THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT EXORCISM
Added on: 21st Aug 2016
THE PHENOMENON OF EXORCISM HAS PROBABLY
EXISTED FROM VERY EARLY TIMES. IN GREECE,
EPICURUS AND AESCHINES WERE SONS OF
WOMEN WHO LIVED BY THIS ART, AND EACH WAS
BITTERLY REPROACHED, THE ONE BY THE STOICS,
THE OTHER BY DEMOSTHENES, FOR HAVING
ASSISTED HIS MOTHER IN HER
“DISHONOURABLE” PRACTICES
THE WORD EXORCISM COMES FROM THE GREEK WORD
EXORKISMOS – BINDING BY OATH
THE VATICAN FIRST ISSUED OFFICIAL GUIDELINES ON
EXORCISM IN 1614 AND REVISED THEM IN 1999
CONTRARY TO POPULAR BELIEF, THE PRACTICE OF
EXORCISING DEMONS IS NOT CONFINED SOLELY TO
ROMAN CATHOLICISM OR THE WEST. IT IS PERFORMED
ALL AROUND THE WORLD BY EVERY MAJOR RELIGION
EXORCISM IS PRETTY COMMON IN JUDAISM AS
WELL. JOSEPHUS, A FIRST-CENTURY ROMANO-JEWISH
SCHOLAR, REPORTED EXORCISMS PERFORMED BY
ADMINISTERING POISONOUS ROOT EXTRACTS. IN
MORE RECENT TIMES, RABBI YEHUDA FETAYA
AUTHORED THE BOOK MINCHAT YAHUDA, WHICH
DEALS EXTENSIVELY WITH EXORCISM, HIS
EXPERIENCE WITH POSSESSED PEOPLE AND
OTHER SUBJECTS IN JEWISH THOUGHT
IN ISLAM, EXORCISM IS CALLED RUQYA. IT IS USED TO
REPAIR THE DAMAGE CAUSED BY SIHR OR BLACK MAGIC.
EXORCISMS TODAY ARE PART OF A WIDER BODY OF
CONTEMPORARY ISLAMIC ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE
CALLED AL-TIBB AL-NABAWI (MEDICINE OF THE PROPHET)
BELIEFS AND PRACTICES PERTAINING TO THE
PRACTICE OF EXORCISM ARE PROMINENTLY
CONNECTED WITH HINDUS AS WELL. OF THE FOUR
VEDAS (HOLY BOOKS OF THE HINDUS), THE ATHARVA
VEDA IS BELIEVED TO CONTAIN THE SECRETS RELATED
TO EXORCISM, MAGIC, AND ALCHEMY
ACCORDING TO THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, AFTER THE
EXORCISM HAS BEEN FINISHED THE PERSON
POSSESSED FEELS A “KIND OF RELEASE OF GUILT
AND FEELS REBORN AND FREED OF SIN.” UNFORTUNATELY
FOR THE PATIENT, NOT ALL EXORCISMS ARE SUCCESSFUL
THE FIRST TIME AND IT COULD TAKE DAYS, WEEKS,
OR EVEN MONTHS OF CONSTANT PRAYER AND EXORCISMS
SOLEMN EXORCISMS, ACCORDING TO THE CANON LAW
OF THE CHURCH, CAN BE EXERCISED ONLY BY AN
ORDAINED PRIEST (OR HIGHER PRELATE), WITH THE
EXPRESS PERMISSION OF THE LOCAL BISHOP AND ONLY
AFTER A CAREFUL MEDICAL EXAMINATION TO
EXCLUDE THE POSSIBILITY OF MENTAL ILLNESS
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