woo

Psychic Sally Morgan hears voices from the other side (via a hidden earpiece)

The Vatican's Father Gabriele Amorth thinks The Exorcist faithfully represents his job as the Pope's right-hand dispeller of demons (both the serpent kind and the scorpion kind!). In the US, where an astounding 40% of the population is said to firmly believe in angels and devils, Father Gary Thomas would steer you to The Rite to learn more of his 9-to-5. 

Both men are exorcists, a surprising number of which still ply the medieval trade of casting out evil spirits. Both are convinced that demons are real, that possession is real, and that the need for an army of exorcists is both real and growing (even extending to appeals for holy help from non-Catholics, says Thomas). And both share interesting (as in, can't-look-away bizarre) revelations of the workings of their craft: types and symptoms of possession, steps employed in the de-spiriting, and the importance of distinguishing genuine possession from mental illness.

Ahem. About that last item... If, in fact, demons aren't real, then just what are these men doing when they engage in their "healing ministry", as Thomas describes his hour-or-two bouts of Satanic battle? If there is no real possession, then aren't exorcists peddling witch-doctor hocus-pocus of the most gullible sort? Aren't they putting on a show that's indescribably silly? 

Much worse, says Brian Dunning of the Skeptoid podcast. Their actions are criminal. 

Brian's excellent Skeptoid episodes do their darnedest to carefully weigh claims of the bizarre and supernatural, based on even-handed examination of evidence. But in the episode The Exorcism of Anneliese, Brian wastes no words in slamming the medieval idiocy of exorcism and its tragic effects on people needing actual medical care for mental disorders. 

Today doctors can look at cases like Anneliese, and though we cannot make a reliable diagnosis without an examination, it seems clear that she suffered from a variety of conditions including dissociative identity disorder (formerly called multiple personality disorder)... 

Thus, the Catholic exorcism rite remains contemptuous of basic ethics and any pretense of considering the patient's welfare to be important...

Hundreds of professional exorcists walk among us, today, seeking critically ill psychiatric patients upon whom they can shout charms and sprinkle water. Many of these cases recount shocking tortures. Drownings, crucifixions, burnings, stabbings, all in the name of exorcism, and most to innocent children or the mentally ill.

Brian also points an accusing finger at the Hollywoodization of exorcism, and our own complicity in anointing a new canonical film monster to keep us entertained for a couple of hours at a time.

Filmmakers have exploited these victims to make not just The Exorcist, but a slew of other copycat films based on specific individuals, including Anneliese. Every time Linda Blair's head spun around, or she spat green vomit, we laughed and had a riotous old time at the theater. Would the same movies have been made exploiting the victims of other true-life crimes, and would we have laughed at the depictions of those actual victims in their dramatized death throes? 

Yikes. That one strikes a bit close to home; there is a certain attraction to the movie depiction of holy action-hero priests battling invisible monsters, even for those of us who find the supernatural bit pure fiction. It's fun until someone more thoughtful reminds us that, away from the big screen and the popcorn, real people are being hurt:

Exorcism is a brutal, heinous, medieval torture ritual justified only by ignorance. Its roots as a religious rite are irrelevant; a crime is still a crime.

Amen. Let's do what we can to banish exorcisms (and all harmful juju) to the realm of escapist fiction only. Thanks for the wake-up call, Brian.

PS: If you're not a subscriber to Skeptoid, remedy that now!

The James Randi Educational Foundation site carried a lovely piece today by Richard Saunders, listing some delightful products tapping EUTS (Energies Unknown To Science!) to make your life a better one. From Quantum Pendants to Bionic Bands, these amulets of power will rebalance your biofeedback, clear your pathways of negative energy, and synchronize the resonance of your cells. Can you really afford even one more day without Proton Alignment Resonance Technology or the comforting stabilization of the Phild Process?

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Shadow People! 

Shadow People?

Yes, Shadow People! They could be creeping up behind you... right now!

I think the recent Skeptoid podcast episode on Shadow People was the first I'd heard of this new (?) supernatural threat. We've probably all had the experience of thinking we see a flicker of movement in a dark shadow; some people even claim to have seen ghostly humanoid figures in their darkened bedrooms at night. Therefore: Shadow People, those spectral demons (or interdimensional beings, or ghosts of the departed, or something) that haunt the living (or flit away to avoid the living, or astrally project themselves into random places, or something).

They often wear hats. Really.

There's no need to rehash Shadow People details here; as you'd expect, thoughtful discussions of the topic quickly begin and end with the damning fact that there's no evidence for such a thing. And that's pretty much the end of that story, until someone can show the smoking gun (or smoky fedora, as many stories would have it).

Rather, what interested me about the Skeptoid piece was that it goes into a topic that really fascinates me: the awesome power of the human brain to create its own reality – and the way in which "open-minded" believers in the supernatural are so often close-minded toward the brain's wonders. Readeth thou more

Nancy Reagan consulted with astrologers? How sublunary. Miyuki Hatoyama, wife of new Japanese premiere Yukio Hatoyama, goes so much further. 

As reported in outlets such as this CNN article, the good Ms Hatoyama relates in her many TV appearances and books that she knows Tom Cruise from a previous life, when he (and presumably she too) was Japanese. While busy chatting about politics and cooking on the talk shows, she still finds time for the occasional astral trip to Venus via "triangular UFO", as well as moments to "take a piece of the Sun and eat it".

So she sounds like a hard customer to please at those state dinners, though with that Venus trip on her resume, she sure beats "I can see Russia from my porch" Sarah Palin in foreign policy experience. (Despite the kinship to Tom Cruise, though, there's been no report that Ms Hatoyama embraces Scientology. Some things are just too weird for her.)

Teen's death blamed on faith healing

Police: Girl Dies After Parents Pray for Healing Instead of Seeking Medical Help

You may know of blogger and podcaster Steve Pavlina. One of many writers on the topic of "personal development", Steve is ahead of the blogging crowd on name recognition, and is frequently mentioned among the elite of "Internet celebrities".

I've paid attention to his work on and off; there's often some good inspirational or practical content in there, along with some feel-good fluffiness that doesn't speak to me (though I begrudge neither the appeal it may have to others, nor Steve's success in gaining fans).

The thing that dropped Steve from my must-listen podcast list was a positive mention by him, many months ago, of his wife Erin's work as a "psychic medium". "Great, Steve", I thought, "your wife is a charlatan and you're happy with that. Bravo." It lowered the fellow a few notches in my book (though in all fairness to him, I know that brutal objectivity about one's better half is a perilous path to tread : ).

In early June, a new entry appeared in iTunes: Steve Pavlina podcast #021, "Being Pyschic". I let it sit ignored for a long time, but my eye hit it repeatedly. "Being psychic? I know his wife has something going on with the woo - but is Steve serious about this too?" Finally, I gave it a listen.

The Pavlinas are beyond serious - way beyond. Maybe I'm just not experienced enough in what transpires out there in the woo industry, but I found it pretty jaw-dropping. Get ready: Readeth thou more