for February 7, 2021

Exorcism
from wikipedia.org

also see Exorcism in Christianity
Exorcism (from Greek exorkismós, "binding by oath") is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons or other spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be done by causing the entity to swear an oath, performing an elaborate ritual, or simply by commanding it to depart in the name of a higher power. The practice is ancient and part of the belief system of many cultures and religions.

Requested and performed exorcism began to decline in the United States by the 18th century and occurred rarely until the latter half of the 20th century when the public saw a sharp rise due to the media attention exorcisms were getting. There was "a 50% increase in the number of exorcisms performed between the early 1960s and the mid-1970s".

Buddhism

The ritual of the Exorcising-Ghost day is part of Tibetan tradition. The Tibetan religious ceremony 'Gutor', literally offering of the 29th, is held on the 29th of the 12th Tibetan month, with its focus on driving out all negativity, including evil spirits and misfortunes of the past year, and starting the new year in a peaceful and auspicious way.

The temples and monasteries throughout Tibet hold grand religious dance ceremonies, with the largest at Potala Palace in Lhasa. Families clean their houses on this day, decorate the rooms and eat a special noodle soup called 'Guthuk'. In the evening, the people carry torches, calling out the words of exorcism.

In Sri Lanka, Sinhala Buddhists invoke the protection of the Buddha as well as the deity Suniyam to control and disperse dangerous supernatural forces in a ritual known as the yaktovil.

Christianity

In Christianity, exorcism is the practice of casting out or getting rid of demons. In Christian practice the person performing the exorcism, known as an exorcist, is often a member of the Christian Church, or an individual thought to be graced with special powers or skills. The exorcist may use prayers and religious material, such as set formulas, gestures, symbols, icons, amulets, etc. The exorcist often invokes God, Jesus or several different angels and archangels to intervene with the exorcism. Protestant Christian exorcists most commonly believe the authority given to them by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (the Trinity) is the source of their ability to cast out demons.

In general, people considered to be possessed are not regarded as evil in themselves, nor wholly responsible for their actions, because possession is considered to be unwilling manipulation by a demon resulting in harm to self or others. Therefore, practitioners regard exorcism as more of a cure than a punishment. The mainstream rituals usually take this into account, making sure that there is no violence to the possessed, only that they be tied down if there is potential for violence.

The Catholic Church

In Catholicism, exorcisms are performed in the name of Jesus Christ. A distinction is made between a formal exorcism (solemn exorcism), which can only be conducted by a priest during a baptism or with the permission of a bishop, and "prayers of deliverance" which can be said by anyone.

The Catholic rite for a formal exorcism, called a "Major Exorcism", is given in Section 11 of the Rituale Romanum. The Ritual lists guidelines for conducting an exorcism, and for determining when a formal exorcism is required. Priests are instructed to carefully determine that the nature of the affliction is not actually a psychological or physical illness before proceeding.

In Catholic practice, the person performing the exorcism, known as an exorcist, is an ordained priest. The exorcist recites prayers according to the rubrics of the rite, and may make use of religious materials such as icons, sacramentals, and relics. The exorcist invokes God—specifically the Name of Jesus Christ—as well as members of the Church Triumphant and the Archangel Michael to intervene with the exorcism. According to Catholic understanding, several weekly exorcisms over many years are sometimes required to expel a deeply entrenched demon.

Saint Michael's Prayer against Satan and the Rebellious Angels, attributed to Pope Leo X, is the strongest prayer of the Catholic Church against cases of diabolic possession. The Holy Rosary also has an exorcistic and intercessory power.

Lutheran Churches

From the 16th century onward, Lutheran pastoral handbooks describe the primary symptoms of demonic possession to be knowledge of secret things, knowledge of languages one has never learned, and supernatural strength. Before conducting a major exorcism, Lutheran liturgical texts state that a physician be consulted in order to rule out any medical or psychiatric illness. The rite of exorcism centers chiefly around driving out demons "with prayers and contempt" and includes the Apostles' Creed and the Lord's Prayer.

Baptismal liturgies in Lutheran Churches include a minor exorcism.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not have a particular "exorcism ordinance" but exorcisms would be considered a type of Priesthood Blessing. While a very rare practice in the Church, there are two methods for performing an exorcism. The first is by anointing with consecrated oil and laying on of hands followed by a blessing on a specific person and commanding the spirit to leave. The second and most common method is done by "raising the hand to the square" and then "commanding the spirit away in the name of Jesus Christ and with the power or authority of the Melchizedek priesthood." Exorcisms can only be performed by someone holding the Melchizedek priesthood, the higher of the 2 priesthoods of the Church, and can be performed by anyone holding that priesthood, however they are generally performed by bishops, missionaries, mission presidents, or stake presidents.

Exorcisms are not recorded by the Church and therefore the number of exorcisms performed in the religion are unknown. Demonic possession is rarely talked about in the church. Demonic possession has been talked about twice by Joseph Smith, the founder of the faith. The first time refers to his experience during the First Vision and he recorded the following in his "1831 account of the First Vision":
I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God, I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me and had such astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction. But exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction, not to an imaginary ruin but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world who had such a marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being, just at this moment of great alarm I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.
His second experience comes from a journal entry in which he talks about the time he performed an exorcism on a friend.

Hinduism
Beliefs and practices pertaining to the practice of exorcism are prominently connected with Hindus. Of the four Vedas (holy books of the Hindus), the Atharva Veda is said to contain the secrets related to exorcism, magic and alchemy. The basic means of exorcism are the mantra and the yajna used in both Vedic and Tantric traditions. Vaishnava traditions also employ a recitation of names of Narasimha and reading scriptures, notably the Bhagavata Purana aloud.

According to Gita Mahatmya of Padma Purana, reading the 3rd, 7th and 9th chapter of Bhagavad Gita and mentally offering the result to departed persons helps them to get released from their ghostly situation. Kirtan, continuous playing of mantras, keeping scriptures and holy pictures of the deities (Shiva, Vishnu, Hanuman, Brahma, Shakti, etc.) (especially of Narasimha) in the house, burning incense offered during a Puja, sprinkling water from holy rivers, and blowing conches used in puja are other effective practices. It is also believed that praying to Lord Hanuman gives the best result as mentioned in the Hanuman Chalisa. It is believed that just uttering the name of Lord Hanuman makes the evil forces and devils tremble in fear.

The main puranic resource on ghost- and death-related information is Garuda Purana.

A complete description of birth and death and also about the human soul are explained in Kato Upanishad, a part of Yajur Veda. A summary of this is also available as a separate scripture called Kattaka?.

Islam
Terms for exorcism practises include tard (or daf'?) al-shaytan/al-jinn (expulsion of the demon/the spirit), ’ilaj (treatment), and ibra' al-masru' (curing the possessed), but also rukya (enchantment) is used to exorcise various spirits.

Islamic exorcisms might consist of the treated person lying down, while a sheikh places a hand on a patient’s head and recites verses from the Quran, but this is not mandatory. The drinking or sprinkling of holy water (water from the Zamzam Well) may also take place along with applying of clean, non-alcohol-based perfumes, called ittar.

Specific verses from the Quran are recited, which glorify God (e.g. The Throne Verse (Arabic: Ayatul Kursi)), and invoke God's help. In some cases, the adhan (call for daily prayers) is also read, as this has the effect of repelling non-angelic unseen beings or the jinn.

The Islamic prophet Muhammad taught his followers to read the last three suras from the Quran, Surat al-Ikhlas (The Fidelity), Surat al-Falaq (The Dawn) and Surat an-Nas (Mankind). Hadiths reporting Muhammad, but also Jesus, performing exorcism rites serve as example and permissibility for exorcism rites.

Judaism
Josephus reports exorcisms performed by administering poisonous root extracts and others by making sacrifices.

In more recent times, Rabbi Yehuda Fetaya (1859–1942) authored the book Minchat Yahuda, which deals extensively with exorcism, his experience with possessed people, and other subjects of Jewish thought. The book is written in Hebrew and was translated into English.

The Jewish exorcism ritual is performed by a rabbi who has mastered practical Kabbalah. Also present is a minyan (a group of ten adult males), who gather in a circle around the possessed person. The group recites Psalm 91 three times, and then the rabbi blows a shofar (a ram's horn).

The shofar is blown in a certain way, with various notes and tones, in effect to "shatter the body" so that the possessing force will be shaken loose. After it has been shaken loose, the rabbi begins to communicate with it and ask it questions such as why it is possessing the body of the possessed. The minyan may pray for it and perform a ceremony for it in order to enable it to feel safe, and so that it can leave the person's body.

Taoism/Chinese folk religion

In Taoism, exorcisms are performed because an individual has been possessed by an evil spirit for one of two reasons. The individual has disturbed a ghost, regardless of intent, and the ghost now seeks revenge. An alive person could also be jealous and uses black magic as revenge thereby conjuring a ghost to possess someone. The Fashi, who are both Chinese ritual specialists and Taoist priests, are able to conduct particular rituals for exorcism.

Historically, Taoist exorcisms include chanting, physical movements, and praying as a way to drive away the spirit.

The leaders of the exorcisms create a dramatic performance to call out the demons so the village can once again have peace. The leaders strike themselves with a sharp weapon so they bleed. Blood is considered to be a protector, so after the rituals, the blood is blotted with a tissue and put on the door of houses as an act of protection against evil spirits.

Scientific view
Demonic possession is not a psychiatric or medical diagnosis recognized by either the DSM-5 or the ICD-10. Those who profess a belief in demonic possession have sometimes ascribed to possession the symptoms associated with physical or mental illnesses, such as hysteria, mania, psychosis, Tourette's syndrome, epilepsy, schizophrenia or dissociative identity disorder.

Additionally, there is a form of monomania called demonomania or demonopathy in which the patient believes that he or she is possessed by one or more demons. The illusion that exorcism works on people experiencing symptoms of possession is attributed by some to placebo effect and the power of suggestion. Some cases suggest that supposedly possessed persons are actually narcissists or are suffering from low self-esteem and act demonically possessed in order to gain attention.

Within the scientific community, the work of psychiatrist M. Scott Peck, a believer in exorcism, generated significant debate and derision. Much was made of his association with (and admiration for) the controversial Malachi Martin, a Roman Catholic priest and a former Jesuit, despite the fact that Peck consistently called Martin a liar and a manipulator. Other criticisms leveled against Peck included claims that he had transgressed the boundaries of professional ethics by attempting to persuade his patients to accept Christianity.

Exorcism and mental illness
One scholar has described psychosurgery as "Neurosurgical Exorcisms", with trepanation having been widely used to release demons from the brain. Meanwhile, another scholar has equated psychotherapy with exorcism.

Notable exorcisms and exorcists
see the article in Wikipedia for the referenced footnotes