Like Bane’s tales, IMGrody’s meloney account of interaction with the supernatural has the ring of truth to it.
As an humble MT, my job is winnowing testimony with the fork of Reason. My interactions with the supernatural are minimal and simplistic, at most. My Neanderthal eyes are of the Earth, but my parietal lobe reaches for the heavens.
And I like it that way. My model is the Centurion, who wished not to see the face of Jesus, but no doubt would’ve eagerly spitted any number of demons on his sword at His command.
Along those lines, I value the collection, processing and dissemination of intelligence on our supernatural foes. As such, I found Chapter 8 of the Bastard Spawn Chronicles illuminating. (I have only read chapters 5 and 8 to date, but intend to read more later.)
I was struck by the correspondence with other accounts of spiritually active geographical loci, and in particular ghost hauntings. Plural of anecdote becoming data, a theory formed.
(Not that it is difficult to get ghost anecdotes. It is only difficult to get RELIABLE ones. Little kiddies like to tell tall tales of the dark, not knowing what powers they stir.)
There is one instance of a medium contacting a dead man in the Bible: the Witch of Endor. The Bible describes her as having a “familiar spirit.”
The interview succeeded in raising Samuel, a godly man, but only to deliver the Lord’s dire message: Death to Saul. This prophecy was shortly fulfilled. Thus, while it is doubtful whether a demon’s power can call up a dead prophet without divine permission, it is rather obvious that doing so brings forth no good result.
Furthermore, we find no support in Scripture for the souls of deceased men going anywhere but their allotted afterlife. No man wanders the Earth; no shriving or burial rite is enjoined to aid transition to the beyond. Many things wander the empty spaces between realms, but they are not men:
When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.
Moreover, we note the power of blood atonement in Old Testament practice, and the significance of spilled human blood in pagan religion. At least one of these sites is still supernaturally active, and ancient things make itinerant homes in the gaps between planes, existing in both.
Blood, sex, the occult, depravity, drugs, altered states of consciousness, and innate human power and sensitivity – all these things can chip away at the barriers between worlds, permitting the denizens of the restless wastes to taste the vibrant savours within.
Which brings us to ghosts. Let us compare two accounts, and find the commonalities between them:
In Bane’s tiger barracks story (search for “Haunted House” until you hit “Part one:”), a fell spirit inhabits a barracks after the sadistic death of a recruit. It echoes his soul and death in certain ways. But it is not him. It is something feeding off the psychic mark left by his blood – resonating with the scar torn in the veil by his ugly passing. Rejoicing in it, and coming through, filled with malice for all life.
(I stopped here to check whether the passing of the ghost in Imgrody’s Chapter 8 was similarly ugly. Chapter 7 appears to be missing. However, I got hooked and read through the series. Nothing much else happens, except confirmation that IMGrody has innate sensitivity.)
In IMGrody’s story, a dead husband haunts the extremely fucked-up single mom Grody’s shacking up with. The ghost possibly exerts stronger influence and connection with his biological daughter than the other unrelated kids. (It’s unclear without Part 7.) Minor psychic manifestations result, less intense than Bane’s story. But we may presume the psychic tear was less extreme, given that the recruit’s death was extraordinarily bad. In this case, the dead husband’s malice and bitterness, and the single mom’s depravity, seem to be the permitting factors. Perhaps with Grody’s sensitivity compounding.
By now my theory should be clear enough. Ghosts are not dead people. They are creatures of the Void, perhaps possessing a character specially attracted by the signature of a psychic scar in the veil of reality (rage demon, lust demon), certainly resonating with the character of that scar in order to obtain influence and manifest themselves in the physical world.
Thus there are four major known vectors of Void manifestation:
1. Possession of living human host via weakened soul barriers or heightened sensitivity
2. Occult ritual
3. Local geographic contamination, most strongly via human death
4. Amphibians, which can independently walk between, but are not angels. These include roughly 500 vampire/wraith/ancients, if Bane is believed. Compared to the first three, they are the least evil – almost neutral, if you don’t mind a bit of soul rape now and again.
Given the above, it is clear that pagan religions were serious business. The worldwide repetition of the pyramid makes sense.
Moreover, someone Downstairs must be holding back the frequency of such manifestations in the West, in anticipation and appreciation of the superior glut provided by post-Christian secular humanism, which culminates in one world religion (you’re already familiar with its doctrines, just follow the convergence) and Anti-Christ’s reign.
Organized religion indeed.
The dramatic, disorganized and dismayed scamperings of the demons around Jesus were charming; their current discipline is alarming.
Check your wallet.
Sauron’s back.
In the land of mutants, where the shadows lie…