One Hollywood exorcist has warned that every single person on the planet Earth has most likely been possessed at one point in his or her life. Even so, she takes a “non-denominational” view of exorcism, preferring the term “entity” to “demon” and insisting on a vague spiritualism regarding the practice, disconnected from any religion.
“Possessions are super common,” 38-year-old exorcist Rachel Stavis wrote for Reader’s Digest. “Every single person on this planet has probably been possessed at one point or another in their lives, and 99 percent of people are walking around with entities now, totally oblivious to them.”
Stavis argued that everyday struggles may be signs of possession. “They may suspect something is wrong, but they may attribute it to stress, a bad boss, or the fight they just had with their boyfriend. These traumas—big or small—may have triggered the initial possession, but they’re only symptoms, not the cause,” she wrote.
The exorcist claimed an unparalleled expertise, writing, “I may be the only person in the world who can identify an entity—what most people through history have called a demon—and make it disappear.”
Stavis claimed that she visibly sees spiritual entities. “I witness them attach to people in public spaces; I see them floating through the air looking for their next victim,” she wrote.
The woman described her life as a spiritual battle against these demonic forces. “And they visit me, though they typically do it in one of two ways. The first is the ‘Hey, I’m an entity, here I am!’ visit, which happens when an entity approaches me with a stare-down, yet doesn’t try to attach,” she wrote. “The second occurs when an entity attempts to push itself inside me. My sense is that they do this to suss out what I am, and how and why I’m so different from most humans.”
Stavis prefers the term “entity” rather than “demon” partially because not all of these spiritual forces are evil, she wrote. “No entities—except the highest order (and most malevolent) ones like Realm Walkers—are out to kill you. If they did, they wouldn’t be able to feed off you anymore, so the entire point of their existence would be null and void,” she wrote.
“Even if entities don’t kill you, they can cause physical problems that range from mildly irritating to downright debilitating. In fact, a lot of people who come to me do so because they’ve heard I can help cure their illnesses, alleviate their symptoms, or undo the damage caused by a sickness,” Stavis wrote.
Many clients go to the exorcist with common physical complaints such as arthritis, headaches, nausea, or infertility. Some come with life-threatening illnesses. “I may not be able to save these people’s lives, but every single time, removing their entity helps lessen their suffering,” she wrote.
“Not every physical sickness is just physical. There are many energetic reasons why, but joint pain is probably the most common issue entities cause, and typically, my clients will have visited a doctor to alleviate their symptoms, only to be given a prescription for pills that helps for a short time but never fully cures them,” Stavis explained. “The reason modern medicine doesn’t, of course, is that the problem is entirely linked to entities.”
While Stavis makes her living through exorcism, she does not follow Roman Catholic practices. “I’m a non-denominational exorcist,” she wrote. “During exorcisms, I call in Spirit Guides, Master Teachers, angels, my ancestors, even gods and goddesses, all of whom come from and are part of Spirit. Spirit is often called Source and it’s where all good and bad things come from and return to.”
This vague pantheistic “non-denominational” spiritualism seems to enable Stavis to borrow from whatever tradition would suit her needs. While Christians believe in demon possession, and Jesus Himself performed many exorcisms, they also believe true believers cannot be possessed by demons. If that were true, it could cut into Stavis’s client base, however.
There is some scientific basis behind the idea that mental attitudes impact physical health, and the placebo effect proves that if someone suffering from a malady truly believes in a prescribed treatment, it can work — even if it does not truly address the physical problem.
Stavis’s “non-denominational” spiritualism may play off of this theme, and her broad approach enables her to address many situations that may have nothing to do with demons or spiritual warfare.
An Italian priest recently said the Vatican is struggling to keep up with burgeoning cases of demon possession in Italy, and the Vatican will host an exorcism training event next month. Even so, Roman Catholics would not suggest that everyone has been possessed, and the Roman Catholic rite of exorcism requires a medical examination to prove the problems are not medical in nature.
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