UNDERSTANDING EXORCISM. Part 2

In ancient times, holes were drilled into a person who was behaving in what was considered abnormal to let out what they believe were evil spirits. Cave paintings indicate that people believed the practice would cure epileptic seizures, migraines, and mental disorders. The bone that was trepanned was kept and worn as a symbol or charm to keep the evil spirits away.

The civilizations of Greece, Rome, Egypt, China, and India believed in satyrs, spirits, and goblins. The inhabited the sea with mermaids, the rivers and fountains with nymphs, the air with fairies, the fire with Lares and Penates, and the earth with fauns, dryads, and hamadryads. These Nature spirits were held in high esteem, and propiciatory offerings were made to them. Many of the gods worshiped by them were elementals. The Greeks gave the name 'daemon' to some of these elementals, especially those of higher orders, and worshiped them. The mysterious spirit which instructed Socrates, and whom the great philosopher spoke in the highest terms belonged to the divine ones which overshadow themselves in the heart of human nature and who felt its presence and nurtured them.

The branch of philosophy dealing with spiritual substances, based on the research made by Paracelsus (Theo-Phrastus Bom-Bastus Von Hohenheim) maintain that each of the 4 primary elements -earth, water, fire, air, consists of a subtle, vaporous principle and a gross corporeal substance. Air, a 2-fold in nature-tangible atmosphere and an intangible, volatile substratum termed 'spiritual air.' Fire as a visible and invisible, discernible and indiscernible, a spiritual, ethereal flame manifested through a material, substantial flame. Carrying the analogy further, water consists of a dense fluid and a potential essence of a fluidic nature. Earth has likewise 2 essentials -the lower being fixed, terreous, immobile; the higher, rarefied, mobile, and virtual. Minerals, plants, animals, men live in a world composed by the 4 elements in which the physical image has been applied to the primarily form of them and its corresponding invisible, spiritual constituent has been applied to their elemental essences of them.

Paracelsus divided these entities of the elementals into 4 distinct groups, which he called gnomes, undines, sylphs, and salamanders. He believed that they were living entities, many resembling human beings in shape, and inhabiting worlds of their own, unknown to man because of his undeveloped senses that were incapable of functioning beyond the limitation of the 4 physical elements.

Beliefs in spirit possession have remained virtually unchanged since the beginning of civilization and still exist to this day. But the way people understand it have changed due to the lifestyle of our modern world.