Exorcist Diary #343: Seven Reasons Why the Demons Don't Leave

["Jesus casts out the devils", Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld. 1860]

Daily we receive emails from people who are discouraged, even despairing. They say they have done everything possible to get rid of the demons tormenting them, but without success. They ask, "What should I do?"

I offer seven reasons, culled from our experience, why demons have not yet left a person, despite their best efforts:

1. Underlying Demonic Portals Still Open. A beginning step in getting rid of demons is to discern how they entered one's life and to shut that process down at its very root. Serious sin is always an opening to Satan. Not uncommonly, those who revert back to the faith after years of sinful behaviors, often have vestiges of their previous life and engage in addictive thinking, self-defeating behaviors, and superstitious actions. It takes quite a while to fully purge the inner self of demonic thinking and replace it with a true life of faith.

This is a well-known principle in Twelve-Step work. After the person has stopped their addictive behavior, there are still many inner layers of dysfunctional thinking ("stinkin thinkin" as it is sometimes called) which need to be slowly expunged. There must be a deep conversion to the Gospel vision, before the demons completely lose their foothold.

Question: Have you taken on fully the mind of Jesus and expunged the sinful, demonic world from your heart?

2. Deep Connection to the Dark World. Many people who come to us have a deep connection with the occult and the dark world. Some have parents or a spouse or sexual partners who are actively engaged in such occult or other evil practices. As soon as the Exorcist lifts the present curses, they are replaced by more. Once such a deep intimate connection with the dark world is established, it can takes years to break the "soul-ties" of these intimate relationships and to nullify all the related curses and malefices.

Similarly, people with years of themselves practicing the occult, witchcraft, pagan rituals and the like have, by their own hand, deeply immersed themselves in the dark world. I do not think that people today realize the gravity of such sins and the spiritual devastation that accompanies it, regardless of one's intentions. For example, there is no such thing as "good" witchcraft. If you have spent years practicing the occult, worshipping pagan gods (who are likely demons), it will usually take years to undo it.

Those who revert back to the faith after years in the occult often have vestiges of their previous life. They engage in magical thinking and superstitious behavior. Replacing this with the true life of faith in Jesus will take much time. It will usually be a long, difficult process of spiritual warfare and purification.

Question: Is there someone with whom you have a deep connection practicing the occult? Have you yourself willingly engaged in dark world practices?

3. Unhealed Inner Traumatic Psychological Wounds. Many who come to us have been deeply traumatized in the past, including suffering extensive abusive behaviors as a child. While the Exorcist can cast out the current demons, the person is never fully freed from their demonic affliction until there has been extensive inner healing. Many come to exorcists expecting them to cast out all their inner trauma and turmoil. While he can assist you with spiritual healing, inner trauma and psychological woundedness need to be addressed in other ways. Satan is an opportunist and he will exploit these wounds until they are largely healed. We find that those who have done years of this healing work are much more quickly and fully liberated from Satan's torments.

Question: Have you addressed and brought inner healing to the traumas and hurts of your past?

4. Not Engaging in Sufficient Positive Practices. Some people come to an exorcism expecting the Exorcist to do all the work and they remain somewhat passive. In reality it is about 70/30: the Exorcist does about 30% of the work, but the real "heavy lifting", about 70%, must be done by the afflicted person. It is not enough to be rid of the "negative," (i.e. demons), one must fully engage the "positive" (i.e. fully take on the life of Christ.)

To wit, the afflicted should not only be going to Mass and Communion AT LEAST once a week, they should be engaged in an intensive spiritual journey. It should include monthly confession, daily meditation on Scripture, daily deliverance prayers, daily rosary, spiritual retreats, and a houseful of sacramentals (e.g. crucifixes, holy water). They should be actively involved in their Church, perhaps even engage in a charitable ministry. While these practices might be initially difficult for the fully possessed, they are an important part of the process of liberation. Ultimately, an exorcism is a process of conversion to a fully Christian life.

Question: Are you actively engaged in taking on the mind of Christ and have you fully taken advantage of the many powerful spiritual resources available to you?

5. Feeding the Demons. While the afflicted person may have closed the initial demonic portals, more than a few people are hard to exorcize because they are "feeding the demons." Demons feed off: stuck anger, unforgiveness, lack of faith, spiritual pride, fear, and isolation. If you are afraid of demons and intimidated by them, and if you lack faith in Jesus to protect and save you, this will strengthen the demons. This is very common in the early stages of an exorcism.

If you harbor unforgiveness, resentment and anger in your heart, you will never be fully liberated. If you think you are a special chosen mystic soul and are uniquely spiritually gifted, you are likely being deceived by demons. Spiritual pride is one of Satan's favorite sins and perhaps his worst. Also, an isolated soul is more vulnerable to the wiles of the demons; a fully Christian life is lived in a community of the faithful.

Question: Are you feeding the demons?

6. No Demons Present. It is common that people who are absolutely convinced they have demons actually do not. And if the local exorcist tells them so, they will reject his advice and start shopping for another exorcist.

For example, those with major mental illnesses are often convinced they have demons. They suffer an inner chaos and torment, and hear "voices of demons" in their heads. They will often be quite insistent they need an exorcism. But when they are prayed over, there are typically no demonic manifestations and years of exorcism prayers yield no perceptible benefit.

Similarly, there are many who ascribe their inner conflicts or long series of unfortunate life events to curses, witchcraft and/or demonic torment. Again, when prayed over, they do not manifest a true demonic presence. These people are not mentally ill so much as simply have erroneously ascribed to Satan what actually comes from very difficult life circumstances. Life can be very ugly, without it being directly from demons.

Question: Are you willing to entertain the idea that perhaps your sufferings are not directly caused by demons?

7. Not God's Time. Demons ultimately do not decide when they will leave. God is in charge .... of everything. I have seen some people deeply immersed for years in witchcraft being liberated in a few months. I have also seen people with much weaker demonic portals whose cases drag on for years. Typically, a case of full possession takes us about 2 to 4 years of intensive work. In one case of possession that dragged on, I commanded the demons to tell me why they would not leave. They responded, "He won't let us go." It was obvious who "He" was. The demons were suffering horribly and wanted to leave, but it was not God's time.

Question: Do you believe that God is in charge and are you willing to accept His will and His timing?

These reflections really raise the question why God allows people to become possessed by demons at all. In truth, most become possessed by demons because of evil perpetrated by themselves or by someone else with the evil directed at them. God gives us free will but sadly we often abuse it.

Demonic possession is an evil caused by humans. Nevertheless, when the soul turns back to the Living God, a demonic affliction, endured in faith, can be a powerful source of great sanctification. Indeed, everything in our lives can be a source of grace when endured in faith and trust in God.

Our advice to those afflicted by demons, and indeed all of us, is the very simple yet profound prayer which has become a kind of "motto" for us: "Jesus, I trust in you."

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