In case you only think the Catholic Church performs strange ceremonies, here is a story from New Zealand that will convince you otherwise. Janet Moses, an average looking 22 year old New Zealand woman of Maori decent, died ten months ago during an exorcism or “curse lifting” ceremony performed by six women and three men, all members of Ms Moses' extended family, who will now stand trial for manslaughter.

According to Wikipedia:
The word Māori refers to the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand, and to their language, in which māori means "normal", "natural" or "ordinary". In legends and other oral traditions, the word distinguished ordinary mortal human beings from deities and spirits.

It appears the problems started a week before the ceremony, when a relative of Ms. Moses stole a stone statue of a Lion from a local hotel, causing Ms. Jones to be stricken with a makutu, or Maori curse, though I see no indication why the curse targeted Ms. Jones rather than the family member who was actually guilty of the theft.

Police say Ms Moses, 22, drowned in her grandparents' home in October last year after she was allegedly held down and had water poured down her throat to lift the makutu, as up to 40 family members watched.

Evidence has been admitted in the legal case, including a large ripped sheet of paper containing words in Maori, titled "Whanau Karakia" handwritten in block letters, as well as the stone lion, said to be the initial cause of the makutu after a family member allegedly stole it from the Greytown Hotel a week before the ceremony. During their last court appearance the accused were bailed till September 22

Source: Nine to stand trial over ‘curse-lifting’ death, NZPA, via Stuff.co.nz, New Zealand, Aug. 11, 2008