Exorcism is 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.

Technically, exorcism is not driving out a the Devil or demon, but it is placing the Devil or demon on oath. And, in some incidences there may be more than one demon possessing a person. "Exorcism" is derived from the Greek preposition "ek" with the verb "horkizo" which means "I cause [someone] to swear" and refers to "putting the spirit or demon on oath," or invoking a higher authority to bind the entity in order to control it and command it to act contrary to its own will.

The rite is mainly thought to be practiced by the Roman Catholic Church, but some Orthodox and Protestant denominations such as the Pentecostals and other charismatic groups practice it as well. These groups refer to the practice as "deliverance ministry" where gifted people drive out devils and heal while they touch the persons with their hands, called laying on of hands, and pray over them.

he Official Exorcism in the Catholic Church can be done only by a special priest, duly authorized by the Bishop of the Dioceses.

There are also Exorcisms among the Jewish religion, examples of which may be seen in Talmud (Schabbath, xiv, 3; Aboda Zara, xii, 2; Sanhedrin, x, 1)... and exorcisms in other religions, as in the Babylonian and Egyptian culture

In the Catholic Church there are three kind of Exorcisms:

1- Exorcism of the possessed:
A simple and authoritative adjuration addressed to the demon in the name of God and more especially in the name of Jesus Christ crucified, is the usual form of exorcism... But sometimes in addition to words some symbolic action is employed, such as breathing (insufflatio), or laying of hands on the subject, or making the sign of the cross

2- Baptismal exorcism
At an early age the practice was introduced into the Church of exorcising catechumens as a preparation for the Sacrament of Baptism... now it is usually done during the baptismal ceremony.

3- Other Exorcisms
Places and things as well as persons are naturally liable to diabolical infestation, and exorcism in regard to them is nothing more that a prayer to God, in the name of His Church, to restrain this diabolical power supernaturally, and a profession of faith in His willingness to do so on behalf of His servants on earth.

Exorcism in the Orthodox Church


The Doctrine of Evil

To understand the Orthodox view and practice of exorcism, one must know the Orthodox presuppositions of evil and its doctrine of Satan. The patristic evidence points to the fact that the cause of evil in the world is the devil. The devil was created by God as an angel, who was free, and as a free agent chose to oppose the plan of God. That is, the devil is a fallen angel. Satan is not evil by nature, but by will and action. In Satan there is no truth whatsoever; he is absolute falsehood and deception. Satan is not just a negation or deprivation of good, but a positive force with free will that always chooses evil. The devil has the ability to recognize divine power, as in the incident of recognizing Christ as the Son of God (Matt. 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-3). Satan has under his leadership legions and invisible powers, with their own "satanic teachings." The devil and evil spirits know that God exists and recognize true and devoted Christians, but pious Christians discern the plans of the devil. The devil, however, constantly employs every method of deception to enslave man to satanic forces and causes rebellion against God. He is the cause of corruption and disorder, a parasitic power in the world that will ultimately be destroyed by the power of God in the "last days." Because there is no compromise between God and the devil, the struggle will continue until the end.

The Orthodox doctrine of God is that He is eternal, uncreated and incorporeal. All other creatures, both visible and invisible, were created by God as free. The power of the devil will ultimately be destroyed by the resurrection of the dead and the renewal of creation. Salvation from all evil will be attained by obedience to God and His plan. This world is a battleground between the acceptance of good and evil. It must be pointed out that the world as the creation of God is not evil. What is evil is the satanic power, destroyed by the power of the cross and the resurrection of Christ.
The Orthodox Tradition of Exorcising

After examining the doctrine of Satan in the Orthodox Church, it is imperative to proceed to the method of repelling and exorcising the evil powers. In the New Testament, Christ sent out His apostles to heal and to "cast out devils" (Matt. 10:8, Luke 10:17-20). Christ Himself often expels demons from the possessed (Mark 1:23-27; Luke 4:33-35, 9:43; Matt. 10:1; Mark 16:17; Matt. 7:22). The New Testament, however, rejected popular uses of magic incantations and rites to expel the satanic powers from people, because they took advantage of superstitious religiosity (Acts 19:13).

In the name of Christ, one is able to cast out demons and to destroy the evil powers (Matt. 10:8). The Fathers of the Church accepted this doctrine and expanded on it. Justin Martyr (Apology 85, 2) says that in the name of Christ, the Son of God who was crucified and rose again, every demon that is exorcised is defeated and submits (Library of the Greek Fathers and Church Writers, Athens: Apostolike Diakonia 1955, Vol. 3, pp. 288-89). The satanic powers are destroyed through the power of the cross and the name of Christ. Objects possessed by demons, when exorcised in the name of the living God, are freed from the possession of evil. The patristic evidence is abundant in the belief in possession and expulsion of the devil by the power of the word of God (Ignatios, Epistles to Philippians 3 and 12; Library of the Greek Fathers and Church Writers, Vol. 2, pp. 333 and 336; Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 4:14; Library, Vol 8, p. 82; Origen, Against Celsus, 6:44; Library, Vol. 10, p. 93).

The demonic possession of individuals and even of objects, has been accepted by the Orthodox Church today in the Sacrament of Baptism, in exorcising satanic powers in the case of the evil eye (vaskania), and in exorcising the devil in the case of a possessed person. In the early Church exorcisms were performed by a person especially trained and appointed to pray to drive out evil from those about to be baptized. Since the fourth century the place of the exorcist, as well as other functions and ministries, have been taken over by the priest. The exorcisms are prayers that invoke God to expel evil spirits. The priest prays to expel all evil, the spirit of error, of idolatry, of covetousness, of Iying and every impure act that arises from the teachings of the devil. The renunciation of the devil in baptism is used in every baptism that is performed in the Orthodox Church.
Vaskania

The exorcism of satanic powers is also performed by the Orthodox Church in other rites, such as that of the evil eye (vaskania).

Vaskania is simply a phenomenon that was accepted by primitive people as fact. They believed that certain people have such powerful feelings of jealousy and envy, that when they looked on some beautiful object or individual it brought destruction. Vaskania is recognized by the Church as the jealousy and envy of some people for things they do not possess, such as beauty, youth, courage or any other blessing. The Church essentially rejected Vaskania as contradicting the concept of divine providence. The prayers of the Church to avert the evil eye are, however, a silent recognition of this phenomenon as a morbid feeling of envy. The Church forbids people to go to "readers" or other individuals for use of magical rituals to overcome the evil eye. These readers take advantage of the weakness of superstitious people and destroy them spiritually and financially by playing upon their imagination.

There is also a secret rite performed by superstitious people to avert the evil eye, which verges on magic. Though the Church encourages even the laity to pray and exorcise evil, it rejects magical practices and rites. This secret rite is described as follows: "The exorcist (not a priest but an old woman) prepares a vial of olive oil and a small glass of water. She dips a finger in the oil, rubs it in a sign of the Cross on the victim's forehead and lets one drop fall onto the water; she repeats the process, making a cross on the forehead, on the chin and both cheeks. If the devil is indeed present, the four drops of oil in the water join to form the ellipsoid shape of an eye. The ritual then calls for the reading of prayers and repeating the four signs of the Cross; the drops of oil will not join in the water, but will disperse."

The possession of individuals by the devil and demonic powers and the cure in the name of Christ is evidenced in the New Testament (Acts 3:2-8, 9:32-42; 20:7-12; Matt. 10:8; Mark 16:17-18). The Church continues in its liturgical rites what Christ enacted in His ministry. The Church recognizes the influence of evil and renounces it in the name of Christ in prayers and fasting. The prayers of exorcism in the early Church were offered by special ministry through the exorcist. This is evidenced from the early prayers that have survived. From the fourth century onwards, the ministry of the exorcist has been fulfilled by the priest.
Orthodox Prayers of Exorcism

All the Orthodox prayer books include prayers of exorcism used by priests to fight the power of evil. The Orthodox Book of Prayers (Euchologion To Mega) includes three prayers of exorcism by Saint Basil and four by Saint John Chrysostom. They are read "for those who suffer from demonic possessions and every other malady." Through these prayers, the devil is exorcised (renounced) "in the name of God Almighty and the Lord Jesus Christ, and commanded to come out of the victim, who is liberated and redeemed by the eternal God from the energies (powers) of the impure spirits. The great ills that humanity suffers are attributed to the devil and demonic power."

From the Orthodox theological point of view, the following can be considered exorcists:

1. Christ is the exorcist par excellence for it is He who won the victory over the power of the devil.
2. Priests in the performance of the holy sacraments and in preaching the word of God follow Christ's example.
3. All Orthodox Christians are exorcists as they struggle against personal sin and social evil. In fact, "the whole Church, past, present and future, has the task of an exorcist to banish sin, evil, injustice, spiritual death, the devil from the life of humanity." Archbishop Iakovos, in a sermon at the Sage Chapel, Cornell University, spoke on exorcism in the following manner: "Both healing and exorcising are ministered through prayers, which spring from faith in God and from love for man.... All the prayers of healing and exorcism, composed by the Fathers of the Church and in use since the third century, begin with the solemn declaration: In Thy Name, O Lord.' " (Exorcism and Exorcists in the Greek Orthodox Tradition, March 10, 1974.)

exorcism is scary man...
almost anythin in ur daily life can make u possessed.
for examples-
YOGA- strange but yer yoga is an easy way for deamons to cum into ur body. cause ur ment to "CLEAR" ur mind n that makes it an easy gateway for the deamons to control ur mind

PILATES- or howeva u spell it cause some of the moves are signs of worshippin the devil
DOIN TAROT CARDS, READING COFFE, SUMMONINGS, WIDCHIDY BOARDS..- all of them cause i awake the spirits n not all spirits are good n they stick with u 4 ur lyf.

THIS CHURCH GUY ONCE TOLD ME THAT WHEN U HAVE BAD THOUGHTS LIKE SUICIDE OR MURDER ITS ALL THE EVIL SPIRITS OR DEAMONS TRYIN TO TAKE OVER UR BODY.

Well in that case a evil spirit or demond has tried to take over many times...

Ouaeggie boards or however u spell it are very freaky things because the pointer moves by itself!! and fair enough you can ask wether the ghost or spirit thing is good or evil but if its evil it will probably say its good anyway ? Also the spirit/ghost can stay and haunt you forever and never leave your house, thats why its always good to have an open mind IF you are silly enough to do it.

Speaking of Exorcism, Has anybody seen the exorcism or Emily Rose? aparently its really freaky and all that.. I wanna see it but dont know if i can..

By the way, Isnt talking about this stuff bad or something?

well a friend of my mums had to have an excorcism in the greek orthodox church because he started going to all these weird churches and he became possesd. it was about 10 years ago. i only found out recently but it sounds pretty scary.

iv had a few vaskanies done on me..its just when ppl curse u with the mati.

i only skimmed through that.. but it sounds very intresting.

What if you dont have a soul???

annes you can buy one...xox..plus you can use your fly buyssss....and pimpsess believe in our religion and wear the cross i got ya

exorcism what a load of crap mind makes it real, if you beleive it enough

I dont know if its true or not that people can be possessed by evil spirits, but the movie sure as hell scared me.

interesting post jj...

well i've heard instances where people have been possessed, one person who's from a greek background was possessed by the devil and it showed when he was in an orthodox church, he was screaming, cursing at the priests saying demonic sayings about satan and how he lives in him etc...

the church was crowded and everyone was basically shitting bricks.. his voice overpowered everyone and you could see the fury in his eyes.. the pater knew of this and started to splash holy water on him and he went bizerk, he started to push people over, tried to ruin the eikones...

i don't know what had happened to him after that... but hearing it from an eyewitness is pretty freaky, you don't know what to believe and whether to believe that satan can possess a persons soul...

SINCE WHEN YOGA?

WTF??!!

Yoga is not meditation love...its actually postures for the body to heal itself.

anyway...oti akoune lene edo mesa

thats pretty scary. when i was in Greece we went to this monastary or church or something and anyways i was outside with my dad cos the church was packed out and some lady came and as soon as she got about 2 meters from the door of the church she started screaming a cursing, the other lady with her forced her inside the church and he screams just got louder and she was saying stuff about the devil controlling her and stuff like that. it was really freaky, especcialy since i was only 12 yrs old. but i remember it. i dont know what happened after cos me and my dad went for a walk. my mum was int he church tho.

OMG WEN I WAS ABT TO CLICK ON THIS POST MY COMPUTER WENT SPASTIC LOL...

WELL LAST FEW WEEKS I HAVE BEEN FEELING A PRESENCE IN MY HOUSE. I HAVE EVEN SEEN A FEW UNEXPECTED APPEARENCES, LIKE ONE NITE I THOUGHT I SAW THIS PERSON WALK FROM THE TV TO THE COUCH AND IT WAS WEARING A WHITE SHIRT. I WALKED INTO THE TV ROOM AND THERE WASNT ANY1 THERE.

ANOTHER NITE I HAVE BEEN HEARING BELLS IN THE HOUSE, MY BROTHER THE OTHER DAY HEARD SOME ONE TAPPING ON THE WALL.

IVE ALSO HEARD SOME ONE CALL OUT... IM FREAKING OUT HERE, KNOWING SOME ONE IS NOW STANDING BHIND MY CHAIR.

MY SOLUTION I GOTTA BRING IN THE PAPA.

IVE HEARD THAT SAME STORY B4 KOUKS, FROM MY LOCAL PAPA, HIS ALSO TOLD ME OF A FEW HE PERFORMED. ITS FREAKY STUFF!!!!!

There was a documentary the other day my friend saw it. It was about a real life exorcism in the late 40s. The book and film is based on this. Obviously there was no head spinning incident but some of the things that happened were freaky.

What my friend told me was that the boy was possessed by the devil The devil wants to be called Lord. When the Devil was exorcised from the boy the words Exit appeared on the boys body.

It freaked me out but I wish I had seen this documentary.

Where did she see this documentary?? Was it on Foxtel cause if it was it will more than likely show it again. Would be interesting to watch.

I believe he saw it on ABC on Sunday night. I will ask him when I see him.

Sorry Elli not on Foxtel. It was on last Sunday night on ABC.