Guest post with author Deidre Havrelock

 

 

Deidre Daily is drawn to anything seemingly spiritual, desperately seeking a spiritual existence. But inside this vibrant girl hides a terrified child who sincerely believes she has married the devil. Through a series of spiritual encounters her fear turns into reality, and she ends up possessed.

Deidre’s fascinating memoir relays her story from childhood to adolescence: invisible eyes leering at her from the corner of her bedroom, horrible nightmares tormenting her, and her desperate attempt to find God—only to end up possessed. It is a candid account of possession from a first-person perspective. This dark memoir brings to light an intricate world of deceitful spirits hell-bent on manipulating and damaging an innocent girl’s life, not only through her dreams, but also through seemingly every-day encounters.

Travel with Deidre into the mysterious world of spirits, ghosts and demons. Awaken yourself to a world that isn’t supposed to exist; a world that’s as intriguing as it is sinister. And then emerge as a new person—invigorated, aware and intent on living in the light. Saving Mary; Not just another story about a girl and her exorcist.

Deidre has also graciously offered up a guest post. And now, over to you, Deidre.

By Deidre Havrelock

 

I have a saying, “There’s nothing that terrifies women more than religion or marriage—everyone wants authority over us.” So those are my two events, marriage and religion. My first view of authority came from my nightmare where Satan forcibly married me. As I grew older, I felt the “marriage” was there to make me feel “bound by his authority.” I belonged to him. And, therefore, I would have to obey him. And since marriage to a little Catholic girl is “forever” … well, you can imagine how I felt.

 But my view of authority changed because of the women in my life. My mom had full authority in our house mostly because my dad was an alcoholic and was unhealthy and unavailable to help out. My grandmother was just as authoritative, if not more. She fought for women’s rights in Canada and eventually changed a law—for the better. I saw her as a woman who wasn’t scared to stand against something that was wrong, even though most people accepted it. She was a great role model for me in terms of guts and courage.

 But God also played a huge part in my life. God to me was never mean or a dictator. I believed he was working to get me out of my life’s circumstances and eventually he did (even though it took a long time). When I became a Christian, the Holy Spirit revealed her feminine nature to me and I was awestruck. God was male (Jesus) and also female (Spirit). One was not “over” the other—they just belonged together as one person. But when I began attending church religion kicked in, and that’s when things got weird. I was told my husband had authority over me (he was the “head” and I was more like a “neck”) and that a good wife submits to her husband’s leading. This all felt terribly wrong to us (after all, the Holy Spirit kept wanting to lead us both). I was also told (not by everyone mind you) that feminists were angry man haters who were bucking the natural order of submission. They were “rebellious.” I was never sure who these “rebellious feminists” were, but I didn’t want to get branded with the same title. So I stayed silent about my feelings, for a long while.

 My husband and I, however, wanted to be a team and not a hierarchy. We wanted to share authority. Most churches we attended often seemed so confused over men/women relations (women could do this but not this). My husband and I just stayed close to the Holy Spirit, and God got us through the confusion of church. All and all, I would say I grew up with an extremely healthy view of authority. Evil always seeks authority, but submit yourself to the unity of God and you’ll be okay. I’m a Bible teacher now and I love to teach on the biblical view of authority: men and women standing side-by-side, sharing in Christ and the Spirit’s authority—as though they were all one person. Yes, that’s actually in the Bible. Who knew!

 

It is common for one’s view of authority to develop in their adolescent years. What is your view of authority, and what event most affected it?

 

Thank you, Deidre, for that insightful post - and for sharing so much of yourself with my readers. I look forward to the comments on this post!

Want to find out more about Deidre, or connect with her? You can find her here:

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Thanks for stopping by, and thank you again, Deidre, for sharing your experiences. I look forward to reading your book.

Until next time – read on.

cheers,

~Cate