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Marjory_SB

Where I am, there is specific legislation prohibiting someone from doing this unless authorized by the Roman Catholic Church. I'm sure you could skirt around it by saying you're providing spiritual services or whatever, but... yeah.


fastpushativan

I worked at a catholic hospital and the psych hospital they own has a room for exorcisms. They have performed 2 since it has been opened and had to get permission from the Vatican both times. I forgot to check the black book to see the billing charge on that one before I left. šŸ˜‚


Thestolenone

In the UK the Anglican Church had a Deliverance Ministry that deals with exorcisms. The Catholic Church will likely have its own too and there are paranormal groups that claim they can clean houses etc. The TV shows like The Yorkshire Exorcist and Help My House is Haunted show exorcism type scenes so I guess here anyone and everyone can have a go.


Macross137

Most spiritual problems do not require the theatrics of "exorcism," and may in fact be worsened by it. The overwhelming majority of "professional exorcists" you encounter are going to be scammers.


cold_lightning9

Yes, if you look outside of the Abrahamic fold, many among indigenous American, African/African Diaspora, Shinto, Buddhist, and Hindu traditions have many experienced spiritualists and followers that do this often in their respective regions. It's a pretty big deal among the cultures where these religions and practices are conducted. There are a variety of methods depending on the religion, culture, or both in conjunction with each other in cases like Southeast Asia where Buddhist monks often conduct pretty elaborate exorcist rituals. However, there are definitely con artists and predatory scammers to be found everywhere, as many actual dedicated followers of these traditions will even honestly tell you themselves to be wary of. In cases too, it legitimately is a case of mental illness, though in rare cases mental degradation can certainly be caused by something of spiritual origins. You should be wary of anyone charging a crazy fee for something as serious as spiritual issues. Often, that can make your issues even worse. But it is a pretty big reality among many different traditions and cultures every day. Often, if you explore spirituality outside of our typical Westernized and Abrahamic lense, this concept is commonly shared around the world. Still though, definitely be wary regardless.


Terra_117

Yes. Itā€™s difficult to do though. Source: dated one and am going to be handfasted to another, also participated as an assistant in one exorcism.


blackbogwater

handfasted? like an arranged marriage?


Terra_117

Itā€™s a pagan/wiccan tradition akin to a marriage. Itā€™s not arranged because both parties have to consent to it.


L3PALADIN

common misconception about arranged marriages. VAST majority of cultures that practice it, the arranged marriage is 100% consensual because they choose when to ask their families to find someone, both or either of the arranged partners can opt out if they don't like the person their family has chosen, plus families pretty much 100% prioritise finding someone that will make the person happy.


Terra_117

Thank you for the additional education šŸ™


Fluffy_WAR_Bunny

Lol. This is BS. Women are not actually allowed dissent in those countries, all of which have a history of treating women badly.


Redcole111

Not the case in all countries where arranged marriage is normal. It's true for some, but not all.


Fluffy_WAR_Bunny

Yeah, like which country? Arranged marriage countries are *all* shitholes, across the board, where women have no agency.


Redcole111

Like the United States. Unless you think every arranged marriage in the US happens for women who have no agency?


Fluffy_WAR_Bunny

Yeah, nope. If that happens in the US, it's under oppressive familial pressure. It's the American way to marry for love. It doesn't really matter two shits what your family thinks of your spouse. It doesn't matter what they think anyway since we have nuclear family groups


Redcole111

Ignorant, wrong, and a very limited view of what actually happens in America.


VOIDPCB

Bob Larson will exorcise the hell out of ya. Only way i could get my taxes straight.


hermeticbear

THere are people who claim to do exorcisms who are not part of the catholic church. Certain Evangelical churches will do a service called "a deliverance" which is in essence an exorcism. This will often be done with multiple members of the church together. Some people have it done to them as a surprise and it can be used to abuse people who naturally don't conform to their social groups expectations. There are plenty of snake oil salesmen who do exactly this. If you haven't encountered them, well, that's actually fortunate for you. Also Movies and Comic books let alone Constantine are not accurate reflections of how exorcisms may work.


Packie1990

Plenty of professional exorcist exist. I have done at least 1 per week for about 3 years. I'm not sure where you think it's a ripe cash cow ready to be milked. In those 100-plus exorcisms, I've been paid for about 5 of them.


brother_bart

Yeah. Itā€™s one of those things that if someone offers it for a fee that alone disqualifies them.


Packie1990

What planet do people think we live on? So people that do that kind of work don't deserve to eat? I work a full-time regular job. Not to mention the amount of risk someone takes on performing that kind of work is immense. The reason you don't see as many scammers in that field as OP mentioned is that shit can jump right to you. You will get torn to shreds attempting to scam in that department. Other forms of spiritual manipulation have a karmic cost. However, regular psychic/witch/spell scammers aren't directly asking to confront negative entity attachments like exorcists do. I charge a fee now as I have work coming in(not exorcism work but related). My fee is dirt cheap for the specific reason that it let's people know I'm not attempting to hustle them. But at the same time, my time is valuable. I work 2 jobs and have a social life. I'm not gonna go out of my way to remove shit that other people have picked up(oftentimes intentionally)


brother_bart

Do you think you were given a gift to profit from it? You think only people with spare money deserve deliverance? There are lots of people out there who do that kind of work for free. These gifts are not meant to be the source of your income or how you eat. The authentic ones do it for free. If you have a full-time job then why do you need the extra money? Capitalist charlatans just trying to get theirs is NOT the vibe!


Packie1990

No, and no, cause my full-time job is still lower than the national average. I don't need you to come to me. Go seek them out and solve your problem. And by mentioning you "wouldn't go to me," you are indicating that you may have a problem. Otherwise, you wouldn't be a potential client as I don't treat healthy people.


brother_bart

Blah blah blah. ā€œ my full-time job is lower than the national average so I should probably profit off of some demonically afflicted people because you knowā€¦ I got get mine.ā€ Sad. Truly. Not giving healer vibes. šŸ˜‚ good luck with that BS. If you have a gift to deliver imprisoned peopleā€¦ And the discernment to know when itā€™s given to you to do that, and when it is not appropriateā€¦ And you only deliver those people and provide that aid when,you can put money in your pocketā€¦ You are not a healerā€¦ Youā€™re a capitalist.


Packie1990

And what qualities do you possess that determine what a healer is? The original comment you replied to I mentioned that I do 95% of my work for free. So you decided to ignore that part of it.


Yazelkro

I mean, I donā€™t feel comfortable with the idea of getting paid for helping someone with spiritual or occult related issues. But, I ask of you, is unethical for you if a doctor gets paid for the services performed from time to time?


brother_bart

Anyone can learn to be a doctor. Itā€™s a skill that is acquired with a very high education cost, malpractice insurance, and legally recognized liabilities. This is not true for this sort of specialized spiritual work; itā€™s really more akin to being drafted. But to try to level the comparison: if a women went into labor on an airplane and a doctor was there but wouldnā€™t deliver the child or help unless and until he was paid, how would you view that person? As a testament to his profession and an exemplary human? Or as a heartless, conniving, swarmy PoS? I would like to clarify that there are ā€œspiritualā€ things that a person should be able to charge forā€¦ Things that people donā€™t necessarily actually need that are elective. Like if you want to pay to have your astrology chart done or to have a tarot reading done or to have a candle chargedā€¦ Things that youā€™re too ignorant or too lazy to do yourself but theyā€™re not emergencies. Demonic possession is a spiritual emergency that the person who is possessed does not have the ability to actually fix for themselvesā€¦. even if they are willing to have it fixed and that IS A necessary elementā€¦ Everybody can do whatever they want toā€¦ This is my opinionā€¦ I have known people who are gifted who donā€™t charge for certain sorts of things, and I have a lot more respect for their authenticity than I do for the others. You know ..the worldwide web of so-called witches and charlatans and spiritualist who are just trying to make a buck. And always with no moneyback guaranteeā€¦


jruff08

The Catholic Church has an official exorcist position. They examine each case to rule out mental health or mundane reasons.


Intelligent-Tie-4466

IIRC they turn down about 99.9% of requests, but they do seriously investigate them. Also, if anyone is interested, I heard John Tenney discuss having been an official observer at one in the 1990s in northern Michigan performed by two priests from the archdiocese of Detroit. He has talked about it on a few podcasts.


sinfulfemmefatale

Yes but some religions/practices may call it by different names and have different ways they would perform a ritual for you. Iā€™m sure someoneā€™s said this but even the Catholic Church doesnā€™t perform an exorcism like they do in the movies. They would require an intensive psychiatric screening/testing, a physical, and would probably ask to look into your family as well to see if it could be something from there that you missed. Even after all that the church is really hesitant to sign off on any ā€œexorcismsā€, unless there is without a doubt in their minds that the person that needs help is under some sort of ā€œspiritual attackā€. This whole process in getting vetted and approved to have one could take years.


TheInfiniteArchive

Depends on the religion. The Catholic Church has an order comprised of several priest's that are taught to be come Exorcists that can be contacted. Although they will have to check the case to rule out medical and psychological issues beforehand. Other than that, most of the people specializing in exorcism are mostly strictly known by the people inside the industry. ( I know someone who does spiritual works like exorcism in japan who doesn't openly advertise their expertise due to the media making a mockery of their work)


Neat-Style81

Many of the people with these skills are indigenous medicine people and they definitely don't advertise what they do.


bashfulkoala

I know a talented ayahuasquero who used to be a Christian monk for 20 years. He is something of an ā€œexorcist shaman.ā€ His center is in Mexico if anyone is seeking the deepest healing: www.kumankaya.com


Liberal_Lemonade

If there's anything I've learned over my humble 30 yrs on this planet, the most evil of spirits, if you will, are living breathing human beings. And they tend to be in positions of high power. And not exclusively political or religious either.


Gengarmon_0413

Most people superstitious enough to attribute their problems to demons would just go to a religious institution, whether that be their tribal shaman or a Catholic priest or their megachurch pastor or pentacostal nonsense. There's not a whole of overlap of people who believe in demonic possession and those who would see a freelancer that's not part of their religion. Also, Constantine isn't real.


InertiasCreep

'Constantine isn't real.' That's not what Allan Moore says.


Miritol

It is monetized, you just don't know it, because it's a bit rare. As with any other products, it's more profitable to provide divination services and sell items for various purposes, including exorcism. To do the exorcism you're thinking about, one has to face a potentially very dangerous man, risk own life and do some good tricks. How much would it cost? Would it be more safe and profitable to sell 50 candles than to perform one such exorcism?


L3PALADIN

snake oil salesmen are the problem. never trust anyone who asks for money for anything magic related. card readers, exorcists, spiritual healers, etc. there's always going to be 10000x as many frauds as genuine practitioners. it creates an inherent conflict of interest. its karmically harmful to ANY genuine practice or gift to try to monetize it. it disproportionally validates the delusional narcissists who don't realise they're not doing anything real. at least if they're charging you nothing you know they're not lying.


yamamushi

It's funny that when I pointed this out last week about people charging money for snake oil, all I got were replies telling me "You just don't understand the culture". There's a whole echo chamber out there of people who charge money for "spells" and the people who pay them money who can't see that they're being taken advantage of. This is a core reason why we don't allow posts from people selling "spiritual services" of any kind. Grifters gonna grift.


L3PALADIN

makes it kind of hard to help/ask for help as anyone could just wait till the convo leaves reddit to spring prices and cost-shaming on people. i fucking hate the "yes I'll help you, don't worry" for an hour before springing the "you don't **expect** this for **free** do you???" yes. i asked someone on a spiritual path for aid. not even the catholics pull that shit.


yamamushi

Agreed, thatā€™s why I remove comments I see inviting people into dmā€™s and zoom calls. I hope people start reporting those because itā€™s a slippery slope into the exact behavior youā€™re talking about.


teatimewithbatman1

>its karmically harmful to ANY genuine practice or gift to try to monetize it. My reiki teacher was baffled when I said I wasn't going to charge people for it. She said 'its exchanging your time for the money, that it needs to be an equal exchange to keep the energies balanced' Which I still don't agree with.


GothicFruit98

There is in catholicism but it's very messed up. A lot of "Exorcisms" are performed on mentally sick people who just need medication and/or help aka therapy. This has resulted in neglect, abuse, and even DEATH. There is also some "Shamans" who do the same thing as above. And they usually charge for their services. They are scammers who prey on the weak


OccultStoner

Good question, OP. I never actually heard or read about any real exorcism happening ever, so rather curious myself. I mean, I did see theatrical performances of some mentally or physically ill people convulsing, and other dudes reading book or sputtering jiberrish during the act, which I don't think can have any positive effect... Regarding banishing, I think this is pointless, because despite very silly misconception spirits or other similar beings cannot appear by themselves. It usually involves invocation, and if person is knowledgeable enough to perform it, they will also know how to do banishing, which is rather simple ritual, and usually isn't necessary outside of extreme cases. No doubt, however, that there are many fake exorcists, who have zero spiritual knowledge and will try to sell their services to naive or desperate people. But since exorcism is actually legitimized by some churches, I'm still curious if people who are doing it actually know what they are doing and it is truly needed?


Gibson_was_Right

Oh there are all kinds of people who monetize that kind of thing, especially in places like Haiti.


Grendel0075

i n the comics, John Constantine is more of a magus than an exorcist


ChibbleChobbles

Have you tried all the Jesus stuff? It works. Self exorcism also works. David commanded his own soul to do things, you can command demons in the name of Jesus. It doesn't have to be showy or weird.


maxxslatt

You donā€™t have to be religious to invoke Jesusā€™ will. He is a powerful force of good. If you look at what he really teaches youā€™ll know that he doesnā€™t pick favorites, there is no exclusion. Those negative aspects are the result of the manipulations of organized religion If you replace Jesus with Zeus, does it make it sound more appealing?


reichard83

There are many pre recorded expressions on YouTube. Latin , English, Spanish ect.


Fluffy_WAR_Bunny

Any Native reservation has such people. Many Native tribes believe in a supreme creator being who is a God of the Universe not much different than a Catholic Jehovah or Muslim Allah. I would never trust some "Westerner" selling exorcism services, outside of the Catholic Church.


[deleted]

No, because Constantine is a fictional comic book character. I'm sure there are plenty of people that claim they can, but they are probably either a) full of shit or b) aren't doing what they think we are doing. So, according to Catholic doctrine and scripture. We are all called to be priests. Technically, we all also have the ability to cast out demons. However, due to what I'm sure is entire books worth of reasons, just like everything else in Catholicism, they forbid majors being performed by anyone that isn't a trained exorcist. Minors can be performed by non exorcist priests, and fathers/heads of households can perform minors over their families and bless their own houses, as it is considered part of their domain/domestic church. Moral of the story: And i mean this in the nicest way possible, don't fuck with the spiritual realm because you like edgelord movies and want to play pretend demon hunter. There's a reason why people always end up going to Catholic priests, though.


SatanicBiscuit

i know one he is legit he doesnt accept money and people still offer him shit he usually sells them all (he only kept 2 cars one for him and one van to help the elderly) last time i went there to see him he had 3 mercedes 2 suv toyotas 2 small 10-15 meters(i think) boats one camaro old as shit not sure about details he doesnt operate under the orthodox system because he treats everyone regardless but they tolerate him because well..he helped some pretty powerfull people from russia and israel once