Spiritual war

Spiritual warfare

 is the concept of taking a stand against supernatural evil forces. The foundation for this ideology is having a belief in evil spirits which are able to intervene in human affairs.^[1] A wide variety of methods have been used over the centuries to combat these spirits, from prayer to exorcism and witch burning to human sacrifice.
One author writes of how the wood of the peach tree has been a key device in fighting evil spirits in China:

The Chinese also considered peach wood (t'ao-fu) protective against evil spirits, who held the peach in awe. In ancient China, peach-wood bows were used to shoot arrows in every direction in an effort to dispel evil. Peach-wood slips or carved pits served as amulets to protect a person's life, safety, and health.

Peach-wood seals or figurines guarded gates and doors, and, as one Han account recites, "the buildings in the capital are made tranquil and pure; everywhere a good state of affairs prevails." Writes the author, further:

Another aid in fighting evil spirits were peach-wood wands. The Li-chi (Han period) reported that the emperor went to the funeral of a minister escorted by a sorcerer carrying a peach-wood wand to keep bad influences away. Since that time, peach-wood wands have remained an important means of exorcism in China

In Nepal it is reported that various kinds of shamans are engaged by evil spirits "in either a physical battle or a battle of with Shamans are often called upon to fight evil spirits, in many traditions. One story tells of a shaman who, unable to locate a demon who was causing illness to a victim, brought a story-singer, who sang a story of the defeat of a powerful demon so convincingly that the infesting demon came out to aid the demon in the song, and so was able to be defeated.
The Hmong people of Southeast Asia have an ancient belief in evil spirits and have a well established set of rituals and traditions for encountering demons^. Jewish demonology escalated with the rise of Jewish pseudepigraphic writings of the 1st Century BCE, in particular with Enochic apocrypha. Similar efforts to fight evil spirits occur in Christianity (See Spiritual warfare (Christianity)

A form of spiritual warfare is equally central to Scientology, wherein practitioners use methods and devices to seek to free themselves from the effects of evil alien spirit souls attaching themselves to people.