This made the headlines of both the Egyptian Gazette and the Daily 
News in Egypt from two weeks ago, the headlines in the front page were about this interesting report by the AFP correspondent Charles Onians .It was about The Egyptian Exorcist father Makari Yunan,the preacher of St. Mark Coptic Church.
Arabic newspapers surprisingly ignored it completely despite it is not only interesting but it is very important. This is the first time the media records exorcism in a church like this in Egypt. Exorcism in Egypt is always associated with secret places , whether for Muslims or Christians , official representatives of both religions avoid speaking in this matter , it is not a taboo but it is like a swamp , dangerous area because both religions believe in the existence of Demons , of course I do not know about the Church men , but there are many sheikhs and Islamic clerics who disbelieve the idea that an evil spirit or a demon can possess a person , considering it from the signs of ignorance in the society.
I think this report can create trouble for father Makari , surely the church knew all about him with his growing popularity like this , but to be under the media spot light , well it can bring a lot of questions and criticism in a way I can't imagine it. You must know that the Orthodox Church now does not like the current media coverage in the Egyptian Press for its activities specially Pope Shounda and his lessons and speeches on Sundays and Wednesdays "I think it is good thing because it introduced us to how the Church thinks" .
Exorcism exists in different religions , in different civilizations and in different countries , I believe it is something related to human nature from the ancient times . In the ancient times it was easy to blame demons for any psychological disorder.
Here are the complete photo set by Onians whom I really respect , the set showing the Sunday prayer attended by thousands of Christians , there are some Muslims attending .
As you see the rituals of the exorcism in the Egyptian Church can be considered identical like in the Catholic Church and even similar to the rituals in Islam
Reading verses from the Holy bible then using the Holy Water , where as in Islam verses from the Holy Quran are also read and water which someone read the Holy Quran over is used. The water here plays an important factor , it is like purifying the body here ,like forcing the demon to get out of the human body , the belief that the demons are from fire that hate water ,if you think about carefully you will see it so simple
If you notice most people especially the old women are some how emotionally moved , there is a lot of crying , a lot of reaction especially when the Priest began to exorcise someone , we should not forget the group influence here , it plays an important role regardless of the individual background and education, believe I know men and women with PhD from France and UK and they believe in exorcism and witchcraft
This report will open the door of discussing the witchcraft and the Church through exorcism , it turned out that the Orthodox Church have allowed the exorcism rituals according to the report for 32 years "Does this mean it was not allowed before the Pope Shounda !!??" . To be honest I never heard that it was done like this in church , still I always hear about those folk tales regarding priests and monks who practice witchcraft and black magic in Upper Egypt away from the Church and how influential they are and were still the Church does n't approve on Witchcraft and it dismisses those men , in the same way I heard stories about the rabbis who practiced witchcraft and exorcism in 1930s and 1940s. Once I heard that Christian monks and priests inherited the knowledge of witchcraft from the ancient Egyptian priests , of course this is nonsense because the ancient Egyptian priests did not write down that so-called Art , it was an oral inherited thing only for high priests . Egyptian people and magic are considered one hell of an old story .
Pope Shounda I remember in an interview with famous journalist Sana'a El-Said hinted to the witchcraft and black magic , saying that it was forbidden in Christianity .
I just like to hint to something that in hard times where ignorance spread and economic crisis pushes the people to madness ,people go to this road ;to the road of magic , the proof is here in front in this post and the hundred millions spent annually on witchcraft in Egypt
What ever scientific term one wishes to produce in order to justify a medical condition to the possessed is a complete failure, simply because the medical science so far have never been able to cure the so termed "possessed" nor the will be able to do so. They just kill the brain with medicines hence the person while awake walking or doing anything is unconscious mentally. if one was to say there is not such thing as possession then dear human being what are you to define of this?
ReplyDeleteThe water kills the fire, religious verses & rituals effect the thing that is in possession of a person, it is a fact and i have seen it by Christian Priests, Muslim Sunni and Shiite Shaikhs and also i have seen it done by Hinduism religious persons. If you really think there is no such thing as possession, then dear reader step out the world is large and a huge huge place to explore oh yes i have also witnessed it being cured by a WICCA Practitioner, hence what do you make of all this when one sees many religions curing something when medical science fails and i mean medical science totally fails and they term it as mental conditions but still they couldn't cure a sufferer who traveled half the world was cured by a religious person, what do you make of that?
Explore and you will find the reality.
My dear anonymous , I think the brain is still a mystery to science , about possession , if you believe that you will be cured by that priest or that shaikh ,you will be cured Possession is universal thing ,in almost all cultures and civilizations and this is very interesting needed to be studied extensively
ReplyDeletethere are real cases of possession but I think many of these cases are related to neurological diseases.
i think this whole thing is bum! religions can be quashed by pointing out dinosaurs, cavemen, evolution etc, so when we start talking about 'priests' and religious figures, remember they are based on a ficticious thing! so possession is a made up way of trying to explain something that science has yet to 'uncover' or understand. as much as i would like to believe in god, possession, ghosts and gouls.. the facts point us in a direction of something more sane...
ReplyDeleteWhy are you equating exorcism with black magic? These are two totally different things.
ReplyDeleteAnd the Church has never been secretive about this- it is far from a "murky swap" hidden beneath the surface of society.
The Coptic church holds exorcisms EVERY friday. Visitors are welcomed and expected. It is done totally out on the open- and it is even broadcast on Coptic television! Dozens are exorcised publically every week in the church- muslims AND christians... If you go you will see veiled and niqabi women being exorcised too in front of hundreds of people.
It is all very transparent, not a hidden taboo secret.