The Encyclopedia Of Demons And Demonology

Eye Killers 83
banging windows, breaking pottery), Regan suffers from
incessant hiccuping and skin irritations, eventually displaying
stigmata on her chest. The words help me appear
on her stomach in her handwriting. She recoils from religious
objects or uses them blasphemously, often employing
a crucifix for masturbation. She taunts Father Karras
with paranormal knowledge, impersonating the voices of
his mother and an early lover. She uses the clipped British
accents of Dennings as well. And most importantly for
the church, Regan speaks languages previously unknown
to her: French, German, Latin, and maybe Russian. The
gibberish she mouths constantly is found to be English,
backward. Nowonmai, the name of her demon, is “I am no
one (won);” Dogmorfmocion is “I come from God.”
When it seems Regan will die of her ordeal, the church
gives its permission for an exorcism. Father Karras is to
assist Father Lankester Merrin, an old hand at fighting
the Devil and the one who senses the evil of Pazuzu in
the book’s prologue. The devil in Regan had been calling
“Marin” for quite some time, but until Father Merrin
arrived, no one had made the connection. The exorcism
proceeds according to the ancient RITUALE ROMANUM,
with Regan spitting, vomiting, and urinating all over the
priests as they order the demon to depart. The demon
goads both men, flinging their pride, their secret sins,
and their guilt in their faces.
Father Merrin cannot survive this final encounter and
dies during the exorcism, leaving Father Karras to fight
alone. The demon believes he has won, for Father Karras’
soul is not strong enough to overcome his guilt. At the climax,
Father Karras orders the demon to leave Regan and
enter him: Complete possession as a fitting punishment
for his sins. The window crashes open, and Father Karras
is found dead below. The reader must decide whether
the demon accepted Father Karras’ offer, but, in any case,
Regan regains herself.
In the film version, released in 1973, the young actress
Linda Blair gives a wrenching performance as Regan, with
Ellen Burstyn as her mother, Chris, and Max von Sydow
as Father Merrin. The demonic voices were provided by
the actress Mercedes McCambridge, and the theme music,
“Tubular Bells,” was nominated for an Oscar. Audiences
were traumatized by the film, and some persons sought
professional help in the fear that they might become possessed
themselves.
Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) was a less successful sequel
with Richard Burton as a priest still trying to release
Linda Blair from her demonic possession.
Eye Killers In Southwest Native American lore, monstrous
DEMONs who killed by staring at people without
blinking. Eye Killers are a variation of EVIL EYE lore.
According to lore, demons were born into the world
when women became pregnant by using dildos. Twin
Eye Killers, a male and a female, were born after a chief’s
daughter impregnated herself with a prong from a sour
cactus. When born, the Eye Killers were round and tapered
at one end, and without limbs. As they grew, they
developed owl’s heads, SERPENT bodies, and huge, clawed
paws. Killing lightning bolts flew from their eyes. It took
all of the village shaman’s skill to exorcize the demons
from the village.
The Eye Killers were a nearly invulnerable force. The
only way people could stave them off was to build a fire.
However, victims usually would be struck dead before
they could make fires.
A hero named Monster Slayer decided he would kill
the demons. He went to the cave where they lived and
built a large fire in the entrance. Then he called out to
the Eye Killers. When they appeared, he threw salt on the
fire. The sparks forced the Eye Killers to shut their eyes
for a few moments—long enough for the Monster Slayer
to club them to death on their heads with his flint club.
FURTHER READING:
Hyatt, Victoria, and Joseph W. Charles. The Book of Demons.
New York: Simon & Schuster, 1974.