Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Deliverance from Evil Spirits: An Exorcist’s File





In Christian texts, people may be possessed by demons. When possessed they act in ways that scare others and cause harm. The demons speak to other humans. And in response to Jesus Christ, or the apostles, the demons may be “cast out” of a person. In contemporary Christianity, the “casting out” has been known as deliverance or exorcism.

Some groups believe that a place may be possessed by evil spirits thus, deliverance or exorcism may apply to both people and places. In general, protestant Christians use the term deliverance and Catholics use the term exorcism and follow a particular process (a rite) of exorcism.

The term possessionists has been used to refer to people who believe in the phenomenon of people possessed by evil spirits even if they are not possessed (Giordan & Possamai, 2016).

About Devils and Demons

A 2016 Gallup poll report indicated that 89% of Americans believe in God, but this is lowered by 10% if given the option that they are not sure about their belief, thus, the belief number is 79%. But what about the devil? The devil comes in with 61% believers, 12% unsure, and 27% unbelievers.

A few years earlier (2013), a YouGov survey asked Americans about possession. The results for belief in a devil are close to the Gallup results (57% believe in the existence of the devil). When asked if they believed “someone can be possessed by the devil or some other evil spirit,” 51% responded “yes” (“No” 28%, “Don’t Know” 20%). For the most part, the participants rarely thought people were possessed (45%) but 29% did endorse the thought “occasionally.” What about exorcism? Nearly half believed in the power of exorcism (46%) to drive out the devil or evil spirits—only 19% did not believe in exorcism and 36% reported “don’t know.”

More Exorcists Needed

In 2014, the Vatican officially recognised the International Association of Exorcists, which grew in response to a gathering of priests interested in sharing their experiences.  The association grew when early leaders brought exorcists together in response to an increase in satanism and the occult (ncronline, 2014). Giordan and Possamai (2016) estimated there were as many as 300 exorcists in Italy.

In the United States, Bob Larson founded an International School of Exorcism having various levels, each with its own curriculum: Apprentice, Warrior, and Exorcist (https://internationalschoolofexorcism.org/enrollment/ ).

Over-Policing Effect

We might wonder why there is an increase in demand for exorcists or at least reports of possession by evil spirits. Giordan & Possamai (2016) employ an explanatory concept known as over-policing. Here’s a quote from their article.

The more the over-policing of the devil is practiced, the more people are likely to believe in possession and exorcism (that is, become possessionists) and in the increase of the presence of the devil. (p. 453).

Case Files

An interesting set of data became available to Giordan and Possamai (2016). A Catholic priest who was asked to serve as an exorcist by his bishop kept data on calls for nearly 10 years. The number of consultations totaled 1,075. Most people only came for one visit (648), 215 came for two consultations and another 97 came for three. When they graphed the data, they found an increase in visits near two holidays: Easter and All Saints’ Day / Halloween.

This particular exorcist suggested a variety of interventions to callers. He recommended 140 see a psychologist and 5 obtain medical treatment. He also recommended other faith interventions such as blessings (206), confession (16), religious homework (500), prayers (188), and rituals of liberation (142). His records showed a broad approach to understanding people’s needs. For example, he included their drug therapies and family history.

So, how many needed an exorcism? He identified 55. Of these, 21 were taking medication for a mental disorder during their spiritual treatment. The records also include considerable details about their encounters with supernatural evil such as Voodoo and Wicca rituals, black masses, blood pacts, satanic music, and so forth. Interestingly, 18 reported “a strong and violent repulsion to the sacred (p. 458).” For example, they reported feeling sick if trying to pray.

How effective was exorcism? What is impressive here is the record of results rather than the success rate. Recovery was noted for 22 people (40%). Other notes document how many exorcisms were performed and what various outcomes.

Some Thoughts for Psychotherapists and Clergy

The survey data suggest that some form of spirituality could be important to Americans. Although less believe in supernatural evil, about one in two do believe in the devil and close to half believe in the value of exorcisms. Thus, regardless of their personal beliefs, clinicians and clergy ought to consider consultees’ spiritual worldviews when they are seeking counseling or guidance.

The article by Giordan and Possamai (2016) is valuable for its summary of the work of the exorcist. The over-policing concept is somewhat interesting, but I don’t find sufficient evidence to support the concept as an explanatory idea.
Although the authors offer a sociological perspective, there are sufficient details about the people seeking an exorcism for psychotherapists and clergy to seriously consider the concerns of people seeking help for what they identify as problems caused by a supernatural evil agent.

The priest’s recognition of multiple causes for personal distress such as medical and psychological concerns is noteworthy. Too often clergy and mental health professionals fail to account for multiple sources of distress as I have witnessed in years of reading mental health treatment records. Spiritual concerns are rarely given much space in clinical notes. Helping people includes a multimodal theobiopsychosocial approach to assessment and treatment (e.g., Sutton, 2017) even if the result ends up being a fairly restrictive diagnosis and treatment protocol.

The glimpse of collaboration between the priest and a psychiatrist also shows an appreciation of different approaches to different needs.

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References

Click on the hyperlinks to locate the articles cited in the text.

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