Chapter 56 Public exorcism: Exorcism at any time
From what has been said, we can understand why the general exorcisms which primitive man often practiced always took the form of forceful exorcisms.The savage thinks that these spirits are the source of many, if not most, of his troubles, and that if he can get rid of them he will be better off.The public practice of exorcising accumulated evil from the whole of society can be divided into two categories according to whether evil is immaterial, invisible and possessing a material body or surrogate: the former may be called immediate or non-substitute exorcism; the latter may be called indirect or representative exorcism, or scapegoat exorcism.Let’s start with the example of the former category.
There is an island of Rook between New Guinea and New Britain. When there is a disaster, the people on the island think that it is made by the devil, so all the people gather together, screaming, cursing, and waving sticks in the air. Hit, drive away the devil.They drove the devil from the place where the disaster happened to the sea step by step. When they reached the seashore, they shouted and beat hard in an effort to drive him out of the island. Usually the devil retreated into the sea or to Rhodes Island. superior.The natives of New Britain regard sickness, drought, bad harvests, and all misfortunes in short, as the work of goblins.Sometimes many people get sick and die, as happens at the beginning of the rainy season, when all the inhabitants of a district take sticks and sticks, go out into the fields by moonlight, beat and stamp on the ground, shouting loudly, all the time By the next morning, thinking this would drive the devil away.To ward off evil spirits, they also passed through the village with torches.It is said that New Caledonia [the French island west of Australia in the southwest Pacific. The natives of ] believed that all evil was caused by a powerful demon; therefore, in order not to disturb him, they often dug a great pit, and the whole tribe gathered around the pit.After they had cursed the devil at the edge of the pit, they filled it up with earth, and stepped on the top of it, shouting, which they called burying the goblin.When the Dieri people of central Australia were seriously ill, the wizards would exorcise the couch (i.e. goblins) by beating dead stuffed kangaroo tails on the ground inside and outside the tent until they drove the goblins far outside the tent. place.When the inhabitants of Minahasa in Celebes encountered a series of disasters or a severe plague in a certain village, they blamed the devil for invading the village, and he had to be expelled from the village.So early one morning, all the people, men, women, and children, left home, took all their belongings with them, and lived in temporary huts outside the village.They stayed here for several days, offering sacrifices and preparing for the last rites.At last all the men, some in masks, some with their faces blackened, etc., all armed with swords, guns, spears, or brooms, crept discreetly into the uninhabited village.Then, at the signal of the priest, they ran furiously up and down the street, into the houses, and under the houses (the houses were raised off the ground, on piles of wood), shouting, beating on the walls, doors, and windows, go devil.Then the priest and the rest walked around each house several times with the holy fire, and three times around the stairs leading into the house, all with fire.Then they took the fire into the kitchen, where it had to burn for three days.Only then did the ghost go away, and everyone was very happy.
The Alfus of Halmahera believed that the plague was brought by ghosts from other villages.Therefore, in order to keep one's village free from disease, a wizard is invited to exorcise evil spirits.He got a piece of expensive clothing from all the villagers, used it to cover four small boxes, took it to the woods, and put it where the ghost was supposed to be.Then, using mocking language, he ordered the ghost to leave the place.On the island of Kay in New Guinea, goblins are quite different from the spirits of the dead, and they form a large group.Almost every tree and every hole is the place where these devils live, and these devils are very violent, and they will run out if they are slightly offended.They are not happy to send disease and disaster.Therefore, when there is a widespread calamity, such as an epidemic of plague, when all other means are in vain, all the inhabitants, led by the priest, go to a place some distance from the village.At sunset, two poles are set up here, a cross is hung between the two poles, and several bags of rice and several wooden models of revolving cannons, gongs, bracelets, etc. are tied to it.Then, as everyone stood by the pillars, and there was deathly silence all around, the priest raised his voice and spoke to the spirit in his own language as follows: "Ho! Ho! Ho! You elf who lives in the trees, you live Goblins in caves, you goblins who live underground, we give you these rotary cannons, these gongs, etc., please stop the disease, don't let so many people die of disease." So everyone ran home, can Run as fast as you want.On the island of Nias, when someone is seriously ill and medical treatment is ineffective, the wizard comes to exorcise the devil who caused the disease.Set up a pole in front of the house, and pull a rope made of palm leaves from the top of the pole to the roof of the house.Then, the wizard took a pig up to the roof, killed the pig, and let it roll down from the roof to the ground. The devil was eager to get the pig, so he slid down the roof along the palm rope. A good ghost called by the wizard stopped the devil from climbing again. go up.If this cure fails, it means there must be other ghosts hiding in the house.So ghost hunting is common.All the doors and windows in the house were closed except for a skylight on the roof.All the men were locked in the house, and with the sound of gongs and drums, they slashed left and right with swords.Frightened by this attack, the devil escaped through the skylight and along the palm rope.All the doors and windows were shut except one skylight, and the devil could no longer enter the house.In the case of plague, do the same.All the gates of the village were shut except one; every man was shouting, every gong was beating, every sword was being swung.So the devils were driven out, and the last door was shut.For the next eight days, the whole village was under martial law, and no one was allowed to enter the village.
When cholera was prevalent in a village in Myanmar, the able-bodied people climbed to the roof with bamboo sticks and short wooden sticks beside them, and the rest of the people, young and old, stood below, playing drums, trumpets, and the ground and walls. , tin pots, and other things, causing a commotion that lasted three nights.This is the most effective way to get rid of the cholera demon.When smallpox first appeared among the Kumi people of southeastern India, they thought it was a devil from Araku.All villages are under martial law, and no one is allowed to enter or leave the village.They threw a monkey to death on the ground and hung its body at the village gate.The monkey's blood was mixed with small pebbles in the river and sprinkled on the house. The threshold of every house was swept with the monkey's tail, and the devil was driven away.
When the Gold Coast of West Africa encounters a rampant plague, people often go out with sticks and torches to drive away the goblins.At a signal, the whole population yelled horribly, beat every corner of the house, and rushed out into the street, shaking the torches and beating the air frantically.The uproar continued until it was reported that the terrified devil had run away from the gate of the town or village, and the people chased after the devil, drove them some way, and drove them into the woods, warning them that they would never again After returning, after exorcising the demons, kill all the roosters in the village or town, lest the roosters crow untimely, so that the driven demons will know the direction they must go when they return to their hometown.When a disease prevails in the villages of the Hurons, and all remedies fail, all the Indians perform a ceremony called the Rhonolaia, "which, they say, is an important initiative to drive out devils or goblins from towns or villages, It is the most just way, those demons that cause, seduce, and cause all diseases that people suffer physically and mentally."So, one evening, the men suddenly ran around the village like madmen, breaking and knocking over everything they came across in the huts, and throwing fire or burning torches all over the street.They ran all night long, shouting and singing.Afterwards they all dreamed of something, a knife, a dog, a piece of skin or something, and in the morning they went from house to house asking for presents.They accept gifts in silence until the thing they dreamed is given to them.On receiving such a thing they rushed out of the hut with a cry of joy, and all present congratulated him.It was believed that anyone who got what they dreamed was bound to be in good health; those who wanted something and didn't get it were doomed to bad luck.