miracles and images - chapter 6, exorcising demons in post-soviet Ukraine Flashcards
author
Vlad Naumescu
post socialist revival of religion
- ‘the postsocialist revival of religion took place within a ferment of unrest that saw the splintering and emergence of many religious communities’ (155)
- often attributed to ‘the emergence of competitive markets of religion, and the rise of nationalism’
account of western Ukraine
- account of Western Ukraine seeks to find ‘correlations between the social organisation, forms of religious transmission and variation in religious knowledge in this tradition’
- recent studies of religion attempt to explain religious behaviour as a by-product of human cognition
Whitehouse, modes of religiosity theory
o How religion is transmitted and codified
o Takes into account social context
o Religion evolves based on distinct mechanisms of memory retention: semantic and episodic
o Gives rise to 2 psychological and sociopolitical features:
♣ the imagistic
• nonverbal, highly emotional rituals
• small, cohesive communities
♣ the doctrinal
• verbalised, textual doctrine
• routinized ritual performance
• large-scale, hierarchical communities
♣ both exist in a dynamical tension
o religion tends to be more doctrinal – people lose motivation
o link modes of religiosity to social organisation
focus
- focus = the monastery of St Theodore Studite in Kolodiivka, western Ukraine
o monastic community split from monastic order following reinterpretation of doctrine - post-socialist Ukraine = marked by splinter groups due to ‘competing factions of the Orthodox churches and the Greek Catholic Church’ (156-7)
- autonomous communities can flourish due to imagistic rediscovery
o but mostly short-lived
Kolodiivka emergence
o splinter group of St Basil the Great – monastic institution of the Greek Catholic churches, Western monastic principles
♣ Basilian priests helped reconstruct Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
♣ ‘in the 1990s, the Basilian order found itself caught between the general move to modernise the Greek Catholic rite and the attempt of some of its members to hold on to the ritual customs developed in the underground’ (157)
♣ Emphasis on the importance of Easternising the Greek Catholic Church
♣ Planchak, a Basilian seminary teacher placed emphasis on monasticism and mystical experience
♣ Planchak’s ideas = hard to accommodate in an order associated with active missionary work etc.
♣ Planchak decided to part from Basilian community – he also wanted to revive exorcisim. Unpopular amongst Basilians
♣ Set up new community in Kolodiivka
Kolodiivka features
♣ Spirituality, separate from world
♣ Contemplation
♣ Community experience
♣ Seclusion of community
♣ Set spiritual program – three periods of 8hrs: sleep, work, prayer
♣ Strict on religious obligation but not strict on organisation – institutionally flexible
♣ People not accepted in other monasteries were accepted here
limits to Kolodiivka success and response
o But… because Planchak was often absent, the monastery lacked guidance
♣ ‘as the monastery expanded, it became more difficult to maintain the bonds that the original group had sustained’ (160)
o instead of institutionalising the monastery, the monks emphasised their original communitas
♣ this was achieved through a re-emphasis on exorcism
exorcism in Kolodiivka general
o East vs. West have different understandings of exorcisms
o Need to correctly identify evil as source of the person’s affliction
o For Kolodiivka, proof comes through a possessed person’s fear of religious objects
o ‘the diagnosis is always relational: the priest, the person afflicted, and those around her (usually the family) act together’ (161)
o first meeting determines whether cure should be exorcism or healing prayer
o only 2 monks in Kolodiivka have spiritual capacity to discern whether an experience is demonically inspired. Other monks attain this knowledge through questioning
o ‘whereas exorcists work within the cosmology of exorcism, persons in search of a cure switch between alternative explanatory frames that propose diagnoses and their respective cures’ (162)
exorcism in Kolodiivka as a spiritual gift and comprised of interaction between victim and exorcist
o Plenchak emphasised exorcism as a spiritual gift
♣ Drew parallels between this and baptism as the spiritual gift received with baptism ritual
o Direct interaction between victim and exorcist = reversed
♣ Any priest can conduct an exorcism
♣ ‘sometimes visitors could perform exorcisms themselves, with the abbot’s blessing’ (163)
the ‘last Tuesday’ service general
o last Tuesday of each month – pilgrims came to monastery
o ‘monks set up the entire program of the day based on a succession of liturgical rituals culminating in the exorcist ritual’ (163)
o public exorcism = highlight
o monks prepare by intensively praying and fasting – need to be spiritually strong enough
o ‘during the trip, newcomers are initiated into the specificity of Kolodiivka’s rituals, in a socialisation into exorcism, through which they become aware of the ritual’s force even before attending it. This creates an individual predisposition and preparation for accepting the workings of the exorcism and the symbolic healing, and an easier integration into the ritual context’ (163)
details of actual exorcism
♣ Pilgrims and nun start singing the JC prayer of the Orthodox heyschasts
♣ Possessed start shrieking – range of ages/backgrounds etc.
♣ Start healing prayers – exorcists place hands on possessed
♣ Touch crosses on different parts of their bodies
♣ Exorcists discover afflictions and presence of evil
• This is different to other exorcisms – the exorcist uncovers evil spirits
♣ Monks sprinkle holy water – possessed react by shrieking etc.
♣ Some possessed start speaking in voice that is not their own
♣ Wait till possessed show sign of fatigue and then move onto next one
♣ Priest interrogates spirit – process of questioning is necessary for priests who do not have ‘gift’ of sensing evil spirits
• ‘identifying the demon and calling it by name are the most important and difficult part of the exorcist ritual’ (166)
• there are hierarchies of demons – demons can be located in specific parts of body
♣ performative aspect of exorcism = key e.g. singing/aromas/struggles between possessed and priests
role of performativity in exorcism
♣ ‘the audience measures the gravity of a possession and the success of the exorcism by evaluating the degree of performativity of the ritual…this elicits strong emotional responses…from the audience…exorcism catalyses individual fears and channels them into accepted cultural forms’ (167)
♣ strong role of metaphor and symbolism in exorcisms
‘exorcism ritual in Kolodiivka combines imagistic and doctrinal practices in an effective yet counterintuitive way’ (168)
exorcism and the community
o exorcism ritual in Kolodiivka = ‘central to the dynamics and cohesion of the community. A cosmology that emphasises the continuous struggle between God and the devil has come to determine the monks’ reactions to the changing world’ (168)
o ‘physical and psychic afflictions can result from sins committed by previous generations or close kin, and moral fault is transmitted intergenerationally. In recognising possession, the priest restores the social status of the afflicted, and the family reintegrates him or her by accepting the interpretation and thus their own past faults as well as those of the afflicted’ (169)
o ‘the exorcism ritual heals the person by reinforcing social bonds, restoring the wholeness of the individual in both the family and the larger community. Thus its influence extends beyond the world of the monastery into pilgrims’ lived reality’ (169)
o for some, Kolodiivka is last chance after psychiatric hospital
2 modes of religiosity
- ‘the two modes of religiosity – the imagistic, as represented by visions and exorcisms, and the doctrinal, as represented by the monks’ daily devotional routine – could coexist in the community as long as one mode was not accorded higher normative authority’ (171)
