Exorcism
Exorcism 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. 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.
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 a member of a 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 formulae, gestures, symbols, sacred images, sacramentals, 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 is the sole source of their ability to cast out demons.In general, people considered to be possessed are not regarded as evil unto themselves, nor wholly responsible for their actions, because possession is considered to be the 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.
Requested and performed exorcisms 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 received. There was "a 50% increase in the number of exorcisms performed between the early 1960s and the mid-1970s".
Catholicism
In Catholicism, exorcisms are performed in the name of Jesus Christ. There is a distinction between major exorcisms and minor exorcisms. Minor exorcisms are included in some blessings in which priests create sacramentals, such as blessed salt, and are also found in the ritual Scrutinies of the catechumens. A related practice is deliverance ministry. The distinction between deliverance ministry and exorcism is that exorcism is conducted by priests given special permission from the Catholic Church, while deliverance ministry is prayer for people who are distressed and wish to heal emotional wounds, including those purportedly caused by evil spirits.File:Ottava di San Filippo d'Agira a Limina - Province of Messina, Sicily, Italy - Sunday 19 May 2013.jpg|thumb|The statue of Saint Philip of Agira with the Gospel in his left hand, the symbol of the exorcists, in the May celebrations in his honor at Limina, Sicily
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 determining when a formal exorcism is required. Priests are instructed to carefully determine that the nature of the condition is not actually a psychological or physical illness before proceeding. 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."
In Catholic practice, the person performing the exorcism, known as an exorcist, must be an ordained priest. The exorcist recites prayers according to the rubrics of the rite, and makes use of religious materials such as icons, sacramentals, and holy relics. The exorcist invokes God—specifically the Name of Jesus Christ—as well as the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, saints 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 XIII, is considered the strongest prayer of the Catholic Church against cases of diabolic possession. The Holy Rosary also has an exorcistic and intercessory power.
Eastern Orthodoxy
The Eastern Orthodox Church has a rich and complex tradition of exorcism. The practice is traced to biblical accounts of Jesus expelling demons and exhorting his apostles to "cast out devils". The church views demonic possession as the devil's primary means of enslaving humanity and rebelling against God. Orthodox Christians believe objects, as well as individuals, can be possessed.As in other Christian churches, Orthodox exorcists expel demons by invoking God through the name of Jesus Christ. Unlike the Roman Catholic Church, all priests of the Orthodox Church are trained and equipped to perform exorcisms, particularly for the sacrament of baptism. Like their Catholic counterparts, Orthodox priests learn to distinguish demonic possession from mental illness, namely by observing whether the subject reacts negatively to holy relics or places. All Orthodox liturgical books include prayers of exorcism, namely by Saint Basil and Saint John Chrysostom.
Orthodox theology takes a uniquely expansive view of exorcism, believing every Christian undertakes exorcism through their struggle against sin and evil: Additionally, many Orthodox Christians subscribe to the superstition of Vaskania, or the "evil eye", in which those harboring intense jealousy and envy towards others can bring harm to them and are, in effect, demonically possessed by these negative emotions. This belief is most likely rooted in pre-Christian paganism, and although the church rejects the notion that the evil eye can have such power, it does recognize the phenomenon as morally and spiritually undesirable and thus a target for exorcism.
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
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 two 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":
His second experience comes from a journal entry in which he talks about the time he performed an exorcism on a friend.
Buddhism
The practice of reciting or listening to the Paritta began very early in the history of Buddhism. It is a Buddhist practice of reciting certain verses and scriptures from Pali Canon in order to ward off misfortune or danger. The belief in the effective spiritual power to heal, or protect, of the Sacca-kiriyā, or asseveration of something quite true is an aspect of the work ascribed to the paritta. Several scriptures in the Paritta like Metta Sutta, Dhajagga Sutta, or Ratana Sutta can be recited for exorcism purposes, and Āṭānāṭiya Sutta is regarded as particularly effective.Tibetan Buddhism
The ritual of the Exorcising-Ghost day is part of Tibetan tradition. The Tibetan religious ceremony 'Gutor' ༼དགུ་གཏོར་༽, 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'. ༼དགུ་ཐུག་༽
In the evening, the people carry torches, calling out the words of exorcism.
Hinduism
In many Hindu traditions, people can be possessed by bhootas, pretas or pisachas, restless and often malignant beings roughly analogous to ghosts, and to a lesser extent, demons.Of four Vedas, or holy books, of Hinduism, the Atharva Veda is most focused on knowledge such as exorcism, magic, and alchemy. The basic means of exorcism are the mantra and the yajna. These are performed in accordance with Vedic traditions as well as the Tantra, the later esoteric teachings and practices within Hinduism.
Within the dominant Hindu sect of Vaishnava, which reveres Vishnu as the supreme being, exorcisms are performed by reciting the names of Narasimha, a fierce avatar of Vishnu that seeks to destroy evil and restore Dharma, or by reading the Bhagavata Purana, a highly revered text that tells the story of good vanquishing evil. Another resource for exorcisms is the Garuda Purana, a vast corpus of literature mostly centered on Vishnu, deals heavily with topics related to death, disease, good versus evil, and spiritual health.
The devotional hymn known as Hanuman Chalisa advises conducting exorcisms by praying to Lord Hanuman, the most devoted follower of Rama, a major Hindu deity. As according to a chaupai of this hymn, merely uttering Hanuman's name terrifies evil spirits into leaving the possessed. Some Hindu temples, most notably the Mehandipur Balaji Temple in Rajasthan, host exorcism rituals that invoke incarnations of Hanuman.