HOW WOULD YOU HANDLE DEMONIC POSSESSION IN MEDIEVAL TIMES?

With the help of a grimoire, also called a book of spells. Grimoires were thick metal-plated hardcover books and contained all sorts of strategies to deal with demons and other evil creatures such as lawyers and real estate agents. From the most elementary strategy (hitting the demoniac creature repeatedly on the head with the grimoire until knocking him unconscious) to the most sophisticated (performing some magical passes or a comedy skit). Grimoires also contained instructions for making amulets with which to protect oneself from demoniac beings. Such amulets were worn around the neck or (if the amulet was very heavy) carried in a cart that was pulled by a rope. The heavier an amulet, the more effective. If you ran into a demon, you would grab the amulet and throw it at the demon’s head. Advice was also given to cast out a demon that had occupied a person. In one of the most famous medieval grimoires (the Picapatrix) the following instructions are read: “Take the possessed person by the feet and shake him vigorously. If the demon doesn’t come off by this method, kick the possessed in the crotch. You can also try to cajole the demoniac creature with a chicken wing. As soon as the demon comes out to grab the wing, shut the possessed down so that the demon cannot return to him.” The shutting down of the possessed consisted of putting him in a coffin and burying the coffin three meters underground.