Exorcism ("prohibition against demons", "blasphemy against demons") - an action that is aimed at driving out demons or other spiritual entities from a person (or place).
The word "exorcism" is of Greek origin and means "oath". It can be translated into Russian as “taking the oath”. That is, to put it another way, "exorcising" is, first of all, bringing the evil spirit to an oath or calling for help those higher powers that would force the demonic entity to act contrary to its desires.
Therefore, in the Catholic Church, the procedure for driving out demons begins with the words: "Adjure te, spiritus nequissime, per Deum omnipotentem", which is translated from Latin as: "I bring you, the most evil spirit, to an oath to Almighty God."
Sometimes people are possessed by demons (evil spirit) or the devil … They are expelled from a person using a special method called exorcism. This ritual is performed by an exorcist. This position, lowest in the ecclesiastical hierarchy, was introduced in 250.
In general, since antiquity, in those cultures where people believe that the devil constantly invades their daily life, exorcism rituals have been widespread. They cast out demons in case of illness, failure in business, and family discord.
The rituals of exorcism are usually carried out by people in contact with another reality: priests, shamans, medicine men, mediums, etc. In some cases, doctors also resort to exorcism.
The form in which the ritual of exorcism is carried out depends on the scientific explanation of those mental disorders that create in the patient the feeling that an alien personality has moved into him.
In Christianity, priests themselves cast out demons, recruiting junior clergymen, folk healers, and even someone from the possessed family as helpers. During the ritual, the patient experiences severe pain, serious mental changes occur in the structure of his consciousness, the victim spits, sweats, vomiting and diarrhea are frequent. In the room in which the exorcism ritual is performed, waves of heat and cold sometimes move alternately. It even happens that pieces of furniture, clothes, carpets, etc. move.
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The fact that a given person is possessed by demons can also be indicated by: a terrible demonic voice, as well as any changes in the voice; paralysis of the whole body or some of its parts; unusual strength for a common man.
A number of demonologists believe that some other signs indicate possession. These include: imitation of animals, automatic writing, multiple personality disorder, the so-called glossolalia, when a person begins to “speak in tongues” that do not exist, obscene behavior, blasphemy and some other signs.
However, a number of signs that are supposedly markers of demonic possession may in fact indicate that a person suffers from a certain mental illness. So, for example, often in the Middle Ages epilepsy was confused with obsession, copying of animal behavior - with schizophrenia, etc.
But since the bitterness of the spirit can be different, the degree of possession in different people also has its own differences. And therefore, depending on the strength of the possession, the exorcist applies either a persuasive conversation or a well-developed ritual to a person in whom demons have entered.
It should be noted that if the official church attributed obsession mainly to the machinations of the devil, then modern representatives of the occult sciences consider this phenomenon as an episode in a person's life, when secret forces only disorient the human soul, but do not destroy it. Moreover, according to modern concepts, invisible entities specifically come into contact with people in order to warn them about a certain event in their future life or to convey a certain message from representatives of other worlds.
The cause of obsession can be a serious mental or physical trauma, which opens a kind of corridor in the human mind through which the evil spirit enters the subconscious spheres of the brain.
In cases where a person feels only mild ailments attributed to the wiles of the devil, the exorcist will usually limit himself to the usual blessing, in which case the exorcism is almost analogous to the prayer for recovery. The ritual of exorcism in its generally accepted understanding is resorted to only when the devil completely subjugates the flesh and mind of a person, including his speech. In this case, the exorcist, when talking with the possessed, believes that he is talking to the evil spirit himself.
The text of the prayer to cast out demons is not always pronounced aloud and is not always accompanied by appropriate rituals. It is assumed that it is also possible to drive out demons from a person with the help of prayers, which are written on paper. In this case, they are placed in a medallion and cling to the possessed person's neck. But this method, as you can see, does not have the necessary strength and therefore is rarely used.
The exorcism ritual includes several stages. First, it turns out how the devil got into a person, and then - the name of an evil spirit. After that, they begin to read prayers, then sprinkle with holy water and, finally, physical impact on the possessed, or just flogging. This procedure assumes that a person, in contrast to the one inside his essence, does not feel pain, therefore corporal punishment is intended for an evil spirit.
However, during the ritual of driving out demons, the exorcist, in addition to prayers and beatings, uses other means: curses, hunger, incense smells, as well as products with an unpleasant taste and smell, which he feeds the victim. Salt and wine, which symbolizes the blood of Christ, are also widely used in the ritual of casting out demons.
The duration of the exorcism ritual can be different: sometimes the evil spirit leaves the human body immediately, occasionally - after a few days or weeks, but there is a known case when the devil had to be expelled over the course of two years …
It should be borne in mind that the official ritual of exorcism is only in the Roman Catholic Church. It is also used by Protestant priests, however, without unnecessary observance of all ritual subtleties.
In addition to Catholicism, exorcism was also used in Judaism. So, in the Book of Kings it is said about King Saul, who was possessed by a demon. David expelled the demon by playing the lyre. The rituals of casting out demons are also mentioned in Talmudic literature dating back to the 1st century AD.
In other religions - Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam - there are a huge number of spirits who are responsible for diseases and other troubles in life and which can also be eliminated with the help of exorcism.
Shamans drive out evil spirits by entering a trance state. In this state, they first conquer the human soul from the demon, and then expel the evil spirit itself from the body.
In China, the priest is also involved in expelling spirits from the dwelling.
Although Muslims worship only one god - Allah, they are nevertheless sure that evil deeds are done with the direct participation of special entities - jinn.
When they enter into their victims, which women more often become, then these unfortunates develop weakness, depressed mood, and bouts of neurasthenia. But if you somehow appease these spirits, for example, expensive clothes, delicious food, jewelry and other valuable things, then they can leave a person alone.
In India, it is also generally accepted that many of the personal problems of women are associated with the intrigues of evil spirits, which, having possessed them, lead to infertility, death of children or other tragic situations.
In traditional African religions, there are also similar views on the evil deeds of the gods. For example, in Sri Lanka, they believe that any disease is caused by a certain demon, however, he can use his evil power only when a person has problems in the family or at work …
Modern mediums use mostly persuasion to drive out the devil. But the medium and exorcist Donald Page first takes the evil spirit into himself, and then sends it away. In this case, the possessed sees how the spirit changes Page himself, giving him his own features: anger, hostility or aggressiveness.
Devil's reign
When people came to the idea that their life proceeds under the influence of higher entities - God or a demon, they gradually began to realize that these forces can at some point take possession of their mind and soul. This was all the more likely because even some people were able to influence others through hypnotic influence.
At the same time, the idea that otherworldly forces can infuse a person has been circulating in different communities for a long time.
For example, the ancient Greeks believed that every day of people's lives is associated with the will of the gods, who not only force a person to act in a certain way at one time or another, but can even take possession of their bodies in order to use them for their own purposes.
Likewise, all events - good and bad, occurring with a person, gods and demons are attributed by Buddhists and Hindus.
Representatives of many African and South American tribes are also convinced that human behavior, including not entirely adequate, is subject to the influence of invisible forces.
They did not abandon the idea of the influence of certain evil forces on a person in the Middle Ages. On the contrary, this idea became very widespread among the clergy. Moreover, at this time, Christian theologians began to believe that any person's behavior that does not fit into generally accepted norms is determined by spirits, gods, demons, demons or the devil that inhabit him. It has often been assumed that these supernatural forces seek to harm man. This phenomenon is called obsession.
And therefore, anyone whose behavior was distinguished by their originality and unusualness, or who expressed thoughts that were different from generally accepted social attitudes, was considered to have fallen under the influence of the devil.
According to some occultists, a very clear example of obsession is the phenomenon of multiple personalities. When investigating this psychic phenomenon, it was found that just the mention of the name of the Lord leads to the fact that one or even more personalities disappear and a person regains his previous state.
American psychiatrist M. Scott Peck in his book "People of Lies", published in 1983, spoke about two patients, in whose minds there were several personalities. But besides the presence of multiple personalities, these people also suffered from possession by spirits that negatively affected their consciousness. Moreover, these patients knew very well that certain entities had taken possession of their consciousness. When these patients underwent exorcism, then, according to the author, they became spiritually healthy. Moreover, when the devil's spirit left the patients, then at that moment an expression of incredible anger appeared on their faces.
A case of obsession recognized by the church
And although people most often suffered from obsession in the distant past, similar facts are also noted today. The case connected with a certain Annalize Michelle was especially famous.
By the way, this was the only case of obsession in recent years that was officially recognized by the church….