Knowra Exorcism Exorcism Exorcism is a ritual intended to expel a spirit believed to have entered or afflicted a person or place. Its forms vary across religious traditions and historical periods.
Prayer : Prayer is a practice of addressing or contemplating a deity, spirit, or sacred reality. Invocations and petitions are common means of seeking protection or expulsion.
Ancient Mesopotamian religion : Ancient Mesopotamian religion comprised the beliefs and practices of societies in the Tigris–Euphrates region. Mesopotamian incantations and healing rites offer early evidence of spirit-expulsion practices.
Psychotherapy : Psychotherapy is the treatment of psychological distress through structured psychological methods. It addresses distress through clinical frameworks rather than spirit-expulsion rites.
Catholic exorcism : Catholic exorcism is the Roman Catholic Church's ritual response to suspected demonic possession, governed by canon law and liturgical norms. It distinguishes solemn exorcism from ordinary prayers of deliverance and blessing.
Possession trance : Possession trance is a state in which a person is understood, within a cultural framework, to be controlled by a spirit or other entity. It describes experiences that communities may interpret as evidence requiring exorcism.
Ritual : A ritual is a prescribed sequence of symbolic actions performed in a marked context. Exorcism is structured through repeated words, gestures, objects, and roles.
Second Temple Judaism : Second Temple Judaism denotes Jewish religious life from the rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple around 516 BCE until its destruction in 70 CE. Texts from this period describe spirits and practices that informed later Jewish and Christian traditions.
Psychiatry : Psychiatry is the medical specialty concerned with diagnosing and treating mental disorders. Clinical assessment can identify conditions that religious interpretations might otherwise attribute to spirits.
Jewish exorcism : Jewish exorcism comprises varied practices intended to remove harmful spirits, including the dybbuk in some traditions. The dybbuk tradition illustrates a specifically Jewish account of spiritual attachment and its ritual remedy.
Dissociative disorders : Dissociative disorders involve disruptions in identity, memory, perception, or consciousness that cause distress or impairment. Their symptoms can overlap with culturally interpreted possession, making careful assessment consequential.
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