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Zusatztext Winner of the 2020 Whirling Prize in Horror “Suitably chilling reading for Halloween . . . Shows in illuminating detail how the belief in demonic possession stretches back more than 2,500 years.” ? The Economist “What better way to embrace spooky season than with this collection?” ? Mental Floss “Fascinating.” ? Dax Shepard, Armchair Expert (podcast) “Gripping . . . Thoroughly researched . . . [with a] descriptive flare in rendering the ‘goblinlike entities,’ jealous demons, and evil spirits . . . This is a boon for anyone curious about exorcism and its wide-ranging, spiritually diverse legacy.” ? Publishers Weekly “Spellbinding . . . Gripping . . . Fascinating . . . Demons, devils, dybbuks, jinn, zar and Chinese fox-spirits abound in accounts dating back to ancient times. . . . The editor's introductions are sharp and cogent. . . . [For] readers hungry for illumination?and a touch of terror.” ? Shelf Awareness Informationen zum Autor Joseph P. Laycock (editor) is an associate professor of religious studies at Texas State University and a co-editor of the journal Nova Religio . He is the author or editor of several books about religion, including Speak of the Devil , Spirit Possession Around the World , The Exorcist Effect , and Satanism and has written for Quartz and The New Republic. He lives in Austin, Texas. Klappentext Haunting accounts of real-life exorcisms through the centuries and around the world, from ancient Egypt and the biblical Middle East to colonial America and twentieth-century South Africa A Penguin Classic Levitation. Feats of superhuman strength. Speaking in tongues. A hateful, glowing stare. The signs of spirit possession have 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 weeklong 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of an entire convent of Ursuline nuns; a Zulu woman who floated to a height of five feet almost daily; a previously unpublished account of an exorcism in Earling, Iowa, in 1928--an important inspiration for the movie The Exorcist; poltergeist activity at a home in Maryland in 1949--the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 backward up a wall. Fifty-seven percent of Americans profess to believe in demonic possession; after reading this book, you may too. Leseprobe Contents 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,” 1...
About the author
Joseph P. Laycock (editor) is an associate professor of religious studies at Texas State University; coeditor of
Nova Religio, the premier journal for the study of new religious movements; the author of several books about religion, including
Speak of the Devil,
The Exorcist Effect, and
Satanism; and the editor of
The Penguin Book of Cults. He has written for
Quartz and
The New Republic and been featured on the television documentary series
Mysteries Decoded and The History Channel’s
Holy Marvels with Dennis Quaid and
The UnXplained with William Shatner.
