 | |
| Author | Michael W. Cuneo |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Doubleday |
Publication date | 2001 |
| ISBN | 9780385501767 |
American Exorcism: Expelling Demons in the Land of the Plenty is a 2001 book written by Michael Cuneo and published originally by Doubleday. It follows the experience of Cuneo while he toured the United States of America and witnessed over 50 exorcisms. [1]
American Exorcism discusses the history and popular culture representation of exorcism in the United States, juxtaposed with Cuneo's experience attending over 50 exorcisms in person. Through his research, Cuneo highlights important figures, such as Malachi Martin, Frank and Ida B. Hammond, and Peter Blatty, as well topics such as the difference between Catholic exorcism and Deliverance ministry. This text discusses the meteoric rise of exorcisms in the United States, especially alongside other technological advancements. Mark Dery, writing for The Washington Post , explained that
Cuneo reads the phenomenon as a backlash by religious conservatives, adrift in a secular society that they perceive as amoral, while at the same time feeling alienated from an increasingly secularized Protestantism or a post-Vatican-II Catholicism. To him, the charismatic ministers and renegade priests are casting out the demons of social change: feminism, the sexual revolution, New Age spirituality and the loss of faith in traditional institutions. [2]
Kirkus Reviews called American Exorcism "an engaging and detailed document of a provocative subculture [...] that will neither confirm nor confound the reader’s demonic fears". [3]
Publishers Weekly referred to the book as "mesmerizing", noting that the book is "lucidly written and riveting as any horror novel". They concluded that "Cuneo's excursion into the darker paths of American faith offers a deeply disturbing, ironic vision of what he sees as the unintended consequences of popular culture for the modern religious imagination." [4]
Mark Dery, writing for The Washington Post , noted that the book is "armed with a wry wit and girded in the armor of an inquiring but 'open-mindedly skeptical' intellect". [2]
Spirit possession is an unusual or an altered state of consciousness and associated behaviors which are purportedly caused by the control of a human body and its functions by spirits, ghosts, demons, angels, or gods. The concept of spirit possession exists in many cultures and religions, including Buddhism, Christianity, Haitian Vodou, Dominican 21 Divisions, Hinduism, Islam, Wicca, and Southeast Asian, African, and Native American traditions. Depending on the cultural context in which it is found, possession may be considered voluntary or involuntary and may be considered to have beneficial or detrimental effects on the host. Spirit possession is often regarded as a reason in support of spirits, deities or demons. In a 1969 study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, spirit possession beliefs were found to exist in 74% of a sample of 488 societies in all parts of the world, with the highest numbers of believing societies in Pacific cultures and the lowest incidence among Native Americans of both North and South America. As Pentecostal and Charismatic Christian churches move into both African and Oceanic areas, a merger of belief can take place, with demons becoming representative of the "old" indigenous religions, which the Christian ministers attempt to exorcise.
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Exorcism is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be done by causing the entity to swear an oath, performing an elaborate ritual, or simply by commanding it to depart in the name of a higher power. The practice is ancient and part of the belief system of many cultures and religions.
In Christianity, exorcism involves the practice of casting out one or more demons from a person whom they are believed to have possessed. The person performing the exorcism, known as an exorcist, is often a member of the Christian Church, or an individual thought to be graced with special powers or skills. The exorcist may use prayers and religious material, such as set formulas, gestures, symbols, icons, or amulets. The exorcist often invokes God, Jesus, angels and archangels, and various saints to aid with the exorcism. Christian exorcists most commonly cast out demons in Jesus' name.
The Catholic Church authorizes the use of exorcism for those who are believed to be the victims of demonic possession. In Roman Catholicism, exorcism is a sacramental but not a sacrament, unlike baptism or confession. Unlike a sacrament, exorcism's "integrity and efficacy do not depend ... on the rigid use of an unchanging formula or on the ordered sequence of prescribed actions. Its efficacy depends on two elements: authorization from valid and licit Church authorities, and the faith of the exorcist." The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: "When the Church asks publicly and authoritatively in the name of Jesus Christ that a person or object be protected against the power of the Evil One and withdrawn from his dominion, it is called exorcism."
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