Why have I been trained as a demonologist after 36 years in ministry?
Good question, but no direct answer!
As I was born into a Catholic family, I heard about the devil at a very young age, but it was more about right and wrong. I learned about the devil in my primary classes, from third grade to sixth grade, in our Catechism class.
In the ministry training course, we learn about the devil in
- Demon Cultural Ontology A supernatural being: a spirit, a divine force, a semi-divine being, an evil spirit, or a malevolent force.
- Satan Devil, Systematic Theology
- Devil/Demon, a Supernatural Being, the adversary of God.
- Satan Devil, Cultural Ontology, An Evil Supernatural Being, Preaching Theme, Supernatural Being, The adversary of God.
- Concept
- Literature
Since my training was primarily focused on becoming a Chaplain, we didn’t cover much about the devil in Divinity courses.
WHY?
Following the Council of Vatican II and governments becoming increasingly secular, religion was removed from schools, hospitals, and other institutions. Most people of the generation after mine became atheists; also, we noticed an augmentation of people toward spiritism and occultism, with sentences like “spiritual but not religious?
Roman Catholic parishes claim not to have enough exorcist priests; we are living in a funny world.
1966
In 1966, 14-year-old Eric Michel was going to be fifteen at the end of that year. As mentioned, I entered the paranormal world with an essay on grade height requirements from our teacher, Mr. Cormier, on the topic of our choice. I choose UFO.
Taking notes from an organism bulletin, the Ufologist of Ottawa, who my father lay down on our buffet.
UFOs were one of many topics in my dad’s library…
In his collection of books, we could find:
- Sorciers d’aujourd’hui Editions de Crémille, Genève, 1970 height books
- All paranormal books collection J’ai lu, Belline, 1977
- Mystère de la mort Presses Universitaire, France, 1943
- Cours pratique de graphologie, Henri Dangles, Paris, 1937
- Missals and other Catholic books
- And the most intriguing and want-to-know books for teenagers, The Grand Albert and the Petit Albert
Of course, I wasn’t allowed to read them, but when you’re a young, curious boy.
From those books, especially Petit Albert (Grimoire), I was more interested in because of its size, pocketbook and Petit Albert graphics.
- You learn how to make wands.
- Talismans
- A devil protection circle
- How to call the devils depends on your needs, as each devil has its unique power—a devil for love, another for money, etc.
The devil in my life and ministry was never a priority; I was dealing with more evil persons than the devil itself.
- 2023 New Year’s Eve Demonology 101 with Bishop James Long
- 2024 New Year’s Day Diploma in modern demonology for paranormal investigators
Those courses don’t make you a specialist, but they are enough to walk around if you are already a clergyman and, in my case, a paranormal ghost hunter since 2011.
Usage
Note in our class, Demonology 101, the teacher. The Right Reverend James Long,
mentioned that a Demonologist cannot perform exorcisms, but in the class of modern demonology for paranormal investigators, we learn how to perform an exorcism…
The ritual is two miles shorter than the Roman Catholic exorcism. Oh! By the way, the devil doesn’t belong to the Roman Catholic Church but to everybody, earth, human or animal event things. Demonology isn’t a subject that can be studied at university. It’s not a recognized profession, and the title has little or no credibility outside the church. By studying demonology, by the very nature of the title, we become a demonologist.
My goal, like Saint Francis of Assisi, is to help others, and as a chaplain, I have had the opportunity to do so in various ways. In all my years of ministry, I have crossed paths with only one person who asked me for an exorcism: John from Britania, Ottawa. Didn’t know what to do or what to say, and of course, I didn’t refer him to any other church because he had already been exorcist many times by other pastors or ministers.
Cannot say if I will or not cross another person like John, but it is better to be prepared than…
The Devil and Me
I have an ancient relationship with the devil, one that I’ve cultivated through books and cinema.
One of my interests is to see how Hollywood presents the devil.
“Fascinating,” will say Mr. Spock
The image of the devil is wrong, but they are more concentrated on scaring you and making money.
The devil in my book is an entity, a ghost, a spirit, an evil spirit but a spirit anyway. Everyone knows you cannot see a spirit, so you cannot have any image of the devil, ghosts, or angels, even if my sites are illustrated with those images.
Love the graphic of Angels and Demons in (Aquinas 101) on YouTube.
I noticed in the class on modern demonology for Paranormal Investigators that the terms used and descriptions can be found in many movies and documentaries, like The Conjuring by the Warrens.
When everyone uses the same language, it is more reassuring.
God bless you!
Michel of Notre Dame