Spirit Release is the modern word for Exorcism

[tigerlily2011]

Merry X'mas to the Christian Forumosans!

One question: you say she hears voices. What do the voices say?

"What did you say? Don't ask C. She doesn't know!" (in Hokkien dialect). "Hey, that's not me, that's the spirit talking just now!", C interrupted in English. I was startled, so I didn't get to hear the rest. After that, she refused to let me hear more of it.

Among other stuffs, one spirit told her that my aunt or my late aunt forbade me from contacting her, which wasn't true.

Since the first contact after her coma, she told me that something bad happened to her, and she would tell me more about it when we meet. [It's either she flies home (which is not possible with her monthly allowance since she's jobless now) or I fly over.] The above revelation was during our recent talk.

Btw, she said she knows what to do with the counselling. I will follow up with her later.

Thanks again!

[Zla'od]

Okay, from the above, she doesn't seem to be saying anything really alarming (like threatening suicide), but neither is it very exalted and spiritual. It strikes me as gossippy and manipulative. (In light of her family situation, this would be understandable as a coping mechanism.)

Does she belong to a social context (e.g. a religion) in which this sort of behavior has a recognized role? For example, I understand that many spirit mediums here go through experiences like this. Apparently the spirits will not let the person alone, until he or she agrees to become a medium. (I'm not saying that I believe in such spirits, only that this is the kind of story that mediums and their followers tell. We could just as easily interpret it as a kind of performance by the medium.) Do you think this could be what she is doing?

[Gao Bohan]

Chris:
Agree. Fact: Spirits exist.

Why do you agree with Chris if you think spirits exist?

[Bubba 2 Guns]

I'm selling graveyard dirt-$1000NT per bottle not from a grave. $1500 from a specific grave and brick dust at $250 a bottle. (Got to get the bricks from a grave or graveyard) That's some good down home Southern (USA) Hoodoo juju. People say it'll fix anything. I haven't set up my website or paypal account yet but your friend can PM me.

[tigerlily2011]

Chris:
Agree. Fact: Spirits exist.

Why do you agree with Chris if you think spirits exist?

Hi Gao Bohan,

I agree with Chris on his outlined concept for scam, which many fake mediums use to bait their potential victims. The fact is spirits exist from what's been reported in the media and shown in TV documentaries.

[tigerlily2011]

Do you think this could be what she is doing?

Hi Zla'od,

I don't know what to make of until I see her. Maybe she did not want to alarm me with more details over the phone or email. She's just a normal Buddhist, who believes in spirits and mediums. It's possible that the spirits want her to be the medium.

Let me talk to her, and give an update later.

Thanks!

[viba]

Thanks for sharing this information about your friend with us. Ultimately, it raises the question of whether we accept the existence of a spiritual realm and beings or not.

As something unseen, it is easy to deny – even ridicule. If we accept its existence, or the possibility, though, then we should cautiously investigate what we are dealing with here.

Investigation is not helped by the large amount of scams and other money making schemes, such as spiritual readings and so on. Neither should we forget your firend could indeed be suffering from a medical condition.

Nonetheless, my opinion is that I have experienced, observed, and heard about a great deal of similar circumstances - too many to discredit or deny its existence.

My own investigations led me to numerous scriptures in the Bible that offer counsel here: most notably, in Deuteronomy 18:10 – 12.

We can see that if your friend were to seek such services, her problems will only be compounded. It is also evident from the scriptures that your friend, by how you describe her condition to be, is probably not possessed – like we imagine. It is more likely she is being "bothered".

Seeking mediums and the like will not help.

You are welcome to pm me if you want to continue this.

[tigerlily2011]

Thanks for sharing your views, Viba.

I have actually advise her earlier to seek counselling with the Community Service Centre, as suggested in the Women's Forum. Unfortunately, she said she had no means to pay for consultancy. (By the way, she's a Buddhist.)

When I finally got to skype her a few times recently, she seemed to be bogged down by more pressing issues at home. She offered to pay off her husband's credit card debts, and on top of this, there's one month's housing loan installment still outstanding. She's worried about foreclosure on her condo. [The banks here will initiate legal action for three months' outstanding installments. Is it the same in Taiwan?]

Even through the blurry image on skype, she looked blank, and her mind wandered far off when I talked to her. [In the past, we used to talk over the phone for one hour or so, and it always boiled down to one thing: her personal issues with her husband and in-laws, particularly her mother in-law.] At times, she's not in the mood to chat, so I try to engage small talks with her six year old daughter. Due to my limited command of Mandarin, I could not ask much about her mother when she's within earshot.

When her cousin J and aunt intend to visit her (after I told J about her depression), she told them to do later. She said the same thing when I asked whether I could visit her.

She cannot reconcile with the fact that she encounters bad luck/incidences when she's nice to people.

The only thing I can do is pray for her and her family, and skype her when she feels like chatting. Apart from these, I appreciate any suggestion to help her from here?

[Chris]

If spirits can be shown to exist, that would be a major scientific discovery. Gather the evidence, run some tests and get your paper published in a major scientific journal... you'd be rich and famous.

[Jack Burton]

Chris: Agree. Fact: Spirits exist.

The fact is spirits exist from what's been reported in the media and shown in TV documentaries.

I am so confused right now. or rather, I am constantly puzzled by how gullible, sheeplike, braindead, unintelligent or irrational people can be.