Demon Possession Or Something Else?
The belief that demons exist and can possess people is the stuff of fiction and horror films but it is also one of the most widely-held religious beliefs in the world. Most religions claim that humans can be possessed by demonic spirits (the Bible, for example, recounts six instances of Jesus casting out demons), and offer exorcisms to remedy this threat.
The idea that invading spirits are inherently evil is largely a Judeo-Christian concept; many religions and belief systems accept possession by both beneficent and malevolent entities for short periods of time as uncommon and not especially alarming aspects of spiritual life. Spiritualism, a religion that flourished across America in the 1800s and is still practiced in a few places today, teaches that death is an illusion and that spirits can possess humans. New Agers have also long embraced a form of possession called channeling, in which spirits of the dead are said to inhabit a medium’s body and communicate through them. To the extent if exorcisms “work,” it is due to the power of suggestion and psychology: If you believe you’re possessed (and that an exorcism will cure you), then it will?
It used to be that Exorcism was whispered about as a secret ritual of the Catholic Church. It wasn’t until the 1974 release of the film titled the The Exorcist that really brought the concept into mainstream and of course scared the living crap out of everyone that saw that original movie. I personally slept with my lights on for weeks after seeing the movie being raised a good Catholic girl. The movie left a lasting cultural influence on the perception of Exorcism that is still present to this day.
In the weeks after the film came out, a Boston Catholic center received daily requests for exorcisms. Since then, countless movies with all the special head turning, vomiting visuals have been made in every conceivable manner. Hollywood, of course, has been all too eager to capitalize on the public’s continued fascination with exorcism and demonic possession with films often dubbed “based on a true story.”
The doubts and the dangers of exorcisms
After attending 50 exorcisms during research for his book, an exorcist debunker, Michael Cuneo states that he never saw anything supernatural or unexplainable: No levitation or spinning heads or demonic scratch marks suddenly appearing on anyone’s faces, but many emotionally troubled people on both sides of the ritual.
This subject of course is one of those “you either believe it or not”, regardless of how many videos and possession cases you see or read about. There are countless records that date back centuries and the Catholic Church even has special training for priests performing exorcisms. There are 10 Catholic Church exorcists registered in the United States. Even Mother Teresa underwent an exorcism at the direction of the archbishop of Calcutta.
No one can say with absolute certainty whether demons walk among us and occasionally take control of living beings. One consistent attribute about exorcisms are the countless stories of how dangerous they are in the process of attempting to cast out a demon, causing many unnecessary deaths with the brutality of the ritual.
There was the case of a young nun in Romania who 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. And on Christmas Day 2010 in London, England, a 14-year-old boy named Kristy Bamu was beaten and drowned to death by relatives trying to exorcise an evil spirit from the boy.
So are they possessed with something so evil that takes them over and eventually ruins their body or is it an energetic belief so powerful that it is created in their own beliefs in being demon possessed and those performing the exorcism?
Psychic Susan Z’s Reading
Everything is energy and belief. However powerful those beliefs can in fact manifest and create a physical reality of a negative entity entering their body. Victims who do not believe they have a protective light power there for them no matter what they have done, who they are or what others say, the possibility of showing possession behavior is possible. Possession symptoms usually are exhibited in the weak willed and fearful of punishment for wrong doing. So does that say demons do not exist and it is just in your mind, not a chance! I believe possession is a combination of both. Evil, negative energy (demon or whatever you want to call it) preying on the weak who have a history of mental illness or emotional imbalances is a perfect breeding ground for a classic possession or what looks like one.
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