I Learned About the Devil So I Could Watch Horror Movies. Part 2
In the years following the Satanic Panic, it was discovered that several lives of innocent people were ruined by false accusations of child abuse and demonic rituals. The children who reported abuse later acknowledged (some as adults), that the allegations and stories were false. Many of them were coerced by police, social workers or their own parents to agree to statements that abuse occurred. To date, there is no proof that any demonic child abuse rituals ever took place. We can see the negative impacts of these stories for real survivors of child abuse as repeated moral panic such as Pizza Gate occur today.
Books like Michelle Remembers (1980), added fuel to the fire. The book, no longer in print, was claimed to be written by a Canadian psychiatrist about his patient, Michelle. It was labeled as non-fiction, despite no fact checking ever being done by the publishing company. The book became a rapid success, feeding the public mania. Michelle Remembers, describes the alleged Recovered Memory Therapy she engaged in with her psychiatrist. He sees her multiple times per week for hours at a time. During these sessions, she is pushed to recover more and more severe and traumatic memories. She is told that the more memories she recovers, the more her mental health will improve. Michelle begins to disclose demonic ritualist abuse she allegedly experienced as a child and as time goes on, the descriptions of abuse become significantly more grotesque.
There is no criticism of the romantic relationship that develops between Michelle and her psychiatrist. Nor, the amount of time she is grilled to discover memories of abuse. Years later, it is found that none of the memories and accusations brought forward in the book were proven to have occurred. However, the damage done by the writer had already been done. The book has since been discredited.
Learning about the satanic panic, led me to learning about the history of exorcism. Before the 1900s, exorcism was not a well known or popular practice. It was not until the Pentecostal movement erupted among Americans that it was revived. The Pentecostal faith focused on the existence of the Holy Spirt and promoted beliefs of speaking in tongues, miracles and exorcism. Contrary to popular belief, exorcisms were not practiced as prevalently by Roman Catholics as in the protestant faith. By the 1960s there was an increase in Pentecostal beliefs which overflowed into other Protestant faiths, as well as, Roman Catholics. This sparked new found interest in the practice of exorcism among the masses.
Similarly to the impact of the book Michelle Remembers, the book The Exorcist, published in 1971, created a ripple effect that no-one could have predicted. The book inspired the popular 1973 film The Exorcist which became a nation wide hit.
The film simultaneously occurred along the time of the Catholic Church redefining its practices in hopes of becoming more relevant with the general population. This was known as Vatican II. During Vatican II, it was decided that the Catholic mass would no longer be performed solely in Latin. Rather, it would be offered in the language of the participants. Another notable change was nuns being able to drive cars.These changes created uproar within the Catholic community. The largest argument being that the changes made by Vatican II would open up the segue for the devil to enter into the faith.
With the release of The Exorcist film, requests for exorcisms hit all time highs. In the Catholic faith, it was incredibly challenging for individuals to receive an exorcism. This was until, it was discovered by the Roman Catholic Church that individuals were going to the protestant churches or the “black market” for the practice. At this time, around the 1990s, the Catholic Church created the International Association of Exorcists, which still exists today. The association includes approximately 250 members and provides quarterly newsletters and training pertaining to performing to exorcisms. The Vatican, as of 2019, has opened up a course on exorcism to faiths outside Catholicism.
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition, symptoms of demonic possession include; Using languages unknown to the person or people around them, Having extraordinary strength or resistance to physical restraint, Knowledge of events or people that the person could not have possibly known, An aversion to holy objects or places, such as holy water or churches, Self-harming and displaying violent or aggressive behaviour, Ailments or conditions that cannot be diagnosed or treated medically, Having hallucinations or hearing voices, An abrupt change in behaviour or personality or Sudden spiritual drynes.
As awareness on mental health, addictions, PTSD and trauma have become more widespread, the practice of exorcism has been criticized and argued to create more trauma. Even the Catholic Church reports that exorcisms are only to be done when all other mental and physical health assessments have been completed. It has been noted that with the rise in mental health and addictions, requests for exorcisms have increased.