EP134: The Devil Sat on My Bed: Encounters with the Spirit World

In this episode of Mormonish Podcast, Rebecca and Landon are joined by Dr. Erin Stiles to discuss her research for her new book, "The Devil Sat on My Bed: Encounters With the Spirit World in Mormon Utah"
Dr. Stiles is not LDS but was raised in northern Utah and grew up with the Mormon traditions of spiritual encounters including both benevolent and evil spirits. In this fascinating discussion, we dig into Mormon lore, first hand accounts, and share some of our own haunting experiences.
We know you'll enjoy this spine tingling and extremely interesting look at spiritual manifestation!
Amazon link to Erin's book, hard copy and Kindle are available now and the paperback will be available on March 7th, 2024
tinyurl.com/tz43pw33
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[@barryrichins]

Three days after my new companion told me he no longer believed in the church and l took him to the mission home, I had a mental breakdown. It happened about one and one-half years into my two and one-half year mission. My mission was hot and mostly uncomfortable, especially at night when trying to sleep in the heat, so being where I was and doing what I was doing was quite stressful. The morning that I woke up feeling broken, I had no idea why I felt so bad, but in two or three days my mental anguish felt horrific. I could no longer function as a missionary, so soon I felt ashamed of myself. I had no idea what had happened to me and started looking for a cause. About a year before I had read Brigham young talking about evil spirits surrounding Mormons, just waiting for us Mormons to let down our guard in order for the demons to take charge of us. As an empiricist, I was looking for evidence of how and why I was feeling so rotten and afraid, so I assumed that I must, somehow, have done something so evil that the Lord had given me over to the buffetings of Satan. That thought caused me greater shame, so great that when my mission president asked me what was wrong, I couldn't tell him because I was so ashamed that I might be under the influence of the Devil. Because of great shame of going home early and shaming my family, I stayed on my mission, even at times when the situation felt rather hellish. I arrived home mentally and physically fatigued, full shame. It wasn,t until about 30 years latter that my psychiatrist told me that what had happened to me that morning while on my mission was a mental breakdown, the result of the stress I had been experiencing at the time. The breakdown had caused me to dissociate. Around the time I learned of my breakdown, my psychologist, an expert on PTSD, told me that as a result of the trauma, I had suffered in Mexico I had PTSD. Now, 62 years later, I still suffer from PTSD, but I feel healthier that I've ever been. My psychiatrist, after she retired, told that the best best thing I had ever done for my mental health was resigning from my church. ,

[@whitesalamander]

Dr. Stiles should be the keynote speaker in April General Conference

[@suzieq5383]

Part of my mom’s testimony is her experience with the feeling of “being bound by Satan” and unable to move, and there was an evil spirit there too. I didn’t find out about this until I was an adult. I just looked at her at said “so you had sleep paralysis?” 😂

[@sarahpinho1114]

love this LOL

[@Gideonslc]

Sleep paralysis is brutal and not something to tease lightly about. I had problems with it as a child, a teen, and as an adult. I have ways of dealing with it as an adult- a cave black bedroom to Sleep in, absent of mirrors. I can't see my hand in front of my face. Waking up in that blackness my eyes and mind more easily reset and terminate the problem more effectively.

[@suzieq5383]

@@Gideonslc I was not laughing at the idea of sleep paralysis, I’ve experienced it myself plenty of times. The idea of it being evidence of an evil spirit trying to bound you and then making it a testimony building experience is what’s wrong. She compared it to Joseph Smith’s experience in the sacred grove.

[@ZakMakoff]

Sorry I missed y'all live... Years ago I attended a holiday party, one of the guests looked me directly in the eye and asked me a question, I had a physical reaction and became ill. Two weeks later I was watching the news and learned that the Guest was charged with Homicide... He committed murder two weeks before the party and went on as if he thought he could get away with murder... I don't believe in Satan but I believe in Evil. That guest was, Eugene "Christopher" Wright! Thank you R & L, great episode!

[@scrambledegg347]

My husband saw the three Nephites standing at the foot of his hospital bed non-stop during a hospital stay. He said they never moved. Just stood there guarding him. He said they were not dressed like men of the time, but had on robes and their feet did not touch the ground.

[@emilysnow6757]

I've got this book on hold at the library! I'm excited to read it! I had a super weird seminary teacher in high school (Davis County, UT, so it was release time and taught by a CES employee) who told us so many devil stories. He told us that every time he seen the devil there had been a blue glow. At the time (mid 1990s) blue Christmas lights were all the rage. He told students that if their parents had blue lights, they should remove them. To this day I cringe when I see blue Christmas lights! 😂

[@Wren402]

I’m so glad I didn’t grow up believing any of this. Childhood was stressful enough without spirits and devils in my head. Yikes!!!

[@sarahpinho1114]

I agree! It should be categorized as child abuse. I was raised to believe in this crap and as a result suffered anxiety, depression, PTSD etc.. breaking the cycle with my own kids!!

[@smileszim7709]

Agree 1000%. These teachings are toxic.

[@stevedorecharley2849]

This was AWESOME. ❤

[@rockthemic12]

Sleep paralysis explains many of the experiences I had growing up that I once attributed to malevolent spirits.

[@CMBauer]

Her mom sounds so cool!

[@sallyostling]

I think it's worth contemplating when it comes to the missionaries their exhaustion and scrupulosity. I would imagine it's imagination out of control based on those factors.

[@smileszim7709]

I served in Africa, and we were required to take anti-malaria pills which had strange side effects that could also factor into bad dreams. Couple this w/ scrupulosity and stress and any kind of mental illness and you have a potential shit storm coming your way.

[@marlenemeyer9841]

The thing I find interesting with these kinds of experiences is that they always seem to fit into the theology the person already believes. Mormons have experiences of children who want to come to earth but you never hear of this experience from a mainstream Christian who doesn’t believe in a pre earth life. No Born Again Christians are experiencing their ancestors coming to them asking for their Mormon temple work to be done. Likewise, Mormons don’t have experiences with the Virgin Mary as thousands of Catholics do. While the stories can be touching if you believe in the same theology as the experience you hear, Mormons do not get teary eyed when an Islamic man claims that Allah showed him all the virgins he will get in the next life.

[@Mikelray-df9my]

Great topic,very real in my up bringing.

[@purpleprose78]

So I'm a never mormon, but I grew up fundamentalist Christian in the rural south and my grandma would tell stories of relatives that passed that visited her in the night. My grandfather apparently went and sat on his mama's bed on the night he died. I've had a couple of encounters that I can't explain and of course had people visit me in dreams that felt real and like they were telling me that they loved me and missed me and that they were fine. Is that a "The Devil Sat on My Bed" type of thing I don't know. I'm agnostic now so like Landon, I am sure there is an explanation.

[@Gideonslc]

I could write a Book about multiple experiences from childhood through nuanced belief and disbelief.

[@SteveSmith-os5bs]

I was watching a show where a woman in Indonesia who was possessed by a Jinn. The exorcist would try and convert the Jinn to Islam, then once he would convert the Jinn, then the Jinn would be asked to leave, and the Jinn would leave.

[@dianethulin1700]

The title of this could make a good romance novel

[@Latter-dailyDigest]

Boo!

[@allen9069]

I assume this is a repeat of the one you aired a couple of weeks ago. I enjoyed it so much I went back to watch it again and it was taken down. Either way, I bought the book and I'm about half way through it. So interesting, as a never-mo (Catholic) I find it a little crazy. Spirit Children just waiting to be born and coming to let parents know it's time for them, etc. A lot of people think we Catholics have some strange beliefs so I'm intrigued.

[@rebeccabibliotheca]

Yes the episode was released by accident a few weeks ago, we’re still not quite sure how it happened! Must’ve been a ghost! It was officially scheduled for tonight!

[@allen9069]

@@rebeccabibliothecaThose darn ghosts! Always keeping us on our toes.

[@sleepycalico]

I was playing solitaire while listening, so I didn't see the moment when Dr. Stiles' camera turned green when she was talking about witches. If anyone can post the timestamp, thanks! ❇

[@marys.currie9026]

56.18

[@sleepycalico]

WOW! That was really dramatic! And it lasted for a long time! Thanks. That was fun. @@marys.currie9026

[@spymaster2455]

The priesthood only works as the person who is believe in.Used on actually believes in it because it makes it happen in your own mind .So technically it's a self-made prophecy that is made your body make it happen. To either get better or get worse.

[@loubylou1899]

If your way of life is attracting evil entities, you need to change your way of life.

[@edbutzwiggle4227]

Interesting thanks. I find it quite shocking in a way that Landon is so sceptical that he denies the very reality of what happened to him with that fan. He said he doesn’t believe in any of that stuff. Obviously, it was some sort of inhospitable force. Critical thinking must initially allow and entertain all possibilities

[@tylerboyce6502]

It was difficult to see Landon with the light pollution behind him.

[@Zeett09]

The devil made me do it! - Geraldine (Flip Wilson)

[@charlesmendeley9823]

The devil has bought the Kirtland temple now.

[@spymaster2455]

The only reason you don't hear about possessions of Mormon people is because it doesn't fit in their book of being with God because if you have the spirit of your God in you they're not able or allowed to even come towards you.

[@edbutzwiggle4227]

Not so fast. A missionary somehow got possessed and it took the mission president to finally cast it out. Also, a General Authority, a member of the quorum of 70 in the leadership of the Mormon church cast out a demon that had possessed a missionary. His peers were too scared to do it successfully. I won’t say who the authority was

[@tamihutchings2537]

My gramma. She was such a great morman but oh how she had stories of Satan. Still to think about those accounts that she had with the devil she would tell him that he had no business in her presence so he had better leave! Love and miss my gramma