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Believing that demons exist and can possess people is, of course, the stuff of fiction and horror movies – but it is also one of the most widespread religions in the world. Most religions claim that people are possessed by demonic spirits (for example, in the Bible there are six instances of Jesus casting out demons) and offer exorcisms to remove this threat.
Being Possessed By A Spirit
The idea that invading spirits are inherently evil is a very Judeo-Christian concept; many religions and belief systems take possession of both benevolent and malevolent beings for brief periods as a rare – and not very terrifying – aspect of spiritual life. Spiritualism, a religion that flourished throughout America in the 19th century and is still practiced in a few places today, teaches that death is an illusion and that spirits can possess people. The New Agers also long embraced a form of possession called trames, where the spirits of the dead are said to inhabit the medium body, and to communicate through them. A hundred books, and some symphonies, were allegedly composed by spirits.
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The extent to which exorcisms “work” is due to the power of suggestion and psychology: if you think you are possessed (and that the exorcism will cure you), then it may just be. (Image credit: udra11 (opens in new tab) Shutterstock (opens in new tab) )
Hollywood, of course, has been intent on capitalizing on exorcism and demonic possession with films often claiming to be “based on a true story.” The Exorcism has inspired countless movies, including “The Last Exorcism,” “The Exorcism of Emily Rose,” “The Devil Within,” and “The Ritual” — varying greatly in quality, specificity, and scariness. The biggest cultural influence naturally came from the classic “The Exorcist”. In the weeks after the film came out in 1974, a Catholic center in Boston received daily requests for exorcisms. The screenplay was written by William Peter Blatty, adapted from his bestselling 1971 novel of the same name. Blatty described the inspiration for the film as reading a Washington Post article in 1949 about a boy from Maryland who had been deported. Blatty believed (or was about to believe) that it was an accurate account, although later investigation revealed that the sensational story was far from credible.
Michael Cuneo in his book “American Exorcism: Exorcising Demons in the Land of Power” credits Blatty and “The Exorcist” with the modern interest in exorcism. In terms of historical accuracy, Cuneo characterizes Blatty’s work as a vast imaginative structure based on a thin foundation in the priest’s diary. It was really a boy who underwent an exorcism, but almost all of the gore and sensationalism in the book and the movie have been exaggerated or made up entirely.
While many Americans think of real exorcisms as a holdover from the dark ages, exorcisms continue to occur, often on people who are emotionally and mentally disturbed. Whether exorcisms are really from spirits or demons is another matter entirely. Exorcisms are practiced on people with strong religious beliefs. The extent to which exorcisms “work” is due to the power of suggestion and psychology: if you think you are possessed (and that the exorcism will cure you), then it may just be.
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To swear, derived from the Greek, “exousia”. As religious scholar James R. Lewis explains in his book “Satanism Today: An Encyclopedia of Religion, Folklore, and Popular Culture,” “Therefore, exorcism means something like putting a possessing spirit under oath—invoking a higher authority to drive the spirit out—rather than actual expulsion.” This is evident from the fact that a demonic being is commanded to leave a person, not by the authority of a priest, but rather, for example, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
The Vatican first issued public guidelines on exorcism in 1614 and revised them in 1999. According to the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, signs of demonic possession include superhuman strength, an aversion to holy water and the ability to speak in unknown languages. Other signs of demonic power include spitting, cursing, and “excessive masturbation.”
There are hundreds of exorcists around the world, along with a few proven exorcists. After participating in 50 exorcisms in research for his book, Michael Cuneo claims that he never saw anything supernatural or inexplicable: No levitation or head twisting or demonic marks suddenly appearing on someone’s face, but many people on both sides of the ritual were emotionally moved.
Most people enjoy the film, believing in the literal reality of demons and the effectiveness of exorcisms that can have deadly consequences. In 2003, an 8-year-old autistic boy in Milwaukee, Wis., was killed during an exorcism by church members who blamed an invading demon for his disability; In 2005, a young nun in Romania left a priest in an exorcism with her hands tied to a cross, locked up, without food or water for days in an attempt to cast out demons. And on Christmas Day 2010 in London, England, a 14-year-old boy named Kristy Bamu was beaten and drowned by relatives who tried to exorcise an evil spirit from the boy.
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Benjamin Radford is deputy editor of the science magazine Skeptical Inquirer and author of six books, including “Scientific Paranormal Research: How to Solve Unknown Mysteries.” His website is www.BenjaminRadford.com.
Benjamin Radford is the Bad Science columnist for Live Science. It covers pseudoscience, psychology, urban legends, and the science behind “exposed” or mysterious phenomena. Ben has a master’s degree in education and a bachelor’s degree in psychology. Deputy editor of the science magazine Skeptical Investigates and has written, edited or contributed to more than 20 books, including “Scientific Paranormal Research: How to Solve Unknown Mysteries,” “Chupacabra: Vampire Beast in Fact, Fiction, and Folklore” and “Ghost Research: The Scientific Search for Spirits” published in Fall 2017. His website is www.BenjaminRadford.com When the bells of division ring and wars break out within ourselves and the world around us, the longing for freedom. (or even a rage for freedom) can be a machine of destruction.
With a new taste of clarity and truth, the discovery that our freedom has been lost or abused calls for an examination of the fundamental structures of the mind and how these structures of faith place limits on our consciousness.
From the time of the priests and exorcists until this time, these mental formulas are strengthened by the idea of possession.
What You Should Know About Demon Possession — The Church Of God International
Whatever you are, whatever you feel, whatever you see, it can all be yours if you just don’t try to have it.
From the big beast of consumerism and the world that equates intrinsic value with the “things” you own, to fundamental concepts in institutions like marriage, where in many cultures a woman is “given” to a man, there can be an illusion of possession. Some of the fallacies behind the stupidest fights of our time.
From the credulity of possession is born the shadowy power of theft. the illusion of possession creates great demons of jealousy or hatred of “others”. It leads to harmful conflict, violence, murder and war.
The desire to possess, and the belief that this can be done, closes the windows until the actor is at war with himself. But the thing which is then in possession must then be defended, lest others also seek possession. This threat creates insensible emotions, a universe of negative emotions, shame, guilt, a sphere of thoughts, trying to take over the behavior.
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Is there anything in heaven or on earth that you really possess forever? Who is it, who holds it and why does it ask?
When the possession proposal is completed, the short-term solution is never enough and begins to generate more pain in itself. And this is because if faith is a possession and what an object, a person, a job, a country or a state can “possess”, it is a fragile acquisition. It can be removed. Others were able to return. It must be defended. It must be tied, or attached.
Within the order of possession there is a deep rift in the psyche. This division is connected with the impossibility of really knowing who it is that seeks to possess it.
Who is here? He who turns his consciousness to the world of objects, brings others to the position of things and seeks to conquer them in such a way that they can be possessors? It is possible that this basic structure of ego identification is based on illusions – is it even valid? Obsessed with fear?
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Something in you wants to possess a status, a “special” position in the world. What is it about you that needs this exclusion? Why is this necessary? What is this incomplete without him?
Could it be done because this
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