of the world who tell stories of bizzarre goings on that people back home would laugh at, as well as what some go through themselves and what you hear, is it possible to seperate the ignorrance and mysticism and the 'unknown' from something that really happens, do you think this stuff happens or is it all in the mind?

  answers on a postcard please, i'm more than a little interested to hear some first hand experiences of things people have gone through that have no rational explanation, that jw's would call 'demons' and how the jw's dealt with it, and how you dealt with it, or how you still deal with it.

  maybe this is a weird post but there must be other people out there who've been carrying this type of baggage inside them their whole life and never spoken about it, pm's welcome if you don't wanna post in public.

  dh'
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  cruzanheart

  Welcome, if I haven't said that already! Yes, I had an experience when I was 7 or 8 that my mother firmly attributed to the demons and just now (at 48) I am trying hard to remember what it was all about because I think it had to do with my mother's mental state at the time rather than anything paranormal. She told me that the demons were telling her to kill my dad, that they were tickling my feet at night and keeping me up, and that she saw a demon looking at her in her dresser mirror one night and "he was beautiful." She blamed it on a doll which was given to me (had to be my fault somehow) by one of her Bible studies, who was a witch. The episodes ended after we burned a bunch of MY stuff (grumble, grumble) and my favorite uncle, her big brother, came to visit. He stayed for six months, which was a record length of time for one of his visits, and I don't remember any problems after he came. The demon story became a firm part of our family history and only now am I questioning (along with a lot of other stuff) whether it was real or a figment of my mother's imagination.

  Nina
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  Big Tex

  [deleted]
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  dh

  thanks for the replies so far, and for the welcome.

  for what you described cruz, it surely could have been to do with your mothers mental state, but you can always question whether or not in a weak mental state someone is more susceptible to these things. this is what jw's say, that when you are spiritually weak (which is usually when you are going through some real world problems or mental issues) is when 'demons' attack, jw bullshit if you ask me, but you can see a shred of logic in it too.

  about what you said tex, i'd never claim to know what you've experienced, but a person who'd never been through something wouldn't have said 'there must be other people out there who've been carrying this type of baggage inside them their whole life and never spoken about it' for no reason.

  i've my own share of disturbing shit and i wouldn't write it on a postcard either, that bit was a joke, i don't think it's irrational to believe that there must be good to counter evil, but neither do i think it irrational to think that good in fact created evil, my eyes twinkle sometimes because i know something, sometimes they are dark because i know the same thing, being cynical is my safety net, it keeps me from caving in.

  take it easy and thanks for writing,

  dh'

  (edited because all of the paragraph's were double spaced!)
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  Ghosthunter

  Wow! A subject right up my alley!

  My father was murdered when I was less than a year old. My father was not a JW, but my mother had been baptized a few years. I had some experiences which I can only describe as paranormal as growing up. When I told my mother about them, she, of course, became very afraid and always blamed the DEMONS . I never felt that "whoever" may have been there was out to harm me, but rather to protect me. I am convinced that my father watches out for me, and now that my beloved grandmother has died, I feel she is around me, too.

  That being said, I totally believe that there are good spirits and evil spirits, as well. Are the evil spirits DEMONS ? I don't have an answer for that.

  There are just too many legends and stories dating back many, many, MANY centuries that can only be described as paranormal or supernatural. They can't all be "imagination" can they?
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  zen nudist

  I have encountered invisible entities in lucid dreams which seem like real people...and one of them has manifested itself in the waking world at least twice.

  the first time, I was to the point of becoming an absolute atheistic materialist, thought I had it all figured out...and suddenly something vanished right before my eyes in one room and turned up outside that room and down the hallway... no explanations, no visions, no voices...

  the second time, I was interviewing for a new job which required a typing test... something/one grabbed the inside of my hands and refused to let me type. They gave me a second chance a few days later and it did it again, but this time, I focused and meditated and regained control of my hands and typed the 2nd paragraph perfectly...but after tallying the mistakes from the first paragraph they said I failed again, and that I could try again another time...but I told them, I dont know who or why, but I know my destiny is not along this line.... within a week I got a job which I have been with for 4 years now, and is ten times better than the other one in all ways.

  My feeling is that these are not demons or angels, but people like ourselves who are just not part of this realm at the moment.. some may come back some may never desire to play human...but ultimately they are just other beings.

  In the summer time, I found a wasp struggling in the pool... I scooped it out of the pool and it flew away.... I feel like I was that wasp and someone/thing saw me struggling and decided to lend a hand... and like that wasp, I may find a time when I am puzzled that no futher help is forth coming... after all I never followed that wasp and I am sure other beings have better things to do then to follow me around.
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  czarofmischief

  If you are willing to admit that there are other dimensions, and you are willing to concede that life has evolved in every perceivable crack of our own world - is it not possible that life has evolved in higher planes?

  That's the argument I have used in conversations with materialists. They tend to demand proof. I can only shrug and offer an anecdote.

  Like Zen's wasp - when he got back to his nest, and presuming he communicated his experience, the other wasps might demand proof. So he takes them back to the puddle - but Zen isn't there anymore. And the wasp cannot set up any experiments to bring him back on demand. so he is ignored, or laughed at. From the wasp's perspective, it's encounters with humans are random and inexplicable. Sometimes it is saved by a kindly human, sometimes it's nest gets poisoned by another. But the simple fact remains that the wasp was pulled out of the puddle he could not escape on his own, and Zen escaped a bad job with help from somebody beyond.

  And I have been helped in a similar manner - over time I have been shown the way to balance my finances, resolve my married life, and develop into a kinder, more tolerant person. I even credit my mental freedom from JW's as a result of being directed to this site and others like it. Can I prove it, as in, reproduce it on demand? Nope.

  Don't need to, either.

  CZAR
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  RunningMan

  I firmly, positively, believe that there is no existance outside of the cells of your brain - no spirits, no angels, no demons, no God, no Satan, no life after death.

  Many people beleive the opposite, for their own reasons. You must decide for yourself. I recommend the book, The Demon Haunted World, Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan. It is one of the few books that truly has the ability to change your view of life.
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  rem

  :There are just too many legends and stories dating back many, many, MANY centuries that can only be described as paranormal or supernatural. They can't all be "imagination" can they?
  
  Why couldn't they?
  
  rem
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  heathen

  You can bet on the fact that the WT will attribute any form of individuality as demonic you must be completely submissive to everything they print in their magazines . Alot of strange phenomena is attributed to demons of course anything good that happens is attributed to God but however sometimes the evil is suffered for the purpose of good . They seem to have some way of determining this .

  Bigtex-- I would like to hear your story as I have experienced some very strange phenomena myself and do believe in a spirit realm tho I'm not religious .