Witchcraft 101: Exorcism

In almost every religion there is a type of exorcism. The banishing of a dark, nonhuman entity regardless of the robes, regardless of the beliefs, regardless of the deity. Why is this?

At its core, exorcism is a ritual. A raising of power, a force of intent. The accoutrements are all part of the ritual, the water which is a symbol of purity, the frankincense, the spoken word. There is a fight, a battle of wills, to remove the negative entity, to banish it from the victim. What matters most is the strength of belief. The belief that the exorcist can remove the entity, that this ritual will work and the exorcee freed. This power may be granted by a deity, or even the exorcist themselves, in the way a witch will cleanse a house or person.

Ritual remains at the core of exorcism, whatever the guise may be.