Demonism Amnong the Maoris.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume XI, Issue 2, 2 August 1920, Page 302

Demonism Amnong the Maoris.

(Continued). ' „/ - We are well, aware that it must be very difficult for those of our readers : who have never seen a case of possession^ or who do not know: the symptoms when they see^them, to believe that we "are relating facts and not fairy tales. For the sake of such, and especially for the benefit' and help of some of the clergy who are "slow of heart to believe 'all that the Scriptures" and history say on this subject, we may mention here that we know of two New Zealand Bishops and a doctor, who believe that demon possession is a fact m this twentieth century. We can also recommend a book called "Modern Spiritism" by A, T. Schofield of Harley street, London (published by J. and A. ; Churchill) . Dr. Schofield is a mental specialist and a sound and earnest Churchman, and he is constantly coming-in contact Avith such cases, and he gives many cases m his book. He says :— "Possession by an evil spirit is tacitly recognised by most of our alienists. There 'is no asylum that does not contain one or more of such cases. Again he says : ' 'It must come with something of a shock to a thoughtful reader to find a physician and a psychologist risking his reputation (like Sir Wm. Crookes, longo intervallo) by speaking of possession m the twentieth century." This book can be obtained from the Bible and Tract Depot, Willis street, Wellington. ... ■ • : A CASE OF MULTIPLE POS- ' f SESSION.' \ We now proceed to give some cases that have come under our notice, acting together quite recently. ; A Maori woman of 40 years. of age was brought to us by her husband to see if anything could be done for her. We were told ' 'at: tlie time that she had beerf afflicted ever since she Avas a yery little child. Later on wewerefold that she had been treated by a Maori, tohunga again and again. At times she would be seized by some uncontrollable power, and driven to the bush or anywhere away from her home. She was considered to be not "porangi" but "pohauhau" (confused or silly). At times "she

wofild get up m their meetings and "prophesy," upder the control of some spirit. In April, 1920, wewere told that she was expressly h»rought to us to see if /we cduld. diagnose her case, and cast , out the evil fspirits that were believed to be/in possession. / :"';■" - -• . ':-'- / v / .'■ AIS /soon as; we beigah to .question; her, as to what her trouble was; she was not allowed to speak and went i off into a .tranbe mth her eye^"only ; slightly opet and the/ whole bf ": her face changed. [.":■■. /,..'■■ When the question was asked,. '.'ln' the name of Jesus Christ, Who aye you? "the lips opened and said "Uri Nakahi," Avhich, means literally "offspring of the. serpent: ", These were "commanded m the name of Jesus to come out of -her, and we saw a Tforthcoining of eight or nine. -'- She then retiirned to cohsciousness, and was ■■ thought to be cured, for at- the time we knew- Nothing of her;' real condition, and we had forgotten ': to ask how many there' were ifi possession..AN ENGLISH-SPEAKING DEMON: A day or two later she came again 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 > (as we thought) some useful'information on a matter that was puzzling us m the village. She soon returned tp consciousness, and, as we found later, seemed to have no recollection of what had. taken place. At the time heir OAvn personality and cohsciousness were ' entirely suppressed by. another personality, which spoke good all the timer / v On the last day at fhis place we decided to go and see her m her oavq home, for that" personality" had not been, dealt with. ... - As soon as certain questions were put to her she went into a trance, and we found there were' still several other spirits m possession— speaking Maori— who, when bidden m the. name: of Jesus, *gave us their names one by. one— names of evil spirits, and names known to the local native' clergymen but not to us— -and these,, when exorcised, came forth also. . --../ / Last of all, the English-speaking demon manifested itself, and Avith a : . devilish laugh at first -refused pointblank 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, surely would be compelled against "himself to believe m possession by evil spirits. , The woman can only speak very little,' and yery broken- English; and the speaker refused to ' 'cpine out. "

But it could not withstand' Scripture^ and very soon it said/j ignite meeki^; |f Yes, ;t with come duty /h^ I have;sbmethin^;to Ml y^ 1 4^3^' ' / £h'en it tried all finds' of deV;iCe^: td remain m possession, by pleading and '.by threatening. It . to' .be rilloAved to Renter . ,-^ : Jittiiß' ; ;/ i e)iiid.. ; :; v if-/'.' flicted wfth j^ /This'^einjg; refuse^ "it .iptdceeded td^ , , utter thre^ coming but, to "t^st her ifecl^'' and tc> x 'hrea.fe ; herybody"; and. finally flung . her body: into space/, bending it backwards, as if to /break her back. /'lt was '.;.-. '''•■'■" X : ' ' : '.y ' '■'■' /-'": '.-X'^'- . and we (being' novices) were fright-ened-as to what /might happen; and it tqok three .strong men to hold her, until suddenly she, collapsed ih-a state ,' of^utter weakness' on to the coucfewhere she had been sitting. She "seemed c(uitei cured for several . days after this> arid the/hushand on being asked what he thought, replied: * 'All/I can say is that it is a veritable miracle." .._"; 1 .'- Hbwever, the end was not yet, for several days later she followed us to another /place, arid at once this Eng-lish-speaking demon revealed its presence again. It: told us (m English) that she did 'not wish it to leaye her, anditheh a very strange thing haj)pehed. : Her own sbit Maori, voice said (m Maori), ''It is true; for it has been very good tom e. 1 -?"'.' She wais told (m Maori) she must help us and Sbid it go. . -- : . , / The demon was then forbidden, m, the - name of Jesus Christ, to- speak again, and was|commanded: to Come out \at once, td go "to its own place, and never return to her again Or to anyone else. Her body Avas again flung out of -the deck chair m! which / she was sitting 1 , jnto the middle of. the room, with only her heels tduch- .; ing the floor, and suspended thus\ without any visible support at a very acute angle backwards for about a minute; then she sank backAvards limp and almost lifeless, and it was quite four 'hours before she /regained strength to walk to a house near by. ' She has been m her right mind ever since, and her one, wish is to deyoteherself to God's service amongst her- people. .-- The f olio wing "week she came and helped us m our last mission, visting people from" house to house and pleading with them to give up tphungaisin and turn to G6d. was / last' Novembei:. She was visited again by one' of us m April this year (1920) , and instead of being demon-possessed she is now filled with the Holy Spirit of Jjesus. . r Her whole outward appearance is changed; she is yegll and strong physically; she takes an active and intelligent interest m the affairs of the village ; and she takes a 'leading part m the services and prayer meetihg^;

In Jack she is V made whole,"' and sihekno^s, it! _So db we. ' - Two questibhi''ihay be asked h^ere : (1) Ho^ did she hecphie ppssesse^hyan lihglish-Speaking ■■ demon, 4iVliy return ■ after the first'exorcism? •." : "-'- X '” ■ ■■ ,As ..' regards;: (l) • \?e must first / say that we know the -Maori to had jtreateft ! herjfbr her -^lady so of ten." ( With > thejresult appareshtly of her* getting a ' further control ; eiach "time).' './• '•'-.. -':V. : - - " '.''■' ;.: ' ' We found. ' out afterwards from herself and others .' (both 'j&aori and; European) that a European woman (a medium) from Auckland — a wellknown person— visited the district several years ago, selling, medicines ■ and treating diseases. This poor ; sufferer went to her for medicine land , was finally told to go home ahd take her (new) "Ariki" or tord with her; t - and this strong spirit had controlled all the others, and "been good to her. ' ' Hence her reluctance that it should leave her. (2). The explanation seems to he that she did not wish this particular control to go, and therefore it was able to re-enter her body after we left. '';■: Another question may be asked ■:- Why is this , European tohunga permitted to deceive the Maoris and to work them harm? She goes to their districts; they go long distances (even* from Hawke's Bay) to her m Auckland. She has been imprisoned for a term for selling them trash as medicine. Surely it . is time her practices as a "tohunga" should be stopped. AN EXTRAORDINARY CASE.' The last case is that of a small boy of about 6 years of age.\ The mother had asked for an interview about herself, and as she did not keep the appointment a visit waspaid to her home. Immediately on entering, and befbre any of the family were visible, a great noise began like the squealing of a young, pig, and this boy was found on his bed looking very ill and flushed with high temperature and pulse 148, and behaving like that animal. r He would- not eat his food. On being questioned as to what was . the matter, the father said it was very ill . and was " afraid of a - stran- ,■ ger." Haying heard of similar cases, the visitor asked permission to have the boy. It ran about on th'e bed, and then on the floor, On- hands and kriees, squealing and trying to root itself m under the clothes and to hide under the bed. At last it stood still (its very attitude being, that of an angry and sulky little pig) m the middle of the room and when the missioner knelt down near it it snapped at his hand (and it was a pig's bite). - V „ After a very short t>rayer the &yil

spirit was exorcised m the name of Jesus. At once the child "jumped up on to Ijis feet, ran to the missioned and ;clasped him /tightly round- the-/, neck and would hot let .go. This- does hot lo^k as if it was a case of " fear of a stranger!" The boy was handed back to his father and lay quite , limp and exhausted, on his 'knees for some, n^inutes; then he'saf up and looked/ round at the visitor^ quite' quiet ahd normal, and the father said; "He is quite well now." ; The. fever . gone and -heart quiet. This chse was also seen again m April, /1920, and m; answer to inquiries his mother said: "He has been quite well .ever since yoii left m November. " • HHre r looked perfectly well and normal, playing about with other children, and- oh several days" came. up. , (juite naturally: and shook hands with "the stranger "Without any sighs of feaf. The. result of this case was that the whole famify at once, -severed/ all connection Avith tohungaism and h egged that they might.renew.:.their_baptisnial yows before we left. . ' SIMILAR CASES. ./'-. A few days , later another /little boy of about, four years ojd, was found by nimself away from his home and dut m the open fields behaving, m .the same way. Attracted by the squealing one of the missioners found .'this little : fellow lying down like a pig, and squealing and foaming- at the mouth. . -From another direction there . came running ah old "witch" (who has this year been sent to an asylum), but before she arrived the little' : fellow was well again, and' on his feet toddling off to his holme. A Maori clergyman has since then told of his uncle, who left his home and lived out m the fields until 'he died. He went dbout on." all fours" . and bellowed, like a, bull, and they could not make him Jive; m/ a house or cat ordinary food. Another Maori clergyman bad ; a ' case ,of ah adult very similar to the two boys whose cases have been ' given; and^ those who read; what was^ printed some ..'..■""montTis ago "will remember the testimony of a Maori 3voman that some when seized ' ' act like pigs, dogs. Cats, rats and cattle." Can anyone explain these 'cases? The careful reader will have noticed that every ca,se we have given differs from the rest, has peculiarities of its own, and miist be treated-accprdihg-ly. _ Some show decided f eatrires;; pf demoniacal possession, and some go - " apparently ' ' raving mad "— a Maori medium and her ten children did so one after" the other, and died m that condition — some only show a strong alien control. The Common feature to all seems to be a dual, triple, or eyen multiple, personality.

When commanded m the name of Jesus to say how many they are,- Oi? what are theii* names, they are com*, pelled to* -tell. ■ And 'when exo:roi*e& : they , are^oinpelled to come ..out *tlo\ leave their, victiihs. But here we. would give. -'. . ' ... A WORD,OF, WARNING. ..;,..- ----• The; exorcist -must, heyer./ forget, to . stand .upon,.the safe; ground of the/ .Gospel of "the ©ross and Resurrection of Jiesus Christ'; • he 'must claim and appropriate the authority coin- ' mitted tb him by the Mastei^Hiiiiself ,' ahd the Power of the Hoiy Ghost to enable, him to: exercise that; authority ; and he must remember^ not only to* exorcise the evil 'spirts • m -the name of Jesus, but_ also,; to command them to go to their pwh . place,i and never . return/to trouble the patient or, anyone else.; Again; he must hot take as a helper anyone who does hot believe m possession as a f act^ a,hd m -' the power of exorcism;// . ■'■■■■ •• > . Sceptics may scoff; at and deride bur '•• statements-. -■,.' :;•'.- The .medical profession will perhaps smile-indulgently at Our "crass ignorance. '^z The clergy (as a body)may refuse to believe -there is any truth m it, And> meanwhile, the Maoris are dying off, and our' 'mental hospitals" are becoming congested.> • Last year three Maoris (to our knowledge) had to be taken to asylums, and already two more have gone this year. „.-' -.. ■;[ In the New Zealand nur ses ' paper, (the -f'Kaitiaki"); of ; Apri1,;4919, we read that the doctor m: . charge of a • mental hospital' had stated that "m •his opinion at least; a quarter" of those under his 'care' are cases of demon- , iacal possession, and are not cases of mental disease.'.'.- And this year (1920) " it has been stated that a New Zealand doctor (perhaps -the same man), has said that lie thinks one-half of the patients m the asylum un&er his care are cases of demon possession. For the .truth of these statements we cannot vouch, but it would be possible to verify them, or other- - wise. ■"" -"v : -' './' ■ ' ' - '■'/.■ We know of three other clergymen (Maoris) who have exorcised -demons in^the name of Jesus Christ- Why a do not- others follow their lead? Some cases are • undoubtedly, more difficult than : others. Fear may render one ■ powerless. Faith may / falter. But ; Christ cannot/fail. ./..-'-'' . When will the Church wake up to realise the fact' that the, Power of ■;. the Name of Jesus Christ is the "same to-day that it was m the days of the Apostles? ; _ When /will we believe that- He "meant it wh&n. He said, ' 'ln My Name ■■ they shall cast out devils (demons), they, shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recWer"; and "Verily, verily, I say unto, you,, he that be? liCveth on Me, the works that I d&

shall he do, and greater works than these shall he > do because I go unto the Father," ; ARTHUR F. WILLIAMS,' H. P- MUNRO: