It’s also something — manifestations of spirits — focused upon in The Spirits Around Us.
Many viewers sent in their own accounts of strange effects on electricity.
Spirits of the deceased, we wonder? (Remember, this is all simply for your judicious consideration.)
As it turns out, most of those who wrote associated the phenomenon of electrical interference with evil spirits. And so shall we submit, as an exercise of discernment, their testimony. To wit:
“Since I was a baby I remember being visited by three angels but only one would show himself,” noted one woman who wished to remain unnamed. “I always felt safe and such love when they appeared and I know they protect me, but with that I also have gifts of prophecy and I think there are other things but do not know how to use it.
“Howdy from over here in Union County, just North of Gainesville [Florida]!” wrote a fellow named Tim.
“I just read your article and having been a student of the demonic (‘know your enemy,’ I always say), I find it curious about our modern electronics in general.
“Mother [Elizabeth Ann] Seton warned in the 1800s that in the next century, Satan would have boxes in our homes through which he would speak to us.
A book called I See Far from Tan books, if it’s still available, mentions how the first beast of Revelation was a voice from the sea. The first commercial radio broadcast was from a ship at sea to the shore and the second beast took its power from the first beast; TV uses radio waves, two different signals, in the beginning, one FM (audio) and one AM (video) to give you a picture and sound in a box in your living room.
“Probably right where you used to have that little altar and candle with the Bible and where you and the family once prayed?
“Kinda spooky, no?
“Being an old cradle Catholic, raised in a very Traditional Catholic home, I remember those altars. [I am still very Traditional today.)”
Nothing wrong with Tradition.
“I read your article ‘When spirits are alarming’ and wanted to share my experience with alarming spirits,” wrote Deborah Crosby of Madison, Ohio.
Had I not personally experienced it, I would have thought it was fantasy!
“Back in September 2011 my family entered into what has been a long, suffering trial. My son who was married at the time and had two children: a two-year-old son and a daughter who was only four months old.
“Shortly after the birth of my granddaughter my daughter-in-law became addicted to pain pills which quickly escalated to heroine abuse and theft. My daughter-in-law was subsequently caught and arrested and quickly entered into rehab while out on bail awaiting sentencing.
“I quickly set about going through the house and cleaning it for fear that not only would the police but child services be knocking on the door to go through the house.
“As I set about to clean that day the TV for no reason would go black but you could still hear the sound, the vacuum cleaner kept shutting off, not wanting to work, the washing machine would be half-way through a load and would not spin out.
“It seemed everything in that house was malfunctioning!
“The most disturbing was a swirl of flies that were not your normal house fly. I had never seen them before nor have I seen them since; they swirled in a slow churning like motion like a tornado in the center of the house between the living room and dining room. They would disappear if you tried swatting them only to return to the same place later. It was a most oppressive spirit throughout the whole house. My two-year-old grandson broke out in hives all over his body for no good reason by the end of the day.
“I called a friend from church who is into spiritual warfare and she came over later that night and we went through the whole house and outside property saying spiritual warfare prayers, sprinkling Holy Water, blessed salt and marking all door and windows with holy oil and asking for God’s protection.
“It definitely calmed things down, and the next morning the hives that were all over my grandson were gone. But just several day later my jeep, which had been running fine, would not start when I went over to pick up my grandchildren, and it had to be towed. We ended up having our parish priest coming to the house to say mass and bless the dwelling. It most definitely had alarming spirits in it. (My son’s family ended up broken, my daughter-in-law was sentenced to ten years prison back in 2012. My son was left with a two-and-a-half year old, one-year old, and a baby on the way who would be born in prison several months after incarceration. It most certainly has been a trial by fire! Those evil spirits most certainly exist!”
That kind of substantiates the point: phenomena can indicate something dark — dark indeed.
Can we hold Deb’s family up in prayer?
“Just read your article about smoke detectors going off,” said Lana Fierst of Jasper, Indiana. “I had the following experience:
“One day recently I texted a friend regarding the heightened spiritual warfare. The text said: ‘Satan is alive and strong but not stronger than our God.’
“As soon as I sent that our smoke detector went off!
“It surprised me because my husband had recently replaced the batteries. I did not let it rattle me. I regularly use holy water and I pray daily the Rosary and Divine Mercy chaplet. It is getting interesting!”
Indeed it is.
“Recently, I had our parish’s traveling vocation chalice in our home for a month of prayer,” reports Joan Beauregard of Richmond, Texas.
“The day I was to take it back to Mass to hand it off to the next family, the electronics in the car went haywire — no speedometer, no gas gauge registration: nothing. Too dangerous to drive, for sure.
“I missed the exchange and Mass and spent a long Fourth of July weekend grounded — couldn’t get a rental car, or even a cab, in our small town. All the repair shops closed, too.
“I began to suspect old ‘you know who.’ After all, we have five current seminarians and two more newly ordained to the priesthood are from our parish. He can’t be happy about that!
“I tested the ignition all weekend long, hoping the dashboard electronics would somehow be restored. No luck. Finally, waking up to what was going on, late on the last afternoon of the four-day holiday, I took Holy Water and blessed salt, sprinkled the car inside and out while praying deliverance prayers. No change.
“But the next morning, the dashboard electronics immediately worked and have continued to work. No repairs needed. Praise God!”
[resources: The Spirits Around Us.]
[February retreat in Vero Beach; details here]
[March retreat in Atlanta]