Is Exorcism Real?

Demonic and Spirit Possession

We’ve all seen the movies:  The Exorcist, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, The Last Exorcism, among many others, like BeetleJuice.  It’s a pretty big topic in Hollywood, and people flock to theaters to see these movies.  A new one coming out is The Rite, and a new show coming out I hear is The Exorcist Files, which will be a show that recreates actual Exorcism cases, with the help of the Vatican itself, or so the rumor goes anyways.

The topic of Exorcism here was surprisingly difficult to research.  There wasn’t a lot of information out there to really take from, at least from sources I felt where credible.  I did manage to get some information on it for the most part, but a lot of it is spread out, bits and pieces here and there.  Not surprisingly, when I started looking it up, what I mostly got was listings and information on the movies above.  Beetlejuice surprised me the most as an exorcist movie, I had to stop and remember for a moment, and I was like “Oh yeah, I guess it is…”.

Most of us are subjected to Exorcism through movies, but history is full of Demonic and Spirit Possessions dating back to as far as 1000 B.C.  From Ancient Persia, to Ancient Mesopotamia, to the Ancient Babylonian.  Almost every culture, at one point in time or another, recognizes this phenomena, including, Buddhism, Muslim and Christianity, and each developed their own form of Exorcism to remove unwanted entities from a person.  Each tailoring the ritual or rite to their specific beliefs and culture.

Though Demons are most often credited for possessing someone, Spirits have also been known to do so as well.  Some cultures, such as Shamans, both African and Native American, Balinese Animists and Haitian Voodou Practitioners, voluntarily invoke Spirits for possession,  in order to access knowledge, or information about the future.  Though they do this willingly, they do not do it foolishly, as they understand the risks involved.  Some spirits once in, don’t wish to leave, and others, don‘t need an invitation at all.  This has been found true in many cultures, even the ones that don’t voluntarily invoke spirits, and this is the basis and reason for Exorcism in it’s many forms.

A couple of the more famous cases had movies based on them:

Robbie Mannheim - Is the famous boy who was possessed (or allegedly, as some believe it may have been faked) back in 1949.  A book was published in 1971 titled “The Exorcist”, which would then go on to be a movie with the same title in 1973.

Anneliese Michel - Is the famous girl who was possessed and underwent exorcism starting in 1975, it ended in 1976, when Michel died.  Two movies where roughly based on this event.  The Exorcism of Emily Rose, and Requiem.

These are only two of the more famous cases, mostly because movies where made after them, and now have a fan base.  But there are many more cases of exorcisms.  I was unable to find even a rough number of how many exorcisms are performed each years.  But, from what I’ve found, the number of both exorcisms and exorcists are on the rise, and have been since 1999.

On September 11th, 2000, Pope John Paul II performed an exorcism on an Italian girl who began screaming in St. Peter’s Square.  He apparently was unable to fully cure the girl.  However, this was not his first, nor his last.  In 1982 his first exorcism was performed on a woman who was stricken with pain from the exorcism, and his last was in 2001, on a 20 year old girl.

But Pope John Paul II, nor any other Pope, is the most famous exorcist known, in fact it’s Jesus Christ (was it really that surprising?), the bible has more then 20 references of him casting out spirits or demons from people.

Speaking of the bible, according to it, there are 3 types of Possession.

Oppression - Demonic influence (I’m assuming) puts pressure on someone, preventing them from doing things by creating hindrances and blocks.

Obsession - Creating trouble in the mind.  The person becomes infatuated with an idea, desire or emotion, so much so that the mind can not be taken away from it.

Possession - The Demon (Or Spirit) takes total control of the person.

According to the types of possession above, I have 2 out of the 3, and that scares me a little…

Some of the Symptoms said to be attributed to Possession are:

Convulsions; Seizures; Changes in personality; Lewd or Obscene behavior; Swollen Stomach; Rapid Weight Loss; Strange changes in the Voice; Horrible Smells emanating from the person; Sexual Thoughts; Speaking in a different Language; Having Knowledge of the Future; Superhuman Strength; Levitation.

So if you’re an under-weight, multi-lingual, psychic male, with epilepsy and gas problems, you may be in some serious trouble.  Oh and you may be possessed….

Looking at it from the medical perspective, Sexual thoughts would indicate most men are possessed.  Swollen Stomach might be due to Malnutrition.  Lewd or Obscene behavior could be caused by many Mental disorders.  Personality changes could by caused by Hysteria or Schizophrenia.  Seizures and Convulsions as stated might be Epilepsy.  Speaking in a different Language could be Glossolalia.  Knowledge of the Future could be Clairvoyance, and I would hold on to that one…. And go to a Casino.

A couple of my favorite theories though are.  Multiple Personality Disorder; Altered States of Consciousness; and Personality Thought Forms derived from the Subconscious mind to express itself much in the same way of Poltergeist Activity.  But these are only theories.

It would seem that Medical Science has all but completely mopped up the theory of Possession.  But, in light of the medical discoveries that share many of the symptoms of a demonic possession, the Catholic Church has taken the precaution of medically examining potential patients in order to determine if the person is actually possessed, or if it’s just an untreated medical condition.  But, even with the screening in place, the Church still performs exorcisms.  That says that some are believed to be actually possessed.

So, if it is just some Medical Conditions, how come both Exorcist and Exorcisms are on the rise?  I do believe in many things dealing with the supernatural or paranormal.  I may have taken the stance of a Skeptic here, but after reading what I read in order to research it, some good questions have been raised, on both sides of the topic.  If nothing else, I’m open to the possibility.

Believers of the Phenomena however are not convinced by the explanations provided by the medical community.  Claiming that many of the explanations don’t actually fit, or the odds of having all of these conditions in a single person is too large.  Some even say you have to be there, or experience it to believe it (Which I don’t think was a suggestion).

I guess I’ll let anyone who reads this decide.

Oh and here’s a video I found on it.  Oddly enough there weren’t a lot of videos on Exorcism, at least not many that didn’t cost money.

Anyways, hope you enjoy!



Ok, that’s all I got for now.  But here’s some lolcats again!

Hope you enjoyed!

Till next time!