exorcism

Rite used in a number of religions for the expulsion of evil spirits and ghosts. In Christianity it is employed, for example, in the Roman Catholic and Pentecostal churches.

Many conditions were attributed to possession by spirits in ancient history, and there are numerous examples of exorcism in the New Testament and in the early Christian church; the theologians Tertullian and Origen speak of it as an ordinary occurrence. The professional exorcist was known among the Jews, and the art was practised by women in Greece. The ancient rite of exorcism in connection with baptism is still retained in the Roman Catholic ritual, which also contains a special rite for the exorcism of possessed persons.

Popular folklore in Islamic countries includes beliefs about the binding of djinns, but Islam does not officially recognize this.