Anyone heard of or been through a JW exorcism?

Mimilly

Greetings, and wow! Did I enter this forum with a biggie. I've been lurking for quite awhile - with some threads, laughing to tears, and others, reliving those years.
This has it's beginning in my childhood which was nothing but abuse. I buried it, and when it began to surface, I began to cut myself, a self-mutilator of which I am now in recovery. Among other things going on (too much to mention), the brothers decided I was possessed because of this behaviour. I was councelled against getting worldly therapy, and instead, they cooked up an exorcism. 'All' (rings, baby pics of my children, clothes) of my possessions and those of my children were destroyed and several times I was held down by up to 8 brothers at a time while they pushed my 'buttons' and chanted scriptures. (It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize what that triggered) Twice I was rushed to the hospital with two elders in tow (so THEY could give their own version of what happened).
As I have said, I've been lurking here for sometime and realize that the interrogations/following/shunning/rumors etc. seem to have been par for the course for being in the 'truth'.
Hugs to all for the pain and struggles each of you have endured and are enduring. I've been out for a decade. They still haunt me.
For all the posts, I haven't read anything regarding JW exorcisms. Did I just have the misfortune to live in an area where the elders decided to be creative?
Btw, I ended up 'silent', no speech, and was admitted to the hospital where I received real help, which was a calalyst to my knowing I had to get out. They booted me first - oh well.

One breath at a time,
(Mim)illy

spender

never heard of that before...wouldn't surprise me though. I'd like to know also where they got the information to do this kind of thing...

seedy3

Hi Mimilly,

I had heard of this same thing before, there was a guy that had just came into the "Truth" and was having problems with what the Elders felt were demons. They pretty much did as you said, they burned most of his possession, and did the ritualistic scripture quoting and things, I guess to them it helped, but who knows.

Mimilly

Spender,
They never filled me in on that one. But it included prominent elders in two congregations.
The hospital staff certainly were not impressed, and I was avoided like the plague thereafter - I figure they were scared and/or embarrassed.

ballistic

Interesting story. As a witness, I only heard one exorcism story and it was told from a different perspective. The story was that an elder had gone to the house of a supposedly possesed out-sider in order to exorcise demons, alone at night armed with a bible, some garlic, pepper and something made of silver (I can't remember what) and was turned insane. Apparently he was found murmering and mumbling rocking back wards and forwards the following morning and was placed into an institution where he has been ever since.
Maybe this should be in the urban legend thread, I don't know, but either way - this elder ended up loosing his mind. Maybe he went on the adventure because he had lost it and not the other way round.

Xander

Typical JW response to possession is to burn everything.

*** w66 12/15 *** p739
Some persons have reported gaining relief by burning letters from relatives who dabble in spiritism. Even if an article from a spiritist is an expensive one, is keeping it worth the danger? One woman was tormented for years by the demons; finally she got rid of many household effects that came from a spiritistic relative. "The material loss," she wrote, "was worth the peaceful calm that came over our house and family."

*** hp 13 p130 ***
Additionally, reports show that the demons often keep in contact with a human through an object, so it is important to get rid of items formerly used in spiritism (charms, crystal balls, and so forth).

*** gh 15 p136 ***Anyone who comes under demon attack would be wise to remove from his person and from his home any items that may have had a connection with demonism. Wicked spirits have been known to come back to such items and to attack the owner by making him ill, weak or fearful.

Xander F
(Unseen Apostate Directorate of North America - Ohio order)
A fanatic is one who, upon losing sight of his goals, redoubles his efforts.
--George Santayana

Xander

Oh, and calling on the name of their god:

*** yb85 p33 ***She got rid of all her boucans (roots and leaves tied together and given by a guérisseur for protection). After she got rid of these objects, the demons started to harass her. She said she had to pray a whole day to Jehovah. Finally, after 24 hours of struggle, the demons left her. How happy this sister is now as she serves as a pioneer, sharing the truth that sets people free!

Incidently, I had heard a similar "urban legend" - the point of this one was that nothing except god can save you from demons. Apparently, some catholic priest had visited a women who was being attacked by demons. He cited scripture after scripture, and the demon kept attacking the women. Finally, the demon turned on the priest. Well, the priest held up the bible in front of him, and the demon threw it at him so hard, it tore through his chest.

The CO (yes, it was a CO telling this tale out in service) pointed out that we should not think anything we can do will defeat a demon, we should just call on the name 'jehovah', and the attack would stop. He was also quick to plug that since this priest didn't believe that was god's name, that's why he died...

Xander F
(Unseen Apostate Directorate of North America - Ohio order)
A fanatic is one who, upon losing sight of his goals, redoubles his efforts.
--George Santayana

Valis

The closest thing I ever heard of was this group of elders that went to this sister's house, where she was being cared for by several family members. The same family members that called the goon squad to begin with. She had serious mental problems and was clearly quite out of control. It was never clear if she had stopped taking medication, or simply never had, but my feeling is she had stopped taking it and fell into a deep depression and psychosis. Her husband ran off with this young and very cute, and knocked up, JW waitress chick.........So, the elders come over and she's totally freaking out. They pray over her and read scripture and claim to have commanded the demons to leave her in the name of Jehovah, etc...She apparently calms down and everything is good...They also remove this plaque with the christian fish symbol on it from her home. They declared that had been the root cause of her problem and she never had those problems again after they removed it. Kind of dumb, but the closest thing I was ever aware of.

Sincerely,

District Overbeer

spender

for as many demon stories everyone has heard....are there any that have been caught on tape? I'd like to see stuff floating and bibles flying through people's chests...

Mimilly

It's frightening, don't you think, that they are messing around with mental health issues and calling them 'possessions'? I for one, did not believe I was demonized, yet was still in the era when I couldn't stand up for myself (I could certainly stand up for others).
My closest friend killed herself because she wasn't allowed worldly help. Heck, what if they toy with someone who is psychotic, delusional?
Those elders who do this sort of thing must be looking for a quick fix and the resulting badge of honor.

Anyone heard of or been through a JW exorcism?

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