1350-1400: The verb may have been in oral use as early as the twelfth century but use in Middle English is documented from the later, the form from the fourteenth century Old
French exorciser, from the Late Latin exorcizāre, from the Ancient Greek exorkízein (bind by oath; banish an evil spirit) and the sense "call up evil spirits to drive them out" was dominant by the sixteenth century. In England, exorcize was actually an alternative spelling but this is now one the rare instances in English where the US adopted -ise rather than -ize which some etymologists suggest may have been because of the influence of "exercise" although why that would be compellingly persuasive (this was the country which discarded "cheque" and used "check" for all purposes) seems never discussed. What is more likely is the appearance of "exorcise" in so many church documents brought to the American colonies led to some reluctance to edit "sacred" works. Some US academic sources do suggest exorcize
is "a rare but correct" alternative, a concession not extended to exercize. A number of the derived forms (exorcismal,
exorcisory, exorcistical, exorcistic) are rare and appear only in specialist publications (or lists or the rare and obscure). Exorcise is a verb, exorcism, exorcisation & exorcist are nouns, exorcistical, exorcismal, exorcisory & exorcistic are adjectives; the noun plural is exorcisms.
The noun exorcism (a calling up or driving out of evil spirits) was a fifteenth century creation formation from the Late Latin exorcismus, from the Ancient Greek exorkismos (administration of an oath) which, in Ecclesiastical Greek existed as exorkizein (exorcise, bind by oath), the construct being ex- (out of) + horkizein (cause to swear), from horkos (oath) of uncertain origin although some have suggested there's a link to herkos (fence), the idea being of a oath with boundaries one accepts as "restrictions, ties & obligations" or "a magical power that fences in the swearer". It's speculative and one etymologist noted dryly that the discipline's enthusiasm to adopt the view "was restrained". A fourteenth century form describing the ritual was spelled exorcization.
Exorcism:
Vade retro satana (Step back, Satan)
Saint Francis and the Dying Impenitent (1788) by Francisco Goya (1746-1828)
Exorcism
in Christianity is the practice of casting out demons from a person or place
possessed by the Devil. Although the
biblical origins are dubious (some translations to some extent support the notion), by early in
the second century of Christianity the word was in general use and paintings
of exorcists and their ceremonies are among the darker and more dramatic in
medieval and later sacred art. Whether or not the biblical foundations were solid, priests have always been good at spotting a gap in the market and the drama of a well-scripted exorcism was likely a lucrative venture, supply of which may well have stimulated demand. In the
Roman Catholic Church, the rituals were formalized in 1614 because of Rome’s
concerns about clandestine, underground exorcisms performed without their consent
and the guidelines remained substantially unchanged until the Vatican’s
revisions in 1999, a process necessitated by a late twentieth-century spike in
demand, the reasons for which are speculative but involve usually blaming the internet, an explanation at least plausible. Interestingly, for more than a decade
after the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II (1962-65)), it was really not done
for clergy to speak of Satan as if "he" really existed, the modernizing church
preferring the language of psychology and psychiatry for those displaying
symptoms for centuries attributed to the Devil's demonic possession.
Exorcism of Nicole Aubry (1563), etching by an unknown artist. Popular
culture (especially cinema) revived interest in the ritual, with both churches
and the medical profession reporting an upsurge in claims of demonic possession
and most significantly, Saint John Paul II (1920–2005, pope
1978-2005) had a more robust attitude to the Devil’s role upon earth than any
of his twentieth century predecessors.
In 2004, JPII again warned that occult and new age practices were raging out
of control in Europe, providing gateways for evil that could result in demonic
attachment and possession. JPII's warning was effective and for the Holy See, it's been good business ever since; a recent Course on Exorcism and Prayer of Liberatio, hosted by the Sacerdos Institute at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum (an educational institute under the auspices of the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ) in Rome, attracted some 250 priests
from 50 countries. Supply tends to exist only to meet demand so around the planet, the Devil must in many places be afoot. Interrupted only by the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic (which may have been the work of the Devil), the week-long course has been held annually since 2005, attendance more than doubling over the years. Cost per head in 2025 was €575 (US$660);
bookings were essential and an entry-ticket included discounts on rooms and food
& beverage in several Rome hotels.
The Exorcist’s “spider walk” scene.
Based on the William Peter Blatty (1928-2017) novel The Exorcist (1971), the film version (1973) was directed by William Friedkin (1935-2023) and that it did not win the Best Picture Academy Award is a mystery explained only by the prejudices held at the time by those members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences who cast ballots for The Sting (1973) a competently-made but formulaic piece and hardly the a landmark like The Exorcist. The “spider walk” scene was long the subject of speculation. Not included in the original theatrical release, the director for years claimed it had never been shot and it was only when copies of takes were found in the archives he admitted it had been done but couldn’t be used because at the time the technology to "edit out" the wires securing the stunt double to a rail above (which made the performance possible) didn't exist. Subsequently, it was revealed the scene had been shot without use of the harness because it was performed by an experienced stunt double with gymnastic training. Apparently the director didn’t include it because he thought it appeared too early and disrupted the sequence which is interesting because, structurally, The Exorcist is far from perfect (unkind critics call the editing "a bit of a mess"). The spider walk scene was included in the “director’s cut” editions released the next century and the once genuinely shocking film has attracted parody, a demonically possessed Lindsay Lohan levitating in Scary Movie V (2013).
The Exorcism
of Charles II of Spain
Charles
II of Spain (Carlos Segundo 1661–1700), was the last king of the Spanish
Habsburg dynasty, sovereign of the Spanish Empire which stretched from Mexico to
the Philippines. The only surviving son
of his predecessor, Philip IV (1605-1665) and his second wife, Mariana of
Austria (1634-1696), his birth was greeted with enthusiasm by the Spanish
people because, as was the fashion of the time, had the old king died without a
male heir, a war of succession (traditionally a bloody business) would have ensued. Unfortunately,
Charles was physically disabled, disfigured, mentally retarded and found later to be impotent, usually a drawback for any king but a discovery which brought relief to many courtiers. He uttered no words until the
age of four, didn’t take his first step before he was almost nine, suffering
throughout childhood a range of diseases including measles, varicella, rubella,
and smallpox. Left almost uneducated
because of his frailty, his mother was regent most of his reign and he came to
be known to history as El Hechizado
(the Bewitched), the name applied because both court and country believed his
mental and physical incapacities were due to an act of witchcraft.
Modern science suggests otherwise, the
condition actually the consequence of the strong preference for endogamy (the practice of marrying or requiring to marry within one's own ethnic, religious, or social group) within
the Spanish branch of the Habsburg royal family which led to its segregation within related dynasties and thus the emergence of consanguinity (inbreeding). Inbred Charles II certainly was; his
grandparents were at the same time his great-grandparents; One relative's father was married to her sister's daughter, was also her great-uncle, and her mother
happened to be her cousin as well. One
could see how things might not have turned out well and the condition was well-known
in Europe and not restricted to aristocracy and royalty. The slack enforcement of marriage laws in Germanic lands was one
of the reasons there were so many victims of the Nazi's original euthanasia (Aktion T4, mass-murder of the physically disabled and mentally retarded on the basis of them being "useless eaters") programme and it went back a long way: the scandal
of the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius (circa 575–641; emperor 610-641) marrying his niece Martina (circa 590-circa 644) made still worse
by the tragic condition of some of the children the union produced. However,
to speak of incest in the royal family was just not done so the feeling at the
time was to blame the stae of Charles II on witches or the Devil so the court sought advice from Fray
Antonio Álvarez Argüelles, vicar of the Encarnación de Cangas del Narcea convent and a noted Asturian exorcist who suggested: “…last night the demon told me that the King
is evilly bewitched to rule and to beget. When he was 14 years old, he was
enchanted with a chocolate in which the brains of a dead man were dissolved to
take away his health, corrupt his semen and prevent his generation”.
Exorcism of Charles II of Spain, engraving by Lechard, circa 1840.
The priest's "chocolate theory" must have been convincing because soon after the king was subjected to what
was, even by the standards of the age, a most macabre exorcism. By coincidence, the remains of his ancestors
were being transferred to a new pantheon at the Royal Seat of San Lorenzo de El
Escorial and the exorcist ordered their coffins opened. The rationale was a ceremony in
which the corpses of his relatives (and, in an advanced state of putrefaction,
that of his beloved first wife (María Luisa de Orleans (1662-1689))), were exhibited would assist, the array of the dead helping to drive off the demons so tormenting
the unfortunate monarch. It was
in vain and the suffering continued. Ill
his whole life and king since the age of three, he lingered until 1700,
dying at 39, the announcement one of the more eagerly awaited events in
the courts and chancelleries of Europe, such was the anticipation of the
struggles which would erupt to decide the succession. Summarizing a sad life in Carlos, the Bewitched (1962, published
in the US as Carlos: The King who would
Not Die), his English biographer John Langdon-Davies (1897–1971) wrote: "Of no man is it more true to say that in his
beginning was his end; from the day of his birth, they were waiting for his
death". On his deathbed, his
last words were: "Everything hurts".
Institutional exorcism: Pope Leo, modernity and the SSPX
Although
the Holy See might find the simile appalling, in the Roman Catholic Church, the
political equivalent of an exorcism is an excommunication, a legal and spiritual administrative act excluding a baptized Catholic
from certain aspects of sacramental and communal life; although Rome’s most
serious canonical censure, despite the common impression, it neither expels an
individual from the Church or erases their baptism. Additionally, while the very word seems to be
associated with finality, the purpose of excommunication is medicinal rather
than punitive. Rather than a brute-force punishment, it’s a device the church
can use as means of bringing the sinner to repentance and reconciliation; in most cases, once a transgressor confesses their offence
and sincerely repents (and, in some cases, fulfils such “special conditions” as
may be imposed) an excommunication can be lifted, meaning the individual is
welcomed back into communal life. In the Roman Catholic faith, "reformed sinners" are valued for the good example they set.
As a
general principle, what a excommunication does is prohibit an individual so
sanctioned from (1) receiving the sacraments (the Eucharist, Penance, Anointing
of the Sick and such), (2) celebrating or administering the sacraments (if they
be clergy), (3) exercising ecclesiastical offices, ministries, performing most official
functions within the Church and (4) receiving most ecclesiastical privileges. However, there’s a procedural hierarchy and because a
baptism leaves on the soul an indelible spiritual mark, even the excommunicated
remain Roman Catholics, their fate after death ultimately in the hands of God. As such, they may
still attend Mass (though not receive Holy Communion), pray and participate in
any aspects of parish life not requiring the exercise of ecclesiastical
ministry. Interestingly, under Canon
Law, there are two mechanisms of excommunication. There is (1) Latae sententiae (sentence
already passed) which means the penalty automatically is incurred upon
committing certain serious offenses (apostasy, heresy, or schism; desecration
of the Eucharist; physically attacking the pope; knowingly and freely participate
in an act of abortion and (2) Ferendae sententiae (sentence to be imposed),
that requiring a ruling by a competent Church authority after a judicial or
administrative process.
Pope Leo XIV: Time will tell if Leo's pontificate will be as "modern" at that of his predecessor (Francis (1936-2025; pope 2013-2025)), accused by some theologians of "
heresy".
The Vatican’s
announcement in July 2026 that certain followers of the SSPX (Society of Saint
Pius X) had been excommunicated a day after the organization had consecrated four new
bishops in defiance Leo XIV's (b 1955; pope since 2025) explicit instruction
was thus, in a technical sense, merely advisory because, under the provisions Latae
sententiae, by engaging in “a schismic act”, those involved were at the moment of their transgressions no longer in
communion with the Church. However,
following the usual protocols, the Vatican issued a decree stating all six of
the Society's “bishops” had been excommunicated but what was unexpected was the
inclusion of a paragraph stating any lay members who “formally adhere” to the
group “are to be considered schismatic and excommunicated”. Reaching out to the heretics, the statement
concluded that those who repented and left the SSPX would be welcomed back to
the Church “with sincere affection”. Because the multi-national SSPX is not a small organization, questions
were asked about the scope of the edict and the Vatican’s press office later
clarified things by saying not all members would be subject to automatic excommunication
but it would be imposed on those who “habitually participate” in SSPX rituals and
“formally share its doctrinal positions”.
Pope Saint Pius X who thought "the old ways are the best".
The Vatican
regards the SSPX as a splinter sect which has “left the
Church” although, in the usual way schismatic squabbles play out, followers of
the SSPX claim the “Church has left them”.
Saint Pius X (1835–1914; pope 1903-1914) was pope at the dawn of what
would come to be called “modernity” and often is referred to as an “anti-modernist”
pope who opposed not only the intrusion of “liberal interpretation” into Catholic
doctrine but also any variation of the traditional forms such as the Latin
liturgy. According to Pius X, the last
words on Church teachings and interpretation had been written by the Italian
Dominican friar, philosopher & theologian Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274); perfection thus was achieved in the
thirteenth century, the proceedings of the First Vatican Council (Vatican I;
1869-1870) not merely an affirmation of Thomist scholastic theology but a
strengthening of a pope’s legal authority to veto any challenge to doctrinal or
procedural orthodoxies. Although clearly it had long been exercised, it was in Vatical I the doctrine of "Papal Infallibility" was codified and although it has (officially) since been invoked only once, popes increasingly have issued edicts and decrees "vested with infallibility in form if not word", Vaticanologists coining the phrase "creeping infallibility" to describe the development.
Founded in
1970, the SSPX was a reaction to the distinctly “modernising” reforms imposed
on the Roman Catholic Church by Second Vatican Council (Vatican II, 1962-1965,
published 1970) and its adherents worldwide are believed now to number more
than half a million, hence the interest of the press in the extent of the
Vatican’s decree of excommunication.
Although in popular discourse there has been much focus on SSPX priests conducting the mass in Latin while facing the altar rather than following the reformed procedure in
which local languages are used with the priest facing his congregation, the
sect’s challenge to the authority of Rome is more fundamental and the dispute
is not new, a number of SSPX bishops excommunicated in 1988. It was Benedict XVI (1927–2022; pope
2005-2013, pope emeritus 2013-2022) who in 2009 rescinded the order for four of
that number, explaining he hoped his “act of reconciliation” would produce a “real
and final unity”. Benedict instead got a kind of uneasy truce, something emblematic of his papacy. That state was neither an entente cordiale
nor a peaceful co-existence but more a case of Rome “turning a blind eye” as long as the
SPSS kept a low profile and did not attempt to “infect the Church” with their
notions. Probably a handful of congregations
enjoying the undeniable beauty of the Latin Mass, delivered to conservatively
dressed souls hearing only what had for centuries been preached could have been
tolerated but the SSPX not only spread but became more dogmatic in claims
of correctness and more aggressive in the promotion of their ideas.
The similarity between the Holy See's symbol and the "crossed keys" of the Secret Society of the
Les Clefs d’Or is claimed by both to be wholly coincidental. Modern in technology and media management if not theology, the SSPX have an
on-line FAQ page discussing their differences with Rome. Both sides are committed, well resourced, have skilled coaches and a good
bench of reserves so this "ecclesiastical world
cup" likely has some way to go and won't yet have reached the half-time break.
Had it been
just disagreements over arcane matters of form (how the communion bread was
handled or whether the Mass was celebrated in Latin or the local language etc), it
might have been possible for Rome to tolerate the SSPX and hope the cult would
fade away as its congregants died off but not only are its numbers growing but
the new adherents often are young and committed Catholics (committed certainly
to what Catholicism “used to be”). More
troubling still is some of the underlying politics, one notorious SSPX bishop
(among the four in 2009 reinstated by Benedict) repeatedly made anti-Semitic
statements and, being not at all vague in his Holocaust denial, insisted (after his excommunication was lifted!) in a television interview: “I believe
that the historical evidence is strongly against, hugely against, six 6 million
Jews having been deliberately gassed in gas chambers as a deliberate policy of
Adolf Hitler [Adolf Hitler (1889-1945; Führer (leader) and German head of government 1933-1945 & head of state 1934-1945)]. I believe there were no
gas chambers”. Curiously, the Vatican
didn’t reimpose the bishops excommunication but instead ruled he’d not be
permitted to “perform priestly functions” unless he “recanted his views.” Just as intriguingly, the SSPX didn’t demand
a recantation but instead issued an order forbidding the talkative bishop from
making “any public statements on political or historical issues.” In other words: “Don’t mention the war”. When eventually the SSPX expelled its
turbulent priest, it was not for his views but because he defied the sect’s hierarchy. Still, that meant Benedict was relieved of the strain of having to make a decision; that much pleased him.
Reacting
with remarkable alacrity to the controversy, the SSPX sanitized its web pages,
removing anything which might be thought “suspect”. Afterwards, anyone new to the sect would be
forgiven for thinking it was nothing but an order of the Church for those
nostalgic for the Latin liturgy, banished to the archives by Vatican II. However, in the printed record there’s an
extensive collection of publications detailing the organization's long history of anti-Semitism,
some of it frankly “hate literature” and it also printed or distributed
older texts containing a roll-call of the usual tropes: blaming the Jews for the
French Revolution, Communism, Bolshevism and accusing them of corrupt practices
in their alleged control of international finance etc. At the root of it all was said to be the Jews' collective
guilt of deicide (the old chant of “Christ killers” which didn’t disappear from
Roman Catholic sermons until well into the twentieth century) but, to add a new twist, the SSPX also contributes
to “replacement theory”, condemning Third World immigration into Western
countries as “destroying our national identity and, furthermore, the whole of
Christianity”. The SSPX also is highly suspicious
about the agenda of “international Freemasonry, some of its publications
quoting the works (appearing also on white supremacist sites) of an author who
warned of a “Judeo-Masonic conspiracy to destroy the church”. To be fair, the SSPX probably are right to be concerned about the plotting & scheming of the Freemasons and even the pope would agree with that. Leo has made the first decisive act of his
pontificate and has drawn a line in the theocratic sand but, in creating a half
million-odd schematic malcontents, he may have created more problems than he
solved.
Exorcism and the Anglicans
Although the film The Exorcist and a well-publicized history of use may have led some to believe exorcism is exclusively "a Roman Catholic thing", other Christian denominations inherited the idea, some practicing the ritual more than others. The Lambeth Conference is a (nominally) decennial assembly of bishops of the Anglican Communion convened by the AoC (Archbishop of Canterbury), 15 held since the first in 1867. The Anglican Communion is an international association of autonomous national and regional churches, not a governing body and the office of AoC is in no way analogous with the Roman Catholic pope; while a pope is an absolute monarch atop a theocracy, the AoC is the "spirital head" of the Anglican community but holds no executive authority. The conferences serve a collaborative and consultative function and are said to express “…the mind of the communion" on issues of the day; resolutions passed at a Lambeth Conference are without legal effect, but can be influential (if others are in the mood to be influenced).
Lambeth's latest.
Dame Sarah Mullally (b 1962) in the regalia of Bishop of London; in March 2026 she was installed ("enthroned" no longer preferred by modern Anglicans) as AoC. No longer one of the world's more desirable jobs (essentially because it can't be done), all wish her the best of British luck. In feminist theory, the phenomenon of women being appointed to suddenly undesirable jobs is known as the "glass cliff"; were it possible for the job still to be done, the Anglicans would have appointed the 106th man rather than the first woman. Of the previous 105 prelates, the first was Saint Augustine of Canterbury (circa 630s-circa 604) in 597 (not to be confused with the still influential Saint Augustine of Hippo (354–430)).
Conferences were never the pure and high-minded discussions of ethics, morality and theology some now appear to believe characterized the pre-modern (in this context those held prior to 1968 when "the troubles began") events. Agenda and communiqués from all conferences have always included the procedural, administrative and jurisdictional although in recent years, they’ve certainly reflected an increasingly factionalized communion rent with cross-cutting cleavages, first over the ordination of women and of late, homosexual clergy. During the 1998 conference, Bishop Emmanuel Chukwuma (b 1954) of Nigeria attempted to exorcise "homosexual demons" from the soul of Nigerian-born Richard Kirker (b 1951), a British priest and general secretary of the LGCM (Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement). Recalling perhaps Ephesians 4:32 or (less charitability) the more cautionary Matthew 6:15, Kirker forgave him. There have since (as far as is known) been no exorcisms at Lambeth conferences but the squabbles over gay male and female clergy have never been resolved and when, early in 2026, a woman was enthroned as the 106th
AoC, the schisms began with a number of African churches announcing they were no longer in communion with Canterbury.
Exorcism and the Ayatollah
Umberto Nicola Tommaso Giovanni Maria di Savoia (1904–1983) was the last king of Italy, his reign as Umberto II lasting but thirty-four days during May-June 1946; Italians nicknamed him the Re di Maggio (May king) although some better-informed Romans preferred regina di maggio (May queen). At the instigation of the US and British political representatives of the allied military authorities, in April 1944 he was appointed regent because it was clear popular support for Victor Emmanuel III (1869-1947; King of Italy 1900-1946) had collapsed. Despite Victor Emmanuel’s reputation suffering by association, his relationship with the fascists had often been uneasy and, seeking means to blackmail the royal house, Benito Mussolini's (1883-1945; Duce (leader) & Prime-Minister of Italy 1922-1943) spies compiled a dossier (reputably several inches thick), detailing the ways of his son’s private life. Then styled Prince of Piedmont, the secret police discovered Umberto was a sincere and committed Roman Catholic but one unable to resist his "satanic homosexual urges” and his biographer agreed, noting the prince was "forever rushing between chapel and brothel, confessional and steam bath" often spending hours “praying for divine forgiveness.” Presumably, he contented himself he'd often found forgiveness though that didn't stop him afterwards repeating his sins.
After a referendum abolished the monarchy, Umberto II lived his remaining 37 years in exile, never again setting foot on Italian soil; while his turbulent marriage to Princess Marie-José of Belgium (1906-2001) produced four children, historians consider it likely none were his. Despite extensive documentation confirming the prince was possessed by “satanic
homosexual urges”, it’s most unlikely the Duce ever contemplated
contacting the Vatican to seek the intervention of an exorcist. Although baptized by his devout Catholic
mother, Mussolini when young became an atheist and was stridently anti-clerical,
something more than one biographer has attributed (at least in part) to the
canings ill-discipline earned him from the monks who were his school
teachers. The Duce certainly understood
the Church could be useful and knew his regime likely would not long have
survived had the Vatican become his enemy but, although famously he signed the
Lateran Treaty (1929) making Catholicism the state religion, he never took
seriously the “devotional or mystical stuff” and, after he met a messy end, he
was denied a religious funeral.
Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (1939-2026; Supreme Leader, Islamic Republic of Iran 1989-2026, Khamenei 1.0, left) with his son and successor, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei (b 1969; Supreme Leader, Islamic Republic of Iran since 2026, Khamenei 2.0, right). One
unexpected announcement after it was revealed Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei had been appointed
supreme leader after the assassination of his father (Grand Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei) came
from the White House, the claim being the US intelligence agencies had assessed
the available information and concluded Ayatollah Khamenei (v2.0) “may be gay”. Donald Trump (b 1946; POTUS 2017-2021 and
since 2025) publicly confirmed he'd been briefed on the unconfirmed
intelligence, “news” he seemed to receive with an amusement he made little attempt to supress. The US agencies
never provided anything substantive to support the claim and most analysts
concluded the tale (although there may at least have been "youthful indiscretions") was likely part of a disinformation campaign intended
to diminish the new supreme leader’s authority among religious elites in Tehran
and destabilize the regime. The lack of
any authentication was tiresomely irrelevant to the meme-makers and response to
the suggestion the man standing in the sandals of Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini (1900-1989; Supreme Leader, Islamic Republic of Iran, 1979-1989) might
be “a bit of a
homosexual” was swift, “gayatollah” memes soon circulating, generative
AI (artificial intelligence) allowing intricately detailed, multi-media
productions to be posted within minutes.
For whatever reason, since assuming the leadership, although written
statements have in his name been issued, he’s been neither seen nor heard and
while known to be recuperating from injuries sustained in the attack in
which his father was among those killed, one doubtlessly mischievous suggestion
was his absence being explained by a raqi (exorcist) undertaking the long and
exacting task of driving from his soul the “satanic
homosexual urges” alleged by US intelligence.
Exorcism is a part of
Islamic theology and is known as al-'azm,
ṭard al-shayṭān/al-jinn (expulsion of devils/spirits) or ruqya (spell, charm, magic, incantation). A spiritual practice, rugya most often is deployed to heal ailments or cure sickness but
practitioners can be called upon to deal with the mental distress attributed to
spiritual entities like Jinn (witchcraft; supernatural entities), or the evil
eye; certainly that would seem to extend to an ayatollah’s “satanic homosexual
urges”. In an authentic Islamic exorcism
(Ruqyah Ash-Shar'iyyah), the core
component is the recitation of Qur'anic verses (the most invoked the Surah Al-Fatihah, Ayatul Kursi, and the
last surahs), augmented by prophetic
prayers and supplications to seek Allah's protection and drive out malevolent
entities. For those not brought up in
the Islamic tradition, the nature of Jinn
sometimes is misunderstood because the supernatural creatures are forces with
free will, capable of both good and evil.
In an exorcism, an exorcist, depending on what’s involved, might command
the miscreant Jinn to depart or break their spell without harming them. However, like Christianity, Islam over the
centuries spread far and wide, coming into contact with many cultures with long
traditions of rituals, magic, witchcraft and such; inevitably, there was “mixing
& matching” meaning in some places “folk” elements can be detected in what
are notionally Islamic practices, something especially prevalent in North
Africa. Islamic scholars and clerics of
course tend to disapprove of departures from Qur'anic orthodoxies based on the
words of the Prophet Muhammad (circa 570-632).
Because most scholars regard “folk healing” as “primitive superstition”,
these methods frequently are discouraged and fatāwā have been issued,
especially if the rituals involve fortune-telling, objects like amulets or the invocation of beings other than Allah;
the last strictly is forbidden (Haram) and constituting the major sin of Shirk (associating partners with God).
