WHAT YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT EXORCISM
Added on: 18th Nov 2016
IN ADDITION TO THESE VATICAN-SANCTIONED
EXORCISTS, THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF SELF-
STYLED EXORCISTS AROUND THE WORLD
IN 2005 A YOUNG NUN IN ROMANIA DIED AT THE
HANDS OF A PRIEST DURING AN EXORCISM AFTER
BEING BOUND TO A CROSS, GAGGED, AND LEFT
FOR DAYS WITHOUT FOOD OR WATER IN AN
EFFORT TO EXPEL DEMONS
DEMONIC POSSESSION IS NOT A VALID
PSYCHIATRIC OR MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS AND IS NOT
RECOGNIZED BY EITHER THE DIAGNOSTIC AND
STATISTICAL MANUAL OF MENTAL DISORDERS
OR THE INTERNATIONAL STATISTICAL
CLASSIFICATION OF DISEASES AND RELATED
HEALTH PROBLEMS
PSYCHIATRY’S OFFICIAL VIEW ON “DEMONIC POSSESSION”
IS THAT THE SYMPTOMS ATTRIBUTED TO THE
POSSESSED (THE PATIENT) ARE ASSOCIATED WITH
PHYSICAL OR MENTAL ILLNESSES SUCH AS HYSTERIA,
MANIA, PSYCHOSIS, TOURETTE’S SYNDROME, EPILEPSY,
SCHIZOPHRENIA, DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER, OR
EVEN RARE CASES OF AUTISM
SPEAKING OF AUTISM, IN 2003 AN AUTISTIC
EIGHT-YEAR-OLD BOY IN MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN,
WAS KILLED DURING AN EXORCISM BY CHURCH
MEMBERS WHO BLAMED AN INVADING DEMON
FOR HIS DISABILITY
ACCORDING TO THE U.S. CONFERENCE OF
CATHOLIC BISHOPS, SIGNS OF DEMONIC
POSSESSION INCLUDE SUPERHUMAN STRENGTH,
AVERSION TO HOLY WATER AND THE ABILITY TO
SPEAK IN UNKNOWN LANGUAGES. OTHER
POTENTIAL SIGNS OF DEMONIC POSSESSION
INCLUDE SPITTING, CURSING AND “EXCESSIVE
MASTURBATION.”
WHAT MOST RELIGIOUS CIRCLES PROBABLY IGNORE
IS THAT THERE’S A FORM OF MANIA CALLED
DEMON MANIA OR DEMONOPATHY IN WHICH THE
PATIENT BELIEVES HE OR SHE IS POSSESSED
BY ONE OR MORE DEMONS. THE ILLUSION THAT
EXORCISM WORKS ON PEOPLE EXPERIENCING
SYMPTOMS OF POSSESSION IS ATTRIBUTED BY
SOME TO THE PLACEBO EFFECT AND THE POWER
OF SUGGESTION. SOME CASES SUGGEST THAT
SUPPOSEDLY POSSESSED PERSONS ARE ACTUALLY
NARCISSISTS OR ARE SUFFERING FROM LOW
SELF-ESTEEM AND ACT DEMONICALLY POSSESSED
TO GAIN ATTENTION
IN 1975, THIRTY-ONE-YEAR-OLD MICHAEL TAYLOR WAS
EXORCIZED AT ST. THOMAS CHURCH, IN BARNSLEY,
ENGLAND, BUT WENT HOME “POSSESSED WITH THE
DEVIL” AND BRUTALLY MURDERED HIS WIFE.
HE WAS FOUND GUILTY BUT INSANE
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