This is long, but an interesting one. I'm considering emailing Fr. Carlos Martins.

I had an interesting dream last night, and here is where I wish I had a spiritual advisor because I have had enough sleep, half-awake, sleep paralysis with consciousness, and fully awake encounters with the demonic that when they happen I take notice.

In this dream, and this was fully a dream with me fully asleep in real life, my husband and I were out at some sort of place to eat, it seemed, and this woman who knew him approached us. At first she seemed fine and I was fine. My husband is friendly, out-going, fairly well-known, and, because he works in a very male-dominated field, when a woman does enter the workforce, he makes sure she's safe and not getting harassed. So, I'm not one of these "jump to conclusions" or jealous wives, so we started talking to her normally.

However, since I wasn't agitated at her presence, she began to change. Her face contorted a bit, she got a look in her eye, and she started acting and saying things meant to make me agitated and my husband uncomfortable. He did, indeed look uncomfortable, and I just continued with the interaction but with my guard up. Sure enough, she got worse and my husband got alarmed, and I told him I knew what was going on and would handle it. She was a succubus, a demon, and boy, was she mad that I knew.

The dream shifted and we were at our old house and it was raining and the rain was dripping in. I went up to look at the roof and the shingles had been torn and there were multiple places where the rain could get in. As I walked around the outside, and my husband was around somewhere, the demon showed up, coming at me. She had those crazy-eyes and was acting vicious, but wouldn't touch me.

In our interaction, I found out she had been entering and staying in our house for some time. I think my husband called the cops or we threatened to call the cops because, while a demon, she was still a physical person anyone could interact with.

She followed me into the house and was telling me things, but I don't recall them. I just recall starting to feel more and more scared. She asked some questions or said some leading things and I can't remember if I went to answer her or my husband and I stopped and said something Fr. Carlos Martins had said about not talking with the demons.

At one point hubby and I were in our bedroom and she was there, starting to come after us, so I started praying Hail Marys, but my words were garbled and I kept pulling sticky things out of my mouth. I was finally able to say the prayer more clearly, but they didn't "work." They didn't bother the demon at all. And I suddenly "heard," "Mary can't do anything. You have to go straight to Jesus."

I had two thoughts, one Catholic, one Protestant. The Catholic thought was that this demon, like many, according to our exorcists, are more hurt by certain saints, and, for some reason, this one was most affected by the direct prayers to Christ Jesus. The Protestant thought was that Mary indeed cannot do anything for us and is simply another one among the numbers in heaven who don't intercede for us or know what's going on.

In my dream, I battled these thoughts and were surprised at them. Nothing, except maybe a few of those lame anti-Catholic memes that show up on Facebook once in a while, has been affecting my Catholic walk that way.

What's also interesting is that this is the first visible, sensory demonic attack I've had since becoming Catholic and the first time I've used Hail, Mary prayers for it.

Now, it is quite possible that the Hail Marys were indeed effective, but the demon was trying to throw me off. Invoking the name of Jesus and who He is and who He is to me, were powerful blows, though, and the demon backed off.

However, the battle isn't done. I woke up with the demon still there, just shrunk back.

Oooohhh, I would love real, serious spiritual direction on this, but I'm afraid taking this as a one-off wouldn't be enough. The director would benefit from knowing about my other interactions with the demonic.

However, knowing what I know and the experiences I have had I lean heavily towards this being a real demonic attack and not just a dream. I think the dream itself is a revelation. It reveals the "holes" in my family where evil is coming in. What's interesting is it was the roof, the head, the covering of the house, something I don't have the strength or skill to repair in real life, and when I was trying to alert my husband to it, he seemed to blow it off and leave it to me to figure out. But the damage was so extensive there was nothing I could do, except call professionals and figure out how we could pay for it. And isn't that a metaphor for my family.

The demon seemed somehow attached to my husband, but not fully. She couldn't touch him, but would look for him, seek him out, while at the same time agitating me. Again, that is so relatable and pertinent. My husband wanted nothing to do with her, really, but at the same time did nothing to get rid of her except leave the area. Therefore, she either hid in the dark corners of our house or pestered me.

I don't remember much of what she actually verbalized in the dream except one part where she admits that she will come out of hiding deep into the night and come into our bedroom to watch us sleep with mockery. (What's interesting is that in real life I tend to have insomnia in these deep hours of the night and often feel the call to pray, but at the same time I'm so deeply exhausted and agitated I can't put two words together to pray and if I try I get headaches and the fatigue feels sickening. Usually, all I can manage is a Jesus prayer. Praying a Hail Mary makes me feel sickly and I jumble the words....hmmmm....perhaps that's why in my dream my words were garbled and the prayer wasn't "working." )

All of this occurred in our old house even though we are in our new house, now. The day after we moved in, I blessed every room with prayers and holy water. I'm a little confused, though, because while the dream occurred in our old home, I dreamed it here in our new home, so I'm wondering if our old home in the dream isn't our actual physical home, but our marriage.

Anyhow, it is a great grace to have endured this and for the demon to reveal itself. It's always scary in the moment, but really, it's a great grace from God that He allows the demon to reveal itself because it opens doors for healing and deliverance.

I don't know or understand all the ins and outs, but it is a great reassurance that I'm not crazy, that I am indeed fighting a spiritual battle in my marriage. And praise be to God for showing me that the holes where the evil is getting in isn't something I can fix. About all I can do is place buckets to catch the raindrops and prevent more damage, but I have to call in the professionals to fix the roof (Christ and the angels and saints.)

The roof of the house that's full of holes is my husband. He is the spiritual head, the covering for this family.

But, even with the roof patched and the damage repaired, that demon is still living in the dark corners, especially the basement. She said she breaks into the basement to get in. What is that? That foundation. That means our foundation is not secure.

I don't know what to do about that right now, as I feel a strong focus on getting the roof fixed, first. One can live longer with mice in the walls than a roof with gaping holes that let the weather in. I'm not even sure what that unsecured foundation means.

Let's see...a basement often contains the important infrastructure of the house: furnace, water tank, water pump, water softener, plumbing, electrical box. And it holds up the rest of the house and provides shelter during bad storms.

But, it could also not mean that the foundation is unsecured. Christ is our foundation and He could simply be allowing the demon to dwell there for now. It certainly seems to be a sort of "holding cell" for the demon.

Who was a good saint for interpreting dreams and dealing with the demonic? Padre Pio? Should I go to him for spiritual direction on this since I can't seem to find anyone earth side?