Exorcism

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This article is about the lore of exorcisms in general. For the paladin ability, see [Exorcism]. For the quest, see N Mage [40G] The Exorcism.
Anchorite Barada performing a rite of exorcism to drive out a demon possessing Colonel Jules.

An exorcism is a type of ritual—often, but not always, holy in nature—to evict a supernatural presence (e.g. a demon, undead, or sha) from a person, object, or location that is possessed. Someone who performs exorcisms is an exorcist (or exorciser).[1]

The term can also be used in a figurative sense to mean fighting undead through conventional means in order to remove them from an area.[2][3][4]

Uses of the term

Church of the Holy Light

Paladins can call on the Light to perform an exorcism spell to damage undead in combat, either destroying a single creature or injuring whole groups. This spell is very powerful and extremely taxing on the paladin, forcing them to observe a period of rest before they can invoke it again.[5]

Priests may use censers when performing exorcisms.[6] As part of preparing paladin adventurers to acquire their chargers, Lord Grayson Shadowbreaker sent them to acquire the exorcism censer of High Priest Rohan[7] and then use it to exorcise the ghosts haunting Terrordale in the Eastern Plaguelands. Grayson added dirt from Terrordale to the censer to allow the paladins to find areas of spiritual torment in the town and drive out the ghosts.[8]

Demonic items

The Burning Blade sometimes bind demons into infernal orbs.[9] Mage and warlock adventurers brought such orbs to the mage Tabetha, who performed exorcisms in order to remove the bound demons from them and allow the magi and warlocks to fill them with new power sources or new demons, respectively. Tabetha described the exorcism itself as "the easy part", with the adventurers' job of killing the released demons before they had time to return to the orbs being the hard part.[10][11]

In a non-canonical storyline, adventurers "exorcised" the demon Atiesh—and with it, Sargeras' corruption—from the staff of the same name by placing the weapon on a piece of consecrated earth in Stratholme, following instructions from the bronze dragon Anachronos.[12][13]

Draenei

In a battle near Gor'gaz Outpost in Hellfire Peninsula, Colonel Jules of Honor Hold became possessed by a demon. His condition worsened until the only way to save him was for Anchorite Barada to perform an exorcism (described by his assistant Klatu as a "dangerous ritual").[14] First, adventurers slew the spirits of the fel orcs at Gor'gaz Outpost in order to avenge and appease Jules' tormented spirit.[15] They also retrieved Klatu's set of draenei prayer beads, whose powers would be invaluable in the ritual.[16] They then assisted Barada in the rite. The anchorite channeled holy magic against the demon and spoke incantations invoking the authority of the Light to try to drive it out. The demon resisted by taunting Barada and the adventurers while causing Jules' body to float around the room, vomit, and release various small fiends which the adventurers destroyed using the prayer beads. Finally Barada cast out the demon "back to where it came", saving Jules' soul.[17]

Vindicator Yaala, a member of the Hand of Argus, gave adventurers an oculus of the exorcist to detect uses of Cult of the Damned necromancy in Valiance Keep.[18]

On the alternate Draenor, Exarch Othaar had Exarch Hataaru murdered with a fel weapon that ensnared his soul[19] and caused it to come under assault from demons and fel energies. Exarch Maladaar performed an exorcism on the body in order to both save Hataaru's soul and interrogate it on the identity of his killer. Soulbinder Nyami anchored Hataaru's soul to the mortal realm while Maladaar exorcised the demons and spoke incantations to summon the soul. Nyami interrupted the ritual prematurely, which is implied to have been in order to stop Hataaru from revealing that she was the killer.[20]

Raven's Wood

The Grishna arakkoa caused the ancients of Raven's Wood in the Blade's Edge Mountains to become possessed by evil koi-koi spirits. Treebole asked adventurers to use exorcism feathers (created from Grishna orbs and local raven feathers) to exorcise and kill the koi-koi in order to save the ancients.[21]

Goblins

The airborne priests of the Bilgewater Battalion offer exorcisms of machinery among their paid services. Custer Clubnik summoned a priest to fix his bulldozer after it got clogged up with ectoplasm during a drive through haunted woods in Azshara. The priest deduced that the dozer had "a ghost in the machine" and subjected it to an "old-fashioned bulldozer exorcism", which consisted of banging the erratically-moving vehicle with a power tool and shouting incantations while an adventurer fought it until it exploded. The priest considered this a success and sent Custer a bill for the job.[22]

Sha

The Sha of Anger emerging from Emperor Shaohao, as depicted in The Burdens of Shaohao.

The term "exorcism" is sometimes used in the context of expelling sha energy from a possessed person.[23][24] This can be done through different methods. An ancient hozen remedy is to place a carved wooden mask on the host in order to draw the negative energy out of them. Legend claims that this method dates back to the Monkey King,[25][26] who according to the Book of Burdens carved masks for Emperor Shaohao in order to draw out his negative emotions—the Sha of Doubt,[27] Despair,[28] Fear,[29] Anger, Hatred, and Violence—allowing him to defeat them and imprison them beneath the temples of the August Celestials.[30] (Other versions of the legend[31][32] omit this detail and claim that the sha emerged from Shaohao independently.)[33][34] The Shado-Pan use Totems of Harmony to exorcise sha from their hosts.[24]

Known exorcists

Related items

In Hearthstone

Hearthstone This section contains information exclusive to Hearthstone and is considered non-canon.

A neutral minion named Lil' Exorcist, depicting a gnome priest, appears in the Goblins vs Gnomes expansion. The flavor text jokingly states: Warlocks have the town exorcist on speed dial in case they unleash the wrong demon.

A weapon named The Exorcisor appears as a treasure card in Solo Adventures, first appearing in the Monster Hunt in The Witchwood.

In the RPG

Icon-RPG.png This section contains information from the Warcraft RPG which is considered non-canon.

Necromancers, shaman, and witch doctors can cast a necromantic spell called Exorcise (or Exorcise Death) to tear the soul from a living creature's body, possibly trapping them in the spirit world.[35] Specifically, the target's soul is forced out of their body and made to wander lost in the Twisting Nether. The target's body falls limp and appears dead while their spirit wanders. The subject either finds their way back to their body and returns to life, or they remain lost forever (unless recalled to life by other spells like raise dead) and their body effectively becomes a corpse. If the subject's body is destroyed while their spirit wanders, the spirit becomes a ghost upon returning to Azeroth (the shock of which drives them insane in most cases). Since most shaman view undead as abominations, they avoid this scenario whenever possible.[36]

See also

References

 
  1. ^  [Raven's Wood Exorciser's Band]
  2. ^ N Paladin [10-45] Keeping the Peace
  3. ^ War Campaign Generic Exorcising Dun Garok
  4. ^ B [50] Executing Exorcisms
  5. ^ Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness manual, Paladin Spells, Exorcism
  6. ^ a b A Paladin [60] To Show Due Judgment
  7. ^ A Paladin [60] Emphasis on Sacrifice
  8. ^ A Paladin [60] Exorcising Terrordale
  9. ^ N Mage [40] The Infernal Orb
  10. ^ a b N Mage [40G] The Exorcism
  11. ^ a b N Warlock [40G] Cleansing of the Orb of Orahil
  12. ^ N [60R] Frame of Atiesh: "Find someone that can assist you in locating the remaining pieces and exorcising the evil from the staff."
  13. ^ N [60D] Atiesh, Greatstaff of the Guardian: "Defeat the entity that is exorcised from the staff ..." and  [Atiesh, Greatstaff of the Guardian]: "Exorcises the taint of Sargeras from Atiesh."
  14. ^ A [10-30] Return to Honor Hold
  15. ^ A [10-30] Fel Spirits
  16. ^ A [10-30] Digging for Prayer Beads
  17. ^ a b A [10-30] The Exorcism of Colonel Jules
  18. ^ A [10-30] The Hunt is On
  19. ^ A [10-40] Warning the Exarchs
  20. ^ a b A [10-40] Speaker for the Dead
  21. ^ N [20-30] Exorcising the Trees
  22. ^ a b H [5-30] Dozercism
  23. ^ N [15-35] Zhu's Despair: "Exorcise the Sha of Despair energy from Yi-Mo Longbrow in Zhu's Watch."
  24. ^ a b N [25-35] Hatred Becomes Us: "Use the Totem of Harmony to exorcise sha spirits from 8 Crazed Shado-Pan Rangers."
  25. ^ N [15-35] Why So Serious?
  26. ^ N [15-35] Apply Directly to the Forehead
  27. ^ The Emperor's Burden - Part 3
  28. ^ The Emperor's Burden - Part 4
  29. ^ The Emperor's Burden - Part 5
  30. ^ The Emperor's Burden - Part 6
  31. ^ Micky Neilson on Twitter (2013-08-05). Archived from the original on 2021-02-22.​ “From a lore perspective, different interpretations of the same legend. Beyond that, the masks just didn't work for Burdens.”
  32. ^ Dave Kosak on Twitter (2013-08-15). Archived from the original on 2021-03-03.​ “The "Burdens of Shaohao" is a legend. Every storyteller puts a different spin on it. The animated series is Lorewalker Cho's interpretation.”
  33. ^ The Burdens of Shaohao
  34. ^ The Chronicle of Ages: Sheilun, Staff of the Mists
  35. ^ Horde Player's Guide, pg. 95 - 96
  36. ^ Horde Player's Guide, pg. 100
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