“For me, evil is real and it is in the world,” said Reverend Malcolm Black from the Methodist Church.
This comes after a 12-year-old girl played the game, Charlie Charlie with her school friends.
The game requires a piece of paper, two lines drawn onto it, the words ‘yes’ and ‘no’ written in the four spaces where the lines intersect, and two pencils. The two pencils are put onto each other, on top of the drawn lines.
The player will then proceed to ask, “Charlie, Charlie are you there?” Once this is done, whoever is playing the game must ask ‘Charlie’ a question. ‘Charlie’ is believed to be a spirit.
Wishing to remain anonymous, a concerned mother said her daughter recently attempted this game.
“My daughter came to me and said she had played this game with some friends. They apparently used two pencils and a coin as well, which they spun, and where the coin landed was the answer. They stopped playing when a fight broke out among them.”
Since then, the mother claimed she noticed a drastic change in her daughter’s personality and attitude.
“She used to be a well behaved, respectful, hard working and soft-hearted child. But now, she is colder and tougher. She has also been slacking in her chores and ignores a person; she has become blank. When she looks into your eyes, it feels as if she is looking into your soul and I am scared.”
Believing a demonic force lies behind the matter, the distraught mother is looking for answers.
“I heard the only way to get out of this game’s hold is through murder or suicide.”
Not wishing to leave her daughter’s fate to the unknown, the concerned mother and father took their daughter to their religious leader and were pleased to find she had not been touched by an evil entity.
Reverend Black explained games such as Charlie Charlie, ouija boards, glassy glassy and making use of spirit mediums opened the door to demonic attack.
“Satan will do anything to possess people. He and his demons are spiritual beings and by participating in these games, you are opening yourself to a demonic spiritual presence,” he warned.
He added one could even become possessed if they innocently took part in something of the occult.
“Satan is the father of lies, and deception comes in many aspects.”
Reverend Black explained there were telltale signs of demon possession.
“You need to look if you are losing an emotional connection with your child, if they become arrogant, or struggle with authority. All children go through changes, especially as teenagers, but good parents will know if there is something deeper.”
Reverend Black said it was only through God that a demonic possession could be overcome.
Peter Coleman, a spiritual healer, agreed that games such as Charlie Charlie were dangerous.
“Playing games such as this is a gamble. You can play it and nothing will happen, but then someone else can play it and be possessed. It is a dangerous thing.”
He said he had a relative who once played Glassy Glassy and was ‘possessed by an entity that had attempted to kill her by throwing her into oncoming traffic’.
However, according to him, not all spiritual entities summoned up by games were dangerous.
Mr Coleman explained there were spirits that were mischievous but were of lower intelligence and not malicious.
“There are also those who are highly intelligent and malicious. What some people are not always are of, is that possession is not always related to the Christian devil [Satan],” he said.
Besides the games and ouija boards, Mr Coleman said there were youngsters who downloaded withcraft or satanic ceremonies off the Internet.
“If you do not know what you are doing, you can pull anything out and I would encourage people not to play games such as this or pull spells off the Internet. While it is a gamble, possession can be a frightful experience,” he cautioned.
Once possessed, he said people often didn’t know where to search for help.
“There are priests, pastors and psychic healers who are trained for this and can help. While I claim no exclusivity on this subject, I can help as well,” he concluded.
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