The Exorcism Handbook

Is it that demons, Satan, evil spirits or bad juju that enter a person and drives them to do weird things and/or manipulate their bodies (change voice, imprint upside down crosses on their skin, levitate them, make them puke and talk in strange gibberish), or is it weak minded people, perhaps some with a chemical imbalance that were taught, coaxed, indoctrinated or unconsciously scripted to act that way (brainwashed). I think the later.

Filipino priest, Father Jose Francisco Syquia, is new to the exorcism game but he claims to have exorcised 100's. The Philippines is a nation of 94 million peeps and Catholicism is the dominate religion (thanks Spanish). Lack of education and poverty is in ample supply on all of the (aprox) 7,000 islands. The indigenous pagan religions look like psychedelic voodoo and the daitu (shaman) is still prevalent in many barangays (towns, villages, communities). Some times it is mixed with Catholicism to make a super crazy looking hybrid. The Filipino's (my peeps) are a very devout people (lots o' Muslims also). What goes hand in glove with religiosity is lack of education and an understanding of the physical world that we live in.

The Rite For Exorcism is the handbook/playbook for exorcising demons and it is used by the Manila Archdiocese of Exorcism. What we have to believe is that by saying/chanting/singing these invocations in this order, with a sincere belief (it doesn't work without faith), will rid the host of an evil spirit that resides within. There are certain clothes to wear for the priest and deff. a certain order to do an exorcism (because if you don't wear that special purple robe, then it won't work). To preform a correct exorcism, the priest must go to confession and if possible, preform an entire mass-otherwise it won't work.

Previously I wrote that the Vatican is training more priests to do exorcisms because there is an increase in the demand for them. So demons were chillin' until very recently and now they are back to their evil ways, ya know, possessing people, and now we need more trained exorcists; or is the Vatican, like any good drug dealer, creating the demand for their supply. The thingy about Syquia is that he didn't go through the training (at least the article didn't mention it) and that his Bishop said to do the exorcisms anyways because he has a degree in psychology.

So in 2011 are we to believe that evil spirits do evil things to innocent people, make them speak in strange incoherent language, and ontop of that, that saying certain words in a certain order, while wearing special clothes and using magical holy water* will "cast demons away." C'mon now.

* Because the regular, ordinary water was blessed the entire substance of it has changed. It is no longer just water, it is God infused water, more than water, there is something in it, about it, that has the power to do these great things. Once again, c'mon.

* Yahoo article

* The exorcism playbook