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Seung Cho and Korean Exorcism: Shamanism and Its Influence on Korean Christianity

Romantic satanism, being influenced by the Catholic Church and especially by Hollywood, is nothing more than Hollywood theatrics. Movies like Rosemary's Baby and The Exorcist are loosely based on fact yet full of inaccuracies and confabulations. The boy involved in the story that the Exorcist is based on went on to kill another person, but the judge refused to allow any evidence related to his previous exorcism. As well, the Catholic Church successfully suppressed the boy's story. Even so, romantic satanism is a myth.

Likewise, demon possession is an extremely rare thing.

In the case of Seung Cho, he never was possessed by a demon. He was probably majorly depressed with a touch of psychosis, and the only demon that possessed him is human nature.

Yet his mom was convinced he was possessed and was seeking a Protestant exorcist to "cure" them. It should be pointed out that exorcists are shamans, and they exist in Christianity only in the form of Catholic priests. That a Protestent evangelical layman was known as exorcist is only possible in the Korean Christian community, since shamanism was popular in Korea before the modern era.

However, let me point out that "demons" do not exist. What actually exists is the belief that supernatural beings exist. Thus, an exorcism is performed, not to "remove" a demon, but to remove from the minds of the possessed's loved ones the belief that s/he is possessed. Once that is done, the possessed's loved ones can give feedback to the possessed that s/he is "cured."

Hopefully, s/he does not cling to the delusion that s/he "possessed". Yet it is the duty of the possessed's loved ones to effect his "cure."


Sadly in the case of Seung Cho, he returned to college before the exorcism was performed.

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