READERS TALES
Strange Phenomena
Almighty God, we ask you to
bless this salt, as once you blessed the salt scattered over the water by the
prophet Elijah. Wherever this salt (and water) is sprinkled, drive away the
power of evil, and protect us always by the presence of your Holy Spirit. Grant
this through Christ our Lord. Amen"
My story begins with this special blessing recited over salt that is used by the
faithful for driving away evil influences and also to request the power of God's
protection. It is because of my use of blessed salt that I had this weird
experience.
This happened some time in 1997 when I was still married and living in the
south. My then husband and I and our 7 year old son lived in a town-house in
south central Louisiana. Almost from the time we moved in I experienced strange
things. At times when I was alone and watching TV it would just turn off for no
apparent reason. I would always look around to make sure I wasn't sitting on the
remote but every time it was in plain view on the coffee table. Sometimes it
would go off 2 or 3 times while watching one program. It only did this when I
was alone. When I told my husband he said he didn't know why it would do that
because it was a new television.
On one occasion, while doing mundane things
around the house I felt someone tap me on the shoulder rapidly 3 times...it
really freaked me out! Another evening when returning home from a night out and
as we turned into the dark driveway, my son told me he saw a cloaked man leaping
away from our home and into the dark. A shadow person perhaps? I never had a
good feeling about this place and it lead to me often saying prayers and
rosaries and having religious pictures around our home.
Being Catholic, one weekend I was invited to make a retreat. At the end of the
retreat we were given blessed salt and told to use it like we would use holy
water, to bless ourselves and family members, but most importantly to bless our
homes. It was suggested to use around doorways and also inside in all rooms. I
stayed up late one night reading but before going to bed I decided to bless our
home with the salt I'd been given. I went from room to room very quietly so as
not to wake anyone and recited prayers asking God's protection for our family. I
began downstairs in the kitchen, into my son's bedroom and then began making my
way upstairs where my husband slept. I had a very little salt left and I
sprinkled it ever so slightly as I approached our bedroom. All the while I
recited very quietly to myself the powerful prayer to St Michael the Archangel.
I turned the light off in the hall and entered our dark room. As I let the last
bit of salt fall from my hand, my husband sat up from a sound sleep and shouted
twice 'There's an ugly one over there!' He seemed to be directing his attention
to a particular corner of the room. I froze in fear and jumped quickly into the
bed. He laid back down and went to sleep as thought nothing happened.
The next
day I told him about the incident and he told me not to joke around like that. I
said I wasn't joking and he became very upset and said he didn't remember waking
up or saying that. There was a real fear in his eyes and he said he didn't
believe me....but I had never known that kind of fear before and have always
wondered why he jerked up from his sleep to shout out the way he did. If he was
dreaming, then why did his words seemingly refer to some ugly, evil entity that
was fleeing our room as I entered with the armor of blessed salt and prayers? I
can't recall any strange events after that one. This attests to the power of
blessed salt and how very important it is to banish malevolent beings from our
homes or prevent them from entering at all.
Peace, light and prayers,
K. Smith