Exorcism
Exorcism (from Ancient Greek ἐξορκισμός (exorkismós) 'binding by oath') is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed.[1] 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.
For other uses, see Exorcism (disambiguation).Sikhism[edit]
Sikhs do not have a belief in demonic possession. Therefore, exorcism is considered a violation of Sikh Code of Conduct.[49][50]
Anthropological view[edit]
Exorcism is the religious practice of evicting evil spirits from person or place. The phrase itself is most commonly associated with Christianity, specifically Catholicism. It is recognized culturally around the world, and in modern discourse. This phenomenon has been made popular both in cinema and literature, with notable films such as The Exorcist (1973) taking a forefront in pop culture. The circumstances in which an exorcism would take place were determined by values set in place by religious collectives reflecting that time period. Even in modern times, the necessity of an exorcism is dictated by religious collectives. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, state on their website: “the actual determination of whether a member of the faithful is genuinely possessed by the devil is made by the Church.” [68]
This is exemplary of how religion has considerable power over one's life and system of thought.[69] Religious institutions hold great sway over societal hierarchies within communities. Religious collectives are engaged in the relentless process of developing organizational power and authority to guard and preserve their definitive religious experiences from members outside those communities.[70]
Priests and other high ranking religious officials had a considerable amount of influence in determining the norm within these societies. The Pope, for example, within Catholicism exudes Papal Supremacy providing him with universal power over the church. Sudden onsets of peculiar attitudes and behaviours within these societies was often diagnosed as demonic influence, or in extreme cases, demonic possession. It is known those who follow religious practise, are more likely to turn to a religious figure than a medical professional in the occurrence of these different behaviours,[71] therefore leading to a higher incidence of the occurrence of a demonic possession.
Religious figures would have been presented with an individual and base their diagnosis of possession upon their own knowledge, which would be based on religious understandings. The occurrence of a possession, has similar characteristics of someone who is experiencing a mental illness.[72] Characteristics such as an abrupt change in behaviour and demeanor, loss of faith, thoughts of being chosen by a demonic power, experiences in seeing and hearing evil entities, and persistent fear in demonic forces.[72] These are deemed as unfavorable within religious influence, therefore are treated and diagnosed within religious collectives, as illness.
However, not all possessions were deemed as negative, possessions occurring among the higher classes typically went untreated as they were said to be undertaken by benevolent spirits upholding social order; whereas possessions experienced by the powerless were considered as expressing anti-hegemonic sentiment and needed to be treated immediately.[73]
This reflects a style of dichotomy that establishes spiritual possession as an illness which is socially mediated, and reflective of the social climate in which it is produced. Exorcisms are performed in response to spiritual possessions which cause distress or are found to be challenging the status quo and/or hegemonic values within the individual; otherwise, possessions are treated as holy communication from deities.[73] These illnesses/possessions are culturally constructed as either psychological or spiritual.[74] Spiritual possession and exorcism come as a pair, representative of social expectations of ‘normal’ functioning, and can often be engaged as a tool to challenge or maintain religious collective values.
The Catholic Church, for example, enters a relationship with the victims of spiritual possession akin to the Shamanistic Complex.[75] The victim also represents what Nancy Scheper Hughes would call the ‘individual body’, that is, the victims’ personal belief system as a Christian would assist in the healing process. In the sense that their belief that there is a demon within their body and that through the power of Christ the demon can be removed, creates a diagnosis and cure for this illness. A non-Christian may respond differently to this healing process. A non-Christian most likely would not even seek out religious intervention based on their symptoms, they would believe them to from a different illness, and would not find an exorcism an effective treatment.
The Shamanistic Complex gives a possible explanation as to what makes an exorcism effective or can increase the effectiveness. Exorcism exists within a realm of cultural healing practices, social processes that are informed by social norms.[76] This much is true of most other healing practices, inclusive of those focussed on spiritual, psychological, and physical health. As such the systems set out by religious communities, like the Catholic Church, to diagnose and combat spiritual possession as a disease, as only effective as the psychological belief within these aspects.
The Catholic practice of exorcism is carried out solely by ordained priests who have received direct orders from the highest echelon of the Catholic church. The priest initially carries out a ‘discernment’, when he believes that all biomedical attempts have failed to find the cause of the ‘possession’ he looks for ‘spirits’ or ‘demons’ in the victim, that are categorized by predetermined religious values.
A series of incantations follows and depending on the victim, the exorcist (the priest) and the family/friends surround the event, the person becomes healed only when all parties believe the demon has been removed. The affirmations by the parties involved, victims, families church members in many cases (not all), have positive outcomes on the effectiveness upon these rituals and in this scenario dictate their completion.