The Penguin book of exorcisms / edited by Joseph P. Laycock.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Laycock, Joseph, 1980- editor.

Series:

Penguin classics

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Exorcism.

Demonology.

Spirit possession.

Physical Description:

xi, 313 pages ; 20 cm.

Edition:

First edition.

Other Title:

Book of exorcisms

Place of Publication:

New York : Penguin Books, [2020]

Summary:

"Levitation. Feats of superhuman strength. Speaking in tongues. A hateful, glowing stare. Spirit possession has been documented for thousands of years and across religions and cultures, even into our time: In 2019 the Vatican convened 250 priests from 50 countries for a week-long seminar on exorcism. The Penguin Book of Exorcisms brings together the most astonishing accounts: Saint Anthony set upon by demons in the form of a lion, a bull, and a panther, who are no match for his devotion and prayer; the Prophet Muhammad casting an enemy of God out of a young boy; fox spirits in medieval China and Japan; a headless bear assaulting a woman in sixteenth-century England; the possession in the French town of Loudun of an entire convent of Ursuline nuns; a Zulu woman who floated to a height of five feet almost daily; a previously unpublished account of an exorcism in Earling, Iowa, in 1928--an important inspiration for the movie The Exorcist; poltergeist activity at a home in Maryland in 1949--the basis for William Peter Blatty's novel The Exorcist; a Filipina girl "bitten by devils"; and a rare example of a priest's letter requesting permission of a bishop to perform an exorcism--after witnessing a boy walk backwards up a wall. Fifty-seven percent of Americans profess to believe in demonic possession; after reading this book, you may too"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: THE PENGUIN BOOK OF EXORCISMS: THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST

An Exorcism from the Library of Ashurbanipal, Seventh Century BCE

The Bentresh Stela, Fourth Century BCE

THE GRECO-ROMAN WORLD

Hippocrates, "On the Sacred Disease," 400 BCE

Lucian of Samosata, The Syrian Exorcist, 150 CE

Tertullian, The Nature of Demons, 197 CE

Philostratus, The Life of Apollonius of Tyana, 210 CE

Athanasius, The Life of Saint Anthony, 370 CE

MEDIEVAL EUROPE

Cynewulf, "Juliana," 970

990

Thomas Aquinas, The Powers of Angels and Demons, 1274

EARLY MODERN EUROPE AND AMERICA

Desiderius Erasmus, "The Exorcism or Apparition," 1519

A Possessed Woman Attacked by a Headless Bear, 1584

"A True Discourse Upon the Matter of Marthe Brossier," 1599

Des Niau, The History of the Devils ofLoudun, 1634

Samuel Willard, "A briefe account of a strange & unusuall Providence of God befallen to Elizabeth Knap of Groton," 1673

The Diary of Joseph Pitkin, 1741

Fray Juan Jose Toledo, An Exorcism in the New Mexico Colony, 1764

George Lukins, the Yatton Demoniac, 1788

JEWISH TRADITIONS OF EXORCISM

Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 94 CE

The Spirit in the Widow of Safed, 1571

Exorcisms of the Baal Shem Tov, 1814

THE ISLAMIC TRADITION

Ahmad b. Hanbal, "The Prophet Muhammad Casts an Enemy of God Out of a Young Boy: A Tradition from Ahmad B. Hanbal's Musnad," 855 CE

The Trial of Husain Suliman Karrar, 1920

SOUTH AND EAST ASIA

A Hymn to Drive Away Gandharvas and Apsaras, Eleventh to Thirteenth Century BCE

Chang Tu, "Exorcising Fox-Spirits," 853 CE

A Fox Tale from the Konjaku Monogatrishu, Eighth to Twelfth Centuries CE

Harriet M. Browne's Account of Kitsune-Tsuki, 1900

D. H. Gordon, D.S.O., "Some Notes on Possession by Bhuts in the Punjab," 1912

Georges de Roerich, "The Ceremony of Breaking the Stone," 1931

MODERN EXORCISMS

An Exorcism Performed by Joseph Smith, 1830

W. S. Lach-Szyrma, Exorcizing a Rusalka, 1881

Mariannhill Mission Society, An Exorcism of a Zulu Woman, 1906

E J. Bunse, S.J., The Earling Possession Case, 1934

"Report of a Poltergeist," 1949

Lester Sumrall, The True Story of Clarita Villanueva, 1955

Alfred Metraux, A Vodou Exorcism in Haiti, 1959

E. Mansell Pattison, An Exorcism on a Yakama Reservation, 1977

Michael L. Maginot, "Report Seeking Permission of Bishop for Exorcism," 2012.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: The penguin book of exorcisms

ISBN:

9780143135470

0143135473

OCLC:

1141151340

Publisher Number:

99988356142