A Distinct Fascination With Exorcisms

Christianity is divided into thousands of denominations across the world, each denomination has a specific set of beliefs and norms which contribute to, and sometimes challenge the overarching themes of Christianity and The Bible. Christopher M. Moereman in his book, Beyond the Threshold explains Normative Christianity, and the specific beliefs and practices within. Kyriacos C. Markides in this book, The Magus of Strovolos uses the teachings of Dr. Stylianos Atteshlis, also known as Daskalos, to further illustrate the specific beliefs and practices within Esoteric Christianity. After reading and understanding the writings of both Moreman and Markides, it is clear to see there are ideas which distinguish Esoteric Christianity from Normative Christianity. This essay will explore these ideas which include the idea soul, the idea life after death, and the teachings of Daskalos.

Brent has always been fascinated by demons, ghost and other creatures like that. But really he didn't know himself if he even believed in that kinda of stuff. On one hand he did wanting to see if there's more. But on a whole other side he didn't believe this kinda of stuff at all. Finding it crazy and sometimes silly that anyone would believe in such things. Maybe he liked looking up and getting more information in such things to someday show everyone that it's all fake. He would just love to prove everyone that it's all nonsense. But Brent hasn't fully knocked off the idea of ghost and demons as made up. He did like keeping the other side in mind, who knows.

Reginald Scot explores the common perceptions towards witches in the late sixteenth century, which he claims they were commonly old, lame, full of wrinkles, poor (Levack 2004: ?), although not necessarily solitary (Larner 1984: 72). Scot claims that their appearance often caused alarm among many in the community and caused the neighbours to find truth in witches utterings. One could argue women were often ascribed with such stereotypes, for they were both physically and politically weakened, and were unable to distance themselves from accusations (levack 1984: 127). It is apparent the oppression of these women could represent an attempt to maintain hegemony in a patriarchal society in the late sixteenth century. Coincidentally, most women accused of sorcery often lived out of the constraints of male authority, where they would live alone, perhaps for the rest of her life.

Fear can affect societies by causing mass hysteria and the breeding of panic among them. Fear can cause people to think in a way that they normally would not, and imagine thing that could be out of proportion, such as being punished severely for prying in the world of witchcraft. It seems that the whole town has been diagnosed with this condition called the conversion reaction. This is where one might be terrified of the punishments that come with the discovery of a wrongdoing. This is often overly exaggerated by the terrified person. However, chances are something similar may have happened in the town of Salem. People were so worried because they were doing things that they were afraid would be classified at being involved with witchcraft.

Hi Mary. I’m glad you brought up the topic of voodoo dolls because I didn’t even think about it when I was writing my post. It creeps me out to think they use such dolls to cause harm to the people around them, but it’s interesting how that works. A question popped up when I read your definition of voodoo, it being “evil magic”. That question is if voodoo is always necessarily evil? I know that in movies, especially nowadays, voodoo as well as divination has been used to create suspense in horror films, and mostly all the time it’s an evil spirit after someone or something, but like I said that is in movies and movies are not always true. What do you think?

Possession rituals not only form social identities but also act as ways of healing for both the Harijans and Catholics. Sax describes how “ritual healing sometimes “works” by addressing the social causes of stress-related disorders” (Sax, 231). For the Harijans, possession rituals provide spaces to express their oppression, to be aided by the god Kachiya, and finally, to heal and move forward with their lives. Sax also explains that “placebos are extremely effective (often more so than standard biomedical techniques), but also that the efficacy of conventional medical therapy depends to a surprising degree on the healer’s own confidence in his or her methods” (Sax, 245). Sax proves that such rituals do work for Harijans, and even though the

There were many significant factors that came into play at the time of the Salem

The Exorcist was the first horror classis movie to be nominated and win an award for being the best horror for its time. The movie starts off with a family moving in to a new house in Washington D.C. When they are starting to settle, the girls found a board game call Ouija board. They start to play with it by placing their hands on it and asking any spirit question. It started moving, and they thought it was a dumb trick that the little sister (Regan) was pulling. So, they ended the game and they went on with their business. Little did they know that something evil possessed Regan.

H.P Lovecraft the popular science fiction and horror author has completely changed modern day occultism and black magic by unintentionally creating a new basis and background for modern day practicing occultists to base their beliefs and practices off of thru his fictitious novels. Throughout this essay I will provide a personal history of H.P Lovecraft that will provide insight to his personal life, inspirations, and also his outlook on life and religion. Furthermore I will dive into references of Lovecraft’s “The Great Old Ones,” Chthulu ideals in occultism, and also examples of modern occult practices that are based off of Lovecraft literature. In addition I will sum up my research by providing modern occultists’ outlook on Lovecraft’s

The Exorcist franchise is one wacky series. You had the amazing original film, which was one of the most intense horror films to come out at the time. Then, X years later we got the crazy, shitty Exorcist II: The Heretic, that had James Earl Jones flying on the back of a bug through the desert or something equally stupid. It wasn 't until X years later that we finally got a proper sequel, The Exorcist III, but that too was plagued with issues, with both Director/Author William Peter Blatty and the studio not agreeing on what they wanted as a final product. I haven 't even mentioned the even crazier Exorcist: The Beginning, directed by Renny Harlin, which was later re-released as the slightly superior version Dominion: Prequel to the

“At its prewar height, this region boasted a population of over thirty-five million people. Now, there are barely fifty thousand.” – Max Brooks, World War Z

The Kabbalah, a frame of Middle Ages s obscure and mystical Judaic writings, contains many steps and instructions in order to drive out a dybbuk, which were still exercised and used as of the 20th century. This exorcism must be performed by a miracle works master known as ba’al shem. Moreover, the dybbuk is either redeemed or sent into hell; it depends on how the exorcism is achieved. To add, the departure of this evil spirit from the body of its victim, through the small toe, is represented by a bloody hole (Guiley , 1956).

Due to their spiritual prowess, some individuals find comfort in the presence high-ranking demons. It is not just the negative principle that draws these individuals close, but also the bright divine emanation these demons cast upon black magicians, like a moth is drawn by the light of a flame only to find certain death.

Exorcisms are rituals performed on those speculated to be possessed by an evil spirit. The exorcists who do the act of removing demons are typically Catholic priests. An exorcism is the process of driving out demons, associated with primitive Roman Catholic beliefs. Though the idea of exorcisms are mainly related to Roman Catholics, there is documentation of Jesus Christ performing an exorcism in the Holy Bible. This is a much older concept that is not widely believed the way it was in earlier society.

During these Middle Ages, people with "mental illness" were accused to have stigmata diaboli (marks of the devil). Apparently they were physical marks, but the marks were different to every doctor or psychologist who looked at them and they were subjective to what they actually were. Many people found that these marks were self-given,