I went through a year of deliverance ministry with a very good pastor, 12 years ago. There were 26 entities that were officially kicked out, but a few who refused to go. Their last words to me back then were that they would be quiet, but they would still be here. Now, I have discovered they are alters and not demonic. The response to deliverance ministry made that very clear when we tried to make them go out in Jesus' name and they just simply wanted to argue the impossibility of being kicked out. Well, they are ME, so I guess we understand now. But there is a huge difference between the alters and the demonic. Hope this helps.

I have had a few alters that have came out and claimed to be "The Devil" or demonically influenced.I have discovered in these alters revealing their memories to me that usually when they were created the abuser told them that "the devil made me do it" or something in that same vein.I believe these alters to be introjects and it has been successful for me to treat them as such. By letting them know they are not "The Devil" but are an alter created in an act of bravery and love sacrificing themselves in order to protect the host in an abuse survivors body. They come to realize this to be true and no longer believe themselves to be demonically influenced or "The Devil".

When i was a teenager I had 2 main alters.One was" good" me and one was 'evil" me.I had an extremely religious upbringing with my father being a deacon in the catholic church.so in my mind all was black or whits and also this was how i was raised.Either I was good and acting as i was raised in the catholic religion.to be perfect and never complain and completely self-sacrificing..ot i was "evil" which was all and anything else.As a teenager if I disobeyed in my mind i became."evil".well this alter thought she was evil thru and thru and probably acted demonically possessed but in reality she was just a teenage girl who couldnt be perfect enough no matter how hard she tried for her father and mother.so...i guess this may be as close as demonic possession in my mind.I guess maybe i just thought anything bad I did was evil in me......

sorry should have spell-checked.I meant all was black or white in my mind as a teenager.there was no gray areas.so i was either good or evil...

What is demonic oppression?
I am not a Christian, so I dont know anything about that. I have heard a few things but it's confusing.
We have demonic alters, and animal alters, ghosts, etc.. they all became that way because of traceable reasons.

What is the definition of demons? And how can they oppress anything?
How does one know whether or not he has demons?

Hi InnerD ~ Demons are a Christian concept of minions of the devil that come to earth to harass people. Supposedly they get inside people's minds and influence them to do negative or harmful things. Often the church (*this is my opinion only*) sees things in black and white themselves -- If any little thing isn't going the way the church wants it to, they blame demons.

Personally, I think that absolves people of personal responsibility, which is a bad idea... as Moon said, some people use the idea of demons and the devil as an excuse for them to do awful things. I don't believe in the devil or demons of that sort.

I DO know that almost everyone with DID has at least one alt that they consider "bad" or "scary." We had to compartmentalize our feelings and actions as children, and often being good was so important to survival that we tried to divide off any thoughts or desires we figured would be considered "bad," even memories of bad things that happened TO us, so that we could remain "good."

It's natural for people to have negative thoughts, to act rebellious, and to try out different ways of thinking and acting sometimes. It's part of what makes us human.

I have an alt named Tia who I had locked in a room in my head from childhood until just a couple years ago. She wasn't allowed out at all, except for sex, because I didn't want anything to do with that, but figured it was expected in a solid relationship. When that was over, back in she went and I locked the door behind her. I considered her the personification of all bad ideas, bad habits, and everything I didn't want to be. She wanted to drink, wanted to try drugs, wanted to flirt... Not in this body, I said!

When I started learning about DID, I sat down and had a conversation with her. I told her I would like to let her come out and be a part of me instead of being stuck in isolation, but we had to set ground rules first. She agreed, and over the last year or so, I've come to find out that she's not evil at all. She's a teenager - sometimes rebellious (would love to get a mohawk), but very loving and protective of my younger alts. I've been really grateful for her strength and compassion these last couple years and am glad I took the chance to get to know her.

Perhaps those you think are demonically influenced just have terrible memories they haven't been allowed to share yet, or are misunderstood... I hope you'll be able to have a good conversation with them and invite them to be a part of your inner family where they can help the system with their strengths, like Tia has for me.

Wishing you well,
Wistala

I know from experiencing both the demonic and the DID, that they are different. The source for each may have been the same event, but one comes from the psyche, and the other comes from the spiritual realm and must be treated differently than psychology.