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Slava Isusu Christu!

I believe that there are very few actual possessions, less than 1%, and that those who act possessed generally use this as a way to act out inappropriately when they could not act in such a way in the culture or religious environment in which they live.

I have seen the Coptic exorcisms on Youtube (for example), which are done in a Coptic church and are a mix of Muslims and Christians--the people obviously are in a state of mass hysteria in these situations--I cannot see this methodology as effective except as a way, perhaps, to show to the people in attendance the Coptic faith is superior to Islam, which becomes a way to politicize the rite of exorcism.

Exorcism gives these people a way to act out and release psychological build up or repression--it is not in any way demonic, but rather very human. It is a form of primitive therapy and could be useful with the mildly neurotic, but could also be extremely dangerous.

As Eastern Christians we are to emphasize the joy of the Resurrection and not the demonic. Could this over-emphasis on the demonic and possession be a form of latinization? I know exorcism is becoming popularized in Greece, Russia and Ukraine, but is this focus authentically Eastern Christian? I for one believe that the modern phenomena of the so-called increase in possession is purely human and psychological.

If exorcism helps mentally ill people to become sane, good--but let's not call it demonic phenomena and move on to focus on the the positive faith which characterizes our Eastern tradition--a faith centered and grounded in divinization, suppression of the passions, and the joy of the Resurrection. This is a good subject to ponder and analyze and I appreciate the topic.

Just throwing in my 5 cents worth.

In the Theotokos,



Robert Horwath

When it comes to demonic posession (and to so many other things), an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

I agree that this sort of thing is deplorable, and that the rite of exorcism should always be conducted in private.

Either way, this is a complete misuse of the well-established traditional practice of Christian exorcism.

Please refer to Alice's comments above.

First of all, let's not use the term "exorcism" to refer to any abuse of the practice, much less reduce all uses to such abuse. Furthermore, all ancient Christian traditions have recognized both the phenomenon of demonic possession and the practice of exorcism, so you have no argument there.

(FWIW, Dr. Peck first diagnosed a possible case of demonic possession when he observed a patient who exhibited perfectly normal behavior most of the time--normal beyond anything a genuine psychotic could fake--but at other times exhibited severely psychotic behavior--beyond anything a normal person could fake. In over 20 years of clinical practice, he hadn't seen anything like it before.)


Peace,
Deacon Richard

Alice,

Thank you for reminding us of the dangers that lurk when we dabble in the occult. I have come to think that it is not the "occult" per se that is the problem, but that the important (and very dangerous) factor is a person's own willingness to participate in macabre, hellish or devilish rituals - if those two things can even be meaningfully separated when it comes to the occult.

Neil,

I agree with much of your post and don't share other posters' apparent aversion to scientific explanations of deranged and evil behavior.

However, I still think that just labeling what was recounted in the Gospel as a "misdiagnosis" is not a very solid answer, because the Gospel refers to it as demonic possession and makes that fact very clear. So, it really must have been.

There is also the explanation of some above that demonic activity was perhaps more prevalent, for one reason or another, in first-century Galilee (either because of Christ's mission and Satan's attempt to derail it, God's Will that "many" were to be subject to being easily possessed so as to demonstrate Christ's power, etc...). Something like that is the only rationale explanation I can think of.

I guess the big take away is that we can perhaps never really know what affects people's behavior in this regard because we can't apportion responsibility between scientific explanation and actual demonic possession. But judging from the tide of history, it seems scientific explanations are ever-expanding and demonic possession seems, to me at least, to have diminished since Gospel times. As I said, I've never known anyone to be demonically possessed, and I'm sure to have met many times more people in my life than the average first-century Galilean.

Alexis

One category of possibly demoniacally posessed people about which no one speaks are the wicked priests who molested children/young post-pubescent boys and their episcopal enablers.

These unfortunate people went around for years celebrating the Eucharist and administering the Holy Mysteries and no one usually was aware of what was going on in the shadows of their lives. Or if they were, they chose to minimize or ignore it.

Now that kind of behaviour is deviant at least but some demonic involvement can't be ruled out.

Often pray the "St.Michael the Arcangel, defend us in battle" prayer. Receive the Holy Mysteries of Confession and the Eucharist. Use the Jordan Water: a sip a day may keep fallen spirits at bay. And wear blessed cross & medal of the Theotokos on your person.

Who says they were possessed? Maybe they were just, well, evil?

It's a possibility. I can't hurt to pray that prayer.

Perhaps we should be more clear about what exactly we mean when we say "possessed."

In terms of exorcism, aren't we all exorcised at baptism? Does that mean that demons possessed us all beforehand?

If so, that doesn't mean that all of us were running down the streets speaking backwards Latin with our heads spinning around.

Now I'm beginning to think my younger sisters might be possessed...

Alexis

I realize this is a serious thread, but I couldn't help but convulse in laughter at jjp's description of what, one supposes, might be the ultimate latinization.

Many years,

Neil (wondering if the described act would actually be seen as an example of demonic possession or would it be praised as the ultimate example of liturgical dancing - performed while speaking in tongues )

Hah!

I think many of us born after The Exorcist can't help but refer to this to some degree, it's permeated popular culture. And I think that is what some of us imagine in one way or another when reading the Gospel stories, and wondering why it doesn't seem to be happening a churches very much today.

Granted, some of those stories are pretty intense (Legion) and would be pretty terrifying on screen. But others like the blind and mute man (Matthew 12:22) seem rather tame.

I agree with you that bad mental health and demonic possession can have a lot of overlap, and one may even lead to the other. My mom is a therapist and has told me about times where, in talking to very sick people, she was almost positive that demonic presences were emerging, if not outright present. A weak or troubled mind would seem to be particularly easy prey in that sense, and once a demonic hold is established on somebody, it is easy to imagine deteriorating mental health as a consequence.

But I also consider CS Lewis' Screwtape. I believe that the prayers of exorcism that we continue to pray are important because demons can make a home in our lives without us even being consciously aware of the fact.

I think that having an evangelically-leaning upbringing has imprinted the reality of spiritual warfare on me more than perhaps a cradle Catholic/Orthodox, and that can most certainly be overrepresented in evangelical settings, but the exorcism prayers that are in our Tradition are real indeed, in my opinion.

On the flip side, I used to think of the idea of a "guardian angel" as a nice story. Just as I believe exorcism, as found in our liturgy, as very real, it is very cool to also understand that there is an angel that watches over me against just such things.

My suspicion is that demonic activity is probably always involved when people do evil to their fellow human beings, especially when it is done in highly organised and extravagant ways.

Pogroms, mass persecutions, ethnic cleansings, the hecatomb of abortions, violence against helpless people, the victimization of children through "child porn, the deprivation of people's human rights - these phenomena come to mind as a few examples.

One of the most insidious ways fallen spirits may be at work, or perhaps taking advantage of our work, is the "objectification" of human beings. By that I mean stripping them of their personhood and thus believing they are but objects, or things. And once you turn people into things, you can pretty much do with them what you want.

I also suspicion demonic posession is far more widespread today than we might like to think.It's just very subtle and not at all as it's presented in movies. One can't always perceive it. Most evil has become so banal and common-place today; so ACCEPTABLE...those fallen spirits probably don't have to exert themselves too much since we ourselves do most of their work for them.

As long as people continue falling down in sacreligious "worship" before the altar of the Most Unholy Trinity: Privacy, Convenience and Choice; the demons have a wide-open door into which they can rush into our lives.

But God is stronger than they are.He wills our salvation. And His love endures forever. It's a love for US who don't deserve it So we still have a chance to attain that which the fallen angels can never do: we still can enter into into the Beatific Vision. And that's part of the reason they are jealous of us and hate us so much.

"Lord, save Your people and bless Your inheritance."

I will say I think it's a fallacy to think that mankind is more wicked now than ever. I'm sure every generation has thought that. It's only because you weren't alive at any other time. If you were, you'd probably be whistling the same tune. So I'm not sure I necessarily subscribe to the idea that demonic activity is more covert now than before because we're just oh so wicked they don't have to do much work. Just my two cents.

Alexis

Prophetic saints have said that there will be a time when all the demons of hell will be unleashed upon the earth.

Has that happened yet? I don't know..Indeed, history shows us man's inhumanity towards man was always a given..sometimes in the name of 'war crimes', sometimes in the name of torture for crimes against the state, and perhaps today in the name of sexual slavery and other such horrors that exist.

I don't know that in history, small children ever suffered as much as they do today at the hands of demonic monsters (be they predators or even their own parents). That may be a new demonic phenomenon and perhaps the most disturbing one...Lord have mercy!