The Houses for the Gods–Even the Ancient Bible Lands Swarmed with Demons!

The history of various religions from the earliest times shows belief in Satan and demons to be universal. According to the Christian Bible, degeneration from monotheism resulted in the blinding of humans by Satan and the most degrading forms of idolatry (Romans 1.21-32; 2 Corinthians 4.4). By the time of Abraham (c. 2000 B.C.), humans had sunk into a crass polytheism that swarmed with evil spirits. Spells, incantations, magical texts, exorcisms, and various forms of demonological phenomena abound in archaeological discoveries from Sumeria and Babylon. Egyptian, Assyrian, Chaldean, Greek, and Roman antiquity are rich in demonic phenomena. The deities worshipped were invisible demons represented by material idols and images. The great ethnic faiths of India, China, and Japan major in demonism, as well as the animistic religions of Africa, South America, and some islands. Even the ancient Bible lands swarmed with demons. As George W. Gilmore declares: “The entire religious provenience out of which Hebrew religion sprang is full of demonism.” Early Christianity rescued its converts from the chackles of Satan and Demons (Ephesians 2.2; Colossians 1.13). To an amazing degree, the history of religion is an account of demon-controlled religion, particularly in its clash with the Hebrew faith and later with Christianity. The crimes, atrocities, and immoralities of ancient and modern society point to the existence of vile spirits that take possession of human’s minds and bodies and drive them to wickedness and depravity (Romans 1.24-32; Ephesians 2.2-4; Revelation 9.20, 21). Because of human nature itself, “The belief in evil spirits is universal,” as Davies observes. Because humans sense the power of Satan and demons in their lives, their belief in evil supernaturalism has been as persistent and widespread as belief in God, in good angels, or in the soul’s immortality. #RandolphHarris 1 of 16

Some mortals believe in Satan and demons because they know the power of Satan and demons in their lives, just as those who believe in Christ know God and the power of the Holy Spirit. Such belief is not only the result of experience but also of instinct. God as Creator of the human mind with its instinctive propensities, has given us a primitive revelation of both good and evil supernaturalism. The basic truths of this revelation have been perpetuated by a God-given instinct attested in human experience and verifiable by observation of psychic phenomena in the realm of the occult. The actions of the drunkard, the criminal, the libertine, the physically and disturbed, the dope addict, the gambler, and the suicidal person (John 8.44; Luke 22.3) are often caused by influence beyond mental of physical injury or disease. The strongest evidence outside the Bible that wicked and unclean spiritual agencies can enslave their victims and drive them to self-destruction is provided by people who deliberately plunge into evil, fully aware of the disastrous consequences. People who dabble in the occult and in magical arts may be recklessly flirting with demonism. Ancient pagan practices find their counterpart in today’s spiritistic activities and psychical research. Moses warned Israel of the dangers of occultism as the nation prepared to enter Canaan, where demon-energized practices flourished. “When you reach the land which the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the obnoxious ways of those nations. There must not be found among you anyone who makes one’s son or daughter pass through the fire, anyone practicing divination or soothsaying, observing omens, applying sorcery a charmer, a medium, a wizard, or necromancer. Human sacrifice to appease an angry deity (demon) was particularly loathsome practice of Israel’s neighbours, the Ammonites. They presented their children as a fire offering to the god Molech, a cruel form of worship that display all the marks of Satan (John 8.44; Kings 11.7; 2 King 21.6; 23.10). This murderous practice was rigidly banned from Israel (Leviticus 18.21; 20.1-5). #RandolphHarris 2 of 16

Divination or soothsaying is the art of obtaining unlawful knowledge of the future. The methods violate God’s holiness. In inspirational divination, the medium is under the direct influence or control of evil spirits or demons. The same is true of the modern spirit séance. The spiritstic agent claims to obtain occult information from the deceased and is called a “medium” (id est, in Hebrew, “one making inquiry of a divining demon”) or “necromancer” (in Hebrew, “one seeking among the dead”). Angury, in contrast to divination, is based on the agent’s or augur’s interpretation of certain signs or omens in the sky, in the livers of animals, etcetera. This type of primitive occultism has its modern analogies in fortune-telling astrology, palmistry, cartomancy, the diving rod, or pendulum, a mirror or crystal ball 9mirror-matnic), and in forms of clairvoyance (called psychometry) in which objects are examined to give information about the owner. Sorcery is a more general term to designate the practice of magic through occult formulas, incantations, and mystic mutterings. It goes beyond augury and includes the whole field of divinatory occultism. A charmer is a sorcerer who performs supernatural feats. A wizard (in Hebrew, “one who knows”) is a male medium who receives superhuman knowledge through one’s contact with demons. The female medium who possesses such knowledge is called a witch in the Authorized Version, better translated sorceress by the Revisers of 1884. To the question, “Do demons actually exist?” the answer is an empathic “yes.” Evidence from Scripture, nature, history of comparative religions, and human experience all testify to the existence of evil supernaturalism. In this realm, the invisible, hierarchical, spiritual personalities operate who are called, “principalities…powers…World rulers of this darkness…spirits of wickedness in the Heavenly realms” Ephesians 6.12, Greek). These spiritual agencies are servants of Satan, “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience,” reports (Ephesians 2.2). #RandolphHarris 3 of 16

According to Scripture, Satan and demons not only exist, but they work among humanity, particularly in those who, like Satan, disdain God and openly rebel against his laws. Demonism certainly impinges on humans experience and human conduct (Ephesians 2.2). Pastoral counseling, psychiatric and psychological therapy, and even medical treatment should take these demonic factors into consideration. Who are the demons? The precise identity of demons cannot be determined, because the Bible is silent on the issues. Because Scripture does not reveal exactly who the demons are or how they came into being, numerous theories have been advanced to account for their origin. A popular outgrowth of astrology is the horoscope, a chart of the zodiacal signs and the position of the planets by which astrologers attempt to predict future events. The vast majority of the newspapers in the United States of America carry them daily, and the preparation of these horoscopes occupies about 10,000 full-time and 175,000 part-time workers in our country alone. These columns make predictions and give advice on the basis of the sign of the zodiac under which a person was born, and how it relates to the position of the planet on the date the horoscope appears in the newspaper. Astrologers have given names to the twelve constellations which were originally termed “the houses for the gods.” They belied these constellations have definite characteristics which distinguished them from one another, and which largely predetermine the personality of each individual. For example, if one came into the World between December 22 and January 19, one was born under the sign named Capricorn, which is the Goat. One’s personality would therefore bear some of the characteristics the goat is supped to symbolize. Birth between January 20 and February 18 places one under the sign of Aquarius, which is the Water Bearer; between February 19 and March 20, Pisces, which is the Fish. #RandolphHarris 4 of 16

Between March 21 and April 19, Aries, which is the Ram; Between April 20 and May 20, Taurus, which is the Bull; between May 21 and June 21, Gemini, which is The Twins; between June 22 and July 22, Cancer, which is the Crab; Between July 23 and August 22, Leo, which is the Lion; between August 23 and September 22, Virgo, which is the Virgin; between September 23 and October 23, Libra, which is the Scales; between October 24 and November 21, Scorpio, which is the Scorpion; and between November 22 and December 21, Sagittarius, which is the Archer. One can see that this is a highly subjective field, and that it gives free rein to the imagination. How tragic that thousands of people faithfully read the horoscopes printed in newspapers and magazines, sincerely believing the prediction they make and the advice they give are valid. The blindness of people who reject God is almost beyond comprehension. In addition, individuals willing to pay the fee may also purchase a personal horoscope. In fact, computers are able to turn out a 10,000-word personal horoscope reading in two minutes. The precise moment of a person’s birth is recorded, and then the exact position of the Heavenly bodies at that time is ascertained. This becomes the starting point for the computer to begin its program. The practitioners who sell horoscopes provide a great deal of incentive for the purchase of their services by saying that some of the information given is not an absolute, unchangeable decree. Some of the prognostications are in the form of conditional declarations which will depend to a great extent upon their circumstances. For example, a person is encouraged to read horoscopes to be forewarned about personality difficulties and impending disasters so one can take steps to avoid the problems and dangers. This makes the purchase of personal horoscopes extremely inviting. Though astrology is popular today, it must be condemned as unscriptural, unreliable, devious, and dangerous. Christians should not only avoid it, but also be informed so they can warn others. #RandolphHarris 5 of 16

May be an image of indoor and brick wall

As previously noted, the Bible strong forbids all forms of occultism, including astrology. “There shall not be found among you anyone who maketh one’s son or daughter pass through the fire, or who useth divination, or an observer of times. or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a charmer, or a consultor of mediums, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD; and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee,” reports Deuteronomy 18.10-12. Moses gave as one of the reasons the danger that it would lead the people into heathenism. Astrology originated with pagans who considered the stars to be gods, and anyone who began to dabble in this pseudoscientific practice would inevitably be drawn into the superstition and false beliefs inhere to the system. Therefore God pronounced death by stoning for any Israelite who participated in star worship. “If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God giveth thee, man or woman who hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the LORD thy God, in transgressing his covenant, and hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any the hosts of Heaven, which I have not commanded, and it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it and inquired diligently, and behold, it is true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel; then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, who hath committed that wicked thing unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die,” reports Deuteronomy 17.2-5. Later in Israel’s history, the prophet Isaiah proclaimed judgment upon the nation, and in biting sarcasm dared the people to seek deliverance through the sorcerers and the Babylonian astrologers in who they had placed their confidence. His words stand as a sharp denunciation of astrology, and indicate that God considered it a false religion. “Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, in which thou hast laboured from thy youth, if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so thou mayest prevail. Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee,” reports Isaiah 47.12-13. #RandolphHarris 6 of 16

The prophet Jeremiah also warned the people of God that they were not to believe that omens for evil could be read in the Heavens. He declared, “Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the nations, and be not dismayed at the signs of Heaven; for the nations are dismayed at them,” reports Jeremiah 10.2. The day-to-day experience shows the suggestive powers and effects that horoscopes have. 63 percent of German people have occupied themselves with astrology at one time or another. The astrology section in the newspaper is so population Worldwide that the chief editor of large daily papers will not cancel them. Even though some of them are convinced that the horoscope is nonsense, it is a question of finance. The paper that includes no weekly horoscope in its Sunday edition must count on many cancellations. No newspaper can afford this. There was a humorous experience in this effort to keep scribers happy. One Friday the astrologer’s horoscope did not arrive on time. In the chief editor’s dilemma, he went to a storage room and picked out an old horoscope. Since he did not know the order of the Zodiac, it was an incorrect one. In spite of this, none of the readers noticed the mistake. Since all went well, he saved himself the astrologer’s fee, and on 22 occasions he used incorrect horoscopes from previous years. None of the hundreds of thousands of readers noticed this, till finally someone wrote in saying that it was impossible for the sign of Scorpion to rule in July. Now his trick was uncovered. He had to turn again to the “experts” for help. Having told his story, the editor then added with a smile, “During the time of the incorrect horoscopes everything went well. It does not depend on the horoscope, but on what the people believe.” What reasons do we have as Christians for not recognizing astrology as being providential to our lives and destinies? First of all, we should be repelled by its heathen background. With ancient people astrology has a religious accent. The stars were equivalent to gods. The heathen felt themselves to be led, influenced and threatened by the planet gods, and though, in the course of time, the religious character of astrology receded, the old rules were retained. Here we have another reason for rejecting it. The retention of these old rules involves an insoluble contradiction. #RandolphHarris 7 of 16

Every 26,000 years the axis of the Earth prescribes the lateral area of a cone (precession). Today’s astrologer does not see the planets in the same position as one’s colleague for 4,000 to 5,000 years ago. Besides, several other planets have been discovered; Uranus in 1787, Neptune in 1839, and Pluto in 1932 (which some are still questioning if it is a planet of not). Since these changes failed to sake the astrological system in any way, present astronomers reject astrology as one of the greatest frauds of all time. However, many people still appeal to astrology for answers, they believe it is real, they want to know their future, they are looking for salvation. And in many cases, the answers they find are true and relevant. Perhaps rerunning the astrology gave many the answers they were seeking and needed, until someone caught one error. Since the occult is real, it has to be right sometimes and it gives people the answers they are looking for. Normally people wake up happy and soft, but if you are exposed to an evil movie before class, it kind of toughens you up a little bit. I am not perfect, like many others, and just trying to get through this World with all the crazy people in it. When you have no real guidance, no one you can trust, no one coming from a totally good place, you have to find something you can depend on to connect you to the World. People who dabble in the occult do not all reject God. Some still believe God, but they also need answers right here and right now, and they do what they do to get them and that helps them remain stable. So, I am not passing judgement, just sharing information to show you this stuff is real. Spiritualism makes headlines and feature stories in the guise of horoscopes, ominous predictions, and bizarre cults, but its basic activity is the séance where many people can be influenced. And the key that opens the séance is the trance. The New Century Dictionary defines a trance as “a temporary state in which a medium, with suspension of personal consciousness, is controlled by an intelligence from without and used as a means of communication, as from the dead to the living.” #RandolphHarris 8 of 16

It defines a medium as “a person serving, or conceived as serving, as an instrument for the manifestation of another personality, or of some alleged supernatural agency (as a spiritualistic medium.” In the séance, the “alleged supernatural agency” is the control spirit who takes possession of the medium. This spirit is not the same as the familiar spirit. In spiritualist teaching, the familiar spirit is a spirit from God who is with us from birth and on into eternity. We may have many familiar spirits during a lifetime as we progress in moral goodness. They are assigned to individuals and come to know them better than they know themselves. Spiritualists believe in an evolutionary process of spiritual development. Individuals departing from this life are said to migrate to the spirit World and develop there with the help of other spirits. Theoretically, a person could advance in the spirit World to the level of God Himself. However, spiritualists believe that God also is evolving to higher and higher planes. Therefore, the best the spirit of the departed can do is reach a plane where God once was. What you do in life, the spiritualists say, determines the plane of spiritual development you enter after death. I learned in a séance that a person who lives a good life would immediately go after one’s death to the third or fourth plane. “I was told by my control spirit, who was in the eighth plane, that at death I would go directly to the sixth plane. That I did not drink alcoholic beverages or smoke tobacco or drugs and am celibate placed me on a higher plane that those who did. The fact that I was seeking to develop myself spiritually also advanced me. My control spirits, lectured me often on what was wrong in my thoughts, morals, and manners. They even stressed physical health and cleanliness, reminding me that my body was the temple of the spirit (not the Holy Spirit of God). People who lived very sinful lives would be Earthbound spirits when they die, we were told. Other spirits would come to their assistance, show them the error of their ways and try to get them to live better lives in the spirit World so they could begin evolving to the second and third planes. This is known as the school for Earthbound spirits,” said Mrs. Winchester in her journal. #RandolphHarris 9 of 16

Spiritualists believe that the teachers in this school are the spirits of departed educators and scholars in educational, religious, and scientific fields. The foal of the spiritualist is to evolve as high as possible by becoming less self-centered. As one seeks to develop oneself and help one’s fellow humans, one is graduated from one spirit plane to the next. Spiritualists in the United States of America generally believe in eighteen planes of development. A spiritualist from England said on a Today telecast that they have discovered as many as thirty-three planes. Prophecy plays a large part in a spiritualist séance. This one séance Mrs. Winchester participated in, World War II was prophesied and the nations that would be engulfed in this gigantic conflict were named. She also wrote in her journal that the control spirit said, “At the end of World War II there would be no end of war upon the face of the Earth until the Kingdom of peace is come.” She later passed away in her sleep. Spiritualists believe that Jesus is the master medium of all mediums. God to them is a universal force, not a person. Spiritualists maintain that Heaven is nothing more than the series of planes where the spirit evolves. They teach there is no such place as hell—unless that would describe the existence of an Earthbound spirit. Yet, significantly—and ominously for all people who choose to live in sin rather than in God’s will—spiritualists recognize the existence of the devil, the source of all evil! Some of the spiritualists’ teachings are similar to the beliefs of Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Theosophy, and other religions. And spiritualism’s rosy prospect of becoming gods over individual realms is matched by the similar teaching of the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Mormons (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints). It is awesome to realize the penetration and power of these evil spirits wherever Jesus is denied as the complete and only Saviour from personal son. How does one know that they are evil, not from God? There is only one way, the way by which God set me free. Many people wonder about the origin of the belief in that mysterious island O’Brasil, lying far out in the western ocean. About the year 1665, a Quaker pretended that he had a revelation from Heaven that he was the man ordained to discover it, and accordingly fitted out a ship for the purpose. In 1674, Captain John Nisbet, formerly of Co. Fermanagh, actually landed there! At this period, it was located off Ulster. #RandolphHarris 10 of 16

Between the clergy and the witches a continuous state of warfare existed; the former, both Protestant and Roman Catholic, ever assumed the offensive, and were most diligent in their attempts to eradicate such a damnable heresy from the World—indeed with regret it must be confessed that their activity in this respect was frequently the means of stirring up the quiescent Secular Arm, thereby setting on foot bloody persecutions, in the course of which many innocent creatures were tortured and put to a cruel death. Consequently, human nature being what it is, it is not a matter of surprise to learn that witches occasionally appear as the aggressors, and cause the clergy as much uneasiness of mind and body as they possibly could. In or about the year 1670 and Irish clergyman, the Rev. James Shaw, Presbyterian minister of Carnmoney, “was much troubled with witches, one of them appearing in his chamber and showing her face behind his cloke hanging on the clock-pin, and then stepping to the door, disappeared. He was troubled with cats coming into his chamber and bed; he sickens ad dyes; his wyfe being dead before him, and, as was supposed, witched.” Some equally unpleasant experience befell his servant. “Before his death his man going out to the stable one night, sees as if it had been a great heap of hay rolling towards him, and then appeared in the shape and likeness of a bair [bear]. He charges it to appear it to appear in human shape, which it did. Then he asked, for what cause it troubled him? It bid him come to such a place and it should tell him, which he ingaged to do yet ere he did it, acquainted his master with it; his master forbids him to keep sic a tryst; he obeyed his master, and went not. That night he should have kept, there is a stone cast at him from the roof of the house, and only touches him, but does not hurt him; whereupon he conceives that had been done to him by the devil, because he kept not tryst; wherefore he resolutely goes forth that night to the place appointed, being a rash bold fellow, and the divill appears in human shape, with his heid running down with blood. #RandolphHarris 11 of 16

He asks him again, why he troubles him? The devil replyes, that he was the spirit of a murdered man who lay under his bed, and buried in the ground, and who was murdered by such a man living in sic a place, but finds nothing of bones or anything lyke a grace, and causes send to such a place to search for such a man, but no such a one could be found, and shortly after this man dyes.” To which story Mr. Robert Law sagely adds the warning: “It’s not good to come in communing terms with Satan, there is a snare in the end of it, but resyst him by prayer and faith and to turn a deaf eat to his temptations.” Whatever explanation we may choose to give of the matter, there is no doubt but at the time the influence of witchcraft was firmly believed in, and the deaths of Mr. Shaw and his wife attributed to supernatural and diabolical sources. The Rev. Patrick Adair, a distinguished contemporary and co-religionist of Mr. Shaw, alludes to the incident as follows in his True Narrative: “There had been great ground of jealousy that she [Mrs. Shaw] in her child-bed had been wronged by sorcery of some witches in the parish. After her death, a considerable time, some spirit or spirits troubled the house by casting stones down at the chimney, appearing to the servants, and especially having got one of them, a young man, to keep appointed times and places, wherein it appeared in divers shapes, and spake audibly to him. The people of the perish watched the house while Mr. Shaw at this time lay sick in his bed, and indeed he did not wholly recover, but within a while died, it was thought not without the art of sorcery.” Classon Porter in his pamphlet gives an interesting account of the affair, especially of the trend of events between the deaths of the husband and wife respectively; according to this source the servant-boy was an accomplice of the Evil One, not a foolish victim. Mrs. Shaw was dead, and Mr. Shaw lay ill, and so was unable to go to the next monthly meeting of his brethren in the ministry to consult them about these strange occurrences. However, he sent this servant, who was supposed to be implicated in these transactions, with a request that his brethren would examine him about the matter, and deal with him as they thought best. #RandolphHarris 12 of 16

The boy was accordingly questioned on the subject, and having confessed that he had conversed and conferred with the evil spirit, and even assisted it in its diabolical operations, he was commanded for the future to have no dealings of any kind with that spirit. The boy promised obedience, and was dismissed. However, the affair made a great commotion in the parish, so great that the brethren not only ordered the Communion (which was then approaching) to be delyed in Carnmoney “until the confusion shall fall a little,” but appointed to of their number to hold a special fast in the congregation of Carnmony, “in consideration of the troubled which had come upon the minister’s house by a spirit that appeared to some of the family, and the distemper of the minister’s own body, with other confusions that had followed this movement in the parish.” The ministers appointed this duty were, Kennedy of Templepatrick, and Patton of Ballyclare, who reported to the next meeting that they had kept the fast at Carnmoney, but with what resulted is not stated. Mr. Shaw died about two months later.” Now, on to, “A House Built for Spirits?” Mrs. Winchester has become immortal because of the tales about her and her beautiful castle. However, we may never know for sure if Mrs. Winchester built her house to accommodate the spirits, but over the years the story has come down that she believed her life was unavoidably affected by departed souls. Presumably she wanted to be friendly with the “good” spirits, it seemed, was to building them a nice place to visit. According to this theory, Mrs. Winchester accommodated the friendly spirits by giving them special attention. The Winchester mansion is a well-built Queen Anne Victorian one of the loveliest ever dreamed of out of fairyland. However, the estate was surrounded by a six-foot hedge, backed by a barbed wired wrought-iron gate, and patrolled by a pack of ferocious dogs, plus of course, her staff of armed bodyguards. People who passed by said it was a perfect pandemonium of barks and howls from the dogs, who seemed to be only held by force from flying at their throats. #RandolphHarris 13 of 16

Back in the late 1880s, I was debating, however, whether I would not brave his gun, and make a rush for the grand mansion at all costs, nature or vindictiveness got the better of his perversity; a dark figure staggered through the thick fog. Five minutes later we discovered it was nothing but the carcass of a dead dog, whose charred and blackened condition would explain the wailing sounds. Then I was startled by a cry and a sharp ringing of the bell. The bell in the belfry high in the gables tolled regularly at midnight to summon incoming flights of spirits. In her Blue Séance Room is where she donned ceremonial robes and communed nightly with spirits. The Winchester Mansion was the midnight rendezvous for legions of ghost. Suddenly the windows opened, and I knew this was my chance to sneak in. I darted around the veranda to the back of the house. The drawing-room was empty, trembling with terror, I flung the study window open. Then I heard Mrs. Winchester shouting that there was someone hidden in the veranda or close by. Owning to the state of agitation she was in, it was not until the man-servant had searched the veranda, garden, and outbuildings, and found nothing, that I was able to understand what had frightened her. It appeared then that she had suddenly been awakened from sleep by the pressure of a heavy hand on her shoulder, and a hot breath—so close, it seemed as if someone were about to whisper in her ear—upon her cheek. She started up, crying out, “Who’s that? What is it?” but was only answered by a hasty withdrawal of the pressure, and the pit-pat of heavy but shoeless feet retreating through the dusk to the further end of the veranda. In a sudden access of ungovernable terror, she screamed out, sprang to her feet, ringing the bell to warn the spirits to return to their sepulchers. The servants searched high and low, and not a trace of any intruder could they find; nay, not me, not even a stray cat or dog. Although they garden was large, the gate leading into the road was fastened inside, and the wall was too high for easy climbing. #RandolphHarris 14 of 16

Once she awoke with a scream in the middle of the night, declaring, “Something was wrong with the baby. Nurse had gone away and left it’ she was sure of it!” To pacify her, the nurse threw on her dressing-gown and ran up to the nursey to see; and, true enough, though the baby girl was gone.” The Nurse was absent, having gone up to the cook’s room to get something for her back ache. The next morning, they found the dog and managed to scoop out a grave for it, and buried him. Mrs. Winchester was alternately tearing her hair and weeping over the murder of the baby while she packed her box for departure. She stopped for a moment and went to the kitchen for lunch. That is when Mrs. Winchester cried out, “Oh, Heaven! Look! what’s that—that great dog, all black and burnt looking, come out of my house? Oh, my baby! My baby!” The maid saw no dog, and stopped for an instant to look round for it, letting her mistress run on. Then she heard one wild shriek from within—such a shriek as she had never heard in all her life before—and followed. She found the nurse lying senseless on the floor, and in the cradle the child—stone dead! Its throat had been torn open by some strange savage animal, and on the bedclothes and the fresh white matting covering the floor were the blood-stained imprints of dog’s paws! Mrs. Winchester’s shrieks pierced the summer twilight—those shrieks which, from the moment of her being roused the merciful insensibility which held her for the first hours of her loss, she had never ceased to utter. She never regained consciousness. The doctors feared she never would. And she never did! Never once in all this time have I been tempted to share the horrible delusion which, beginning in a weak state of healthy, and confirmed by the awful coincidence of her baby’s death, upset the beautiful darlings brain. At nights she was alone, snuffing and scratching at the door outside, as though something were there. Once, the butler strode to it and threw it open, but there was nothing—nothing but a dark, fleeting shadow seen for one moment, and the sound of soft, unshod feet going pit, pat, pit, pat, upon the stairs as they retreated downwards. #RandolphHarris 15 of 16

The butler rushed violently upstairs to the death chamber above. He shouted, “I have seen it. It was there! On her.” His face was livid with horror, and the exquisite cased, engraved, and gold-plated Model 1866 musket in his hand he said, “Better this than a madhouse! There is no escape from the Winchester Mansion,” and fired. He was dead ere even the servant could catch him. The white covering on the bed had been had been dragged off and torn, and on it were big, black dog’s paws. Demon possession is not merely a superstitious explanation of certain diseases. Such rationalizing does not define the phenomenon of evil spirits but merely explains them away. To say that demon possession in the time of Christ or in nineteenth-century China was nothing more than the effect of “certain diseases superstitiously regarded as due to demonical influence clashed with all the evidence of Scripture, history, and human experiences. Demons are the not spirits of deceased humans. Demons are the spirits of the wicked that enter into human’s that are alive. However, the Bible says that demons are not the disembodied spirits of a pre-Adamite race of humanity on the Earth. The whole idea of a pre-Adamite “human” race of “humans in the flesh” is pure conjecture. The only created beings revealed to have existed before the creation of humans are angels. Moreover, the rigid distinction between “angel” and “spirit,” which this theory demands, is questionable since Scriptures refers to angels as spirits (Psalm 104.4; Hebrew 1.14) and sometimes uses the term for “angel” for the spirit of humans (Matthew 18.10; Acts 12.15). The classical Greek meaning of the term “demons,” denoting “the good spirits of departed humans of the golden age” as in Hesiod, is at complete variance with the uniform New Testament usage of the word. The Word “demon,” like other distinctive biblical words in Greek, was divinely moulded through the pre-Christian centuries for its unique New Testament usage. To use its originally pagan concepts as the basis of a theory is totally unwarranted. #RandolphHarris 16 of 16