Exorcism is one of the oldest religious and mystical procedures, the benefits of which are recognized by official medicine. According to doctors, in the case of obsession, a mental disorder occurs, on which the ritual of casting out demons has a placebo effect. True, not always …
Looking for an aunt
… Let's call him Thomas Thomson. If only because that is not his name. He is a calm, friendly person, he is in his seventh decade, he is a loving father and grandfather. Anyone who knows what terrible test he had to go through as a 14-year-old boy, inevitably looking for traces of the shock of that time. But his eyes radiate a calm light, his speech is unhurried, his movements are soft. This person is calm and happy.
His life was the most ordinary, boyish, that is, restless and filled to the brim. But his beloved aunt Harriet died, and, yearning for her, Tommy sat for hours alone and fiddled with the Viji board, with which his aunt tried to get in touch with the dead, and also tried to call her spirit. But a completely different one responded …
Something went wrong with the boy, it was as if the devil possessed him, he became rude, pugnacious, constantly cursed, insulted everyone. Many small wounds appeared on his body by themselves. When Tommy was at home, strange noises and knocks came from all corners.
The psychiatrists, whom Tommy's parents approached, initially decided that the boy was suffering from some kind of mental disorder. For example, they looked for signs of automatism - when the patient commits mechanical, involuntary actions, which is a sign of some forms of schizophrenia. Or - Guille de la Touriet's syndrome - a personality disorder in which victims squeal, mutter, twitch, and spontaneously break out obscene words. Or - obsessive compulsive disorder with frequent bouts of anxiety without connection with reality and periodic urge to perform completely unnecessary and inappropriate actions. But none of this was found and they considered that the boy was healthy: simply, they say, a transitional age.
Then the parents decided that the devil had really entered into Tommy, and turned to the priest. Father Browdern decided to conduct an exorcism session at a local hospital.
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And so they tied Tommy to a chair with straps, but when the priest bent over him said: "Deliver us from evil," the boy somehow miraculously freed himself and, with a mattress spring clamped in his fist, sliced the holy father's arm from shoulder to wrist.
The exile process lasted four months. The last three weeks have been especially intense. A whole group of Jesuit priests worked. They read prayers in Latin and sprinkled holy water on Tommy. Obsession appeared at night, the boy rushed about like mad, swore, spat at the priests, and so on until dawn. Once he said in Latin, which he did not know, a strange phrase: “O Great God, you know that I am the devil. Why do you keep disturbing me? " The wounds on the chest oozed with blood - similar to scratches from thorns, they formed the words "hell" (hell) and "evil" (evil). But the Jesuits repeated their prayers tirelessly. And on the morning of Easter Monday 1949, Tommy opened his eyes and said, "He's gone."
Caution: Exorcism
Although the history of exorcism dates back to King Solomon and the New Testament tells about how Jesus Christ himself cast out sick demons, the attitude of the church to the expulsion of evil spirits in this century is ambiguous. On the one hand, psychologists and psychiatrists are invited to exorcism sessions in order to gain "scientific support", and on the other hand, they try to draw as little attention to these sessions as possible, despite the fact that Pope John Paul II himself, as reported, in 1982 he banished the devil from a young woman.
This is due to the fact that often the obsession with the devil is found where it does not exist at all. Thus, the Roman priest Gabriel Amor, who, according to his own statement, conducted about a thousand sessions of exorcism, says that only in 84 cases was he confident that he had really dealt with the devil. Canon Walker of Brighton, a seasoned exorcism adviser, can only recall seven genuine incidents of demonic possession. In general, even the church, despite its long struggle with evil spirits, believes that in cases where someone is considered possessed by the devil, you should first consult a doctor, and call a priest only as a last resort. And then - "usually enough advice and prayer."
A double edged sword
But the main thing is that the process of expulsion itself can pose a huge danger to the patient. However, some churches, such as fundamentalist and Pentecostal, in search of popularity, still offer, and sometimes even impose their "healing" services on parishioners, which guarantee instant deliverance from the devil.
But here's what happened to Michael Taylor of Yorkshire, England in October 1974. This calm, balanced person, a happy family man, thought that evil spirits had possessed him. Father Peter Vincent of Gobert expelled the devil from him for six hours. He was assisted by a Methodist priest and his wife. And, as it was believed, they drove out of him all the demons - exactly forty in number. It turned out all, but except for one - the demon of murder. Taylor returned home and brutally killed his wife, ripping her face open with his bare hands. The court found that the crime was committed in a state of insanity, and sentenced Taylor to confinement in a psychiatric hospital. His lawyer accused the exorcist team of "filling an already neurotic personality with neuroses, making him a maniac obsessed with the thought of murder."
And here is a case three years ago. Canadian Anna Maria Kanhoto, forty-three years old, decided that her two-year-old granddaughter was possessed by the devil, and forcibly gave her water to induce vomiting, believing that along with the vomiting, evil spirits would come out. During the "exile", the baby choked. For the murder of Kanhoto's granddaughter, she was sentenced to several years in prison.
The casting out of demons is practiced not only in Christianity. In England, several Indian Muslim girls have died during an exorcism.
In Japan, a healer who exorcised spirits confessed that she beat six people to death in the process of “exorcism”.
… So it's not for nothing that Thomas Thomson considers himself lucky. His case was very difficult, but not only was he safely healed, he even managed to maintain anonymity. And this is despite the fact that Peter Blatty wrote the book "The Exorcist" based on the diary of Browder's father, but only made the girl a heroine.
A famous film was made based on the book. So, it was much harder for the little girl who played the "possessed". The shooting brought her to a nervous breakdown, she was treated for a long time in a psychiatric clinic, and the trauma remained for many years.
Dangerous sessions
In Russia, the most famous exorcist is considered to be Archimandrite German (Chesnokov) from the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra. He gives collective lectures almost every day. Hundreds of people flock to him. The massiveness of these "sessions", according to those who believe in their effectiveness, is as dangerous as the gathering of people during epidemics: in addition to your own demons, you can easily pick up neighbors.
Another priest, about whom the glory of an exorcist goes, is Abbot Dionisy (Kolesnikov), who serves in the village of Konstantinovka, Amur Region.
Also known are Hieromonk Panteleimon (Ledin) from Pskov, the author of the books "The Invisible Battle" and "Intrigues of the Demons", and Archimandrite Miron (Pepeliaev) from the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery. And also Archpriest Vasily (Likhvan), rector of the Church of St. John the Warrior in Novokuznetsk.
All of them have a blessing to lecture from their ruling bishops, and Father Herman - the Patriarch himself, despite the fact that His Holiness several years ago condemned the increasing practice of lecturing. Most of the hierarchs supported him. Indeed, thanks to this practice, priests acquire the reputation of elders, and with it, independence from the authorities. However, the number of exorcists is growing: demand creates supply.
Yulia AGAFONOVA