核心畫面

Picture something that has moved in and will not leave, and one person standing there speaking set words at it until it goes. That is the whole picture, and notice what it is not: nothing is destroyed and nothing is fought. The Greek behind the word is ex (out) plus horkos (an oath), so it can be read as binding something by words until it has to leave. Both uses of exorcism sit on that — one where the unwanted thing is a spirit in a house, one where it is a memory in a person.

可以想成有個東西住了進來、賴著不走,然後有人站在那裡,對著它念出一套固定的話,直到它離開。畫面的重點在於:沒有東西被更多收起可以想成有個東西住了進來、賴著不走,然後有人站在那裡,對著它念出一套固定的話,直到它離開。畫面的重點在於:沒有東西被消滅,也沒有人動手,只有話。這個字的希臘來源是 ex(出去)加 horkos(誓言),讀起來像「用有約束力的話逼它出去」。兩種用法都放得回這個畫面——一種賴著不走的是房子裡的惡靈,一種是心裡的一段回憶。

From the word’s history

From Greek exorkizo, made of ex (out) and horkos (an oath), so the word starts near binding by oath, which is why the spoken words are the centre of the picture.

來自希臘文 ἐξορκίζω,由 ex(出去)和 horkos(誓言)組成,出發點接近「以誓言逼迫」,所以畫面的重心一直是被念出來的那些話。

Wiktionary entry supplied in this packet (source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:925047863:19101): From Old French exorciser, from Late Latin exorcizo, from Ancient Greek exorkizo, from ex + horkos.

Two branches

把惡靈請出去的儀式

這是畫面的字面版本:賴著不走的是惡靈,念出來的是禱詞。

noun · C1

The act of trying to force an evil spirit to leave a person, a place or an object by saying special words or prayers, or a ceremony in which this is done.

驅魔(儀式)

把心裡賴著不走的東西趕出去

同一個畫面換了對象:不走的不是惡靈,而是一段回憶;念出來的話變成寫的書、做的專輯、說出口的那一句。

noun · C2

In literary writing, the act of freeing yourself from a painful memory or experience, as if you were driving a spirit out of yourself.

(心裡的)驅除、了結