Forty Years of Exorcisms at a Miami Hospital

by M.P. Pellicer | Stranger Than Fiction Stories
In 1974, an article appeared titled, Exorcism Daily Occurrence at Miami Jackson Hospital. Your first thought is this was due to the notorious film, The Exorcist, but the truth was much darker.

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The Alamo, oldest building at Jackson Memorial Hospital dating back to 1916 c.1978

According to Dr. Sukhdeo, the director of the Crisis Intervention Center at Miami Jackson Hospital at the time, the influx of patients as many as 900 in one month, had nothing to do with the film.  He described how patients came in asking for evil spirits to be driven from their body, apparently believing that their symptoms, whether mental or physical, were demonic in their origin. 

​He described where many of these patients such as Haitians, Cubans, Puerto Ricans and other West Islanders had a strong, cultural belief in the influence of evil spirits. Bahamians complained of "jumbees" or ghosts inside of them that were causing them to hear voices. Other patients believed they had been hexed, even to the point of thinking they would die at a specific time.  

​Dr. Sukhdeo claimed their symptoms were based in hysteria, but learned not to contradict the patients, and just treated them based on their belief. He didn’t detail exactly what his treatment methods were, only that it didn’t involve any type of exorcism rituals.

​In 2013, Dr. Benson Daitz wrote an article titled A Modern Exorcism, in which he described his own experiences as a young doctor completing his residency at the same hospital, which served as the teaching hospital for the University Of Miami School Of Medicine. Part of his training involved caring for sick inmates who were transported to Ward-D for their medical care.

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Are these patients truly possessed by an evil spirit or are they suffering from mental illness?

He retells his experience with a young Cuban inmate named Jose, a recent arrestee who appeared to be in some type of catatonic trance. Needles marks tracked his arm, testimony to his use of heroin. He initially thought that Jose was schizophrenic, since all he did was to sit in a lotus position without interacting with anyone around him.

Ron an ex-military, physician’s assistant who worked at Ward D explained to Dr. Daitz that years earlier an obispo or bishop from the santeria religion, had taught him ceremonies to help the patient. According to Ron, a clue on Jose’s fingernails led him to believe what Jose needed was an exorcism, instead of a trip to the psych ward. He said the invading spirit was elegua, a santeria god who put a spell on Jose. 

Dr. Joan Halifax an anthropology Ph.D. student, who recently gave talks about the belief in curses to the medical residents, was enlisted for help by Dr. Daitz. They procured a list of items detailed by Ron, and assisted him in carrying out the exorcism in a laundry room where Jose was being housed. 

Jose’s reaction to the exorcism was favorable, and Dr. Daitz could never confirm if it was belief in the power of the ceremony, or just the soothing effects of “grooming” due to close contact with Ron, who accompanied Jose throughout the night before the exorcism. 

Many months after the ritual, Dr. Daitz learned from Ron that Jose had entered a drug rehab program, but he never heard anything further as to whether Jose was able to overcome his addiction and what became of Ron.  

Ward-D as described in the story was demolished in 1995.

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Where does mental illness and demonic influence overlap?

Could the intakes described by Dr. Sukhdeo just be a result of superstition, or were some of these people actually under some type of supernatural attack?

Before you think all these cases are tied to superstition fostered by foreign lands, in 2013 a Wyoming woman claimed she suffered a heart attack after being sprayed with holy water during an exorcism ritual. Wisconsin in the 21st century is years and hundreds of miles removed from 1970s Miami.

Indicators of spiritual or demonic attachments can be more subtle, insidious and perverse then what's portrayed by Hollywood.

Was Jose from Dr. Daitz's story just an addict, or was his addiction driven by trauma and a negative spiritual influence? This addiction possibly separated him from his family and made him into a thief, a much more destructive effect than sitting still in a lotus position. Surely among all those patients that visited the halls of the hospital were those that became aware that something else dwelt close to their souls and mind, much like the "dark traveler" the psychopathic character Dexter Morgan refers to in the TV series Dexter, as the source for his horrific urges.

The effects of spiritual attachments can range from mostly benign symptoms, such as bodily aches and pains with no organic origin or justification, to an inability to overcome addictions, and finally to cases of violent and sociopathic behavior. It is this dark thread that weaves in and out of these implausible stories, that allows this phenomenon to exist as it has for hundred of years.

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