Mister Rhys Mystery, Case #7: Deals with the Devil

Have you ever wondered how certain people got to where they are in life? Ever noticed those people who have achieved disproportionately high degree of success despite having very little in the way of talent, charm, luck or intelligence? The mind baffles, does it not? How do these people, nepotism aside, reach such dizzying heights? How do they, in a world full of talented people, rise to the fore of their field, without ever providing any convincing evidence? Could the cause possibly be supernatural? Yes, yes it could.

There are, of course, over three thousand things that cannot be explained by supposed real science. The majority of these are the subject of intense interest, and more often that not are finally explained by Paranormal Invesitgators, like myself, a.k.a. The Real Heroes. However, the remainder (approximately 628.5 individual mysterious phenomena) cannot be explained by either science or PIs. Over the last few thousand years, these instances have been banded together under the catch-all term of 'Religion'.

These days, Religion is widely believed to have been invented by the primitive, right-wing Israeli media and is therefore the subject of much suspicion in this more enlightened era (with the exception of the more culturally astute brands of Religion, such as Wicca and Amishiness). This is largely due to the outlandish and far-fetched stories used to justify these faiths, the ethical piousness that accompany said stories, and to the arguably ridiculous costumery. However, if you wade through the chaff, there are one or two nuggets of truth in that steaming pile of 628.5 mysteries.

Miracles, for example, they are a thing. Just look at Jesus Toast! Turbans, and carrying a little dagger, and other such Sikh rituals, very pragmatic. And Daoism... well that's all pretty believable, I'd say.

And then there is the Devil.

The Devil was first made popular in a book called the Bible, and he is generally thought to be quite mischievous, if not entirely, definitely evil. He showed up in various texts after that, under a number of guises, but deals with him were first brought to prominence thanks to Goethe, in a story called Faust: A Tragedy, which is about a man who makes a deal with the Devil.

And what's one of those?

Essentially, a Deal with the Devil involves making a kind of deal, usually, but not always, with the devil. All you have to do is sell your soul and then you can get anything you like. It is commonly agreed that one should ask for something quite worthwhile, as selling one's soul is thought to lead to an eternity of torment in Hell (though this has never convincingly been proven). So, for example, fame and fortune are seen as worth it, but a delicious meal or, erm, anything else, less so.

You may now be seeing numerous images of  famous types running through your mind, wondering which ones have done the dirty deed? It's all of them. And what of reality TV stars, and the famous children of famous people? The answer is, scarily, the Devil has played no part in any of that, not even Peaches Geldof.

[Please note, any images supplied during this blog post are purely decorative, and bear no relation to the topic.]

CASE CLOSED