Monsters in an area of confusion

As discussed on Skepticule Extra 28, the Goddess Roundtable podcast is a festival of woo. After hearing co-host Paul Thompson describe this particular episode I decided to give it a listen. I posted a link on Facebook and commented as it progressed:

Listening to this now — it's hilarious:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/goddessroundtable/2010/10/29/the-monster-in-the-vagina-testament-to-vaginal-exorcisms

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    Paul Jenkins It's also depressing — that there are people living such fantasy and believing it's real.

    Sunday at 15:41 ·
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    Paul Jenkins Now at about 16 minutes, and wondering if it's actually an allegory for sensible sexual health maintenance...

    Sunday at 15:44 ·
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    Paul Jenkins ‎"interdimensional beings" and "energy vortexes"

    Sunday at 15:46 ·
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    Paul Jenkins Oh, it's a phone-in show. Why does she need the phones? Can't she just communicate telepathically or something?

    Sunday at 15:54 ·
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    Paul Jenkins ‎"elohim" (There should be a paranormal bingo card for this show.)

    Sunday at 16:08 ·
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    Paul Jenkins ‎"chakras", "meridians", "spiritual anatomy"

    Sunday at 16:11 ·
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    Paul Jenkins ‎"generational curses", "demonic entities"

    Sunday at 16:12 ·
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    Paul Jenkins This caller says she has "some confusion in the womb area". I presume this is a euphemism.

    Sunday at 16:17 · · 1
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    Paul Jenkins The host's advice is essentially "Buy my book!"

    Sunday at 16:21 ·
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    Paul Jenkins Now she's claiming her book is divinely inspired (channelled).

    Sunday at 16:23 ·
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    Paul Jenkins Not sure why it's called Goddess Roundtable — she nattered bollocks (in more than one sense) for half an hour, then responded with barnum statements and cold reading of the deludons who called her show.

    Sunday at 16:28 ·
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    Paul Jenkins It's over. Now, is a cup of tea a good remedy for a potentially exploding skull?

    Sunday at 16:30 ·

So You Want To Be an Exorcist — BBC Radio 4

This BBC Radio 4 half-hour programme appears to be a serious documentary, but the deadpan delivery of presenter Jolyon Jenkins, and the words of his interviewees, put me inexorably in mind of the spoof documentary series, "People Like Us" — and I couldn't shake the suspicion that the whole thing might be a send-up.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b012x12c
(Streaming audio available in perpetuity or until the beginning of 2099, whichever occurs first.)

Jolyon Jenkins

It was HumanistLife, the news and blogging website of the British Humanist Association (and for which I've written), that linked to the programme and I can see why. The idea of demonic possession seems completely out of kilter with our contemporary world — and I for one don't believe a word of it. But there are those who think it's real, despite much of the rationalization sounding like archaic interpretation of symptoms more likely due to other causes — such as, for instance, constitutional indolence.

What's disturbing is that some of the people being exorcised should probably be undergoing treatment for clinical depression. Convincing them they are possessed by an evil spirit seems at the very least counterproductive.

Why do exorcists and their clients think that demonic possession is on the increase? Exorcists point to an alleged increase in interest in the occult, together with risky behaviour such as practising yoga, reading horoscopes, and an increase in new age forms of spiritualism. One Anglican bishop has said that clues to the presence of an evil spirit include "repeated choice of black, for example in clothing or colour of car".

That people can take this stuff seriously is symptomatic of the tenacity of magical thinking. Here we have the suggestion that you can be controlled against your will by having a little person (who isn't you) inside your body — or your mind — inhabiting your unconscious and making you behave "out of character". Sounds to me like a massive excuse for something or other.

During the course of the programme Jolyon Jenkins gets the opportunity to attend an actual exorcism, and he is given permission to record it. But at the last moment the exorcist tells him that he can't record audio of the event, only take notes. Undaunted, Jolyon Jenkins does just that, after which we are treated to a spirited re-enactment of the whole thing where he performs all the voices.

It's a well-made programme, and actually quite fun — but don't take it as gospel. (To be on the safe side though, you should avoid yoga, horoscopes and wearing or driving anything black. I always thought those London cabbies looked a bit suspicious....)

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For another (far more sensational) take on demonic possession you should check out Bob Larson.

Fantasy on a Thursday night: Apparitions - BBC1

Utter tosh or serious religious fiction?

Apparently the new high-profile drama Apparitions, starring Martin Shaw, was originally scheduled for the beginning of this year, but is only now appearing on UK TV screens:

http://www.sfx.co.uk/page/sfx?entry=exclusive_interview_joe_ahearne_on

It's earnest stuff, judging by the first two episodes, with plenty of gore and special effects, but it has a problem with credibility. Being based on Catholicism, it inevitably elicits rolled eyes as the main characters come out with religious nonsense as if it were established fact. Martin Shaw plays a Catholic priest who moonlights as an exorcist - naturally he's very good, playing it as Judge John Deed in a dog collar.

It will be interesting to see whether the Catholic Church denounces the show. I have a feeling it won't. It didn't denounce the film The Exorcist, and probably rightly so, as everything in that film ought to have reinforced any Catholic's faith.

And if the Catholic Church doesn't denounce Apparitions, are we to interpret that as tacit approval - that the things it portrays are in line with Catholic doctrine?