Who you gonna call?

[sock puppet]

LDS Ghostbusters? An LDS demonology group?

Yesterday (Sunday) morning in my burg, even for this decades-aged FoMo I heard two accounts of an event that took place earlier that morning on the sidewalk in front of the local LDS temple. One of the two sources claimed to know the LDS investigator involved. Given my disbelief that the events took place, one of the sources game me contact information for the investigator. I called. He told me that he's been a medium and is sensitive to such presences and messages, but has been taking the discussions for 8 days from two elders accompanied by a stake mission leader. Unable to sleep, he started to feel that the apartment he lives in had ghosts or evil demons. He called the stake mission leader, who said there was a "demonology group" in the local church and he would contact them. About 15 minutes later, the call came. The investigator was to remove from the apartment all items brought into it in the two preceding weeks, and then to meet him and the two missionaries outside the gates of the temple. He did as instructed. At the temple grounds, the 'demonologist' led the meeting. The four knelt in a small circle and each of the four said a prayer one a time, with the investigator going last. One missionary anointed the investigator's head with oil, the other missionary then put both his hands on the investigator's head (with the first missionary and the demonologist adding one hand each over top and their other hands on the investigator's head) and giving the investigator a blessing. (This recounting of the oil and laying on of hands for a blessing sounded familiar to my experiences.) Then, with one of the items removed from the apartment and learning its address, the 'demonologist' then performed a short ritual, casting the demons out of the apartment. Lastly, the LDS demonologist gave the investigator what he described as a "totem" to hold and use when he might again sense evil spirits in his apartment or presence, and asked the investigator if he'd be interested in a calling, after baptism, to join the demonologist group given his background as a medium. (The investigator said he was thrilled, as a medium, to find out there were such practices within the LDS church that he was in the process of investigating.)

The rest of the call was the investigator asking me about my LDS experience, and how many times I had been involved in casting out evil spirits (none, neither during a mission or at any other times). The investigator was perplexed at my answer as he was left with the impression from the LDS demonologist and missionaries that it was fairly common.

I found this to be a rather odd story, especially that there might be local groups of LDS demonologists to cast out devils. But of course, I've been out for decades. I was wondering what some of the yet believing or participating members, or more recently minted FoMo's might know about such.

[Dr. Shades]

The investigator was to remove from the apartment all items brought into it in the two preceding weeks, . . .

To include the Book of Mormon the missionaries had given him??

[Gadianton]

I heard stories of the devil being cast out of homes many times in F&T growing up. The Joseph Smith story itself lends credibility that Satan interferes in our affairs as a literal personage, and that he can be commanded to leave. The white handbook documented the process for blessing a home or an apartment. That's not casting the devil out, but it's in the territory -- putting chlorine in the pool regularly rather than shocking it. Why else would you bless a house? Raising the hand to the square and casting him out in Jesus name by the power of the priesthood is a thing. It has happened innumerable times in the Church.

I'm sure he's overlaying the events with his own terminology and expectations. You can also see missionaries, in trying to build on common beliefs, say inappropriate things to keep his interest up. Also, by a "special group" they could mean the high priest's quorum, but not want to use vernacular that requires more explanation. Like, I remember we used to say church entails special meetings where men gather to learn to be better husbands and fathers and women gather to improve as wives and mothers. We'd say that instead of "relief society" and "priesthood meeting" because think of how jargony that terminology sounds. "We have a group that can take care of possessions" could simply mean he'll talk to the Bishop and he and his counselors might show up.

[Moksha]

I think this Demonology group working with missionaries calls itself Cavalry.

[sock puppet]

The investigator was to remove from the apartment all items brought into it in the two preceding weeks, . . .

To include the Book of Mormon the missionaries had given him??

Good catch. I'll bet the guy hadn't thought about that item.