The Blog For Paranormal Happenings and News
Monday, August 31, 2009
Vatican exorcist Amorth speaks on Satan's smoke
GABRIELE AMORTH: Yes, it is. Last year, the Italian Episcopal Conference could not approve it because there were errors in the translation from the Latin. We exorcists who would have to use it took advantage of this to point out yet again that we were not in agreement with the new Rite on many points. The original Latin text is unchanged in this translation. A Rite so long-awaited has turned out to be a joke, an incredible cord that is tying us in knots in our work against the Devil.
That’s a serious allegation. What, exactly, are you referring to?
AMORTH: I can give you two examples, two blatant examples. At Point 15, it talks of evil in the sense of the ‘evil eye’ and how we should conduct ourselves. The ‘evil eye’ is an evil directed at a person through the Devil. This can be done in various ways, in the form of spells, curses, by voodoo and macumba. The Roman Rite explained how this had to be addressed. The new Rite, by contrast, categorically states that it is prohibited to perform exorcisms in these cases. That is just absurd. This evildoing is by far the most frequent cause of demonic possession and other evils procured by the Devil – no fewer than 90 per cent. It’s like telling exorcists to retire. Then, Point 16 solemnly states that exorcisms must not be carried out unless the presence of the Devil is ascertained. This is a masterpiece of incompetence because we can only ascertain if the Devil is possessing a person by performing an exorcism. Moreover, the editors did not realize that, on both points, they were contradicting the Catechism of the Catholic Church which advises exorcism both in the case of demonic possession and of evils caused by the Devil. It also says this should be done in regard both to people and things. The Devil is never present in things, just his influence. The statements contained in the new Rite are very grave indeed and very harmful. They are the fruit of ignorance and inexperience.
But wasn’t it compiled by experts?
AMORTH: By no means, no. In these past ten years, two commissions have worked on the Rite – the Commission of Cardinals who edited the Prenotanda, or the initial dispositions, and the Commission in charge of the prayers. I can say with certainty that no member of either commission has ever performed an exorcism or witnessed one. No member has even the faintest idea of what an exorcism is. There lies the error, the original sin of this Rite. No one who assisted with it was an expert on exorcism.How can that be?
AMORTH: Don’t ask me. During the Second Ecumenical Vatican Council, every commission was assisted by a group of experts who worked alongside the bishops. This custom continued even after the Council every time parts of the Rite were reworked. But not in this case. And if ever there was an area where experts were needed it was this one.
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Crime Committed on Malta-flagged ship
I refer to Stanley Portelli's letter (August 27) in reply to my letter of August 22.
Dr Portelli, unfortunately, is mixing up the complications of the alleged nature of the cargo on the vessel with the crime committed by the hijackers.
A crime was committed on the high seas and the hijackers must be tried in Malta under Maltese law for hijacking and not on account of its cargo; unless, of course, Dr Portelli thinks that hijacking is not a crime.
The international complications have arisen because of the speculation that the vessel was carrying secret cargo and, hence, the reason why there is an ongoing diplomatic exchange between the countries concerned and the many experts involved, which is quite understandable.
But here I am talking about a crime committed by people on a vessel flying the Maltese flag. There are no two ways about it: the hijackers must be tried in Malta or else in Sweden if the hijacking was carried out in their territorial waters.
Dr Portelli also conveniently left unanswered the question I asked about the magisterial inquiry, which should be independent of the internal investigations carried out by MMA.
I am still awaiting a reply.
NOTE: Ship's registry reveals that the organization that owns the ship is The Knights Of St. John.
Strange Connections Noted Between Vatican Chief Exorcist and The Order, The Knights Of St John.
August 2009 -Vatican watchers have noted the arrival of Father Giancarlo Gramolazzo, the current president of the International Association of Exorcists (IAoE); at The Knights Of St John Headquarters; CASTELLO DEI BARONI in Malta. Several insiders have stated, Gramolazzo is acting on the orders of the Chief Exorcist Of Rome to call the Order Of St John to active duty to the service of the IAoE.In September 2004, in Mexico City, Mexico, Father Gramolazzo addressed the more than five hundred participants including exorcist priests from various dioceses in the country at the annual meeting of the International Association of Exorcists.
The meeting includes conferences, panels and roundtable discussions by experts such as Fr. Giancarlo Gramolazzo, President of the International Association of Exorcists, and Fr. Mario Angel Flores Ramos, Director of the Theology Department of the Pontifical University of Mexico.
How to recognize a psychic scam
Lots of people have a passing curiosity about fortune telling, tarot cards, and psychic readings. Getting a psychic reading can be lots of fun, but it pays to be cautious.Some readers purposely prey on the weak and the vulnerable. Con artists are not above scaring a client into forking over regular wads of cash, and once you let someone like that into your life, things can get really ugly really fast.
How do you know if your reader is 'for real' or if you are dealing with a dangerous con artist?
Any of the following signs should send up a red flag alert that the person you are dealing with is not kosher and might even be dangerous.
Excuse yourself ASAP and don't look back...
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The Science of Ghost Hunting and Paranormal Investigation
In my last blog I discussed the beginnings of the Spiritualist movement which was the catalyst behind Parapsychology and the scientific pursuit into ghosts and related phenomena. Psychical Research, now Parapsychology, helped separate the fakes and frauds of mediums, table tipping sessions and man-made spirit photography. Through all of this there have always been amateurs who have worked in the background of the professional organizations and individuals, at no other point since the beginning of the Spiritualism era has the amateur ranks played such an important part of ghost and paranormal research. The Society for Psychical Research (SPR, 1882) and the American Society for Psychical Research (ASPR, 1885) still exist as well as other professional arms of paranormal research (Parapsychological Association, Rhine Research Center, Institute of Noetic Science, etc.) though the amateur ranks outnumber the professional ranks as well as the overall exposure and interaction with spontaneous cases.
Polish Yeti caught on film
Yeti experts are heading to Poland after a local man filmed a "monstrous, hairy creature" while on holiday in the Tatra mountains. There have been rumours of a Polish Yeti in the area for centuries but this is the first time one of the strange creatures has been captured on film.
Piotr Kowalski, 27, from Warsaw was on a walking holiday in the Tatra mountains in Poland when he saw a mountain goat on one of the slopes. As he started filming, his attention was suddenly grabbed by the Yeti creature emerging from behind some rocks.
"I saw this huge ape-like form hiding behind the rocks. When I saw it it was like being struck by a thunderbolt," he told the daily Superexpress.
"Coming from Warsaw, I never really believed the local stories of a wild mountain ape-man roaming the slopes. But, now I do."
[Read More via Phantoms & Monsters]
20 Orange Ball UFOs over Canton, Ohio skies
A group of Canton, Ohio, witnesses watched a series of "orange glowing fireballs" moving slowly across the horizon on August 22, 2009, according to witness testimony from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) database. The objects were descibed as round or disc-shaped, sometimes moving in pairs, and one group was sighted in a triangle formation.
Canton is the county seat of Stark County in northeastern, Ohio, population 80,806.
The following is the unedited witness testimony from the MUFON database. Please keep in mind that most UFO reports can be explained as something natural or manmade. If Ohio MUFON State Director William E. Jones investigates and reports back on this case, I will update this page.
Zombie Filk: Eat Them Alive
Eat Them AliveTo the tune of Live and Let Die by Paul McCartney & Wings
When you were slain and your heart was a tasty snack
You tried to scream "Please let me live"
(and now you're dead, and now you're dead, and now you're dead)
But once the virus took over your cerebellum
Makes you revivify
Said "Eat them alive"
Eat them alive
Eat them alive
Eat them alive
What's a cerebrum taste like
When it's been bit into
You can't just go by smell
You gotta sample every last brain cell
You tried to scream "Please let me live"
(and now you're dead, and now you're dead, and now you're dead)
But once the virus took over your cerebellum
Makes you revivify
Said "Eat them alive"
Eat them alive
Eat them alive
Eat them alive
[Zombaritaville]
Occult Profiles: Father Gabriele Amorth, Chief Exorcist of Rome
Father Gabriele Amorth is the Chief Exorcist of Rome. He has performed hundreds of exorcisms over many years. He is the author of the best-selling book, An Exorcist Tells His Story. He is also the author of An Exorcist: More Stories. This excerpt, "The Power of Satan," is taken from An Exorcist Tells His Story (pages 25-36).On the bumpy flight to Rome I read The Bible all the way. The passenger on my left - a wiry businesswoman from Wisconsin - found this disconcerting. As the turbulence worsened and I moved from Jude to Revelation, she hissed at me, "Do you have to?" "It's only background reading," I murmured. She grimaced. "What for?" I turned to her and whispered: "I'm going to meet the exorcist." "Oh Christ," she gasped, as the plane lurched and hot coffee spilled over us.
Father Gabriele Amorth is indeed the exorcist, the most senior and respected member of his calling. A priest for 50 years, he is the undisputed leader of the city's six exorcists (appointed by the cardinal to whom the Pope delegates the office of Vicar of Rome) and honorary president-for-life of the International Association of Exorcists. He is 75, small, spry, humorous, and wonderfully direct.
"I speak with the Devil every day," he says, grinning like a benevolent gargoyle. "I talk to him in Latin. He answers in Italian. I have been wrestling with him, day in day out, for 14 years."
On cue (God is not worried by clichés) a shaft of October sunlight falls across Father Amorth's pale, round face. We are sitting at a table by the window in a small high-ceilinged meeting room at his Rome headquarters, the offices of the Society of St Paul. Father Amorth has come to exorcism late in life, but with impressive credentials. Born in 1925 in Modena, northern Italy, the son and grandson of lawyers (his brother is a judge), Gabriele Amorth, in his late teens, joined the Italian resistance.
Immediately after the war, he became a member of the fledgling Christian Democratic Party. Giulo Andreotti was president of the Young Christian Democrats, Amorth was his deputy. Andreotti went into politics and was seven times prime minister. Amorth, having studied law at university, went into the Church.
"From the age of 15," be says, "I knew it was my true vocation. My speciality was the Madonna. For many years I edited the magazine Madre di Deo (Mother of God). When I hear people say, 'You Catholics honour Mary too much,' I reply, 'We are never able to honour her enough.'
"I knew nothing of exorcism - I had given it no thought - until June 6, 1986 when Cardinal Poletti, the then Vicar of Rome, asked to see me. There was a famous exorcist in Rome then, the only one, Father Candido, but he was not well, and Cardinal Poletti told me I was to be his assistant. I learnt everything from Father Candido. He was my great master. Quickly I realised how much work there was to be done and how few exorcists there were to do it. From that day, I dropped everything and dedicated myself entirely to exorcism."
Father Amorth smiles continually as he tells his story. His enthusiasm for his subject is infectious and engaging.
[Read More]
Pope's Exorcist Squads Will Wage War on Satan
The Pope has ordered his bishops to set up exorcism squads to tackle the rise of Satanism.
Vatican chiefs are concerned at what they see as an increased interest in the occult.
They have introduced courses for priests to combat what they call the most extreme form of "Godlessness."
Each bishop is to be told to have in his diocese a number of priests trained to fight demonic possession.
The initiative was revealed by 82-year-old Father Gabriele Amorth, the Vatican "exorcistinchief," to the online Catholic news service Petrus.
"Thanks be to God, we have a Pope who has decided to fight the Devil head-on," he said.
"Too many bishops are not taking this seriously and are not delegating their priests in the fight against the Devil. You have to hunt high and low for a properly trained exorcist.
"Thankfully, Benedict XVI believes in the existence and danger of evil - going back to the time he was in charge of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith." The CDF is the oldest Vatican department and was headed by Benedict from 1982, when he was Cardinal Ratzinger, until he became Pope in 2005.
Father Amorth said that during his time at the department Benedict had not lost the chance to warn humanity of the risk from the Devil.
He said the Pope wants to restore a prayer seen as protection against evil that was traditionally recited at the end of Catholic Masses. The prayer, to St Michael the Archangel, was dropped in the 1960s by Pope John XXIII.
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Ancient city discovered deep in Amazonian rainforest linked to the legendary white-skinned Cloud People of Peru
A lost city discovered deep in the Amazon rainforest could unlock the secrets of a legendary tribe.Little is known about the Cloud People of Peru, an ancient, white-skinned civilisation wiped out by disease and war in the 16th century.
But now archaeologists have uncovered a fortified citadel in a remote mountainous area of Peru known for its isolated natural beauty.
It is thought this settlement may finally help historians unlock the secrets of the 'white warriors of the clouds'.
The tribe had white skin and blonde hair - features which intrigue historians, as there is no known European ancestry in the region, where most inhabitants are darker skinned.
The citadel is tucked away in one of the most far-flung areas of the Amazon. It sits at the edge of a chasm which the tribe may have used as a lookout to spy on enemies.
The main encampment is made up of circular stone houses overgrown by jungle over 12 acres, according to archaeologist Benedict Goicochea Perez.
Rock paintings cover some of the fortifications and next to the dwellings are platforms believed to have been used to grind seeds and plants for food and medicine.
The Cloud People once commanded a vast kingdom stretching across the Andes to the fringes of Peru's northern Amazon jungle, before it was conquered by the Incas.
[Read More]
Life on Mars, from 1984 Antartica Rock?
In August 1996, scientists from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced they had detected possible signs of life on Mars; the announcement caused heated discussions within the scientific community. A series of more recent discoveries has caused scientists to once again debate the possibility of life on Mars.Where was NASA's 'evidence' found?
The early evidence didn't arrive in the form of a little green man or even a little green bug. It was a rock. Not much bigger than a potato and given the dry name of ALH84001, this rock was discovered in Antarctica in 1984. It stands out as a rock among rocks because it is a meteorite and it came from Mars (Box 1: Mars: Earth's cool cousin). We know where it comes from because it has a chemical 'fingerprint' that matches samples taken from Mars.
Life on Mars...PAH!
NASA scientists noticed several intriguing things about ALH84001 which they thought indicated that life may once have existed on Mars.
The first of these were tiny blobs, the size of fullstops. Called carbonate rosettes, they were similar to the rosettes produced by bacteria in ponds on Earth as they metabolise minerals.
In addition, chemical compounds known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were found in and around the carbonate rosettes. ALH84001 contains an unusual mixture of certain lightweight PAHs. The NASA scientists concluded that these might have been produced as once-living organisms decomposed.
Another piece of evidence centred on the discovery of tiny crystals of magnetite and iron sulphide embedded in places where the carbonate rosettes had dissolved. The scientists noted that some bacteria on Earth also manufacture similar crystals.
The fourth and final piece of evidence was perhaps the most controversial. Using an electron microscope, the NASA scientists found elongated and egg-shaped structures within the carbonate rosettes which they interpreted to be tiny fossils of Martian microbes.