Contesting Spirits: A Study of Exorcism from Early Christianity to Contemporary Boston

I. Introduction

Popular media today is saturated with depictions of the supernatural and paranormal—whether in film, television, books, or online communities. Themes of exorcism, demonic possession, speaking in tongues (glossolalia), faith healing, and contact with otherworldly beings such as ghosts or extraterrestrials appear frequently in the cultural imagination. Yet despite their prominence in popular discourse, these phenomena often remain at the fringes of formal religious studies and theological curricula. Within many Christian communities, especially in mainline contexts, such topics are relegated to the margins—dismissed as sensational, anecdotal, or outside the purview of serious theological engagement.

This paper emerges from a research project I originally conducted through Boston University in Fall 2021.[1] The broader study explored how contemporary Christian communities in Boston understand and engage with what I termed “spirit phenomena”: (exorcism, glossolalia, faith healing, etc.) and “charismata” (Charismatic gestures, words, or actions).[2] While the original project was framed in relation to pastoral preparation and ecumenical dialogue, this present paper (excerpted from the larger study, with names and locations changed for confidentiality) focuses specifically on the exorcistic dimensions of the research, reframing the analysis through the lens of the academic study of religion.

By narrowing the scope to exorcistic phenomena in a few representative Boston-area churches and placing them in dialogue with the historical and biblical development of exorcistic traditions, this study offers an ethnographic and historical perspective on how these practices persist, adapt, and are interpreted within diverse Christian contexts today.[3] The project situates these local expressions within broader conversations in religious studies about ritual, embodiment, religious authority, and the social negotiation of the supernatural.  

II. Biblical and Historical Background on Exorcism

15th c. Austrian depiction of Jesus exorcising (Wikimedia Commons)

In order to examine exorcism in Boston today (known in some circles as "deliverance"), it is important to begin with its historic roots. The book of Tobit (3rd-2nd century BCE) records one of the earliest Abrahamic narratives to depict a kind of exorcism. It sees the use of a mixture made by Tobias to expel the demon Asmodeus, who was then bound in the desert by the angel Raphael (8.1-3). Later, at the end of the 1st century CE, Jewish historian Flavius Josephus mentions an alleged ring (seal) of Solomon used for exorcism.[4] The exorcistic association with Christianity exists from the late 1st century onward. While the Pauline tradition does not reference it, exorcistic narratives do appear in the Synoptic Gospels, Acts of the Apostles, and apocryphal literature.[5] Jesus’ role as an exorcist was part of his broader healing ministry. Early depictions of Jesus performing miracles in Late Antique Christian art frequently show him casting out demons as one of the common miracles.

Spells used for exorcising a demon also appear in the Greek Magical papyri and Coptic Christian amulets of Late Antiquity (3rd-8th centuries CE), and exorcistic rituals or practices are also referenced by early Christian authors, including Justin Martyr (100-165 CE),[6] Origen of Alexandria (184-253 CE),[7] and Eusebius of Caesarea (263-339 CE).[8] Tertullian (155-220 CE) wrote that demons flee at the invocation of Jesus’ name,[9] as well as by the laying-on of hands and the blowing of air, a practice paralleled in some Greek magical papyri and early monastic hagiography.[10] Lactantius (240-320 CE) said that invoking Jesus’ name caused terror in demons.[11] Apocryphal literature of the time (especially the various Acts) also show apostles casting out demons using the name of Jesus.[12] 

The progression of the early Christian exorcistic tradition was gradual. In Mark and Luke-Acts, Jesus exorcises with his own authority. This later shifts to Jesus’ disciples exorcising in his name. Over time Christian exorcism acquired new elements, with the addition of credal statements, the sign of the cross, blowing of air, the use of Jewish epithets for God, and later, the exorcist even became a minor order in the Catholic Church which one could be ordained to.[13] Early exorcistic developments occurred contemporaneously with the development of the Greco-Egyptian private rituals recorded in the magical papyri. Exorcism spells also show up in “magical” contexts up through the Medieval era, and into the Protestant Reformation. It was shortly after this time that the Roman Catholic rite of exorcism, the Rituale Romanum, was first used in 1614.[14] Three centuries later, the 1917 Code of Canon law mandated that Bishops had to appoint an exorcist for their diocese.[15] This was not always followed, and the mandate was rescinded in 1983.

In 1603-1604, the Anglican Church—parent of U.S. Episcopal church—made a provision for exorcism, but most of this was repealed in 1969.[16] In 1972, the Anglican Bishop of Exeter recommended that each diocese should have an exorcist, and that centers of training should be established.[17] Exorcism is also present in the fabric of Catholic and Episcopal sacramental life. One historian, Michael Cueno, writes that “both traditions have employed incense, the sign of the cross, holy oils and salts, and other accouterments of worship as symbolic vehicles for cleansing people of evil… The Roman Catholic baptismal rite still contains prayers for the exorcism of the candidate, and similar prayers have been restored to Anglicanism… And prior to the reform of their liturgy after the Second Vatican Council, Roman Catholics recited… [a] prayer, which was composed by Pope Leo XIII in 1886, at the end of every Mass.”[18]

The Holiness movement, which began in the early 20th century and became the Pentecostal and Charismatic (Neo-Pentecostal) movements, also emphasized acts of "deliverance" since their beginnings. In 2015, the Vatican noted an uptick in the amount of exorcisms, and Pope Francis “officially recognized the International Association of Exorcists (IAE), a group of priests with members in 30 countries.”[19] This stance has not changed. It seems that not only are Charismatic acts of deliverance alive and well, but so too is Catholic exorcism. With this context, it is important to turn to the modern history of exorcism in the greater Boston area. 

III. Exorcism / Deliverance in Boston

The “weird,” “abnormal,” or “fringe” are part of New England’s roots. This is a world that gave rise to figures like Edgar Allen Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, H.P. Lovecraft, and Stephen King. In 1689, Cotton Mather, soon to be infamous from the 1692 Salem Witch Trials, described the possession of four children in Boston, who he claimed were bewitched by an Irish woman named Mary Glover.[20] Centuries later, on Halloween 1971, the Old West Church in the West End of Boston began “A Rite for All Souls.” The music ministers were intending it to be a “call for healing and end to war,” and the liturgical language in the rite was interpreted as a type of exorcism.[21] 

As will be discussed, belief in exorcism, demons, and the Devil surged again after the film debut in December 1973 of The Exorcist, adapted from William Peter Blatty’s 1971 novel. In April 1977, in Dover, just 20 miles from Boston, some teenagers claimed to have seen a demon lurking around.[22] In the early 1990’s a Charismatic “deliverance minister” reported having been “afflicted” by a “hag” at his home in South Boston, and in 2013 (after nearly 20 years), he began a ministry, "The Knights of Deliverance."[23] In 2001, while conducting research for American Exorcism, Cueno wrote, “At a drab medical complex on the outskirts of Boston, I have watched an avuncular physician exorcising spirits of guilt and self-hatred from one of his patients.”[24] In 2012, several psychiatrists from Boston Children’s Hospital attempted a similar exorcism on a patient.[25]

In May 2014, a “Black Mass” performed by the Satanic Temple of Salem, MA was scheduled at Harvard University’s campus. Their stated intent was to display “religious independence,” but the Archdiocese of Boston disagreed.[26] Thousands of lay Catholics and clergy processed through the streets of Cambridge leading up to the event, functioning as a kind of mass-exorcistic ritual. Hours before it was supposed to occur, Harvard canceled it due to media outcry, and the Satanic Temple moved their venue to a nearby restaurant. In another context, Jeremy Sher of Harvard University wrote in late 2020 that between a hospital in San Francisco and Lemuel Shattuck Hospital in Boston, he had worked with about 30 psychiatric inpatients who approached him “with concerns about possession by the devil, demons, or evil spirits. In perhaps 15 of those cases, a psychiatric inpatient specifically asked me to perform an exorcism upon them.”[27]

More tragically, in June 2021, a 19-year-old drowned his father in Duxbury’s Island Creek Pond, just outside of Boston. The boy had gone to Boston to retrieve his father, who texted him from a bar there, and it was on the way home that the boy tried to “exorcise” his intoxicated father. He told the police that “he believed his father was possessed by demons and that by dunking his head multiple times underwater in a pond, he was performing an exorcism.”[28] That same month, at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Worcester, Catholic hospital workers sprayed holy water over a balcony, and prayed against “the executives of Tenet Corporation, now in the coils of the unclean spirit of corporate greed and disdain for safe conditions for the nurses and patients of this hospital.’”[29] They based their prayer off Catholic exorcistic prayers.[30]

In late September 2021, I was informed that a UMC pastor and a family in his French Haitian congregation just outside of Boston performed a deliverance on a young man they believed to be possessed.[31] A local AME Church also frequently performs acts of deliverance without any preparation, and believes they can always tell when someone is possessed.[32] Another local community, a non-denominational group, shared that they effectively hold and practice acts of "deliverance" and glossolalia.[33] In the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, Cardinal Sean O’Malley, OFM Capuchin of Boston is a practicing exorcist.

While these anecdotes give a broad sense of Boston, what do local ministers say about its use in their congregations? One Pentecostal pastor, Pastor S. near Boston does believe in “deliverance,” but would not call it “exorcism” as that feels more Catholic.[34] He has participated in the deliverance of a non-Christian male in the Boston area at a different local church. The man had walked into the church from off the street seeking help; it is unclear if he requested deliverance, or if that was eventually decided in conversation with the pastor(s) of that church. It seemed that the man was possessed with a “demon of addiction” and others. Pastor S. and the other ministers prayed over him and commanded the demons to come out “in the name of Jesus,” much like the early Christians. Whether or not there was follow-up, he was unsure.

Another Pentecostal minister, Pastor G., has also participated in deliverance. He notes that names are prophetic and have power, and power of Jesus’ name is evident in deliverance. There also needs to be discernment, he says, between demon influence/possession and medical illness. For example, a Christian with bipolar disorder may be told by others that they must not be a “true Christian” and must have a demon. But Pastor G. cautions against this approach, and says that Christians can certainly struggle with medical illnesses. Indeed, he has observed two extremes: sometimes they are either told they should be on medication alone, without faith, or that they should receive deliverance alone, without any medication. He believes in a middle approach, and says that here, prayer is the tool of discernment, and that fasting is important for those who perform a deliverance as well.[35]

Pastor G. believes that Christians can be “demonized,” but not possessed. He sees the goal of demonic activity as keeping someone bound, and believes that most demons enter a person’s life at a place of trauma. During a week-long training in Colorado he attended, “Jesus, Wonderful Counselor,” Pastor G. was taught to bring a person into God’s presence, then, he says, God can show them a revelation. There is no power of suggestion implied here. "If the demon has entered their life due to a trauma, God will reveal to them the source of their trauma if they are unaware." At that point, that is when the minister can say, “Ask the Holy Spirit, when did this [trauma] first happen?” Pastor G. sees vows as the cause of the bondage, as “demons are always looking for where you’re vulnerable.” For example, if someone had an alcoholic parent then said, “I vow never to become like them,” they "set themselves on a path that can end in bondage."[36] 

Out of his ten years in the U.S., only once has another minister, Episcopal priest Father M., been asked to do an exorcism. This has happened recently [as of Fall 2021], by a member of his congregation. The person has not used the word “possessed,” but shared that they dabbled in New Age occult for a while, and feel they attracted and are now “tormented” by a demon. This case is still ongoing [in Fall 2021]. Fr. M. recently went to his Bishop, who informed him that there is no official exorcistic ritual or process in the Episcopal Church as there would be for Catholics.[37] Instead, he recommended that Fr. M. should go and pray over the afflicted, bring along another person, and perhaps anoint them with holy oil as well.[38]  

IV. Analyzing the Exorcistic Phenomena

About halfway through the 1973 film, The Exorcist, the Clinic Director says to the mother of the possessed daughter (who has been violently cursing and acting out):  

“There is one outside chance for a cure. I think of it as shock treatment - as I said, it's a very outside chance... Have you ever heard of exorcism? Well, it's a stylized ritual in which the rabbi or the priest try to drive out the so-called invading spirit. It's been pretty much discarded these days except by the Catholics who keep it in the closet as a sort of an embarrassment, but uh, it has worked… although not for the reasons they think, of course. It's purely a force of suggestion. The victim's belief in possession is what helped cause it, so in that same way, a belief in the power of exorcism can make it disappear.” The mother replies, “You're telling me that I should take my daughter to a witch doctor? Is that it?”[39] 

This statement is emblematic for how most in secular western society view spirit phenomena, particularly that of exorcism which is seen as outdated. 

As such, the amount of continued belief may be surprising to some. U.S. Gallup polls in 1990 showed that 55% believed in the reality of the Devil; by 2004, this was 70%.[40] Similarly, nearly 59% of those surveyed in 1998 professed a belief that people could be possessed by the Devil.[41] Then, in 2007, 53.5% of those surveyed “answered in the affirmative, or strongly in the affirmative, [to] the question: ‘Is it possible to be possessed?’”[42] Cueno argues that “exorcism is alive and well in contemporary America. It’s a booming business… Untold numbers… have undergone exorcisms of one kind or another, and many claim to have come out much the better for it.”[43]

By the late 1960’s, exorcism was rarely spoken of in public discourse, but by the mid-1970s, suddenly, “countless people were convinced that they… were suffering from demonic affliction; and exorcism was in hot demand.”[44] Cueno attributes this to the release of The Exorcist, which popularized visceral images associated with exorcism: rotating one’s head 180 degrees, spewing vomit, showing disdain for the cross, levitating off the bed, cursing the priest or revealing his secrets, showing supernatural strength, and speaking in a voice not one’s own.[45] Following the film’s release, even in Boston, there were reports of audience members fainting, vomiting, or cursing during the exorcistic spells, and religious communities saw surges in exorcism requests.[46] 

This resulted in the creation of new (and revival of old) ministries across the denominational spectrum. Popular media continued to cause a direct effect on the exorcism market, and created a “a cultural climate conducive to the performance of exorcisms.”[47] In 1990, a Leslie Nielson parody film, Repossessed, showed two televangelists pairing with an unwilling Catholic priest to broadcast an exorcism of the Devil to thousands. Only a year later, 20/20 broadcast a live (non-parodic) exorcism.[48] While Repossessed may have trivialized exorcism, the 20/20 broadcast gained serious attention. Indeed, “The pop culture industry cast its spell… and an obliging nation fell into line.”[49]

What is the function of exorcism from a social perspective? In 2015, David Frankfurter of Boston University contended that while many may think of exorcism as a Medieval or Biblical holdover, the reality was quite different. The “idea of an evil force,” he said, “of Satan and his demons invading bodies and things and thereby afflicting our lives, has a very modern aspect, too. It captures anxieties about a more extreme evil in the world, anxieties that get encouraged through the global news cycle and exposure to stories of terrorism, crime, corruption, and catastrophe…. When people experience the world as not prone to ambiguous events, but really and consistently bad events, then Satan and demonology become that much more useful explanations.”[50]

Since exorcism / deliverance is viewed as a spiritual battle between the exorcist and possessed, one may think it is not regulated by social norms. However, social science sees it as a social phenomenon, in which the possessed, “consciously or not, act according to their own religious culture… to how they were expected to behave by the members of their religious communities…. Even if people can be (or believe themselves to be) possessed, unconsciously they are still cultural performers.”[51] Arguably, the same may be partially true of faith healers and receptors, as well as those who practice glossolalia and its performative element. Spirit possession and trance are also common in many cultures, and are not always a negative or “evil” experience. Some communities have used possession to commune with ancestral spirits or to invite a spirit of prophecy. Yet Christian exorcism generally holds a negative interpretation of possession.

But what about those who see exorcism as therapeutic? Pastor G.'s comments about how deliverance is often for people who have experienced a trauma are instructive in this regard. Cueno argues that exorcism “promises liberation for the addicted, hope for the forlorn, solace for the brokenhearted. It promises a new and redeemed self, a self freed from the accumulated debris of a life badly lived or a life sadly endured.”[52] He also asks, does exorcism work primarily due to the placebo effect?[53] This would be in line with the view that the possessed act according to their religious culture.[54] Additionally, exorcism also removes a sense of guilt for an individual. That is, for one’s personal issues, “depression, anxiety, substance addiction, or even a runaway sexual appetite—there are exorcism ministries… that will happily claim expertise for dealing with it. With the significant bonus… that one is not, for the most part, held personally responsible… Indwelling demons are mainly to blame, and getting rid of them is the key to moral and psychological redemption. Personal engineering through demon-expulsion: a bit messy perhaps, but relatively fast and cheap, and morally exculpatory.”[55]

In other words, much like New Age practices or twelve-step recovery programs, exorcism ministries can “offer their clients endless possibilities for personal transformation… With its promises of therapeutic well-being and rapid-fire emotional gratification, exorcism is oddly at home in the shopping-mall culture, the purchase-of-happiness culture, of turn-of-the-century America.”[56] From 2013-2018, Verónica Giménez Béliveau conducted a study in which she concluded that exorcism is “primarily a healing ritual, a therapeutic-ritual form.”[57] She sees it as a ritual used as a kind of cure against hexes, haunted houses, or spiritual problems.[58] It seems clear that, with these insights, coupled with Pastor G.'s comments about a relationship between deliverance and trauma, exorcism can serve a therapeutic function for possessed persons. 

V. Exorcism, Paranormal, and Theology

Father Alphonsus Trabold, OFM (1925-2005), a Franciscan friar and priest, studied the paranormal extensively throughout his life using a Catholic theological and clerical lens, while also teaching theology courses at St. Bonaventure University in western NY.[59] Among these were courses on the paranormal and theology, taught while contemporaneously working on a number of cases, including the “haunted house” of Hinsdale, NY.[60] Most of the time, he believed that paranormal experiences were primarily psychological, although there were certain cases which he felt could not be explained by natural means. While Trabold’s primary work was focused on western New York and not the Boston area, his decades of research into the very topics this study examines makes his work highly relevant. 

How would a Catholic priest identify a “possessed” person? Trabold noted that demonologists typically distinguish between three stages of “diabolical influence.” The first stage is infestation, the second is obsession / oppression, and the third is possession. Infestation is similar to the phenomena known in psychical research as “poltergeist” effects, that is, the movement of physical objects or loud noises (scratching, knocking, footsteps), and no diabolical spirit is necessarily present. It is only at the stage of obsession or oppression that explicit diabolical influence may be suspected. This consists of the spirit-demon threatening or trying to harm the person.[61] Lastly is the stage of possession, in which the person’s body is completely taken over by the spirit. In Trabold’s estimation, this is extremely rare.[62]

Trabold believed that The Exorcist film was causing some harm.[63] “It’s something that the people were not prepared to handle,” he said, “and they don’t understand it… as a result it could have a bad psychological effect, a bad spiritual effect…. it’s a dangerous area if it’s not treated properly.”[64] In the case depicted in the film, Trabold argued that what initially led priests to conclude the daughter was possessed were psychic effects, not demonic. That is, he believed that the paranormal elements could be explained through psychokinesis (mind over matter). In fact, he claimed, “Just about every sign that was used for centuries… in possession can be explained by psychic ability.”[65] He pointed out that Catholic tradition at one time believed when humanity was created, God had bestowed special abilities, which were then lost with Original Sin.[66] 

Trabold, however, believed that these “gifts of the spirit” were not lost, and are in fact what we now view as paranormal abilities: ESP, precognition, psychokinesis, levitation, and so forth. That is why, he argued, some of these phenomena manifested through saints, and why we find things like faith healing. It is what he saw as God’s power made present through us today to others.[67] Overall, between the comments of local Boston ministers to the various social-religious functions of exorcism and its nuances, the practice of exorcism/deliverance today may be seen to draw “inspiration from traditional religious symbolism, pop culture iconography, and current notions of psycho-spiritual healing, exorcism is a pastiche of curiously disjointed yet mutually enhancing elements.”[68] 

The Devil and Otherworldly Beings

Exorcism assumes the existence of the Devil and otherwordly beings. Trabold believed that Jesus accepted the reality of demons, so for him, “their very existence is not open to doubt.”[69] He added, “It is my firm belief that belief in angels, both good and bad, is an integral part of the Christian faith.”[70] The aforementioned Pastor S. and Pastor G. also believe in the reality of angels and demons, and that these beings can and do influence our reality. Pastor G. also spoke of different titles for the Devil, including the “Archangel Lucifer” and “Satan,” and sees the “Fall of Lucifer and “one third of the fallen angels who rebelled with Lucifer” as a real event (doctrines typically drawn from a combining of Isaiah 14, Ezekiel 28, and Revelation 12). 

On September 29, 2021, the Feast of the Archangels, Fr. M. spoke to a group of students after morning prayer at the Episcopal church about the reality of angels and demons. Some in attendance were taken aback, as it was not a topic they encountered often. He also preached a sermon in October 2021 on the reality of the Devil and demons, and some of his parishioners reacted similarly. For Fr. M., saints are also in a state of soul sleep,[71] so he does not believe in their intercession, nor in their apparitions. He sees this applying to Mary as well, who, while a significant figure, he says cannot intercede for us or appear, as she is also human and also sleeping until the Last Judgment. 

VI. Discarnate Spirits: Ghosts and Near Death Experiences

The topic of “apparitions” is worth exploring here briefly, given its parallels with exorcims and demons. A couple years after The Exorcist, Ed and Lorraine Warren, self-proclaimed paranormal experts, became involved in a famous case in Amityville, NY.[72] The events went on to become the 1979 film, The Amityville Horror, and the Warrens became the nation’s most famous paranormal investigators.[73] This film caused another surge of reported possessions and hauntings. While stories of public exorcism may be few and far between, Boston is not lacking in ghost stories. In fact, it has a preponderance of “Ghost Tours,” and popular media, such as Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House (2018), locates ghost stories in the Boston area. But what do local ministers believe or teach about ghosts?

For Pentecostal minister Pastor S., there is no communication with the dead (necromancy), as the Bible forbids it. He says that some people “talk” to their loved ones at their grave, and while it is comforting to hear at funerals “they are watching over you,” he contends that the dead cannot hear or see us, as they are otherwise occupied in heaven. He sees ghosts as either demonic appearances or hallucinations. For Pentecostal minister Pastor G., it comes down to whether the being is a part of the Spirit of Light (God) or the Spirit of Darkness (Satan)? “Do they point you toward Christ?… I’d never say there’s no… ghosts. The real question is, where did this spirit come from, and where are they leading me?”

Episcopal priest, Fr. M., has not been asked by parishioners about ghosts or hauntings. However, he believes in their reality, as he has heard the loud church doors opening and closing and footsteps when he is alone in the church, and finds no one else around. Since he believes in “soul sleep,” he does not view them as human spirits, but is not sure if they are demons, or something else. He added, “Ghosts are benign spirits. Some may have nefarious goals, others do not,” and can be found in churches, cemeteries, homes, and elsewhere. Fr. Trabold referred to ghosts as “discarnate” (separated from the body) as opposed to “incarnate,” and saw them as human spirits who “may return to earth with God's permission,” possibly messengers “for some good,” or as a punishment as part of their purgatory or hell.[74] 

As such, “ghosts may communicate with the living. Such a view would be compatible with traditional Christian teaching about the survival of the human soul.”[75] Trabold also believed that an exorcism of place can be performed on a haunted house to expel a spirit.[76] Some believe that poltergeist (“noisy ghost”) cases are caused by living people, typically children around the age of puberty or in high times of stress. Stories of Near-Death Experiences (NDE’s) also see disembodied or discarnate spirits visiting heaven, hell, or earthly locales. In some cases, the disembodied person may appear as an apparition to the living. These stories are not new, going back as far as Roman times, some of which also tied into xenolalia.[77] The modern emphasis on NDE’s came about as a result of Dr. Raymond Moody’s Life After Death (1975).

Numerous accounts of people on the edge between life and death have since spring up.[78] Boston has its own International Association for Near Death Studies group. Pastor S. said he preaches the reality of Heaven and Hell, and both he and his church believe in NDE’s and have watched Heaven Is for Real (2014) together. Fr. M. on the other hand is “very skeptical” about NDE’s, likely due to his belief in soul sleep. Fr. Trabold said that he had dealt with a lot of people who had NDE’s.[79] While opinions differ about the nature of the afterlife, it seems clear that the survival of the soul is not in question within this small survey sample, and it seems that ghosts, demons, and the Devil are intimately tied with popular views of exorcism, haunting, and the power channeled through ministers in expelling those spirits.

VII. Summary and Conclusions

When it comes to the study of religion, it is helpful to remain “receptive to that which is unfamiliar or in apparent opposition to our preconceived ideas: to open up dialogues with unfamiliar disciplines that may offer important insights into our own.”[80] The Boston area has a rich and complex religious history, the depths of which this project could only begin to explore. My goal in this study was to survey the presence of exorcism and deliverance practices within a select few local Christian communities, to learn how these phenomena are understood, enacted, and situated within their broader social and ritual contexts.

This project was, at its heart, ethnographic in nature—seeking to observe, document, and analyze ritual practices and belief narratives as they appear within lived religious settings. Rather than evaluating these practices in terms of theological correctness or doctrinal alignment, I have aimed to understand them as part of the dynamic religious landscape of Boston. The intention has never been to trivialize or dismiss the beliefs or experiences of any group, but to explore how these communities engage with questions of evil, healing, spiritual agency, and the body.

One of the most striking observations from this study is the deeply embodied nature of exorcistic practice. Exorcism, by definition, seeks to address perceived spiritual affliction within a human body, using physical, sensory, and verbal acts of intervention. Whether through touch, vocal invocation, ritual gestures, or the sensory presence of elements like anointing oil or incense, these practices are rooted in bodily experience or embodied practices. Even when congregants or practitioners spoke about more “fringe” or liminal experiences—such as ghostly encounters or perceived demonic manifestations—there remained a strong emphasis on sensory perception: hearing unexplained sounds, feeling sudden temperature changes, seeing visual apparitions, or experiencing bodily reactions.

While this project’s sample size in Boston was more limited than originally planned (though the original study did include a few other surveyed churches on glossolalia and faith healing), I argue that even this small set of interviews, site visits, and observations provides a valuable glimpse into how exorcism and deliverance are understood and practiced in select urban Christian communities today. This analysis, though preliminary and necessarily selective, highlights how these phenomena are informed by a complex interplay of biblical interpretation, historical tradition, psychological frameworks, social dynamics, and popular culture.

For future research, I would recommend a larger, more diverse sample and a longer period of ethnographic engagement with each community involved. Such expanded fieldwork could allow for deeper exploration of how these practices function across different denominational, cultural, and theological settings. Ultimately, studies like this contribute to broader conversations in the academic study of religion about ritual practice, embodiment, religious authority, and how communities negotiate the presence of the supernatural within contemporary urban life.

Endnotes

1. From September to December 2021, this project was developed using background material, correspondences, in-person conversations with local ministers, and church services. This included Pentecostal, Episcopal, Catholic, Baptist, and Methodist churches. 
2.  Initially, apocalypticism and prophecy were a larger part of the proposed purpose, but the focus shifted to charismata as the project developed and other features became more relevant through conversation and observation.
3. While I reached out to many local ministers, I ultimately met with two Pentecostal pastors and an Episcopal priest. I also briefly corresponded with Dr. Harvey Cox of Harvard University, Dr. Patrick McNamara of Boston University, and Dr. Eldin Villafane of Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary. Conversations with classmates, peers, and professors also provided insights. Representing the Catholic perspective is Fr. Alphonsus Trabold, a Franciscan Friar from western New York whose archival material I have used since 2012.
4.  Antiquity of the Jews 8.46-49.; Solomon went on to become a major figure in exorcistic, ritual, and magical spheres. The later apocryphal Testament of Solomon preserves some of the growing exorcistic spells, as well as angelic and demonic names, and other literary traditions.
5.  Exorcisms occur in the Synagogue at Capernaum (Mk. 1.21-28; Lk. 4.31-37), at Peter’s house (Mt. 8.16-17; Mk. 1.32-34; Lk. 4.40-41), the country of the Gerasenes (Mt. 8.28-34, 5.1-20; Lk. 8.26-39), and demons are cast out of a mute man (Mt. 9.32-33), a blind and mute man (Mt. 12:22-37; cf. Luke 11:14-26), a Canaanite woman’s daughter (Matt. 15:21-28 cf. Mark 7:24-30), a man’s son (Mt. 17.14-21; Mk. 9.14-29; Lk. 9.37-50), seven spirits in Mary Magdalence (Mk. 16.9, Lk. 8.2), etc.
6.  In his 2nd Apology 6, Justin says that exorcisms were done “in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate,” a credal statement; see Andrew Daunton-Fear, Healing in the Early Church: The Church’s Ministry of Healing and Exorcism from the First to the Fifth Century (Colorado Springs, CO: Paternoster, 2009), 50.
7.  Origen, Contra Celsum 1.6, quoted in Theodore De Bruyn, “What did Ancient Christians Say when they Cast out Demons? Inferences from Spells and Amulets” in Christians Shaping Identity from the Roman Empire to Byzantium: Studies Inspired by Pauline Allen, ed. Geoffrey D. Dunn, Wendy Mayer (Leiden: Brill, 2015), 65-66.
8.  Daunton-Fear, Healing in the Early Church, 127. Eusebius of Caesarea said that “[Jesus] displays the virtues of his godlike might in the expulsion [of demons], by the mere invocation of his mysterious name” (Against Hierocles 4).
9.  Ibid., 70. Tertullian, Apology 32.2-3.
10.  Ibid. Tertullian, Apology 23.15-16.
11.  Ibid., 116., Lactantius, Divine Institutes 4.27.1-3. Lactantius adds, “just as He Himself put all demons to flight by a word…. so now His followers by the name of their Master… exclude those same defiled spirits from men” (Ibid).
12.  For example, in Acts of Peter 11, “Peter turned to… one man laughing, in whom was a very bad devil…. [and] said, ‘Demon, whoever you are, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ depart from this young man without hurting him. Show yourself to all present’” (c.150-200 CE; quoted in Bart Ehrman, Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It into the New Testament (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003), 141-142. See also Acts of John 37-45; Acts of Thomas 68-81.).
13.  Daunton-Fear, Healing in the Early Church, 158-159.
14.  Michael W. Cueno, American Exorcism: Expelling Demons in a Land of Plenty (New York: Doubleday, 2001), 152.
15.  Ibid.
16.  Ibid.
17.  Ibid.
18.  Ibid.
19.  Rich Barlow, “The Devil Makes Them Do It.” Boston University. BU Today, January 22, 2015.
20.  In his book, Memorable Providences Relating to Witchcrafts and Possessions.
21.  Ron Jacobs, "Exorcism at Boston's Old West Church, All Hallows Eve 1971", CounterPunch, 7 August 2020.
22.  Mark Sullivan, “Decades later, the Dover Demon still haunts”, The Boston Globe, 29 October 2006.; “Teeners report ‘creature’” Bangor Daily News, 16 May 1977.
23.  Ashley Conner, "Deliverance minister deals with 'Monsters and Mysteries", The Gazette-Virginian, 3 April 2015.
24.  Cueno, American Exorcism, 8.
25.  Martin Gottesfeld, "Did Boston Children's Hospital Plan an Exorcism?", Huffington Post, 19 June 2017.
26.  Hail Satan? Los Angeles, California: Magnolia Home Entertainment, 2019. Film.; The group views Satan as “the symbolic embodiment of the ultimate rebel against tyranny,” according to spokesperson Lucien Greaves. The Satantic Temple uses Salem, MA for their international headquarters. Their claimed purpose, unlike the earlier Church of Satan, is to emphasize religious pluralism in the U.S., and to put “an end to oppressive traditions.” They are the same group who have tried to put up a statue of an enthroned Baphomet on different state capitol grounds, such as Oklahoma or Arkansas, next to an inscribed monument of the Ten Commandments.
27.  Jeremy D. Sher, “‘Chaplain, Can You Do an Exorcism?’”, Harvard Divinity Bulletin, Autumn/Winter 2020.
28.  Arianna MacNeill, “Duxbury teen accused of killing his father allegedly said he was attempting to perform an exorcism”, The Boston Globe, 29 June 2021.
29.  Laura Tobias, “Striking Nurses Perform Exorcism to Rid Tenet Executives of ‘Corporate Greed’”, Scrubs Magazine, 28 June 2021.
30.  Ibid.; Catholic exorcism is divided between Simple and Solemn Exorcism. The first is shorter, and a priest would not need permission from their bishop to perform it. A Solemn Exorcism, however, is a very rare occurrence, used only if the exorcist believes that a person is beyond a doubt demonically possessed, and must receive permission from their local bishop to perform the rite. It is also very lengthy and extensive, and uses the Rituale Romanum.
31.  Meeting with Pastor D.R., October 7, 2021. Zoom.
32.  Conversation with L.C, Roxbury, MA, October 30, 2021.
33.  Ibid.
34.  Conversation with Pastor S., Boston, MA, October 13, 2021.
35. Pastor G. referred to Matthew 17.14-21, in which Jesus heals a possessed boy. The father says that the apostles could not heal him, but Jesus is able to. When the apostles question Jesus on this, in most versions he says it was due to unbelief. But he noted that in at least one Greek manuscript, preserved in the KJV, Jesus indicates that it has to do with both prayer and fasting. Pastor G. concludes that churches with dynamic deliverance ministries are fasting.
36.  “Familiar spirits” is a term Pastor G. used in the case where people say, “that family is full of troublemakers,” because there is a generational familiar spirit keeping them in bondage.
37.  Fr. Alphonsus Trabold wrote, “Lots of times the priest will get a feel for the mental condition or emotional condition of a person.” After counseling a person, he sometime tried hypnosis, to “try to implant in their mind a counter-suggestion that there is no possession, or, if there is a possession, that the demon is gone. And I’ve found the better way of treating this is a positive way… by stressing the love of Christ, and his protection, the fact that he has conquered Satan, and so on… then the problem usually takes care of itself” (Fr. Alphonsus Trabold, OFM. Radio interview on WLEA-Hornell, c.1974. From the Trabold Collection, Archives of St. Bonaventure University, New York.)
38.  This was in contrast with an experience Fr. M. had during his seminary years in Africa. The church he was interning for was holding a prayer meeting, and suddenly a woman fell and convulsed on the floor. Those present, including Fr. M., immediately began a “deliverance.” There was no formal process of inquiry or testing as with Catholicism, but an immediate reaction.
39.  Friedkin, William. The Exorcist. Warner, 1973. Film.; The conversation is an hour and ten minutes into the film.
40.  Adam Possamai and Giuseppe Giordan, The Social Scientific Study of Exorcism in Christianity, Popular Culture, Religion and Society A Social-Scientific Approach 3 (Springer International Publishing, 2020.), 9.
41.  Ibid.
42.  Ibid.
43.  Cueno, American Exorcism, 9-10.
44.  Ibid.
45.  Ibid., 15-26.
46.  Ibid., 23, 149-150.
47.  Ibid., 9-10.
48.  Ibid., 78-80.
49.  Ibid., 9-10.
50.  Rich Barlow, “The Devil Makes Them Do It.” Boston University. BU Today, 22 January 2015.
51.  Possami, The Social Scientific Study of Exorcism in Christianity, 6-7.
52.  Ibid., 304.
53.  Ibid., 307-308.
54.  Ibid., 6-7.
55.  Ibid., 10.
56.  Ibid., 11.
57.  Ibid., 9-10.
58.  Ibid.
59. Over the course of several years, from 2013-2015 at St. Bonaventure University, I became intimately acquainted with, and given copies of, all of Trabold's publicly available archive material. From 2013-2018, I was also involved with the Franciscan Friars (OFM), the same Province and Order that Fr. Trabold belonged to.
60. Trabold counseled a family who lived at the “haunted house” in the early 1970’s. Their experiences are chronicled in the mother’s book (Clara Miller, Echoes of a Haunting, 2000.), as well as other books, television episodes, podcasts, and other formats.
61.  Robert W. Pelton and Karen W. Carden. In My Name Shall They Cast Out Devils: Exorcism and Exorcists Today (A.S. Barnes, 1976), 145.
62.  Ibid., 145-146.
63.  Exorcist: Radio Dialogue, Station WLEA-Hornell; Father Trabold, OFM, Kevin P. Doran (morning show host), c.1974. From the Fr. Alphonsus Trabold Collection (08-601-749), Box 5, Archives of St. Bonaventure University, New York.
64.  Ibid.
65.  Grace, Mary. Interview with Fr. Alphonsus Trabold, OFM, in preparation for her book, The Communion of Saints: Where Spiritualism Meets Catholicism. St. Bonaventure University, August 31, 2004. From the Fr. Alphonsus Trabold, OFM Collection (08-601-749) at St. Bonaventure University Archives., 16.
66.  Ibid., 27.
67.  Ibid.
68.  Cueno, American Exorcism, 312-313.
69.  Pelton and Carden, In My Name, 207.
70.  Ibid., 195.
71. Fr. M indicated that soul sleep was his own belief, rather than Episcopalian doctrine. Official church prayers used at funerals both mention souls in God’s presence, and souls at rest. He does stress the importance of praying for the dead at funerals, as he believes there is not necessarily a purgatory, but a journey the soul may take. Further, he does not find it logical that souls would immediately go to heaven or hell upon death, only to be pulled out again at the Final Judgment to be re-judged. Thus, the doctrine of soul sleep.
72.  Cueno, American Exorcism, 42.; The occupants of the house experienced “strange knockings, rancid odors, and precipitous drops in room temperature; by slime oozing through the walls and flies swarming on a bedroom window in the freezing cold; and, most terrifying of all, by ghastly spiritual entities, including one with distinctive porcine features, prowling the property in the dead of night” (Ibid.).
73.  Ibid., 40-55.; I corresponded with Lorraine Warren (age 90 at the time) briefly in 2017 about the Hinsdale, NY case.
74.  Trabold, “Psychical Research Notes,” 6.; Trabold, Communion of Saints interview, 21, 30-31.; Trabold believed that in some cases, there may be a third possibility beyond a human spirit or demon, a possible unknown entity that has not been revealed to us by God (Pelton and Carden, In My Name, 48.).
75.  Ibid.
76.  Pelton and Carden, In My Name, 115.
77.  Michael Nahm, “Four Ostensible Near-Death Experiences of Roman Times with Peculiar Features: Mistake Cases, Correction Cases, Xenoglossy, and Prediction”, Journal of Near-Death Studies 27(4), Durham: International Association for Near-Death Studies, Summer 2009, 211-222.
78.  Including Dannion Brinkley’s Saved by the Light (1994) Betty Eadie’s Embraced By The Light (1992, Don Piper’s 90 Minutes in Heaven (2004), Bill Wiese’s 23 Minutes in Hell (2006), Heaven is for Real (2010), and countless other titles.
79.  Fr. Alphonsus Trabold, Communion of Saints interview, 11
80.  Bettina E. Schmidt and Lucy Huskinson, Spirit Possession and Trance: New Interdisciplinary Perspectives (Continuum Advances in Religious Studies, 2010) 12. 

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