Background Information: What is an Exorcism?

The English word exorcism derives from the Greek word Exorkizein meaning ‘out-oath’ or ‘adjure.’ The Catholic Encyclopaedia defines it as “the act of driving out, or warding off, demons, or evil spirits, from persons, places, or things, which are believed to be possessed or infested by them, or are liable to become victims or instruments of their malice." Exorcism is the practice of ridding someone that is said to be either possessed or haunted by a spirit. An Exorcist is the agent that performs this casting out process through certain ritual and cleansing.

The first real mention of the church office ‘exorcist’ was sent in letter form to Pope Cornelius in 253. Jeffrey Burton Russell describes common exorcism at this time to be found in three different areas: firstly the exorcism of objects, secondly the candidates for baptism and thirdly of people possessed by demons. At one time it was advised that each church should have an exorcist but this was dropped around the time of enlightenment.


Exorcism in the Roman Catholic Church is unlike any sacramental ritual because it does not rely on any fixed formula of an unchanging type like, for example, the Eucharist does. Exorcisms within the church can only ever be performed by an ordained priest, more times than most, this will be the person that has been working on the exorcism from the beginning. The priest must first have the permission of the Bishop and only after all other explanations have ruled out any other possible cause like mental illness for example may he or she conduct the ritual. Indicators of demonic possession, as found in the Roman Ritual, include speaking in different languages, a hatred for holy objects and other supernatural things such as strength and knowledge.

Of course Exorcism is not something that is contained solely within Christianity. Other religions and cultures have also developed rituals and ceremonies dedicated to the purpose of casting out demons, Judaism for example, teaches that a spirit called dybbuk will inhabit a person in order to carry out unfinished business. The dybbuk traditionally comes in two forms; the first being a good dybbuk which acts as more of a spiritual guide. The second is the bad dybbuk which acts with chaos and negativity reflecting many of the experiences the spirit endured while it was alive. According to the kabbalah the spirit can be exorcised in two different ways. One way is non-invasive and consists of guiding the person through the possession, this is usually applied to cases which deal with the good dybbuk. The other involves ten people surrounding the individual, reciting words and ending in the blowing of the shofar, shocking the possessed spirit. If this spirit is successfully exorcised folklore traditionally teaches that it is said to leave the possessed individual through the toe. Hinduism also tells of a spirit that has the ability to overpower the will of the Gods. The Atharva Veda is said to contain spells which are specifically designed to deal with the casting out of specific demons. The Hindu ceremony of casting out this possession is somewhat different to the Jewish and Christian ceremony however by burning pig excrement and sometimes making offerings of sweets to the Gods.

What Is a Demon?

Most people believe that demons originated from ‘the fall.’ Some of the angels were said to of sided with Lucifer (Satan) turning from the good of God and losing their grace. Revelation 12:4 describes that one third of the angels chose to follow Lucifer instead of staying loyal to God. The Fallen Angels are said to appear in two groups; the Free angels and the Tartarus angels. The Tartarus angels, Tartarus being the Greek word meaning “darkness of the material universe,” are held in confinement waiting for their judgment.
Although can it not also be said that a demon is something different for each individual. A demon can surely take any form not necessarily a latin or greek man with a tendency to overpower a teenage girl. Demons for me are ugly gothic creatures like one might find etched on the outside of a delapadated church.