Abstract

OSPINA MARTINEZ, María Angélica. “And He will bring on you all the ills of Egypt”: Plague, violence, and the multiple face of the evil in a ritual atmosphere. Soc. relig. [online]. 2020, vol.30, n.54, pp.175-207. ISSN 0326-9795.

This paper approaches how the Catholic practices of spiritual healing (or exorcism) and prophecy—as scenes of the evil that happen in ritual atmospheres—allow to process violently personal and collective suffering. The work is derived from an ethnographic and documentary inquiry around the pilgrimages in a Catholic sanctuary, located in the Colombian central-eastern Andean region. It is concluded that this ritual process is based on revival and updating of the battle between good and evil, of which the plague is a consequence. Once the pilgrims have been subjected to the ritual work and the ritual violence, they can take some guides for the action with them for times of crisis and uncertainty.

Keywords : Catholicism; plague; exorcism; prophecy; ritual violence.