THE CATHOLIC ADVANCE

Wichita, Kansas, U.S.A.

10 October 1952

(page 11)

LISTENING IN.

In Contact With The Spirit World.

A fall book deals with the life of a faker who was a so-called poet, an exhibitionist, a drug addict, a devil-worshiper, and who mixed the so-called Black Mass (worship of the devil) with sex orgies. It seems impossible that a man could openly exalt Satan and get a following, but Aleister Crowley (1875-1947) did. Like a great deal of his life, his Black Masses were a fake. A fallen priest is supposed to celebrate the rite, but Crowley did it himself, under the pretense that he had been ordained in a previous existence.

In our day, the devil is not anxious to have people believe in him as a person, but only to be evil. I was told, however, in Mexico City a few months ago by the pastor of thousands of souls that he occasionally comes across a man or woman who prays to the devil, in return for favors. Mexicans, however low they may fall, do not quit believing in a life to come. Hence the medieval belief in evil spirits is still strong, as well as faith in God, His saints, and the good angels.

A convert to the Church who was once a medium wrote to me some weeks ago that, as a spiritualist, he was simply an outright fake, but occasionally an unseen power came into play and nearly scared the guts out of him. He admitted that he became an alcoholic in worry over the role he was living; then came divine grace, and he became a Catholic.