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Rhetoric and Composition 201
Nadine Abo Laban
RHET 201
Section: 08
Summer 2012
Dr. Michael Gibson
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Table of Contents
Cover Letter…………………………………………….. 3
Research Paper………..………………………………. 4
-‐ Introduction…………………………………………... 4
-‐ Critical Analysis……………………………………… 8
-‐ Methodology………………………………………….. 14 -‐ Results of Survey & Analysis...…………………. 15 -‐ Interview……………………………………………….. 17 -‐ Conclusions & Recommendations.………… 18 Works Cited…………………………………………….. 19
Annotated Bibliography………………………….. 21
Appendix A………………………………………......... 22 1st Draft…………………………………………………. 27 2nd Draft………………………………………………… 39 3rd draft………………………………………………… 54 Journal 1……………………………………………….. 72 Journal 2……………………………………………….. 74 Journal 3……………………………………………….. 76 Journal 4……………………………………………….. 78 Journal 5……………………………………………….. 80
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Dear Dr. Gibson,
I initially took this course because it is a prerequisite for my Major. I was all upset
about coming to university everyday during summer. Every one goes to the beach or
travels abroad, while I’ll be spending my summer in classroom writing papers. First
day I enter class, I didn’t know what to expect. I was a bit hesitant, but I said to
myself that I’m going to give it a try and see how the first day goes. I decided that if I
didn’t like it I would drop the course. Five minutes into the first class was all it took
for me to completely change my mind on dropping the class. The classroom was
warm and filled with love and excitement, and the doctor was very sincere and
welcoming. I felt like I was home. I knew from that point on, that this summer will be
different, a good different. Every year during summer my mom would take me to
Sweden to spend the entire summer there. This is my first summer ever not going
there, but rather staying in Egypt. I am now thankful in so many ways, for having
taken the decision to stay.
I would like to thank Dr. Gibson, the funniest professor I’ve ever had, right
after me of course! I learned how to think outside the box, and how to get my own
information. I never knew research could be so fun and. I’ve never been a big fan of
writing papers, I always just look up a couple of links from Google to use as sources,
but Dr. Gibson taught me how much more useful it is to seek information you need on
your own. In fact, by researching on my own, I feel like I became more independent
and I can now count on myself when finding information out when writing a paper. I
am forever grateful for everything this course has taught me. I will never forget you
“ya doctooooor”.
Yours truly,
Nadine Alaa
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Nadine Abo Laban
Rhet 201 section 8
Dr. Gibson
I-search paper (Final Draft)
18th July 2012
Is The Invisible Believable?
Spirits – what are they? Do they really exist? Are they evil? Many questions
have been raised about their existence in the first place, and there is little or no
evidence to support that they are really there as it cannot be scientifically verified.
Well, they sure have had their “fame” considering the amount of literary works they
have been mentioned in, such as William Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Macbeth, Mark
Twain’s “A Ghost Story”, and Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”. Being a part
of literally work is not the only way ghosts/spirits came about, for they have also been
part of movies such as Topper, The Others, The Sixth Sense, and Paranormal Activity
(parts 1, 2 & 3). They have had their share of fame, but what makes most people think
they do exist? There is no doubt about the fact that ghosts have been reported
throughout history. The virtual appearance of ghosts we see on television is very
widespread considering the entities may not actually exist. What about the people
who do believe in ghosts? Where do they get their belief? Even the people who have
come to believe that spirits actually exist offer evidence such as photographs,
eyewitness reports, electronic voice phenomena, sudden increases in electromagnetic
radiation, and sudden temperature drops. One must also consider that this evidence
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can be explained without the presence of entities being the solution they come up
with. This, as a result, makes the existence of spiritual entities questionable at best.
Coming to the evidence part of the story, you can see how easily you can put
down any evidence presented to prove the existence of such spirits. Years ago, several
people claimed to have personally witnessed ghosts. It does seem probable that these
people really believe that they saw a ghost or a spirit; however, this is not
scientifically acceptable. You see, these stories go through bias and exaggeration and
other processes that twist and distort the truth, and thus, the result is a whole new
different story. That is why scientists disregard any eyewitness evidence since they
are impossible to test for accuracy. As for photographs, it is said that cameras do not
lie; however, it is just as easy to capture a picture, as it is to fake it. In an Internet
article by James Randi, an example is given about how some spiritualists tried to trick
people into believing that they had captured images of the deceased author, Sir Conan
Doyle, who supposedly became a spirit roaming the earth after his death in 1930. So
far we’ve established the faults in photography and eyewitness testimony about being
proof of the existence of spirits, but what about the electronic voice phenomena
(EVP)? This is a sophisticated term used for voices that have been recorded on tape.
EVP recordings demonstrate the presence of spirits by recording any low or high
pitch abnormal sounds in the surrounding atmosphere. However, even those can be
misleading as Carroll’s source states in his Internet article “Electric Voice
Phenomenon”. Some people are said to have faked the voices recorded in the tapes
through the use of equalizers and such. In the same article, the author cites an
explanation as to why we may think we heard noises and voices of spirits in the
recordings. A psychologist named Jim Alcock said: “when our brains try to find
patterns, they are guided in part by what we expect to hear…people can clearly ‘hear’
voices and words not just in the context of muddled voices, but in a pattern of white
noise in which there are no words at all”. So it has become obvious that EVP
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recordings are as useless as photographs and eyewitness testimonies have proven to
be.
Yet another piece of evidence provided by believers of spirits is abrupt drop in
temperatures. Now, some sprit hunters have actually recorded, and even felt, this
sudden temperature drop, but are they really caused by ghosts? It is said that these
cold areas result from the presence of a spirit who sucks out the heat/electricity from
its surrounding so he can use it to produce sound. The energy the spirit draws from its
surroundings supposedly makes their own energy stronger, but once the spirit makes a
noticeable sound, that energy is lost. However, Carroll finds such evidence to not be
logical. In an online article he wrote he says: “many people report physical changes in
haunted places, especially a feeling of a presence accompanied by temperature drop
and hearing unaccountable sounds”. He states that these people really do believe
they’ve witnessed strange happenings; they are not imagining them. However, Carroll
says that ghosts aren’t the reason behind these incidents. Alas, the counter argument:
what evidence is there that they DO exist? Since science does not play a part, does
that make faith play a huge role?
Perhaps if you experience something unusual yourself you might change your
beliefs. For example, seeing a ghost with your own eyes, or getting possessed by one.
This is a short story about what one particular person went through before deciding to
become a psychic and chase after spirits for a living. Joy Star was a student attending
a psychic development class. This class taught them to meditate and to let their mind
roam free and eventually their “spirit guide” would come to them and guide them in
the right direction. The students would then write down on paper any information that
crosses their minds whatsoever. After a couple of months of practice, Joy noticed his
notes (whatever he supposedly received from his spirit guide) were freakishly
accurate, so he decided to continue his practice outside of class as well. One day,
while meditating, Joy calls out to his telepathic teacher: “Who are you? And what’s
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your name?” All of a sudden, a figure appears in front of him as though he were real.
He wore a wide headband across his forehead, and his body was dressed in what
appeared to be a skirt and a tunic. Immediately, Star’s question was answered and he
wrote down the answer that came to his mind on a piece of paper as usual. After this
vision he looked down on the piece of parchment in his hand and it read “IAD”.
Having gotten a bit frightened after this experience, Joy decided to visit his teacher,
who is originally a psychic. The teacher silently sits there and draws a figure on a
blank piece of paper. After finishing the drawing, the teacher flips the paper and
shows Joy the sketch. With an astonished face, he examines the drawing that appeared
to look exactly like the figure from his vision. From that day onward, Joy Star decided
to become a psychic and donate the remaining time of his life helping people find
their “Spirit Guide”. Since brainwashing or misleading by the teacher may have
occurred, for the students to still believe that they are seeing their “spirit guides” must
mean that the belief in spirits comes mostly from faith because the teacher provided
no evidence of their existence.
But are all spirits good and pure? Psychics themselves have stated the
existence of evil entities that cause corruption in our world, spiritual possession being
a very common example of that. However, demonic possession has many treatments.
Of those treatments is the exorcism ritual, which is the process of expelling evil
entities from a person by making the spirit swear an oath or by commanding the spirit
to leave using the name of a higher power. So how do different religions view the
exorcism ritual? And what are the contradicting views of science and religion on
exorcism and the concept of possession?
To fully understand the concept of possession and why it occurs, a lot of
research had to be carried out, and that is exactly where I started. I hit the American
University in Cairo (AUC) library database, and extracted a lot of helpful sources that
enhanced my knowledge about the topic.
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The first source I encountered was an online portal for news that originates
from Singapore called “AsiaOne.” This source speaks about the movie “The Exorcist”
and then relates it to real life situations. The movie is about a girl named Emily, who
gets possessed by several demons, and this is where a conflict arose between her
parents. The father believed that she was possessed and wanted to seek the help of a
priest, whereas the mother believed that her daughter is schizophrenic and overdosed
her daughter with pills to treat her. The result was that the girl passed away, leaving
both guardians in utter remorse over their deceased daughter. This is very relatable to
real life situations as conflict always arises in such situations when the guardians do
not perceive the exorcism ritual as the only solution. Another similar source to
AsiaOne I came across was an article by Harrap Chambers, which talks about the
ritual itself and how some movies, such as The Exorcist, illustrate how it’s carried out
since witnessing an actual ritual may endanger the person’s life. Another article by
the same author called “Demons” also supports this theory. It explains how in some
cases, when the demon exists one body it may immediately invade any other body
near the victim’s. This makes witnessing an exorcism very dangerous as you are
endangering your life and risking getting possessed by an entity. This also means that
the priest is putting his life on the risk, because even though he is a very religious
person, he is still prone to get possessed by a demon.
Another very interesting article I read was called “Exorcism”, written by
Nancy Caciola. A very intriguing part I found in it was “These evil spirits penetrate
into the bodies of their victims and completely control, or at least strongly influence,
their actions. Possessing spirits may also cause physical illness by interfering with the
body's normal physiological processes or mental illness by affecting the will, intellect,
and emotions”. This previous extract of the article explains what sort of behavior a
demonically possessed person may show. Like the movie I discussed earlier, the main
character had all these symptoms. This article was very helpful also because it
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discussed an aspect that I did not think of, that being the role of gender in the matter.
“Spirit possession afflicts women more often than men, this pattern has been the
subject of much discussion among specialists who study the phenomenon”. I want to
know why it is that women are possessed often that men. The spiritual world is also
classified into men and women. Perhaps men who get attracted to a human woman
decide to possess her. However, that is only my interpretation of it.
Next is an online article, which explains in detail how the ritual is carried out
by several religions as the methods used to expel the demon differs from religion to
religion. It starts out by the priest calling out to the demon to show himself, or to
make any signs of proof that he is inside the person. Usually responses are movement
of furniture or levitation of the victim’s body or none at all. He then starts reading
specific parts of the Bible or Qur’an (depending on the religion), and demands the
spirit to exit the body. If the demon refuses to leave different methods are tried out
and sometimes the ritual is paused so the body can rest. So if the ritual doesn’t work,
Pfeiffer’s book has the answer to that. The book discusses the use of prayers as one of
the methods used during an exorcism, and states that it has proved to be the most
effective. “Belief in demons as the cause of mental health problems is a well-known
phenomenon in many cultures of the world”. The previous sentence is a quote from
his book, which shows that he had no doubts in their existence. Speaking of culture, I
believe it’s a major contributor to our beliefs and our behaviors. Being born a Muslim
has impacted my opinion towards this matter. As a follower of my religion, it goes
without saying that I must believe that spirits exist because my religion says so. Most
of the Arab world, or the Middle East have somewhat the same beliefs because we
were all brought up in the same way. However, on the west, it is different. People are
more individual there and culture does not play a big role in their lives compared to
Arabs. That of course, influences their beliefs because what they believe is mostly
counts on what they perceive. The west side is more technologically advanced and
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therefore, science plays a huge role in their life. Science and religion do not agree on
many things, as religion basically deals with having faith. Science on the other hand
uses facts and figures to prove the existence of something. That is why different
cultures will affect your views and your beliefs, especially on a topic so sensitive like
the spiritual world.
The next source I found was a book, an encyclopedia actually. It talks about
why the spirit may possess a person and also discusses the types of demons. Spiritual
possession may occur through food, while others may enter through air or water.
Additional causes of possession include staring in mirrors for long periods of time. It
has also been said that if you talk in the bathroom a lot you might get possessed
because bathrooms are where demons live. Sometimes I think they are all just
superstitions and that if a demon really wants to invade a body, it will not wait for you
to look at yourself in the mirror, but rather it will just enter your body. The source
also discusses how there are types of demons, and some may be more evil than others.
i.e. causing more damage to the victim both physically and psychologically. So some
demons might be harder to extract out of the body than others. It would be really
unfortunate for someone to get possessed by a really evil demon.
Nancy Viola wrote a book full of stories about possession cases, and the
consequences the families had to bear. This book is divided into chapters, each
chapter telling the personal story of a person who has been a victim of possession. I
didn’t have time to read it all, but one of the stories I read inside this book really
touched me. It was about a boy who got possessed when he was 12 years old. This
entity entered Adam one day when he was playing alone in the park. He started
talking to himself as though he is talking to someone. His mother would look outside
the window to check on him and would find him just sitting there talking to himself.
When she confronted him he said that he had made a new friend called Anne. Adam
claimed that Anne was a little girl that lived in this house before they did. When he
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mother started to get disturbed by this she took Adam to see a therapist. The doctor
informed the mother that it was only natural he has an imaginary friend, and that a lot
of kids pass this stage. However, it got out of hand when one night his mother,
Teresa, woke up to a sound in the kitchen. As she entered she saw Adam standing in
the middle holding a knife in one hand, and a dead squirrel in the other. Teresa
confiscated the knife from Adam and grounded him after he said that Anne had asked
him to do so. Three nights later, Adam went to the tools cabinet at 3:00 A.M and
fetched a hammer. His next victim was his own mother whom he hit to death on the
head in her sleep. Adam was taken by the government authorities to be placed in a
hospital for a while and then perhaps into foster care. This isn’t really a case of
possession; however, it shows that possession is not the only way spirits have
managed to affect our world. I read a few more stories in Nancy’s book, but some of
them seemed a bit unreal. This was a limit to my research because these stories may
be biased or distorted.
“The Great Exorcism” is another very interesting book I located in the AUC
library. It basically talks about where the author, Arthur Crane, believes evil is
derived from. “The materialists answer would be that originally there was nothing,
except atoms of matter at a distance from each other absolutely still and absolutely
cold”. So before earth and the entire universe existed there was nothing more than
matter floating in space. The author then talks about how God created our world in
just a few days. Moreover, Crane discusses how we are not born good or bad people,
but rather we choose whether we are going to be good or bad. I really agree with that
because these traits are not inborn. Our actions speak for themselves and make us who
we are. Everybody has bad days and gets bad thoughts for a while, but that doesn’t
mean that he/she is a bad person. Throughout his book, he states several times how he
believes that evil is not inborn, and argues that some spirits are good, while others are
evil. He concludes his chapter by saying that only the evil spirits invade human
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minds, and not the pure ones. I guess that’s true because if a spirit is pure, why would
it possess someone, right?
Another book called “Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained”, explains
many unsolved mysteries to the world. It deals with philosophy being a major aspect
for its explanations. It uses theories made up by Aristotle to explain how the world
came to exist and how the human mind works. Then it argues about (from Aristotle’s
point of view) how it is we sometimes know things that we cannot remember where
we learnt it. Aristotle’s explanation to this is that our “soul” has lived far more than
our actual bodies have, and that is why we sometimes know things that we do not
remember learning; that is, our soul has lived it but our body has not. So basically, he
believes that our soul came to existence way before our body did; however, not many
theorists agree with that. Looking at the religious part of it, being a Muslim myself, I
thought it would be interesting to find out more about the Christian religion, so this
book called “Christianity” will help me do just that. It discusses the history of
Christianity and how it started. It also discusses how churches function and the
importance of priests and such. In detail, it explains the exorcism ritual according to
the Christian religion. Other than the major books, I read a few articles; however,
some of them had contradicting, yet interesting, ideas. Online articles like
“Possession” and “Demonic Possession” discuss prayers and chants being the
ultimate solution to expel evil spirits from an individual. This is very common and
can be carried out by anyone who is religious but not necessarily a priest/sheikh.
However the article “Exorcism” states that only an exorcism ritual will result in an
abolishment of the spirit, and nothing else works. It also states that an expert must be
the one to carry out this ritual. A priest must also have a license so he can be allowed
to perform the ritual on the victim. That is a good thing because some things are not
meant to be meddled with, and this is one of them. Some kids play with the Ouija
board, which is used to summon a spirit and ask it questions. The board consists of
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the alphabet and a wooden pointy structure that is used by the spirit to point towards
the letters. This is very dangerous and can result in many mishaps.
An article that would argue with the previous articles I have read is a scientific
related one by Michael O’Donnell. This article looks at the scientific aspect of
possession. So as expected, it does not agree with the exorcism ritual as a solution to a
person who claims to be possessed. “The infidel policy on the question is to deny the
possibility of possession in any circumstances, either on the supposition, that there are
no evil spirits in existence, or that they are powerless to influence the human body in
the manner described”. So it basically tries to disproof any evidence that the victim is
possessed, and tries to explain it from a medical point of view. Perhaps the victim is
schizophrenic or has hallucinations. It’s a drawback that possession and schizophrenia
have very similar symptoms because it makes it hard to diagnose the victim. It also
made me raise a question that perhaps an entity might possess a schizophrenic person,
so how would that be treated?
Another important source I came across was a journal by Robert Emmons
called “Personal strivings: An approach to personality and subjective well-being.”
This journal discusses the differences between our personalities. Why we are the way
we are, and what influences our actions and behaviors. Robert says that some traits
are inborn while others are learnt through our cognitive behavior. Robert claims that
society can be split into several categories, of which are the strong-minded and the
weak minded. The weak minded are those considered to be always alone, not very
friendly and emotionally unstable. On the other hand, there is the strong-minded
being, who is thought to be very outgoing and has many friends. According to
Robert’s journal, possession occurs mainly to the weak-minded people since they are
more vulnerable. I consider myself a strong-minded person, but that does not make
me evade the fact that I too might get possessed. Being strong-minded or weak
minded is not the only determinant of why this specific victim got possessed while the
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other sitting right next to him didn’t. Lastly, watching a few exorcisms on YouTube
gave me an idea of how they are performed since witnessing one was not really an
option.
As for primary research, I conducted two forms- interviews and a survey.
Starting with the interview, I asked people a couple of yes or no questions. I chose
very general questions for my questionnaire because my topic is a very broad topic.
Also, it is not one that the public is well informed about so should my questions have
been specific or detailed, people would not have been able to answer them. 38
subjects filled out my questionnaire, so that was a limit to my research. I also asked
my subjects to say what religion they are. Knowing their religion will enable me to
propose an explanation to their answers. My first question was “Do you believe in
spirits/demons?” 59% said yes while 41% said no they do not believe in spirits. The
result I got for this question I believe is based on how religious my audience was
because it’s the main detector of what you believe when it comes to spirits. Following
my first question I asked, “Do you believe in exorcisms?” 51.3% said that they do
believe in the exorcism ritual; however, 48.7% said no. I believe that the people that
said 41% that said they don’t believe in spirits would be the ones who answered no to
this question. I mean, if they don’t even believe in spirits how will they believe in the
ritual that deals with spirits? Thirdly, as a follow up to the people who answered yes
to my previous question the next question was: “Do you believe in exorcisms as a
solution to the possessed?” 48.7% said that they do believe it is a solution to
possession whereas the other 51.3% said they do not. I was surprised that the majority
of the answers to this question were a no. If a lot of people believe in the ritual why
would so many people still think it is not a solution? Perhaps because they do not
perceive it as a solution, or that it doesn’t work. Again, the result of the ritual depends
on the case itself. For example, the priest may not be that good. Also, it might be a
very hard case, as the victim may be possessed by several demons. My next question
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was “Have you ever witnessed an exorcism? If so, please state shortly what you
experienced ” responses to this question included: “No. It would be interesting to
witness an exorcism though” and “No, but I know there are demons because it's stated
in the koraan”. This was interesting because on of the subjects that answered this
question said its because its mentioned in the Qur’an, which proves my point in the
important role of religion and culture in our beliefs. I then asked my subjects if they
personally knew anyone who is/has been possessed, and most responses were a no.
The next question consisted of asking my audience whether they believe that all
spirits are evil. Surprisingly, 81% said no, leaving the other 18% in belief that are
spirits are evil. It is good that people believe that some spirits are pure, because
according to Harrap Chambers, only the evil spirits possess human minds. Now the
concept of dealing with a possessed person falls into two main categories: the first
being that the subject is treated through the exorcism ritual, which is what mainly
religious people believe. The second is through the use of chemotherapy, which is
what scientific thinking people would go for. Having gotten the previous piece of
information from my secondary research, I decided to integrate it into my primary
research as well, and thus, this helped me choose my next question: “Do you believe
in chemotherapy as a solution to the possessed?” As predicted, 84.2% responded no
and 15.8% responded by yes. Most religious people would answer no to the previous
question, and since our culture is based on religion it makes sense that most people
said no to the previous question. As stated previously in my paper, personality traits
have proven to be a determining factor of whether or not you are more likely to be
possessed, so my next question was: “Do you think personality traits will have an
effect on whether or not you are more likely to be possessed?” 55.3% of those who
answered said yes, and 44.7% said no. This coincides with my secondary research,
because Robert Emmons journal talks about how strong-minded people are less likely
to be possessed. An interesting piece of information I came across while reading
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Nancy Caciola’s book was that she stated that possession occurs more in women than
in men, so this influenced my decision on what the next question will be. The 10th and
last question in my survey was: “Do you believe women or men are more likely to be
possessed?” 60% answered women and 40% answered men. I was glad to see that
almost all of the information I gathered from my primary research coincided with my
secondary data, so I knew my search was accurate. The questions I chose were mostly
based on what I wanted to further investigate from my secondary research so I
integrated it into my primary search.
As for my interview, I had a thought of interviewing two subjects. The first being
a priest followed by a sheikh. I visited 4 churches; however, none of the priests at
these churches had the time as they were busy and their time is of the essence. I was
surprised to see that none of the churches would let me in to talk to a priest. The first
church I went to, the security guard would not let me in because the priest was busy,
even though I told him I would not take more than five minutes of his time. The
second church was like a five-minute walk from the one I had just went to. Everyone
was entering very normally; however, when I went it the security man stopped me at
the door. After telling him what my purpose for entering was, he also denied my
access. It also happened with the third and fourth churches I attempted to enter. I do
not know why this happened, but I gathered that perhaps since President Morsi
became Egypt’s new leader, there have been suspicions going on between the
Muslims and Christians in the country. Considering the state the country is in, it only
makes sense that the security guard would not let me in. I visit churches regularly
abroad. However, I am a student, and I showed him my university identification. It is
not fair that none of them would let me in.
I visited a mosque in Korba, and the sheikh there had some free time so he let me
in to interview him. I was surprised at the difference between how the churchmen
treated me, and the doorman at the mosque who let me in straight away. After having
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taken his permission to film him I asked him my very first question: “ According to
Islam, do spirits exist? And if so, is it true that they possess humans?” Sheikh
Mohammed’s response was that they do in fact exist and it has been stated in several
sections of the holy book of Islam (Qur’an). He then tells me a short story about how
Prophet Muhammad himself was possessed for 6 months until angels of god were sent
to him and released him off the spirit that was inside him. I never knew that our own
prophet was possessed! It was the most interesting information I found out. He was
possessed by an enemy to Prophet Muhammad called Ladud Ibn Al-Assam. My
second question was: “How do you detect if a victim is possessed? And if he is, how
do you make the spirit exit the body?” The sheikh’s answer was that a test is first
carried out to detect if the victim is possessed or not. It starts by saying “Bism Illah Al
Rahman Al Rahim” which means in the name of Allah the merciful, the
compassionate, and the victim is asked to repeat this quote. Then the sheikh starts to
read sections of the holy Qur’an, and if the victim starts to feel high discomfort then
he/she is likely to be possessed and the ritual is carried on. As the Sheikh continues to
read Qur’an, the demon inside suffers until he chooses to exit the body through one of
the victim’s limbs. Once the sheikh feels that the demon wants to get out, which he
detects because the limb he wishes to exit from starts to move slightly, he gets any
small object like a stick and waves it slowly from the head of the victim all the way to
the limb that the demon has chosen to exit from. I asked the sheikh some additional
side questions like if he has ever done an exorcism and he said that he has several
times. He also told me that most of his cases were women, which agrees with my
questionnaire answers and with my secondary data.
Demonic possession, according to several religions, does exist and has several
cures. Each religion has a different explanation, and a completely different ritual;
however, they do have common ground. Both religions carry out tests to see if the
person is possessed and holy books are the main tools used to force the demon out of
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the body. The ritual is also not very different because they are both going for the same
result. Gathering all this information would have been impossible without starting at
the AUC library. It was my main source of information for everything and it is what
triggered all the questions I went asking in my field research. Doing the primary
research was the most interesting part for me, especially when I compared my first
hand data with the data I had collected from reading several books and articles. I was
assured that my data was accurate because everything I found out through my
questionnaire and my interviews agreed with the information I extracted out of books
and articles online. A major determinant of our beliefs comes from what culture we
are born into, and what religious background we are raised upon. On the other hand,
science argues otherwise because to scientifically prove anything you need numbers
and figures, and well, spirits cant provide that. Whether you choose to believe in them
or not mainly goes back to how religious you are. But if I were you I’d watch out;
some spirit might want to prove his existence to you someday!
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Works Cited
AsiaOne. "Different Religions Take Various Approaches to Exorcism."
Http://www.asiaone.com. The Straits Times, 1 Nov. 2007. Web. 13 June 2012.
<http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest+News/Story/A1Story20071101-
33587.html>.
Caciola, Nancy. "Exorcism." Encyclopedia of Religion. Ed. Lindsay Jones. 2nd
ed. Vol. 5. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. 2927-2938. Gale Virtual
Reference Library. Web. 11 June 2012.
Carroll, Robert. "anecdotal (testimonial) evidence." The Skeptic's Dictionary. 23 Feb
2009. Web. 14 June 2012.
Christianity." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online
Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 11 Jun. 2012.
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/115240/Christianity>.
Crane, Arthur. The Great Exorcism. 3rd ed. San Francisco: Arthur Crane, 1915.
“Demons." Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained. London: Chambers Harrap,
2007. Credo Reference. Web. 13 June 2012.
“Exorcism." Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. London: Chambers Harrap,
2009. Credo Reference. Web. 11 June 2012.
"electronic voice phenomenon (EVP)." The Skeptic's Dictionary. 23 Feb 2009. Web.
14 June 2012.
“Exorcism." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic
Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 11 Jun. 2012.
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/198273/exorcism>.
O'Donnell, Michael. "Demonical Possession." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 12.
Abo Laban 20
New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 17 Jun. 2012
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12315a.htm
“Personal strivings: An approach to personality and subjective well-being.”
Emmons,
Robert . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol 51(5), Nov 1986, 1058-
1068. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.51.5.1058
Pfeifer, S. (1994), Belief in demons and exorcism in psychiatric patients in
Switzerland. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 67: 247–258.
doi: 10.1111/j.2044-8341.1994.tb01794.x
“Possession." Possession. Encyclopedia Britannica, 1911. Web. 18 June 2012.
<http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Possession>.
Randi, James. "spirit photography." An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and
Hoaxes
of the Occult and Supernatural. 2007. James Randi Education Foundation. Web. 14
June 2012.
Viola, Nancy. "Exorcisms." Encyclopedia of Religious rituals. Ed. Lindsay Jones.
2nd ed. Vol. 5. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. 2927-2938. Gale Virtual
Reference Library. Web. 13 June 2012.
YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsiVN8y85DY
Abo Laban 21
Annotated Bibliography
AsiaOne. "Different Religions Take Various Approaches to Exorcism."
Http://www.asiaone.com. The Straits Times, 1 Nov. 2007. Web. 13 June 2012.
<http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest+News/Story/A1Story20071101-
33587.html>.
AsiaOne is an online portal for news from Singapore. As I read through this
source, it seemed somewhat biased towards the end. However the information
provided was more than helpful. It speaks firstly about the movie “The
Exorcist” and explains some climax sections in the movie. For example, when
they performed the ritual on the possessed girl. It then uses the movie to relate
to real life situations. “According to the Catholic theologian at the St Francis
Xavier Major Seminary, the act of exorcism does indeed involve reciting
prayers and commanding the invading spirit to leave its host. And the
possessed can demonstrate unnatural strength and power”. So although it’s
fake, the practice in movies shows us an illustration of the real thing.
Caciola, Nancy. "Exorcism." Encyclopedia of Religion. Ed. Lindsay Jones. 2nd
ed. Vol. 5. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. 2927-2938. Gale Virtual
Reference Library. Web. 11 June 2012.
This is a very long source that is filled with useful information. “These evil spirits
penetrate into the bodies of their victims and completely control, or at least
strongly influence, their actions. Possessing spirits may also cause physical illness
by interfering with the body's normal physiological processes or mental illness by
affecting the will, intellect, and emotions”. This quote that I took from the source
explains the behaviors exposed by the victim. They are signs that he/she might be
possessed. Also, another useful piece of information I derived from this source
that I did not see discussed in any other source was about gender aspect of the
issue. “Spirit possession afflicts women more often than men. This pattern has
been the subject of much discussion among specialists who study the
phenomenon”.
Abo Laban 22
Christianity." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online
Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 11 Jun. 2012.
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/115240/Christianity>.
Since I’m a Muslim, I thought it would be interesting to learn more about the
Christian religion; and this source helped me do just that. It explains the Christian
religion; however, in a very broad way. It discusses the history of Christianity and
how it started. It also discusses how churches function and the importance of
priests and such. In detail, it explains the exorcism ritual according to the
Christian religion.
Crane, Arthur. The Great Exorcism. 3rd ed. San Francisco: Arthur Crane, 1915.
This is a very unusual book I came across. It discusses where the author, Arthur
Crane, thinks evil derived from. “The materialists answer would be that originally
there was nothing, except atoms of matter at a distance from each other absolutely
still and absolutely cold”. He then talks about how God created our divine world in
just a matter of days. Moreover, he mentions the existence of good & evil, and how
we choose to be either good or bad people. He believes that evilness is not inborn, and
argues that some spirits are good, while others are evil. Only the evil spirits who
choose to follow the dark path and invade human minds.
“Demons." Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained. London: Chambers Harrap,
2007. Credo Reference. Web. 13 June 2012.
This book, by Harrap Chambers, explains many unsolved mysteries to the world.
It talks about issues such as ghosts, spirits, demons and such. It explains why they
came to existence. Also, this book refers to several relatable issues to my topic
such as certain religious beliefs. Some religions do not believe in the existence of
evil spirits. It also explains methods used to contact the dead. Reading this book
will give me more ideas and better-developed arguments to use in my I-search
paper.
Abo Laban 23
“Exorcism." Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. London: Chambers
Harrap, 2009. Credo Reference. Web. 11 June 2012.
This is an article found using the American University in Cairo (AUC) library
database. It discusses the expelling of “evil spirits” from a victim through
prayers and chants. The practice first started by the ancients, but it got taken
over by the Christian Church. The ritual is carefully monitored and the priests
must have a license to perform the ritual. This theory of exorcism, which
involves expelling evil forces from the human body, has been used in several
movies such as “The Exorcist” and “The Exorcism Of Emily Rose”.
“Exorcism." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online
Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 11 Jun. 2012.
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/198273/exorcism>.
This source is stating basically, in detail, what the exorcism ritual is about. So
it starts by calling out to the demon, in the name of Jesus, and attempts to
force them to leave a person or an object. The ceremony is common amongst
several religions like the Jewish and Christian religions; however, they each
have different ways of executing it. It is used to demolish any spiritual
invasion. In Christianity, Jesus would drive the demon out of the human body
by ordering him to exit using God’s name. Many of his followers did so in his
name.
O'Donnell, Michael. "Demonical Possession." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 12.
New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 17 Jun. 2012
<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12315a.htm>
This is an online source I found. It looks at the scientific aspect of exorcism.
Of course, as expected, science does not agree with the ritual as a solution to a
person who claims to be possessed. “The infidel policy on the question is to
deny the possibility of possession in any circumstances, either on the
supposition, that there are no evil spirits in existence, or that they are
powerless to influence the human body in the manner described”. Since im
Abo Laban 24
exploring the influence of religion on the matter, it is vital that I explore all the
possible causes of possession.
“Personal strivings: An approach to personality and subjective well-being.”
Emmons, Robert . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol 51(5), Nov 1986, 1058-1068. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.51.5.1058 This book examines the differences between personalities and how this affects
whether you’re more likely to be possessed or not. I’ve already looked at a
source that discusses how gender affects the matter. According to studies
carried out by experts, I found out that most possession cases were females. So
this source will help me know the different characteristics that make an impact
on why you may get possessed. In this book, Robert explains how you grow
up also may make you more prone to possession by a demon. A child that is
always alone and not very exposed to a social life is more likely to come to
contact with the spiritual world.
Pfeifer, S. (1994), Belief in demons and exorcism in psychiatric patients in
Switzerland. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 67: 247–258.
doi: 10.1111/j.2044-8341.1994.tb01794.x
This source talks about the use of prayers as the solution to expel an evil spirit
from remaining inside a person. “Belief in demons as the cause of mental
health problems is a well-known phenomenon in many cultures of the world”.
It also shows in the previous sentence how it agrees with the existence of the
demons in the first place, unlike some other sources I found that argue their
existence in the first place.
“Possession." Possession. Encyclopedia Britannica, 1911. Web. 18 June 2012.
<http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Possession>.
This very helpful source discusses types of possession. Demonic possession can
occur in many ways. Some demons enter through food, while others enter through
water or air. Their types include inspirational possession, demonic possession, and
psychological possession. The source also discusses different forms of demons
and how some are worse than others.
Abo Laban 25
Viola, Nancy. "Exorcisms." Encyclopedia of Religious rituals. Ed. Lindsay Jones.
2nd ed. Vol. 5. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. 2927-2938. Gale
Virtual Reference Library. Web. 13 June 2012.
This source tells the personal stories and experiences of people that have
either witnessed an exorcism or been possessed. This will help me compare
my survey and interview results with what people worldwide have
experienced. Also, these personal stories will be interesting to share in my
paper and will enhance its credibility.
YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsiVN8y85DY
This is a video I watched of an exorcism being performed on a Malaysian
possessed girl. The demon’s name is “Idrus” and the Sheikh expels him by
making the demon join the Islamic religion and thus, he has to follow the
Islamic religion’s rules, which includes that he is not allowed to ever possess
anyone.
Questionnaire: Appendix A
1. Do you believe in evil spirits/demons? Yes/No
2. Do you believe in exorcisms? Yes/No
3. Do you believe in the exorcism ritual as a solution to the possessed?
Yes/No
4. Have you ever witnessed an exorcism? If so, please state shortly what you
experienced. Yes/No
5. Do you know someone who has ever been possessed? Yes/No
6. Do you think all spirits are evil? Yes/No
7. Do you believe in chemotherapy as a solution to whoever claims to be
possessed? Yes/No
Abo Laban 26
8. Do you think personality traits will have an effect on whether or not you
are more likely to be possessed? Yes/No
9. Are you afraid of spirits? Yes/No
10. Do you believe men or women are more likely to be possessed? Yes/No
Interview questions:
1. According to Islam, do spirits exist? And if so, is it true that they possess
humans?
2. How do you detect if a victim is possessed? And if he is, how do you make the
spirit exit the body?
Abo Laban 27
Nadine Abo Laban
Rhet 201 section 8
Dr. Gibson
I-search paper (draft 1)
Is The Invisible Believable?
Spirits – what are they? Do they really exist? Are they evil? Many questions
have been raised about their existence in the first place, and there is little or no
evidence to support that they are really there as it cannot be scientifically verified.
Well, they sure have had their “fame” considering the amount of literary works they
have been mentioned in such as William Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Macbeth, Mar
Twain’s “A Ghost Story”, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, and much more.
Being a part of literally work is not the only way “ghosts/spirits” came about, for they
have also been part of movies such as Topper, The Sixth Sense, The Others,
American Haunting, and Paranormal Activity (parts 1,2 & 3). They have quite had
their share of fame, but what makes us think they do exist? There is no doubt about
the fact that ghosts have been reported throughout history. The virtual appearance of
ghosts we see on television is very widespread considering the entities may not
actually exist. What about the people who do believe in ghosts? Where do they get
their belief? Although men and women who have come to believe in the existence of
spirits offer evidence such as photographs, eye-witness reports, electronic voice
phenomena, sudden increases in electromagnetic radiation, and sudden temperature
drops, one must also consider that this evidence can be explained without reference to
the presence of entities that are supposed to have caused such un-natural conditions.
Abo Laban 28
This makes the actual existence of spiritual entities questionable at its best. Coming to
the evidence part of the story, you can see how easily you can put down any evidence
presented to prove the existence of such spirits. Since the beginning of time, several
people have claimed to have personally seen ghosts. It does seem probable that these
people really are in belief that they saw a ghost or a spirit; however, this is not
scientifically acceptable. You see, these stories go through bias and exaggeration and
other processes that twist and distort the truth, and thus, the result is a whole new
different story. That is why scientists disregard any eyewitness evidence since they
are impossible to test for accuracy. As for photographs, it is said that cameras to not
lie; however, it is just as easy to capture a picture as it is to fake it. In an Internet
article by James Randi, an example is given about how some spiritualists tried to fool
people into believing that they captured images of the deceased author, Sir Conan
Doyle, who supposedly became a spirit roaming the earth after his death in 1930. So
far we’ve established the faults in photography and eyewitness testimony about being
proof of the existence of spirits, but what about the electronic voice phenomena
(EVP)? It is a sophisticated terms that is used for voices that have been recorded on
tape. EVP’s demonstrate the presence of spirits by recording any low or high pitch
abnormal sounds in the surrounding. However, even those can be misleading as
Carroll’s source states in his Internet article “Electric Voice Phenomenon”. Some
people are said to have faked the voices recorded in the tapes through the use of
equalizers and such. In the same article, the author cites an explanation as why we
may think we heard noises and voices of spirits in the recordings. A psychologist
named Jim Alcock said: “when our brains try to find patterns, they are guided in part
by what we expect to hear…people can clearly ‘hear’ voices and words not just in the
context of muddled voices, but in a pattern of white noise in which there are no words
at all”. So it seems like EVP’s are as useless as photographs and eyewitness
testimonies have proven to be. Yet another piece of evidence provided by believers of
Abo Laban 29
spirits is abrupt drop in temperatures. Now, some ghost hunters have actually felt and
recorded these sudden temperature drops, but are they really caused by ghosts? It is
believed that these cold spots result from the presence of a spirit who sucks out the
heat/electricity from its surrounding so he can use it to produce sound. Supposedly,
the energy that they draw from the environment makes their own energy stronger, but
that energy is lost once the spirit uses to it speak or to make a noticeable sound.
However, once again Carroll finds such evidence to not be persuasive. In an online
article he wrote he says: “many people report physical changes in haunted places,
especially a feeling of a presence accompanied by temperature drop and hearing
unaccountable sounds”. He also agrees that these people are not imagining things, it
just that ghosts aren’t the reasons behind these strange happenings. Alas, the counter
argument- what evidence is there that they DO exist? Is it empirical? Or does faith
play a huge role in this area? This is a short story about what one particular psychic
went through before deciding to chase after spirits for a living. Joy Star was a student
attending a psychic development class. This class taught them to mediate and to let
their mind roam free and eventually their “spirit guide” would come to them and
guide them in the right direction. The student would then write down on paper any
information that crosses his mind whatsoever. After a couple of months of practice,
Joy noticed his notes (whatever he supposedly received from his spirit guide) were
freakishly accurate, so he decided to continue his practice outside of class as well.
One day, while meditating, Joy calls out to his telepathic teacher: “Who are you? And
what’s your name?” All of a sudden, a figure appears in front of him as though he
were real. He wore a wide headband across his forehead, and his body was dressed in
what appeared to be a skirt and a tunic. Immediately, Star’s question was answered
and he wrote down the answer that came to his mind on a piece of paper as usual.
After this vision he looked down on the piece of parchment in his hand and it read
“IAD”. Having gotten a bit frightened after this experience, Joy decided to visit his
Abo Laban 30
teacher, who is originally a psychic. The teacher silently sits there and draws a figure
on a blank piece of paper. After finishing the drawing, the teacher flips the paper and
shows Joy the sketch. With an astonished face, he examines the drawing which
appears to look exactly like the figure from his vision. From that day onward, Joy Star
decided to become a psychic and donate the remaining time of his life helping people
find their “Spirit Guide”. So basically, the belief in spirits comes mostly from faith.
But are all spirits good and pure? Psychics themselves have stated the existence of
evil entities that cause corruption in our world. Spiritual possession is a common
thing worldwide, and has many treatments. Of those treatments is the exorcism ritual,
which is the process of expelling evil entities from a person by making the spirit
swear an oath or by commanding the spirit to leave using the name of a higher power.
So how do different Religions view the exorcism ritual? And what are the
contradicting views of science and religion on exorcism and the concept of
possession?
To fully understand the concept of possession and why it occurs, a lot of
research had to be carried out, and that is exactly where I started. I hit the American
University in Cairo (AUC) library database, and extracted a lot of helpful sources that
enhanced my knowledge about the topic. My first source was an online portal for
news that originates from Singapore, and its called AsiaOne. This source speaks about
the movie “The Exorcist” and then relates it to real life situations. Another similar
source to AsiaOne I came across was an article by Harrap Chambers, which talks
about the ritual itself and how some movies illustrate how its carried out. Next is an
online article, which explains in detail how the ritual is carried out by several
religions as it the methods used to expel the demon differs from religion to religion.
Another source closely related to the previous one is a book published in 1994 by an
author named Pfeiffer. The book discusses the use of prayers as one of the methods
used during an exorcism, and states that it has proved to be the most effective. The
Abo Laban 31
next source I found was a book, an encyclopedia actually. It talks about why the spirit
may possess a person and also discusses the types of demons. It also discusses the
types of demons and possessions just like my next source, which is another book
about exorcisms written by Nancy Viola. Another very interesting source I found is a
book called “The Great Exorcism”. It basically talks about where the author, Arthur
Crane, believes evil is derived from. Since I’m a Muslim, I thought it would be
interesting to find out more about the Christian religion, so this book called
“Christianity” will help me do just that. Other than the major books, online articles
like “Exorcism” and “Demonic Possession” increased the credibility of my
information. Lastly, watching a few exorcisms on YouTube gave me an idea of how
they are performed.
As for primary research, I conducted two forms- interviews and a survey.
Starting with the interview, I asked people a couple of yes or no questions. Below is a
sample of my survey.
1. Do you believe in evil spirits/demons? Yes/No
2. Do you believe in exorcisms? Yes/No
3. Do you believe in the exorcism ritual as a solution to the possessed?
Yes/No
4. Have you ever witnessed an exorcism? If so, please state shortly what you
experienced. Yes/No
5. Do you know someone who has ever been possessed? Yes/No
6. Do you think all spirits are evil? Yes/No
7. Do you believe in chemotherapy as a solution to whoever claims to be
possessed? Yes/No
8. Do you think personality traits will have an effect on whether or not you
are more likely to be possessed? Yes/No
9. Are you afraid of spirits? Yes/No
10. Do you believe men or women are more likely to be possessed? Yes/No
Abo Laban 32
Works Cited
AsiaOne. "Different Religions Take Various Approaches to Exorcism."
Http://www.asiaone.com. The Straits Times, 1 Nov. 2007. Web. 13 June 2012.
<http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest+News/Story/A1Story20071101-
33587.html>.
Caciola, Nancy. "Exorcism." Encyclopedia of Religion. Ed. Lindsay Jones. 2nd
ed. Vol. 5. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. 2927-2938. Gale Virtual
Reference Library. Web. 11 June 2012.
Christianity." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online
Academic
Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 11 Jun. 2012.
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/115240/Christianity>.
Crane, Arthur. The Great Exorcism. 3rd ed. San Francisco: Arthur Crane, 1915.
“Demons." Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained. London: Chambers Harrap,
2007. Credo Reference. Web. 13 June 2012.
“Exorcism." Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. London: Chambers Harrap,
2009. Credo Reference. Web. 11 June 2012.
“Exorcism." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic
Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 11 Jun. 2012.
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/198273/exorcism>.
O'Donnell, Michael. "Demonical Possession." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 12.
New
York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 17 Jun. 2012
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12315a.htm
Abo Laban 33
Pfeifer, S. (1994), Belief in demons and exorcism in psychiatric patients in
Switzerland. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 67: 247–258.
doi: 10.1111/j.2044-8341.1994.tb01794.x
“Possession." Possession. Encyclopedia Britannica, 1911. Web. 18 June 2012.
<http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Possession>.
Viola, Nancy. "Exorcisms." Encyclopedia of Religious rituals. Ed. Lindsay Jones.
2nd ed. Vol. 5. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. 2927-2938. Gale
Virtual Reference Library. Web. 13 June 2012.
YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsiVN8y85DY
“Personal strivings: An approach to personality and subjective well-being.” Emmons,
Robert . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol 51(5), Nov 1986,
1058-1068. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.51.5.1058
Carroll, Robert. "anecdotal (testimonial) evidence." The Skeptic's Dictionary. 23 Feb
2009. Web. 14 June 2012.
"electronic voice phenomenon (EVP)." The Skeptic's Dictionary. 23 Feb 2009. Web.
14 June 2012.
Randi, James. "spirit photography." An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes
of the Occult and Supernatural. 2007. James Randi Education Foundation.
Web. 14 June 2012.
Abo Laban 34
Annotated Bibliography
AsiaOne. "Different Religions Take Various Approaches to Exorcism."
Http://www.asiaone.com. The Straits Times, 1 Nov. 2007. Web. 13 June 2012.
<http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest+News/Story/A1Story20071101-
33587.html>.
AsiaOne is an online portal for news from Singapore. As I read through this
source, it seemed somewhat biased towards the end. However the information
provided was more than helpful. It speaks firstly about the movie “The
Exorcist” and explains some climax sections in the movie. For example, when
they performed the ritual on the possessed girl. It then uses the movie to relate
to real life situations. “According to the Catholic theologian at the St Francis
Xavier Major Seminary, the act of exorcism does indeed involve reciting
prayers and commanding the invading spirit to leave its host. And the
possessed can demonstrate unnatural strength and power”. So although it’s
fake, the practice in movies shows us an illustration of the real thing.
Caciola, Nancy. "Exorcism." Encyclopedia of Religion. Ed. Lindsay Jones. 2nd
ed. Vol. 5. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. 2927-2938. Gale Virtual
Reference Library. Web. 11 June 2012.
This is a very long source that is filled with useful information. “These evil spirits
penetrate into the bodies of their victims and completely control, or at least
strongly influence, their actions. Possessing spirits may also cause physical illness
by interfering with the body's normal physiological processes or mental illness by
affecting the will, intellect, and emotions”. This quote that I took from the source
explains the behaviors exposed by the victim. They are signs that he/she might be
possessed. Also, another useful piece of information I derived from this source
that I did not see discussed in any other source was about gender aspect of the
issue. “Spirit possession afflicts women more often than men. This pattern has
been the subject of much discussion among specialists who study the
phenomenon”.
Abo Laban 35
Christianity." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online
Academic
Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 11 Jun. 2012.
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/115240/Christianity>.
Since I’m a Muslim, I thought it would be interesting to learn more about the
Christian religion; and this source helped me do just that. It explains the Christian
religion; however, in a very broad way. It discusses the history of Christianity and
how it started. It also discusses how churches function and the importance of
priests and such. In detail, it explains the exorcism ritual according to the
Christian religion.
Crane, Arthur. The Great Exorcism. 3rd ed. San Francisco: Arthur Crane, 1915.
This is a very unusual book I came across. It discusses where the author, Arthur
Crane, thinks evil derived from. “The materialists answer would be that originally
there was nothing, except atoms of matter at a distance from each other absolutely
still and absolutely cold”. He then talks about how God created our divine world in
just a matter of days. Moreover, he mentions the existence of good & evil, and how
we choose to be either good or bad people. He believes that evilness is not inborn, and
argues that some spirits are good, while others are evil. Only the evil spirits who
choose to follow the dark path and invade human minds.
“Demons." Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained. London: Chambers Harrap,
2007. Credo Reference. Web. 13 June 2012.
This book, by Harrap Chambers, explains many unsolved mysteries to the world.
It talks about issues such as ghosts, spirits, demons and such. It explains why they
came to existence. Also, this book refers to several relatable issues to my topic
such as certain religious beliefs. Some religions do not believe in the existence of
evil spirits. It also explains methods used to contact the dead. Reading this book
will give me more ideas and better-developed arguments to use in my I-search
paper.
Abo Laban 36
“Exorcism." Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. London: Chambers
Harrap,
2009. Credo Reference. Web. 11 June 2012.
This is a book I found using the American University in Cairo (AUC) library
database. It discusses the expelling of “evil spirits” from a victim through
prayers and chants. The practice first started by the ancients, but it got taken
over by the Christian Church. The ritual is carefully monitored and the priests
must have a license to perform the ritual. This theory of exorcism, which
involves expelling evil forces from the human body, has been used in several
movies such as “The Exorcist” and “The Exorcism Of Emily Rose”.
“Exorcism." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online
Academic
Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 11 Jun. 2012.
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/198273/exorcism>.
This source is stating basically, in detail, what the exorcism ritual is about. So
it starts by calling out to the demon, in the name of Jesus, and attempts to
force them to leave a person or an object. The ceremony is common amongst
several religions like the Jewish and Christian religions; however, they each
have different ways of executing it. It is used to demolish any spiritual
invasion. In Christianity, Jesus would drive the demon out of the human body
by ordering him to exit using God’s name. Many of his followers did so in his
name.
O'Donnell, Michael. "Demonical Possession." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 12.
New
York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 17 Jun. 2012
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12315a.htm
This is an online source I found. It looks at the scientific aspect of exorcism.
Of course, as expected, science does not agree with the ritual as a solution to a
person who claims to be possessed. “The infidel policy on the question is to
deny the possibility of possession in any circumstances, either on the
Abo Laban 37
supposition, that there are no evil spirits in existence, or that they are
powerless to influence the human body in the manner described”. Since im
exploring the influence of religion on the matter, it is vital that I explore all the
possible causes of possession.
Pfeifer, S. (1994), Belief in demons and exorcism in psychiatric patients in
Switzerland.
British Journal of Medical Psychology, 67: 247–258. doi: 10.1111/j.2044-
8341.1994.tb01794.x
This source talks about the use of prayers as the solution to expel an evil spirit
from remaining inside a person. “Belief in demons as the cause of mental
health problems is a well-known phenomenon in many cultures of the world”.
It also shows in the previous sentence how it agrees with the existence of the
demons in the first place, unlike some other sources I found that argue their
existence in the first place.
“Possession." Possession. Encyclopedia Britannica, 1911. Web. 18 June 2012.
<http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Possession>.
This very helpful source discusses types of possession. Demonic possession
can occur in many ways. Some demons enter through food, while others enter
through water or air. Their types include inspirational possession, demonic
possession, and psychological possession. The source also discusses different
forms of demons and how some are worse than others.
Viola, Nancy. "Exorcisms." Encyclopedia of Religious rituals. Ed. Lindsay Jones.
2nd ed. Vol. 5. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. 2927-2938. Gale
Virtual Reference Library. Web. 13 June 2012.
This source tells the personal stories and experiences of people that have
either witnessed an exorcism or been possessed. This will help me compare
my survey and interview results with what people worldwide have
experienced. Also, these personal stories will be interesting to share in my
paper and will enhance its credibility.
Abo Laban 38
YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsiVN8y85DY
This is a video I watched of an exorcism being performed on a Malaysian possessed
girl. The demon’s name is “Idrus” and the Sheikh expels him by making the demon
join the Islamic religion and thus, he has to follow the Islamic religion’s rules, which
includes that he is not allowed to ever possess anyone.
“Personal strivings: An approach to personality and subjective well-being.” Emmons,
Robert . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol 51(5), Nov 1986, 1058-1068. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.51.5.1058 This book examines the differences between personalities and how this affects
whether you’re more likely to be possessed or not. I’ve already looked at a
source that discusses how gender affects the matter. According to studies
carried out by experts, I found out that most possession cases were females. So
this source will help me know the different characteristics that make an impact
on why you may get possessed. In this book, Robert explains how you grow
up also may make you more prone to possession by a demon. A child that is
always alone and not very exposed to a social life is more likely to come to
contact with the spiritual world.
Abo Laban 39
Nadine Abo Laban
Rhet 201 section 8
Dr. Gibson
I-search paper (draft 2)
Is The Invisible Believable?
Spirits – what are they? Do they really exist? Are they evil? Many questions
have been raised about their existence in the first place, and there is little or no
evidence to support that they are really there as it cannot be scientifically verified.
Well, they sure have had their “fame” considering the amount of literary works they
have been mentioned in such as William Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Macbeth, Mar
Twain’s “A Ghost Story”, Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”, and much more.
Being a part of literally work is not the only way ghosts/spirits came about, for they
have also been part of movies such as Topper, The Others, The Sixth Sense, and
Paranormal Activity (parts 1,2 & 3). They have quite had their share of fame, but
what makes us think they do exist? There is no doubt about the fact that ghosts have
been reported throughout history. The virtual appearance of ghosts we see on
television is very widespread considering the entities may not actually exist. What
about the people who do believe in ghosts? Where do they get their belief? Even the
people who have come to believe that spirits actually exist offer evidence such as
photographs, eyewitness reports, electronic voice phenomena, sudden increases in
electromagnetic radiation, and sudden temperature drops. One must also consider that
this evidence can be explained without the presence of entities being the solution
they come up with. This, in result, makes the existence of spiritual entities
questionable at its best. Coming to the evidence part of the story, you can see how
easily you can put down any evidence presented to prove the existence of such spirits.
Years ago, several people claimed to have personally witnessed ghosts. It does seem
Abo Laban 40
probable that these people really are in belief that they saw a ghost or a spirit;
however, this is not scientifically acceptable. You see, these stories go through bias
and exaggeration and other processes that twist and distort the truth, and thus, the
result is a whole new different story. That is why scientists disregard any eyewitness
evidence since they are impossible to test for accuracy. As for photographs, it is said
that cameras do not lie; however, it is just as easy to capture a picture, as it is to fake
it. In an Internet article by James Randi, an example is given about how some
spiritualists tried to trick people into believing that they have captured images of the
deceased author, Sir Conan Doyle, who supposedly became a spirit roaming the earth
after his death in 1930. So far we’ve established the faults in photography and
eyewitness testimony about being proof of the existence of spirits, but what about the
electronic voice phenomena (EVP)? It is a sophisticated term that is used for voices
that have been recorded on tape. EVP’s demonstrate the presence of spirits by
recording any low or high pitch abnormal sounds in the surrounding. However, even
those can be misleading as Carroll’s source states in his Internet article “Electric
Voice Phenomenon”. Some people are said to have faked the voices recorded in the
tapes through the use of equalizers and such. In the same article, the author cites an
explanation as why we may think we heard noises and voices of spirits in the
recordings. A psychologist named Jim Alcock said: “when our brains try to find
patterns, they are guided in part by what we expect to hear…people can clearly ‘hear’
voices and words not just in the context of muddled voices, but in a pattern of white
noise in which there are no words at all”. So it has become obvious that EVP’s are as
useless as photographs and eyewitness testimonies have proven to be. Yet another
piece of evidence provided by believers of spirits is abrupt drop in temperatures.
Now, some sprit hunters have actually recorded, and even felt, this sudden
temperature drop, but are they really caused by ghosts? It is said that these cold areas
result from the presence of a spirit who sucks out the heat/electricity from its
Abo Laban 41
surrounding so he can use it to produce sound. The energy the spirit draws from its
surroundings supposedly makes their own energy stronger, but that energy is lost once
the spirit uses to it speak or to make a noticeable sound. However, Carroll finds such
evidence to not be logical. In an online article he wrote he says: “many people report
physical changes in haunted places, especially a feeling of a presence accompanied by
temperature drop and hearing unaccountable sounds”. He also suggests that these
people are not imagining things, it just that ghosts aren’t the reasons behind these
strange happenings. Alas, the counter argument- what evidence is there that they DO
exist? Since science does not play a part does that make faith play a huge role? This is
a short story about what one particular psychic went through before deciding to chase
after spirits for a living. Joy Star was a student attending a psychic development class.
This class taught them to mediate and to let their mind roam free and eventually their
“spirit guide” would come to them and guide them in the right direction. The students
would then write down on paper any information that crosses their minds whatsoever.
After a couple of months of practice, Joy noticed his notes (whatever he supposedly
received from his spirit guide) were freakishly accurate, so he decided to continue his
practice outside of class as well. One day, while meditating, Joy calls out to his
telepathic teacher: “Who are you? And what’s your name?” All of a sudden, a figure
appears in front of him as though he were real. He wore a wide headband across his
forehead, and his body was dressed in what appeared to be a skirt and a tunic.
Immediately, Star’s question was answered and he wrote down the answer that came
to his mind on a piece of paper as usual. After this vision he looked down on the piece
of parchment in his hand and it read “IAD”. Having gotten a bit frightened after this
experience, Joy decided to visit his teacher, who is originally a psychic. The teacher
silently sits there and draws a figure on a blank piece of paper. After finishing the
drawing, the teacher flips the paper and shows Joy the sketch. With an astonished
face, he examines the drawing that appeared to look exactly like the figure from his
Abo Laban 42
vision. From that day onward, Joy Star decided to become a psychic and donate the
remaining time of his life helping people find their “Spirit Guide”. Since,
brainwashing or misleading by the teacher may have occurred, for the students to still
believe that they are seeing their “spirit guides” must mean that the belief in spirits
comes mostly from faith because the teacher provided no evidence of their existence.
But are all spirits good and pure? Psychics themselves have stated the existence of
evil entities that cause corruption in our world, spiritual possession being a very
common example of that. However, demonic possession has many treatments. Of
those treatments is the exorcism ritual, which is the process of expelling evil entities
from a person by making the spirit swear an oath or by commanding the spirit to leave
using the name of a higher power. So how do different Religions view the exorcism
ritual? And what are the contradicting views of science and religion on exorcism and
the concept of possession?
To fully understand the concept of possession and why it occurs, a lot of
research had to be carried out, and that is exactly where I started. I hit the American
University in Cairo (AUC) library database, and extracted a lot of helpful sources that
enhanced my knowledge about the topic. The first source I encountered was an online
portal for news that originates from Singapore, and its called AsiaOne. This source
speaks about the movie “The Exorcist” and then relates it to real life situations. The
movie is about a girl, Emily, who got possessed, and this is where a major conflict
aroused between her parents. The father believed that she is possessed and wanted to
seek the help of a priest, whereas the mother was in belief that her daughter is
schizophrenic and smothered her daughter with pills to treat her. The result was that
the girl passed away, leaving both guardians in utter remorse over their forgone
daughter. This is very relatable to real life situations as conflict always arises in such
situations when the guardians do not perceive the exorcism ritual as the only solution.
Another similar source to AsiaOne I came across was an article by Harrap Chambers,
Abo Laban 43
which talks about the ritual itself and how some movies, such as The Exorcist,
illustrate how it’s carried out since witnessing an actual ritual may endanger the
person’s life. Another very interesting article I read was called “Exorcism”, written by
Nancy Caciola. A very interesting part I found in it was “These evil spirits penetrate
into the bodies of their victims and completely control, or at least strongly influence,
their actions. Possessing spirits may also cause physical illness by interfering with the
body's normal physiological processes or mental illness by affecting the will, intellect,
and emotions”. This previous extract of the article explains what sort of behavior a
demonically possessed person may show. This article was very helpful also because it
discussed an aspect that I did not think of, that being the role of gender in the matter.
“Spirit possession afflicts women more often than men, this pattern has been the
subject of much discussion among specialists who study the phenomenon”. Next is an
online article, which explains in detail how the ritual is carried out by several
religions as it the methods used to expel the demon differs from religion to religion. It
starts out by the priest calling out to the demon to show himself, or to make any signs
of proof that he is inside the person. Usually responses are movement of furniture or
levitation of the victim’s body or none at all. He then starts reading specific parts of
the Bible or Qur’an (depending on the religion), and demands the spirit to exit the
body. If the demon refuses to leave different methods are tried out and sometimes the
ritual is paused so the body can rest. So if the ritual doesn’t work, Pfeiffer’s book has
the answer to that. The book discusses the use of prayers as one of the methods used
during an exorcism, and states that it has proved to be the most effective. “Belief in
demons as the cause of mental health problems is a well-known phenomenon in many
cultures of the world”. The previous sentence is a quote from his book, which shows
that he had no doubts in their existence. The next source I found was a book, an
encyclopedia actually. It talks about why the spirit may possess a person and also
discusses the types of demons. Spiritual possession may occur through food, while
Abo Laban 44
others may enter through air or water. The source also discusses how there are types
of demons, and some may be more evil than others. i.e. causing more damage to the
victim both physically and psychologically. It also discusses the types of demons and
possessions just like my next source, which is another book about exorcisms written
by Nancy Viola. This book is divided into chapters, each chapter telling the personal
story of a person who has been a victim of possession. Another very interesting
source I found is a book called “The Great Exorcism”. It basically talks about where
the author, Arthur Crane, believes evil is derived from. “The materialists answer
would be that originally there was nothing, except atoms of matter at a distance from
each other absolutely still and absolutely cold”. The author then talks about how God
created our world in just a few days. Moreover, Crane discusses how we are not born
good or bad people, but rather we choose whether we are going to be good or bad.
Throughout his book, he states several times how he believes that evil is not inborn,
and argues that some spirits are good, while others are evil. He concludes his chapter
by saying that only the evil spirits invade human minds, and not the pure ones.
Another book called “Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained”, explains many
unsolved mysteries to the world. It deals with philosophy being a major aspect for its
explanations. It uses theories made up by Aristotle to explain how the world came to
exist and how the human mind works. Then it argues about (from Aristotle’s point of
view) how it is we sometimes know things that we cannot remember where we learnt
it. Aristotle’s explanation to this is that our “soul” has lived far more than our actual
bodies have, and that is why we sometimes know things that we do not remember
learning; that is, our soul has lived it but our body has not. So basically, he believes
that our soul came to existence way before our body did; however, not many theorists
agree with that. Looking at the religious part of it, being a Muslim myself, I thought it
would be interesting to find out more about the Christian religion, so this book called
“Christianity” will help me do just that. It discusses the history of Christianity and
Abo Laban 45
how it started. It also discusses how churches function and the importance of priests
and such. In detail, it explains the exorcism ritual according to the Christian religion.
Other than the major books, I read a few articles; however, some of them had
contradicting, yet interesting, ideas. Online articles like “Possession” and “Demonic
Possession” discuss prayers and chants being the ultimate solution to expel evil spirits
from an individual. This is very common and can be carried out by anyone who is
religious but not necessarily a priest/sheikh. However the article “Exorcism” states
that only an exorcism ritual will result in an abolishment of the spirit, and nothing else
works. It also states that an expert must be the one to carry out this ritual. A priest
must also have a license so he can be allowed to perform the ritual on the victim. A
third article that would argue with the previous two is a scientific related one by
Michael O’Donnell. This article looks at the scientific aspect of possession. So as
expected, it does not agree with the exorcism ritual as a solution to a person who
claims to be possessed. “The infidel policy on the question is to deny the possibility
of possession in any circumstances, either on the supposition, that there are no evil
spirits in existence, or that they are powerless to influence the human body in the
manner described”. So it basically tries to disproof any evidence that the victim is
possessed, and tries to explain it from a medical point of view. Lastly, watching a few
exorcisms on YouTube gave me an idea of how they are performed.
As for primary research, I conducted two forms- interviews and a survey.
Starting with the interview, I asked people a couple of yes or no questions. Below is a
sample of my survey.
1. Do you believe in evil spirits/demons? Yes/No
2. Do you believe in exorcisms? Yes/No
3. Do you believe in the exorcism ritual as a solution to the possessed?
Yes/No
4. Have you ever witnessed an exorcism? If so, please state shortly what you
experienced. Yes/No
Abo Laban 46
5. Do you know someone who has ever been possessed? Yes/No
6. Do you think all spirits are evil? Yes/No
7. Do you believe in chemotherapy as a solution to whoever claims to be
possessed? Yes/No
8. Do you think personality traits will have an effect on whether or not you
are more likely to be possessed? Yes/No
9. Are you afraid of spirits? Yes/No
10. Do you believe men or women are more likely to be possessed? Yes/No
Abo Laban 47
Works Cited
AsiaOne. "Different Religions Take Various Approaches to Exorcism."
Http://www.asiaone.com. The Straits Times, 1 Nov. 2007. Web. 13 June 2012.
<http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest+News/Story/A1Story20071101-
33587.html>.
Caciola, Nancy. "Exorcism." Encyclopedia of Religion. Ed. Lindsay Jones. 2nd
ed. Vol. 5. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. 2927-2938. Gale Virtual
Reference Library. Web. 11 June 2012.
Christianity." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online
Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 11 Jun. 2012.
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/115240/Christianity>.
Crane, Arthur. The Great Exorcism. 3rd ed. San Francisco: Arthur Crane, 1915.
“Demons." Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained. London: Chambers Harrap,
2007. Credo Reference. Web. 13 June 2012.
“Exorcism." Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. London: Chambers Harrap,
2009. Credo Reference. Web. 11 June 2012.
“Exorcism." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic
Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 11 Jun. 2012.
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/198273/exorcism>.
O'Donnell, Michael. "Demonical Possession." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 12.
New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 17 Jun. 2012
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12315a.htm
Pfeifer, S. (1994), Belief in demons and exorcism in psychiatric patients in
Switzerland. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 67: 247–258.
doi: 10.1111/j.2044-8341.1994.tb01794.x
Abo Laban 48
“Possession." Possession. Encyclopedia Britannica, 1911. Web. 18 June 2012.
<http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Possession>.
Viola, Nancy. "Exorcisms." Encyclopedia of Religious rituals. Ed. Lindsay Jones.
2nd ed. Vol. 5. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. 2927-2938. Gale
Virtual Reference Library. Web. 13 June 2012.
YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsiVN8y85DY
“Personal strivings: An approach to personality and subjective well-being.” Emmons,
Robert . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol 51(5), Nov 1986,
1058-1068. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.51.5.1058
Carroll, Robert. "anecdotal (testimonial) evidence." The Skeptic's Dictionary. 23 Feb
2009. Web. 14 June 2012.
"electronic voice phenomenon (EVP)." The Skeptic's Dictionary. 23 Feb 2009. Web.
14 June 2012.
Randi, James. "spirit photography." An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes
of the Occult and Supernatural. 2007. James Randi Education Foundation.
Web. 14 June 2012.
Abo Laban 49
Annotated Bibliography
AsiaOne. "Different Religions Take Various Approaches to Exorcism."
Http://www.asiaone.com. The Straits Times, 1 Nov. 2007. Web. 13 June 2012.
<http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest+News/Story/A1Story20071101-
33587.html>.
AsiaOne is an online portal for news from Singapore. As I read through this
source, it seemed somewhat biased towards the end. However the information
provided was more than helpful. It speaks firstly about the movie “The
Exorcist” and explains some climax sections in the movie. For example, when
they performed the ritual on the possessed girl. It then uses the movie to relate
to real life situations. “According to the Catholic theologian at the St Francis
Xavier Major Seminary, the act of exorcism does indeed involve reciting
prayers and commanding the invading spirit to leave its host. And the
possessed can demonstrate unnatural strength and power”. So although it’s
fake, the practice in movies shows us an illustration of the real thing.
Caciola, Nancy. "Exorcism." Encyclopedia of Religion. Ed. Lindsay Jones. 2nd
ed. Vol. 5. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. 2927-2938. Gale Virtual
Reference Library. Web. 11 June 2012.
This is a very long source that is filled with useful information. “These evil spirits
penetrate into the bodies of their victims and completely control, or at least
strongly influence, their actions. Possessing spirits may also cause physical illness
by interfering with the body's normal physiological processes or mental illness by
affecting the will, intellect, and emotions”. This quote that I took from the source
explains the behaviors exposed by the victim. They are signs that he/she might be
possessed. Also, another useful piece of information I derived from this source
that I did not see discussed in any other source was about gender aspect of the
issue. “Spirit possession afflicts women more often than men. This pattern has
been the subject of much discussion among specialists who study the
phenomenon”.
Christianity." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online
Abo Laban 50
Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 11 Jun. 2012.
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/115240/Christianity>.
Since I’m a Muslim, I thought it would be interesting to learn more about the
Christian religion; and this source helped me do just that. It explains the Christian
religion; however, in a very broad way. It discusses the history of Christianity and
how it started. It also discusses how churches function and the importance of
priests and such. In detail, it explains the exorcism ritual according to the
Christian religion.
Crane, Arthur. The Great Exorcism. 3rd ed. San Francisco: Arthur Crane, 1915.
This is a very unusual book I came across. It discusses where the author, Arthur
Crane, thinks evil derived from. “The materialists answer would be that originally
there was nothing, except atoms of matter at a distance from each other absolutely
still and absolutely cold”. He then talks about how God created our divine world in
just a matter of days. Moreover, he mentions the existence of good & evil, and how
we choose to be either good or bad people. He believes that evilness is not inborn, and
argues that some spirits are good, while others are evil. Only the evil spirits who
choose to follow the dark path and invade human minds.
“Demons." Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained. London: Chambers Harrap,
2007. Credo Reference. Web. 13 June 2012.
This book, by Harrap Chambers, explains many unsolved mysteries to the world.
It talks about issues such as ghosts, spirits, demons and such. It explains why they
came to existence. Also, this book refers to several relatable issues to my topic
such as certain religious beliefs. Some religions do not believe in the existence of
evil spirits. It also explains methods used to contact the dead. Reading this book
will give me more ideas and better-developed arguments to use in my I-search
paper.
“Exorcism." Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. London: Chambers
Harrap, 2009. Credo Reference. Web. 11 June 2012.
Abo Laban 51
This is an article found using the American University in Cairo (AUC) library
database. It discusses the expelling of “evil spirits” from a victim through
prayers and chants. The practice first started by the ancients, but it got taken
over by the Christian Church. The ritual is carefully monitored and the priests
must have a license to perform the ritual. This theory of exorcism, which
involves expelling evil forces from the human body, has been used in several
movies such as “The Exorcist” and “The Exorcism Of Emily Rose”.
“Exorcism." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online
Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 11 Jun. 2012.
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/198273/exorcism>.
This source is stating basically, in detail, what the exorcism ritual is about. So
it starts by calling out to the demon, in the name of Jesus, and attempts to
force them to leave a person or an object. The ceremony is common amongst
several religions like the Jewish and Christian religions; however, they each
have different ways of executing it. It is used to demolish any spiritual
invasion. In Christianity, Jesus would drive the demon out of the human body
by ordering him to exit using God’s name. Many of his followers did so in his
name.
O'Donnell, Michael. "Demonical Possession." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 12.
New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 17 Jun. 2012
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12315a.htm
This is an online source I found. It looks at the scientific aspect of exorcism.
Of course, as expected, science does not agree with the ritual as a solution to a
person who claims to be possessed. “The infidel policy on the question is to
deny the possibility of possession in any circumstances, either on the
supposition, that there are no evil spirits in existence, or that they are
powerless to influence the human body in the manner described”. Since im
exploring the influence of religion on the matter, it is vital that I explore all the
possible causes of possession.
Abo Laban 52
Pfeifer, S. (1994), Belief in demons and exorcism in psychiatric patients in
Switzerland. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 67: 247–258.
doi: 10.1111/j.2044-8341.1994.tb01794.x
This source talks about the use of prayers as the solution to expel an evil spirit
from remaining inside a person. “Belief in demons as the cause of mental
health problems is a well-known phenomenon in many cultures of the world”.
It also shows in the previous sentence how it agrees with the existence of the
demons in the first place, unlike some other sources I found that argue their
existence in the first place.
“Possession." Possession. Encyclopedia Britannica, 1911. Web. 18 June 2012.
<http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Possession>.
This very helpful source discusses types of possession. Demonic possession
can occur in many ways. Some demons enter through food, while others enter
through water or air. Their types include inspirational possession, demonic
possession, and psychological possession. The source also discusses different
forms of demons and how some are worse than others.
Viola, Nancy. "Exorcisms." Encyclopedia of Religious rituals. Ed. Lindsay Jones.
2nd ed. Vol. 5. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. 2927-2938. Gale
Virtual Reference Library. Web. 13 June 2012.
This source tells the personal stories and experiences of people that have
either witnessed an exorcism or been possessed. This will help me compare
my survey and interview results with what people worldwide have
experienced. Also, these personal stories will be interesting to share in my
paper and will enhance its credibility.
YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsiVN8y85DY
This is a video I watched of an exorcism being performed on a Malaysian possessed
girl. The demon’s name is “Idrus” and the Sheikh expels him by making the demon
join the Islamic religion and thus, he has to follow the Islamic religion’s rules, which
includes that he is not allowed to ever possess anyone.
Abo Laban 53
“Personal strivings: An approach to personality and subjective well-being.”
Emmons, Robert . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol 51(5), Nov 1986, 1058-1068. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.51.5.1058 This book examines the differences between personalities and how this affects
whether you’re more likely to be possessed or not. I’ve already looked at a
source that discusses how gender affects the matter. According to studies
carried out by experts, I found out that most possession cases were females. So
this source will help me know the different characteristics that make an impact
on why you may get possessed. In this book, Robert explains how you grow
up also may make you more prone to possession by a demon. A child that is
always alone and not very exposed to a social life is more likely to come to
contact with the spiritual world.
Abo Laban 54
Nadine Abo Laban
Rhet 201 section 8
Dr. Gibson
I-search paper (draft 3)
10th July 2012
Is The Invisible Believable?
Spirits – what are they? Do they really exist? Are they evil? Many questions
have been raised about their existence in the first place, and there is little or no
evidence to support that they are really there as it cannot be scientifically verified.
Well, they sure have had their “fame” considering the amount of literary works they
have been mentioned in such as William Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Macbeth, Mark
Twain’s “A Ghost Story”, Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”, and much more.
Being a part of literally work is not the only way ghosts/spirits came about, for they
have also been part of movies such as Topper, The Others, The Sixth Sense, and
Paranormal Activity (parts 1,2 & 3). They have quite had their share of fame, but
what makes us think they do exist? There is no doubt about the fact that ghosts have
been reported throughout history. The virtual appearance of ghosts we see on
television is very widespread considering the entities may not actually exist. What
about the people who do believe in ghosts? Where do they get their belief? Even the
people who have come to believe that spirits actually exist offer evidence such as
photographs, eyewitness reports, electronic voice phenomena, sudden increases in
electromagnetic radiation, and sudden temperature drops. One must also consider that
this evidence can be explained without the presence of entities being the solution
they come up with. This, as a result, makes the existence of spiritual entities
questionable at its best.
Abo Laban 55
Coming to the evidence part of the story, you can see how easily you can put
down any evidence presented to prove the existence of such spirits. Years ago, several
people claimed to have personally witnessed ghosts. It does seem probable that these
people really are in belief that they saw a ghost or a spirit; however, this is not
scientifically acceptable. You see, these stories go through bias and exaggeration and
other processes that twist and distort the truth, and thus, the result is a whole new
different story. That is why scientists disregard any eyewitness evidence since they
are impossible to test for accuracy. As for photographs, it is said that cameras do not
lie; however, it is just as easy to capture a picture, as it is to fake it. In an Internet
article by James Randi, an example is given about how some spiritualists tried to trick
people into believing that they have captured images of the deceased author, Sir
Conan Doyle, who supposedly became a spirit roaming the earth after his death in
1930. So far we’ve established the faults in photography and eyewitness testimony
about being proof of the existence of spirits, but what about the electronic voice
phenomena (EVP)? It is a sophisticated term that is used for voices that have been
recorded on tape. EVP’s demonstrate the presence of spirits by recording any low or
high pitch abnormal sounds in the surrounding. However, even those can be
misleading as Carroll’s source states in his Internet article “Electric Voice
Phenomenon”. Some people are said to have faked the voices recorded in the tapes
through the use of equalizers and such. In the same article, the author cites an
explanation as why we may think we heard noises and voices of spirits in the
recordings. A psychologist named Jim Alcock said: “when our brains try to find
patterns, they are guided in part by what we expect to hear…people can clearly ‘hear’
voices and words not just in the context of muddled voices, but in a pattern of white
noise in which there are no words at all”. So it has become obvious that EVP’s are as
useless as photographs and eyewitness testimonies have proven to be.
Abo Laban 56
Yet another piece of evidence provided by believers of spirits is abrupt drop in
temperatures. Now, some sprit hunters have actually recorded, and even felt, this
sudden temperature drop, but are they really caused by ghosts? It is said that these
cold areas result from the presence of a spirit who sucks out the heat/electricity from
its surrounding so he can use it to produce sound. The energy the spirit draws from its
surroundings supposedly makes their own energy stronger, but once the spirit makes a
noticeable sound, that energy is lost. However, Carroll finds such evidence to not be
logical. In an online article he wrote he says: “many people report physical changes in
haunted places, especially a feeling of a presence accompanied by temperature drop
and hearing unaccountable sounds”. He also suggests that these people are not
imagining things, it just that ghosts aren’t the reasons behind these strange
happenings. Alas, the counter argument- what evidence is there that they DO exist?
Since science does not play a part does that make faith play a huge role?
Perhaps if you experience something unusual yourself you might change your
beliefs. For example, seeing a ghost with your own eyes, or getting possessed by one.
This is a short story about what one particular person went through before deciding to
become a psychic and chase after spirits for a living. Joy Star was a student attending
a psychic development class. This class taught them to mediate and to let their mind
roam free and eventually their “spirit guide” would come to them and guide them in
the right direction. The students would then write down on paper any information that
crosses their minds whatsoever. After a couple of months of practice, Joy noticed his
notes (whatever he supposedly received from his spirit guide) were freakishly
accurate, so he decided to continue his practice outside of class as well. One day,
while meditating, Joy calls out to his telepathic teacher: “Who are you? And what’s
your name?” All of a sudden, a figure appears in front of him as though he were real.
He wore a wide headband across his forehead, and his body was dressed in what
appeared to be a skirt and a tunic. Immediately, Star’s question was answered and he
Abo Laban 57
wrote down the answer that came to his mind on a piece of paper as usual. After this
vision he looked down on the piece of parchment in his hand and it read “IAD”.
Having gotten a bit frightened after this experience, Joy decided to visit his teacher,
who is originally a psychic. The teacher silently sits there and draws a figure on a
blank piece of paper. After finishing the drawing, the teacher flips the paper and
shows Joy the sketch. With an astonished face, he examines the drawing that appeared
to look exactly like the figure from his vision. From that day onward, Joy Star decided
to become a psychic and donate the remaining time of his life helping people find
their “Spirit Guide”. Since brainwashing or misleading by the teacher may have
occurred, for the students to still believe that they are seeing their “spirit guides” must
mean that the belief in spirits comes mostly from faith because the teacher provided
no evidence of their existence.
But are all spirits good and pure? Psychics themselves have stated the
existence of evil entities that cause corruption in our world, spiritual possession being
a very common example of that. However, demonic possession has many treatments.
Of those treatments is the exorcism ritual, which is the process of expelling evil
entities from a person by making the spirit swear an oath or by commanding the spirit
to leave using the name of a higher power. So how do different religions view the
exorcism ritual? And what are the contradicting views of science and religion on
exorcism and the concept of possession?
To fully understand the concept of possession and why it occurs, a lot of
research had to be carried out, and that is exactly where I started. I hit the American
University in Cairo (AUC) library database, and extracted a lot of helpful sources that
enhanced my knowledge about the topic. The first source I encountered was an online
portal for news that originates from Singapore, and its called AsiaOne. This source
speaks about the movie “The Exorcist” and then relates it to real life situations. The
movie is about a girl, Emily, who got possessed, and this is where a major conflict
Abo Laban 58
aroused between her parents. The father believed that she was possessed and wanted
to seek the help of a priest, whereas the mother believed that her daughter is
schizophrenic and overdosed her daughter with pills to treat her. The result was that
the girl passed away, leaving both guardians in utter remorse over their deceased
daughter. This is very relatable to real life situations as conflict always arises in such
situations when the guardians do not perceive the exorcism ritual as the only solution.
Another similar source to AsiaOne I came across was an article by Harrap Chambers,
which talks about the ritual itself and how some movies, such as The Exorcist,
illustrate how it’s carried out since witnessing an actual ritual may endanger the
person’s life. Another very interesting article I read was called “Exorcism”, written by
Nancy Caciola. A very interesting part I found in it was “These evil spirits penetrate
into the bodies of their victims and completely control, or at least strongly influence,
their actions. Possessing spirits may also cause physical illness by interfering with the
body's normal physiological processes or mental illness by affecting the will, intellect,
and emotions”. This previous extract of the article explains what sort of behavior a
demonically possessed person may show. This article was very helpful also because it
discussed an aspect that I did not think of, that being the role of gender in the matter.
“Spirit possession afflicts women more often than men, this pattern has been the
subject of much discussion among specialists who study the phenomenon”. Next is an
online article, which explains in detail how the ritual is carried out by several
religions as it the methods used to expel the demon differs from religion to religion. It
starts out by the priest calling out to the demon to show himself, or to make any signs
of proof that he is inside the person. Usually responses are movement of furniture or
levitation of the victim’s body or none at all. He then starts reading specific parts of
the Bible or Qur’an (depending on the religion), and demands the spirit to exit the
body. If the demon refuses to leave different methods are tried out and sometimes the
ritual is paused so the body can rest. So if the ritual doesn’t work, Pfeiffer’s book has
Abo Laban 59
the answer to that. The book discusses the use of prayers as one of the methods used
during an exorcism, and states that it has proved to be the most effective. “Belief in
demons as the cause of mental health problems is a well-known phenomenon in many
cultures of the world”. The previous sentence is a quote from his book, which shows
that he had no doubts in their existence. The next source I found was a book, an
encyclopedia actually. It talks about why the spirit may possess a person and also
discusses the types of demons. Spiritual possession may occur through food, while
others may enter through air or water. The source also discusses how there are types
of demons, and some may be more evil than others. i.e. causing more damage to the
victim both physically and psychologically. It also discusses the types of demons and
possessions just like my next source, which is another book about exorcisms written
by Nancy Viola. This book is divided into chapters, each chapter telling the personal
story of a person who has been a victim of possession. Another very interesting
source I found is a book called “The Great Exorcism”. It basically talks about where
the author, Arthur Crane, believes evil is derived from. “The materialists answer
would be that originally there was nothing, except atoms of matter at a distance from
each other absolutely still and absolutely cold”. The author then talks about how God
created our world in just a few days. Moreover, Crane discusses how we are not born
good or bad people, but rather we choose whether we are going to be good or bad.
Throughout his book, he states several times how he believes that evil is not inborn,
and argues that some spirits are good, while others are evil. He concludes his chapter
by saying that only the evil spirits invade human minds, and not the pure ones.
Another book called “Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained”, explains many
unsolved mysteries to the world. It deals with philosophy being a major aspect for its
explanations. It uses theories made up by Aristotle to explain how the world came to
exist and how the human mind works. Then it argues about (from Aristotle’s point of
view) how it is we sometimes know things that we cannot remember where we learnt
Abo Laban 60
it. Aristotle’s explanation to this is that our “soul” has lived far more than our actual
bodies have, and that is why we sometimes know things that we do not remember
learning; that is, our soul has lived it but our body has not. So basically, he believes
that our soul came to existence way before our body did; however, not many theorists
agree with that. Looking at the religious part of it, being a Muslim myself, I thought it
would be interesting to find out more about the Christian religion, so this book called
“Christianity” will help me do just that. It discusses the history of Christianity and
how it started. It also discusses how churches function and the importance of priests
and such. In detail, it explains the exorcism ritual according to the Christian religion.
Other than the major books, I read a few articles; however, some of them had
contradicting, yet interesting, ideas. Online articles like “Possession” and “Demonic
Possession” discuss prayers and chants being the ultimate solution to expel evil spirits
from an individual. This is very common and can be carried out by anyone who is
religious but not necessarily a priest/sheikh. However the article “Exorcism” states
that only an exorcism ritual will result in an abolishment of the spirit, and nothing else
works. It also states that an expert must be the one to carry out this ritual. A priest
must also have a license so he can be allowed to perform the ritual on the victim. A
third article that would argue with the previous two is a scientific related one by
Michael O’Donnell. This article looks at the scientific aspect of possession. So as
expected, it does not agree with the exorcism ritual as a solution to a person who
claims to be possessed. “The infidel policy on the question is to deny the possibility
of possession in any circumstances, either on the supposition, that there are no evil
spirits in existence, or that they are powerless to influence the human body in the
manner described”. So it basically tries to disproof any evidence that the victim is
possessed, and tries to explain it from a medical point of view. Another important
source I came across was a journal by Robert Emmons called “Personal strivings: An
approach to personality and subjective well-being.” This journal discusses the
Abo Laban 61
differences between our personalities. Why we are the way we are, and what
influences our actions and behaviors. Robert says that some traits are inborn while
others are learnt through our cognitive behavior. Robert claims that society can be
split into several categories, of which are the strong-minded and the weak minded.
The weak minded are those considered to be always alone, not very friendly and
emotionally unstable. On the other hand, there is the strong-minded being, who is
thought to be very outgoing and has many friends. According to Robert’s journal,
possession occurs mainly to the weak-minded people since they are more vulnerable.
Lastly, watching a few exorcisms on YouTube gave me an idea of how they are
performed.
As for primary research, I conducted two forms- interviews and a
survey. Starting with the interview, I asked people a couple of yes or no
questions. Below is a sample of my survey.
11. Do you believe in evil spirits/demons? Yes/No
12. Do you believe in exorcisms? Yes/No
13. Do you believe in the exorcism ritual as a solution to the possessed?
Yes/No
14. Have you ever witnessed an exorcism? If so, please state shortly what you
experienced. Yes/No
15. Do you know someone who has ever been possessed? Yes/No
16. Do you think all spirits are evil? Yes/No
17. Do you believe in chemotherapy as a solution to whoever claims to be
possessed? Yes/No
18. Do you think personality traits will have an effect on whether or not you
are more likely to be possessed? Yes/No
19. Are you afraid of spirits? Yes/No
20. Do you believe men or women are more likely to be possessed? Yes/No
I chose very general questions for my questionnaire because my topic is a very
broad topic. Also, it is not one that the public is well informed about so should my
questions have been specific or detailed, people would not have been able to answer
Abo Laban 62
them. 38 subjects filled out my questionnaire, so that was a limit to my research. My
first question, as you can see above, was “Do you believe in spirits/demons?” 59%
said yes while 41% said no they do not believe in spirits. The result I got for this
question I believe is based on how religious my audience was because it’s the main
detector of what you believe when it comes to spirits. Following my first question I
asked, “Do you believe in exorcisms?” 51.3% said that they do believe in the
exorcism ritual; however, 48.7% said no. Thirdly, as a follow up to the people who
answered yes to my previous question the next question was: “Do you believe in
exorcisms as a solution to the possessed?” 48.7% said that they do believe it is a
solution to possession whereas the other 51.3% said they do not. My next question
was “ Have you ever witnessed an exorcism? If so, please state shortly what you
experienced ” responses to this question included: “No. It would be interesting to
witness an exorcism though” and “No, but I know there are demons because it's stated
in the koraan”. I then asked my subjects if they personally knew anyone who is/has
been possessed, and most responses were a no. The next question consisted of asking
my audience whether they believe that all spirits are evil. Surprisingly, 81% said no,
leaving the other 18% in belief that are spirits are evil. Now the concept of dealing
with a possessed person falls into two main categories: the first being that the subject
is treated through the exorcism ritual, which is what mainly religious people believe.
The second is through the use of chemotherapy, which is what scientific thinking
people would go for. Having gotten the previous piece of information from my
secondary research, I decided to integrate it into my primary research as well, and
thus, this helped me choose my next question: “Do you believe in chemotherapy as a
solution to the possessed?” As predicted, 84.2% responded no and 15.8% responded
by yes. As stated previously in my paper, personality traits have proven to be a
determining factor of whether or not you are more likely to be possessed, so my next
question was: “Do you think personality traits will have an effect on whether or not
Abo Laban 63
you are more likely to be possessed?” 55.3% of those who answered said yes, and
44.7% said no. An interesting piece of information I came across while reading Nancy
Caciola’s book was that she stated that possession occurs more in women than in
men, so this influenced my decision on what the next question will be. The 10th and
last question in my survey was: “Do you believe women or men are more likely to be
possessed?” 60% answered women and 40% answered men. I was glad to see that
almost all of the information I gathered from my primary research coincided with my
secondary data, so I knew my search was accurate. The questions I chose were mostly
based on what I wanted to further investigate from my secondary research so I
integrated it into my primary search.
As for my interview, I had a thought of interviewing two subjects. The first being
a priest followed by a sheikh. I visited 4 churches; however, none of the priests at
these churches had the time as they were busy and their time is of the essence. I
visited a mosque in Korba, and the sheikh there had some free time so he let me in to
interview him. After having taken his permission to film him I asked him my very
first question: “ According to Islam, do spirits exist? And if so, is it true that they
possess humans?” Sheikh Mohammed’s response was that they do in fact exist and it
has been stated in several sections of the holy book of Islam (Qur’an). He then tells
me a short story about how Prophet Muhammad himself was possessed for 6 months
until angels of god were sent to him and released him off the spirit that was inside
him. My second question was: “How do you detect if a victim is possessed? And if he
is, how do you make the spirit exit the body?” The sheikh’s answer was that a test is
first carried out to detect if the victim is possessed or not. It starts by saying “Bism
Illah Al Rahman Al Rahim” which means in the name of Allah, and the victim is
asked to repeat this quote. Then the sheikh starts to read sections of the holy Qur’an,
and if the victim starts to feel high discomfort then he/she is likely to be possessed
and the ritual is carried on. As the Sheikh continues to read Qur’an, the demon inside
Abo Laban 64
suffers until he chooses to exit the body through one of the victim’s limbs. Once the
sheikh feels that the demon wants to get out, which he detects because the limb he
wishes to exit from starts to move slightly, he gets any small object like a stick and
waves it slowly from the head of the victim all the way to the limb that the demon has
chosen to exit from.
In conclusion, demonic possession, according to several religions, does exist and
has several cures. However, science argues otherwise because to scientifically prove
anything you need numbers and figures, and well, spirits cant provide that. Whether
you choose to believe in them or not mainly goes back to how religious you are. But
if I were you I’d watch out; some spirit might want to prove his existence to you
someday!
Abo Laban 65
Works Cited
AsiaOne. "Different Religions Take Various Approaches to Exorcism."
Http://www.asiaone.com. The Straits Times, 1 Nov. 2007. Web. 13 June 2012.
<http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest+News/Story/A1Story20071101-
33587.html>.
Caciola, Nancy. "Exorcism." Encyclopedia of Religion. Ed. Lindsay Jones. 2nd
ed. Vol. 5. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. 2927-2938. Gale Virtual
Reference Library. Web. 11 June 2012.
Christianity." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online
Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 11 Jun. 2012.
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/115240/Christianity>.
Crane, Arthur. The Great Exorcism. 3rd ed. San Francisco: Arthur Crane, 1915.
“Demons." Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained. London: Chambers Harrap,
2007. Credo Reference. Web. 13 June 2012.
“Exorcism." Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. London: Chambers Harrap,
2009. Credo Reference. Web. 11 June 2012.
“Exorcism." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic
Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 11 Jun. 2012.
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/198273/exorcism>.
O'Donnell, Michael. "Demonical Possession." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 12.
New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 17 Jun. 2012
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12315a.htm
Pfeifer, S. (1994), Belief in demons and exorcism in psychiatric patients in
Switzerland. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 67: 247–258.
doi: 10.1111/j.2044-8341.1994.tb01794.x
Abo Laban 66
“Possession." Possession. Encyclopedia Britannica, 1911. Web. 18 June 2012.
<http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Possession>.
Viola, Nancy. "Exorcisms." Encyclopedia of Religious rituals. Ed. Lindsay Jones.
2nd ed. Vol. 5. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. 2927-2938. Gale
Virtual Reference Library. Web. 13 June 2012.
YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsiVN8y85DY
“Personal strivings: An approach to personality and subjective well-being.” Emmons,
Robert . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol 51(5), Nov 1986,
1058-1068. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.51.5.1058
Carroll, Robert. "anecdotal (testimonial) evidence." The Skeptic's Dictionary. 23 Feb
2009. Web. 14 June 2012.
"electronic voice phenomenon (EVP)." The Skeptic's Dictionary. 23 Feb 2009. Web.
14 June 2012.
Randi, James. "spirit photography." An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes
of the Occult and Supernatural. 2007. James Randi Education Foundation.
Web. 14 June 2012.
Abo Laban 67
Annotated Bibliography
AsiaOne. "Different Religions Take Various Approaches to Exorcism."
Http://www.asiaone.com. The Straits Times, 1 Nov. 2007. Web. 13 June 2012.
<http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest+News/Story/A1Story20071101-
33587.html>.
AsiaOne is an online portal for news from Singapore. As I read through this
source, it seemed somewhat biased towards the end. However the information
provided was more than helpful. It speaks firstly about the movie “The
Exorcist” and explains some climax sections in the movie. For example, when
they performed the ritual on the possessed girl. It then uses the movie to relate
to real life situations. “According to the Catholic theologian at the St Francis
Xavier Major Seminary, the act of exorcism does indeed involve reciting
prayers and commanding the invading spirit to leave its host. And the
possessed can demonstrate unnatural strength and power”. So although it’s
fake, the practice in movies shows us an illustration of the real thing.
Caciola, Nancy. "Exorcism." Encyclopedia of Religion. Ed. Lindsay Jones. 2nd
ed. Vol. 5. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. 2927-2938. Gale Virtual
Reference Library. Web. 11 June 2012.
This is a very long source that is filled with useful information. “These evil spirits
penetrate into the bodies of their victims and completely control, or at least
strongly influence, their actions. Possessing spirits may also cause physical illness
by interfering with the body's normal physiological processes or mental illness by
affecting the will, intellect, and emotions”. This quote that I took from the source
explains the behaviors exposed by the victim. They are signs that he/she might be
possessed. Also, another useful piece of information I derived from this source
that I did not see discussed in any other source was about gender aspect of the
issue. “Spirit possession afflicts women more often than men. This pattern has
been the subject of much discussion among specialists who study the
phenomenon”.
Christianity." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online
Abo Laban 68
Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 11 Jun. 2012.
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/115240/Christianity>.
Since I’m a Muslim, I thought it would be interesting to learn more about the
Christian religion; and this source helped me do just that. It explains the Christian
religion; however, in a very broad way. It discusses the history of Christianity and
how it started. It also discusses how churches function and the importance of
priests and such. In detail, it explains the exorcism ritual according to the
Christian religion.
Crane, Arthur. The Great Exorcism. 3rd ed. San Francisco: Arthur Crane, 1915.
This is a very unusual book I came across. It discusses where the author, Arthur
Crane, thinks evil derived from. “The materialists answer would be that originally
there was nothing, except atoms of matter at a distance from each other absolutely
still and absolutely cold”. He then talks about how God created our divine world in
just a matter of days. Moreover, he mentions the existence of good & evil, and how
we choose to be either good or bad people. He believes that evilness is not inborn, and
argues that some spirits are good, while others are evil. Only the evil spirits who
choose to follow the dark path and invade human minds.
“Demons." Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained. London: Chambers Harrap,
2007. Credo Reference. Web. 13 June 2012.
This book, by Harrap Chambers, explains many unsolved mysteries to the world.
It talks about issues such as ghosts, spirits, demons and such. It explains why they
came to existence. Also, this book refers to several relatable issues to my topic
such as certain religious beliefs. Some religions do not believe in the existence of
evil spirits. It also explains methods used to contact the dead. Reading this book
will give me more ideas and better-developed arguments to use in my I-search
paper.
“Exorcism." Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. London: Chambers
Harrap, 2009. Credo Reference. Web. 11 June 2012.
Abo Laban 69
This is an article found using the American University in Cairo (AUC) library
database. It discusses the expelling of “evil spirits” from a victim through
prayers and chants. The practice first started by the ancients, but it got taken
over by the Christian Church. The ritual is carefully monitored and the priests
must have a license to perform the ritual. This theory of exorcism, which
involves expelling evil forces from the human body, has been used in several
movies such as “The Exorcist” and “The Exorcism Of Emily Rose”.
“Exorcism." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online
Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 11 Jun. 2012.
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/198273/exorcism>.
This source is stating basically, in detail, what the exorcism ritual is about. So
it starts by calling out to the demon, in the name of Jesus, and attempts to
force them to leave a person or an object. The ceremony is common amongst
several religions like the Jewish and Christian religions; however, they each
have different ways of executing it. It is used to demolish any spiritual
invasion. In Christianity, Jesus would drive the demon out of the human body
by ordering him to exit using God’s name. Many of his followers did so in his
name.
O'Donnell, Michael. "Demonical Possession." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 12.
New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 17 Jun. 2012
<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12315a.htm>
This is an online source I found. It looks at the scientific aspect of exorcism.
Of course, as expected, science does not agree with the ritual as a solution to a
person who claims to be possessed. “The infidel policy on the question is to
deny the possibility of possession in any circumstances, either on the
supposition, that there are no evil spirits in existence, or that they are
powerless to influence the human body in the manner described”. Since im
exploring the influence of religion on the matter, it is vital that I explore all the
possible causes of possession.
Abo Laban 70
“Personal strivings: An approach to personality and subjective well-being.” Emmons, Robert . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol 51(5), Nov 1986, 1058-1068. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.51.5.1058 This book examines the differences between personalities and how this affects
whether you’re more likely to be possessed or not. I’ve already looked at a
source that discusses how gender affects the matter. According to studies
carried out by experts, I found out that most possession cases were females. So
this source will help me know the different characteristics that make an impact
on why you may get possessed. In this book, Robert explains how you grow
up also may make you more prone to possession by a demon. A child that is
always alone and not very exposed to a social life is more likely to come to
contact with the spiritual world.
Pfeifer, S. (1994), Belief in demons and exorcism in psychiatric patients in
Switzerland. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 67: 247–258.
doi: 10.1111/j.2044-8341.1994.tb01794.x
This source talks about the use of prayers as the solution to expel an evil spirit
from remaining inside a person. “Belief in demons as the cause of mental
health problems is a well-known phenomenon in many cultures of the world”.
It also shows in the previous sentence how it agrees with the existence of the
demons in the first place, unlike some other sources I found that argue their
existence in the first place.
“Possession." Possession. Encyclopedia Britannica, 1911. Web. 18 June 2012.
<http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Possession>.
This very helpful source discusses types of possession. Demonic possession can
occur in many ways. Some demons enter through food, while others enter through
water or air. Their types include inspirational possession, demonic possession, and
psychological possession. The source also discusses different forms of demons
and how some are worse than others.
Viola, Nancy. "Exorcisms." Encyclopedia of Religious rituals. Ed. Lindsay Jones.
2nd ed. Vol. 5. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. 2927-2938. Gale
Abo Laban 71
Virtual Reference Library. Web. 13 June 2012.
This source tells the personal stories and experiences of people that have
either witnessed an exorcism or been possessed. This will help me compare
my survey and interview results with what people worldwide have
experienced. Also, these personal stories will be interesting to share in my
paper and will enhance its credibility.
YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsiVN8y85DY
This is a video I watched of an exorcism being performed on a Malaysian
possessed girl. The demon’s name is “Idrus” and the Sheikh expels him by
making the demon join the Islamic religion and thus, he has to follow the
Islamic religion’s rules, which includes that he is not allowed to ever possess
anyone.
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Nadine Abo Laban ID#: 900113591 Rhet 201 Journal 1 Okay, so I found a couple of sources that I could use in my paper. They’re not six yet, but they’re coming along I guess.. so I thought id start writing down my notes about what I’m finding out. Since I probably will be writing about exorcisms I thought this is what I should find sources for. Source one: "Exorcism." Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. London: Chambers Harrap, 2009. Credo Reference. Web. 11 June 2012. This is a book I found using one search. It discusses the expelling of evil spirits from a certain possessed person by prayers. It was a practice by the ancients; however, it got taken over by the Christian church, after the example of Christ who healed those possessed of evil spirits. The use of exorcisms by priests in church is very carefully regulated. But the theory has been used in several movies such as “the exorcism” and “the exorcism of Emily rose” Source two: "exorcism." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 11 Jun. 2012. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/198273/exorcism>.
This one states that exorcism is a ritual addressed to evil spirits to force them to abandon an object, place, or person. It is a ceremony used in both Jewish and Christian religions to expel evil spirits from people who have come under their power. In Christianity, Jesus expelled demons that enter a person by a word; and stated that this act was a sign of the coming of God’s Kingdom .many of his followers drove out demons “in his name.
Source three: "Christianity." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 11 Jun. 2012. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/115240/Christianity>. This source gives an in depth explanation of the exorcism ritual. The tools needed and the items and people that must be present. It also discusses in detail the religion itself. Seeing as I will be looking at exorcisms from several backgrounds and religions this source will help enhance my knowledge about the Christian religion. Source four: Caciola, Nancy. "Exorcism." Encyclopedia of Religion. Ed. Lindsay Jones. 2nd ed. Vol. 5. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. 2927-‐2938. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 11 June 2012. (http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?action=interpret&id=GALE|CX3424500986&v=2.1&u=aucairo&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w&authCount=1) This was my favorite source so far because it combines information I need about the three religions Christianity, islam, and jew in one document. It also discusses the psychological aspect of it which might be interesting to explore. Source five:
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http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest+News/Story/A1Story20071101-‐33587.html This source shows the different approaches have to exorcism. I wont be talking about all the religions only the main ones, however I will use this source to talk about Buddhism for example. Source six: My last source will be a video, a movie actually “The exorcism of Emily rose” it’s a movie about a girl who gets possessed and a priest attempts to help her by asking her to stop chemotherapy, which eventually kills her so the priest is charged and trialed for being responsible for her death. And the movie is about the trial happening and the priest is explaining her story.
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Nadine Abo Laban ID#: 900113591 Rhet 201 Journal entry #2 Okay, so I found a couple of sources that I could use in my paper. They’re not six yet, but they’re coming along I guess.. so I thought id start writing down my notes about what I’m finding out. Since I probably will be writing about exorcisms I thought this is what I should find sources for. Source one: "Exorcism." Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. London: Chambers Harrap, 2009. Credo Reference. Web. 11 June 2012. This is a book I found using one search. It discusses the expelling of evil spirits from a certain possessed person by prayers. It was a practice by the ancients; however, it got taken over by the Christian church, after the example of Christ who healed those possessed of evil spirits. The use of exorcisms by priests in church is very carefully regulated. But the theory has been used in several movies such as “the exorcism” and “the exorcism of Emily rose” Source two: "exorcism." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 11 Jun. 2012. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/198273/exorcism>.
This one states that exorcism is a ritual that addresses demons and attempts to force them to exit an object or a person. The ceremony is common and used in both Jewish and Christian religions to demolish any evil spirit that enters someone. In Christianity, Jesus expelled demons that enter a human. many of his followers drove out demons “in his name.
Source three: "Christianity." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 11 Jun. 2012. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/115240/Christianity>. This source gives an in depth explanation of the exorcism ritual. The tools needed and the items and people that must be present. It also discusses in detail the religion itself. Seeing as I will be looking at exorcisms from several backgrounds and religions this source will help enhance my knowledge about the Christian religion. Source four: Caciola, Nancy. "Exorcism." Encyclopedia of Religion. Ed. Lindsay Jones. 2nd ed. Vol. 5. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. 2927-‐2938. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 11 June 2012. (http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?action=interpret&id=GALE|CX3424500986&v=2.1&u=aucairo&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w&authCount=1) This was my favorite source so far because it combines information I need about the three religions Christianity, islam, and jew in one document. It also discusses the psychological aspect of it which might be interesting to explore. Source five:
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http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest+News/Story/A1Story20071101-‐33587.html This source shows the different approaches have to exorcism. I wont be talking about all the religions only the main ones, however I will use this source to talk about Buddhism for example. Source six: My last source will be a video, a movie actually “The exorcism of Emily rose” it’s a movie about a girl who gets possessed and a priest attempts to help her by asking her to stop chemotherapy, which eventually kills her so the priest is charged and trialed for being responsible for her death. And the movie is about the trial happening and the priest is explaining her story.
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Nadine Abo Laban ID#: 900113591 Rhet 201 Dr.gibson Journal entry #3 The four additional sources I found that are worthy enough to be used in my paper were:-‐ Source one: Caciola, Nancy. "Exorcism." Encyclopedia of Religion. Ed. Lindsay Jones. 2nd ed. Vol. 5. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. 2927-2938. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 13 June 2012. (http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CCX3424500986&v=2.1&u=aucairo&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w) This source is one of the best I’ve found yet, as I read through it however it seemed a little biased to me towards the end. However the information provided was more than helpful. It combines time with the religions and how exorcism evolved over time. Something I have not seen discussed or addressed in any other source so far. Source two: Crane, Arthur. The Great Exorcism. 3rd ed. San Francisco: Arthur Crane, 1915. (http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3130937;page=root;view=image;size=100;seq=10;num=4) This is a very interesting book I found, it was published in 1915. By Arthur Crane. I didn’t read the whole book of course, but in the first few chapters I skimmed through, it was talking about exorcism in the Christian religion and in the next few chapters were stories of something that happened that have been recorded. Source three: "exorcism." Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained. London: Chambers Harrap, 2007. Credo Reference. Web. 13 June 2012. (http://www.credoreference.com.library.aucegypt.edu:2048/entry/chambun/exorcism)
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This source that I stumbled upon discusses possession on general. Not the ritual itself. It discusses why demons/ evil spirits possess a person. How it does that. Apparently they can enter through food, water or air. And can remain inside a human for over 30 years. It discusses how and why persons get possessed and then it gets into ways of expelling the demon from the victim. Source four: "demons." Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained. London: Chambers Harrap, 2007. Credo Reference. Web. 13 June 2012. (http://www.credoreference.com.library.aucegypt.edu:2048/entry/chambun/demons) So, so far I’ve found out stuff about the exorcism ritual, about the religious aspect of it, how its done, how it has evolved over time.. But I noticed i forgot to search for information about one important thing.. The demons themselves! This source speaks specifically about the demons. This information will give me a better understanding of why they decide to enter a person. So having thought a lot about this, I’ve decided to go for the exorcism topic because it’s the one im interested in most and well because I’ve done too much effort in my research to change my mind now.. its very fascinating to me, the connection between our world and theirs and how they can enter ours but we know barely anything about their world. My research question will be: How do different Religions view the exorcism ritual? And the contradicting views of science and religion on exorcism and the concept of possession. Sub points:-
- What are exorcisms - Who performs them - What religions believe in them - How do diff religions perform exorcisms differently - Scientific aspect - How has the ritual altered over time
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Nadine Abo Laban ID#: 900113591 Dr. Gibson Journal entry 4 The Process: Well primary research is all about getting direct information, not second hand. It includes surveys, questionnaires and interviews. For my paper I am going to conduct a survey that I have already began distributing to people and my goal number is a little over a hundred people. And I will also carry out a few interviews with some key people that will provide me with useful information for my paper. Starting with the questionnaire; here are the questions I am asking people: ( I will be subdividing my group of people to ensure that the number of males and females that take the survey are equal, and I will also ensure they are from different religions since that is a key aspect in my research)
21. Do you believe in evil spirits/demons? Yes/No
22. Do you believe in exorcisms? Yes/No
23. Do you believe in the exorcism ritual as a solution to the possessed?
Yes/No
24. Have you ever witnessed an exorcism? If so, please state shortly what you
experienced. Yes/No
25. Do you know someone who has ever been possessed? Yes/No
26. Do you think all spirits are evil? Yes/No
27. Do you believe in chemotherapy as a solution to whoever claims to be
possessed? Yes/No
28. Do you think personality traits will have an effect on whether or not you
are more likely to be possessed? Yes/No
29. Are you afraid of spirits? Yes/No
30. Do you believe men or women are more likely to be possessed? Yes/No
Now only a few number of people have answered my survey, but it appears to be that very few people actually even believe in spirits in the first place. At the end of my survey I asked people to fill out their personal information such as their name, age, gender etc. The next part of my primary research consists of carrying out interviews with a few people. Now im doing both sides so I’ll be asking experts and regular people. And those aren’t the only sides im taking.. I’ll also be asking people from
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different religions. Lastly, I will also be sure to include a scientific figure to get a whole new point of view on the matter. So starting with a sheikh or a priest.. I will ask general questions such as:
-‐ Why do demons exist
-‐ Are they all evil
-‐ Why do they possess people
-‐ A brief explanation of the exorcism ritual
-‐ Their previous experience with such things
As for the scientist my questions will be more like the ones I asked in my survey like:
-‐ Do you believe in spirits
-‐ Do you believe in possession
-‐ Scientific explanation for possession
-‐ Scientific methods of curing a possessed person
The Progress:
-‐ Survey: well I’ve only gotten 16 responses to my survey so far.. 9 males and 7 females. The most answer I found intriguing is that most people answered question number 10: “Do you believe men or women are more likely to be possessed?” most people said men; however, according to a reliable source I found using the library database stated that women are more likely to be possessed and in fact most possession cases worldwide are women. The approximate time taken by a person to solve my survey was 2.5 minutes as tested on 3 family members.
-‐ Interviews: I’ve already started working on my questions but I have no actually carried out any interviews yet because I am still in search for the perfect candidates, as I want them to be professional candidates. I will try to make the interviews brief but precise and to the point so I can get as much information out as possible
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Nadine Abo Laban ID#: 900113591 Rhet 201 Dr. Gibson Journal 5 The part I enjoyed most was doing the primary research. Even though my
questionnaire was only answered by 38 people, which limited my research, I still
managed to extract the information I needed. And I loved how the info I got from my
primary research coincided with all the information I got from my secondary data. I
also loved doing the interviews. I wanted to interview a priest and a sheikh n lastly,
someone who’s witnessed an exorcism. When I couldn’t enter a church to interview a
priest I headed to the mosque to ask the sheikh for some of his time, and he let me in.
I asked him all the questions I needed answered and he was more than helpful. I even
found some common ground between the Christian and the Islam Religions. They
both compose similar tests to see if a person is possessed or not because the body’s
temperature is usually very hot. Also, both religions according to an article I read
about Christianity that I compared with what the sheikh told me, both religions agree
that possession is more likely to occur to women not men. Id also like to further
investigate and know why that is. The sheikh told me that women have this glow to
them than the spirits can easily see in pitch darkness and are more attracted to them.
Also, I loved doing the presentation, and sharing all the information I found out with
my classmates, even freaking them out just a lill bit . Writing the paper itself was a
bit challenging for me because all the information I found out I found it a bit hard to
word it all, so my wording for it wasn’t as effective as I would have liked it to be.
Nonetheless, I loved and believed in my topic and I did my best in writing it. In my
paper, my aim was to talk about different religion views of the exorcism ritual. but as
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I got deeper and deeper into my research I found myself getting more attracted to
discovering more about the spirits themselves, why they are the way they are, y they
possess people.. so my paper became more drawn to that issue. It was a great
experience, and im saddened as I write my last journal entry.. because I loved this
class.. my doctor , and all my classmates.
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