Muslim or Christian, mass religious exorcism seem the fad these days. No, not in the US perhaps. But certainly, if you're a citizen in Morocco or Ethiopia. Religion sought to protect against the workings of the devil seem to have surged, begging the question: Is this the devil's way of telling everyone that he's coming to pay Earth a visit?
For the uninitiated, you could offer your best shot explaining but either way a religious exorcism is going to freak you out - whether you like it or not. How much more mass religious exorcism? And the pictures are more than just revealing.
In a recent article posted by Pulitzer-prize-winning online news bureau, theguardian, images of a mass exorcism performed at the heart of Ethiopia are revealed. Whilst these pictures are taken with utmost artistic care, it clearly depicts the utmost religiosity of the people, specifically those of Ethiopia's Great Rift Valley.
The mass exorcism, a rite officiated by Orthodox priests, shows how these faithful would do almost anything, go the extra mile to get the blessing they wanted.
In more ways than one, although a lot less in terms of number, it would remind any world traveler of the millions of Hindus who take pains yearly to take a bath at the Ganges River in India - oblivious to whatever dirt the mystical river contains.
This time around in Ethiopia - a country where Christians are about two-thirds of the population - the faithful en masse take the exorcism ritual in total nudity. At least, they're not riding bicycles as what many in the Western world do in the annual World Naked Bike Ride.
For all the pictures, please visit here. Warning: Nudity included.
On the Muslim side of the world, a new fear seem to have seized Moroccans. While it does not involve any nudity or any flow of water, its intensity is also at fever pitch.
Reportedly, across the Moroccan countryside people have made it a point to erect a slew of maraboulic shrines dotting the landscape with their customary color - white exterior walls and domed shapes. Further, rituals performed to evict bad spirits called jinns have flourished as apparent as their trance dances.
But what is the bottom of all these? Both the Moroccan religious phenomena and the Ethiopian speak of unheard-of extremism. Are these record numbers a sign that the devil is coming?
We really don't know. In the first place, we can't quantify what or who the Devil is. And in the second place, we're too busy to find out.
Until more concrete proof comes forward, these instances of extreme religiosity - whether in Morocco or in Ethiopia - could be construed as something else other than the work of the Devil himself.
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