Book Review: The Exorcist's Handbook, J. McCarthy

This review is from: The Exorcist's Handbook (Paperback)

   I was very disappointed with this book. After having read the first few chapters, and glanced through the rest, it appears to be geared toward the "magick" practitioner, placing all of it's emphasis on the power of the practitioner and his/her rituals and talismans, rather than on the power and providence of Deity. The most disappointing thing that I found was its complete, and thoroughly rude dismissal of the Catholic Church's Roman Rite. It is obvious that Ms. McCarthy bears no love for the Church, but they are the leaders in this field, and I can give personal testimony to the effectiveness of the Roman Rite. It does NOT, contrary to Ms. McCarthy's assertions, "bore the s*** out of demons."
This book would have been great when I was in my early twenty's, and practicing magickal rites. The methods in this book would have completely fit in with my mindset at the time, and had I pursued these kinds of activities, I would likely have found myself dead or insane. Now that I have matured both religiously and spiritually, I find the practices in this book dangerous and irresponsible. Real "Demonic" forces will laugh at the idea of a magicians "personal power" and will shrug off all of the trinkets that you depend on to protect you. Faith in Deity alone is your only defense against true Demonic forces. Anything else is either extra-planar (which this book might prove useful in addressing), or psychological delusion (on both the part of the "possessed" and the "exorcist". My other significant disagreements lay in the idea of their being no "good or bad consciousnesses, only consciousness." This may be true at some deep level, but to Demons, it is complete bullocks. If you are not prepared to deal with "evil," then you are not prepared to enter this arena. On the subjects of angels: true Angels cannot be bound, nor manipulated against their will. They are manifestations of God's will. Anything that is bound that claims to be an Angel, is a liar; either a Demon (who can appear as an Angel) or a deamon.
Certainly there are other entities out there, other than Angels and Demons, and perhaps this book will be found to be useful in combating the malign intentions of some of them, but this reader would advise grave caution, and MUCH more research, even into the practices of the Holy Catholic Church, before deciding to engage in any such activities. If fact, one would be well advised indeed to read up on the subject, put the books down and say "Hell no, I think I will leave this sort of thing to the professionals."

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