The term "catharsis" has religious overtones of purging evil and sin; it's no surprise that religious icons so frequently feature tearful saints and that religious ceremonies are, around the world, one of the main settings for the release of tears.
Thousands of patents are filed every day, covering a wide range of products from new genetic sequences and the latest communications technology, to eccentric inventions such as concentrated beer tablets, nappies for pet birds, and Chinese herbal medicines for purging evil and curing death!
Doctors used to believe that by draining a patient's blood they could purge the evil "humors" that were thought to cause disease.
"I hope the years I will spend in prison will enable me to purge the evil spirits that overtook me," he said.
They took Feliciano to a traditional healer, a witch doctor, who made ventilating slices in the boy's skin, trying to purge the evil.
In preparation for a move to a large South of Market office space that was formerly occupied by Pets.com, eTranslate, a company that adapts products and Web pages for international markets, recently organized a Chinese lion dance ceremony to purge any evil spirits that the doomed pet supplies e-tailer may have left behind.
Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst".
"In the 19th century, you had dangerous mercury compounds and lead compounds and dangerous roots that were being sold as medicines because they'd trigger a strong reaction that would cause seizures and other things that would seem to be purging the evil diseases," said David Rosner, director of the Center for the History and Ethics of Public Health at Columbia University.
If thou findst this position to be of great discomfort, thou art most certainly a bride of the Dark Lord whose flesh must burn so that we may be purged of your evil.
