Demonic Possessions in History

Demonic Possessions in History PDF Author: Anita Croy
Publisher: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc
ISBN: 1725346508
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 48

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Book Description
Possession by a malevolent spirit sounds like a horrific nightmare or bizarre fiction, but history has certainly shown that it isn't such a far-fetched concept. The fear of these possessions stems from Christianity and other religions. They had treacherous repercussions, such as witch hunts in Europe and the United States, and attempted exorcisms. Murderers even used the guise of demonic possession as an excuse for their crimes. Readers poring through these engrossing, extensive accounts can decide for themselves what may have a ring of truth to it.

Demonic Possessions in History

Demonic Possessions in History PDF Author: Anita Croy
Publisher: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc
ISBN: 1725346508
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 48

Get Book Here

Book Description
Possession by a malevolent spirit sounds like a horrific nightmare or bizarre fiction, but history has certainly shown that it isn't such a far-fetched concept. The fear of these possessions stems from Christianity and other religions. They had treacherous repercussions, such as witch hunts in Europe and the United States, and attempted exorcisms. Murderers even used the guise of demonic possession as an excuse for their crimes. Readers poring through these engrossing, extensive accounts can decide for themselves what may have a ring of truth to it.

The Penguin Book of Exorcisms

The Penguin Book of Exorcisms PDF Author: Joseph P. Laycock
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 0143135473
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Haunting accounts of real-life exorcisms through the centuries and around the world, from ancient Egypt and the biblical Middle East to colonial America and twentieth-century South Africa A Penguin Classic Levitation. Feats of superhuman strength. Speaking in tongues. A hateful, glowing stare. The signs of spirit possession have been documented for thousands of years and across religions and cultures, even into our time: In 2019 the Vatican convened 250 priests from 50 countries for a weeklong seminar on exorcism. The Penguin Book of Exorcisms brings together the most astonishing accounts: Saint Anthony set upon by demons in the form of a lion, a bull, and a panther, who are no match for his devotion and prayer; the Prophet Muhammad casting an enemy of God out of a young boy; fox spirits in medieval China and Japan; a headless bear assaulting a woman in sixteenth-century England; the possession in the French town of Loudun of an entire convent of Ursuline nuns; a Zulu woman who floated to a height of five feet almost daily; a previously unpublished account of an exorcism in Earling, Iowa, in 1928--an important inspiration for the movie The Exorcist; poltergeist activity at a home in Maryland in 1949--the basis for William Peter Blatty's novel The Exorcist; a Filipina girl "bitten by devils"; and a rare example of a priest's letter requesting permission of a bishop to perform an exorcism--after witnessing a boy walk backward up a wall. Fifty-seven percent of Americans profess to believe in demonic possession; after reading this book, you may too. For more than seventy-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 2,000 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Believe Not Every Spirit

Believe Not Every Spirit PDF Author: Moshe Sluhovsky
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226762955
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 385

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Book Description
From 1400 through 1700, the number of reports of demonic possessions among European women was extraordinarily high. During the same period, a new type of mysticism—popular with women—emerged that greatly affected the risk of possession and, as a result, the practice of exorcism. Many feared that in moments of rapture, women, who had surrendered their souls to divine love, were not experiencing the work of angels, but rather the ravages of demons in disguise. So how then, asks Moshe Sluhovsky, were practitioners of exorcism to distinguish demonic from divine possessions? Drawing on unexplored accounts of mystical schools and spiritual techniques, testimonies of the possessed, and exorcism manuals, Believe Not Every Spirit examines how early modern Europeans dealt with this dilemma. The personal experiences of practitioners, Sluhovsky shows, trumped theological knowledge. Worried that this could lead to a rejection of Catholic rituals, the church reshaped the meaning and practices of exorcism, transforming this healing rite into a means of spiritual interrogation. In its efforts to distinguish between good and evil, the church developed important new explanatory frameworks for the relations between body and soul, interiority and exteriority, and the natural and supernatural.

Spirit Possession around the World

Spirit Possession around the World PDF Author: Joseph P. Laycock
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN:
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 464

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Book Description
This book provides a fascinating historical and cultural overview of traditional beliefs about spirit possession and exorcism around the world, from Europe to Asia and the Middle East to the Americas. Possession and exorcism are elements that occur in nearly every culture. Why is belief in spiritual possession so universal? This accessible reference volume offers a broad sample of the traditions and cultures involving possession and exorcism, presenting thoughts on this widely popular topic by experts from the fields of anthropology, sociology, religious studies, history, neuroscience, forensics, and theology. The entries cover the subject of possession and exorcism across all inhabited continents, from the Bronze Age to the 21st century, providing information that is accessible and intriguing as well as scholarly and authoritative. Beyond addressing the Christian tradition of possession and exorcism, Pentecostalism, and "New Age" and less widely known Western concepts about possession and exorcism, this work examines ideas about possession and exorcism from other world religions and the indigenous cultures of Asia, Africa, and the Americas. It also covers historic cases of possession and presents biographies of famous theologians, exorcists, and possessed individuals. High school and undergraduate readers will learn about world history, religious and spiritual traditions, and world cultures through a topic that figures prominently in popular culture and modern entertainment. Bibliographies that accompany each entry as well as a selected, general bibliography serve to help students locate print and electronic sources of additional information.

The Devil Within

The Devil Within PDF Author: Brian Levack
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300195389
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 519

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Book Description
A fascinating, wide-ranging survey of the history of demon possession and exorcism through the ages. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the era of the Reformation, thousands of Europeans were thought to be possessed by demons. In response to their horrifying symptoms—violent convulsions, displays of preternatural strength, vomiting of foreign objects, displaying contempt for sacred objects, and others—exorcists were summoned to expel the evil spirits from victims’ bodies. This compelling book focuses on possession and exorcism in the Reformation period, but also reaches back to the fifteenth century and forward to our own times. Entire convents of nuns in French, Italian, and Spanish towns, thirty boys in an Amsterdam orphanage, a small group of young girls in Salem, Massachusetts—these are among the instances of demon possession in the United States and throughout Europe that Brian Levack closely examines, taking into account the diverse interpretations of generations of theologians, biblical scholars, pastors, physicians, anthropologists, psychiatrists, and historians. Challenging the commonly held belief that possession signals physical or mental illness, the author argues that demoniacs and exorcists—consciously or not—are following their various religious cultures, and their performances can only be understood in those contexts. “Riveting [and] readable . . . must-reading for students of history, psychology and religion.” —Publishers Weekly “Levak, a distinguished historian of early modern witchcraft, now sets exorcism in a long historical perspective, providing the most comprehensive and scholarly overview of the theme yet published.” —Peter Marshall, Times Literary Supplement

Hauntings, Possessions, and Exorcisms

Hauntings, Possessions, and Exorcisms PDF Author: Adam C. Blai
Publisher: Emmaus Road Publishing
ISBN: 1945125608
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 140

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Book Description
How do you fight an enemy you can’t see? In this field guide to defense against the demonic, Adam Blai, an expert in religious demonology and exorcism for the diocese of Pittsburgh, shares information and advice gained over years of extensive experience with the paranormal. Review the scriptural evidence about demons—who were cast down to earth, not hell—and the tricks they play to try to gain influence in our lives. You’ll also discover the tools the Church has developed for us to combat and resist the forces of evil. Written in an easy-to-read style, this book is perfect for the Catholic looking to learn more about the invisible forces hell-bent on the destruction of your soul—and how to claim the victory Christ has already won.

Demonic Possession and Exorcism

Demonic Possession and Exorcism PDF Author: Charles River
Publisher: Independently Published
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
In the 21st century, most people associate the idea of the possession of a person or place by a malevolent supernatural entity with the medieval world and particularly with the Catholic Church, but the truth is considerably stranger. Virtually every human culture that has ever existed has talked about both possession and exorcism, a rite or ritual used to free a person or place from possession. The terms used to describe the process of possession and entities thought to be responsible have changed throughout history, but the central theory does not. In certain circumstances, it is said that a person, place, or object may become inhabited by an entity that comes from somewhere else. The outcome is generally negative and sometimes even fatal. The only effective remedy is exorcism, the banishment of the entity involved to the place from which it came. Some branches of modern psychology suggests that possession is simply a form of mental illness and that all these cases can be explained in psychological terms. But, as you will see, there appears to be a remarkable consistency in reports of possessions and even witness reports of possessed people demonstrating remarkable powers and abilities. It is difficult to explain those things purely in terms of psychology. Furthermore, while people might associate possession and exorcism with the past, particularly the medieval world, claims have increased dramatically in the past 50 years. The situation became so serious that in 1990, a group of Roman Catholic priests formed the International Association of Exorcists (IAE). This group lobbied the Vatican to recognize the growth of instances in demonic possession, and in 2004, the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith asked every Catholic diocese to appoint a trained exorcist. Precise figures are very difficult to obtain (the Catholic Church, for example, does not publish official statistics for the number of exorcisms performed by its priests). What is known is that most large Catholic dioceses in North America have access to official exorcists, and these priests receive specialist training to undertake exorcism ministries. No official numbers are available (the Catholic Church does not identify priests who act as exorcists), but it is believed that in 2011, the Catholic Church had around 15 trained exorcists in North America. Today, that number is believed to be well over 100. Perhaps not coincidentally, polls suggest that belief in demons and demonic possession is also rising. One poll conducted in 2019 in America found that 22% of those surveyed believed that demons "definitely exist" while a further 24% believe that such entities "probably exist." Those are staggering numbers in a modern, industrialized, advanced nation. Some people claim that belief in demons and demonic possession has never been higher. Naturally, this increasing belief in demonic possession has also led to an increase in the numbers of exorcisms that priests and others are called to perform. Again, precise figures are not available, but one high-profile exorcist in America, Father Vincent Lampert, the exorcist for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, told a reporter in October 2018 that he had received over 1,700 requests for exorcisms so far that year, the highest number he had ever experienced. Other Catholic priests trained in exorcism rites in North America had said that this aspect of their ministry has become so overwhelming that they can barely cope with requests for exorcisms. All of this makes clear that the concepts of demonic possession and exorcism are not merely topics of interest to historians, but things that are affecting growing numbers of ordinary people around the world right now.

Demon Possession

Demon Possession PDF Author: John Warwick Montgomery
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 390

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Book Description
A collection of demon possession experiences, case histories, studies, and conclusions from a wide range of professional people, including doctors, psychiatrists, scientists, historians, theologians, and college professors.

Spirit Possession and Exorcism

Spirit Possession and Exorcism PDF Author: Patrick McNamara Ph.D.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0313384339
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 413

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Book Description
This two-volume text reviews spirit possession throughout history, analyzes case studies from a cognitive neuroscience perspective, and examines rites for exorcism. From the beginning of civilization to the present day, and across all major religions and cultures, there have been documented cases of people seemingly overtaken by an unseen entity. The invading force—whether good or bad—appears to replace the possessor's soul with the spirit's own persona, resulting in mystifying symptoms such as levitation or other supernatural feats, speaking in tongues, and even horrific and inexplicably accelerated physical distortion and deterioration. This is a two-volume chronological history and examination of spirit possession that addresses its phenomenological, psychological, and neurobiological aspects, and its effects on societies. Volume one reviews spirit possession from the upper Paleolithic era to modern times, while Volume two focuses on case studies and rites of exorcism.

Demon Possession in Elizabethan England

Demon Possession in Elizabethan England PDF Author: Kathleen R. Sands
Publisher: Praeger
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
"Victims included children and adults, servants and masters, Catholics and Protestants, frauds and the genuinely ill. Edmund Kingesfielde's wife, possessed by a demon who caused her to hate her children and to contemplate suicide, was cured when her husband changed his irreverent tavern sign (depicting a devil) for a more seemly design. Alexander Nyndge, possessed by a Catholic demon that spoke with an Irish accent, was cured by his own brother through physical bondage and violence. Agnes Brigges and Rachel Pindar, whose afflictions included vomiting pins, feathers, and other trash, were revealed as frauds and forced to confess publicly, their parents being imprisoned for complicity in the fraud. All these cases attest to a powerful need to ascribe some moral significance to human suffering.