DEMONISM.

Auckland Star, Volume LI, Issue 194, 14 August 1920, Page 17

DEMONISM.

EXPERIENCES AMONG MAORIS.' , . I EXORCISING OF EVIL SPIRITS. : , I SEXSATrOXAL EPI>ODE> 'DESCRIBED . . j In the current Ufur of the "Waiapu Church Gazette" some remarkable instances are given of demon possession amongst 'Maori*. The writers, the Revs. Arthur V. 'Williams ar.d H. IP- Munro, state that they know of two 'Sew Zealand 'bishops and a doctor wh> b.-liov-that demon pofse'sion is a fact in this twentieth century, and they proceed io give personal experiences, one of whic'i may be quoted: — "A Maori woman of 40 years of ng.- , was brought ta u> by her husband to see if anything could be dono for her. ffc were told at the time that she had been afflicted ever since she was a very little child. Later on we were told that slic had been treated by a Maori tohunga again and again. At times ?he would be seized by come uncontrollable power, and driven to ttie bush or anywhere away from her home. She was considered to be not "poramri' (mad) but 'pohaiihau' (confused or silly). At times she would get up in their meetings and 'prophesy, , under the control of t-ome spirit. In April, 1019. we were told that she was expressly brought to its to see if we could diagnoee her case, and cast out the evil epirite that were believed to b? in possession.

'"As soon as we began to question her as to what her trouble was she was not allowed to speak and went off into a trance with her eyes only ?] ! ghtly open and the whole look of her face changed.

"When the question was a.-'ked, 'In tlie name of Jesus ClirUt, who a"c you?' the lip<s opened and eaid "L*ri Xakahi,' which means literally 'offspring of the serpent. . These were commanded in the nair n, of Jeeras to come out of her, and we saw a forthcoming of eight or nine. She then returned to consciousness, and was thought to tie cured, for at fie t mc tvc knew nothing of her real condition, and we had forgotten to a= k how many there were in possession.

AN EXG'DKH-SPEAKING DEMON. «"A day or two later • he came ag.i\n by .herself about something that was troubling her, and at once went into a trance. This time it was an English voice that spoke, and it began to give us (ac we thought) some rfieful information on a matter that was puzzling us in the village. ".She soon returned to con--oiousne.-.=, and, as we found later, i-oomod to have no recollection of what had taken. place. At the time her own personality and coneciousness were entirely suppressed by another personality which epoke good English all the time. "On the last day at this nlace we decided to go and see her in her own home, for that .personality had not been dea;t witih. .

'"As scon as certain questions were put to her she went into a trance, and we found there were still several other spirits in possession—speaking Maori— who, when irkldcn in she "• mc of JesiM, g-ave us the'r rpitl's by one—names of evil 5-pirit-i. an.i nanus urii'wn t> mc local native clergymen but nt to us— and the?e, wiien exorcized, cam' f.-rfc!i "Last of all the English-speaking demon manifested iteclf, and with a devilish laugh at first refused pciut blank to come out.

''Anyone who heard that laugh, and the torrent of good English that, for over half an hour, poured from the lips of that Maori woman, sur.-ly would be compelled against himself to believe in possession by evil spirits. "The woman can only gpeak very little and very broken English: and the speaker refused to "come out.' "But it could not withstand Scripture, and very soon it paid quite meekly. 'Yes. I will come out. but 1 have something to tell you first.' "Then it tried all kinds of devices to remain in possession, by pleading and by threatening. It wanted to be allowed to enter a little child afflicted with fits resembling epilepsy. This being refused it proceeded to utter throats to 'break ' her jaw' in coming out, to 'twist her neck,' and to 'break her body'; and finally flung her body into epace, bending it backwards as if to break her back. |lt was i AN UNCAXNY EXPERIEXCE, and we (being novices) were frightened as to what might happen, and it took three strong men to hold her, until suddenly she collapsed in a state of utter weakness on to the couch where she ha,d been sitting. '"She seemed quite cured for several days after this, and the husband on being asked what he thought, replied "All I can say is that it is a veritable miracle.' "However, the end was not yet, for several days later she followed us to another place, and at once this Englishspeaking demon revealed its presence again. It told us (in English) that she did not wish it to leave her, and then a very etrange thing happened. Her own soft Maori voice said (in Maori), "It is true: for it has been very good to me.' . She was told (in Maori) she must help us and bid it gr>.

'"The demon was then forbidden, in the name of Jesus Christ, to speak again, and was commanded to come out at once, to go to its own place, and never return to her again or to anyone else. Her body was again flung out of the deck chair in which she was sitting, ] into the middle of the room, with onljv her heels touching the floor, and suspended thus without any visible support at a very acute angle backwards about a minute; then she sank 'Dackwards limp and almost lifeless, and it was quite four hourg before she rej gained strength to walk to a house near by.

''She has been in her right mind ever since, and her own wish is to devote herself to God's service amongst her people.

"Her whole outward appearance is changed; she is well and strong physically; she takes an active and intelligent interest in the affairs of the vilInge; and she takes a leading part in the services and prayer meetings." The writers ascribe the malady of possession to the influence of a Maori tohunga and also of a European woman (a medium) from Auckland, who visited the district several years ago and to ■whom the poor sufferer ha-d been for medicine. AXOTHER EXAMPLE. Other instances of "possession" are given, the common feature 'being a dual, triple, or even multiple personality, and it is claimed that there is power and authority to exorcise these evil spirits. The -writers add: may scoft at and deride our statements. The mP'lical profession will perhaps eniiie in-iiul-gently at our "crass ignorance' The clergy 'as n tody) may refuse to believe there is any truth in it. And, nieanvrhile, the Maoris are dying off, and our

'mental hospitals' are becoming congested. Last year three 'Maoris (to our knowledge) had to be taken to asyiums. and already two more have gone this rear.

"In the New Zealand niireee" paper (the "Kaitiaki) of >\pril. l'.'lli, we read that the doctor in charge of a mental hospital had stated that 'in his opinion at least v quarter of those under his care are epees of demoniacal "possession, and are not capes of mental disease.' And tllirt year 11920) it had been eta tod that a New Zealand doctor (perhaps tne 6Mio man) had said that he thinks onehalf of the patients in the asylum und<rr his care arc caeee of demon possession. For the truth of these statements we cannot vouch, hut it would lie poeeible to verify them, or otherwise.

"Y\ c know of three other clergymen (Maori) who have exorcised demons in the name of Jesus Christ. Why do not othens follow their lead? Some 'casce are undoubtedly more difficult than others. Fear may vender one powerlc-s. Faith may * falter. Bui Christ cannot fail. When will Ihe Church wake up to realise the fact that the Rower of the Xame of Jeaiie Ohriet ie the came to-day that it was in the days of the Apostlen? "When will we believe that He meant it when He eaifi: 'In Mj T Xame they shall cast out deviie (demons), they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover': and 'Verily, verily. I say unto you. >Ie that belie.veth on Me. the works that I do shall he do, and greater works than these ehall he do 'because I go unto the Father.'"