In 1991 in St. Petersburg, with the blessing of the Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga John, the book "People and Demons" by the priest Rodion (Father Alexei) was published. One of its parts is called "The Phenomenon of a Poltergeist in the Light of the Patristic Teachings."
Regarding the phenomenon itself, Father Alexei writes the following: “On the pages of the modern press, there are often notes about anomalous phenomena taking place in a particular apartment. Water pours from the walls, furniture flies through the air, owners are beaten by invisible hands. Now these phenomena are given a beautiful German name - poltergeist. The believing Christians called it devilry or the tricks of evil spirits, which, through the passion and unbelief of people, received such strength and power in our world."
The priest also cites the opinion of scholars on the same issue. “What is it,” atheist scientists wonder, “a breakthrough of an extraterrestrial civilization into our world? Or just natural phenomena not yet discovered by science?"
“There are more than twenty hypotheses trying to explain the poltergeist,” says Professor G. Gurtovoy. “For ourselves, we note some analogy between the manifestations of a poltergeist and ball lightning.” What made the respected professor incline to such a "profound" hypothesis? Apparently, the same incomprehensibility for science of both phenomena. According to A. A. Gorbovsky, "the problem of poltergeist has been studied for many years by researchers from various laboratories and scientific institutes of the country on the territory from the Baltic to Novosibirsk and from Leningrad to the Transcaucasus." The result is 20 theories.
“So,” continues Father Alexei, “as we can see, the official materialistic science has reached a dead end in explaining this phenomenon. As, however, every time when faced with the manifestation of the invisible world in earthly reality.
Meanwhile, the solution to the poltergeist lies in its very name, which in translation from German means “noisy spirit”. A spirit that harms people with its noise and actions. Who it is, for a Christian there is no mystery - all the same crafty demon, tirelessly seeking the destruction of man. The fact that an unclean spirit is capable of performing all those “miraculous actions” that lead Soviet scientists to a standstill is clearly shown in the first chapter of our book, dedicated to the nature and properties of fallen angels."
Further, Father Alexei describes several cases of poltergeist and gives them an Orthodox interpretation. For example, speaking about the Moscow voice poltergeist of 1666, the priest explains: “As we can see, the pious Tsar of Russia, with the boyars, even without the help of many research institutes, determined the source of the disorder and correctly prescribed the course of treatment, sending the Monk Illarion to the scene. The same prayer, with the help of the grace of God, and persecuted the unclean spirit."
Regarding the case with the little drum, Father Alexei writes the following: “In this story one can see a voluntary union of a man with a fallen spirit. Proceeding from the girls' religious illiteracy, their disbelief and lack of a clear understanding of the other world and its laws, Barabashka Bes gradually took possession of the minds of her friends, they began to communicate with him and follow his advice."
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The priest also expresses generalizations that apply to the entire phenomenon as a whole: “… the phenomena of a poltergeist can be the result of witchcraft, when someone, having hated their neighbors and wishing to harm them, either conjures and sends them unclean forces (poltergeist), or applies for this to a professional sorcerer.
In all details, we can trace the mechanics of such an action, referring to the life of St. Cyprian, which describes the evil that he did to people at that time, when he was still friends with evil spirits. But, as in those days when all his tricks were broken on faith, fasting and the prayer of St. Justina, even now all witchcraft actions turn to dust when faced with the power of God. But for this, first of all, we need the Christian faith of people, fasting, prayer, church life with confession and communion.
On special occasions, the church also uses special incantatory prayers, placed in a large missal entitled "Following a prayer to resist sorcerers, the hopes of people and cattle, houses and places slumped from evil dreams" or "Following a prayer over a house or place enchanted and slumped from evil spirits ".
I myself have more than once had to use this rite when consecrating houses, the owners of which complained about the manifestation of demonic power in their dwellings. It manifested itself in frequent illness and death of cattle, a feeling of discomfort in the house, various fears. After confession and communion of the hosts, when they themselves began to fast, pray and lead a church life, the above prayer singing was served and, as a rule, everything that bothered the hosts disappeared."
Summing up, Father Alexei notes: "… the more frequent phenomena of poltergeist in our society are a consequence of its lack of spirituality and depravity, when demons, without meeting opposition, openly enter people's lives and, enslaving them, destroy their souls."
January 12, 1993 the newspaper "Soviet Russia" published an interview with Father Alexei.
“Most of our contemporaries,” he says, “are religiously indifferent. They do not know the laws of the development of the spiritual world, they have lost faith, and not only in God, but in general in any ideals. And now the ninth wave of occultism falls upon them. And they are completely under his influence. Reflecting on such facts, analyzing these phenomena, I turned to the now forgotten literature - historical, ecclesiastical, evangelical, patristic - and found confirmation of my thoughts. All these phenomena - extrasensory perception, astrology, the UFO phenomenon, and the cult of Eastern teachings - are links in one chain: a large-scale plan of destructive impact on the Orthodox Russian people is being implemented. I wrote about the essence of these phenomena in my book."
So, perhaps, the origins of modern demonism in our society are connected with this very circumstance, and are not the legacy of Bolshevism, as Sergei Kuleshov, Doctor of Historical Sciences, believes? After all, Father Alexey, one of the spiritual companions of Metropolitan John, confirms with knowledge of the matter:
“A person in pride easily falls under the spiritual mystical dependence on the dark world, which really exists, really acts in our life. Through our passions, demons penetrate our souls and take possession of us, begin to control us through the thoughts that we take for ours. A humble man, dying to his pride, lives for eternity in God."