Exorcism Across Cultures: Demons, Possession, and Spiritual Healing
5/19/20261 hr 33 min
What happens when cultures around the world interpret illness, suffering, and altered states of consciousness as spiritual possession?
In this episode of Beyond the Human, we explore exorcism as a cross-cultural phenomenon, examining how different religious traditions understand spirits, possession, healing, and the supernatural.
Rather than treating exorcism as simply horror movie material, this episode approaches it through anthropology, religious studies, and the study of lived spiritual experience.
Drawing on ethnographic research and religious texts, we examine Catholic exorcism and the Roman Ritual, Muslim ruqya practices involving djinn possession, and Korean Buddhist rituals used to heal spirit-related illness and troublesome ghost encounters.
Along the way, we discuss why possession experiences across cultures often share strikingly similar features: altered states of consciousness, unusual strength, personality changes, physical symptoms, and experiences interpreted as contact with non-human entities.
From Catholic priests and Muslim raqis to Buddhist ritual specialists and spirit mediums, this episode asks a broader question: what do exorcism and possession reveal about the ways humans understand suffering, healing, evil, and the unseen world?
Rather than offering definitive answers, this episode explores the intersection of religion, anthropology, medicine, and the paranormal—and why experiences of possession continue to challenge the boundaries between belief, psychology, and reality.
Topics discussed in this episode:
(2:14) - The Anthropology of Possession and Exorcism
(17:52) - Ruqya, Muslim Exorcism
(30:15) - The Roman Ritual
(1:11:45) - Exorcism in Buddhist Korea
(1:28:42) - Why Consider Exorcism and Possession
Show Notes:
Living with the Invisibles (available to stream on Alexander Street Press)
The Exorcism of Anneliese Michel, Felicitas Goodman
Deliver Us (Kanopy, but available on other streaming services)
Archbishop of Milwaukee Jeffrey Grob’s dissertation on Catholic exorcism:
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsRyan Goeckner· Host0:01
When possession is manifested, the obsessed goes into a trance and loses consciousness, leaving space for the evil spirit to speak, to agitate the person, to curse, to vomit nails, glass, or other objects, and to demonstrate Herculean strength. In brief, to take over. On this subject, Father Candido told me of a case of a young girl, an extremely thin and apparently weak demoniac who, during the exorcisms, had to be tied with leather straps and held firm with difficulty by four very energetic men. Well, she managed to break the straps with which they attempted to tie her, causing them much trouble until the end of the rite. It also happened to me a decade ago. A very thin young girl, she could not have been more than 13 years old, accompanied by her mother and her mother's friends, received incredible strength from the devil during an exorcism. It took all seven of my guardian angels, the persons who accompany me with prayer, to hold her firm. During these crises, the manifestation of abnormal phenomena occurs at intervals, but not continuously. The subject will lose consciousness all of a sudden, but at other moments of the day, the subject will appear normal. The possession is seldom permanent. More often, the crises are provoked by external motives, for example, during a situation of spiritual stress, such as the exorcism itself, the Mass, benediction, prayer, or even the simple introduction of a sacred object. At other times, it goes off without apparent cause. The demon acts when, how, and where he wishes, during the day, at night, or even in public situations so that all can see. In these cases,