Good interview below. I've always known that Satan is the "King" of Air (Ether), hence this element of understanding of evil is being understandably concealed by the powers at be. Only through the Grace of Jesus Christ & God can ward away this evil:
Thanks for the recommendation, I watched it all yesterday evening.
There were points I'd critique, but overall Jerry is humble and honest about his encounters with schizophrenics and the demonically-possessed in all but name. He recommended
Psalm 23 (or
22 for Septuagint) to his patients and said it helped temporarily combat the voices in their heads, which was clear evidence of the spiritual warfare - but I kept thinking: they need
the Jesus Prayer!! Just think how dark and depraved our world is today when even these ruined people (
around 1% of global population) aren't aware of this simple prayer and primary weapon of spiritual warfare. Lord, have mercy!
He mentioned many interesting points, especially that whenever he discusses the demons in any depth and their parasitical nature, he explains how things start to go awry, and then in the podcast itself: James Delingpole's wi-fi cuts out, his light breaks unexpectedly, the call jerks/jumps in sensitive places... pretty revealing!
And guess what happened on my side? I live currently with my mom and stepdad, and whether or not it was coincidence, though I was not involved in the slightest, they had a big argument last night, over pretty much nothing, and it started right after I finished watching it. My only thought was: "Here come the demons..."
Nobody in the right mind would even try to deal with a demon, just as you wouldn't want to deal with a gangster. Either you become their prey, or you become one of them too, and get judged accordingly. They just end up as prey to the demons, and Satan eats their soul. Even more anecdotal evidence of the ongoing spiritual war all around us.
One gigantic wake-up call for me was recognising the seemingly innocent (in the eyes of secularists) 'rock+roll' hand symbol. It's a common emoji too, where the index and little finger create the satanic horns image. I never once made the correlation until I started to turn towards God.
A friend sent a picture gesturing one to me not long ago, and it struck me just how dark and evil it really was, once I knew what it was glorifying. This same friend made me tremble with fear at their presence when we did meet last summer, whereas previously I sensed no malice whatsoever. Either my spiritual sensitivity has spiked, the demons attacks have increased or God is shining a light to reveal these once hidden evils, likely a mixture of them all.
Also, since I seriously started a Prayer Rule with Orthodoxy, I've suddenly noticed an evergreen tree (possibly
Lawson's Cypress) in the distance outside my window, and at the top of the tree there are two distinct horns, and it is facing me head on! I even tried taking a picture to show others, but it wasn't so clear in the image. I know what it signifies, so it's enough for me - it's the evil one intensifying the conflict. Father Deacon Ananias has discussed this too, as I'm sure many priests do, that whenever you take the prayer life or (in particular but not only) Orthodoxy more seriously, they start to increase their attacks and devise new ways to supplant you spiritually.
Before I started my journey with God, the evil one remained obscure, "the greatest trick ever known" as it goes. Now I see him manifest everywhere I go, in this increasingly apostate world. Praise be to God for providing abundant strength, protection and guidance in this eternal spiritual warfare.
I was affected so much by that vision that I started googling and there's a theory that alcohol comes from arabic "al ghoul".
Ever wonder why they call it "spirits" in english too...
I once went down this rabbit-hole a few years ago:
the Spiritual Consequences of Alcohol Consumption - tried debating it with a bartender and it went well, but not enough to rethink their career path
Now that I'm enquiring into Orthodoxy, I realise that alcohol itself is not bad, but just the loss of control, just like obese people lose control of their diets. Temperance is a virtue, after all.
I thought this was a great video summing up the Orthodox perspective on alcohol, which i actually found buried somewhere in this forum: