Are successful "exorcisms" exclusively Catholic?

If anyone here has ever experienced true evil (ex-wives aside) or "divine intervention", you need little convincing that these things exist, at least to a certain extent. I've experienced the latter, but still believe that possession is not only possible, but probable.

Assuming Catholic exorcisms are at times effective and authentic experiences, are other cultures techniques effective? We've all seen movies and read books about exorcisms and while some are pure Hollywood, others seem to have credibility, at least to me. The one constant seems to be the power of the bible and using the name "Jesus Christ" to manipulate evil. I've often wondered, if other ancient and/or modern culture's techniques would prove as effective.

As someone who abandoned organized religion many years ago (Roman Catholic), I'm comfortable with almost all of my "spiritual" replacements to organized religion. Except this one.

reply to post by Paschar0
You have to give in and accept the rest of the package when you realize that it's in the name of Jesus that the demons come out of those posessed. There's no other name. And when you know this from experience, you can't deny any other part of the message because you just can't pick and choose like that. There will be many that come on and argue about this but if you are one, like me, who knows that these things are so, then you must know also that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.

Oh, and as long as it is in the name of Jesus, Catholic or Protestant doesn't matter.

reply to post by Paschar0


The casting out of demons does not seem to be recorded in the Torah (Old Testament) and similarly in other Caananite faiths. It was much later when this was codified/ritualised by the Catholic and Orthodox Churches.

I have heard of Protestant Churches performing exorcisims but they also invoke the name and protection of Jesus Christ.

I know that there are some shamanistic faiths that both accept and exorcise familiar or posessing spirits as part of their faith.

There is a story that might interest you about a Woman called Mary Glover, she lived during the Elizabethan era. She was on trial for being a witch and believed to be possessed, both the Catholics and Puritans had these public displays of exorcising the inflicted to see which Religion was best at it. I think I saw a program about it once on the History or Discovery channel(s). I suggest you start there and then look into the different duties (for lack of a better word) a priest can perform within his priesthood. I'm going to S&F this so I can come back to it later if I find anymore information. Hope this helped a bit

Exorcism tend to be Christian, both protestant and catholic, although mainly catholic. It's considered Christian because it is assumed it is the power of Christ driving away the demons, although other beliefs do have their own versions of exorcisms.

Also some links:

www.religioustolerance.org...

Cause of possession: In the Bible, victims of possession are never held responsible for their situation. There are no references in the Christian Scriptures which imply that their possession was caused by some sin in their life. None of the victims were criticized for having allowed themselves to become possessed.
Animals can be possessed: Matthew 8:30, and parallel passages, describe that demons can possess pigs.
Multiple possession: Various passages refer to possession of a single individual by multiple demons. Luke 8:30 describes a man who was possessed by many demons; he used the term "legion" which was a unit of 6,000 soldiers.

Gifts of demons: Demons can grant special powers to people. In Acts 16:16 a woman was given the power to foretell the future by her indwelling evil spirit. But this appears to be an exception; other passages describe how demons harm people.
Illnesses and disorders generated by demons: Luke 9:39 apparently describes a case of epilepsy caused by a demon. Luke 11:14 documents a person who was unable to speak because of an indwelling demon. Luke 13:10-13 describes a woman who had been unable to straighten her back for almost 2 decades because of a evil spirit. 1
Demonic speech: Numerous passages in the Bible describe indwelling demons speaking to the exorcist, presumably by taking control of the individual's vocal chords.
Demons' strength: Mark 5:4 describes how an indwelling spirit causes its victim to have superhuman strength, so that fetters and chains could not hold him.

Also:

theisticsatanism.com...

Protestant evangelicals, fundamentalists, and Pentecostals hold a wide variety of beliefs about exorcism and how and under what circumstances it should be performed. The collection of links below provides only a sampling.

The part discussing it in-depth and with links is part 6 (In the above link)

Also more links:

www.apologeticsindex.org...

www.logoschristian.org...



www.newworldencyclopedia.org...

Although the above link describes possession in older religions too:

The concept of possession by evil spirits and the practice of exorcism originated in prehistoric shamanistic beliefs. In Hinduism, the Vedas (holy books of the Hindus) include sacred spells needed to cast out demons and evil spirits. Several examples are found in the Hebrew Bible, and the New Testament includes numerous exorcisms among the miracles performed by Jesus. Today, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and some Protestant sects recognize the practice.

Also Taoism, Shamanism, Witch-doctors of Africa and Buddhists have similar notions of possession and driving out demons.

reply to post by mr-lizard


The thing with the other old beliefs and their attitude toward posession and exorcism is that it is not at all clear that they had any success at it. They knew about it obviously, since it infected their people, but we don't know how successful they were at getting rid of the problem. We do, however, have many writings from early times that confirm that the spirits come out in the name of Jesus.

Case in point, have you seen the video that was posted here the other day that showed the alleged Islamic exorcism? I'm not saying that that was real, but if it was it was obviously not successful.

reply to post by Paschar0


Yes many other cultures have successful exorcisms. All you need to do is go to youtube and look up Djinn exorcisms. Personally I also feel that many christian related religions have hijacked other ancient (well at least older) techniques and rituals and call them their own.

reply to post by Paschar0


I have been to several countries in the past several years on mission trips and such and I have witnessed many "exorcisims" or the casting out of demons as it is reffered to in scripture. I have never partisipated in a excorisim but the ones I have seen were quite.... violent and slightly disturbing. I do not doubt the existence of demons or angels or any other supernatural thing (except maybe vampires and werewolves and the like) or even magic. I have witnessed the power of witches before, not these gothic witches or the now popular wiccans but true witches as in full-on black magic sorcery witches. In many third world countries such as Africa they are revered and feared as powerful individuals and some even have the power to transform themselves into animals and there are those who can summon demons to do their will. Things like these do exist in the world and once upon a time they were even prevelent but now we are ruled by science and logic which isnt bad but we forget that our world was once a world of magic.

I've successfully exorcised a dog. Didn't invoke any names, just me and the Thing, and the poor dog, who had a very long hour of wretching, twitching, and gagging as I worked the invading entity out of the poor pup. My friend sure as hell wondered why his dog was getting so sick as I just stared hard at the dog, but I explained well afterwards. The dog and I wrassled and played and had a good old time for the rest of the night.

Anyone who is well trained enough can probably perform a manual exorcism without much ado, and without bringing Jesus into it. Just takes the right skill set and the right attitude. Catholics haven't got the market cornered on anything but traumatized altar boys.

reply to post by wtbengineer

You have to give in and accept the rest of the package when you realize that it's in the name of Jesus

I understand what you're saying, but it's obvious your speaking from a devout standpoint (I could be wrong). I say this not as a slam, just as someone who once thought that way as well. You see, I know longer fear "God" and don't believe blind faith is a requirement for anything. In fact, I believe true enlightenment comes from the opposite, by questioning and challenging things to gain a better understanding.

So much of Christianity is skewed and twisted, frankly I'm amazed more Christians don't find this disturbing, there is no way I can accept the "whole package", because so much of it is false, it would be impossible for me. At the same time, I don't reject it in it's entirety because I believe hidden amongst it all are spiritual "gems". The real trick is knowing what to ignore.

It's not, I can assure you of that. Living in the deep South, Catholicism is a rare thing outside of Cajun land and the Baptists run the show. I have met a snake handler preacher that Hollywood could not even dream up, and spoke with a few different church leaders. They all are quite aware of the exorcism ritual, but never admitted to using it or their version. These guys are not backwards hicks that Hollywood loves to portray of mostly all Southerners. Some could transcribe Sumerian and had a knowledge of the old ways and how they worked, including exorcisms.

reply to post by Paschar0


There are plenty of cases of other faith exorcisms that have been termed "successful". Just that in the West, these are the ones we're most familiar with. In many remote South American and African tribes though, there are plenty of such rituals all the time, for example.

I'm sure even a small bit of research will uncover many cases for study, if you care to look.

reply to post by mr-lizard


Thanks for all the links, hadn't seen many of them before.

An exorcism is essentially a prayer to God for the relief of the oppressed. And while other faiths do practice similar rituals, and even though God may grant them relief, it doesn't necessarily mean that their religion is agreeable to the truth but only that God's love is for all mankind.

BBC - India's Exorcisms

One of the fair's 200-odd witchdoctors orders her to circle a local temple. Then he sprinkles some water on the girl and chants what sound like prayers. Suddenly, Rukmani is tossing her hair violently, rolling her eyes and swaying uncontrollably as her friends try to hold her back. 'Why are you troubling her?' "Who are you?" asks the witchdoctor. "I won't reply," answers Rukmani in a voice her parents say is not her own. Now the witchdoctor picks up a broom and begins hitting Rukmani, which seems to be a sure way to rid clients of apparitions. "Why are you troubling her? Go away, go away," yells the witchdoctor beating Rukmani. A few minutes later, the witchdoctor announces Rukmani "cured".

Shamanism The concept of possession by evil spirits and the practice of exorcism are very ancient and widespread. In shamanic healing, exorcism is needed when a negative entity, called a demon in Western society, takes hold of a person's soul. When a shaman performs an exorcism, the demon may try to engage the shaman in conversation, reveal secrets that the shaman may be ashamed of, or use physical, energetic, and telekinetic attacks against the shaman. The only thing that will protect the shaman is her firm connection to, and faith in the power of her divinity or spiritual gift.

Wiki

reply to post by Paschar0




What confuses you about Christianity? Theres pretty much nothing in the bible that contradicts itself. However seeing you are a Roman Catholic....i can see why you left Chrstianity i am protestant....Catholiscm especially Roman Catholics just seem... not to listen to the bible very much and contradict it some what... confuses me too.

However.... to your original question , Yes other forums of exorcism works from other religions to a degree...however you only replace what you just supressed with a more powerful demon , meaning a (Smarter) demon. Other religions have signs and works , but they are not of God. They have abilities and powers , but again...they are not of God. ( ALL OF THIS IS IN MY OPINION, I DO NOT force my beliefs on any one , 99% of the world has heard the Christian ideals pretty much , you make your own choice now)

You ask , why cant we have the abilities that God has? For see the future , fly , travel in the spirit and real world , become telepathic do works of Magick?

Because you dont NEED it. You are simply here on this Earth to make a Choice (You choose your God...just hope you choose the right one) in my opinion i have studied Solomon a great deal, Solomon and I...have come to an agreement. You make your Choice and hope you make the right one...then you are home free (Continue with your life even though its hard and pointless , you are told to fight day and day out to live it until your time has come).

Any way , i always go off topic for some reason , but you can not command a Demon (Generally) depending on how powerful it is. By simply telling it to leave in the name of Jesus if you are not a Christian. You do not have Authority over demons unless you are a Chrisitan.

You do not need to pray to Angels any longer , i dont know why some Christians do so. You use to need to before Jesus came along. A demon once told solomon in a fit of fury , there will come a savior that will frusrate all spirits meaning it was pretty pissed off at a lowly human telling it what to do.

Magick exist , but it is not for man.. (yet) any way. If you read Solomons key god sanctioned him to use certain rituals and magick however , once it was taken from solomon for his offering to another God....i dont believe God has sanctioned Magick to another human since. Demons give you the ability to have powers that God should only have.


OOOPs i really got off topic sorry! No idea how i did that lol , dont flame me to hard by the way , i could talk for hours about what i just type and tell ya why i came to those conclusions, however most people are tired of Christians now a days

Interesting, you see life as a test of CHOICE, where I see it as an opportunity to simply EXPERIENCE whatever. It may sound strange, but I don't believe there is a penalty for any of your choices, because any one of them can be viewed as "good" or "bad" depending on your perspective. I no longer believe in anything "karmic" either, where once I did wholeheartedly.

"Killing is wrong"... unless you're defending (insert righteous reason here)

My real point to this thread is that while I've found it relatively easy to abandon religion, again, for many many reasons I find credible. There's evidence that evil "seems" to exist, at least I believe it does, and therefore if evil exists, and can be manipulated through "Jesus Christ", then I can't dismiss "all things religious" quite so easily.

My concern is that I just don't have enough information and it may just be another example of Christianity mimicking something else or worse..or it could be that it's for real, which is why I'm looking for more to make a better "choice".

reply to post by Paschar0


Interesting, you see life as a test of CHOICE, where I see it as an opportunity to simply EXPERIENCE whatever. It may sound strange, but I don't believe there is a penalty for any of your choices, because any one of them can be viewed as "good" or "bad" depending on your perspective. I no longer believe in anything "karmic" either, where once I did wholeheartedly.

"Killing is wrong"... unless you're defending (insert righteous reason here)

My real point to this thread is that while I've found it relatively easy to abandon religion, again, for many many reasons I find credible. There's evidence that evil "seems" to exist, at least I believe it does, and therefore if evil exists, and can be manipulated through "Jesus Christ", then I can't dismiss "all things religious" quite so easily.

My concern is that I just don't have enough information and it may just be another example of Christianity mimicking something else or worse..or it could be that it's for real, which is why I'm looking for more to make a better "choice".


In my opinion , we are not here to experience anything. Once we become perfect (Spirtual) we feel just like we do now..alive although your thought process will be much difference than it is now , there will be no evil to tempt you , not even yourself...the bible tells you , your battle is not against the flesh , but the principalities , so once you become perfect ...you wont sin again...because your not being tempted...your a higher being. No more Evil (Demons and Satan) your under the protection of God. God didnt put you here to Sin , to experience life because your just as alive as when you are dead...your just in a perfect form. You can do so much more than you can do now. I believe we will learn in heaven and not know everything instantly. The bible talks about how we will LEARN in heaven in the temples.

Your 10 commandments are basic laws for all human beings. Doesnt matter what your perspective is , the Bible tells you not to break them. If you do..you have sinned you are in the wrong regardless if you think it is wrong or not...he tells us it is. The BIBLE is LAW...not a suggestion. Thats why catholics confuse me..they think the bible is just a suggestion when it is quite clearly law ...for as Jesus said many times to Satan...it is written.

You arnt going to get rid of Evil you arnt going to stop sinning ever. You can only LIMIT the amount of times you sin. However , you can control some of the sins and NEVER do them such as killing. However , you cheat on your wife when you look at another woman lustfully in God's eyes. He is a perfect God therefore he has perfect laws that you can not meet , but they are laws none the less. Thats why you have Jesus. God's law demands blood , he sent his son to show his love and give us a sacrifice. What more can you ask from a God giving his son up for your stupidity? Without Jesus ... you have no link to God , you are damned because you are sinful.

Im just curious about what makes you question Christiantiy , what turns you off about it? Maybe i can answer some questions or not , whatever floats your boat.

Life is this simple and most people refuse to believe this because....its so simple...so...meaningless in most of our eyes. You make your Choice if you weant to believe in God (if you believe in a God you must then ask Jesus to save you for he is your intecesor to God) then once you make that decision...you then grow God's family by living your life the best way you can in God's eyes and along the way you win SOULs to grow God's family , to give God a family to live with.

All you are here to do is make a Choice...and grow God's family. Theres nothing on this Earth that is going to follow you except your works (your rewards in heaven , however if you get to heaven and you were a Chrisitian and all you did was party and make babies dont be surprised if you get trash duty for the next 10000 years lol)

Also Satans deception is so great during the end of the Millienium Reign after all these people have lived with Christ under his rule (Satan will be loosed for a short while , and he will decieve Gog and Magog yet again to attack isreal , and that is the final battle). He will decieve many yet again , so he is smart in what he does , very smart. You can easily be lead astray if you do not take steps to reinforce your relationship. NOT REINFORCING YOUR RELIGION , but the RELATIONSHIP between you and Jesus, God warns against religion. People praying to a Statue of Jesus , IS SINFUL , constantly repeating a prayer in the name of Jesus in a Ritualistic manner IS SINFUL offering prayers to a SAINT IS SINFUL. Offering prayers to an ANGEL IS SINFUL. They will NOT get you to heaven, they only way to the father is through me (Jesus)

All this is my opinion and most of this can be backed with scripture if you want me to pull the sword out however im sure your tired of seeing me.

No. I've been away for some time but I have experience with the Catholic Church and exorcism. The Church uses Charismatic Exorcists in addition to the ordained. Because they understand some spirits, demons, entities predate Christianity. They may not broadcast that fact but when the clergy fails the charismatic is used.

The charismatic exorcist is by far the most successful. They are not using religion against an entity, it's a battle of strength and will. He who has the most spiritual energy and can sustain it wins.