- Readers of "Glimpses of the Devil" might be
tempted to ask, "What would possess a respected psychiatrist to pen
a book about his work as an exorcist?"
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- For M. Scott Peck, the answer is the passage of time.
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- Now 68 years old and suffering from Parkinson's, the
Harvard University-educated author of the 7-million copy bestseller "The
Road Less Traveled" and 13 other books wanted to recount his experiences
before his death.
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- "I'm getting old and I'm going to die one of these
days," said Peck in a telephone interview from northwestern Connecticut
home. "I thought it would be a sin to go to my grave and take these
stories with me. I owed it to society, science and religion to tell the
stories - and tell the stories scientifically."
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- "Glimpses of the Devil" is not packed with
supernatural tales of levitating beds or head-spinning victims. Rather,
the two 25-year-old cases he chronicles involve women who hear voices and
behave in a manner that Peck says cannot be explained by conventional science.
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- Peck said he explored the possibility demonic possession
in the 1970s to confirm the non-existence of Satan.
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- The first two cases referred by clergy to Peck did nothing
to alter his view.
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- It was the third case, that of Jersey, a 26-year-old
mother who was abandoning her children in pursuit of New Age spiritualism,
that shook Peck's belief.
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- "I went to confirm my belief that the devil didn't
exist," Peck said. "What happened was that my belief was shaken
up - more than shaken up, it was blown to smithereens."
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- Jersey had been seen previously by a psychiatrist hired
by her family in the Southwest. He was unable to engage her in therapy
and she informed him she was possessed.
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- Although the family was Protestant, they contacted the
local Roman Catholic diocese, which investigated the matter and called
upon Peck for his scientific evaluation.
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- Peck said he was initially unsure as to whether the woman
was possessed, but took part in a deliverance, or prayer service, and later,
an exorcism.
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- Jersey exhibited what Peck described as a pretense of
severe schizophrenic psychosis. He came to believe her possession was genuine
and began at the age of 12.
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- During a four-day exorcism, Jersey revealed four different
personalities and exhibited satanic expressions, Peck said. Although the
events were recorded, none but a brief facial change were captured on videotape,
he said.
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- Following the exorcism, Jersey began a productive life
and was deemed mentally fit by another psychiatrist.
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- The second exorcism Peck led involved Beccah, a 45-year-old
New York woman who was in deep depression over a series of questionable
business dealings she and her husband were involved in.
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- She had been Peck's client for a year and underwent traditional
psychotherapy before he broached the possibility of possession with her.
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- There was a three-week remission of her depression following
a deliverance ceremony, Peck said.
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- A full-scale exorcism was performed in which Peck said
he and his team witnessed Beccah take on a snake-like appearance (again
not apparent on videotape), exhibit superhuman strength and have a negative
response to Holy Water and the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer.
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- In Beccah's story, there was no happy ending.
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- The recovery was brief, Peck said. She dismissed Peck
and two years later contacted him by telephone to inform his she was dying
of cancer and was still possessed.
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- Peck, who said he believes Beccah's possession began
in childhood, said he believes there was no way of aiding her because the
demonic influence was of a long duration and she lacked supportive family
and friends.
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- Peck said he is not expecting to win over doubters with
his book. Rather, he said he would like to see possession studied seriously
by psychiatrists.
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- "If people's position is rigid enough, I am not
going to be able to convert them," Peck said. "We need a scientific
institute for the study of deliverance."
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- Such talk of demons and deliverance might lead some to
think that Peck is a darling of religious groups, but he says that is not
always the case.
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- "Religious people can be as doubting as any secular
person," he said.
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