what do exorsists do?

to be honest i think they help cleanse the minds of those that have the prob. it is almost a placebo of the mind. that is one view! i also do not rubbish the fact that exorcists are a needed cause. but what we can not prove we do not want to discuss in public. so it is kept quiet. am i talking rubbish? perhaps i need an exorcist!

yes, and also they exercise houses and people that evil spirits have taken possesion of and all free of charge in the name of the father, son, and holy spirit, and to the ones in need. namaste

I guess the Roman Catholic Church believes in evil spirits as some priests have special training in the rites of exorcism. It is also common for Catholics to to have a new or old home blessed by the parish priest with a ritual using Holy water.

I would say that exorcists exorcise beliefs. Because when I think of it, our rational mind functions on belief and these beliefs create what we deem to be reality. When someone believes in something evil strongly enough, they can have an effect on the physical plain and create an elemental being that will seem to have supernatural powers. Believing has an opposite - non-believing, which is really the same (because in Zen all is one). So a staunch non-believer will have what he doesn't believe in so strongly in his mind, that it will also manifest. It's a paradox. The exorcist, creates another belief, that is that he can rid the person of the possession. This is all done by ritual - yet another creator of beliefs. The person who doesn't know or wants proof of such manifestations usually doesn't get them because he neither believes nor disbelieves and is therefore free of such things. I may be well off the mark in what I have written above, but the question has often come up during my meditation and my work as a therapist, and this always comes to mind. I have never seen a demon by the way, but in my work have had clients who have believed they have been plagued by them. By simply introducing this philosophy, all who consulted me have seen them for what they are and been freed of the effects of them.

I would personally say they dispell negative energy and also send any trapped souls to the light. Its all a matter of perspective but they cleanse and reenrgise an area that has been locked in time. Ellie :D