IndigoChild5559
Loving God and my neighbor as myself.
A Protestant friend remarked to me the other day that he believed in demons and demon possession and that he found it disturbing that his church didn't seem to want to acknowledge the problem, that it seemed to be only the Catholics that were concerned about it.
It got me thinking. The phenomena we call possession is worldwide and cross cultural. Of course, the story can vary as to what is possessing you, whether it is animal spirits or demons or your ancestors... and it varies how to get rid of it. But it is certainly remarkable how universal the experience is. No one can say, "Oh, only Pentecostals get demon possessed, it's obviously due to their religious suggestibility."
Sure we usually think of the Quintessiential Catholic Exorcist, and it's true that the Catholic church has very develooped procedures for distinguishing the difference between demon possession and mental illness and how to cast out said demons. But they most assuredly don't have a corner on the market.
At one time, belief in demons was nearly universal in Judaism, but nowadays its limited to certain groups who are into Kabbalah. But it's still out there. A cursory exploration of the internet (meaning I visited wikipedia LOL) taught me that exorcisms of some sort are practiced in Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taosim.
Interestingly, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Version 5 (DSM V) used by psychotherapists lists possession as a form of Dissociative Identity Disorder (What used to be called Multiple Personalities). I'm sure that our atheist friends out there seize on this to say that science embraces the fact that "demon possession" is simply a mental illness, that no demons actually exist. But in fact, most of the mental health experts I've heard address this issue take an agnostic position. It is irrelevant whether demons actually exist or not, just as it is irrelevant whether two actual persons reside within one body. All that matters is how best to help the client be relieved of suffering and function better. In fact, some would argue that if exorcism works, it may not be a bad thing.
In my own direct experience, the closest I ever came to any of this was watching a film of an actual exorcism (The Devil and Father Amorth) which I have to tell you was disturbing to me. I'm a sensitive person by nature and any show of someone suffering is going to make me hurt for them. Also the creepy two voices at once thing and violence was definitely scary. I'm not sure that it convinced me that demons are real. But definitely it helped this woman to go through an exorcism. If you watch the film, it's real life, not Hollywood -- real exorcisms can happen over long periods of time, sometimes years, which was a surprise for me. No levitations or heads spining around. Sorry you'll have to go to fiction for those kind of special effects.
It got me thinking. The phenomena we call possession is worldwide and cross cultural. Of course, the story can vary as to what is possessing you, whether it is animal spirits or demons or your ancestors... and it varies how to get rid of it. But it is certainly remarkable how universal the experience is. No one can say, "Oh, only Pentecostals get demon possessed, it's obviously due to their religious suggestibility."
Sure we usually think of the Quintessiential Catholic Exorcist, and it's true that the Catholic church has very develooped procedures for distinguishing the difference between demon possession and mental illness and how to cast out said demons. But they most assuredly don't have a corner on the market.
At one time, belief in demons was nearly universal in Judaism, but nowadays its limited to certain groups who are into Kabbalah. But it's still out there. A cursory exploration of the internet (meaning I visited wikipedia LOL) taught me that exorcisms of some sort are practiced in Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taosim.
Interestingly, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Version 5 (DSM V) used by psychotherapists lists possession as a form of Dissociative Identity Disorder (What used to be called Multiple Personalities). I'm sure that our atheist friends out there seize on this to say that science embraces the fact that "demon possession" is simply a mental illness, that no demons actually exist. But in fact, most of the mental health experts I've heard address this issue take an agnostic position. It is irrelevant whether demons actually exist or not, just as it is irrelevant whether two actual persons reside within one body. All that matters is how best to help the client be relieved of suffering and function better. In fact, some would argue that if exorcism works, it may not be a bad thing.
In my own direct experience, the closest I ever came to any of this was watching a film of an actual exorcism (The Devil and Father Amorth) which I have to tell you was disturbing to me. I'm a sensitive person by nature and any show of someone suffering is going to make me hurt for them. Also the creepy two voices at once thing and violence was definitely scary. I'm not sure that it convinced me that demons are real. But definitely it helped this woman to go through an exorcism. If you watch the film, it's real life, not Hollywood -- real exorcisms can happen over long periods of time, sometimes years, which was a surprise for me. No levitations or heads spining around. Sorry you'll have to go to fiction for those kind of special effects.