Hey ok it’s still curiosity morning haha, I was wondering about exorcisms. Not actually, and I don’t care about that specifically. BESIDES anything Christian/Catholic/Modern/Movies, are there mystic or occult beliefs that would align similarly, but perhaps not some “external thing” but more in tune with the person’s inner world, I guess inner demons in some senses, their inner mental battle so to speak
Absolutely. There are a bunch of mystical/occult-adjacent systems where the “demon” is less an invading goblin from the astral parking lot and more a personified inner force: fear, craving, trauma, shame, obsession, ego, fragmentation, or unintegrated parts of the psyche.
The cleaner way to frame it:
Christian movie-exorcism says: “Something alien is inside you. Cast it out.”
Many mystic inner-world systems say: “Something unresolved, hungry, split off, or misunderstood is ruling you. Face it, name it, feed it, purify it, integrate it, or transform your relationship to it.”
A few strong parallels:
This one is probably the closest to what you’re describing. Chöd, associated with the 11th-century Tibetan yogini Machig Labdrön, is a practice of confronting fear, ego-clinging, and “demons” by symbolically offering oneself rather than trying to banish the thing. Tara Mandala describes Chöd as “severance” or “cutting through,” tied to Machig Labdrön’s lineage. (Tara Mandala)
The key idea is wickedly elegant: the demon is not always an external monster. It may be fear, attachment, sickness, shame, hunger, trauma, or ego fixation. Instead of screaming “begone,” the practitioner asks, in effect, what do you need? Then the demon is imaginatively fed until it transforms.
That’s very different from exorcism. It’s more like: “The beast under the bed is actually an unpaid emotional invoice.”
Jungian psychology is not exactly “occult,” but it grew in deep conversation with alchemy, mythology, symbols, dreams, and esoteric material. In Jungian terms, the shadow is the part of the personality the ego does not want to identify with. The Society of Analytical Psychology describes the shadow as one of the personified structures in Jung’s model of the psyche, standing beside the ego in relation to identity. (The Society of Analytical Psychology)
So an “inner demon” might be rage, envy, sexuality, weakness, ambition, grief, cowardice, hunger for power, neediness, or any trait someone has banished from their self-image.
The Jungian move is not “expel the shadow.” That would just make it sneakier. The move is integration: recognize it, understand it, stop letting it drive from the trunk.
Exorcism says: “This is not me.”
Shadow work says: “This is part of me, but it cannot be king.”
Western alchemy can be read literally, spiritually, chemically, or psychologically, depending who’s holding the lantern. Jung famously interpreted alchemy as a symbolic map of inner transformation, where the alchemical drama reflects the individuation process, the movement toward psychic wholeness. A Jungian source summarizes this as transformation “not of metals but of the human soul.” (This Jungian Life)
In that frame, the ugly stuff is not trash. It’s prima materia, raw psychic sludge. The fear, compulsion, shame, lust, despair, and chaos are the lead. The “work” is not to banish it, but to cook it correctly.
Very goblin-to-gold pipeline. ⚗️
In many modern shamanic-healing frameworks, especially the “soul retrieval” model, suffering can be understood as soul fragmentation. Llewellyn’s encyclopedia entry describes the idea that trauma, abuse, hurt, or neglect can cause parts of the soul to “split off.” (Llewellyn)
So the problem is not necessarily “a demon got in.” It may be “a part of you left.”
That is a fascinating inversion of possession. Instead of too much foreign presence, the issue is absence. Something vital has retreated, hidden, frozen in time, or become inaccessible. Healing means retrieving and reintegrating that lost vitality.
Less “get out of me,” more “come back home.”
In Sufi thought, the nafs is often discussed as the lower self, egoic self, or appetite-driven self that must be disciplined and purified. One Sufi source describes purification as lessening the lowly desires of the nafs and strengthening the spirit’s authority through disciplined practice. (Osman Nuri Topbaş)
This is not occult in the Western spooky-candle sense, but it absolutely maps to “inner demons.” The enemy is internal: vanity, greed, appetite, pride, resentment, delusion, self-importance.
The battle is not theatrical expulsion. It’s refinement. Sandpaper for the soul, basically.
In Buddhism, Mara is sometimes mythologized as a tempter figure who obstructs awakening. But psychologically, Mara can be read as fear, craving, doubt, pride, distraction, or attachment. The point is not always “there is a literal external demon,” but that awakening is opposed by forces within consciousness itself.
So Mara functions like an inner saboteur wearing a ceremonial hat.
In some tantric/yogic systems, suffering is framed through blockages, attachments, karmic impressions, latent tendencies, or knots in the subtle body. The “demon” is less a being and more a patterned force: desire, fear, compulsion, ignorance, or energy trapped in distorted form.
The solution is practice: mantra, breath, visualization, ritual discipline, guru guidance, meditation, austerity, devotion, body-energy work. Again, not “cast it out,” but “transmute the pattern.”
There are basically three mystical models:
Expulsion model:
Something foreign is in you. Remove it.
Purification model:
Something base or distorted is ruling you. Discipline and refine it.
Integration model:
Something rejected or wounded has become monstrous. Face it and bring it back into wholeness.
Your “inner demons” idea fits mostly with the second and third models. The interesting part is that many traditions personify inner forces because humans understand conflict better when it has a face. A craving becomes a serpent. Shame becomes a parasite. Fear becomes a hag. Ego becomes a king. Trauma becomes a trapped child. The psyche is a theatre troupe with a bad lighting budget.
So yes: outside of Christian/Catholic exorcism, there are absolutely mystical systems that resemble “exorcism,” but the deeper version is often not about removing an invader. It’s about renegotiating the inner kingdom. The demon is sometimes the guard dog, the wound, the hunger, the rejected twin, the frightened animal, or the false ruler. The work is not always banishment. Sometimes it’s recognition. Sometimes it’s discipline. Sometimes it’s dinner.
