Metamorphosis

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Dear Bishop Manchester, I happened upon a podcast interview you gave for "World Of The Unexplained" a few years back where you discussed the events at Highgate. That led me to your book on the subject which I finished a few days ago. Thank you for writing it, I am glad to have it among my collection of books. I have been a Christian for many years and hold firmly to a Biblical world view. I would never seek to experience any manifestation of evil supernaturalism, but I do think it wise to have a basic understanding of its diverse forms. It is my hope, that you would have the time and inclination to answer a few basic questions with which your book left me. (1) Is it correct to understand that the human corpse of a vampire never leaves it's resting place, but remains in an undead state as sort of a placeholder for the demonic agency, which materializes on its own, possibly retaining the physical likeness of the human corpse, with the possibility of assuming other likenesses as well? (2) The climax of your book describes an incantation to demand that the demonic agency materialize before you. An opening in the ground occurs and the agency appears in the form of a large spider. (This is not the first time I've read of demonic agency taking this form. See the book "23 Minutes in Hell" by Bill Wiess.) Upon impaling this form, it changes into the body of Luisa which then begins to decompose to her proper state in our time. You then state that you return her to the ground. Am I understanding this correctly? If my understanding in the first question is correct then their seems to be an inconsistency between the two incidents. How could Luisa's bodily form exit the grave? Does it have something to do with the incantation that you spoke? I would very much appreciate any comment you could offer. It would serve to help me understand this phenomena as much as it can be understood. (3) You speak some incantations in Latin and you also mention various vampiric deterrents but you don't give much detail as to exactly what they are. (Admittedly, I am a detail person, and the level of detail you give may be more than sufficient for most readers.) Where do the incantations come from? Are they contained in literature specific to the Catholic Church? And the physical deterrents, like the circle of salt, where did your learn of these, from the work of Montague Summers? (His books I have not read.) I very much appreciate any consideration you give my message. In closing I would suggest a book for your interest, "The Handbook of Spiritual Warfare" By Dr. Ed Murphy. This is an extraordinary work, with many interesting case studies dealing with people who have demonic attachments and their subsequent removal. These are not exorcisms in the classic sense, these situations are more subtle and harder to detect, and therefore much more common. Thank you sir, for your time. Warm regards, Scott.

 
 

It is not correct, in my experience, to understand that the corporeal form "never leaves its resting place," though I have read of the theory you postulate. Not, however, in the works of Montague Summers who was also aware of the efficacy of salt, a substance used in Christian ceremonial for the blessing of holy water and much else besides when attempting to present a barrier to demonic intrusion.

The corporeal form, through its demonic agency, does have the supernatural ability to dematerialise and rematerialise outside the confines of its tomb. This is extended to all manner of metamorphosis, as described in my book. So it can "assume other likenesses," and retain more than just the spectral appearance of an apparition when it returns to the corporeal from something else.

 

 

Due to the words I uttered, Lusia took the form of what I at first thought to be "a misty vapour stealing towards me." The exorcism continued for almost an hour before "an uncanny change" in my environment occurred that led to "the outline of a figure on the grave before me." Whether or not it was metamorphosing into what I was about to behold, the next manifestation was indeed a diabolical abomination "the size of a large cat" which "scurried back and forth in the most terrifying manner around the perimeter" of salt interspersed with cups of holy water. This form was impaled as the exorcism reached its climax. It straight away began to metamorphosise back to a corporeal state, albeit now God's true dead, requiring reinterrment and the prayers for the dead. The formula I used is found in the pre-Vatican II Rituali Romano. 

 

I recommend the works of Montague Summers; particularly The Vampire: His Kith & Kin and The Vampire in Europe. There will be much found within these volumes to satisfy your curiousity. My own The Vampire Hunter's Handbook contains sections on antidotes and exorcisms, exhuming and invoking, tradition and blood lust. This, too, might prove helpful and go some way to addressing deterrents.
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