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And welcome back to Coast to Coast George Nori with you. Dan eckerdback with us psychic medium, occultist, expert, seance host. He loves interesting books on spirit communication, magic and ritual workings and the ways in which the occult has influenced everyday life. He hosts seances with his wife Kat, performs psychic readings, enjoys lecturing on all things related to the occult, Crossroads, entities and spirit communication websites linked up at Coast TOCOASTAM dot com. Dan, welcome back.
How have you been George. It's great to hear from you. Thanks so much for having.
Me looking forward to this. How did you get started in dabbling with the occult?
Yeah, well, I grew up in a haunted house and it seemed like maybe the easiest way, or the best way to get some results in dealing with the things that were terrifying me was to learn more about them. And that started in a reader's digest book The Great Mysteries of the twentieth Century, which of course you know, featured Alistair Crowley and the Pyramids and spontaneous combustion and
and all of those things. And that's what started my journey of thinking like, well, wait a second, what is this magic that people are talking about, and will this help me with my ghost issue?
I think I read that same Reader's Digest issue and it was fantastic, wasn't.
Yeah, Yeah, I mean it totally captured my imagination.
And you do exorcisms as well. I thought that was just relegated to a Catholic priest.
Yeah. You know, that's a really great question, and that's
really the thing that people think of. I think of that nineteen seventies horror movie The Exorcist, and I think there's a lot of drama in that certainly, And the Catholic Church has always been one of the louder Christian proponents of exorcism, but there are a great many different traditions that deal with exercising or removing spirits, and occultism or the practice of Derek or a cult philosophy is one of the main bedrocks of where we get our kind of technology that we use for exorcism.
Dan tell us a little bit about your understanding of possessions and what that is and who is the possessor or.
Yeah, you know, when we talk about stuff like you know, you mentioned the Catholic Church. There's a tendency for people to think that possession is purely some kind of Satanic entity or maybe even Satan himself in the in the Exorcist horror film. But when we talk about possession, we really look at this from the lens of well, what are spirits and what do the spirits that are involved in a possession or involved in taking up space where
they should not be? Why are they there and what specifically are they Now there are a great deal of spirit lists that have been accumulated by people studying the occulta or studying demons and angels and trying to figure out a cosmology of where these things sit, like who's in charge of these beings or entities. But that logic begins to break down even further when we begin to kind of reckon with this idea of an animist framework
for magic. An animist framework being that anything kind of has a spirit or an essence about it that has a will. So to break that down and make it, you know, kind of easy to understand. That means that not only could you know an angel or a demon or a spirit that we traditionally think of as spirits that might move objects in houses or you know, frighten people or even possess them. Ideas can become those sorts of things. A belief that we have can become oppressive
or possessive. I've spoken with many indigenous individuals who practice shamanism, who believe that there's a kind of spirit of possession within you know, modern society of greed, if you will,
or something along a more kind of moralistic framework. So that's why when we talk about like an occult perspective on exorcism, what that really is talking about is well accurately determining who and what it is we're dealing with, rather than just kind of trying to like rubber stamp it with a one size fits all kind of banishment or exorcism process.
Have you ever been hurt or attacked in your work?
Yeah, you know, people go to this pretty quickly, and I think there is a lot of drama there. But yes, things have been thrown at me. I've seen things apperate in front of me in the middle distance coins Most commonly, of course, I've been threatened by individuals both individuals who are involved in the exorcism as the people afflicted by that spirit or entity. But I have also been physically pushed, never scratched, fortunately, but my wife has been exorcism in
a building that's pretty close to us. We were actually covered and made the front page of the paper for it. She actually was tossed like someone picked her up and like gently, well not gently, picked her up, and threw her back from a room she was trying to enter. She didn't, not land on her feet, but still it was one of those moments of oh, there's something real here and physical here that's pushing back against us.
Now.
I know Kat works with you on sciances, but is she either the psychic realm too.
Yes, And honestly, this kind of exploration into the world of seance is the world of spirits ultimately led her to take a step back from doing exorcism, in particular because the we'll call it the emotional drain of the work was a little bit too heavy. So while she still does mediumship, and while she still practices magic and you know, leads retreats and teaches with me, the exorcism thing is something she tends to stay away from and I don't blame her, it is right.
Well, Russell Crawl, the actor who we know is got a movie coming out called The Pope's Exorcist where he plays the part of a real exorcist, the late doctor Gabriel Lamoreth, father of Morth, who claimed he claimed Dan to have performed Get this fifty thousand exorcism? Is that conceivable?
I mean I always raise my eyebrows when I see anything kind of associated with a Hollywood film production, because they do have to prioritize drama. That seems a little high to me. But I also know that if that is your main job, that is the main thing that you are doing, of course it's going to take up all of your attention, and of course you're going to get all those cases. I mean, let's just face back here.
The Catholic Church has not been as aggressive in their pursuit of exorcism as the United States and Europe have modernized. As modernity has kind of taken hold this idea of spirits possessing a space or God forbid, a person becomes, you know, something that feels too much like superstition, and so we try and push it out of our minds and say that can't.
Happen even if he did it. Over thirty years, we're talking about sixteen hundred plus exorcisms a month. That's got to be exhausting.
And I wonder too, how they're counting those spirits. So, you know, an exorcism process can take place. You can do an exorcism in a building or for a person and there might be more than one entity attached to that space or attached to that person. I mean to use that kind of animist perspective we talked about a little bit earlier. Consider, you know, if someone if the indigenous peoples are correct, and you know we are possessed by a spirit of greed, well what other things come
with greed? Well, avarice, you know, sometimes lying these things, and there are certain entities that rule over those particular you know, actions that people take, so divining whether or not this is truly a spirit versus you know, just the actions of a person versus the actions of many spirits or entities. That's really where you know. Having in occult framework I think allows you to be a little bit more precise in the operations you're trying to perform.
If we were to give you one title with what you do. What title would you prefer to be called on there?
I prefer occultist because it covers a vast variety of my research and the work that I do. You know, as a spirit medium, certainly I connect with people's you know, departed loved ones. But then also I do ritual workings for clients, or I do ritual workings for my own purpose that might aid in manifestation or higher self knowledge. Exorcism, alchemy, these things all kind of traffic and trade amongst each other.
So the term occultist, I feel, is general enough to kind of give me latitude, while specific enough in letting people know, no, I am coming at this from a perspective that is other than, you know, one of the mainstream, top tier, big religions.
Well, with Dan Eckert, we're talking about occultism. Why is it that the word ac cult seems dark and dangerous and scary and evil to so many people?
Well, George, here we are talking about exorcism. And even though I'd like to think I'm one of the good guys quote unquote helping people, it still is scary. And you know, the vast amount of people we've helped in performing exorcisms. Their constant refrain has been I'm afraid people will think I'm crazy and no one will ever believe this,
and that's kind of an alienating factor. I don't think people are prepared to engage with this type of work, and so when they hear the term a cultist, they think of all the dark things associated with it, and I think sometimes they confuse that term with the term cult, you know, a cult of you know UFO, like you know, murder, suicide or something like you've read about in too many countless papers, or you know, small religious sects gone awry. Those those kinds of cults, I think reflect on the
term a cult, which simply means hidden. But not everyone knows that.
With exorcisms, do you invoke the name Jesus to get rid of the demon?
It depends on the spirit some entities, some demons have a direct relationship with a kind of Christian pantheon, others seem to come from outside of that, you know. To use the Bible as an example, we're told in the Book of Kings how Solomon allegedly erected the temple, and
he does so by binding and commanding demons. Now they're not listed in the Bible, but the Bible specifically references a book called the Acts of Solomon, which is all about where Solomon found his demons, and those demons the Acts of Solomon reveal actually come from an entirely separate kingdom, the Kingdom of Babylon. So the idea of certain spirits having certain home ecosystems, where some entities are more effective than others is a primary tenet of the kind of
occult view of exorcism. So, yes, Jesus is a powerful name to use, but so it is a bebeloi, which means a way away. All ye profane in Greek.
Now, how do you prepare for an exorcism? And the person who's possessed, how do they come to you for help?
Yeah, so often we get referrals after people have been kind of exhausting every other outlook. So by the time, and this comes up a lot when we talk about, like, you know, what is an exorcism? And I think, as we've discussed on this call, sometimes people feel like either it's superstition or it's something that's exclusively Catholic. But no
matter what's happening there, most people feel very alone. They feel very isolated and they feel as though no one's really taking them seriously, and so they pursue the standard
channel of friends. Sometimes historians, if they live in a historic area and are experiencing haunted phenomena or hauntings, they will explore often psychologists, you know, because people do worry that they're losing connection with what we would consider to be sane, and so by the time they end up with us, it's often been a referral through either I would call them spiritually aware therapists who maybe have a view outside of just like traditional we can recommend this
therapeutic technique, and then also parapsychological organization. So you know, ghost hunters who maybe go into a space expecting a really exciting investigation come out with more than they've bargained for, and that's when we show up.
Dan, what do you use in an exorcism? Do you have a Bible with you? Any special tools or instruments, cruci effects?
I like to I take it all. I'll tell you. The biggest tool that we tend to use is a pendulum, because pendulums allow for some degree of communication with what is around us and the spirits of the space. But it's also very safe. Unlike something like a Oija board or channeling, where you open a pathway of communication that feels more two sided, the pendulum is more one sided.
All that happens is the pendulum moves. So we'll use that sometimes to diagnose who is most afflicted by this phenomena, where the phenomena resides trying to get yes or no names, so we can apply the spirit to a list. So of course I'll be bringing my grim wires with me often, the Lesser Key of Solomon, the six and seven Books of Moses, and these are again books that have large
indexes of entities and spirits. So once we start deducing who we have on the line, we can figure out what effectively removes them, what ecosystem they're a part of. It becomes it's more than just carrying a crucifix in a bag. Although I keep my crucifix with me.
You don't splash holy water on the subject.
No, I don't use holy water. Holy water, any purified with water can be very useful. I tend to like using Florida water, which is a wash that evolves out of like a hoodoo tradition, and actually after the fountain of Youth that supposedly exists within Florida, but it's always been used as a good banishing agent, so I'll use that also, Candles and statuary reliquaries from any kind of saint or shrine, and I have quite a few relics that I'll use, especially if we come up against a
spirit that's identifying as exclusively Christian or within that frame. And then things like pieces of iron, iron, coffin, nails, glass bottles which we can use to buy into spirit or create a spirit trap.
Was the Fountain of Youth water found by Ponce de Leon.
Allegedly, You know how it is. I have not seen signs of the Fountain of Youth in Florida, but I will say Florida is a strange place, so it wouldn't surprise me.
He did go looking for it, that's for sure he did. How long does an exorcism normally last?
Yeah, Well, it depends on the number of spirits involved, and it depends if we need to get anything else. So, for example, if there's a spirit that fits very well within certain astrological timings and conditions, we might want to wait until the moon is in a certain phase, or we might want to create a certain seal or sigil or spirit trap that will require astrological timing, like a hakate spirit trap will generally need to be fired or created on a new moon. So we do have that
timing constriction sometimes to think about. But in terms of showing up to the space and working through it, it can generally take quite a long time. Three to four hours seems to be the normal amount of time for an exorcism. Not only do you have to tend to the people who are involved, also the space and the spirits, and then there's this great deal of after counseling or just checking in with these people after they go through something like that.
Now, you're not a doctor, Dan, but how do you know whether you should refer somebody to a psychiatrist as opposed to just do the exorcism?
Absolutely, and that's I'm so glad you brought that up, George, because yeah, Kat and I we are not doctors. We are not professional medical figures in any way. However, most of the individuals that we work with have already come through a vetted network of traumas, formed therapists or psychologists, so by the time they've arrived with us, they have a kind of case history that they're willing to share.
If someone comes to us, though, and is saying that they have a you know, a troublesome spirit or they feel like someone around them might be possessed, we do refer them immediately to someone who's in our network with therapy and psychology, just to ensure that there is nothing mundane happening that could be explained away or treated more effectively than exorcism. However, I will make it clear that we tend to in modern society view exorcism and mental
illness as explanatory of each other. So if someone is claiming to be possessed or that they're haunted, they're just really, you know, they need their medication up or something they need to go up a dose. And when we look at the literature or the history of this work, there
does seem to be not a causal relationship. But certainly these two things exist together, and that's been something that has come up in the work in the past that just because someone might exhibit a mental situation that can be diagnosed accurately and treated accurately, does not also mean that they could not be having paranormal phenomena or spirit phenomena as well.
Do Sometimes these people come in screaming and yelling at you.
You know, the people who are doing the screaming and yelling are often the ones who are most afraid of what's happening, and their biggest fear is always you're going to make this worse. And that's generally because everything that they've tried up until this point has made it worse.
I e. They have a friend who's into ghost hunting who told them to like, you know, break out the weedge aboard and see if it has a name, or they have some friends who are just making fun of them for it, so they try to ignore it and they just press it down and you know, try not to acknowledge it while secretly dreading it all the time. So generally, when someone approaches us and is really whipped up, it's because they are they are anxious, they are feeling afraid.
Kat and I are generally very very good at calming them down and explaining clearly.
What it is we're doing that's important on your floor to some and Lucifer, we're actually very very method methodically going through a list of solutions and trying them.
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