By Elizabeth Prata
SYNOPSIS: A cross-country journey leads to a deeply unsettling night at the Salton Sea, where unexplainable fear stirs reflection on spiritual darkness, human wandering, and the ultimate safety, purpose, and peace found in Christ.
The Salton Sea is a weird place. I have written about it before. I visited there when my husband and I were traveling across country in our VW van. It is strange, creepy and spooky. The place is definitely an anomaly.
The Salton Sea is in southern California, in the middle of the state, not near the beach. It was accidentally created when “failed irrigation canals diverted the Colorado River into the large basin, and the raging river brought the snowmelt from the Rockies into the Salton Sea” According to Atlas Obscura. It took 6 months before engineers could re-divert the river and stem the flow. By then a huge freshwater lake had been formed in the basin, which is below sea level.
Locals were happy because, well, lake in the desert! Tourists discovered it and soon a thriving resort area sprung up. Marinas and hotels were built. Waterskiing, swimming, fishing, and birding were all popular – but only for a short time. There is no outlet for the lake, and eventually, fertilizer runoff from all the farms nearby began to kill the lake and its wildlife. The lack of outlet or inlet to refresh the water meant the waters turned brackish and then deadly due to the constant runoff of chemicals.
When we were traveling in the camper van across the country, we stayed in state and county parks, roadside rest areas, and parking lots.
We had camped in remote areas and crowded areas many times. We camped at the Mexican border, we parked overnight in cities such as Miami and New Orleans. There was never a problem and we never felt at risk. Interestingly, the desolate and nearly empty area of the Salton Sea was the one place we felt the most unsafe. At the Salton Sea, we felt acutely uncomfortable, and the feeling worsened as night fell. We tossed and turned and remained in a fitful state until finally at 3AM my husband said, “Are you awake?” I said “Yes.” He asked me if I felt creepy. What we were actually feeling was frightened, a supernatural kind of fear when the hairs on the back of your neck raise up and your heart is pounding a little for no reason. We decided to crank up the diesel and race outta there. We made LA by dawn.
“Hairs on the back of your neck” is an actual response and it has an actual name. Piloerection. According to BrainFacts.org, when the hairs stand up it “is the sympathetic nervous system. This is a series of autonomous reflexes that are activated when danger is sensed and manages a bunch of physical reactions to get ready for action. In addition to quickening the heart rate and activating the sweat glands, the body raises our hair in order to look bigger and tougher to a potential threat, much like a cat who’s about to fight.”
We do sense danger. Sometimes when hiking a person may sense the presence of a bear or a mountain lion before he sees it. I believe even if a person is not saved, they can sense supernatural danger even if they cannot understand the source. Some people at times may feel heavy or “unclean” sensations in certain places or around specific people. I think that is what we were feeling at the Salton Sea, even though I was not a Christian then.
I think back to that night a lot and I think of the weirdness of the Salton Sea area. We were deliberately looking for off the grid places where the government would not bother us and we could just live our lives, even temporarily. The Salton Sea was one place we were told was like that. There are some meager towns there with some government structure but there are also areas sort of like the WIld West was or the frontier.
What I think back on most was that I should be careful what I wish for. It was there we found our most ‘Wild West,’ off the grid, live like you want place. For one thing, our journey was symptomatic of unsaved people not wanting to submit- to anyone, even government and certainly not God.
And for secondly, nature abhors a vacuum. A Godless, government-less place is a perfect home for demons and I believe that is what we felt. Maybe they gather in certain local spots to inhabit, like they did in Gerasenes where Jesus met the legion of demons He sent into the pigs. Perhaps there are environments that attract demonic activity or more prone to intense spiritual darkness than others.
I don’t know, but thirdly, when I remember that night I shudder and praise God that I have found my home port. No more aimless drifting physically across the country in search of some kind of satisfactory lifestyle; and no more wandering spiritually looking for the One Person who would settle me. I am safe in His arms. I gladly submit to Him, for He is worthy, and a perfect Person who executes righteous justice and holy compassion. Drifting around the US in spiritual emptiness looking for something, something we knew not, bumping into demonic darkness, recoiling from THAT, I finally found Jesus. Or, He found me and turned my heart of stone into flesh that loves Him. For that, I am eternally grateful.
Further Resources
GTY sermon: Demonic Invasion
the-end-time.org 