The Crystal

An Exorcism

A P.E.G Case File

© Brian Allan 2002

Word count: 2,624

FOREWORD

This opportunity to investigate this case was presented to me by a professional psychic AnneMarie Sneddon, who with her partner Jim Lochhead use their considerable abilities to assist S.P.I. in our researches. The events described are unique for two reasons, 1) This was the first time I had been directly involved in a case of demonic possession. 2) As we will see, because of the possibility that the entity could return, I was specifically asked not to record any part of the rituals involved. Therefore, other than pictures of the area where the ritual took place, I have no photographic evidence to help substantiate the outcome. All photographs containing an image of the items involved taken prior to the ceremony were likewise destroyed, which is a pity because there were some remarkable pictures of items central to the investigation. Consequently, I was not even permitted to take video footage of the cleansing ceremony conducted above the murky waters of the River Forth on the central span of the Kincardine Bridge on the Fife / Stirlingshire boundary.

The circumstances surrounding these rather alarming occurrences concerned a family who are friendly with AnnMarie and Jim. They were experiencing a series of problems relating to certain artefacts in their possession. The items had been collected during the travels of the now deceased head of the family and consisted of various objects from Africa, Asia and the Middle East, comprising tribal masks, spears, blowpipes, beads and a variety of crystals.

For the most part, these diverse items had mostly been kept in the attic with a few displayed as ornaments. For years nothing unusual had occurred other than an indefinable 'unluckiness' which seemed to dog all the family, but when the owner died and his family were going through his belongings things quickly changed for the worse.

There was one item in particular that seemed to be the focus of considerable negative energy; this item was a crystal originating from Saudi Arabia. Initially, the family did not connect what was happening in their lives with the stone and as a result gave it to a family friend who had expressed an interest in it. As the psychics later discovered, the handling had reactivated whatever force lay dormant within in it. Within a few days of the crystal changing hands its new owner started experiencing some personal traumas that affected his life quite markedly. He started acting in an unfamiliar manner much to the disquiet of his friends and family. Shortly after this, AnneMarie became aware of events and offered to help the crystal's current owner, it was at this point I became involved. Although I had not yet seen it, the crystal sounded like a 'Kasuma Stone'. I had seen them previously while working in the Middle East where they are fairly common. The stones are a variety of quartz crystal and get their name from a province of Saudi Arabia called Kasuma. When they are dressed and polished, they resemble a low grade, slightly milky diamond. They do not have any great intrinsic value, but are nevertheless often sought out by expatriates as souvenirs and mounted in jewellery.

Annemarie was able to view the crystal and on examining the markings on it, deduced that the crystal had been used in occult ceremonies. An Islamic shaman, perhaps a Sufi, would probably have conducted these ceremonies. It is worth pointing out that in common with the Christian bible, the Islamic holy book, the Koran, can, like the bible, be used for good as well as evil, the information is there for those with the knowledge and will to decode it. As if this was not bad enough, the crystal was also the focal point for a 'lower astral entity' which could and would do positive harm to whoever it came in contact. This impression was confirmed when she viewed a photograph of the unfortunate man who currently had the crystal.

The significance of the crystal is - according to Annemarie -, that by nature of their molecular construction crystals are amenable to psychic manipulation. In other words, it is possible that a crystal can be influenced or 'programmed' either by accident or design. This phenomenon has been suggested as a mechanism by which alleged ghosts materialise, i.e. the image is 'recorded' into the fabric of a building and in suitable circumstances is replayed. In this particular case, through its former usage this crystal had been infested by a particularly malignant lower astral entity. Lower astral entities are, as we have seen in previous cases, spirit beings whose malevolence is proportional to their condition when alive. In other words the more unpleasant someone has been in life is reflected by their position in the pecking order on the 'other side'. The worse they were the lower down the scale they are placed, although evidently over time they gradually rehabilitate and rise through the ranks.

In the course of the investigation, I was able to view the photographs myself; they are truly remarkable and a little alarming. They show a variety of semi-precious stones in a small wicker basket, the crystal in question does not look particularly unusual. The series of photographs show the basket in normal and very low light conditions and the difference is extraordinary, in low light it is as if the contents of the basket are lit from within. There is in particular a slice of agate, which when in close proximity to the crystal glows with a strong inner light and when the crystal is removed becomes relatively dull and lacklustre. Also within the agate, there is the image of a mans head, three dimensional and perfect. Rather more alarmingly, in the shadows surrounding the basket can be discerned the aquiline face of a bearded man seemingly wearing a head-dress, like the Saudi 'Ghutra'. According to AnneMarie this is the entity damaging all those who have the misfortune to come within its malignant influence since the crystal was awakened from its long sleep.

In normal circumstances 'deprogramming' the crystal would have been a straightforward procedure, but due to the unhealthy atmosphere it as creating, the attitude of its present owners became increasingly hostile. This got to the point where they regarded AnneMarie and more so her partner Jim, as embodiments of the devil who were determined to cause them harm. Another odd effect of this bizarre and symbiotic relationship is that the affected person can't live with the object and can't live without it.

This state of affairs is strangely reminiscent of the relationship between the tortured creature 'Gollum' and the ring of invisibility in Tolkien's classic fantasy, 'Lord of the Rings'. Although the twisted and deformed Gollum knew that the ring was slowly killing him, he simply could not bear to part with it, referring to it as 'his precious'. This exactly paralleled what was happening to AnneMarie and Jim's acquaintance. As far as dealing with the situation regarding the stone, Annemarie said that 'spirit' told her the African artefacts should be burned and the ashes thrown into the sea. The crystal should be 'deprogrammed' and also thrown into the sea from the same point. This would effectively deal with the entity and more importantly, also help the poor soul affected by it. The beads should be sent back to the village they came from and this should cancel all the spiritual interference affecting the family.

AnneMarie was quite concerned that the 'deprogramming' should be carried out with a minimum of delay as the man concerned was quite likely to become a great deal worse. Added to this, his mind was liable to become affected to the point where his imagination was quite capable of doing the work started by the entity. It was getting to the point where the unfortunate man was sooner or later, going to require medical help. The problem was how to get hold of the artefacts and start working on them. Try as she might, every time she set up a meeting with the family with a view to obtaining the artefacts, it never actually took place. Annemarie was convinced that this was a deliberate course of action influenced by the malign entity to prevent her cleansing the crystal. For a time the object dropped out of sight, the family either wouldn't or couldn't reveal its whereabouts.

A few weeks passed with no news of the whereabouts of the stone, until on Saturday 23rd January, AnneMarie phoned and told me that the family who possessed the crystal had contacted her and wanted it and its effects neutralised immediately. They intended to drive to the Kincardine Bridge, carry out a brief ceremony and throw the crystal from the central span into the tidal waters of the River Forth. Within twenty minutes they had parked outside my home and I was introduced to Andrew and his mother, they were clearly anxious for the cleansing to be carried out. Andrew, who is around thirty, looked quite frail and ill, his health having been adversely affected by the negative emanations from the crystal and entity. His mother explained that it had taken all her persuasive abilities to convince her son to dispose of the crystal. I had intended recording the proceedings on video, but AnneMarie's partner Jim was adamant that this should not happen.

He explained that it was imperative remove all reminders of the crystal once it had been dealt with. Any photographs and negatives on which it featured would be burned to remove all trace of its existence; we should even try to avoid thinking about it. Apparently even though the crystal had been disposed of, anything bearing its likeness while in its negative state was enough to reactivate it. I was able to examine the stone although on advice I did not touch it. It was as I had suspected earlier, the object was indeed a Kasuma stone and I recognised it immediately. In appearance it resembles a small, smooth, milky, translucent pebble. A small part of its otherwise perfect surface had been cut and polished to produce a facet about 8mm in length. . This surface had been finely tooled or engraved to produce several images, these appeared to be bas-relief faces. There was also an Arabic numeral 9 and what looked like a flower. AnneMarie explained that this small area was where the entity gained access to the crystal. However the stone was not the only item being disposed of, there was also an attractive solitaire ring. This had been manufactured to feature another stone that had been cut and polished then mounted in a gold setting. Regrettably this item of jewellery although very pretty also had negative emanations and was to be thrown from the bridge. Leaving my home, we made our way up onto the bridge, at first due to the volume of traffic we could not cross the road, almost as if the entity was attempting to prevent the psychics banishing it. We finally got across by going under the bridge to avoid the traffic, up the steep embankment on to the pavement and walked out onto the centre span. AnneMarie took the stone from its container explaining what she planned to do. The ceremony would involve commanding the entity to return to the stone then returning it to the astral plain. Once this had been accomplished, Annemarie would imbue the stone with positive energy then have Andrew hurl it into the waters below us. While doing this he should say that he was casting away all the negativity that had plagued the family. I was watching intently as she said this and an unsettling change occurred to her face and voice. The skin around her eyes became very dark and bruised looking and her voice began to slur, she began the ritual. With the stone cupped in her hands she closed her eyes.

The weather which had not been particularly good started to get worse. The rain, which had been threatening, started to pour down and the wind increased in intensity causing us to sway from side to side. Heavy trucks thundered by behind us and the bridge shook underfoot. I sensed, heard, felt, (it's difficult to describe), a buzzing noise like hissing in my ears and sudden pain in my forehead. Annemarie opened her eyes and told us that the entity was now imprisoned in the stone and would be returned to its own plane. She also asked if we felt anything while she was dealing with the entity, evidently we all had. She looked at Andrew and handed him the stone; quite honestly he looked dreadful, really ill, pale and cold. Taking the stone in his gloved hand, he threw it over the railings into the windlashed, murky, grey water below. We watched it as it was blown in an arc down to the turbulent surface and disappeared with a small splash and a few ripples. The same procedure was carried out with the solitaire ring and again Andrew hurled it over the edge, uttering the words of rejection, as he did this, Jim threw the presentation boxes that had contained the ring and stone over the guard-rail as well. Coincidentally, as he did this, the wind and rain eased off markedly and the atmosphere seemed less emotionally charged. Although the other artefacts, - the masks etc. - have not been dealt with as yet, they are of secondary importance compared to the crystal and its influence. They will nevertheless still require to be destroyed which will be done in due course, but one thing at a time. AnneMarie then offered a few words of simple prayer and we walked back to their parked car. By this time the traffic had slackened off and we were able to cross the road with ease. When we returned to my house Andrew looked transformed. He was smiling broadly and was obviously in good spirits as indeed was his mother, they were obviously delighted with their decision. Their good humour was infectious and we all felt lifted. I felt honoured to have witnessed this unique ceremony.

CONCLUSION

All cases involving the paranormal are unique and this was no exception, I have never dealt with anything quite like it and never thought I would. To all intents and purposes this was an exorcism, the ingredients were there, curses, a malignant possessing entity, illness and genuine distress. The photographs of the crystal in the basket glowing in its own internal light, the Arabian face and how Andrew looked before and after. AnneMarie's eyes when she held the crystal, the sensations I experienced when she was locked in psychic struggled with entity, these comprised the evidence, but how do you quantify this in scientific terms? Simply, one cannot, and this is a failing that stigmatises much in the field of paranormal research, the lack of substantive physical evidence or proof. All I could do was adopt a neutral, open-minded stance and observe. What I saw and felt although entirely subjective convinced me that something 'real' happened, there was an alteration in my perception of reality. As in so many other cases I felt that perhaps at last there was a glimmer of light, a brief glimpse of the elusive truth. Did the medium actually alter the perceptions of those around her for a period and draw us into the alternate reality she created and manipulated, or were the impressions entirely subjective? Was this a demonstration of quantum reality? Perhaps, and it is possible that the ultimate truth to the quest for the mechanism behind the paranormal lies here, in the very origins of matter, the infinitesimal.