in his book Chinese Religion: an introduction, includes an account of an exorcism by a Taoist priest. The exorcism was witnessed by Peter Goullart, who recorded it in a book published in 1961.
Goullart and his traveling companions arrived at a Taoist temple in China. In a courtyard in front of the temple, they saw a young man, twenty-five years old, who had been possessed by a demon of a kind the Taoists call kuei. The emaciated young man, who had a wild look in his eyes, was lying on a straw mat placed on an iron bedstead. A Taoist priest and two assistants were standing nearby, with ritual paraphernalia on a small portable altar. Four strong men stood guard around the possessed young man. After repeating mantras from a book of incantations, the priest approached the possessed man. Goullart said, “His eyes were filled with malice as he watched the priest’s measured advance with a sly cunning and hatred. Suddenly he gave a bestial whoop and jumped up in his bed, the four attendants rushing to hold him.” The priest said to the kuei who had possessed the man, “Come out! Come out! I command you to come out.” From the mouth of the young man came the words “No! No! You cannot drive us out . . . Our power is greater than yours!” These words and more were spoken rapidly “in a strange, shrill voice, which sounded mechanical, inhuman—as if pronounced by a parrot” (Nicola 1974, p. 102).
The priest repeated his commands, while the four strong men held the violently struggling young man down on the iron bed. He howled like an animal, showing his teeth like fangs. Suddenly, he broke out of the arms of the men holding him and threw himself at the priest’s throat. The four men dragged him back down on the bed and tied him to it with ropes. Then the young man’s body began to swell. Goullart stated, “On and on the dreadful process continued until he became a grotesque balloon of a man. . . . Convulsions shook the monstrous, swollen body. . . . It seemed that all the apertures of the body were opened by the unseen powers hiding in it and streams of malodorous excreta and effluvia flowed on to the ground in incredible profusion. . . . For an hour this continued” (Nicola 1974, p. 103). After this ordeal, the man resumed his normal size.
The priest then took a ritual sword, and standing over the possessed man, commanded the demons: “Leave him! Leave him, in the name of the Supreme Power who never meant you to steal this man’s body!” (Nicola
1974, p. 103) Now the possessed man’s body became rigid and heavy, causing the bed to bend beneath his weight. The four guards could not lift him. Only when three other men joined them from the onlookers gathered around could they move him. Then the possessed man suddenly became light. The guards placed him on a wooden bed. The Taoist priest again began to recite mantras from his book of incantations. Then he sprinkled the possessed man with holy water and came up to him with the sword. This time his efforts were successful. He cried out to the demons, “I have won! Get out! Get out!”(Nicola 1974, p. 103) The possessed man went into convulsions, foaming at the mouth and clawing his body with his fingernails until it became covered with blood. From his foaming lips came the words, “Damn you! Damn you! We are going but you shall pay for it with your life!” Goullart stated, “There was a terrible struggle on the bed, the poor man twisting and rolling like a mortally-wounded snake and his colour changing all the time. Suddenly he fell flat on his back and was still. His eyes opened. His gaze was normal, and he saw his parents who now came forward to reclaim their son” (Nicola 1974, p.104).
Marian apparitions
Earlier in this chapter, we considered postmortem apparitions of ordinary people as evidence for the existence of disembodied human beings. We then considered demonic possession as evidence for the existence of superhuman beings, albeit of the malevolent type. We shall now consider evidence for the existence of benevolent superhuman beings, beginning with Marian apparitions, apparitions of the Virgin Mary.
Juan Diego was an Aztec Indian who converted to Christianity shortly after the Spanish conquest of Mexico. He lived in a town called Quahutitlan, near Mexico City. Each day, he would walk to a church in a place called Tlatiloco. On the way, he would pass a hill called Tepeyacac. On the morning of December 8, 1531, as Juan Diego was passing by Tepeyacac, he heard music coming from the top of the hill. The music stopped, and then he heard a female voice calling his name. He climbed the hill and saw the glowing form of a beautiful young woman with a dark complexion, like an Indian. She spoke to him in Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs. She identified herself as the Blessed Virgin Mary and asked him to tell the local bishop to build a church for her on the Tepeyacac hill. Interestingly enough, the Tepeyacac hill was the site of a temple to the Aztec earth goddess Coatlique (Mini 2000, p. 92).
Juan Diego went to the residence of Bishop Zumárraga and waited until he was allowed to see him. The bishop listened for a short time, and then suggested that they could talk more later. It was apparent to Juan Diego that the bishop did not believe his story. He went again to Tepeyacac and saw the apparition, who told him to go once more to the bishop. The next day, he again went to Mexico City, and with great difficulty, again managed to see the bishop. This time Zumárraga was more receptive. He told Juan Diego to ask the apparition for a sign that would authenticate her divine nature. Juan Diego said he would do this and left. When he saw the apparition for a third time, she told him she would give him the sign he requested on the next day.
On the next day, Juan Diego found that his uncle had become sick. His uncle wanted a priest. So instead of going to the hill to see the Virgin, Juan Diego went searching for a priest. On his way to get a priest, he passed the hill and heard the voice of the apparition calling him to see her, as he had promised. He replied that he would come, but he must first get a priest for his uncle. The voice replied, accusing Juan Diego of not having faith. The voice said his uncle would recover from his illness. Hearing this, Juan Diego agreed to come up to the top of the hill, but only if the apparition would give him the miraculous sign she had promised. She agreed. When Juan Diego reached the top of the hill, he saw it had been transformed. Where previously there had been only weeds and cactus plants, there was now, on December 12, 1531, in the iciest part of winter, a beautiful garden of blossoming, fragrant flowers, including Castilian roses and other Spanish flowers, all out of season. The apparition gathered some of these flowers, and placed them in the cloak that Juan Diego was wearing. She told him to present the flowers to the Bishop as the sign he had asked for. She also told Juan Diego not to open the cloak and show the flowers until he saw the Bishop.
Juan Diego came to the Bishop’s residence, and after making his way through hostile servants and guards who tried to see what he was carrying, came before the Bishop himself. When he opened his cloak, not only did the flowers fall out, but there was visible on the cloak itself a colorful image of the Virgin Mary. The radiant image was that of a beautiful young dark-skinned woman in prayer. She was standing on a crescent moon, and the crescent moon was being held by an angel. It could be seen that it was not a painted image, but was part of the fabric of the cloak. Bishop Zumárraga was overwhelmed by this miraculous sign, and agreed to build a church on the hill. The cloak, with its image unfaded, is on display even today in the Church of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Villa Madero (Rogo 1982, pp. 117–120).