Demoniese spokery (Demonic hauntings)

Hierdie tipe spoke word beskou as metafisiese entiteite, met die uitstaande kenmerk dat hulle nooit, in enige vorm, menslik is of was nie. Hulle is dus nie die terugkerende siele van afgestorwenes nie, maar kan hulleself as sodanig voordoen. Die motivering van hierdie tipe spoke is haat en boosheid – so word dit blykbaar in die algemeen aanvaar – en hulle manipuleer en onderdruk die lewendes met die doel om uiteindelik ʼn mens te beset (possession). Hawes omskryf demoniese spokery soos volg:

Demons are one of the known inhuman entities out there. Fortunately, they are a rare occurrence. They are usually very easy to identify as long as they are not hiding. When it is a demonic haunting, you typically notice a revolting stench similar to rotted flesh or [sulphuric] acid. They often let loose a growl that sounds like it is coming from everywhere at once. They like to make contact by pushing, shoving, hitting and even scratching. The whole air in the affected area will feel thick like fog and the temperature will drastically change, typically becoming warmer.

These creatures are very strong, unlike human spirits, and they don’t mind showing it. There have been cases where people have been thrown through the air and even attacked. Apparently, their main goal is to break a person’s free will in order to make way for possession. This can take days, months or years, but time is of no concern to them.

They have a hatred for mankind that dates back to the days of God and Lucifer. They have lived for millennia and will be here long after we are gone. So, you must understand that though

you may be able to get these creatures to leave a dwelling with religious provocation, you will never destroy them […]

They can take any form they wish, but most commonly it is a half man, half animal form. They will have the head of an animal, the torso of a man, and the hairy legs of an animal. When they are approached by an investigating paranormal team they may feel threatened and appear in a human form to keep the home from being blessed and stop the use of religious provocation […]

Demons are capable of changing form right in front of you from a human form to an inhuman form. They [are] neither male nor female, but they can change that to meet their needs. People mostly see demons as black masses standing in doorways or near rooms. Sometimes they are called shadow devils (Hawes, s.a.).

Dit kan sekerlik geargumenteer word dat demoniese spokery nie juis as ʼn kategorie van die spook beskou kan word nie. Soos reeds genoem, is die aanvaarde siening dat spoke beskou word as ʼn deel van ʼn oorlede persoon (soos sy gees of sy siel) wat agterbly (of terugkeer). Soos Hawes dit uitwys, is ʼn demoniese spook iets – nie iemand nie – wat nooit menslik was nie.

Daar is oor die algemeen religieuse ondertone in die beskouing van spoke te vinde wat veral uiting vind in die hierdie kategorie. Cuddon (1991:369) wys byvoorbeeld daarop dat metafisiese teologie en filosofie die leringe van die Katolieke Kerk bekragtig: “The Son of God was the most illustrious ghost in history (to say nothing of the Holy Ghost). Christ made eleven separate appearances after the Resurrection”. Die kategorie van demoniese spoke skyn te stam uit vroeëre gelowe oor spoke. Daar is, byvoorbeeld, ná die Reformasie geglo dat alle spoke demone is:

In the century following the Reformation, ghost belief, at least among the elite, was divided along strict confessional lines. Belief on the subject was caught up in a doctrinal web, intimately entwined with the denial or acceptance of Purgatory, and, therefore, of Roman Catholicism. Among the learned within the Reformed Churches, ghosts had largely become absorbed by demonology, even if ambiguities of interpretation persisted. Yet by the end of the seventeenth century, this surety seems to have become radically altered, such that belief in ghosts as something other than devils in human shape, was entirely respectable among committed Protestants (Bath & Newton, 2006:3).

Matless (2008:336) verwys ook na die werke van die Katolieke teoloog Montague Summers, wat in The geography of witchcraft (1927) satanisme, spiritualisme en die geloof in spoke toevou in “witchcraft as a demonic category”. Ackroyd (2010:2-3) skryf ook oor die veranderende beskouing van spoke wat parallel loop met veranderende religieuse oortuigings, soos die Reformasie wat by implikasie die spoke uit die Katolieke vaevuur (purgatory) geneem het en die streng ortodokse kerkmanne gelei het om die nosie van spoke in die geheel te verwerp of as manifestasies van die duiwel te beskou.

Met inagneming van die fundamentele veronderstelling (in populêre kultuur) dat ʼn spook die terugkerende gees van ʼn oorledene is, sou dit nie sin maak om ʼn demoon – wat nooit menslik was of sal wees nie – as ʼn tipe spook te klassifiseer nie. Aan die ander kant kan geargumenteer word dat daar hier gewerk word met metafisiese verskynsels in die breë, en dat beide spoke en demone ontliggaamde entiteite, en derhalwe metafisies van aard is. Omdat daar geen tekens van

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demoniese spokery te bespeur is in enige van die drie romans hier ter sprake nie, val dit nie binne die bestek van hierdie studie om uit te klaar of dit korrek sou wees om demone as spoke te klassifiseer nie.