Seraphine knows of two cases where evil spirits have been cast out. One
was a New York silversmith who had never shown any talent for art, but
who suddenly began to paint remarkable pictures, which sold for good
prices. He was desperately unhappy, however, because he felt sure that
he was becoming insane. He had visions of scenes that he was impelled to
paint and he suffered from clairaudient hallucinations. Two well known
neurologists declared that he was a victim of paranoia and must soon be
confined in an asylum. This man was brought back to a normal condition
by Dr. Leroy's treatment, and the first step in his improvement was when
he grasped the idea that his abnormal symptoms were due to possession.
This satisfied his reason and drove away his fears (I understand that),
especially when he was assured that an evil spirit can be driven out by
the power of God's love as easily as an evil germ or humour of the body
can be driven out by the same agency. What a blessed thought!
Seraphine says we must obey the safeguarding rules with which God has
surrounded the operation of His love, if we would enjoy the blessed
guardianship of that love. We must not expect God to change His rules
for us. _We must cleanse our hearts of evil!_
The other case of possession was not a patient of Dr. Leroy, but came
under Seraphine's notice while she was attending a sufferer. This was
Alice E----, a charming, refined girl about twenty, the daughter of
well-bred people who lived in Boston. They were somewhat stricter in
family discipline than most American parents, consequently Alice, from
babyhood up, was guarded and protected in every possible way. She and
her mother were almost inseparable companions. There was absolutely no
way in which Alice could have become acquainted with people of the
underworld, or heard the vile expressions that she afterward used in an
evil personality. Her face showed unusual innocence and purity, her
disposition was affectionate and serene.
But when she was about seventeen Alice began to have strange spells of
irritability; she would grow sullen and stubborn, and soon these ugly
moods became more violent; she would burst into horrible tirades against
her father and mother and declare that she couldn't stand their
goody-goody ways, that they were so damned pious they made her sick.
Then rage and lust seemed to possess her and she would talk about men in
a shocking way, using unspeakable words, while the expression of her
face and the posture of her body became those of a wanton.
At first Alice could not tell when these attacks were coming on, but
later, when she was about twenty, she knew and would beg her family to
keep "that dreadful, horrible girl" from taking hold of her. "She's
going to change me! Oh, keep her away! Don't let her get me!" she would
cry out in terror.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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