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| Exorcism: An Overview of the Practice |
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| On
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Sethanikeem
wrote : |
With movies like "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" and the prequel to Blatty's "The Exorcist" all hitting the big screen in recent years, there has been a renwed interest in the topic of exorcism. What is exorcism? Is it just a Christian concept, or do members of other religions practice exorcism? Find out more in this article by Michelle Belanger.
Exorcism is any rite which attempts to drive out unwanted spirits, usually those considered to be in possession of another living being. Exorcisms are most often performed by clergy, and it is usually considered bad judgment for lay-persons to attempt an exorcism themselves. The Catholic Church still employs a specific ritual for the purpose of exorcism, as do most Fundamentalist Christian sects. New Age, Wiccan and Neo-Pagan groups may also engage in exorcism, though unlike the Christians, these individuals do not universally assume the entity being exorcised to be a demon or agent of Satan. Though exorcism is most commonly used in cases of individual possession, a house or area can be just as commonly be the object of an exorcism.
The Catholic Church has a very strict interpretation of when an exorcism is called for, as depicted in Blatty's well-researched novel The Exorcist. More often than not, a priest will visit the individual or home and give a blessing rather than engage in a formal exorcism in the hopes that this will rectify the problem. For the Catholic Church, only true demonic possession calls for an exorcism, and suspected cases of possession must be meticulously investigated before they can be accepted as truly demonic in origin. Other Christian sects are far less cautious about declaring a place or person demon possessed, and it is not uncommon for Baptist and other Fundamentalist ministers to perform exorcisms on the wayward children of their flock who have been infested with Satan through rock music, occultism, and anything else the group has declared objectionable and taboo.
Wiccan and Neo-Pagan groups have a far more liberated view of the world of spirits. Their attitudes on exorcism and when it is called for, vary greatly from the general Christian attitude as well. Since Wiccans and Neo-Pagans actively invoke aspects of the Lord and Lady during ritual, not all possessing spirits are seen as negative. Some possessions may even be desirable, provided the possessing spirit does not overstay its welcome and leaves the individual being possessed a certain amount of volition and self-control. Especially in the case of invocation, a symbiosis is established between the individual and the spirit, and such "possession" is mutually beneficial and empowering.
In the case of unwanted possessions, however, Wiccans and Neo-Pagans must proceed carefully. The exact nature of the possessing spirit must first be determined. Possessing spirits can be anything from a human ghost to an astral vampire, and the way in which one effectively must deal with these can differ greatly. In the case of astral vampires and vampirizing spirits, the spirit's connections to the individual must be severed on the subtle level. The spirit itself cannot be left to roam free after this or else it will simply re-establish its ties to the individual or move on to another victim. While complete destruction of such an entity is largely impossible, a bottle or other container, ritually prepared, can serve as a prison for an indefinite period of time. However, this process is complex and takes a magickal worker who is very skilled in energy manipulation in order to accomplish it successfully. Essentially the same operation can be employed to cleanse a house or area of a bothersome entity.
In the case of human ghosts, little more than contact with the spirit may be necessary to convince it either to move on or to make its presence far less actively felt. This technique of exorcism is very similar to that employed by New Agers and Spiritualists, the only difference being that the New Agers and Spiritualists feel that all restless spirits must be forced to move on to their next existence. Accordingly, if a practitioner has the capacity to perceive and interact with spirits, it becomes his or her duty to seek out restless souls and force them to go through the white light, a gate or level of transformation which separates this from the next level of existence.
by Michelle Belanger
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