I Cast Thee Out

The enigma of exorcism

© Brian Allan 2004

Word Count: 5,112

Foreword

'Adjure te spiritus nequissime, per Deum omnipotentum' I adjure thee, most evil spirit, by almighty God. (From the Catholic ritual of exorcism)

The subject matter in this article is based on both historical records of exorcisms, the basis for them and the personal experiences of the author. While there is no definitive explanation for either the cause or cure for this most bizarre condition, tradition insists (rather unsympathetically), that no one is afflicted with demonic possession unless they have actively courted the dark rituals of Satanism and as such they pretty much get what they deserve. What is more problematic is how possession is defined when those unfortunate enough to suffer from a range of psychiatric conditions display all the classic hallmarks of possession. In the course of this article we shall explore the darker side of the human condition and perhaps cast some light into this most enigmatic of subjects.

As we shall see, although exorcism is often assumed to be an entirely Christian/Catholic ritual it is not. Bearing in mind that it did not spring into being from nowhere, it has even been suggested that the practise stemmed from babies being 'winded' after feeding thus helping them to release trapped air, which, according to this theory, is directly analogous to symbolically driving out demons. However, more realistically it is believed that it had its roots in shamanism and was eventually absorbed into Judaism. From there it passed on its traditions to both Christianity and Islam where it was slightly modified to suit the variations on the Jewish templates upon which both religions were founded.

I Cast Thee Out

The term, exorcism, is adapted from the Greek word 'exorkizein' meaning 'to bind by oath', which describes exactly how the process of exorcism works. The entity (or demon) allegedly infesting the unfortunate human being is compelled to leave through the utterance of words of power, normally prayers and the use of the name of God, Christ and the saints. It is the precise utterance of these words that may hold the key to how the mechanism of exorcism works. Although the church would deny it, it is arguable that exorcism shares many of the attributes of magic and if this is the case then the same rules must apply. Since demons traditionally fear and obey words of power when uttered by magicians, then the words used by priests, rabbis and imams must work for the same reasons. The name of a god or an angel is inherently powerful but there is also a word, a secret name, which is the ultimate word of power and this is the secret, or ineffable, personal name of God, which carries so much sacred power that it must never be said aloud. The word is called the 'Tetragrammaton' which means, literally, 'the word of four letters' and when correctly used will grant the user power over everything in the universe.

The word is normally presented as four capital letters, YHVH, which are derived from four Hebrew characters, yod, he, vau, he. Although it has been suggested that the four letters represent the word Yahweh, or Jehovah, (the ineffable or sacred name of God) it is pronounced in Hebrew as 'Adonai' and written generally as JHYH and occasionally JHVH or YHVH. In the same vein, there are still cultures today where individuals have two names, one that is their given name used in everyday life and the other is a secret name known only to that person. It is the same paradigm that makes people from certain cultures refuse to have their photograph taken; to have their image owned by someone else gives that person power over them. However, this particular subject is a minefield of possibilities and other than tradition there is no proof, besides, because it was so seldom used, the correct pronunciation of the word is unknown. Since it is vital to operating any spell that the precise pronunciation is used, the secret was known to only a very, very few. However, the bible mentions another instance where a word of enormous power was used to great effect and this was when Moses used an incredibly powerful and complex word called the 'Shemhamforash', which consisted of seventy-two syllables, to part the Red Sea. As with the Tetragrammaton, and probably fortunately, there are no existing records of how this word was pronounced.

The Inherent Power of Invocations

Before leaving this aspect of the power inherent in words we should consider the pioneering work carried out by the Swiss physicist Hans Jenny who coined the term 'Cymatics' to illustrate how sound interacts with matter. Since it was already known through work carried out by Ernst Chaldni, that sound and frequency generated (in this case) by a violin could affect a thin layer of fine sand and cause it to adopt various patterns, Jenny attempted to expand this earlier work to include the human voice. To measure the phenomenon he created a device called a 'Tonoscope' and among the discoveries he made was the fact that the sound of the letter 'O' produced a perfect circle, an excellent example of how there is a truly magical element in nature.

What Jenny discovered was that sounds in themselves have totally unexpected properties and it follows that if is this is indeed the case, then since words are composed of individual sounds the words must also have individual power. Scientific evidence that magic has some basis in fact is something that shamans and mystics have known for millennia. It can also be extrapolated that the Old Testament opens with this concept; the Book of Genesis begins; 'The universe was created by the word of God', which equates exactly with, 'In the beginning was the Word' and this should instead perhaps be interpreted as, 'In the beginning was the sound of the Word'. In fact, the word 'universe' means, literally, 'one word', which is another example of a word exactly describing its function. There are entire spells and grimoires that have been condensed and compacted into a word or even a syllable; they were designed this way to enable the user to carry the maximum power in the smallest possible package. Sometimes they are also expressed as symbols called 'sigils' which, when used in conjunction with spells, present a formidable and potent weapon.

Aside from the traditional use of prayer and commands, other cultures have employed such devices as burning dung, hellebore, salt and roses, all of which apparently work equally well. The concept of exorcism has been around considerably longer than any organised religion and can trace its origins back to the practises of ancient Babylonian and Mesopotamian priests who regarded almost all illnesses as caused by an invading spirit. Their method of exorcism involved making a wax image upon which was superimposed the identity of the spirit and then the statue was destroyed, which in turn was intended to compel the entity to leave. This has close parallels with the Wiccan practise of 'poppetry', or sympathetic magic, where figurines are manufactured with the intention of visiting either cures or curses upon someone through the medium of the doll or 'poppet'. In ancient Persia during the 6th century, the religious leader and founder of the Zoroastrian religion, Zoroaster, (who is widely believed to have been the first magician) used prayer, holy water and rituals in his rituals. It is often overlooked, but Jesus Christ was also frequently referred to by his detractors as a Jewish magician who performed frequent exorcism in the course of his ministry. One of Christ's best known exorcisms was the story of the Gadarene Swine which describes how, when casting out demons from a madman, he sent the spirits into a heard of pigs that then panicked and ran over a cliff where they died, smashed on the rocks far below.

The idea that people could be saved from possession by 'evil spirits' bears uncomfortable parallels with the primitive and extremely dangerous technique of 'trepanning', or drilling a hole in the skull of a mentally ill person to release the trapped spirit. While this practice was extremely painful, it may also have inadvertently saved those afflicted by releasing, not a demon, but pressure on the brain following injury or perhaps an aneurysm. Philosophers like Plato and Homer also subscribed to the concept that possession was the result of an illness brought about by an invading spirit.

It was during the Middle Ages that there was a massive revival of witchcraft, superstition and demonology largely inspired by the Catholic Church and during this era the treatment of the mentally ill was left to the clergy. The favoured treatment for infestation by demons was pain, normally inflicted by scourging, to drive out the invading entities. During this period the Catholic Church continued refining the process of exorcism until finally in 1614 it introduced the 'Rituale Romana', which in essence is the same ritual in use today. It is perhaps symptomatic of the era that there were several outbreaks of multiple possession; the most famous of these was probably the notorious 17th century affair at Loudon in France when many of the inhabitants of a convent of Ursuline nuns allegedly became possessed by a legion of demons. Whether these nuns were possessed or not is a moot point, but it led to the eventual torture and execution of their chaplain and confessor, the priest Urbain Grandier, who was successfully accused of bewitching them.

Traditional Exorcism

It is much more likely that the unfortunate Grandier (who, in all fairness, was by no means a credit to his calling) had been the victim of a mixture of jealousy from his peers and the obsessive sexual focus of the convents crippled mother superior, Sister Jeanne des Agnes, which in those superstitious days was an unwelcome combination. The reason for the alleged 'possession' of the nuns is more likely to have been the results of hysteria and suppressed sexual tension than any demonically inspired affliction. However, one of the exorcists called in to assist the nuns, a Father Surin, wrote to a friend that he had, 'Engaged in combat with four of the most potent and malicious devils in Hell' Aldous Huxley, who wrote 'The Devils of Loudon', suggested that what had begun as hysteria went on to become a case a mass demonic possession through the actions of the superstitious exorcists alarming the already gullible and suggestible nuns. The affair was also later the basis of the successful and shocking Ken Russell film, 'The Devils'.

Although traditional ritual exorcism is still practiced, it is only with the express approval of church authorities, particularly in the Catholic Church where this has to come from the rank of bishop or above. The ritual was abandoned as outdated and unnecessary by the mainstream Protestant church around eighteen years ago, but in light of recent developments it is once more becoming relevant.

In addition to Pope Paul who has in the past conducted the ritual, there are at present six exorcists operating in Rome through the Vatican. The most senior of these is currently eighty-year-old Fr. Gabriel Amorth, the chief exorcist of the Diocese of Rome who conducts exorcisms on a daily basis. Fr. Amorth divides infestation by demons into four distinct categories,

	Possession: Where the devil enters the human body and manifests through words and gestures.
	Vexation: Where the devil attacks the person through suffering and black magic affecting the person's health both physical and emotional.
	Obsession: Where the disturbance strikes the person in his inner serenity causing immense anxiety and inner turmoil.
	Infestation: Which is a curse against persons, animals and things. It should be pointed out that it not only human being that can become possessed. Animals or objects used in satanic rituals can also become 'infected' and spread the contagion rather like a disease.

According to Fr. Amorth, demonic attacks can occur in a number of ways, e.g. by attending what he describes as 'dangerous places', meaning fortune tellers, mediums, clairvoyants, satanic groups and séances etc. This concept has its attractions since mediums can and do expose themselves to considerable spiritual trauma and danger when they are in the trance state because there are some extremely dangerous (if not actually satanic) entities in the invisible world that surround us. He also suggests that if someone persists in committing grave sins, in time that person becomes hardened to sin and evil can thrive. Perhaps the most curious observation is his assertion that God tolerates Satan due to the freedom granted to all things. Fr Amorth assures us that this is not a case of God allowing evil things to thrive, because should He wish it, He can transform evil into good, but the reasons why this state exists are not clearly understood even by the Church. Presumably this must also explain why manifestations of evil are allowed to exist on the face of the earth when acts of unspeakable wickedness and cruelty are perpetrated, especially on innocent and defenceless children.

To his credit, Fr. Amorth considers the new ritual of exorcism issued by the Holy See ineffective and prepared by people who are afraid of exorcism. He claims that it forbids exorcism against curses, which he claims are responsible for more than 90% of diabolic possessions. He regards the previous ritual as more effective and helpful because not only was it more closely aligned with the original 'Rituale Romana', it also taught prudence in differentiating between 'psychic illnesses' (insanity?) and genuine possession, and it also gave instruction on the means by which the devil conceals his presence. Among the curious aspects of this are the similarities between the symptoms of demonic possession and those of extreme piety and sanctity exhibited by saints and mystics. In both instances (amongst other attributes), the person speaks in languages not known to them, is able to prophesize, can bi-locate (be in two places at once), is able to spontaneously levitate etc, etc. The differences are extremely subtle and require an experienced cleric to discern the difference. As a rule of thumb, if the person becomes ill, or has feelings of anxiety or depression or has nightmares etc. then the experience is deemed to be demonic in nature. On the other hand, if the person feels uplifted and experiences visions of God or the saints etc, then the experience must be divine and is therefore blessed. While these judgments may be valid they are also extremely subjective and arbitrary.

Although as previously mentioned, the mainstream of Protestant religions stopped conducting exorcisms approximately eighteen years ago, this is not true of the smaller, fundamentalist, charismatic and Pentecostal churches that never abandoned the rite. In these organisations the ritual of systematic exorcism is actively encouraged even when there are no obvious signs of possession, it is almost looked upon as a rite-of-passage when a newcomer joins the congregation and these rituals often involve several people at one time.

The pastors and exorcists actively encourage those who may or may not be possessed by demons and other entities to bellow, scream writhe on the floor, recant and purge themselves of whatever entity they believe is within them; this procedure regularly ends with personal injury, trauma and projectile vomiting. Such is the strength of belief that those undergoing exorcism believe that adultery; alcoholism, laziness, overeating, tiredness and a host of mundane conditions are directly attributable to 'demonic' forces. Whether the ritual is effective due to spiritual cleansing or for psychosomatic reasons is difficult to judge, but the practice appears to add a measure of 'glamour' to the version on Christian religion on offer. The ebullient and thrusting style of charismatic and evangelical Christianity may even create the atmosphere where imagined manifestations of evil can flourish and snare the unwary or insufficiently devout.

However, none of this addresses fundamental considerations regarding the traditional reasons for exorcism: possession by demonic entities. This in itself leads to many stumbling blocks; e.g. "Does evil exist as a discrete entity"? Can it possess someone's body and endanger the soul? "Do certain spirits linger after death and attach themselves to someone"? "Why would evil spirits want to harm the living"? And finally, "Do exorcisms really work, and why"? As far as evil existing as a separate, tangible entity is concerned depends on whether one accepts that Satan is real and continually lays traps for the unwary.

The best-known example of how exorcism both afflicts and is defeated was demonstrated in the excellent and terrifying film 'The Exorcist', which was based on a genuine case of possession in 1949 that occurred to a young American boy, Douglass Deens (otherwise known as 'Robbie'). The symptoms afflicting 'Robbie' lasted for several months and persisted through at least two official Catholic Church exorcisms and were only resolved when, with the family's permission, the boy was baptised into the Catholic Church. On the 18th of April 1949, after enduring four months of possession, Robbie was exorcised in a hospital run by the order of Alexian Brothers. During the ritual a loud cracking noise that resounded through the hospital was heard and the entity abruptly departed, evidently Robbie was finally and permanently 'cured'.

Based on evidence such as this, then evil can be said to exist in its own right and it can enter and control a human being. The reason why it should have decided to 'occupy' this young boy appears to have been his repeated use of the Ouija board. By using this device to contact the spirits of the dead, the boy had unwittingly opened a gateway between the dimensions allowing the invading entity through to take possession of him. Some of these entities, whether infernal or not, are, according to the available information, entirely inimical to humanity in general and continually seek ways to attack us. It is also suggested that it is not the 'soul' that they desire, but instead they act as 'psychic leaches', feasting on the negative emotions and fear their presence generates in human beings. Whether they are the psychic remnants of the dead is an entirely different question and one to which there is no easy or ready answer.

Most probably they are not, since that infers that they are already here and inhabiting the bodies of otherwise normal human beings, it also suggests that human consciousness possesses the ability to either generate evil or have evil imprinted upon it. The only reason that this should happen is if the consciousness (or soul) of the person who died did not wish, or was not ready, to leave the physical world and attempted to remain here by attaching (or imprinting) itself on another human being. The final question posed asked if exorcisms work and if they do then why? The answer to this depends on many things including belief, faith and social and cultural circumstances. It seems to demonstrate an element of the 'placebo effect' where, during controlled medical experiments a group of volunteers are given medicines. Some of the group are given the genuine article while others in the group receive a sugar pill or some other harmless substitution; in neither case are the participants aware of what they have been given. The effects on each group are then closely monitored, and it is often the case that those receiving the placebo exhibit similar signs to those taking the genuine drug. So it is with some types of exorcism, if the exorcist tells the afflicted person that they are cleansed and if the 'possession' is a psychosomatic or hysterical state then depending on the level of subjective belief, the word of the exorcist may be enough.

Non-Christian Exorcism

On the other hand, if the person is genuinely under the thrall of an invading entity, then something much more fundamental is at work, the question is what? Convention states that it is the invocation of the name of God or Christ, and the power inherent in these words along with the presence of a consecrated host is sufficient to drive out the demon. Is this an example of spiritual energy and the ultimate triumph of good over evil or does it operate at a different level?

Is this a return to a form of magic with the exorcist taking the place of the magician and the incantation used in the ritual the spell? It appears that the Catholic ritual of exorcism works on one level, but other non-Catholic and indeed non-Christian and non-religious methods also work, so where is the common denominator? Perhaps the answer lies in the nature of reality and how we as human beings interact with it. Since a shaman who does not worship any conformist god that we would recognise can and does perform successful exorcisms then it may not necessarily be words of power that are at work here. In their battle with the invading entity, shamans normally use a variety of fetishes and herbs, including sage, and in addition, will often carry out the ritual while in an altered state of consciousness. Perhaps it is while their consciousness is in this parallel realm that they meets with and cast out the invading entity by engaging in a form of 'psychic combat'; interestingly, shamans are normally successful and tradition suggests that there is a valid reason from this. Spiritualists and psychics have often said that 'they', the invading entities, need us more than we need them and they can only visit this reality because we allow them through. This tradition appears to find a resonance with the legend of vampires who can only enter a building at the express invitation of the occupant.

Both Judaism and Islam have their own variations on the ritual of exorcism, in the case of Judaism the ritual can be formally traced to the first century AD, but probably existed much earlier. Jewish tradition tells of the 'dybbuk,' which is an evil spirit that enters the body causing mental illness and its attendant symptoms. Bizarrely, the dybbuk could be exorcised, (normally through the small toe,) from where it can be either turned to God or alternatively sent to hell. Islam also has a tradition of possession by the djinn or jinni, a species of evil spirit present in evil places, which can infest the living. Although any Imam should be qualified, the ideal Islamic exorcist is a Sufi, a practitioner of Islamic mysticism who uses the dhikr, (a set of phrases from the Koran glorifying God), to defeat the invader. They also use other techniques to enter an altered state of awareness from where, in common with shamans, they can cast out the invading demon; however as we have seen, this is not the sole province of Sufis. An entire range of intriguing possibilities opens up regarding the true nature of 'demons' and where they really come from. Since Rabbi's and Imam's obtain the same or similar results as shamans and priests, it is reasonable to assume that either there is an entire array of words of power, or the ability to cast out demons originates elsewhere. As far as rabbinical exorcism is concerned, there are strong links between this and Jewish magic. For reasons that are unclear and in contrast with early Christian magic, there has been relatively little research conducted into this area until the discovery of the 'Sefer ha-Razim' (Book of Secrets). This work was unearthed in the 'Cairo Geniza', which was an unusual, semi-secret repository of Hebrew writings stored in an old Cairo synagogue originally built in 882AD. Various Rabbis' assembled this hidden library over the centuries and it comprised an eclectic collection of religious documents and books that formed part of the estate of numerous Jews who, over the years, died in the city. Due to the traditionally precarious and unstable lifestyle Jews have enjoyed in Muslim countries, it was considered safer to retain and conceal the Judaism related documentation in one place and it has proved to be a treasure trove of information. In the 1890's a group of scholars visited the synagogue and removed the documentation, distributing it to a variety of universities, libraries and other suitable repositories dotted around the world and it as at these seats of learning that many of the unique papers and books have been translated. At the end of the day, whether the celebrants realize it or not, all religious exorcism is conducted using words of power and in all cases the words of power are one of the many names of God or His angels.

Non-Religious Exorcism

What follows is the account of one of many exorcisms witnessed and recorded by the author.

The strangest variation on exorcism is that practised by mediums and psychics and it has been my privilege to witness this in several occasions; perhaps the strangest example was conducted on the centre span of the Kincardine Bridge on a busy Saturday. The person affected by the possessing entity was a man in his mid thirty's who, at the time, had experienced a series of crushing blows to his spiritual, mental and physical well being. The exorcism (or cleansing) took place on a heavy, overcast, Saturday afternoon at the beginning of 1998. The problem had come about due to the man concerned having handled a rough-cut, semi-precious stone from Saudi Arabia called a 'Qasuma Stone'.

These pieces of quartz, although of little intrinsic value, are prized by expatriate workers who have them cut and polished rather like a poor quality diamond and set in items of jewellery. The mediums had decided that the stone, which had a single polished facet containing small, rune-like markings on its otherwise cloudy surface had been used in magical ceremonies, was the dwelling place of a 'lower astral entity'. These spirit beings are normally confined to a plane of existence designed to isolate them from both the physical realm and higher spirit entities.

Unfortunately they can be called here either accidentally of deliberately and this case the rituals made using the stone had formed the key. The group consisted of two mediums, the affected man, his mother and me, the man, lets call him John, had the stone with him plus another item, a dress ring, made of the same material. We made our way via the pavement on to the centre span of the bridge and without further ado the mediums began the ceremony. It was a genuinely bizarre and surreal situation; on one side of the open metalwork was a group of five people conducting a serious ritual and on the other the traffic thundered by literally inches away.

One thing that quickly became obvious was the appearance of the female medium who was actually performing the ritual; she began calling the entity back to the gemstone. Her face became 'dark', there is no other way to describe it, abruptly her eyes looked very puffy, and her voice became slurred. The weather which was blustery suddenly broke and the rain poured down, the atmosphere became charged and electric. Abruptly her appearance changed and became much 'lighter. Her voice changed too and became quite normal. Strangely, at the same time, the wind died down and the rain stopped as suddenly as it had begun. She told us that the entity was trapped in the stone and it should be disposed of immediately; John stepped forward unsteadily. Grey faced he hurled the stone into the murky, choppy waters of the River Forth far below us, this was quickly followed by the dress ring and the box it had been in, all the items quickly vanished below the waves.

The change in John was palpable, he was smiling and his mood was much lighter, we all felt the difference. Regrettable I was requested not to record the ritual in any way neither by tape recorder nor camera of any kind. Even photographs taken in a darkened room showing the stone shining by its own light that were in the possession of the mediums were also destroyed in case they provided a portal to accidentally summon the entity back to this plane. Although I have no proof of this account other than the testimony of those present, I can assure you that it did happen and the events occurred as described. I have no real explanation for any of it save to suggest that what occurred was similar to how shamans operate; the 'battle' occurred at an elevated level of awareness that only the medium could access.

Conclusion

As we have seen from the article, there are several reasons why exorcism is effective, some are entirely psychological and some are spiritual, but all are ultimately valid. The easiest answer is to assume, on no other basis than faith, that 'good' somehow always triumphs over 'evil'. There is no valid, physical reason for this and we must take it as a given that intangible energies, one bad and one good, existing entirely divorced from the real world are wielded in some manner to cancel one another out. There is no explanation regarding the nature of this energy other then it is 'spiritual'; however, as we have also seen, irrespective of which method is used, with a few variations in style and technique there are fundamental similarities between them all.

In almost all cases 'words of power' are used; collections of phrases, words and resonance that combine to drive out an invading entity, the reasons for this are not entirely clear. On one hand it may function on the basis that if at the most basic level of all everything is a creature of frequency, then the resonance's (frequencies) built up by the precise intonation of specific words may interfere with the function of cohesive reality. In other words, the frequency generated by the words may affect the unwelcome spirit by either creating an uncomfortable or even agonising localised environment and literally forcing it out, or by interfering with its own integrity rather like the effects of an antiseptic on bacteria. Ultimately there are no straightforward answers here, plain blind faith may not be enough, because as we have seen, non-religious exorcism is equally, and sometimes more, effective. The underlying reason behind the effectiveness of all exorcism may stem from the same rationale that drives magic. In other words, a belief that the universe is a unified whole and as such we are part of it. If one can accept this paradigm, then it is only a small step to understand that we may be able to affect our surroundings by manipulating the matrix in which it exists through the use of words. If we can do this then logically, either accidentally or through rigorous training, in certain well-defined circumstances we may be able to destabilise the energy matrix that permits an invading entity to attach itself to another person, animal or thing, especially since we are part of this reality and the entity is not. One way or another Demonic possession has always been with us, so has exorcism, perhaps it always will be and the need for exorcists will always exist.

Sources:

	'The Magical Arts' by Richard Cavendish, pub 1984 by Arkana
	'The Crystal' an exorcism witnessed by Brian Allan
	'American Exorcism' by Michael W. Cuneo, pub 2001 by Bantam
	'Demons' by Andrew Findlay, pub 1999 by Blandford