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The following is Part One of an excerpt entitled
"A Brief Handbook of Exorcism".
It is taken from Malachi Martin's 1976 classic work on
the subject of possession and exorcism called,
"Hostage To The Devil".
Among other things, the 477 p. book also contains an
in depth analysis on the recent possessions of 5
"ordinary" Americans.
For further information on the subject, the reader is
invited to consult the book. It is published by Perrenial
Library of New York.
Note: Italicized words are represented through
use of 'single' quotation marks.
"A Brief Handbook of Exorcism" - (1)
____________________________________
The recent vast publicity about Exorcism has
highlighted the plight of the possessed as a fresh
genre of horror film. The essence of evil is lost
in the cinematographic effects. And the exorcist,
who risks more than anyone else in an exorcism,
flits across the screen as necessary but, in the
end, not so interesting as the sound effects.
The truth is that all three - the possessed,
the possessing spirit, and the exorcist - bear a
close relation to the reality of life and to its
meaning as all of us experience it each and every day.
Possession is not a process of magic. Spirit
is real; in fact, spirit is the basis of all reality
reality. "Reality" would not only be boring without
spirit; it would have no meaning whatsoever. No horror
film can begin to capture the horror of such a vision:
a world without spirit.
Evil Spirit is personal, and it is intelligent. It
is preternatural, in the sense that it is not 'of' this
material world, but it is 'in' this material world. And
Evil Spirit as well as good advances along the lines of
our daily lives. In very normal ways spirit uses and
influences our daily thoughts, actions, and customs and,
indeed, all the strands that make up the fabric of life
in whatever time or place. Contemporary life is no
exception.
To compare spirit with the elements of our lives and
material world, which it can and sometimes does manipulate
for its own ends, is a fatal mistake, but one that is
very often made. Eerie sounds can be produced by spirit
-but spirit is not the eerie sound. Objects can be made
to fly across the room, but telekinesis is no more spirit
than the material object that was made to move. One man
whose story is told in this book made the mistake of
thinking otherwise, and he nearly paid with his life when
he had to confront the error he had made.
The exorcist is the centerpiece of every exorcism.
On him depends everything. He has nothing personal to gain.
But in each exorcism he risks literally everything that he
values. Every exorcist must engage in a one-to-one
confrontation, personal and bitter, with pure evil. Once
engaged, the exorcism cannot be called off. There will and
must always be a victor and a vanquished. And no matter
what the outcome, the contact is in part fatal for the
exorcist. He must consent to a dreadful and irreparable
pillage of his deepest self. Something dies in him. Some
part of his humanness will wither from such close contact
with the opposite of all humanness - the essence of evil;
and it is rarely if ever revitalized. No return will be
made to him for his loss.
This is the minimum price an exorcist pays. If he
loses in the fight with Evil Spirit, he has an added
penalty. He may or may not ever again perform the rite of
Exorcism, but he must finally confront and vanquish the
evil spirit that repulsed him.
The investigation that may lead to Exorcism usually
begins because a man or woman -occasionally a child -is
brought to the notice of Church authorities by family or
friends. Only rarely does a possessed person come forward
spontaneously.
The stories that are told on these occasions are
dramatic and painful: strange physical ailments in the
possessed; marked mental derangement; obvious repugnance
to all signs, symbols, mention, and sight of religious
objects, places, people, ceremonies.
Often, the family or friends report, the presence of
the person in question is marked by so-called psychical
phenomena: objects fly around the room; wallpaper peels
off the walls; furniture cracks; crockery breaks; there
are strange rumblings, hissess, and other noises with no
apparent source. Often the temperature in the room where
the possessed happens to be will drop dramatically. Even
more often an acrid and distinctive stench accompanies
the person.
Violent physical transformations seem sometimes to
make the lives of the possessed a kind of hell on earth.
Their normal processes of secretion and elimination are
saturated with inexplicable wrackings and exaggeration.
Their consciousness seems completely colored by the
violent sepia of revulsion. Reflexes sometimes become
sporadic or abnormal, sometimes disappear for a time.
Breathing can cease for extended periods. Heartbeats are
hard to detect. The face is strangely distorted,
sometimes also abnormally tight and smooth without the
slightest line or furrow.
When such a case is brought to their attention, the
first and central problem that must always be addressed
by the Church authorities is: Is the person really
possessed?
Henri Geslaud, a French priest and exorcist who works
today in Paris, stated in 1974 that, out of 3,000
consultations since 1968, "there have been only four
cases of what I believe to be demonic possession." T.K.
Osterreich, on the other hand, states that "possession
has been an extremely common phenomena, cases of which
abound in the history of religion." The truth is that
official or scholarly census of possession cases has
never been made.
Certainly, many who claim to be possessed or whom
others so describe are merely the victims of some mental
or physical disease. In reading records from times when
medical and psychological science did not exist or were
quite undeveloped, it is clear that grave mistakes were
made. A victim of disseminated sclerosis, for example,
was taken to be possessed because of his spastic jerkings
and slidings and the shocking agony in spinal column and
joints. Until quite recently, the victim of Tourette's
syndrome was the perfect target for the accusation of
"Possessed!" : torrents of profanities and obscenities,
grunts, barks, curses, yelps, snorts, sniffs, tics, foot
stomping, facial contortions all appear suddenly and just
as suddenly cease in the subject. Nowadays, Tourette's
syndrome responds to drug treatment, and it seems to be
a neurological disease involving a chemical abnormality
in the brain. Many people suffering from illnesses and
diseases well known to us today such as paranoia,
Huntington's chorea, dyslexia, Parkinson's disease, or
even mere skin diseases (psoriasis, herpes I, for
instance), were treated as people "possessed" or at least
as "touched" by the Devil.
Nowadays, competent Church authorities always insist
on thorough examinations of the person brought to them
for Exorcism, an examination conducted by qualified
medical doctors and psychiatrists.
When a case of possession is reported by a priest to
the diocesan authorities, the exorcist of the diocese is
brought in. If there is no diocesan exorcist, a man is
appointed or brought from outside the diocese.
Sometimes the priest reporting the exorcism will have
had some preliminary medical and psychiatric tests run
beforehand in order to allay the cautious skepticism he
is likely to meet at the chancery when he introduces his
problem. When the official exorcist enters the case, he
will usually have his own very thorough examinations run
by experts he knows and whose judgment he is sure he
can trust.
In earlier times, one priest was usually assigned
the function of exorcist in each diocese of the Church.
In modern times, this practice has fallen into abeyance
in some dioceses, mainly because the incidence of reported
possession has decreased over the last hundred years. But
in most major dioceses, there is still one priest entrusted
with this function -even though he may rarely or never use
it. In some dioceses, there is a private arrangement
between the bishop and one of his priests whom he knows
and trusts.
There is no official public appointment of exorcists.
In some dioceses, "the bishop knows little about it and
wants to know less" -as in one of the cases recorded in
this book. But however he comes to his position, the
exorcist must have official Church sanction, for he is
acting in an official capacity, and any power he has over
Evil Spirit can only come from those officials who belong
to the substance of Jesus' Church, whether they be in the
Roman Catholic, the Eastern Orthodox, or the Protestant
Communions. Sometimes a diocesan priest will take on an
exorcism himself without asking his bishop, but all such
cases known to me have failed.
It is recognized both in the pre-exorcism examinations
and during the actual exorcism that there is usually no
one physical or psychical aberration or abnormality in
the possessed person that we cannot explain by a known or
possible physical cause. And, apart from normal medical
and psychological tests, there are other possible sources
for diagnosis. However rickety and tentative the findings
of parapsychology, for example, one can possibly seek in
its theories of telepathy and telekinesis an explanation
of some of the signs of possession. Suggestion and
suggestibility, as modern psychotherapists speak of them,
can account for many more.
Still, with the diagnoses and opinions of doctors and
psychologists in hand, it is often discovered there are
wide margins of fluctuation. Competent psychiatrists will
differ violently among themselves; and in psychology and
medecine, ignorance of causes is often obscured by
technical names and jargon that are nothing more than
descriptive terms.
Nevertheless, the combined medical and psychological
reports are carefully evaluated and usually weigh heavily
in the final judgment to proceed or not with an exorcism.
If according to those reports there is a definite disease
or illness which adequately accounts for the behaviour
and symptoms of the subject, Exorcism is usually ruled
out, or at least delayed to allow a course of medical or
psychiatric treatment.
But finally, reports in hand, all evidence in, Church
authorities judge the situation from another, special
point of view, formed by their own professional outlook.
They believe that there is an invisible power, a
spirit of evil; that this spirit can for obscure reasons
take possession of a human being; that the evil spirit
can and must be expelled - exorcised - from the person
possessed; and that this exorcism can be done only in the
name and by the authority and power of Jesus of Nazareth.
The testing from the Church's viewpoint is as rigorous in
its search as any medical or psychological examination.
In the records of Christian Exorcism from as far back
as the lifetime of Jesus himself, a peculiar revulsion to
symbols and truths of religion is always and without
exception a mark of the possessed person. In the
verification of a case of possession by Church
authorities, this "symptom" of revulsion is triangulated
with other physical phenomena frequently associated with
possession -the inexplicable stench; freezing temperature
; telepathic power about purely religious and moral
matters; a peculiarly unlined or completely smooth or
stretched skin, or unusual distortion of the face, or
other physical and behavioural transformations;
"possessed gravity" (the possessed person becomes
physically immovable, or those around the possessed are
weighted down with a suffocating pressure); levitation
(the possessed rises and floats off the ground, chair,
or bed; there is no physically traceable support);
violent smashing of furniture, constant opening and
slamming of doors, tearing of fabric in the vicinity of
the possessed, without a hand laid on them; and so on.
When this triangulation is made of the varied
symptoms that may occur in any given case, and medical
and psychiatric diagnoses are inadequate to cover the
full situation, the decision will usually be to proceed
and try Exorcism.
There has never been, to my knowledge, an official
listing of exorcist together with their biographies and
characteristics, so we cannot satisfy our modern
craving for a profile of, say, "the typical exorcist."
We can, however, give a fairly clear definition of the
type of man who is entrusted with the exorcism of a
possessed person. Usually he is engaged in the active
ministry of parishes. Rarely is he a scholarly type
engaged in teaching or research. Rarely is he a recently
ordained priest. If there is any median age for
exorcists, it is probably between the ages of fifty and
sixty-five . Sound and robust physical health is not a
characteristic of exorcists, nor is proven intellectual
brilliance, postgraduate degrees, even in psychology or
philosophy, or a very sophisticated personal culture.
In this writer's experience, the 15 exorcists he has
known have been singularly lacking in anything like a
vivid imagination or a rich humanistic training. All
have been sensitive men of solid rather than dazzling
minds. Though, of course, there are many exceptions,
the usual reasons for a priest's being chosen are his
qualities of moral judgment, personal behaviour, and
religious beliefs -qualities that are not sophisticated
or laboriously acquired, but that somehow seem always
to have been an easy and natural part of such a man.
Speaking religiously, these are qualities associated
with special grace.
There is no official training for an exorcist.
Before a priest undertakes Exorcism, it has been found
advisable - but not always possible or practical - for
him to assist at exorcisms conducted by an older and
already experienced priest.
Once possession has been verified to the
satisfaction of the exorcist, he makes the rest of
the decisions and takes care of all the necessary
preparations. In some dioceses, it is he who chooses
the assistant priest. The choice of the lay assistants
and of the time and place of the exorcism is left
to him.
The place of the exorcism is usually the home of
the possessed person, for generally it is only
relatives or closest friends who will give care and
love in the dreadful circumstances associated with
possession. The actual room chosen is most often one
that has had some special significance for the
possessed person, not infrequently his or her own
bedroom or den. In this connection, one aspect of
possession and of spirit makes itself apparent: the
close connection between 'spirit' and 'physical
location'. The puzzle of spirit and place makes itself
felt in many ways and runs throughout virtually every
exorcism. There is a theological explanation for it.
But that there is some connection between spirit and
place must be dealt with as a fact.
Once chosen, the room where the exorcism will be
done is cleared as far as possible of anything that
can be moved. During the exorcism, one form of
violence may and most often does cause any object,
light or heavy, to move about, rock back and forth,
skitter or fly across the room, make much noise,
strike the priest or the possessed or the assistants.
It is not rare for people to emerge from an exorcism
with serious physical wounds. Carpets, rugs, pictures,
curtains, tables, chairs, boxes, trunks, bedclothes,
bureaus, chandeliers, all are removed.
Doors very often will bang open and shut
uncontrollably; but because exorcisms can go on for
days, doors cannot be nailed or locked with unusual
security. On the other hand, the doorway must be
covered; otherwise, as experience shows, the physical
force let loose within the exorcism room will affect
the immediate vicinity outside the door.
Windows are closed securely; sometimes they may
be boarded over in order to keep flying objects from
crashing through them and to prevent more extreme
accidents (possessed people sometimes attempt
defenestration; physical forces sometimes propel the
assistants or the exorcist toward the windows).
A bed or couch is usually left in the room (or
placed there if necessary), and that is where the
possessed person is placed. A small table is needed.
On it are placed a crucifix, with one candle on either
side of it, holy water, and a prayer book. Sometimes
there will also be a relic of a saint or a picture
that is considered to be especially holy or
significant for the possessed. In recent years in the
United States, and increasingly abroad as well, a tape
recorder is used. It is placed on the floor or in a
drawer or sometimes, if it is not too cumbersome,
around the neck of an assistant.
The junior priest colleague of the exorcist is
usually appointed by diocesan authorities. He is
there for his own training as an exorcist. He will
monitor the words and actions of the exorcist, warn
him if he is making a mistake, help him if he weakens
physically, and replace him if he dies, collapses,
flees, is physically or emotionally battered beyond
endurance - and all have happened during exorcisms.
The other assistants are laymen. Very often a
medical doctor will be among them because of the
danger to all present of strain, shock, or injury.
The number of lay assistants will depend on the
exorcist's expectation of violence. Four is the usual
number. Of course, in remote country areas or in very
isolated Christian missions, and sometimes in big
urban centers, there is no question of assistants.
There simply is none available, or there is no time
to acquire any. The exorcist must go it alone.
An exorcist comes to know from experience what he
can expect by way of violent behaviour; and for their
own sakes, possessed people must usually be physically
restrained during parts of the exorcism. The
assistants therefore must be physically strong. In
addition, there may be a straightjacket on hand,
though leather straps or rope are more commonly used.
It is up to the exorcist to make sure that his
assistants are not consciously guilty of personal sins
at the time of the exorcism, because they, too, can
expect to be attacked by the evil spirit, even though
not so directly or constantly as the exorcist himself.
Any sin will be used as a weapon.
The exorcist must be as certain as possible
beforehand that his assistants will not be weakened
or overcome by obscene behaviour or by language foul
beyond their imagining; they cannot blanch at blood,
excrement, urine; they must be able to take awful
personal insults and be prepared to have their darkest
secrets screeched in public in front of their
companions. These are routine happenings during
exorcisms.
Assistants are given three cardinal rules: they
are to obey the exorcist's commands immediately and
without question, no matter how absurd or
unsympathetic those commands may appear to them to
be; they are not to take any initiative except on
command; and they are never to speak to the possessed
person, even by way of exclamation.
Even with all the care in the world, there is no
way an exorcist can completely prepare his assistants
for what lies in store for them. Even though they are
not subject to the direct and unremitting attack the
priest will undergo, it is not uncommon for
assistants to quit - or be carried out - in the
middle of an exorcism. A practiced exorcist will even
go so far as to make a few trial runs of an exorcism
beforehand, on the old theory that forewarned is
forearmed - at least to some degree.
Timing in an exorcism is generally dictated by
circumstances. There is usually a feeling of urgency
to begin as soon as possible. Everyone involved
should have an open schedule. Rarely is an exorcism
shorter than some hours - more often than not ten
or twelve hours. Sometimes it stretches for two or
three days. On occasion it lasts even for weeks.
Once begun, except on the rarest of occasions,
there are no time outs, although one or other of the
people present may leave the room for a few moments,
to take some food, to rest very briefly, or go to the
bathroom. (One strange exorcism where there was a
time out is described in this book. The priest
involved would have preferred one hundred times going
straight through the exorcism rather than suffer the
mad violence that caused the delay.)
The only people in an exorcism who dress in a
special way are the exorcist and his priest
assistant. Each wears a long black cassock that
covers him from neck to feet. Over it there is a
waist-length white surplice. A narrow purple stole is
worn around the neck and hangs loosely the length
of the torso.
Normally, the priest assistant and the lay
assistants prepare the exorcism room according to the
exorcist's instructions. They and the exorcee are
ready in the room when the exorcist enters, last
and alone.
Note: Please see EXORCIST.2 for continuation...
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