Burmese folk religion
These exorcists, or "ahletan hsaya", are said to possess powers that can fend away or challenge these evil demons. These exorcists were often seen as very holy, because they had to be to combat troublesome spirits. They attempt exorcisms by giving the nat offerings. As an interesting overlap with Buddhism, exorcisms can be performed by holding the Buddha up to the possessed person, in an effort to have the Nat flee. If the exorcist cannot banish this spirit alone, they often ask for the assistance of the nat-kadaw. Sorcerers, or "weikzas" also harnessed the power of these nats through many complex rituals, to gain their own supernatural powers.
Unclean spirit
Such exorcisms are performed rarely by the 21st-century Western church; the more common exorcism involves the ritual preparation of holy water ("aquae"). The 9th-century Stowe Missal preserves an early Celtic formula as "procul ergo hinc, iubente te, domine, omnis spiritus immundus abscedat" ("Therefore at your bidding, Lord, let every unclean spirit depart far from here"). In a Latin version of "The Blessing of the Waters on the Eve of Epiphany" performed in Rome and recorded at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries, the unclean spirit is commanded "per Deum vivum" ("by the Living God"). The modern Latin rite to exorcize holy water banishes any "pestilent spirit" ("spiritus pestilens") or "corrupting atmosphere" ("corrumpens aura"); see Rituals and uses of holy water.