An adjurist (from the Latin word "adjure", meaning to swear or to exorcise) is a follower of religious teachings that, per the Catholic Encyclopedia, are defined as "an urgent demand made upon another to do something, or to desist from doing something, which demand is rendered more solemn and more irresistible by coupling with it the name of God or of some sacred person or thing."
Description
There are few references to adjurists in modern literatures, though obscure mentions of the group can be found in
theological
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
and
philosophical
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
writings.
Media references to such groups continues to become mainstreams with articles appearing in the Washington Post in February, 2008 highlighted the rise of such activities noting "About 70 priests serve as trained exorcists in Poland, about double the number of five years ago. An estimated 300 exorcists are active in Italy. Foremost among them: the
Gabriele Amorth
Gabriele Amorth (1 May 1925 – 16 September 2016) was an Italian Catholic priest and exorcist of the Diocese of Rome who claimed to have performed tens of thousands of exorcisms throughout his life. Amorth, along with five other priests, f ...
, 82, who performs exorcisms daily in Rome and is dean of Europe's corps of demon-battling priests."
In popular culture, the adjurist concept was used in the straight-to-video film
The Devil's Tomb
''The Devil's Tomb'' is a 2009 American horror film, directed by Jason Connery. It stars Cuba Gooding Jr., Ray Winstone and Ron Perlman. The film was released direct–to–video on May 26, 2009.
Plot
An elite group of Special Operations soldie ...
, starring
Cuba Gooding Jr.
Cuba Mark Gooding Jr. (born January 2, 1968) is an American actor. He is the recipient of an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and an Emmy nomination.
After his breakthrough role as Tre Styles in ''Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), he appeare ...
and
Ron Perlman
Ronald Perlman (born April 13, 1950) is an American actor. His credits include the roles of Amoukar in ''Quest for Fire'' (1981), Salvatore in ''The Name of the Rose'' (1986), Vincent in the television series ''Beauty and the Beast'' (1987–199 ...
. In the movie,
Henry Rollins
Henry Lawrence Garfield (born February 13, 1961), known professionally as Henry Rollins, is an American singer, writer, spoken word artist, actor, and presenter. After performing in the short-lived hardcore punk band State of Alert in 1980, Rolli ...
plays a priest claiming to be a member of a group performing exorcisms and ingesting evil spirits.
Within
theosophy
Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion a ...
,
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, uk, Олена Петрівна Блаватська, Olena Petrivna Blavatska (; – 8 May 1891), often known as Madame Blavatsky, was a Russian mystic and author who co-founded the Theosophical Society in 1875 ...
wrote
there are references to "the Adjurists, Exorcists, Conjurerists, and Intercessors" in relation to
Nigromancy
Black magic, also known as dark magic, has traditionally referred to the use of supernatural powers or magic for evil and selfish purposes, specifically the seven magical arts prohibited by canon law, as expounded by Johannes Hartlieb in 1456 ...
, or the practice of the black arts. Ascribing evil intent to adjurists is common in older texts, though some believe their actions to be misunderstood and actually noble."
References
Exorcism in the Catholic Church
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