"In trying to understand the Tibetan exorcism rituals it is important to understand the religious aspects of Tibet. In Tibet, Buddhism has existed alongside and merged with ancient shamanistic tradition. The resulting Tibetan Buddhism is now filled with rituals that are both Buddhists and shamanistic in nature. Old gods are now the demons and evils that haunt the population. The Tibetan term for demons is Bdud. The term Gto means to “expel.” Gateway to possession Like some sects of Indian Buddhism, Tibetan Budhhism has a strong belief in ghosts and demons. According to most traditional legends, there is a ghost world that parallels the human world. After death, the ghost is freed from the body. After a period of uncertainty, it may choose to enter the ghost world or remain in the intermediate Bardo state. The Bardo realm is the doorway between worlds. From Bardo, you may enter into reincarnation, the ghost world or achieve Nirvana. If the ghost does not enter one of these 3 states, they will eventual simply end. While in the state of Bardo, mean or selfish ghosts are left in a perpetual state of “pain or hunger.” These “ser na” (which means yellow nose) are in a constant state of wanting to consume but they can no longer eat and therefore can not satisfy their hunger. This perpetual hunger drives the Ser Na to try to possess the living to feed. Four ways to stop demons The Tibetans believe that there are 4 ways to stop a ghost or end a possession: Use of a phurba Spirit traps to protect the home Gouduojie festival rituals Direct exorcism The phurba is the ancient ritual dagger that is used to destroy spirits. It can be used to stab the spirit directly and as a result either absorbs the spirits energy and destroys it or forces the spirit to be reincarnated. A spirit trap is a kind of yarn spindle mounted to the outside of a house or to a tree. The spindled is wound with a variety of colored interwoven yarns designed to catch the attention of spirits nearby. The spirit becomes fascinated with the colors and then trapped within the spindle. The spindle is then burned to destroy the spirits inside. Gouduojie is the Tibetan Ghost Exorcism festival held on 29 December. Tibetans traditionally clear their houses on this day and then carry torches and recite the words of exorcism. For Tibetans, the direct exorcism begins with the suspicion of demonic affliction called the rnam-rtog. The spells and chants are traditionally composed of two parts: The enticement… “Come swim in the lake…” And the destructive part… “May you be carried away in the landslide…” The exorcists, usually a Paju shaman, leads the two part invocations to help reinforce social rules. Obey and prosper. Defy and be destroyed. Once divination confirms the target to be possessed, the removal of the demon is started with the construction of an effigy on the victim. Blood or red wine is poured over the effigy as a red offering and substitute. There is a chant from the exorcist… “Take the meat and go…” After the demon is believed to be within the effigy, the surrogate is carried outside the village where it is then shot with arrows. The arrowed effigy is then thrown over a cliff where the chant promises a landslide to take the demon away. As a second phase of the Tibetan exorcism rite, the Paju performs a ritual to banish the Sri demons that may be waiting to attack. The Sri demons are the escaped inhabitants of the Gurung underworld of Khro-nasa. For this ritual, small dough animal effigies are placed in a tray. A thin layer of white ash is placed on the tray and the covered by black ash. At the head of the tray a dog’s skull is placed to hold the trapped demons. All fires are put out as the chants are recited. With the room is re-lit, the ashes are examined to see if there are demon footprints in the ash. The process is repeated over and over in hopes of capturing the demon. If the demon tracks are found, then the skull of the dog is taken to ritualistically destroyed. As part of the destruction ritual. A phurba is used to cut a small hole in the ground. The paju then says: “Through the crack you see nine levels. Below that is an ocean in which there is a nine-headed serpent demon (klu gi bdud) who is a prisoner of his evil deeds… He has a crocodile’s body and a dark ugly face with his mouth emitting poisonous vapors.” The priest then lowers the trapped demon in to the hole. The chant then says that the demon will be pressed down by the mouth of the servant demon and trapped. The philosophy of not actually hurting the demon directly is key to the Tibetan idea on non-violence and their cultural detachment from the actual act of killing for food." Läs hela den intressanta artikeln här: http://www.lastgasps.com/page62.html