Showing posts with label Lucifer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lucifer. Show all posts

Sunday 23 May 2021

The Blue Angel



I Struck Out at My Enemy.
Downward-Looking Sun, You Saw Me
As I Myself Struck Him.
In The Future
When I Meet My Enemy Again
I Will Overcome Him.

-- Crow Warrior's Oath.

“ Dinner was ready at seven fifteen. Afterwards Kinderman soaked in the bathtub, trying to make his mind a blank. As usual he found himself unable to do it. Ryan does it so easily, he reflected. I must ask him his secret. I will wait until he's done something right and feels expansive. His mind went from the concept of a secret to Amfortas. The man is so mysterious, so dark. There was something he was hiding, he knew. What was it? Kinderman reached for a plastic bottle and poured some more bubble fluid into the tub. He could barely keep from dozing off.


The bath over, Kinderman put on a robe and carried the Gemini file to his den. Its walls were covered with movie posters, black-and-white classics from the thirties and forties. The dark wooden desk was strewn with books. Kinderman winced. He was barefoot and had stepped on a sharp-edged copy of Teilhard de Chaidin's The Phenomenon of Man. He bent down and picked it up and then placed it on the desk. He turned on the desk lamp. 








The light caught tinfoil candy wrappers lurking in the rubble like gleaming felons. Kinderman cleared a space for the file, scratched his nose, sat down and tried to focus. He searched among the books and found a pair of reading glasses. He cleaned them with the sleeve of his robe and then put them on. He still couldn't see. He shut one eye and then the other, then he took off the glasses and did it again. He decided he saw better without the left lens. He wrapped his sleeve around the lens and banged it sharply on a corner of the desk. The lens fell out in two pieces. Occam's Razor, Kinderman thought. He put the glasses back on and tried again.


It was no use. The problem was fatigue. He took off the glasses, left the den and went straight to bed.


Kinderman dreamed. He was sitting in a theater watching a film with the inmates of the open ward. He thought he was watching Lost Horizon, although what he saw on the screen was Casablanca. He felt no discrepancy about this. In Rick's Cafe the piano player was Amfortas. He was singing "As Time Goes By'' when the Ingrid Bergman character entered. In Kinderman's dream she was Martina Lazlo and her husband was played by Doctor Temple. Lazlo and Temple approached the piano and Amfortas said, "Leave him alone, Miss Ilse." Then Temple said, "Shoot him," and Lazlo took a scalpel from her purse and stabbed Amfortas in the heart. 


Suddenly Kinderman was in the movie. He was sitting at a table with Humphrey Bogart. "The letters of transit are forged," said Bogart. "Yes, I know," said Kinderman. He asked Bogart whether Max, his brother, was involved, and Bogart shrugged his shoulders and said, "This is Rick's." 


"Yes, everyone comes here," said Kinderman, nodding; "I've seen this picture twenty times." 


"Couldn't hurt," said Bogart. Then Kinderman experienced a feeling of panic because he had forgotten the rest of his lines, and he began a discussion of the problem of evil and gave Bogart a summary of his theory. 


In the dream it took a fraction of a second. "Yes, Ugarte," said Bogart, "I do have more respect for you now." 


Then Bogart began a discussion of Christ. "You left him out of your theory," he said; "the German couriers will find out about that." 


"No, no, I include him," said Kinderman quickly. 


Abruptly Bogart became Father Dyer and Amfortas and Miss Lazlo were sitting at the table, although now she was young and extremely beautiful. Dyer was hearing the neurologist's confession, and when he gave the absolution Lazlo gave Amfortas a single white rose. 


"And I said I'd never leave you," she told him. "Go and live no more," said Dyer.


Instantaneously, Kinderman was back in the audience and he knew that he was dreaming. 


The screen had grown larger, filling his vision, and in place of Casablanca he saw two lights against a pale green wash of endless void. 


The light at the left was large and coruscating, flashing with a bluish radiance. 


Far to its right was a small white sphere that glowed with the brilliance and power of suns, yet did not blind or flare; it was serene. Kinderman experienced a sense of transcendence. 


In his mind he heard the light on the left begin to speak. "I cannot help loving you," it said. 


The other light made no answer. There was a pause. 


"That is what I am," the first light continued. "Pure love. I want to give my love freely," it said. 


Again there was no answer from the brilliant sphere. 


Then at last the first light spoke again. "I want to create myself," it said.


The sphere then spoke. "There will be pain," it said.


"I know."


"You do not understand what it is." 


"I choose it," said the bluish light. 


Then it waited, quietly flickering.


Many more moments passed before the white light spoke again. "I will send Someone to you," it said.


"No, you mustn't. You must not interfere."


"He will be a part of you," said the sphere.


The bluish light drew inward upon itself. Its flarings were muted and minute. 


Then at last it expanded again. "So be it."


Now the silence was longer, much stiller than before. There was a heaviness about it.


At last the white light spoke quietly. "Let time begin," it said.


The bluish light flared up and danced in colors, and then slowly it steadied to its former state. 


For a time there was silence. 



Then the bluish light spoke softly and sadly. "Goodbye. I will return to you.''





"Hasten the day."


The bluish light began to coruscate wildly now. It grew larger and more radiant and beautiful than ever. Then it slowly compacted, until it was almost the size of the sphere. There it seemed to linger for a moment. "I love you," it said. 


The next instant it exploded into far-flinging brilliance, hurtling outward from itself with unthinkable force in a trillion shards of staggering energies of light and shattering sound.


Kinderman bolted awake. He sat upright in bed and felt at his forehead. It was bathed in perspiration. He could still feel the light of the explosion on his retinas. He sat there and thought for a while. Was it real? The dream had seemed so. Not even the dream about Max had had this texture. He didn't think about the portion of the dream in the cinema. The other segment had blotted it out.


He got out of bed and went down to the kitchen where he put on the light and squinted at the pendulum clock on the wall. Ten after four? This is craziness, he thought. Frank Sinatra is just now going to sleep. Yet he felt awake and extremely refreshed. He turned the flame on under the tea kettle and then stood waiting by the stove. He had to watch it and catch it before it whistled. Shirley might come down. 


While he waited, he thought about his dream of the lights. It had affected him deeply. What was this emotion he was feeling? he wondered. It was something like poignance and unbearable loss. He had felt it at the ending of Brief Encounter. He reflected on the book about Satan that he'd read, the one written by Catholic theologians. 


Satan's beauty and perfection were described as breathtaking. "Bearer of Light." "The Morning Star.'' God must have loved him very much. Then how could he have damned him for all of eternity?




So Point The Finger,
Say No More,
Where it Touches,
UltraWar!

Thursday 25 March 2021

Lucifer




Why was Satan thrown into hell? 

Well, the standard Story is that when God created the angels, he told them to bow to none but himself. 

Then he created Man, whom he regarded as a Higher Form Than The Angels, and he asked The Angels then to serve man. 
And Satan would not bow to Man. 

Now, this is interpreted in the Christian Tradition, as I recall from my boyhood instruction, as being The Egotism of Satan, he would not bow to Man. 

But in this view, he could NOT bow to Man, because of his Love for God, he could bow ONLY to God. 
And then God says, “Get out of my sight.” 

Now, the worst of the pains of hell insofar as hell has been described is The Absence of The beloved, which is God. 

So how does Iblis sustain the situation in hell? By The MEMORY of The Echo of God’s Voice when God said, “Go to hell.” 

And I think that’s A Great Sign of Love, do you agree?

BILL MOYERS: Well, it’s certainly true in life that the greatest hell one can know is to be separated from the one you love.

JOSEPH CAMPBELL: 
Yeah.

BILL MOYERS: 
That’s why I’ve liked the Persian myth for so long. Satan as God’s lover.

JOSEPH CAMPBELL: 
Yeah. And he is separated from God, and that’s the real pain of Satan.




Kinderman looked down at his tea and shook his head. “It’s no use. You’ll find nothing. It makes my mind cold. Something terrible is laughing at us, Atkins. You’ll find nothing.” He sipped at the tea and then murmured, “Succinylcholine chloride. Just enough.” 

“What about the old woman, Lieutenant?” 

No one had claimed her as yet. No traces of blood had been found on her clothing. 

Kinderman looked at him, suddenly animated. “Do you know about the hunting wasp, Atkins? 


No, you don’t. It isn’t known. It isn’t common. 
But this wasp is incredible. 
A mystery. 

To begin with, its lifespan is only two months. 
A short time. Never mind, though, as long as it’s healthy. 

All right, it comes out of its egg. It’s a baby, it’s cute, a little wasp. 

In a month it’s all grown and has eggs of its own. 

And now all of a sudden the eggs need food, but a special kind and only one kind : a live insect, Atkins — let’s say a cicada; yes, cicadas would be good. 

We’ll say cicadas. 

Now the hunting wasp figures this out. Who knows how. 
It’s a mystery. 
Forget it. Never mind. 

But the food must be alive; putrefaction would be fatal to the egg and to the grub, and a live and normal cicada would crush the egg or even eat it. 

So the wasp can’t drop a net on a bunch of cicadas and then give them to the eggs and say, ‘Here, eat your dinner.’ 

You thought life was easy for hunting wasps, Atkins? Just flying and stinging all day, jaunty jolly? 

No, it isn’t so easy. Not at all. They have problems. 

But if the wasp can just paralyze the cicada, this problem is solved and there’s dinner on the table. 

But to do this, it has to figure out exactly where to sting the cicada, which would take total knowledge of cicada anatomy, Atkins — they’re all covered with this armor, these scales — and it has to figure out exactly how much venom to inject, or else our friend the cicada flies away or is dead. 

All this medical-surgical knowledge it needs. Don’t feel blue, Atkins. 

Really. It’s all okay. 

All the hunting wasps everywhere, even as we sit here, they’re all singing ‘Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina’ and they’re paralyzing insects all over the country. 

Isn’t that amazing? How can this be?” 

“Well, it’s instinct,” said Atkins, knowing what Kinderman wanted to hear. 

Kinderman glared. “Atkins, never say ‘instinct’ and I give you my word, I will never say ‘parameters.’ Can we find a way of living?” 

“What about ‘instinctive’?” 

“Also verboten. Instinct. What is instinct? Does a name explain? Someone tells you that the sun didn’t rise today in Cuba and you answer, ‘Never mind, today is Sun-Shall-Not-Rise-in-Cuba-Day’? That explains it? Give a label and it’s curtains now for miracles, correct? Let me tell you, I am also not impressed by words like ‘gravity.’ 

Okay, that’s a whole other tsimmis altogether. In the meantime, the hunting wasp, Atkins. It’s amazing. It’s a part of my theory.” 

“Your theory on the case?” Atkins asked him. “I don’t know. It could be. Maybe not. I’m just talking. No, another case, Atkins. Something bigger.” 

He gestured globally. “It’s all connected. As regards the old lady, in the meantime…” 

His voice trailed away and a distant thunder rumbled faintly. He stared at a window where a light fall of rain was beginning to splatter in hesitant touches. Atkins shifted in his chair. 

“The old lady,” breathed Kinderman, his eyes dreamy. 

“She is leading us into her mystery, Atkins. 
I hesitate to follow her. I do.” 

He continued staring inwardly for a time. Then abruptly he crumpled his empty cup and tossed it away. It thudded in the wastebasket near the desk. He stood up. 

“Go and visit with your sweetheart, Atkins. Chew bubble gum and drink lemonade. Make fudge. 

As for me, I am leaving. Adieu.” 

But for a moment he stood there, looking around for something. 

“Lieutenant, you’re wearing it,” said Atkins. 

Kinderman felt at the brim of his hat. “Yes, I am. This is True. Good point. Well taken.” 

Kinderman continued to brood by the desk. “Never trust in the facts,” he wheezed. 

“Facts hate us. They stink. They hate men and they hate the truth.” 

Abruptly he turned and waddled away. In a moment he was back and ransacking pockets of his coat for books. 

“One more thing,” he said to Atkins. The sergeant stood up. “Just a minute.” 

Kinderman riffled through the books, and then he murmured, “Aha!” and from the pages of a work by Teilhard de Chardin, he extracted a note that was written on the inside of a Hershey Bar wrapper. 

He held it to his chest. “Don’t look,” he said sternly. 

“I’m not looking,” said Atkins. 

“Well, don’t.” 

Kinderman guardedly held the note and began to read: “ ‘Another source of conviction in the existence of God, connected with the reason and not with feelings, is the extreme difficulty, or rather impossibility, of conceiving this immense and wonderful universe as the result of blind chance or necessity.’ ” 

Kinderman breasted the note and looked up. “Who wrote that, Atkins?” 

“You.” 

“The test for lieutenant is not till next year. Guess again.”

“I don’t know.” 

“Charles Darwin,” said Kinderman. “In The Origin of Species.” 

And with that, he stuffed the note into his pocket and left. 

And again came back. 

“Something Else,” he told Atkins. 

He stood with his nose an inch away from the sergeant’s, hands stuffed deep in the pockets of his coat. 
“What does Lucifer mean?” 

“Light Bearer.” 

“And what is the stuff of the universe?” 

“Energy.” 

“What is energy’s commonest form?” 

“Light.” 

“I know.” 

And with that, the detective walked away, listing slowly through the squad room and down the stairs. He didn’t come back.

*****

Kinderman absently stirred his cold coffee and shifted his glance around the room as if watching for some eavesdropping secret agent. He leaned his head forward conspiratorially. 

“My approach to The World,” he said guardedly, “is as if it were the scene of a crime. You understand? 

I am putting together the clues. 

In the meantime, I have several ‘Wanted’ posters. You’d be good enough to hang them on the campus? They’re free. Your vow of poverty hangs heavy on your mind; I’m very sensitive to that. There’s no charge.” 

“You’re not telling me your theory?” 

“I will give you a hint,” said Kinderman. “Clotting.” 

Dyer’s eyebrows knit together. “Clotting?” 

“When you cut yourself, your blood cannot clot without fourteen separate little operations going on inside your body, and in just a certain order; little platelets and these cute little corpuscles, whatever, going here, going there, doing this, doing that, and in just this certain way, or you wind up looking foolish with your blood pouring out on the pastrami.” 

“That’s the hint?” 

“Here’s another: the autonomic system. Also, vines can find water from miles away.” 

“I’m lost.” 

“Stay put, we have picked up your signal.” 

Kinderman leaned his face closer to Dyer’s. “Things that supposedly have no consciousness are behaving as if they do.” 

“Thank you, Professor Irwin Corey.” Kinderman abruptly sat back and glowered. 

“You are the living proof of my thesis. You saw that horror movie called Alien?” 

“Yes.” 

“Your life story. In the meantime, never mind, I have learned my lesson. Never send Sherpa guides to lead a rock; it will only fall on top of them and give them a headache.” 

“But that’s all you’re going to tell me about your theory?” protested Dyer. 

He picked up his coffee cup. 

“That is all. My final word.”


*****

“What happened?” 


“I’m not ready to discuss it at this time. However, I want your opinion on something. This is all academic. Understand? 


Just assume these hypothetical facts. 


A learned psychiatrist, someone like the Chief of Psychiatry at the hospital, makes a clumsy effort to make me think that he is covering up for a colleague; let’s say a neurologist who is working on the problem of pain. 


This happens, in this hypothetical case, when I ask this imaginary psychiatrist if anyone on his staff has a certain eccentricity about his handwriting. 


This make-believe psychiatrist looks me in the eye for two or three hours, then he looks away and says ‘no’ very loud. 


Also, like a fox, I find there’s friction between them. Maybe not. But I think so. 


What do you induce from this nonsense, Atkins?” 


“The psychiatrist wants to finger the neurologist, but he doesn’t want to do it openly.” 


“Why not?” the detective asked. 


“Remember, this man is obstructing justice.” 


“He’s guilty of something. He’s involved. But if he’s seemingly covering for someone else, you would never suspect him.” 


“He should live so long. But I agree with your opinion. 


In the meantime, I have something more important to tell you. 


In Beltsville, Maryland, years ago they had this hospital for patients who were dying of cancer. So they gave them big doses of LSD. 


Couldn’t Hurt. Am I right? 

And it helps The Pain. 


Then something funny happens to all of them. 


They all have the same experience, no matter what their background or their religion. 


They imagine they are going straight down through The Earth and through every kind of Sewage and Filth and Trash. 


While they’re doing it, they are these things; they’re The Same. 


Then they start to go up and up and up, and suddenly everything is beautiful and they are standing in front of God, who then says to them, ‘Come up here with Me, this isn’t Newark.’ 


Every one of them had this experience, Atkins. 


Well, okay, maybe ninety percent. That’s enough. 


But the main thing is one other thing that they said. They said they felt the whole universe was them. They were all one thing, they said; one person


Isn’t it amazing that all of them would say that? 


Also, consider Bell’s Theorem, Atkins : in any two-particle system, say the physicists, changing the spin of one of the particles simultaneously changes the spin of the other, no matter what the distance is between them, no matter if it’s galaxies or light years!” 


“Lieutenant?” 


“Please be silent when you’re speaking to me! I have something else to tell you.” 


The Detective leaned forward with glittering eyes. 


“Think about the autonomic system. It does all of these seemingly intelligent things to keep your body functioning and alive. But it hasn’t got intelligence of its own. Your conscious mind is not directing it. 


‘So what directs it?’ you ask me. Your unconscious. 


Now think of the universe as your body, and of evolution and the hunting wasps as the autonomic system. 


What is directing it, Atkins? 

Think about that. 


And remember the collective unconscious. In the meantime, I cannot sit and chit-chat forever.”

Wednesday 24 March 2021

Amfortas




 
 
" Kinderman looked at Amfortas. He’d finished the soup. 
 
“Very good,” said Kinderman. “Your mother will get a good report.” 
 
“Have you any other questions?” Amfortas asked him. He felt at his coffee cup. It was cool. 
 
“Succinylcholine chloride,” said Kinderman. “You use it at your hospital?” 
 
“Yes. I mean, not me personally. But it’s used in electroshock therapy. Why do you ask?” 
 
“If someone in the hospital wanted to steal some, could he do it?” 
 
“Yes.” 
 
“How?” 
 
“He could lift it off a drug cart when no one was looking. Why are you asking?” 
 
Kinderman again deflected his question. “Then someone who is not from the hospital could do it?” 
 
“If he knew what to look for. He would have to know the schedules for when the drug is needed and when it’s delivered.” 
 
“Do you work in Psychiatric at times?” 
 
“At times. Is this what you brought me here to ask, Lieutenant?” Amfortas was drilling the detective with his eyes. 
 
“No, it isn’t,” said Kinderman. “Honest. God’s Truth. But as long as we were here…” He let it trail off. 
 
“If I asked at the hospital, they would naturally want to look good and insist that it couldn’t be done. 
 
You understand? 
 
As we were speaking, I realized you would tell me The Truth.” 
 
“That’s very kind of you, Lieutenant. Thank you. You’re a very nice man.” 
 
Kinderman felt something reaching out from him. 
 
“Likewise and ditto by me,” he acknowledged. Then he smiled with recollection. “You know ‘ditto’? It’s a word that I love. It really is. It reminds me of Here Comes Mister Jordan. Joe Pendleton said it all the time.” 
 
“Yes, I remember.”
 
“Do you like that movie?”
 
“Yes.”
 
“So do I. I am a patron of schmaltz, I’ll admit it. But such sweetness and innocence, these days — well, it’s gone. What a life,” sighed Kinderman. 
 
“It’s a preparation for death.” Once again Amfortas had surprised the detective. He appraised him warmly now. 
 
“This is True,” said Kinderman. “We must speak some other time of these things.” 
 
The detective searched the tragic eyes. They were brimming with something. What? What was it? 
 
“You’re through with your coffee?” asked Kinderman. 
 
“Yes.” 
 
“I’ll stay behind and get the check. You were kind to spend this time, but I know you’re very busy.” Kinderman reached out his hand. 
 
Amfortas took it and squeezed it firmly, then stood up to go. 
 
For a moment he lingered, staring quietly at Kinderman. 
 
“The succinylcholine,” he said at last. “It’s the murder. Is that right?” 
 
“Yes, that’s right.” Amfortas nodded, then he walked away. Kinderman watched him threading through the tables. Then at last he was up the steps and gone. 
 
The Detective sighed. "
 
 
Investigations lead Kinderman to the psychiatric wing of the hospital where his friend was slain. Here he finds a number of suspects:
 
Dr. Freeman Temple – a psychiatrist who has a dismissive and even contemptuous attitude towards his patients.
 
Dr. Vincent Amfortas – another doctor at the hospital. He is mysterious and not very talkative, and seemingly apathetic toward everything since the recent death of his wife. (The name “Amfortas” is the name of the Fisher King in Richard Wagner’s opera Parsifal, which itself is derived from “Anfortas,” the name of the character of the Fisher King in the Middle High German medieval Grail romance Parzival, by Wolfram von Eschenbach. Dr. Amfortas, like his literary and operatic namesakes, is a type of the Wounded King or Maimed King, a role traditionally occupied by the character of the Fisher King in medieval romances related to the Holy Grail legend, whose literary and mythological roles are discussed in detail by Jessie Weston in her 1920 examination of the Grail tradition, From Ritual to Romance.
 
Patients – there are a number of elderly people at the hospital suffering from senile dementia. The fingerprints of different senile patients are found at murder scenes, but interviews with the patients make it clear they are seemingly incapable of carrying out the elaborate killings and mutilations.
 
Tommy Sunlight – a mysterious patient, found wandering aimlessly eleven years ago dressed as a priest, who brags of being the Gemini Killer reincarnated and claims to have carried out the recent murders, even though he logically could not have done so, being secured in a locked cell in a straitjacket. At one point he claims the doctors and nurses let him out to kill. He also looks identical to Damien Karras, a priest who supposedly died in The Exorcist by falling down a flight of stairs.
 
James Vennamun – the actual Gemini Killer himself, whose body was never found, suggesting that he may have survived and resumed his crimes.

Badinage

 
 





 
 
EXTERIOR- RUNNING TRACK- GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY- DAY 
 
 
 
In training gear, Karras is running laps. Seated on a bench at the edge of the track, watching Karras, Lt. Kinderman. Karras seems curious, if not disturbed, by Kinderman's presence. When Karras stops, panting, Kinderman rises and moves toward him. 
 
 
 
KINDERMAN

Father Karras? 
 
 
 
Karras picks up his towel and wipes his brow. 
 
 
 
KARRAS
Have we met? 
 
 
 
KINDERMAN
No we haven't met, but they said I could tell; that you looked like a boxer. 
 
Kinderman shows his badge. 
 
KINDERMAN
William F. Kinderman. Homicide. 
 
 
 
KARRAS
What's this about? 
 
 
 
KINDERMAN
Yeah, it's true. You do look like a boxer.
John Garfield, in Body and Soul.
Exactly John Garfield anyone told you that Father? 
 
KARRAS
Do people tell you look like Paul Newman? 
 
KINDERMAN
Always. 
 
Karras walks away toward the campus. 
 
KINDERMAN
You this director was doing a film here, Burke Dennings? 
 
KARRAS
I've seen him. 
 
KINDERMAN
You've seen him.
You're also familiar with how last week he died? 
 
KARRAS
Only what I read in the papers. 
 
KINDERMAN
Papers. Tell me, what do you know about the subject of witchcraft?
From the witching end, not the hunting. 
 
 
 
KARRAS
I once did a paper on it 
 
KINDERMAN
Really? 
 
KARRAS
From the psychiatric end. 
 
KINDERMAN
I know. I read it.
These desecration's in the church…you think they have anything to do with witchcraft? 
 
 
 
KARRAS
Maybe. Some rituals used in Black Mass. Maybe. 
 
 
 
KINDERMAN
And Dennings, you read how he died? 
 
 
 
KARRAS
Yeah, a fall. 
 
 
 
KINDERMAN
Let me tell you how Father, and please confidential. Burke 
 Dennings, good Father, was found at the bottom of those steps 
leading to 'M' Street, with his head turned completely around. 
Facing backwards. 
 
KARRAS
Couldn't it of happened on the fall. 
 
 
KINDERMAN
It's possible. Possible however… 
 
KARRAS
Unlikely. 
 
KINDERMAN
Exactly. So on the one hand we've got a witchcraft type of murder 
and a Black Mass style of desecration in the church. 
 
 
 
KARRAS
You think the killer and the desecrator are the same? 
 
 
 
KINDERMAN
 
Maybe somebody crazy, someone with a spite against the church, some unconscious rebellion, perhaps. 
 
 
 
KARRAS
Sick priest, is that it? 
 
 
 
KINDERMAN
Look, Father this is hard for you- please. But for priests on the 
 
campus here, you're the psychiatrist; you'd know who was sick at 
 
the time, who wasn't. I mean this kind of sickness. You'd know 
 
that. 
 
 
 
KARRAS
 
I don't know anyone who fits the description. 
 
 
 
KINDERMAN
 
Ah, doctor's ethics. If you knew you wouldn't tell, huh? 
 
 
 
KARRAS
 
No I probably wouldn't. 
 
 
 
KINDERMAN
 
Not to bother you with trivia, but a psychiatrist in sunny 
 
California was thrown in jail for not telling the judge what he 
 
knew about a patient. 
 
 
 
KARRAS
 
Is that a threat? 
 
 
 
KINDERMAN
 
No, I mentioned it only in passing. 
 
 
 
KARRAS
 
Incidentally I mention only in passing that I could tell the 
 
judge that it was a matter of confession. 
 
 
 
Karras walks off toward his dormitory and Kinderman chases him. 
 
 
 
KINDERMAN
 
Hey, Father? You like movies? 
 
 
 
KARRAS
 
Very much. 
 
 
 
KINDERMAN
 
I get passes to the best shows in town. Mrs. K though, she gets 
 
tired and never likes to go. 
 
 
 
KARRAS
 
That's to bad. 
 
 
 
KINDERMAN
 
Yeah, I hate to go alone. You know, I like to talk film; discuss 
 
the critique. D'you wanna see a film with me? I got passes to The 
 
Crest. It's Othello. 
 
 
 
KARRAS
 
Who's in it? 
 
 
 
KINDERMAN
 
Who's in it? Debbie Reynolds, Desdemona, and Othello, Groucho 
 
Marx. You're happy? 
 
 
 
KARRAS
 
I've seen it. 
 
 
 
KINDERMAN
 
One last time: Can you think of some priest who fits the bill? 
 
 
 
KARRAS
 
Come on! 
 
 
 
KINDERMAN
 
Answer the question, Father Paranoia. 
 
 
 
KARRAS
 
Alright. You know who I think really did it? 
 
 
 
KINDERMAN
 
Who? 
 
 
 
KARRAS
 
The Dominicans. Go pick on them. 
 
 
 
KINDERMAN
 
I could have you deported, you know that? 
 
 
 
Karras walks to the front door. 
 
 
 
KINDERMAN
 
(shouts to Karras)
 
I lied! 
 
 
 
Karras turns around. 
 
 
 
KINDERMAN
 
(shouting to Karras)
 
You look like Sal Mineo! 
 
 
 
Karras smiles and walks inside. 
 
 
*****
 
MERRIN
Give way to Christ, you Prince of Murderers —
You're Guilty, before Almighty God, 
Guilty before His Son, 
Guilty before The Whole Human Race.

 It's The Lord who expels you. 

He who is coming to Judge both The Living and The Dead 
and The World 
by Fire
 
 
 
As Merrin kneels by the bed, Karras crawls over and covers Regan with a blanket. 
 
 
 
MERRIN
Are you tired? 

Karras nods. 
 
MERRIN
Let's rest before we start again. 
 
 
 
Merrin leaves the room, but Karras stays sat on the bed, shivering with both coldness and fear. Regan is asleep. 
 
 
 
INTERIOR- MACNEIL HOUSE- SECOND FLOOR HALLWAY- STAIRS- NIGHT 
 
An exhausted Merrin and Karras are sitting in the hallway, on the stairs, outside the bathroom. 
 
KARRAS
Why this girl, it makes no sense? 
 

MERRIN
I think the point is to make us dispair... 
To see our selves as... 
animal and ugly... 
To reject the possibillity that God could love us. 
 
 
 
MERRIN
Will you excuse me, Damien? 
 

Merrin rises and moves toward the bathroom. 
 
 
 
INTERIOR- MACNEIL HOUSE- BATHROOM- NIGHT 
 
Merrin sits on the toilet and takes out his pilbox. He extracts nitorglycerin tablet and places it under his tongue. He is  shaking with fear as he holds his head with exhaustion. 
 
 
 
INTERIOR- MACNEIL HOUSE- SECOND FLOOR HALLWAY- NIGHT 
 
 
Karras moves back toward the bedroom and enters. 
 

INTERIOR- MACNEIL HOUSE- REGAN'S BEDROOM- NIGHT 
 
 
Karras is shocked to see an instant apparition of his mother, laying on the bed in place of Regan. It vanishes. He moves toward Regan, who is shivering and drenched with sweat. 
 
 
 
REGAN/MRS. KARRAS
 
Dimmy, why you did this to me? 
 
 
 
Karras gets out a stehoscope and places it on Regan's chest. 
 
 
 
REGAN/MRS. KARRAS
 
Please Dimmy, I'm affraid. 
 
 
 
KARRAS
 
You're not my mother. 
 
 
 
REGAN/MRS. KARRAS
 
Dimmy please! 
 
 
 
Merrin re-enters the room. 
 
 
 
MERRIN
 
What is it? 
 
 
 
KARRAS
 
Her heart. 
 
 
 
MERRIN
 
Can you give her something? 
 
 
 
KARRAS
 
She'll go into coma. 
 
 
 
Regan, in the voice of Karras' mother, speaks a few pleading 
 
phrases in Greek to Karras. 
 
 
 
KARRAS
 
(shouting)
 
You're not my mother!!! 
 
 
 
MERRIN
 
Don't listen. 
 
 
 
REGAN/MRS. KARRAS
 
Why, Dimmy? 
 
 
 
Damien breaks into convulsive sobbing. 
 
 
 
MERRIN
 
Damien. 
 
 
 
REGAN/MRS. KARRAS
 
Dimmy, please! 
 
 
 
MERRIN
 
Damien! Get out! 
 
 
 
Damien arises from the bed. Merrin leads him out, and then re-
 
enters the room himself. He sprinkles some holy water on Regan 
 
and kneels at her side. He holds her hand tightly. 
 
 
 
MERRIN
 
Our Father, who art in heaven... 
 
 
 
INTERIOR- MACNEIL HOUSE- FOYER- NIGHT 
 
 
 
Downstairs Karras sits brooding as Chris enters. 
 
 
 
CHRIS
 
Is it over? 
 
 
 
Karras shakes his head negatively. 
 
 
 
CHRIS
 
Is she gonna die? 
 
 
 
KARRAS
 
(firmly)
 
No. 
 
 
 
He rises and starts ascending the stairs with renewed conviction. 
 
The doorbell rings and Chris moves toward the door. Before 
 
opening she applies the chain lock on. She opens the door slowly 
 
and we see Kinderman staring at her from the gap. 
 
 
 
INTERIOR- MACNEIL HOUSE- REGAN'S BEDROOM- NIGHT 
 
 
 
Karras re-enters Regan's room and sees Merrin face down on her 
 
bed. Regan is sitting up against the bottom right hand bed post 
 
as Karras pulls Merrin to the floor. Karras feels for Merrin's 
 
pulse, then tries frantically to pump life back into the priest 
 
with blows to his chest, but gives up when he realises Merrin is 
 
dead. He hears a giggle and turns to Regan. 
 
 
 
KARRAS
 
You son of a bitch! 
 
 
 
He grabs her and pulls her to the floor. He begins to punch her 
 
in the face and head, then shakes her and nearly strangles her in 
 
his fury. 
 
 
 
KARRAS
 
Take me! Come into me! God damn you! Take me! Take me! 
 
 
 
A gargantuan struggle is visible in the demonic features of 
 
Regan's face. His face has taken on a demonic shade, and his eyes 
 
have turned bright green. She screams out as Karras' body jerks 
 
back, apparently manipulated by some inner force, which now 
 
reaches toward Regan to strangle her. Karras fights the force for 
 
control of his body, and he screams, compelling it toward the 
 
window. 
 
 
 
KARRAS
 
No!! 
 
 
 
With his last angiushed cry, Karras leaps out of the window. We 
 
see him roll down the concrete steps outside and hit the floor at 
 
the bottom. His cry was immediatly followed by frightened sobs 
 
and whimpers that are unmstakably those of an ordinary little 
 
girl. 
 
 
 
REGAN
 
(crying)
 
Mother...Mother...Mother...Mother... 
 
 
 
Chris rushes in and pauses to make sure that it's really Regan 
 
again. She's follwed in by Kinderman. 
 
 
 
CHRIS
 
Rags? 
 
 
 
She dashes over to where her daughter is cowering on the floor. 
 
She flings herself down on top of Regan, cradling her and crying 
 
in hysterical relief, as Kinderman looks at Karras' body from the 
 
window, looks at Merrin's dead body on the floor and then looks 
 
at Chris and Regan. 
 
 
 
EXTERIOR- M-STREET- STEPS- NIGHT 
 
 
 
A crowd is gathering at the scene of an accident. Their 
 
attentionis focused by a man lying in a pool of blood on the 
 
pavement at the foot of the steps under Regan's window. 
 
 
 
BYSTANDER
 
Somebody fell at the bottom of the steps here! 
 
 
 
Father Dyer pushes through the crowd and kneels beside Karras. 
 
Fighting back tears, he grasps Karras' hand and leans close to 
 
whisper in his ear. 
 
 
 
FATHER DYER
 
Do you want to make your confession? Are you sorry- (his voice 
 
catches)
 
Are you sorry for having offended God, with all the sins of your 
 
past life? (he breaks down for a moment, then starts 
 
administiring the last rites)
 
Ego to abslovo in nomine patris, et filli, et spiritus sancti. 
 
Amen. 
 
 
 
As a wailling siren signals the approach of an ambulance, Dyer 
 
weeps openly. 
 
 
 
EXTERIOR- PROSPECT STREET- TOP OF STEPS- DAY 
 
 
 
On a bright, sunny day, we are looking down the steps which are 
 
now clean. No blood, or body at the bottom. 
 
 
 
INTERIOR- MACNEIL HOUSE- DINING ROOM- DAY 
 
 
 
Sharon and Chris are briskly packing up last minute items before 
 
moving out. 
 
 
 
SHARON
 
Where do you want this? 
 
 
 
CHRIS
 
What is it? 
 
 
 
SHARON
 
Phonograph. 
 
 
 
CHRIS
 
Storage. 
 
 
 
Sharon puts in in one of the large cardboard boxes that are 
 
standing about. 
 
 
 
CHRIS
 
I'm gonna miss you. 
 
 
 
SHARON
 
Me too. 
 
 
 
CHRIS
 
Sure you won't change your mind? 
 
 
 
Sharon shakes her head. She reaches into her pocket and hands 
 
Chris the St. Joseph medal. 
 
 
 
SHARON
 
I found this in her room. 
 
 
 
Chris puts in her pocket. 
 
 
 
SHARON
 
That's everything. 
 
 
 
Chris hugs her. She pulls away and walks to the foot of the 
 
stairs. 
 
 
 
CHRIS
 
Regan! C'mon honey we have to get going! 
 
 
 
EXTERIOR- MACNEIL HOUSE- PROSPECT STREET- DAY 
 
 
 
We see Karl is loading the car with cases. Father Dyer is 
 
standing outside the gates. Chris exits the house and Dyer moves 
 
toward her. 
 
 
 
CHRIS
 
She doesn't remeber a thing. 
 
 
 
FATHER DYER
 
That's good. 
 
 
 
Regan exits the house and walks to Chris. 
 
 
 
REGAN
 
All done. 
 
 
 
CHRIS
 
Honey this is Father Dyer. 
 
 
 
REGAN
 
Hi Father. 
 
 
 
DYER
 
Hello. 
 
 
 
KARL
 
Ready Mrs. 
 
 
 
Chris shakes Father Dyer's hand. 
 
 
 
CHRIS
 
Goodbye Father. I call you. 
 
 
 
FATHER DYER
 
Okay. 
 
 
 
Chris gets into the car, but Regan stands staring at Dyer's 
 
collar. She leans forward and kisses Father Dyer on the cheek. 
 
Not sure of what she has done, she retreats to the car. The car 
 
drives out to the street and Father Dyer waves goodbye. Father 
 
Dyer walks out and Willie closes the gates. 
 
 
 
FATHER DYER
 
Goodbye. 
 
 
 
WILLIE
 
Good bye Father. 
 
 
 
FATHER DYER
 
I hope to see you again soon, 
 
 
 
WILLIE
 
I hope so too. 
 
 
 
The car stops and we hear Chris call. 
 
 
 
CHRIS
 
Father Dyer? 
 
 
 
Dyer rushes to the car. 
 
 
 
CHRIS
 
I thought you'd like to keep this. 
 
 
 
She hands him Karras' St. Joseph medal. Dyer clutches it tightly. 
 
The car drives on, and Dyer watches it drive off. Dyer walks down 
 
toward the top of the M Street Steps. He looks down them and 
 
frowns, we see Regan's window in the background, boarded up. Dyer 
 
then turns away and walks back to Prospect Street. As he turns 
 
the corner he sees Kinderman standing outside the house. 
 
 
 
FATHER DYER
 
Lieutenant? 
 
 
 
KINDERMAN
 
I came to say goodbye. 
 
 
 
FATHER DYER
 
You just missed them. 
 
 
 
KINDERMAN
 
How's the girl? 
 
 
 
FATHER DYER
 
She seemed fine. 
 
 
 
KINDERMAN
 
Ah, that's good. That's all that's important. Back to business. 
 
Back to work. Bye now, Father. 
 
 
 
FATHER DYER
 
Good bye. 
 
 
 
They both walk their separate ways. Kinderman stops. 
 
 
 
KINDERMAN :
Father Dyer? 
 
 
 
Dyer turns back to him. 
 
 
 
KINDERMAN
Do you like films? 
 
 
 
FATHER DYER
 
Sure. 
 
 
 
KINDERMAN
I get passes. 
In fact I got a pass for The Crest tomorrow night. 
Would you like to go? 
 
 
FATHER DYER
What's playing?
 
 
 
KINDERMAN
Withering Heights. 
 
 
 
FATHER DYER
Who's in it? 
 
 
 
KINDERMAN
Heathcliff, Jackie Gleason, and in the role of Catherine  Earnshaw, Lucille Ball. 
 
 
 
FATHER DYER
I've seen it. 
 
 
 
KINDERMAN
(smirks) Another one. 
Had your lunch? 
 
FATHER DYER
No. 
 
 
 
Kinderman loops his arm around Dyer's. 
They start to walk off. 
 
 
 
KINDERMAN
 
I'm reminded of a line in the film Casablanca. At the end Humphrey Bogart says to Claude Rains, " Louie- I think this is the begining of a beautiful friendship." 
 
 
 
DYER
 
You know you look a bit like Bogart. 
 
 
 
KINDERMAN
 
You noticed. 
 
 
 
We fade out as Tubular Bells starts to play. 
 
 
 
FADE TO BLACK 
 
 
 
The music changes to the loud Fantasia For Strings. 
 
 
 
THE EXORCIST