Possession vs. Oppression

There is a very important distinction between oppression and possession when dealing with demons.

Now one thing I will mention right off the bat. As far as I know demons are the only spiritual entities capable of either of these attacks. I suppose angels are, since demons are simply fallen angels, but angels don't do these things as they are violations of free will.

Now, I suppose you may be saying, "Well, I know what possession is, what's oppression?"

Oppression is when a demon makes suggestions or puts thoughts in someone's head that wouldn't otherwise be there. Usually of a highly destructive nature. There isn't as much information on this sort of attack in popular works such as what's on the internet because it doesn't make for as sensational a story as full possession.

It is still dangerous.

With possession the demon must be welcomed in somehow. This can happen with seances or other forms of summonings and divinations. Or perhaps a request for power. I'd like to think it's rare for someone to knowingly let a demon into their body, but I really don't have any proof of this.

With oppression it's different. Anyone can be oppressed. It doesn't matter what you do. It doesn't matter how often you go to church. It doesn't even matter if your a priest.

Actually, it's likely that the holier you live your life the more likely it is that demons will try to oppress you. All of the saints have experienced this. Mother Teresa wrote about a time when it seemed God was not in her life. This caused quite a sensation after her death, but to me it wasn't so surprising. After all, in a war who do you try to bring down first but the best the enemy has?

That is what oppression is. The slow wearing away of defenses. Also to scare and disturb the target.

Having said all that, you may wonder how someone can be sure they are being oppressed, rather than just suffering from depression or having random thoughts.

Well, that's hard to say. I suppose in most cases you can't really tell.

There have been times when I'd pass a stained glass window or something else of great worth and have a mental image of me somehow destroying it. It always scared me a bit because I knew I'd never do something like that on purpose. At the earliest times oppression never occurred to me, but at that time I didn't know about oppression. Later I thought that might be it, but never said anything to anyone.

Maybe I should have. Maybe some of the fear would have been alleviated.

On a related note, while trying to find information for this post I found an interesting site that may be useful. It's called the Catholic Online Spiritual Warfare Education and Information Center.