EXORCISM, the expulsion of evil spirits from persons or places by incantations, magical rites or other means. As a corol lary of the animistic theory of diseases and of belief in Possession (q.v.), we find widely spread customs whose object is to get rid of the evil influences. These customs may take the form of a general expulsion of evils, either once a year or at regular in tervals, either immediately by spells, purifications or some form of coercion ; or by transfer to a scapegoat or other material vehicle. Among the means of compelling the evil spirits are assaults with warlike weapons or sticks, the noise of musical instruments or of the human voice, the use of masks, the in vocation of more powerful good spirits, etc. ; both fire and water are used to drive them out, and the use of iron is a common means of holding them at bay.
The term exorcism is applied more especially to the freeing of an individual from a possessing or disease-causing spirit; the means adopted are frequently the same as those mentioned above.
The professional exorcist was known among the Jews; in Greece the art was practised by women, as was charged against the mothers of Epicurus and Aeschines by the Stoics and Demos thenes. Exorcism in the early ages of the Christian church was frequently mentioned in the writings of the fathers. (See EXORCIST.) The rite of exorcism in connection with baptism, and a form of service for the exorcising of possessed persons, is still retained in the Roman ritual. The exorcist signs the pos sessed person with the figure of the cross, desires him to kneel, and sprinkles him with holy water; after which the exorcist asks the devil his name, and adjures him by the holy mysteries of the Christian religion not to afflict the person possessed any more. Then, laying his right hand oil the demoniac's head, he repeats the form of exorcism as follows: "I exorcise thee, unclean spirit, in the name of Jesus Christ ; tremble, 0 Satan, thou enemy of the faith, thou foe of mankind, who hast brought death into the world, who hast deprived men of life, arid hast rebelled against justice, thou seducer of mankind, thou root of evil, thou source of avarice, discord and envy." Houses and other places supposed to be haunted by unclean spirits are likewise to be exorcised with similar rites, and in general exorcism has a place in all the cere monies for consecrating and blessing persons or things ( see BENEDICTION) .
Tylor, Primitive Culture; Skeat, Malay Magic, P. seq.; Frazer, Golden Bough (and ed.), vol. iii. 18,9; Krafft, Ausf uhrliche Historie von Exorcismus; Koldeweg, Der Exorcismus im Herzogthum Braunschweig; Brecher, Das Transcendentale, Magie, etc. im Talmud, pp. 195-203 ; Zeitschr. fur Assyriologie (Dec. 1893, April 1894) ; Herzog, Realencykl. s.v. "Exorcismus" ; Waldmeier, Autobiog raphy, p. 64 ; L. W. King, Babylonian Magic. Modern ethnographical works deal fully with the subject.