The Sacred Self: A Cultural Phenomenology of Charismatic Healing

Chapter 8. Encounters with Evil

8 Encounters with Evil In this chapter we will flesh out our analysis ofdeliverance by examining texts that show how evil spirits are dealt with in the context ofhealing sessions. We highlight segments ofritual performance that reveal how Charismatics construe spirits as elements oftheir habitus and threats to the sacredself. In particular, our concern is to demonstrate the way in which deliverance constitutes a specific kind of emotional selfprocess. We will conclude with a reflection on the phenomenology ofcontrol that will define the experiential specificity in the Charismatic encounter with evil. In all but the first ofthe five following cases our diagnostic interview determined that the patient had suffered at least one episode of major depression and/or serious dysthymic disorder. All were involved in ongoing processes ofinner healing, and the topic ofevil spirits arose differently for each. The Woman Whose Cousin Was a Witch The healing team and patient are those described in the vignette of"the woman who merged with herself' (chapter 5). In fact, the event transcribed here occurred at the beginning ofthe same session, with the discernment of demonic presence by the team leader: 200 ENCOUNTERS WITH EVIL 201 H: There's a lot of occult surrounding you. . . . See, everybody's yawning. s: Well, I have had vicious headaches, I'm even considering going to a doctor. H: [Begins arm- and leg-straightening maneuvers; see chapter 6.] Renounce Satan. S: I renounce Satan. H: Accept the Lord. Spirit of the occult, we renounce you and send you to the foot of the cross where you'll be dealt with by Jesus Christ, your Lord and master. Forgive H [husband]. Forgive yourself. [Vigorous praying in tongues by team-yawns-healer dispenses holy water on hands of all.] What's your daughter up to? S: It's [her cousin's daughter], she's come back ... two doors away. [The neighbors] have seen her going to a church locally. And my cousin's worse than she ever was. I think that's what it is. [Loud tongues.] H: In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.... Okay, how's your head? s: Feels fme. H: There's still something right here. [Touches base ofskull.] We claim her for yours, Jesus.... Lord Jesus, we come against all the occult that has surrounded her life, and that presently surrounds her life. We come against anything and everything that is not of you, Lord Jesus Christ. Spirit of Darkness, we cast you out. We bind you. We send you to the foot of the cross where you will be dealt with by Lord Jesus Christ, your Lord and master. Over here, right in the back of your head, yes or no? S: My neck. H: Right here. [Base ofskull; shifts hands from her back and chest to the back of head and forehead.] You're loaded [with evil spirit activity], you know it? And the headache keeps going from here to here [forehead to base of skull] because I've got it. HA [assistant]: I envision St. Michael battling with Satan; he's available [to help in the deliverance]. H: It is a battle. [Tongues.] In the name ofthe Lord Jesus Christ! S: I could envision St. Michael sticking his sword in the Devil. H: It's gone. Is it gone? S: Yes. [Several sighs, prayer of thanks by H.] The opening exchange establishes the causal connection between occult spirits and the patient's headache, but it appears that the symptom is invoked to explain the cause rather than vice versa. As the performance 202 ENCOUNTERS WITH EVIL unfolds we see the integration of practically a full range of ritual techniques . The team laid hands on the patient's head and shoulders throughout; tongues were used both in "authority" for deliverance and for praise to the deity; discernment of demonic presence was exercised by the principal healer, as was word ofknowledge when she identified the location and persistence of the patient's headache in herself, and when she spontaneously inquired about the patient's daughter; demonic manifestations were evident in the "deliverance yawn" of the healing team; the technique of "leg-lengthening" was applied; the patient was instructed to forgive several people and to renounce Satan; the powerful archangel was not only invoked, but made present in imagery; and the prayer of command was uttered against specific evil spirits. The familiarity ofall participants with these ritual elements allows a performative...