Part 1
The book
Sorrow's Turn (3rd book in the series) is hands down the best e-book I've read so far in 2017. I was so fascinated with the Marker Chronicles that I invited Jimmy to sit down for a cup of tea and a lengthy interview.
The interview
I pass out the tea and cookies. Chocolate chip of course and Jimmy's favorite. Once settled, I sit down across from him. I have to admit, Jimmy is a little intimidating. After all, how many people do you know that deal with demons. Are they, like, attached to him? I pull up my big girl panties and begin:
Jimmy!
I am so excited to talk with you today. How did you become an exorcist?
By proxy? Seriously. (He grins. Cute!) Will, an old friend, came to me and asked me to exorcise his daughter. I was just a former priest at that point. When his daughter was dying, I ended up doing the exorcism anyway. Not that it turned out all that great.
Can you tell us how an exorcism works and what you use?
That might take a semester’s worth of lectures, but I will break it down. The demonic are tricky. They attach themselves to our bodies and souls in a way similar to The Blob absorbing buildings and random objects. A demon digests what makes us, us. And, ultimately, make crap so bad that you renounce God completely.
Then the demon can deliver your soul to the Devil, or in our analogy, The Blob eats you so you are never seen or heard from again. An exorcism throws spiritual knives at the demon, so, it starts drawing back from the soul. Then, once the demon tells us their name or one of their names, we can literally tell it to go back to hell.
Ewe.... Why did you leave the priesthood and when you did, did you carry a lot of guilt with you?
Well, I was kicked out because a woman lied about me and Tabby...
Tabby's the witch, right?
Yes. I was friendly with Tabby. The busybody old lady thought I was doing more than I was supposed to and stuck her nose where it didn’t belong.
Sadly, even the Church has its faults.
Was your family Catholic?
My mom was. Dad was Methodist. I was raised Catholic though.
How did they feel about you leaving the church?
They were both dead by the time I was expelled, so I will truly never know. My dad would have likely sided with me. Mom would have been sad, most likely.
How much time does it take to perform an exorcism? And what objects, talismans or relics are necessary to the process?
There are some exorcisms that have taken over 10 years. So, there is no easy answer to that question. It depends on how powerful the demon is you are dealing with. Objects: for a traditional exorcism, you need Holy Water, a Purple Stole, Vestments (Official Church Uniform), your Crucifix, and a copy of the Roman Ritual.
But, I am anything but traditional.
Do devils and demons frighten you? If so, how do you combat that fear? If they don’t frighten you, why? They would scare the heck out of me.
It depends? (he smiles) All demons make me uneasy. I had the bad luck of having to combat a higher level demon right off the bat. So, I was scared. And, when I get scared I get mad. So, it is kind of a different situation.
How many people are involved in your exorcisms?
It is usually me, the possessed, and my assistant.
How do you manage to coordinate everything?
Boy, you really must think I have my shit together. LOL. Tabby keeps me on schedule.
What do you love about being an exorcist and what do you hate?
The best thing is having the possibility of actually helping someone in a very dire situation.
The worst, having the demons know who you are.
I have always wondered: Do the possessed keep their free will and the demon just takes over their physical body?
It depends on the level of possession. There are times when the person is conscious and may know something is wrong. Similar to someone with Dissociative Identity Disorder. The affected usually can’t see themselves do what they are doing...
Oh, Jimmy. I am so sorry but time got away from me. Can we wrap this up tomorrow? (He grins and my heart stops.)
Part 2 to come...
