Exorcism

[sanjuro_ronin]

You crazy Daoists !

[GeneChing]

...then again, I'm marginally impressed that a Daoist has the balls to even attempt such an exorcism. Yea, pun intended. It's Monday morning and I'm getting off to a slow start...

Matt Gibson
Writer, photographer, award-winning outdoors adventure blogger, and About.com Snowboarding Guide.

My Girlfriend Was Exorcised by a Traditional Chinese Healer
Posted: 10/26/2010 6:01 pm EDT Updated: 05/25/2011 5:45 pm EDT


Roots on display in a herbal Chinese remedy shop.

Several times in my life I've seen things that I couldn't explain. Most of them occurred when I was young. I can't remember exactly what they were, but I remember feeling scared. There was an uncomfortable shift in my understanding of the world, like a jarring of my mental tectonic plates, followed by a feeling of calmness and certainty. Like the setting a broken bone, it hurt for a minute, but in the end it felt like something had been made right.

Most of those occurrences were probably the result of a boy learning the workings of a world that is not as simple as Saturday morning cartoons would have us believe. The story I'm about to tell you, however, is much more recent. It happened when I was thirty-years-old, an age at which my grasp of reality, one would hope, was more akin to the Origin of Species than Tom and Jerry.

My girlfriend Christine and I were walking down the street in Tainan, Taiwan, when a Taiwanese man shouted at us from the liquor store next door. "Lai, Lai (come here, come here)." He implored. We went inside.

"A ghost is following your girlfriend." He said.

"How do you know?"

"I saw it." He pointed at her foot, which was wrapped in thick white bandages. "An accident?"

A week earlier Christine had been riding her scooter when she was cut off and forced into the scooter next to her. Her little toe, which had been hanging off the edge of the scooter, had gotten caught on the other scooter so that when they veered away from each other it was pulled partly away from her foot. Doctors had fixed it in place with metal pins. It was extremely swollen.

"Yes."

"It happened because of the ghost." He told me.

The vast majority of Taiwanese, especially the older generation, believe in ghosts. Most Taiwanese people will tell you that they have seen a ghost before.

The man told me that he wanted to help Christine. He was a traditional Chinese healer. He assured me that he didn't want any money.

I told Christine his offer.

"Do you think it would it be strange?"

"Extremely."

"Should do it?"

"Definitely."

She agreed and he motioned for her to sit on a stool.

He began moving his hands through the air in fluid motions like the Karate Kid's wax-on wax-off exercise. The circles movements became wilder and wilder and began making strange noises.

"Ooh, wacka wacka wacka. Ooh, woogy woogy woogy."

It was quite entertaining.

Through all his hand waving, the man didn't touch Christine until the end when he placed one hand behind her head and then, with the same form that you would expect to see a martial artist punch through a board, he thrust is open palm forcefully into her forehead and held it there, hand quivering, and shouted, "Ooha!" He repeated this action three times and announced that he was finished. He told me that he had adjusted her chi, which had been blocked. He said the treatment would help her foot over the short term, but that she would have to return two more times before the end of Ghost Month (the month when the fabric separating our world from the ghosts' is most permeable) in order to rid herself of the troublesome spirit.

We thanked the man for his kind help and left. On the scooter we laughed about the performance. I waved my hands in the air.

"Wacka wacka wacka," I said.

"Ha ha ha. Oh Matt. Don't be mean."

"Woogy woogy woogy."

"Ho ho ho."

A couple of hours later as we watched TV at home Christine suddenly grabbed my arm.
"Oh my God Matt. Look!"

She had just unwrapped her foot. When we went out that night it had been so swollen that it looked like a big pink potato with toes. But now it was back to its normal size. The swelling had gone down so fast that her skin was wrinkled like she had just gotten out of a long bath.

Here is a picture that I snapped with my iPhone.



I have no explanation for what happened. Over the following days I became accustomed the idea that our limited senses and short time on this planet allow us to understand the universe about as much as a pygmy could understand a David Lynch movie by watching its filming through the keyhole of a door on the set.

There are many things we will never understand. I used to dislike the idea, but I'm growing to like it more and more. It makes the world strange and mysterious. On a good day it's almost bizarre and profound as a David Lynch movie.

Read more of Matt Gibson's writing in his column on Transitions Abroad or his blog and portfolio at Matt-Gibson.org.

[GeneChing]

12:00 pm ET Oct 27, 2015 TV
This Halloween, Watch a Live Exorcism on TV
By MICHAEL CALIA


Archbishop James Long and the Tennessee Wraith Chasers, both set to appear in ‘Exorcism: Live!’ Destination America

What an excellent week for an exorcism.

The night before Halloween is usually the perfect time for a costume party or a horror-movie marathon. This week, though, people who like to partake in the ghoulish festivities of this time of year will have a chance to try something different: watching a live exorcism.

“Exorcism: Live!” which is due to air from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET Friday on Discovery Communications’ Destination America, will give viewers a chance to see an actual exorcism ritual in action. Don’t expect spinning heads or torrents of pea soup, though. This rite will be performed on a house — but not just any house.

The abode, which is nestled in a St. Louis suburb, was purportedly the site of an exorcism performed in the 1940s on a teenaged boy known as “Roland Doe.” The boy’s alleged possession – which was addressed by several Jesuit priests in Maryland and Missouri — made the news of the day and helped inspire a Georgetown University student named William Peter Blatty to eventually write the 1971 novel “The Exorcist.” The rest is horror history.


Khalif Topping promotes ‘Exorcism: Live!’ at New York Comic Con earlier in October. Michael Rapoport

The boy’s story has been re-told and challenged by skeptics over the past 66 years. Thomas B. Allen — who says he isn’t interested in “Exorcism: Live!” — wrote about it in his 1993 nonfiction book, “Possessed,” which was adapted into a 2000 Showtime movie starring Timothy Dalton and Christopher Plummer. Christopher Saint Booth’s 2010 documentary “The Haunted Boy” also dug into the story. Booth, meanwhile, has investigated the house for paranormal activity and is involved in “Exorcism: Live!”

Destination America sees the events as the “quintessential American horror story of our time,” according to cable-industry veteran Henry S. Schleiff, group president of Destination America and two other Discovery channels. The producers behind “Exorcism: Live!” said they are treating the story and the house with respect. “It’s not a spoof,” says Sara Helman, an executive at the channel and one of the overseers of the special.

Jodi Tovay, who developed the show, says she has a personal connection to demonic activity. At age 16, Tovay claims, she witnessed a chaperone on a church mission trip to Mexico exhibit signs of possession, i.e., acting strangely, using profanity and contorting his body. The other adults on the trip said the chaperone was possessed, and Tovay says her youth pastor performed an exorcism on the man. “It was weird to see somebody act like that,” she says.

That doesn’t mean Tovay and her other Destination America cohorts aren’t having a little fun with “Exorcism: Live!” “It’s a marketer’s dream,” says Laura Giacalone, vice president of marketing. The channel has sought to build word of mouth for the special with campaigns at festivals and conventions, first teasing it at San Diego Comic Con this summer. Earlier this month at New York Comic Con, the channel held a panel discussion about exorcism, while people dressed as priests and nuns promoted the show on the convention floor.

The special itself will break down like this, if the plan works out: The first hour will focus on the context and the history of the house and the alleged original exorcism. There will also be a “ghost hunt” conducted by the Tennessee Wraith Chasers, who star in “Ghost Asylum,” which also airs on Destination America. There will be several cameras placed throughout the house which will live stream online, and the audience will be able to engage with the production through social media.

“Trying to convince people this house is still haunted is the most important part,” Tovay says. People still live at the house, producers say, although the residents aren’t going to be home when the action goes down.


The St. Louis-area home at the center of ‘Exorcism: Live!’ Destination America

Psychic, medium and author Chip Coffey will anchor a séance in the second hour leading up to the grand finale: a live exorcism of the house. In charge of the ritual will be James Long, archbishop of the United States Old Catholic Church, which isn’t affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church. Long has appeared on several paranormal programs and has, according to Destination America, performed hundreds of exorcisms on buildings or homes thought to be plagued by demons.

All signs point to unruly spirits still hanging around the so-called “Exorcist” house, according to the Destination America team. “It’s definitely a hot place, still,” Tovay says. It had better be if they don’t want to end up with the paranormal equivalent of Al Capone’s vault.

Even if “Exorcism: Live!” turns out to be a bust, however, Destination America isn’t shying away from spooky reality-based programming. It currently airs 45 paranormal-themed shows, which focus on an array of creepy entities, from ghosts to aliens. Schleiff says the channel’s goal is to become a leader in exploring American myths, legends and folklore.

And it won’t be long before the channel features another program about demons. “The Demon Files,” which focuses on demonologist and former New York cop Ralph Sarchie (the subject of the 2014 Eric Bana movie “Deliver Us From Evil”), premieres the night after Halloween. The show will run for three weeks.

How long will viewers have to wait to see a televised exorcism performed on an actual person, though? It might only be a matter of time, but the producers and developers at Destination America want to see how the business with the house goes, although they consider it a good first step in that direction.

Watch a clip on the history of the house which will be featured in “Exorcism: Live!”

The Tennessee Wraith Chasers sounds like our TN Tiger Claw office drinking team.

[GeneChing]

As I recently visited Spain, Catholicism has been on my mind.

Exorcist films should teach how God always conquers evil, exorcist says
By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service
1.12.2016 10:59 AM ET


CNS photo/Warner Bros.
Anthony Hopkins stars in a scene from the 2010 movie "The Rite." Writing in a Vatican newspaper, a leading exorcist said movies depicting exorcisms could be an important medium for showing how God always triumphs over evil, but instead they misrepresent the faith and exaggerate human and satanic powers over God. (CNS photo/Warner Bros.) See EXORCISM-MOVIES-TEACHING Jan. 12, 2016.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Movies depicting exorcisms could be an important medium for showing how God always triumphs over evil, but instead, they misrepresent the faith and exaggerate human and satanic powers over God, a leading exorcist wrote in the Vatican newspaper.
Television and cinema have accustomed people to recognizing "the presence and extraordinary acts of demons in people's lives and the battle that the church faces against them," wrote Father Francesco Bamonte, president of the International Association of Exorcists, headquartered in Rome.
Portraying exorcisms in the world of fiction "could promote greater awareness" about the Catholic faith, however, "the way in which evil, demonic possession, the prayer of exorcism and liberation are presented is disappointing and unacceptable," he wrote in L'Osservatore Romano Jan. 8.
While priests are entrusted by the church to help protect or liberate people from the power of the devil, most movies hide or ignore "the marvelous, stupendous presence and work of God" and the role of Mary in the battle against evil, wrote the priest, who is a member of the Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
As exorcists witness through their own experience, the reality is that "the demon, even if he doesn't want to, is forced against his will to affirm the truth of our Catholic faith," he said. For example, he said, when holy water or a holy relic is used in an exorcism, demons react -- often violently -- as they are forced to submit to the power of God every single time.
"When listening to a prayer to the Virgin, (the demon) shows all of his hatred and fear toward her, he is forced to confirm that Mary is the mother of God and that she intercedes for humanity," Father Bamonte wrote.
While there are many inaccuracies about the faith in films, their most serious error is presenting life as a battle between two equal principles or divinities: light and darkness, good and evil, the priest said.
"Satan is not the god of evil against the God of the good, rather he is a being who God created as good and who, with some angels -- also created good by God -- became evil because they refused God and his kingdom with their free and final choice."
"Satan and the spirits at his service, therefore, are not omnipotent beings, they cannot perform miracles, they are not omnipresent, they cannot know our thoughts or know the future."
Nor is it true, as some movies make it seem, that salvation comes from people who have access to secret or superior knowledge, he said. Such portrayals not only help drive people away from the church, they set the foundation for "a class of superior beings."
People "who live with trusting abandon in God's arms are stronger than the devil and all of his minions -- these truths do not emerge in the movies," he said.
"What could have provided a good service to the church and the faith becomes the usual and subtle attack of Satan against the foundations of the Catholic Church," the priest concluded.
Father Bamonte's article appeared in the Vatican newspaper together with a film critic's look at how the exorcism genre was the most "prolific" in the evolution of "B movie" horror flicks.
William Friedkin's 1973 movie "The Exorcist" is still today "one of the most terrifying horror films ever created," according to Emilio Ranzato, author and frequent movie critic for L'Osservatore Romano.
Linda Blair, the young actress who plays the 12-year-old possessed girl in the film, "ends up being a kind of Shirley Temple debased by the era of Vietnam and Watergate," he wrote.
While "no film in recent years has come close to reaching the same level" achieved by Friedkin's masterpiece, "fine commercial productions" include "The Last Exorcism" by Daniel Stamm in 2010; "The Conjuring" by James Wan in 2013 and "Deliver Us From Evil" by Scott Derrickson in 2014, Ranzato wrote.
"In order to find good films on the subject of demonic possession," he wrote, it's better to skip more commercial productions and instead look at "art-house" films which are more at liberty to go beyond simplistic storylines and "the generic battle of good against evil."
The film critic's thumbs-up list includes: Brunello Rondi's "The Demon" (1963); Lucio Fulci's "Don't Torture a Duckling" (1972); Waris Hussein's "The Possession of Joel Delaney" (1972); "Requiem" directed by Hans-Christian Schmid (2006); Derrickson's "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" (2005); and Andrzej Zulawski's "Possession" (1981), which is "a surrealist masterpiece, replete with cryptic but exciting details, laden with meaning."

Okay now, has anyone here seen Lucio Fulci's Don't Torture a Duckling (1972)? That title really makes me want to see it. Fulci is notorious.

[sanjuro_ronin]

The Exorcist still freaks me out.

[Jimbo]

Lucio Fulci's The House by the Cemetery is atmospheric and fairly creepy. The English dubbing actually adds to the creep factor.

I watched a part of Fulci's The Beyond, but started feeling weird and uncomfortable while watching it, so I turned it off after maybe 30 minutes or so. Only one other movie has ever had a similar effect on me: Demons, directed by Lamberto Bava. In that case, it was mostly the earlier half of the movie. Although I did watch that one from start to finish. It's hard to explain or figure out why those two movies in particular affected me like that, considering all the horror movies I've seen over the decades. I didn't find either movie particularly scary. And I almost never get creeped out by movies, although I appreciate good, creepy atmospherics. I feel...and this is only my feeling...that certain movies can carry or attract a particularly negative vibe or energy (or whatever you might choose to call it).

I've never really felt The Exorcist was overly scary *as a movie*. If it were really happening, of course it would be different. However, I think it's a great movie.

Anyway, I apologize for going a bit OT.

[GeneChing]

I love saunas for their purgative qualities, but this is madness.

Woman is STEAMED to death by witch doctors in an attempt to ‘dispel ghosts’

The woman from Guangyuan, Sichuan province died on February 27
Two witch doctors were hired to rid her of an undisclosed illness
Villagers found the woman being 'steamed' in a large wooden barrel
They freed her and sought medical help but she died shortly after

By SOPHIE WILLIAMS FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 06:11 EST, 1 March 2016 | UPDATED: 06:36 EST, 1 March 2016

A woman in south west China's Sichuan province has died after taking part in an exorcism on February 27.

Her family had hired two 'witch doctors' to help rid her of an undisclosed illness, the People's Daily Online reports.

Police are now investigating the details behind the woman's death.


Evil spirits: A woman in Sichuan province was steamed to death during an exorcism in Sichuan province

According to a villager surnamed Liu, the woman had suffered from an unidentified illness for years and had often been heard crying out in pain.

Liu says on February 27, he heard people crying and went to discover what was going on.

He claims that he found two witch doctors who had been hired by the woman's family at the scene.

The woman was sealed into a large barrel, which was then being heated by the vat of boiling water underneath.

When the local villagers told them to stop, the two 'doctors' replied that the screams were not in fact coming from the woman, they were from the devil.

Steamed to death: Two witch doctors were hired by the woman's family to rid her of evil spirits

They said they needed to continue to drive the ghost away.

Villagers took no notice and helped to free the woman.

When they managed to release her from the barrel, they discovered that her face had turned black and she was unable to stand.

People immediately went looking for medical help while others helped take her into the house.

However shortly after the rescue attempt, the woman died.

The witch doctors have now been detained by the local police, pending further investigation.