It stands to reason that you must know what you are dealing with before you can offer any type of help. Certainly there are things that you can do no matter what type of spirit you come across. However, there are certain things that will be useless if tried on the wrong type of spirit and there are certain things that can be dangerous. The key is to make sure you know exactly what you are up against. Let us take a look at what I am talking about.

When people contact me, they often ask whether or not they should try blessing the home themselves. What I always tell them is they should wait 8until we have a better idea what is going on. What is wrong with blessing the house? Well, depending on what you are dealing with, the answer is nothing. If the spirit in question is human, blessing the house is a good idea. If the spirit in question is of the nasty variety, it may well leave. Human spirits generally do not want to mess with God. In that regard, they are a lot smarter than demons. Now if the spirit in question is benign, the blessing will likely have no effect at all. There is a chance that the benign spirit will realize that it is bothering the people and may choose to reduce its activity. Benign spirits do not want to hurt anyone.

However, if the spirit in the house is inhuman and demonic, (I say that because it must be remembered that Angels are inhuman as well) there could be a problem. Attempting to bless the house yourself can and usually does start a firestorm of activity as the demon retaliates from the provocation. The activity may become fierce and the overall problem multiplied. To a demon, blessing the home hurts, in whatever way a spirit can hurt. To it, you have provoked him and he will fight back.

For that reason, it is best to wait until you are sure what the problem is.

Now let us confuse the issue. One of the things that the experienced investigator may recommend is blessing the house. “Wait a minute, you just said not to do that.” Okay, fair enough. There is a difference between the experienced investigator provoking the spirit and the victims. What is that difference? Well, for one, the experienced investigator knows how to quell the firestorm if it does come. (In some cases, the demon, especially if it is weak will cut its losses and run.) However, in some cases, the firestorm will be minor simply because the demon knows that this individual has experience with this. In other words, it does not want to waste its time.

There is another factor at work here as well. It is very difficult for the victims to effectively battle the demon directly. The reason for this is simple: the demon knows what terrifies them. It knows what buttons to push with them. Take this scenario: the victims pick up a cross and walk into the room where most of the activity takes place. For example, there may be pounding in the walls. They walk in and bless the room. Before they finish the blessing, the pounding starts. To combat this, they say the blessing louder. The result is that the pounding also gets louder and faster too. Then, some books go flying around the room, some just missing them. The likelihood is that they will stop the blessing. The activity may continue longer than usual, convincing the victims that they had made a mistake. In actuality, they had made a mistake and they made a big one at that. The mistake is that they stopped the blessing. Had they kept it up, it would eventually have worked, although at a cost.

When the experienced investigator tries the blessing, he/she knows that they must be persistent. They will keep at it, regardless of what the demon does. However, no matter how strong willed the victim may be, it is all but impossible for them to do this because the demon will do exactly what they fear most. Unfortunately, it is not always that simple either. The investigator has to know what he/she is dealing with because if the demon in question is powerful, they have to realize that it may be outside their realm. Even the most experienced investigator is not an exorcist and they are no match for the powerful demon. Indeed, they can make the problem worse than it was for if the blessing did not knock the spirit out, that spirit is going to retaliate against them as well as the victims.

There are some spirits that must be dealt with by the trained clergy. “Trained” is a key word there. Not every Priest, Rabbi or Minister is qualified to battle with a demon. For many of them, possession and demonology was one short class in seminary. This is especially true today where so many of the clergy are more concerned with Church image than they are Church effectiveness. Possession is old school to them and should be forgotten. However, there are those who specialize in that area and they may be the only ones who can stop the onslaught.

Most experienced investigators are smart enough to know when not to push an issue. A good rule is that of pro-action and reaction. For example, when the pounding takes place, the investigator reacts by trying to stop the phenomenon. The spirit has already started; you are in effect reacting to the activity. Thus, there is no provocation there. However, walking through the house when it is quiet and blessing it is being proactive and in effect, provoking the spirit. That is where the firestorm begins.

I am not saying that we must let spirits have their way; that is a ridiculous notion. All I am saying is that the right people must take action. One needs to “know thy enemy” but they must also know their limitations.