Tenth International Conference on The Image

Abstract

The aim of this research work is to carry out an in-depth analysis of the concept of “exorcism” as a genre of magical literature in the form of prayers, oral imprecatory formulas, or inscribed objects (amulets and charms) used during the ritual performances, since all of them are generated with healing and ritual purposes, as well as the adaptation of their therapeutic and purification functions in religious ceremonies for the liberation of any “demonic possession.” In order to achieve our purposes, we deepen the study of the genesis of exorcism by clarifying its archaic roots still present in the shamanic cultures of prehistory with its survival in the apotropaic rites within the magical-religious Hellenistic (texts of magic in Greek papyri) and Arab-Islamic (the Qu’ran) traditions used for healing and ritual purposes, as well as the ways to adapt each of them in the therapies and religious rites of purification and liberation of the so-called “demonic possession.”