The Encyclopedia Of Demons And Demonology

132 John Bosco
Sometimes physical phenomena followed him out
of the dream and into waking consciousness. He would
awaken exhausted. In one dramatic dream where he was
shown the horrors of hell, the putrid smell of evil remained
after he awakened. This bleed-through between
worlds is characteristic of shamanic journeys and belongs
to Carl G. Jung’s “psychoid unconscious,” a level in the
unconscious that is not accessible to consciousness, but
that has properties in common with the physical world.
Visit to Hell
Among the many dreams recorded by John, one of his longest
and most vivid concerns a frightfully realistic visit to
the bowels of hell. John is accompanied by “the man with
the cap.” John sometimes protested in his dream and tried
to resist the guide, but he could not put off whatever business
was intended for him in the night.
As with all of John’s lucid dreams, this one follows a
religious theme, conforms to Catholic doctrine, and provides
John with guidance and instructions for running
his oratory program for boys. The visit to hell took place
over two nights:
No sooner had I fallen asleep than I dreamed that I saw
a most loathsome toad, huge as an ox, enter my room
and squat at the foot of my bed. I stared breathlessly as
its legs, body and head swelled and grew more and more
repugnant; its green body, fiery eyes, red-lined mouth
and throat, and small bony ears presented a terrifying
sight. Staring wildly, I kept muttering to myself: “But
a toad has no ears.” I also noticed two horns jutting
from its snout and two greenish wings sprouting from its
sides. Its legs looked like those of a lion, and its long tail
ended in a forked tip.
At the moment, I seemed not a bit afraid; but when
that monster began edging closer to me, opening its
huge, tooth-studded jaws, I really became terribly frightened.
I thought it was a demon from Hell, because it
looked like one. I made the Sign of the Cross, but nothing
happened. I rang the bell, but no one responded. I
shouted, but in vain. The monster would not retreat.
“What do you want of me, you ugly devil?” I asked. As
if in answer, it just crept forward, ears fully stretched
out and pointing upward. Then, resting its front paws
on the top of the bedstead and raising itself on its hind
legs, it paused momentarily, looked at me and crawled
forward on by bed until its snout was close to my face.
I felt such revulsion that I tried to jump out of bed, but
just then the monster opened its jaws wide. I wanted to
defend myself and shove the monster back, but it was
so hideous that, even in my predicament, I did not dare
to touch it. I screamed and frenziedly reached behind
me for the small holy water font, but I only hit the wall.
Meanwhile, the monstrous toad had managed to mouth
my head, so that half of my body was inside its foul jaws.
“In the name of God,” I shouted, “why are you doing
this to me?” At these words, the toad drew back and
let my head free. Again, I made the Sign of the Cross,
and since I had now dipped my hand in the holy water
font, I flung a few drops of water at the monster. With a
frightening shriek it fell backward and vanished, while a
mysterious voice from on high clearly said: “Why don’t
you tell them?”
I turned in that direction and saw a distinguished
person standing by my bed. Feeling guilty about my
silence, I asked: “What should I tell my boys?”
“What you have seen and heard in your last dreams
and what you have wanted to know and what you shall
have revealed to you tomorrow night!” He then vanished.
I spent the whole next day worrying about the miserable
night in store for me, and when evening came, loath
to go to bed, I sat at my desk browsing through books
until midnight. The mere thought of having more nightmares
thoroughly scared me. However, with great effort,
I finally went to bed.
Lest I should fall asleep immediately and start dreaming,
I set my pillow upright against the headboard and
practically sat up, but soon in my exhaustion I simply fell
asleep. Immediately the same person of the night [“the
man with the cap.”] before appeared at my bedside.
“Get up and follow me!” he said.
“For heaven’s sake,” I protested, “leave me alone. I am
exhausted! I’ve been tormented by a toothache for several
days now and need rest. Besides, nightmares have completely
worn me out.” I said this because this man’s apparition
always means trouble, fatigue and terror for me.
“Get up,” he repeated. “You have no time to lose.”
I complied and followed him. “Where are you taking
me?” I asked.
“Never mind. You’ll see.”
John is led to a lifeless desert, vast in expanse. He
and his guide trudge across it. A road appears, beautiful,
wide, and neatly paved. Flowers and greenery grow along
the sides. The road begins to slope downward. Suddenly,
John notices that boys from the oratory are following him.
Without warning, one by another falls to the ground and
is dragged toward a drop in the distance, which slopes
into a furnace. The guide explains that the boys fall because
they are ensnared in traps—traps they have made
themselves out of sin. The boys who are stricter in their
religious observances are able to walk without becoming
ensnared.
As they continue along the downward-sloping road,
the scenery changes. The lush roses and flowers give way
to hedges of thorns. The road becomes gutted and filled
with boulders. Most of the boys leave to follow other
paths.
The descent becomes so arduous that John falls repeatedly
and finally he complains to the guide that he
cannot go another step. The guide merely continues on.
John realizes he has no choice but to follow.
We continued our descent, the road now becoming so
frightfully steep that it was almost impossible to stand
erect. And then, at the bottom of this precipice, at the
entrance of a dark valley, an enormous building loomed
into sight, its towering portal, tightly locked, facing our