Subduing Demons

Let me begin by stating that many of you among the readership of this newsletter do not wrestle with demons, so this will not apply to you. But I receive enough letters from readers to know that a great many of us wrestle with dark thoughts and urges, and want help overcoming them. Rather than take each letter individually, I'm going to address the problem in a manner that will help most of us.

According to the Cayce readings, dark influences mostly come from within us as carryover from our soul's past lives. A look at the historical weaknesses of human beings will identify the most common challenges, often listed as the Seven Deadly Sins: lust (uncontrolled or illicit sexual desire), gluttony, greed, laziness, wrath (uncontrolled, often violent anger), envy ("it's always better beyond us and our possessions"), and pride (self-exaltation). To these, Cayce's readings would add hatred, cruelty, mean-spiritedness, backstabbing, contention, faultfinding, and selfcondemnation. All of these have tormented souls from the dawn of free will. Few have not dealt with at least some aspect of one or more of these. When souls indulge in one or more of these weaknesses over a period of time, they become possessed by the vice. It becomes a part of the soul's fabric. The readings indicate that such activity builds habit patterns that possess the heart and mind.

However, souls also have an unswerving desire to reconnect with their Maker, so souls seek out opportunities to resolve these vices - vices that make it nearly impossible to reconnect with the All-Knowing consciousness of the Creator. Like Adam and Eve, we seek rather to hide from God's presence rather than enter with these dark influences. Tragically, it is only with God's help that we can subdue these possessing influences! Thus, hiding only prolongs our struggle.

Our salvation comes in accepting that our Creator understands human vices, has experienced them firsthand, and knows how difficult they are to overcome. God has experienced these through us! In reality, there never was a way to hide from the All-Knowing, All-Present. God always knew what was going on within us. God's love and mercy upon us allowed us to believe that we were private, our sins secret, but in fact, they were not. One only has to see how the tuned-in Edgar Cayce psychically knew everything about any one of us! God is already aware of our dark urges and thoughts. God understands these and is ready to help us - no matter how many times we fail to subdue them or how tightly we hold on them! Yes, most of us do not really want to end our indulgences. They have become a part of us. We find comfort in them. Of course, we cannot continue like this if we are to reconnect fully with our Creator and live eternally in harmony with the All-Knowing.

Current research reveals that most resolutions to change only succeed when we reach a point of readiness to change. Until then, we tend to indulge in our weaknesses. We have to reach a point where we are ready to let go of these vices. Cayce's readings state that this happens best when we set a higher goal for ourselves. Now we are quitting our indulgence for a higher purpose, a purpose that engages life and our will.

Successfully subduing dark thoughts and urges requires that we invite God's help in the effort. From my own personal experience, I believe that we cannot succeed without God's help. As difficult as it may be, inviting God's All-Knowing presence into our darkness is an embarrassing yet powerful step.

Another amazing step is taking hold of love. Yes, love. I know how crazy it sounds, but nothing has more power over our dark urges and thoughts than love. Just review the Seven Deadly Sins and Cayce's additional list and you'll see how love takes the power out of every one of these. The apostle Peter, who made so many mistakes with Jesus, wisely wrote in his epistle, "Love hides a multitude of sins."

In fact, Cayce's readings add the entire list of the so-called Fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, meekness, humility, and self-control. To these we can add the historical Seven Heavenly Virtues that oppose the Seven Deadly Sins: purity, moderation, generosity, diligence, patience, kindness, and humility. Cayce instructs us to practice these each day in our varied situations and relationships, and watch the miracle of transformation spring forth in our hearts and minds. Love has a spirit to it that tames the beast within us. Finally, patience is needed. The Master taught, "In patience you will possess your soul." Most of us cannot overcome our dark urges in one attempt. It requires many tries and daily mindfulness - over years. But with our readiness to make the change, God's merciful companionship, a higher purpose to our lives, the power of the Fruits of the Spirit (especially love), and enduring patience (mostly with ourselves), we can subdue the negative influences that possess us.