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Speaker 1: We humans can often take for granted that we are
Speaker 1: ultimately responsible for our actions, that the choices we make
Speaker 1: are governed by nothing but our own free will. And
Speaker 1: yet studies have shown that the brain can enact certain
Speaker 1: decisions up to seven seconds before we have even become
Speaker 1: aware that we are making them. The notion of free
Speaker 1: will is explored by the philosopher John Gray in his
Speaker 1: groundbreaking book straw Dogs, a work of startling insight, deposits,
Speaker 1: amongst many other profound notions, that the fallacy of free
Speaker 1: will is merely a concept that helps us make sense
Speaker 1: of the world, that all our acts are in fact,
Speaker 1: nothing but the endpoint in a series of long sequences
Speaker 1: of unconscious responses. To accept that free will is little
Speaker 1: more than an illusion is a little unnerving, to say
Speaker 1: the least. For some, it could be seen as merely
Speaker 1: a fascinating quirk of life, perhaps the existence of the
Speaker 1: seven second delay, merely the consequence of a quantum process
Speaker 1: we are yet to fully understand. But for others, a
Speaker 1: lack of free will might speak of something else, entirely,
Speaker 1: something far more sinister. For after all, if we aren't
Speaker 1: in control of our minds, than just who or what
Speaker 1: is you're listening to unexplained, and I'm Richard McClain smith.
Speaker 1: The following story took place in England in nineteen seventy four,
Speaker 1: and I must warn the listener that it will contain
Speaker 1: some horrific and graphic details. Believed by some to be
Speaker 1: the most shocking account of demonic possession ever to have
Speaker 1: occurred in the UK. The events that took place one
Speaker 1: quiet Sunday morning in a small Yorkshire town have never
Speaker 1: been fully accounted for. It is a chilling mystery that
Speaker 1: remains to this day unexplained. For Britain, the nineteen seventies
Speaker 1: was a time of extraordinary uncertainty as the government lurched
Speaker 1: from right to left. The country found itself struggling to
Speaker 1: adapt to a post industrial age. For some, especially those
Speaker 1: in power, it seemed that nothing less than the country's
Speaker 1: entire social fabric was at stake. For the residents of
Speaker 1: the West Yorkshire market town of Ossit, the landscape had
Speaker 1: been shifting for some time. The town, situated in border
Speaker 1: country where the northwest of the coal fields merged with
Speaker 1: the southeast of the woolen mills, had once been a
Speaker 1: thriving pocket of industry, but, like many northern towns in
Speaker 1: the early seventies, it was facing an uncertain future. For
Speaker 1: one couple in particular, that future was beginning to look
Speaker 1: increasingly bleak. Thirty one year old Michael Taylor and his
Speaker 1: twenty nine year old wife, Christine were described by friends
Speaker 1: as a kind and loving couple and doating parents to
Speaker 1: five young boys who were well liked by the local community.
Speaker 1: After an accident at work, Michael had been forced to
Speaker 1: leave his job after seriously injuring his back, and as
Speaker 1: the country slipped into a full blown recession, opportunities for
Speaker 1: jobs had all but dried up. For a proud young
Speaker 1: father of the seventies, his sense of inadequacy and low
Speaker 1: self esteem was profound, and with the pressure to provide
Speaker 1: for his family starting to mount, Michael began to suffer
Speaker 1: from intermittent bouts of depression. At some point, a local
Speaker 1: friend called Barbara Wardman, called to see how the family
Speaker 1: were holding up. Concerned that the couple's recent struggles had
Speaker 1: left them socially isolated, Barbara suggested their accompany her to
Speaker 1: an upcoming social event that she had organized. Barbara, it
Speaker 1: turned out, had recently become involved with a local group
Speaker 1: calling themselves the Christian Fellowship of Osit. The group were
Speaker 1: part of a growing movement known collectively as charismatic Christianity.
Speaker 1: For Michael and Christine, who had never shown an interest
Speaker 1: in the church, or any religion for that matter, the
Speaker 1: invitation to join Barbara's group seemed a little daunting. Nonetheless,
Speaker 1: later that week, the Tailors attended their first fellowship meeting
Speaker 1: and were surprised by what they found. Rather than the
Speaker 1: stuck up, prickly group of religious eccentrics that they had expected, instead,
Speaker 1: they found a group of friendly, ordinary people just like themselves.
Speaker 1: Leading the congregation was a twenty two year old lay
Speaker 1: preacher named Marie Robinson. The young, charismatic in every sense
Speaker 1: of the word, made a deep impression on the couple.
Speaker 1: That night, under Marie's magnetic tutelage. Lifted by the joyous
Speaker 1: spirit of the group, Michael and Christine converted to Christianity.
Speaker 1: Eager to learn more about their new religion, Michael and
Speaker 1: Christine attended a service conducted by Marie in the town
Speaker 1: of Harbury. During the service, Marie seemed to become suddenly distressed.
Speaker 1: Shaking wildly, she started speaking in a strange language, claiming
Speaker 1: she was possessed by the Holy Spirit, unbeknownst to the
Speaker 1: Tailor's speaking in tongues, also known as glossalalia, was a
Speaker 1: prominent feature of the charismatic movement. Later that night, the
Speaker 1: Christian Fellowship, led by Marie Robinson convened for a meeting
Speaker 1: at the tailor's house. At some point during the service,
Speaker 1: many in the congregation noticed Michael becoming strangely animated, seeming
Speaker 1: to be in the grip of an unknown force. Michael
Speaker 1: started shaking violently before shouting a stream of strange, garbled words. Ordinarily,
Speaker 1: such an outburst might cause sell bration amongst the group,
Speaker 1: but this was something different. The group were greatly disturbed.
Speaker 1: One member, Mavis's smith, sank into an instant depression and
Speaker 1: started to cry uncontrollably. Instinctively, Marie elt in front of Mavis, calmly,
Speaker 1: placed her hands on her head, and proceeded to perform
Speaker 1: what Christine and Michael later discovered was an exorcism. As
Speaker 1: Marie's voice grew louder, Mavis began to writhe uncontrollably, becoming
Speaker 1: more and more animated and swearing at Marie, telling her
Speaker 1: she hated her and to leave her alone. When it
Speaker 1: was finally over, The scared and confused members slowly left
Speaker 1: and agreed to reconvene later in the week. The following day,
Speaker 1: a concerned Marie returned to the tailor's home to check
Speaker 1: on Michael's welfare. Christine, who had sensed that Michael was
Speaker 1: developing an attraction to Marie, suggested the pair be left
Speaker 1: alone to discuss their feelings. When Christine exited the room,
Speaker 1: Michael kissed Marie, who immediately pushed him away. Marie pleaded
Speaker 1: with Michael to think of his love for Christine. When
Speaker 1: Christine re entered, Michael declared that they had won a
Speaker 1: great victory for the Lord. A miracle has happened, he said.
Speaker 1: We have both overcome our passions. But then something strange occurred.
Speaker 1: Michael found himself standing naked, as if in a dream,
Speaker 1: in a place that was not of this world. In
Speaker 1: front of him, with her face turned away, was Marie,
Speaker 1: who was also naked. As she slowly turned her head
Speaker 1: to face him, Michael was horrified to see that her
Speaker 1: eyes had been replaced by two snakelike slits. At once,
Speaker 1: he felt a tremendous evil rise up inside of him.
Speaker 1: For Marie. On at Michael in the room, she recounted
Speaker 1: seeing a strange look come over him, a look that
Speaker 1: she would later claim was nothing less than the face
Speaker 1: of the devil. Suddenly, Michael began shouting in tongues and
Speaker 1: slapped at Marie's head. Christine tried her best to get
Speaker 1: between them, but was pushed out of the way by
Speaker 1: her husband. Michael grabbed Marie by the hair and threw
Speaker 1: her across the room, knocking her out cold. When she
Speaker 1: came two moments later, the usually timid and gentle Michael
Speaker 1: was crouched over her with a look of murder in
Speaker 1: his eyes. Seconds later, having completely snapped out of whatever
Speaker 1: had come over him, Michael collapsed exhausted. Afterwards, Christine ordered
Speaker 1: Marie to stay away from their home, and in the
Speaker 1: days that followed, noticed Michael's behavior becoming increasingly erratic. He
Speaker 1: muttered strange things to himself and became angered by religious iconography.
Speaker 1: Neighbor spotted Michael wandering the local streets in a bizarre state.
Speaker 1: He spat on the ground and told her to look
Speaker 1: on it as milk, telling her to drink it, for
Speaker 1: it was the milk of human kindness. As Christine became
Speaker 1: increasingly concerned for Michael, they turned again to the fellowship
Speaker 1: for guidance. On the evening of October third, they attended
Speaker 1: a meeting led by the Reverend Peter Vincent of the
Speaker 1: Church of Saint Thomas at Gorba in Barnsley. Vincent was
Speaker 1: a well respected figure in the local charismatic movement, having
Speaker 1: introduced it to his own congregation earlier in the year.
Speaker 1: Within minutes of meeting Michael, it was clear to Reverend
Speaker 1: Vincent that something was profoundly wrong. After inviting Michael to
Speaker 1: make confession, he performed a minor exorcism before sending the
Speaker 1: emotionally drained tailors back home. Once they had returned, Michael,
Speaker 1: fearful of what exactly was happening to him, was too
Speaker 1: afraid to sleep, pleading with his wife to stay by
Speaker 1: his side. That night, they made the Sign of the
Speaker 1: Cross repeatedly over each other in an attempt to ward
Speaker 1: off the evil spirits. Are you always taking care of
Speaker 1: your family? Do you often take care of others and
Speaker 1: not yourself? Now it's time to take care of yourself.
Speaker 1: To make time for you. You deserve it. Tele Adoc
Speaker 1: gives you access to a licensed therapist to help you
Speaker 1: get back to feeling your best to feeling like yourself again.
Speaker 1: With teledoc, you can speak to a licensed therapist by
Speaker 1: phone or video. Therapy appointments are available seven days a
Speaker 1: week from seven a m. To nine p m. Local time.
Speaker 1: If you feel overwhelmed sometimes maybe you feel stressed or anxious,
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Speaker 1: to facilitating great therapeutic matches, so they make it easy
Speaker 1: to change counselors if needed. For free. Tell doc therapy
Speaker 1: is available through most insurance or employers. Download the app
Speaker 1: or visittelldoc dot com Forward slash Unexplained podcast today to
Speaker 1: get started. That's teladoc dot com slash Unexplained podcast. Two
Speaker 1: days later, on October fifth, Michael returned for another fellowship meeting.
Speaker 1: Alarmed by his behavior, the group suggested he'd be taken
Speaker 1: immediately to see the Reverend Vincent. After being driven to
Speaker 1: the vicar's house, the vicar's wife, Sally, welcomed the couple
Speaker 1: into her home and settled them down in the kitchen.
Speaker 1: A local Methodist minister from Barnsley called Raymond Smith was
Speaker 1: called to provide a second opinion. A short time later,
Speaker 1: Smith Julie arrived at the vicarage with his wife Margaret.
Speaker 1: As they sat down to eat dinner, Michael immediately smashed
Speaker 1: his plate to the floor. When the vicar's cat entered
Speaker 1: the room, screamed at it, pulling fur from its back,
Speaker 1: and throwing it out of the house before he could
Speaker 1: be restrained. Reverend Vincent was utterly shocked. To him, it
Speaker 1: was clear Michael was possessed by something deeply evil. There
Speaker 1: was no other option but to perform a complete exorcism.
Speaker 1: As the others looked around nervously, Reverend Smith was the
Speaker 1: first to speak up. Unconvinced by Vincent's diagnosis, Smith thought
Speaker 1: it best that they consult a doctor first. However, Christian
Speaker 1: was worried that calling the medical services may cause even
Speaker 1: more distress to Michael. Sally agreed. It was clear to
Speaker 1: her that not only was Michael possessed, but that Marie
Speaker 1: Robinson was the culprit, having pledged Michael's soul to Satan
Speaker 1: during one of her unorthodox rituals. The team moved quickly,
Speaker 1: calling in Methodist lay preacher Donald j to assist with
Speaker 1: the exorcism. At once, Michael was taken to Saint Thomas's
Speaker 1: Church and ordered to lie down in the vestry on
Speaker 1: a pile of hassecks that had been laid out on
Speaker 1: the floor. Candles were lit all around, and the three clergymen,
Speaker 1: watched on by their wives, gathered ominously around Michael. A
Speaker 1: bright moon hung in the sky, and as the chill
Speaker 1: of the night descended, the preachers began casting the demons
Speaker 1: from Michael's soul. For over six hours, the priests worked
Speaker 1: casting out demon upon demon as Michael rised and screamed
Speaker 1: into the night, at one point shouting out the demon
Speaker 1: name of incest in a strange guttural voice. A cross
Speaker 1: belonging to Michael was later burned in a cleansing ritual.
Speaker 1: The following morning, as the sun's first rays filtered through
Speaker 1: the windows of the church, the preachers collapsed, exhausted to
Speaker 1: the ground. By Reverend Vincent's count, it had been an
Speaker 1: unqualified success, having cast out less than fifty demons from
Speaker 1: Michael's troubled soul. However, there remained three demons that they
Speaker 1: had not successfully exercised, the demon of insanity, violence, and
Speaker 1: most worryingly of all, murder too exhausted to continue, it
Speaker 1: was agreed that Michael be sent home to rest before
Speaker 1: returning at a later date. With the tailor's children spending
Speaker 1: the night at their grandparents, Christine and Michael returned to
Speaker 1: an empty home shortly after nine am on the morning
Speaker 1: of Sunday, October sixth A neighbor of the tailors later
Speaker 1: recounted seeing Christine shortly after they arrived back. Christine had
Speaker 1: seemed distressed, telling her neighbor that she was worried that
Speaker 1: something might have gotten into her. She had planned to
Speaker 1: rest with Michael a short while before calling for a doctor.
Speaker 1: Soon after. Christine went back inside the house. It was
Speaker 1: the last time she would ever be seen alive again.
Speaker 1: Shortly after ten am, a strange call was received at
Speaker 1: Ossit Police Station. Pc N Walker, who had just clocked
Speaker 1: in for work, assumed it was some kind of practical joke.
Speaker 1: The caller claimed to have seen a naked man walking
Speaker 1: through the streets, covered head to foot in paint. Walker
Speaker 1: and his partner promptly got into their regulation patrol vehicle
Speaker 1: and headed out in search of the mysterious man. Being
Speaker 1: as it was a quiet Sunday morning in a small
Speaker 1: market town, it wasn't long before they found him. The
Speaker 1: two officers pulled over in the car and carefully approached.
Speaker 1: As Walker drew near, his confusion turned to horror. It
Speaker 1: wasn't paint that covered the man from head to toe,
Speaker 1: it was blood. Walker radioed back to Bath and was
Speaker 1: informed that the man he had before him was Michael Taylor.
Speaker 1: Walker's first reaction was to search Michael's body for any
Speaker 1: sign of a wound, but was horrified to discover that
Speaker 1: whoever's blood this was, it wasn't Michael's. Staring out to
Speaker 1: an unimaginable distance, Michael spoke in a quiet, detached manner,
Speaker 1: it is the blood of Satan, he said, I have
Speaker 1: killed my wife. I know I have. With Michael's safe,
Speaker 1: you picked up and despatched to hospital. Walker made his
Speaker 1: way to the Taylor's house. When he arrived at the property,
Speaker 1: a superior officer had already inspected the scene. From the
Speaker 1: look on his face alone, Walker should have known better
Speaker 1: than to enter, but despite efforts to prevent him, pc
Speaker 1: Walker's curiosity got the better of him. What he saw
Speaker 1: would form the basis for every nightmare he has suffered
Speaker 1: ever since. Tracing back from the front door, a clear
Speaker 1: trail of blood could be seen leading out from the
Speaker 1: living room. Through the door frame, he could just make
Speaker 1: out Christine Taylor's lifeless body strewn across the floor. All
Speaker 1: around the room was splattered in blood. Her blood. It
Speaker 1: seemed to cover every inch of her face, as if
Speaker 1: she had been smeared in it. But as he drew
Speaker 1: near the full horror was revealed to him there was
Speaker 1: no face where there should have been eyes. Instead, there
Speaker 1: were two seemingly endless cavities. Her eyeballs had been ripped
Speaker 1: from the sockets and thrown across the room, the flesh
Speaker 1: of her face torn from her skull in a brutal
Speaker 1: fit of mania, and perhaps the strangest of all, her
Speaker 1: tongue had been pulled clean from her mouth. As the
Speaker 1: police searched desperately for a sign of the murder weapon,
Speaker 1: something dawned on them with a profound sense of shock.
Speaker 1: There was no weapon. Michael Taylor had done it all
Speaker 1: with his bare hands. On March twenty fifth, nineteen seventy five,
Speaker 1: at Leed's Crown Court, Michael Taylor was found not guilty
Speaker 1: of the murder of his wife due to what was
Speaker 1: deemed a momentary bout of insanity. Coroner Philip Gill believed
Speaker 1: that Michael had no criminal or evil intent, and that
Speaker 1: he was merely trying to relieve his wife of the
Speaker 1: evil he saw in her. After sentencing, doctor Hugo Mille,
Speaker 1: consultant psychiatrist to the Bradford Group of Hospitals, entered Michael
Speaker 1: Taylor's cell in Leeds Prison. He found the defendant to
Speaker 1: be completely detached from reality, unaware of his surroundings, and
Speaker 1: unfit to remain in prison custody. He was immediately transferred
Speaker 1: to Broadmoor Psychiatric Hospital, where doctor Miln made an initial
Speaker 1: diagnosis of an acute schizophrenic attack, but subsequently reversed his decision.
Speaker 1: It was his belief that one way or another, the
Speaker 1: Fellowship group had created Michael's insanity, and that Michael's fascination
Speaker 1: with Marie Robinson had in some way played a part
Speaker 1: in it. Archbishop of Canterbury at the time, Donald Coggan,
Speaker 1: strongly condemned the reckless approach of the Fellowship. The Reverend
Speaker 1: Peter Vincent, for his part, exhibited no remorse, believing unequivocally
Speaker 1: that Michael had been possessed by an evil spirit. The
Speaker 1: Church of England continues the practice of exorcism to this day.
Speaker 1: Aside from the senseless and avoidable loss of life, what
Speaker 1: strikes me most about this tragic story is the fact that,
Speaker 1: regardless of what you believe, there is no doubt that
Speaker 1: whatever Michael Taylor experienced or witnessed, it all appeared horrifying
Speaker 1: real to him. Although we will never know exactly what
Speaker 1: happened to Michael, conventional wisdom suggests some form of schizophrenia.
Speaker 1: As such, I found myself drawn to a fascinating paper
Speaker 1: titled Quantum Logic of the Unconscious and Schizophrenia. The paper,
Speaker 1: written by theoretical physicists Paola Zizzy and Massimo Pregnolato, explores
Speaker 1: the mechanics of schizophrenia through the framework of what is
Speaker 1: known as the quantum mind. In a trivial sense. The
Speaker 1: notion of the quantum mind derives from the theory that
Speaker 1: since all of everything we know can be reduced to
Speaker 1: the quantum level, it follows that consciousness itself must in
Speaker 1: some way be linked to quantum mechanical phenomena. It is
Speaker 1: a thought that has led some to consider the brain
Speaker 1: as a form of quantum computer, drawing on earlier work
Speaker 1: by psychiatrist and creator of the term schizophrenia, oigen Boiler
Speaker 1: and the work of Sigmund Freud, Zizzi and Pregnolato's paper
Speaker 1: posits the idea that, in a computational sense, the logic
Speaker 1: of the unconscious may well be the same as the
Speaker 1: logic of schizophrenia. While a healthy mind will adopt the
Speaker 1: logic of consciousness as its primary process of thinking, the
Speaker 1: schizophrenic mind instead adopts the unconscious mind at its primary mode.
Speaker 1: By extension, might it then be that not only do
Speaker 1: we all possess the capacity to experience schizophrenic episodes, but
Speaker 1: that such occurrences may be the result of quantum processes
Speaker 1: in the brain, processes that, in theory, could at any
Speaker 1: time be switched from one state to another. Is it
Speaker 1: possible that the extraordinary nature of Michael's experiences, exacerbated by
Speaker 1: the intense delirium of his exorcism, created a fundamental change
Speaker 1: in Michael's mind, a change that converted his darkest unconscious
Speaker 1: nightmares into a physical, conscious reality. It is certainly compelling
Speaker 1: to wonder at what could possibly cause such a gentle
Speaker 1: and loving husband as Michael Taylor to so brutally and
Speaker 1: manically murder his wife in a sudden moment of insanity.
Speaker 1: That the mind might be so fragile and susceptible in
Speaker 1: such a way is a truly terrifying thought. Might we
Speaker 1: too be little more than a quantum leap from madness
Speaker 1: if we are not indeed already there? It certainly puts
Speaker 1: a new spin on that most familiar Biblical adage, Please
Speaker 1: forgive us, for we know not what we do. All
Speaker 1: elements of Unexplained are produced by me Richard McClain smith.
Speaker 1: Please subscribe and rate the show on iTunes, and feel
Speaker 1: free to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas
Speaker 1: regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you
Speaker 1: have an explanation of your own you'd like to share.
Speaker 1: You can reach us online at Unexplained podcast dot com
Speaker 1: or on Twitter at Unexplained Pod. Now it's time to
Speaker 1: take care of yourself. To make time for you. Teledoc
Speaker 1: gives you access to a licensed therapist to help you
Speaker 1: get back to feeling your best. Speak to a licensed
Speaker 1: therapist by phone or video anytime between seven am to
Speaker 1: nine pm local time, seven days a week. TELEDOC therapy
Speaker 1: is available through most insurance or employers. Download the app,
Speaker 1: or visit teledoc dot com Forward slash Unexplained Podcast today
Speaker 1: to get started. That's t. E ladoc dot com slash
Speaker 1: Unexplained Podcast