1 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:14,320 Speaker 1: One of the most continually surprising aspects of spiritual belief 2 00:00:14,720 --> 00:00:18,160 Speaker 1: is just how many common features are shared by religions 3 00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:24,600 Speaker 1: separated by vast distances language and cultural mores. Before it 4 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:28,920 Speaker 1: was possible for the average person to engage in intercontinental travel, 5 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:33,479 Speaker 1: and well before the advent of instant communication, faith was 6 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:38,400 Speaker 1: restricted to whatever was passed down within one's own immediate environment. 7 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:43,360 Speaker 1: And yet, despite some obvious differences, there are certain aspects 8 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:46,440 Speaker 1: which are shared by virtually all of the world's religions. 9 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:51,440 Speaker 1: Each employees designated sites of worship, whether it be something 10 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:55,160 Speaker 1: rudimentary like a tree or an altar stone, to more 11 00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:59,960 Speaker 1: sophisticated structures like synagogues and mosques. Many have a fit 12 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:04,120 Speaker 1: bigger who stands for the ultimate personification of good, as 13 00:01:04,120 --> 00:01:07,440 Speaker 1: well as a corresponding evil force that must be fought 14 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:12,319 Speaker 1: against or resisted in order to achieve salvation, and each 15 00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:17,480 Speaker 1: of Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, and the Abrahamic traditions at least 16 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:21,960 Speaker 1: involve the story of a messianic figure with special fealty 17 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:28,800 Speaker 1: to whatever supreme being the respective religions advocate worshiping. Perhaps 18 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:32,480 Speaker 1: one of the most insidious common features shared by every 19 00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:35,920 Speaker 1: major religion is the idea that we are vulnerable to 20 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:41,280 Speaker 1: possession by evil. From the sukimono of Japanese Shinto to 21 00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:45,480 Speaker 1: the jin of Islam, the notion of the malevolent, otherworldly 22 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:49,680 Speaker 1: papeteer has been present in our understanding of the universe 23 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:55,280 Speaker 1: for millennia. Very often these are supposed phantoms motivated by 24 00:01:55,400 --> 00:01:58,640 Speaker 1: vengeance or a will to power, who seek to conduct 25 00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:04,080 Speaker 1: their business using people as their vessels. Like parasites, they 26 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:07,480 Speaker 1: feed on the negative emotions of their host and use 27 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:11,480 Speaker 1: up all of their resources until their charges life force 28 00:02:11,639 --> 00:02:15,200 Speaker 1: is spent, or else they seek to compel their host 29 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:19,720 Speaker 1: to commit a terrible sin, thereby condemning their soul to 30 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:25,079 Speaker 1: damnation for all eternity. In Christianity, the most well known 31 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:30,320 Speaker 1: biblical example of demonic possession features in Mark five, Matthew eight, 32 00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:35,040 Speaker 1: and Lucate of the New Testament, where Jesus is depicted 33 00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:39,840 Speaker 1: forcing a collective malignant entity calling itself Legion, from the 34 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:42,440 Speaker 1: body of a man and into a herd of pigs. 35 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:51,240 Speaker 1: It is a troubling story. Then Jesus asked him, what 36 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:55,720 Speaker 1: is your name? My name is Legion, he replied, for 37 00:02:55,840 --> 00:03:00,000 Speaker 1: we are many, And he begged Jesus again and again 38 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:04,399 Speaker 1: not to send them out. A large herd of pigs 39 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:09,240 Speaker 1: was seen feeding on a nearby hillside, so the demons 40 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:13,560 Speaker 1: begged Jesus send us among the pigs, allow us to 41 00:03:13,639 --> 00:03:18,280 Speaker 1: go into them. He gave them permission, and the impure 42 00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:23,080 Speaker 1: spirits came out and went into the pigs. Moments later, 43 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:28,280 Speaker 1: the herd, about two thousand in number, rushed straight down 44 00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:31,960 Speaker 1: the steep bank and into a nearby lake, where they 45 00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:54,440 Speaker 1: all drown. For many who are religiously minded, the Universes 46 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:59,000 Speaker 1: dictated by a Venetian style dualism, in which the forces 47 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:03,720 Speaker 1: of light and dark, good versus evil are continually in battle. 48 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:09,720 Speaker 1: For them, religion offers a safeguard against this darkness. The 49 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:13,080 Speaker 1: great fear, however, is that should they at any point 50 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:17,680 Speaker 1: let their guard down, evil is always lurking, ready to 51 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:22,719 Speaker 1: pounce and worm its way inside them. In Maori culture, 52 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:27,039 Speaker 1: this belief is a little more nuanced. The idea of 53 00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:31,400 Speaker 1: possession doesn't take the form of a demon invading the body. Rather, 54 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:37,000 Speaker 1: it's understood through something called marcutu, a kind of spiritual pollution, 55 00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:40,560 Speaker 1: a curse that seeps into the world when the balance 56 00:04:40,640 --> 00:04:46,080 Speaker 1: between people, ancestors and the land is broken. It isn't 57 00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:49,800 Speaker 1: about good and evil in a dualistic sense. It's about 58 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:54,800 Speaker 1: harmony and disruption. To be afflicted by marcutu is to 59 00:04:54,839 --> 00:04:59,320 Speaker 1: be caught in a web of unseen forces, ancestral wrongs, 60 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:03,320 Speaker 1: broke can tarpou, the sacred laws that keep the world 61 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:10,640 Speaker 1: in spiritual balance, and the lingering residue of guilt or shame. Traditionally, 62 00:05:10,880 --> 00:05:16,120 Speaker 1: a tohunga, a ritual expert, would lift the markutu with karakia, 63 00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:21,200 Speaker 1: incantations and chants and water to help restore order to 64 00:05:21,279 --> 00:05:26,320 Speaker 1: the world. It's a ritual of reconciliation, not combat, meant 65 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:29,880 Speaker 1: to heal a relationship with the unseen world, rather than 66 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:34,160 Speaker 1: to drive out an evil being. It's a powerful idea, 67 00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:37,719 Speaker 1: to say the least. In the case of one family 68 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:41,320 Speaker 1: living on the outskirts of Wellington, New Zealand, it was 69 00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:44,440 Speaker 1: one that for a brief period in October two thousand 70 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:50,400 Speaker 1: and seven, became terrifyingly real. You're listening to Unexplained and 71 00:05:50,480 --> 00:06:03,520 Speaker 1: I'm Richard McLean Smith. One unusually stormy evening on Saturday 72 00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:07,360 Speaker 1: sixth of October two thousand and seven, twenty two year 73 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:10,560 Speaker 1: ould Janet Moses was slumped in an arm chair in 74 00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:14,520 Speaker 1: the front bar of the Palliser Hotel. The suburb of 75 00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:19,200 Speaker 1: Wainoia Marta was sleepy and close knit, and family engagements 76 00:06:19,279 --> 00:06:23,000 Speaker 1: like this one were a regular occurrence. Though she'd been 77 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:26,280 Speaker 1: feeling tired, Janet felt it was important to make an 78 00:06:26,279 --> 00:06:30,839 Speaker 1: appearance because her beloved sister was finally turning twenty one. 79 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:34,400 Speaker 1: To Janet, the age gap of a year may as 80 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:38,119 Speaker 1: well have been decades. Unlike her sister, who was still 81 00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:42,880 Speaker 1: relatively carefree and unburdened by the adult world, Janet was 82 00:06:42,960 --> 00:06:45,839 Speaker 1: more or less a single mother to two young girls. 83 00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:49,359 Speaker 1: Her long term partner, Shane, who she'd been with for 84 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:53,720 Speaker 1: nine years, was almost never at home. Janet had even 85 00:06:53,760 --> 00:06:57,440 Speaker 1: heard whispers about a possible infidelity, but she felt so 86 00:06:57,600 --> 00:07:00,159 Speaker 1: tired of it all she couldn't find the strength to 87 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:03,919 Speaker 1: confront him about it. On this night, however, she tried 88 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:06,679 Speaker 1: to put on a show for her sister. The whole 89 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:09,520 Speaker 1: family was in attendance, and they would notice if she 90 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:14,280 Speaker 1: was feeling down. They did everything together, often eating and 91 00:07:14,320 --> 00:07:18,040 Speaker 1: spending time together. They even had their own sports team, 92 00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:21,640 Speaker 1: with the family emblem of a white lion emblazoned on 93 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:25,920 Speaker 1: their crest, Janet sipped at her glass of beer and 94 00:07:25,960 --> 00:07:30,240 Speaker 1: eventually allowed it to go flat and warm. She couldn't 95 00:07:30,240 --> 00:07:34,239 Speaker 1: stop thinking about her maternal grandmother, who'd recently passed away, 96 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:37,080 Speaker 1: how much she would have loved to have been there 97 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:42,840 Speaker 1: with everyone that night. Nearby, Janet's uncle John was concerned. 98 00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:47,440 Speaker 1: He'd spotted Janet from across the room staring blankly at 99 00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:51,080 Speaker 1: the wall. When he asked her what was wrong, Janet 100 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:54,400 Speaker 1: explained that she wasn't feeling great and asked John if 101 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:57,480 Speaker 1: he'd seen her aunt, Glennis anywhere, who'd promised to give 102 00:07:57,520 --> 00:08:01,400 Speaker 1: her a lift home. When Glennis eventually caught up with her, 103 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:04,880 Speaker 1: she was shocked at just how drawn out Janet looked. 104 00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:07,880 Speaker 1: She could have passed for a woman in her fifties, 105 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:11,480 Speaker 1: she thought, instead of the dynamic young woman of twenty 106 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:15,400 Speaker 1: two she knew her to be. Without a second thought, 107 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:18,880 Speaker 1: Glennis suggested that Janet and her kids crash at her 108 00:08:18,920 --> 00:08:21,320 Speaker 1: house for the night, where she could keep an eye 109 00:08:21,320 --> 00:08:24,480 Speaker 1: on her and help with the kids while Janet tried 110 00:08:24,520 --> 00:08:28,680 Speaker 1: to get some rest. With any luck, she thought Janet 111 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:31,320 Speaker 1: would be back to her usual self in no time. 112 00:08:43,400 --> 00:08:46,960 Speaker 1: The following morning, Glennis awoke to what seemed like the 113 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:51,200 Speaker 1: distant sound of chattering on the street outside her bedroom window. 114 00:08:52,400 --> 00:08:55,640 Speaker 1: When she checked on Janet's girls next door, she found 115 00:08:55,679 --> 00:08:58,840 Speaker 1: them snoring under the first rays of sun that were 116 00:08:58,880 --> 00:09:02,120 Speaker 1: now streaming through the curtains. But when she went into 117 00:09:02,200 --> 00:09:06,000 Speaker 1: Janet's bedroom, she was puzzled to find the bed neatly made, 118 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:09,200 Speaker 1: with no sign of her niece having slept in it 119 00:09:09,320 --> 00:09:15,160 Speaker 1: at all. Janet, she called out, there was only a 120 00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:19,880 Speaker 1: deafening silence in reply. At the front of the house, 121 00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:23,280 Speaker 1: the main door gaped open, the thin mesh of the 122 00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:28,280 Speaker 1: screen door drawn across the frame. She reached out, unhooked it, 123 00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:31,480 Speaker 1: and stepped out onto the lawn of her front garden 124 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:34,720 Speaker 1: into the balmy heat of what was shaping up to 125 00:09:34,720 --> 00:09:38,559 Speaker 1: be a scorching day. When Glennis walked to the edge 126 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:41,520 Speaker 1: of her pathway, she saw a figure in a billowing 127 00:09:41,600 --> 00:09:46,280 Speaker 1: white robe up ahead in the middle distance. It was Janet, 128 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:50,640 Speaker 1: still wearing her pajamas, walking confusedly up the middle of 129 00:09:50,679 --> 00:09:54,880 Speaker 1: the road in bare feet. As Glennis drew closer to her, 130 00:09:55,240 --> 00:09:59,880 Speaker 1: she could hear her muttering something under her breath. What's that, 131 00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:06,440 Speaker 1: Glennis asked softly. Janet's facial expression didn't change, and she 132 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:11,240 Speaker 1: seemed not to notice Glennis at all. Instead, her eyes 133 00:10:11,320 --> 00:10:14,480 Speaker 1: remained fixed on the hills that rose above the estate 134 00:10:14,840 --> 00:10:18,920 Speaker 1: as she continued muttering the same apparent phrase over and 135 00:10:19,120 --> 00:10:26,040 Speaker 1: over again. It sounded like a prayer. Janet, please come inside. 136 00:10:26,640 --> 00:10:30,960 Speaker 1: You're going to hurt yourself out here. Just then Janet 137 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:35,920 Speaker 1: stopped and fixed Glennys with a blank stare. To Glennis, 138 00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:39,840 Speaker 1: it seemed as though her irises had disappeared, leaving her 139 00:10:39,880 --> 00:10:46,280 Speaker 1: eyes appearing almost entirely all consumingly black. The young woman 140 00:10:46,440 --> 00:10:49,720 Speaker 1: opened her mouth to speak, but the words that Janet 141 00:10:49,760 --> 00:10:52,439 Speaker 1: croaked out did not seem to be coming from her 142 00:10:52,480 --> 00:10:57,560 Speaker 1: own vocal chords at all. They're coming, she said to 143 00:10:57,600 --> 00:11:01,360 Speaker 1: her aunt, with a gaze that seemed then to Glennis 144 00:11:01,400 --> 00:11:13,200 Speaker 1: to be not of this world. They're coming. It was 145 00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:17,000 Speaker 1: just after one pm when Glennis arrived with Janet and 146 00:11:17,080 --> 00:11:20,880 Speaker 1: the girls in tow. Uncle John had been expecting them, 147 00:11:21,160 --> 00:11:24,240 Speaker 1: and not just because Sunday was normally when the family 148 00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:28,439 Speaker 1: sat down for their weekly meeting. Glennis had phoned John 149 00:11:28,600 --> 00:11:32,320 Speaker 1: first thing and explained everything that was going on. He 150 00:11:32,320 --> 00:11:35,920 Speaker 1: couldn't help feeling that his poor young niece had finally 151 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:38,760 Speaker 1: been driven to the brink by the demands of parenting 152 00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:43,440 Speaker 1: and her bad relationship, John resolved to sort it out 153 00:11:43,480 --> 00:11:47,439 Speaker 1: once and for all. Since his mother had died, he'd 154 00:11:47,480 --> 00:11:50,280 Speaker 1: taken on his role as head of the family with Gusto, 155 00:11:50,640 --> 00:11:53,480 Speaker 1: and it both heartened and terrified him to be looked 156 00:11:53,559 --> 00:11:58,360 Speaker 1: upon with so much responsibility. By then, other family members 157 00:11:58,400 --> 00:12:01,400 Speaker 1: had already arrived and were all around the living room 158 00:12:01,520 --> 00:12:05,240 Speaker 1: drinking coffee. Over the course of the next few hours, 159 00:12:05,400 --> 00:12:08,559 Speaker 1: members of Janet's family took it in turns to reassure 160 00:12:08,559 --> 00:12:11,920 Speaker 1: her that they loved her, perhaps hoping that that might 161 00:12:11,960 --> 00:12:14,920 Speaker 1: be enough to bring her out of her stupor. All 162 00:12:14,960 --> 00:12:19,480 Speaker 1: the while, despite the heat, Janet simply sat stock still 163 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:23,439 Speaker 1: in her jacket and remained silently staring at the ground. 164 00:12:24,640 --> 00:12:28,280 Speaker 1: When the family meeting was over, Glennis took Janet to 165 00:12:28,360 --> 00:12:31,400 Speaker 1: convalesce at the former home of her grandmother, where her 166 00:12:31,400 --> 00:12:34,559 Speaker 1: mother now lived, who was waiting for her. When she arrived, 167 00:12:35,880 --> 00:12:39,640 Speaker 1: Janet seemed exhausted. A bed was set up for her 168 00:12:39,679 --> 00:12:42,959 Speaker 1: in a spare room next to a large stone statue 169 00:12:42,960 --> 00:12:46,640 Speaker 1: of a lion. The lion had been acquired a few 170 00:12:46,640 --> 00:12:49,640 Speaker 1: weeks before by her sister from the grounds at the 171 00:12:49,679 --> 00:12:54,480 Speaker 1: Gray Town hotel located about an hour's drive away. Because 172 00:12:54,520 --> 00:12:57,600 Speaker 1: the lion was seen as a natural talisman of the family, 173 00:12:58,120 --> 00:13:00,680 Speaker 1: her sister thought it would bring good ffe fortune to 174 00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:04,960 Speaker 1: their house. It was around one o'clock the following morning 175 00:13:05,360 --> 00:13:08,680 Speaker 1: when a horrific scream ripped through the silence of the house. 176 00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:13,120 Speaker 1: Janet's mother rushed into Janet's room to find her daughter 177 00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:16,480 Speaker 1: in hysterics, claiming that the spirit of the statue was 178 00:13:16,520 --> 00:13:20,720 Speaker 1: tormenting her and scratching her from the inside out. She 179 00:13:20,800 --> 00:13:23,440 Speaker 1: was sweating so much from her forehead it looked as 180 00:13:23,480 --> 00:13:27,400 Speaker 1: though she'd just come out of the shower. Janet's mother 181 00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:30,000 Speaker 1: did her best to calm her down and soothed her 182 00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:33,439 Speaker 1: back to sleep, but the following day her mood seemed 183 00:13:33,480 --> 00:13:37,640 Speaker 1: to have grown worse. Things only deteriorated further from there. 184 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:42,160 Speaker 1: It wasn't clear who said it first, but soon the 185 00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:46,240 Speaker 1: family began to wonder if Janet was succumbing to mark utu. 186 00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:50,440 Speaker 1: Barely able to lift herself from bed with an ever 187 00:13:50,480 --> 00:13:54,040 Speaker 1: growing sense of paranoia, it was clear that Janet was 188 00:13:54,080 --> 00:13:57,360 Speaker 1: in severe trouble and it was time to seek help. 189 00:14:04,280 --> 00:14:06,960 Speaker 1: It was early on the morning of Monday, eighth of 190 00:14:06,960 --> 00:14:11,560 Speaker 1: October when Timmy Rahi arrived at Janet's mother's home. In 191 00:14:11,679 --> 00:14:14,400 Speaker 1: his back was a leather bound copy of the Bible 192 00:14:14,559 --> 00:14:18,480 Speaker 1: and a bottle of holy water. Timmy was renowned within 193 00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:23,000 Speaker 1: the local married community as a cowmatur or spiritual adviser, 194 00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:25,880 Speaker 1: and had even worked as a cultural attache to New 195 00:14:25,960 --> 00:14:31,240 Speaker 1: Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark on matters pertaining to native spirituality. 196 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:37,000 Speaker 1: From Timmy's perspective, human beings were composed of both physical 197 00:14:37,120 --> 00:14:40,560 Speaker 1: and spiritual elements, and it was his belief that the 198 00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:45,000 Speaker 1: spiritual was vulnerable to influence from both good and bad 199 00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:51,120 Speaker 1: other worldly beings. On his arrival, John quickly ushered Timmy 200 00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:55,040 Speaker 1: into the house where countless other members of Janet's extended 201 00:14:55,080 --> 00:14:58,160 Speaker 1: family were also gathered, and in the middle of them 202 00:14:58,160 --> 00:15:03,680 Speaker 1: all was a completely unresponsive Janet. Timmy couldn't help being 203 00:15:03,760 --> 00:15:08,080 Speaker 1: deeply concerned by Janet's exhausted state and the distant look 204 00:15:08,120 --> 00:15:11,360 Speaker 1: in her eyes, though he couldn't be sure what was 205 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:16,240 Speaker 1: wrong exactly. After reciting some prayers but getting nothing in response, 206 00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:19,760 Speaker 1: he suggested the best option would be to conduct the 207 00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:24,960 Speaker 1: mark Utu lifting as ceremony to rid any potentially disruptive 208 00:15:25,120 --> 00:15:29,680 Speaker 1: energies in case things got worse. At this stage, it 209 00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:33,760 Speaker 1: merely involved blessing Janet with water and saying special cohens 210 00:15:34,160 --> 00:15:38,320 Speaker 1: paradoxical riddles designed to break patterns of thought over her 211 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:41,960 Speaker 1: prone body in an effort to ward off the perceived evil. 212 00:15:42,920 --> 00:15:48,800 Speaker 1: But as the afternoon progressed, something strange occurred. Timmy claimed 213 00:15:48,800 --> 00:15:52,200 Speaker 1: to have a vision of three claws ripping into Janet. 214 00:15:52,880 --> 00:15:55,520 Speaker 1: It was the stone Lion from the hotel, he said. 215 00:15:56,400 --> 00:16:00,600 Speaker 1: The implication was clear. It wasn't a negative, essays that 216 00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:05,560 Speaker 1: Janet was struggling with some kind of malignant demonic entity 217 00:16:05,800 --> 00:16:09,800 Speaker 1: had got into her. As it turned out, the stone 218 00:16:09,840 --> 00:16:13,480 Speaker 1: and statue was actually part of a pair. The way 219 00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:16,240 Speaker 1: Timmy saw it, the pair had been together for over 220 00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:20,000 Speaker 1: one hundred years, so when Janet's sister stole one of them, 221 00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:23,640 Speaker 1: the other's protective spirits had become angry and placed a 222 00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:28,240 Speaker 1: curse on Janet's family. A shudder of fear passed between 223 00:16:28,280 --> 00:16:32,480 Speaker 1: all those present. Were they all in danger nowt they wondered, 224 00:16:33,640 --> 00:16:37,720 Speaker 1: Not wanting to take any chances, Janet's uncle John immediately 225 00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:40,800 Speaker 1: sprang into action and ordered the statue to be taken 226 00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:45,280 Speaker 1: back to the hotel without delay, the statue was dragged 227 00:16:45,280 --> 00:16:47,560 Speaker 1: from the house and placed in the back of a 228 00:16:47,600 --> 00:16:51,640 Speaker 1: truck and driven away from the house at speed. A 229 00:16:51,640 --> 00:16:55,880 Speaker 1: convoy of eight further vehicles containing nearly forty members of 230 00:16:55,960 --> 00:16:59,960 Speaker 1: Janet's family, many who'd called off sick from work a school, 231 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:04,560 Speaker 1: art the statue back to the Gray Town Hotel. Inside 232 00:17:04,600 --> 00:17:09,520 Speaker 1: one of the cars, Janet became restless, seeming to suddenly 233 00:17:09,600 --> 00:17:13,320 Speaker 1: snap out of her otherwise placid state. She began to 234 00:17:13,400 --> 00:17:16,760 Speaker 1: spit and rail at the people around her, and even 235 00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:19,959 Speaker 1: threatened to kill her paternal grandmother when she tried to 236 00:17:19,960 --> 00:17:24,200 Speaker 1: calm her down. With no time to spare, the family 237 00:17:24,320 --> 00:17:28,960 Speaker 1: finally arrived at the hotel, Several people jumped out and 238 00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:31,960 Speaker 1: hurriedly pulled the heavy stone lion from the back of 239 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:35,040 Speaker 1: the truck, then dragged it back to the exact spot 240 00:17:35,280 --> 00:17:39,000 Speaker 1: from where it had been taken. Once back in place, 241 00:17:39,320 --> 00:17:43,080 Speaker 1: the relief among them all was palpable to be sure 242 00:17:43,119 --> 00:17:46,240 Speaker 1: it had done the trick. Timmy Rahi conducted a short 243 00:17:46,359 --> 00:17:56,760 Speaker 1: service to formalize the statue's return and pray for forgiveness. 244 00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:02,359 Speaker 1: Back at Janet's mother's house, the family had dinner together, then, 245 00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:06,200 Speaker 1: on the advice of Timmy Rahi, now hopeful that all 246 00:18:06,240 --> 00:18:09,680 Speaker 1: would soon return to normal. Janet was ordered to try 247 00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:15,400 Speaker 1: and get some rest, but Rahi was unsettled despite everything, 248 00:18:15,800 --> 00:18:19,760 Speaker 1: Returning the statue had not fixed the problem. As he 249 00:18:19,800 --> 00:18:24,000 Speaker 1: explained to John, the lion's return had only removed two 250 00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:27,080 Speaker 1: of the claws from his vision. He could still see 251 00:18:27,119 --> 00:18:31,680 Speaker 1: one clinging on to Janet. The mark utu was still there, 252 00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:36,480 Speaker 1: and it was now somehow linked to Janet's partner Shane. 253 00:18:36,680 --> 00:18:40,840 Speaker 1: On Wednesday, tenth of October, the family gathered again at 254 00:18:40,920 --> 00:18:44,879 Speaker 1: Janet's mother's home. Though he didn't know exactly how it 255 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:49,679 Speaker 1: was done, Uncle John decided to continue the markutu lifting. 256 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:55,000 Speaker 1: He began by ordering the family to surround Janet. Just 257 00:18:55,080 --> 00:18:58,840 Speaker 1: then someone pointed out the bone necklace around her neck, 258 00:18:59,400 --> 00:19:02,720 Speaker 1: a gift for Shane. It was promptly cut off and 259 00:19:02,880 --> 00:19:08,600 Speaker 1: thrown away. Then together, under John's guidance, the family began 260 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:12,000 Speaker 1: to chant blessings as they passed around a cup of water, 261 00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:15,919 Speaker 1: taking it in turns to sip from it. They began 262 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:19,679 Speaker 1: to stomp in unison as though they might somehow stamp 263 00:19:19,760 --> 00:19:25,359 Speaker 1: the markoutu out of her. Outside, unsettled neighbors listened with 264 00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:29,639 Speaker 1: increasing concern to the deafening sounds of chanting and stomping 265 00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:34,639 Speaker 1: coming from inside the property. While inside, as the temperature 266 00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:39,320 Speaker 1: rose ever higher, hitting forty degrees celsius, the family took 267 00:19:39,359 --> 00:19:42,760 Speaker 1: to splashing themselves with cupfuls of water to help cool 268 00:19:42,840 --> 00:19:46,439 Speaker 1: down as they continued to stamp and shout for the 269 00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:53,000 Speaker 1: Markoutu to leave Janet. At some point, Janet's paternal relatives 270 00:19:53,080 --> 00:19:55,800 Speaker 1: began to wonder if she might be better off going 271 00:19:55,800 --> 00:20:00,960 Speaker 1: to hospital, but their concerns were waved away. Instead, with 272 00:20:01,160 --> 00:20:04,800 Speaker 1: nothing seeming to work, Janet was poured into the shower, 273 00:20:04,880 --> 00:20:08,720 Speaker 1: fully clothed and sprayed with cold water, in the belief 274 00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:12,240 Speaker 1: that subjecting her to cold temperatures would make the mark 275 00:20:12,400 --> 00:20:17,119 Speaker 1: utu that still clung to her uncomfortable. When this also 276 00:20:17,200 --> 00:20:20,120 Speaker 1: didn't work, Janet was led back to the living room, 277 00:20:20,359 --> 00:20:34,960 Speaker 1: where the lifting continued with ever more gusto. By Thursday, 278 00:20:35,160 --> 00:20:39,240 Speaker 1: eleventh of October, the heat which enveloped Wellington had become 279 00:20:39,359 --> 00:20:44,480 Speaker 1: virtually unbearable. That morning, Janet's mother, along with some younger 280 00:20:44,520 --> 00:20:47,440 Speaker 1: members of the family, arrived at the house where Janet 281 00:20:47,480 --> 00:20:51,240 Speaker 1: was being kept. What they found there shocked them to 282 00:20:51,320 --> 00:20:55,639 Speaker 1: the core. Numerous members of the family sat about in 283 00:20:55,760 --> 00:20:59,400 Speaker 1: various states of lucidity. Clearly having been up all night, 284 00:21:00,480 --> 00:21:04,000 Speaker 1: Uncle John hadn't changed his clothes for days, and he 285 00:21:04,119 --> 00:21:09,840 Speaker 1: was babbling incoherently about something evil in Janet's eyes, while 286 00:21:09,880 --> 00:21:15,240 Speaker 1: all about the house was completely flooded. Worst of all, Janet, 287 00:21:15,320 --> 00:21:19,520 Speaker 1: who veered from restless sleep to lugubrious bouts of wakefulness, 288 00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:22,200 Speaker 1: was no better than the last time her mother had 289 00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:27,280 Speaker 1: seen her. With her mother's arrival and Janet seemingly subdued 290 00:21:27,320 --> 00:21:30,439 Speaker 1: for the moment, John took the opportunity to try and 291 00:21:30,560 --> 00:21:34,200 Speaker 1: get some rest, but no sooner had he closed his eyes, 292 00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:42,320 Speaker 1: Janet started screaming, They're coming. She growled, They're coming. Several 293 00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:46,240 Speaker 1: family members shot up and began shadow boxing around her, 294 00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:51,200 Speaker 1: as if they were fighting off invisible entities. At some point, 295 00:21:51,520 --> 00:21:54,720 Speaker 1: John noticed that some of the children had begun to 296 00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:59,760 Speaker 1: act strangely too. Some were staring blankly off into the distance, 297 00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:04,080 Speaker 1: seemingly in a trance, while others seemed to be muttering 298 00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:09,320 Speaker 1: incoherently to themselves. It was the thing they'd feared the most, 299 00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:15,240 Speaker 1: the Markkutu was spreading hurriedly. The children were all made 300 00:22:15,240 --> 00:22:18,159 Speaker 1: to vomit in order to purge any evil that was 301 00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:22,000 Speaker 1: thought to be inside them. Anything solid that came up 302 00:22:22,320 --> 00:22:25,119 Speaker 1: was swiftly stamped on by the others in an effort 303 00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:30,000 Speaker 1: to obliterate any evil spirit that it might contain. From 304 00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:33,639 Speaker 1: that point on, everyone was banned from looking Janet in 305 00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:38,000 Speaker 1: the eyes lest they also succumbed to the malignant curse. 306 00:22:45,240 --> 00:22:49,480 Speaker 1: At some point, perhaps growing increasingly terrified by the ritual's 307 00:22:49,520 --> 00:22:53,960 Speaker 1: inability to expunge the mark Utu from Janet, the family 308 00:22:54,160 --> 00:22:58,560 Speaker 1: decided to take things up a notch, believing the purifying 309 00:22:58,640 --> 00:23:02,840 Speaker 1: qualities of water held the key to her salvation. Janet 310 00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:06,440 Speaker 1: was held down while water was poured into her eyes 311 00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:09,760 Speaker 1: and her mouth in the hope it might finally purge 312 00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:13,520 Speaker 1: the evil from her. When she closed her eyes to 313 00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:17,679 Speaker 1: shield them from the deluge, others reached out and pride 314 00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:21,440 Speaker 1: them open. Some believed when they did so they could 315 00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:26,560 Speaker 1: see the demons swimming about inside them. When Janet closed 316 00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:29,959 Speaker 1: her mouth, unable to hold any more water in her throat, 317 00:23:30,359 --> 00:23:34,520 Speaker 1: again came the frantic hands to pull her mouth apart. 318 00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:39,119 Speaker 1: As Janet's eyes grew progressively scratched and red, and she 319 00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:42,760 Speaker 1: struggled for breath under the onslaught the young woman grew 320 00:23:42,840 --> 00:23:48,240 Speaker 1: increasingly distressed. Clearly the family thought it was finally working. 321 00:23:49,040 --> 00:23:53,000 Speaker 1: Janet's struggling, they reasoned, was simply her struggling to free 322 00:23:53,040 --> 00:23:58,320 Speaker 1: herself from the demon possessing her, and so, despite her 323 00:23:58,359 --> 00:24:03,480 Speaker 1: increasingly desperate protestantatients, the family held firm and continued the treatment. 324 00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:08,840 Speaker 1: When Janet's jaw locked, nobody present understood that she was 325 00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:15,280 Speaker 1: in fact drowning. Moments later, she was unresponsive, with no 326 00:24:15,400 --> 00:24:18,639 Speaker 1: desire to call the authorities and no one on hand 327 00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:23,600 Speaker 1: able to perform CPR. It was sometime around eight a m. 328 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:29,560 Speaker 1: On Friday, October twelfth when Janet's heart stopped beating, and 329 00:24:29,680 --> 00:24:35,520 Speaker 1: yet even then the markouto lifting was not complete. Janet 330 00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:39,160 Speaker 1: now dead, it seemed to many present that whatever had 331 00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:42,640 Speaker 1: been stalking her had somehow wormed its way into her 332 00:24:42,680 --> 00:24:46,919 Speaker 1: fourteen year old niece. She too, was held down and 333 00:24:47,040 --> 00:24:51,080 Speaker 1: dowsed with water. Fingers clawed at her eyes to keep 334 00:24:51,119 --> 00:24:56,040 Speaker 1: them open, as the supposedly purifying liquid was repeatedly thrown 335 00:24:56,080 --> 00:25:00,800 Speaker 1: onto her face, until eventually she passed out. Just then 336 00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:05,120 Speaker 1: a neighbor appeared at the front door. He told everyone 337 00:25:05,280 --> 00:25:10,000 Speaker 1: to stop immediately. He claimed he'd received a message in 338 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:14,560 Speaker 1: a dream from Janet's deceased grandmother that the demon was 339 00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:18,600 Speaker 1: now gone, and that with Janet's death, the evil had 340 00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:23,200 Speaker 1: been dispersed. He said that the grandmother's spirit was angry 341 00:25:23,359 --> 00:25:26,800 Speaker 1: that the younger family members had been subjected to all 342 00:25:26,840 --> 00:25:31,080 Speaker 1: the madness. Then he blessed Janet's body and advised that 343 00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:44,000 Speaker 1: the emergency services be called the lifting was over. In 344 00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:47,919 Speaker 1: the days following Janet Moses's death, numerous members of her 345 00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:51,840 Speaker 1: family were taken into custody and quizzed about their involvement. 346 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:56,639 Speaker 1: In the end, nine people were charged with manslaughter and 347 00:25:56,760 --> 00:26:01,040 Speaker 1: cruelty to a child. No intoxicants were found in any 348 00:26:01,080 --> 00:26:04,840 Speaker 1: of the participants of the ritual, while several experts in 349 00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:08,280 Speaker 1: Maori culture testified that they had never heard of an 350 00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:13,520 Speaker 1: exorcism being conducted with water. As it turned out, the 351 00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:17,919 Speaker 1: lion ornaments that had apparently been revealed to spiritual adviser 352 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:21,199 Speaker 1: Timmy Rahi in a vision to be over one hundred 353 00:26:21,280 --> 00:26:26,600 Speaker 1: years old were in fact nothing of the sort. Instead, 354 00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:31,600 Speaker 1: they were simply mundane objects purchased recently from an everyday 355 00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:37,159 Speaker 1: garden center. In June two thousand and nine, five of 356 00:26:37,240 --> 00:26:41,879 Speaker 1: the nine family members were found guilty of manslaughter, including 357 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:47,200 Speaker 1: Janet's uncle John and four of her aunts. However, not 358 00:26:47,359 --> 00:26:51,159 Speaker 1: one received a jail sentence, but were instead sentenced to 359 00:26:51,240 --> 00:26:56,160 Speaker 1: community service and to undertake cultural sensitivity training, which may 360 00:26:56,200 --> 00:27:00,320 Speaker 1: seem odd given the severity of the crime, because here's 361 00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:04,240 Speaker 1: the thing, whether or not Janet was ever truly possessed, 362 00:27:04,560 --> 00:27:08,080 Speaker 1: there is absolutely no denying that her family were only 363 00:27:08,119 --> 00:27:11,800 Speaker 1: acting with the very best of intentions according to how 364 00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:16,800 Speaker 1: they saw the world, despite their abstract beliefs, leading to 365 00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:21,080 Speaker 1: the very real physical consequence of Janet's death. It feels 366 00:27:21,119 --> 00:27:24,960 Speaker 1: almost cruel to condemn them for it, given the sincerity, 367 00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:30,000 Speaker 1: even purity, of their conviction. It is perhaps a little 368 00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:34,040 Speaker 1: hollow given the tragic consequences of their actions, But this 369 00:27:34,119 --> 00:27:39,080 Speaker 1: single detail raises some vital and uncomfortable notions about the 370 00:27:39,119 --> 00:27:50,119 Speaker 1: world we share with each other. In China Meaval's novel 371 00:27:50,359 --> 00:27:54,240 Speaker 1: The City and the City, the plot unfolds effectively in 372 00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:59,080 Speaker 1: two locations, the cities of Betzel and ol Coma, that, 373 00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:03,560 Speaker 1: in a remarkable and brilliant conceit, in fact occupy the 374 00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:08,959 Speaker 1: same physical space. Their inhabitants have been conditioned from birth 375 00:28:09,240 --> 00:28:14,119 Speaker 1: to unsee and unhear one another, thereby enabling them to 376 00:28:14,160 --> 00:28:20,080 Speaker 1: live side by side despite inhabiting entirely separate perceptual realities. 377 00:28:21,240 --> 00:28:25,199 Speaker 1: Each population moves through the same streets and buildings, but 378 00:28:25,400 --> 00:28:31,520 Speaker 1: perceives only its own city's architecture, people, and culture. Mentally 379 00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:36,679 Speaker 1: erasing anything belonging to the other. To notice or acknowledge 380 00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:41,080 Speaker 1: the other side is a crime called breach, punishable by 381 00:28:41,120 --> 00:28:48,080 Speaker 1: a mysterious quasi supernatural force. Mieval uses this strange surreal 382 00:28:48,200 --> 00:28:53,400 Speaker 1: set up to explore how societies construct and maintain invisible 383 00:28:53,480 --> 00:28:59,840 Speaker 1: boundaries political, cultural, psychological, and how they allow people to 384 00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:04,800 Speaker 1: coexist in the same reality while living entirely separate lives. 385 00:29:05,880 --> 00:29:09,400 Speaker 1: But crucially, for the most part, those who have to 386 00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:12,440 Speaker 1: live in this reality do not do so out of 387 00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:17,320 Speaker 1: animosity or hatred to the others outside. It is simply 388 00:29:17,360 --> 00:29:23,160 Speaker 1: a consequence of their innocently and organically acquired beliefs. And 389 00:29:23,280 --> 00:29:27,040 Speaker 1: that is a complicated truth at the center of all this, 390 00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:32,400 Speaker 1: and one that bears repeating that whatever others may believe, 391 00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:35,680 Speaker 1: and however wrong we might think those beliefs to be, 392 00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:40,640 Speaker 1: it is often not hatred or a calculated rejection of 393 00:29:40,800 --> 00:29:45,920 Speaker 1: our beliefs that drives them. Janet Moses' family did what 394 00:29:45,960 --> 00:29:49,160 Speaker 1: they thought was right. They believed they were trying to 395 00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:53,440 Speaker 1: save her, and yes, that ill informed belief killed her. 396 00:29:54,280 --> 00:29:57,440 Speaker 1: But here's the thing. It might be easy for some 397 00:29:57,680 --> 00:30:01,840 Speaker 1: to look at Janet's family and see some things strange, alien, 398 00:30:01,920 --> 00:30:07,400 Speaker 1: even a relic perhaps of less enlightened and more superstitious times. 399 00:30:08,160 --> 00:30:12,440 Speaker 1: But the truth is we all live like this. Each 400 00:30:12,480 --> 00:30:16,480 Speaker 1: of us are court inside abstract systems of belief, be 401 00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:21,480 Speaker 1: they political, cultural, spiritual, that tell us who we are, 402 00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:26,360 Speaker 1: what is right, and who to fear. A lot of 403 00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:30,320 Speaker 1: the time those beliefs rub quietly against each other, but 404 00:30:30,480 --> 00:30:35,120 Speaker 1: often they collide in devastating ways, and when they do, 405 00:30:35,440 --> 00:30:39,560 Speaker 1: we're reminded how fragile our sense of the world really is. 406 00:30:40,840 --> 00:30:45,200 Speaker 1: In truth, our world has never been one thing. It 407 00:30:45,280 --> 00:30:50,560 Speaker 1: has always been a series of overlapping realities, each coexisting 408 00:30:50,640 --> 00:30:56,200 Speaker 1: with the other, sometimes helpfully, other times less so. But 409 00:30:56,280 --> 00:31:00,320 Speaker 1: the danger, in many ways comes not from belief itself, 410 00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:05,160 Speaker 1: but from the moment we stop looking across the divide, 411 00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:09,360 Speaker 1: the moment we no longer see the other city, because 412 00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:13,640 Speaker 1: that's when belief hardens into something colder, and that is 413 00:31:13,680 --> 00:31:18,600 Speaker 1: how the world fractures, not for the most part through malice, 414 00:31:18,640 --> 00:31:23,400 Speaker 1: but through conviction through the seductive fallacy that only one 415 00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:28,080 Speaker 1: version of the world is correct or indeed is needed. 416 00:31:34,080 --> 00:31:37,880 Speaker 1: This episode was written by Richard McLain Smith and James 417 00:31:37,880 --> 00:31:42,800 Speaker 1: Connor Patterson. Thank you as ever for listening. Unexplained is 418 00:31:42,800 --> 00:31:46,760 Speaker 1: an AV Club Productions podcast created by Richard McLain Smith. 419 00:31:47,320 --> 00:31:50,560 Speaker 1: All other elements of the podcast, including the music, are 420 00:31:50,600 --> 00:31:54,960 Speaker 1: also produced by me Richard McClain smith. Unexplained. The book 421 00:31:55,000 --> 00:31:58,960 Speaker 1: and audiobook is now available to buy worldwide. You can 422 00:31:58,960 --> 00:32:03,520 Speaker 1: purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Waterstones, and other bookstores. 423 00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:06,720 Speaker 1: Please subscribe to and rate the show wherever you get 424 00:32:06,800 --> 00:32:09,560 Speaker 1: your podcasts, and feel free to get in touch with 425 00:32:09,600 --> 00:32:12,680 Speaker 1: any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've heard on 426 00:32:12,720 --> 00:32:15,840 Speaker 1: the show. Perhaps you have an explanation or a story 427 00:32:15,880 --> 00:32:18,320 Speaker 1: of your own you'd like to share. You can find 428 00:32:18,320 --> 00:32:21,520 Speaker 1: out more at Unexplained podcast dot com and reach us 429 00:32:21,560 --> 00:32:25,400 Speaker 1: online through x and Blue Sky at Unexplained Pod and 430 00:32:25,560 --> 00:33:38,840 Speaker 1: Facebook at Facebook dot com, Forward Slash Unexplained Podcast