Since the invention of television and the advent of
the modern horror genre there is not a generation alive who does not know the
supposed way of conducting an exorcism. Thanks to movies like The Exorcist and The Rite
as well as those based on actual events
such as The Exorcism of Emily
Rose and The Entity, not
forgetting series programmes such as The
Supernatural.
Our culture is overflowing with these images, many of which are responsible for desensitising us. The majority of viewers don’t believe anything that they see, seeing it as for pure entertainment value or that it is simply psychologically based. Yet, most, regardless weather they believe that possession by preternatural forces exists or that it is simply a mental condition, will agree that the very idea of not being able to control your actions or your own body is the most terrifying of thoughts.
The fact that there have been documented cases of possession that date back to the first century is not surprising considering the fact that just about everything was pegged up to ‘evil’ beings or other forces that where other than the being most universally referred to as God.
According to an article on the site of Catholic Education Resource Centre, Father James LeBar, exorcist for the Archdiocese of New York, stated that 10 years ago he had no cases of exorcism but currently his cases numbered in the 300’s. There had been an explosion in cases since 1990. He further stated that although an exorcist was not always needed those who consulted him experienced objects moving in their homes (or possibly had been moved) or claiming that they have heard the devil. Father John Hampsch, a psychologist, had also seen more reports of demonic interference, stating that he dealt with 10-15 cases per week.
Father Hampsch stated that the obvious ways for Satan to enter into peoples lives is through sin. Serious sin as well as habitual sin could be gateways but that there were others as well; that although innocent people could be affected by hexes or curses the most common way for people to become possessed was through occult practices such as the Ouija Board. Another form would be though addictions such as alcohol, drugs and pornography. (the resource is dated 2000)
Father Jeremy Davies, 65, exorcist for London’s Westminster Archdiocese is a former medical doctor and one of six priests who founded the
International Association of Exorcists along with the exorcist of Rome, Father Gabriele Amorth (the association had over 200 members at the end of 2000).
The Catholic Church stressed great caution concerning exorcism.
According to the 1984 document Ab Aliquot Annis (On The Current Norms Governing Exorcisms), by
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
, cites canon law, which states:
“
no one may licitly perform exorcisms on those who are possessed unless he has obtained particular and express permission from the local ordinary, and it decrees that this permission is to be granted by the ordinary only to priests who are outstanding in piety, knowledge, prudence, and integrity of life. Bishops are therefore strongly urged to enforce the observance of these prescriptions
”
(Canon 1172).
The cardinal further wrote:
“
It follows also from these same prescriptions that Christ’s faithful may not employ the formula of exorcism against Satan and the fallen angels which is excerpted from that formula made official by order of the Supreme Pontiff Leo XIII, and certainly may not use the entire text of that exorcism. Let all bishops take care to admonish the faithful about this matter whenever such instruction is required
.Finally, for the same reasons, bishops are asked to guard lest those who lack the required power attempt to lead assemblies in which prayers are employed to obtain liberation from demons, and in the course of which the demons are directly disturbed and an attempt is made to determine their identity. This applies even to cases which, although they do not involve true diabolical possession, nevertheless are seen in some way to manifest diabolical influence
“
(No. 2-3).
the conclusion of the brief document,
“
Of course, the enunciation of these norms should not stop the faithful of Christ from praying, as Jesus taught us, that they may be freed from evil. Moreover, pastors should take this opportunity to remember what the tradition of the Church teaches about the function properly assigned to the intercession of the most Blessed Virgin Mary, the Apostles and the saints, even in the spiritual battle of Christians against the evil spirits.
“
The basic purpose of this document is to greatly impress upon people that the Catholic Church does not just simply perform exorcism because it can. That all medical possibilities must first be exhausted before the church will consider performing an exorcism. Even then those responsible for making the decision must be convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt. Also it is emphatically stated that not just any priest performs an exorcism.
Possession from another view point
Demonic possession is held by many belief systems to be the control of an individual by malevolent preternatural forces/being/s. Many cultures and some religions contain some concept of demonic possession although the details vary considerably. The oldest references to possession are from the Sumerians, who attributed diseases of the body and mind to “sickness demons” called gidim/gid-dim. Priests who practiced exorcisms where called ashipu (sorcerer) as opposed to asu (physician) who applied bandages and salves.
In most African cultures there is a higher rate of possession by evil spirits in women than in men. These evil spirits usually require lavish gifts to alleviate the suffering of the afflicted/possessed person. That is why women are usually accused of faking cases of possession to receive things like the best cloths, jewelry and luxury foods from their families or spouse. Men are never accused of this.
The Shamanistic practice is also a means of possession and it was first applied to the ancient religion of the
Turks and Mongols, as well as those of the neighboring Tungusic and Samoyedic-speaking peoples. Shamanism is also (still) practiced by (some) Native American’s and Asian cultures; most places that practice today are Africa, Australasia and the Americas.
Shamanism is a practice that involves a practitioner reaching altered states of consciousness in order to encounter and interact with the spirit world.A shaman is a person regarded as having access to, and influence in, the world of
benevolent and malevolent spirits, who typically enters into a trance state during a ritual, and practices divination and healing. The word “shaman” originates from the
Evenk language
(Tungusic) of North Asia and was introduced to the west after Russian forces conquered the shamanistic
Khanate of Kazan in 1552. Shamans are normally “called” by dreams or signs which require lengthy training. However, shamanic powers may be “inherited”. Turner and colleagues mention a phenomenon called shamanistic initiatory crisis, a rite of passage for shamans-to-be, commonly involving physical illness and/or psychological crisis. The significant role of initiatory illnesses in the calling of a shaman.
He or she undergoes a type of sickness that pushes her or him to the brink of death. This happens for two reasons:
The shaman crosses over to the underworld. This happens so the shaman can venture to its depths to bring back vital information for the sick, and the tribe.
The shaman must become sick to understand sickness. When the shaman overcomes her or his own sickness s/he will hold the cure to heal all that suffer. This is the uncanny mark of the healer.
The basic idea is that the spirits choose a shaman, during the illness or depletion of mental state the shaman enters the spirit realm where s/he might remain for some time. Here the spirits puts him/ her through many trials and tests to prove that s/he is capable of the task. It is also at this time that the shaman is endowed with various abilities by the spirits, and obtains a spirit guide often in the form of an animal. It is the role of the shaman not only as a healer and leader in advice for their people but also to do battle with evil spirits in this realm or in the realm of the spirits as the shaman can see spirits where ever they may be.
Because of this, Shamanic cultures also believe in demon possession and shamans perform exorcisms. Diseases are often attributed to the presence of a
vengeful spirit (or loosely termed
demon) in the body of the patient. These spirits are more often the spectres of animals or people wronged by the bearer, the exorcism rites usually consisting of respectful offerings or sacrificial offerings.
Recent archaeological evidence suggests that the earliest known shamans—dating to the Upper Paleolithic
era in what is now the Czech Republic — were women.
In the Islamic/Arabic religious practices/ culture Jinn/Djinn may possess the body of a person. Djinn are spiritual creatures mentioned in the Qur’an and other islamic texts, who occupy the unseen world which exists in the universe of dimensions beyond the human one. Djinn, humans and angels make up the three creations of God who are able to act with wisdom and appropriate judgment. Djinn are created out of smokeless and scorching fire but are also physical in nature; in that they are capable of interacting with people and surroundings, thereby also being acted upon. Like human beings, the djinn can also be good, evil, or neutrally benevolent and hence have freewill like humans and unlike angels.
Jinn is a noun of the collective number in Arabic literally meaning “hidden from sight”, and deriving from the Arabic root
j-n-n (pronounced: jann/ junn جَنّ / جُنّ) meaning “to hide” or “be hidden”. Other words derived from this root are
majnūn ‘mad’ – ‘one whose intellect is hidden’, junūn
‘madness’, and janīn ‘embryo, fetus’ – ‘hidden inside the womb’. The word genie in English is derived from Latin
genius (the individual instance of a general divine nature that is present in every individual person, place, or thing), which meant a sort of tutelary or guardian spirit thought to be assigned to each person at their birth. English borrowed the French descendant of this word,
génie; its earliest written evidence in English, in 1655, is a plural spelled “genyes”.
Jinn is in the collective number, translated in English as plural (e.g., “several genies”);
jinnī is in the singulative number, used to refer to one individual, which is translated by the singular in English (e.g., “one genie”). Therefore, the word
jinn in English writing is treated as a plural.
Djinn pre-date the Islamic era, archaeologists in the study of ancient Middle Eastern cultures have found that the spirits made after the angels and before mankind are often referred to as a
jinni, especially when describing stone carvings or other forms of art found. Inscriptions found in North-western Arabia seem to indicate the worship of djinn, or at least their tributary status, hundreds of years before Islam. For instance, an inscription from Beth Fasi’el near
Palmyra pays tribute to the “
jinnaye“, the “good and rewarding gods”. For the ancient Semites, djinn were spirits of vanished ancient peoples who acted during the night and disappeared with the first light of dawn; they could make themselves invisible or change shape into animals at will; these spirits were commonly believed to be responsible for diseases and for the manias of some lunatics. Types of djinn include the ghul (night shade), the sila (shape shifters) and the effrit/ifrit.
It was believed that the djinn were spirits of fire, although sometimes associated with succubi, demons in the forms of beautiful women, who visited men by night to copulate with them until they were exhausted, drawing energy from this encounter just as a vampire is supposedly sustained by his victim’s blood.
In truth there are many things that can be said about Djinn:
Dividing Djinn –
1. Marid (Maa-rid) large and imposing, the marid (marida- plural) are considered to be the most powerful tribe of djinn as well as the most proud and arrogant, also known as “blue” djinn. Often portrayed as barrel-chested men with booming voices; originally sea-spirits, they are often associated with water, and thought to take sanctuary in the open ocean. They can be compelled into performing chores although they do have free will. Also have the ability to grant wishes to mortals, but that usually requires battle, imprisonment, rituals, or just a great deal of flattery.
2. Effrit/ifrit (eff-FREET) they are in a class of infernal Jinn noted for their strength, intelligence and cunning. An enormous winged creature of fire, either male or female, which lives underground and frequents ruins. Are thought to live in complex societies similar to those of humans. They generally marry one another, but they can also marry humans. While ordinary weapons and forces have no power over them, they are susceptible to magic, which humans can use to kill them or to capture and enslave them. An ifrit may be either a believer or an unbeliever, good or evil, but is most often depicted as evil, ruthless beings and difficult to control.
3. Ghoul / ghul shapeshifting demons that can assume the guise of animals, especially hyenas. They lure unwary travellers into the desert wastes to slay and devour them. These creatures also prey on young children, rob graves, drink blood, and eat the dead, taking on the form of the one they previously ate. They are strictly demonic and often portrayed as nocturnal. There are several types of ghul. The most feared is a female type (ghula) which has the ability to appear as a normal, mortal woman. According to lore, such a creature marries an unsuspecting man, who becomes her prey. In Persian lore the ghul has the legs of a donkey and the horns of a goat.
4. Sila/Si’lat (female djinn called Jinniyah) who are more tolerant of human society than other tribes of djinn, sila are most often portrayed as female. Thought to be extremely (most) intelligent and are able to mimic the human appearance with ease.
There are a number of minor djinn as well mentioned in the lore but most important of all is that djinn (in general) cannot be seen with the human eye.
In Guanche mythology from Tenerife in the Canary Islands, there existed the belief in beings that are similar to geniessuch as the
maxios or dioses paredros – ‘attendant gods’, domestic and nature spirits – and
tibicenas – evil genies, as well as the demon Guayota – aboriginal god of evil- that, like the Arabic
Iblīs, is sometimes identified with a genie.
Jewish demons, like their counterparts in other traditions, like to inhabit people or simply upend them from time to time. Not only are there many discussions of demons in rabbinic literature, but also, as a result of demonic activity, there are many spells/prayers directed against them, as where there are demons, there must be defenses and antidotes. Some demons are granted names; Ashmedai he is the king of demons in the Talmud. And there are endless discussions of their activities and depredations.
Exorcism reached a peak in the mystical community of 16th century Safed. The scholar J.H. Chajes translated several accounts of spirit possession in Safed. The most eminent scholars of the time, Isaac Luria, Shlomo Alkabetz, Joseph Karo, Hayyim Vital and others were involved in exorcisms. Some were possessed themselves, like Karo, whose Maggid Mishna took hold of him and dictated, but such possession could on occasion be benevolent. The point is that this was not restricted to a fringe or the untutored; the world was rife with spirits.
Jewish tradition has several terms to discuss demons of different sorts, and there are more stories about demons and demonic bedevilment than there seem to be about ghosts. Often times, the definitions for these terms will change from one source to another, causing overlap and confusion which sometimes even overlap into discussion about ghosts. The term
Mazzikin, for example, is used in some cases to talk about destructive spirits of the dead, but can also refer to destructive spirits created on the eve of the last day of creation in the biblical story of Genesis. The concept of destructive creatures created at the very end of the Six Days of Creation also finds expression in creatures known as
Shedim, which are also alternately called Lillin when they’re described as being the descendants of the mythological figure Lilith. These demons are described as “serpent-like” and are sometimes depicted with human forms with wings, as well. The stories often include descriptions of children being killed in their cradles or some kind of sexualized element, much like traditional succubi or incubi. Then there are
Ruhot, formless spirits described in some stories as creatures one could bind into a form to make them speak prophecy or perform a task for the binder.
Ghosts or spirits in Jewish folklore are broken down into a few different types. A dybbuk (Yiddish: דיבוק, from the Hebrew –
adhere or cling) is a malicious or malevolent possessing spirit believed to be the dislocated soul of a dead person. It supposedly leaves the host body once it has accomplished its goal, sometimes after being helped. Many stories or films misinterpret or misrepresent the myths of the dybbuk (see
The Unborn), simply it is a ghost that does not move on after death but stays to possess the body of a living person for malevolent purposes. Another type of possession is by the exact opposite of the dybbuk, known as an ibbur. The term is used for a spirit that nests or incubates inside a host in an attempt to help the host body along. It is considered a benevolent spirit, usually one which was particularly righteous or holy in their lifetime. These ghostly ride-alongs are said to stick around and possess a person so that they can help them achieve their goals in this life, acting as a wise helper to guide their host toward achieving success.
Benevolent “possession”
Spiritualism is -
A system of belief or religious practice based on supposed communication with the spirits of the dead, esp. through mediums.
The doctrine that the spirit exists as distinct from matter, or that spirit is the only reality.
Spiritualism postulates that the spirits of the dead residing in the “spirit world have both the inclination and the ability to communicate with the living
”. It developed and reached its peak in membership from the 1840’s to 1920’s. The religion flourished for half a
century without any canonical texts or any form of formal origination. Cohesion was attained through periodicals, tours by trance lecturers, camp meetings and the missionary activities of accomplished mediums.
Although various Spiritualist traditions have their own beliefs, knows as Principals, there are also shared concepts:
· A belief in spirit communication.
· A belief that the soul continues to exist after the death of the physical body
· Personal responsibility for life circumstances
· Even after death it is possible for the soul to learn and improve
· A belief in a God often referred to as “Infinite Intelligence”
· The natural world considered as an expression of said intelligence
·
No original sin (optimistic doctrine of human nature)
The belief is that the spirit world or afterlife is not a static place but a place in which the spirit evolves. Two basic beliefs – that communication with spirits is possible and that they exist on a higher plane – leads to a third belief that spirits can provide information and guidance on moral and ethical issues and even on God and the afterlife. Thus many members speak of spirit guides – specific spirits contacted and relied on for worldly and spiritual guidance.
Spiritualism was emerged in a Protestant Christian environment and shares many common features mostly in the form of Sunday services and singing of hymns yet there is a vast difference. Spiritualists do not believe that the works or faith of a short mortal existence can serve as a basis to assigning a soul to an eternity of heaven or hell. The Judeo-Christian Bible is not the single source from which they derive their knowledge of God and the afterlife; for them, personal contact with spirits does this.
For some of the Jewish faith spiritualism is strictly forbidden by the Old Testament but to those who are inclined toward it, trance mediumship is referred to as “prophecy”, a “vision”, or a “dream”.
It also deferrers from occult practices/movements such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden dawn and others or Wiccan Covens in that spirits are not contacted for “obtaining magickal ability”.
There is a great deal of information about the origins of Spiritualism and it would not be possible to include all of it here.
There have been some very well know names that have been connected to spiritualism and some who are very surprising to learn about; then there are those who became well known because of events that surrounded them. They used “rapping” to convince people that they were communicating with the dead.
The Fox Sisters
The Fox sisters, Margaret, Kate and Leah where some of these, the younger sisters Margaret (Maggie) and Kate where the ones surrounded by strange sounds while the older sister Leah managed their careers.
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Wed. Nov. 14, 1849 – Corinthian Hall in Rochester, NY – the Fox sisters go public.
·
Thursday Nov. 15 – first committee of 5 men appointed by audience fail to discover source of sounds. All agreed the sounds were heard, but they entirely failed to discover any means by which it could be done.”
·
Friday Nov. 15 – second committee of 5 men, including a medical doctor, do thorough physical examinations and tie the girl’s ankles together and seat them high on a table above the floor, but still hear the sounds, and fail to suggest any physical source for the sounds.
·
Saturday Nov. 16 – 3rdcommittee, of ardent sceptics, appointed. The girls were bound and examined physically, then taken into a back room by a group of women and strip searched. Standing on pillows, with their ankles tied together, the sounds were still heard.
·
The failure of the 3rd committee to reveal a physical cause of the sounds led to a riot, led by an ardent Christian opponent of the rappings – he distributed fireworks to his friends, who lit them in the hall and then stormed the stage. The girls were rescued by the chief of police and escorted to safety.
Capron, NY Tribune:
“Over three days of the strictest scrutiny by means of intelligence, candor, and science, were the persons in whose presence these sounds are heard, acquitted of any fraud.”
1851 – three medical doctors (Aus1n Flint, Charles A. Lee, C.B. Coventry) proceed to examine the Fox sisters. Reasoning by way of exclusion, they:
‘agreed in advance that a spiritual explanation for the raps could not be considered until all possible physiological explanations had been excluded.’
Weisberg
-
“Without entering at this 1me into a very minute anatomical and physiological explanation… it is sufficient to state that… the large bone of the leg is moved laterally upon the lower surface of the thigh bone, giving rise, in fact, to partial lateral dislocation”
In other words, they concluded that the girls made the sounds by dislocating their knee joints. Evidence offered to support this explanation was how red Kate looked, (meaning she must be doing some kind of physical exertion), the failure of raps to occur when the girls were seated on sawdust filled pillows, and the feeling of “slight” motion in Kate’s knee during one of the raps. Set the stage for future “scientific” investigations – where mediums were bound, gagged, locked into boxes, stripped, and in one documented case, stripped and sewn into a sack that was nailed to the floor.
The Fox girls where proven to be committing fraud, to which they eventually admitted.
Cora Scott (Married name Cora Hatch 1840-1923)
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One of the most famous Spiritualist mediums.
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Begins trance mediumship at age of 12
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Married 4 times – most famously, to mesmerist Benjamin Hatch
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She continues the Fox sister pattern – young, female, pale.
“Mrs. Hatch, the Spiritualist, closed her lectures or experiments, on Wednesday evening, and met
with complete success. There was no failure in anything she attempted, no hesitation in answering any question upon any subject, and all answers were satisfactory to the persons submitting the questions. It only remains to know by what means she speaks and acts. To say that she does it of herself is to invest her with understanding, information, cultivation and taste, possessed by no person that we have ever seen or heard of, while it is obvious to everyone that she is not above ordinary intellects, and her years preclude the possibility of her being conversant with all the topics that come before her. First, it is noticeable that her use of language is most perfect. All that N. P. Willis said of her was proved here. The closest observation of the best scholars in town did not discover the misuse of a single word; and her utterance was as beautiful and perfect as the language…we are satisfied, and we believe that nine in ten at least of all who heard her were satisfied, that she was not in a natural state. We are driven to this conclusion, or we must admit, what appears to be more questionable, that mentally she is superior to any other person. If not in a normal condition, then by what influence does she speak? She claims it is a spiritual power. If she is not right, by what power is it? If we deny her affirmation, we feel bound to give some other explanation more rational and that explanation we have not. . . . the facts are as we have stated, and five hundred persons each evening were witnesses thereto, but by what influence they were so, we leave to each person to say for himself.”(N. P. Willis, The Newburyport(MA) Herald1857)
Cora’s eloquence was taken to be proof by many that she was channeling spirit entities – how else could a barley, teenage girl speak so eloquently of such advanced topics that she could not know about?
Cora is representative of a type of medium known as a “mental” medium (knowledge of things that could otherwise not be known), who engaged in public lectures under spirit influence, but who did not engage in (usually) the demonstrations of physical mediumship (physical manifestations) that were so often exposed as fraudulent.
Quite often when dealing with mediums most have read, if not experienced, that a substance can be found to be produced from the medium. Either from the mouth or ears (usually). This substance has been called ectoplasm. The word
ectoplasm, from the Greek ektos meaning “outside”, and plasma, meaning “something formed or molded”, is associated with the formation of entities, spirits are supposed to use the formation to drape over their none physical bodies or it is representative of the entity presence
, however since World War II reports of ectoplasmic phenomena have declined.
According to physical mediums, ectoplasm cannot occur in light conditions as the substance will disintegrate.
The physical researcher Gustav Geley, defined ectoplasm as being a “very variable substance in appearance, being sometimes vaporous, sometimes a plastic-like membrane with swelling or fringes, or a fine fabric-like tissue substance”. Arthur Conan Doyle described ectoplasm as “a viscous, gelatinous substance which appeared different from every known form of matter in that it could solidify and be used for material purposes”.
Although the term is widespread, the existence of ectoplasm is not accepted by science. Some tested substance purported to be ectoplasm was found to contain non-paranormal substances such as human skin. The sad truth is that the substance known as ectoplasm can be faked using various house hold items such as paper, cloth and egg white. Some “mediums” have also been known to develop means of swallowing and regurgitating textile products smoothed with potato starch. As a result there is no conclusive proof concerning ectoplasm.
This of course produces the following two questions in the rational mind.
What kinds of spirits might exist?
1. gods & goddesses
2. devils/demons
3. angels
4. ancestors
5. other human spirits (dead)
6. human spirits (living)
7. animal spirits
8. elementals
9. nature spirits
What motivations might they have to take possession?
-
1. to command behaviour
2. to give moral guidance
3. to teach/reveal knowledge
4. to heal
5. to affirm faith/prove their presence/existence
6. to punish
7. to cause sickness
8. to kill
9. to communicate/negotiate
10. to experience human senses
11. to breed?
Religious traditions generally incorporate several elements of the above mentioned motivations in “clusters,” and exclude others, according to broader understandings about the nature of the world, humans, animals, nature, supernatural forces, etc. also that which is accepted as true within the society or within any one religious system.
For those who believe in spirit possession and/or communication, the human body can be describe like being a car, the soul or possibly your personality would then be like the driver of the car. So it would then be possible to lend your “car” (body) to another (soul/personality) – either voluntarily, or involuntarily. But – not just any spirit can “borrow” your car – it has to be a spirit recognized within your cultural framework or religious beliefs
So possession or spirit possession/communication can further be likened to a language, more specifically the language you most commonly communicate in– languages have certain sounds in them, vowels and consonants, nouns and verbs which might be exclusive to that language while other languages have other sounds that are not
recognisable to you. The kind of spirits, and the kinds of motivations of how and why those spirits are understood to possess, are like vowels or consonants, like nouns and verbs, like specific vocabulary, within a given language. If you do not recognize a language you cannot speak that language therefore how a spirit possesses or which spirit possesses is exclusive to culture or religious belief. So also like vowel sounds, or vocabulary, spirit possession belief elements are taken for granted – they just ARE, they are not subject to conscious choice.
Now that we have that under our belts here’s a curve ball.
There are Three Main “types” or “ways” that spirits are understood to bridge the gap between their level of existence, and ours, frequently within religious contexts, these three forms of possession coexist, in various combinations
regardless of religious or cultural systems.
Full possession
The possessing spirit takes control of the body, the person may or may not be aware that this is happening. Bodily posture, intonation, behaviour, etc. change. It is an unequal power relationship as the possessing spirit is understood to have more power than the human host
.
Mediumship
The possessing spirit influences the human host; makes them hear things, feel things, etc. but the host remains in control of their own body and remains aware of their surroundings and possibly of the events as they occur. Bodily posture, intonation, behaviour, etc. may or may not change. Stigmata may occur. Somewhat more equal a power relationship – the spirit requests, the host complies.
Shamanic Possession
The shaman exerts an element of control over the spirit – through invocation, coercion, etc.
Bodily posture, intonation, behaviour, etc. may or may not change. Stigmata may occur.
Shaman frequently sends own soul to the spirit world, rather than opening self to the spirit in this world. An unequal power relationship – the shaman compels, bribes, blackmails, pays, etc. the spirits.
(Note: Stigmata, primarily associated with the Roman Catholic faith, is a term used to describe marks, sores, wounds or sensations of pain in locations corresponding to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus Christ. The term originates from the line at the end of
Saint Paul’s letter to the Galations : “I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.”
Stigmata is the plural of a Greek word which means a mark, tattoo or brand as might be used for identification on an animal or slave.)
Some things we need to understand is that
First,
we should be aware that not all people who are, or claim to be, possessed, are physically or mentally “sick.” They are not suffering from physical or mental illness. They are simply manifesting a state of consciousness, and interpreting that state of consciousness, in religiously meaningful contexts.
Second,
not all people who are, or claim to be, possessed, are “possessed” by the Christian concept of demons or the devil. Just as we generally find it difficult to believe in possession at all, we equally find it difficult to believe that if possession exists, it can be a helpful, benign force.
Third,
not all people who are or who claim to be possessed are frauds. Speaking in tongues, religious healing, and prophesy are all manifestations of altered states of consciousness, and like possession, are found cross culturally and commonly throughout the world.
-
Fourth,
there is in fact some scientific basis for believing in the legitimacy of possession experiences. Blood chemistry, brain maps, physiological changes, glossolalia pamerning, all point to the reality of the experience. If the explanation of the experience does not satisfy our skeptical natures, the experiences are nonetheless genuine, and their explanations at least have the virtue of coming from those who have the experience.
Fifth,
not everyone who does claim to be possessed by a “devil” or “demon” in the Christian concept or other views of possession by some spirit are actually possessed. There are many illnesses mental and physical that might appear to be possession by something else.
Although I have noted possession from various religious and cultural viewpoints I will be focusing on the Christian view as it is the most widely “advertised” form of possession in the
next following piece. (continued)
Our culture is overflowing with these images, many of which are responsible for desensitising us. The majority of viewers don’t believe anything that they see, seeing it as for pure entertainment value or that it is simply psychologically based. Yet, most, regardless weather they believe that possession by preternatural forces exists or that it is simply a mental condition, will agree that the very idea of not being able to control your actions or your own body is the most terrifying of thoughts.
The fact that there have been documented cases of possession that date back to the first century is not surprising considering the fact that just about everything was pegged up to ‘evil’ beings or other forces that where other than the being most universally referred to as God.
According to an article on the site of Catholic Education Resource Centre, Father James LeBar, exorcist for the Archdiocese of New York, stated that 10 years ago he had no cases of exorcism but currently his cases numbered in the 300’s. There had been an explosion in cases since 1990. He further stated that although an exorcist was not always needed those who consulted him experienced objects moving in their homes (or possibly had been moved) or claiming that they have heard the devil. Father John Hampsch, a psychologist, had also seen more reports of demonic interference, stating that he dealt with 10-15 cases per week.
Father Hampsch stated that the obvious ways for Satan to enter into peoples lives is through sin. Serious sin as well as habitual sin could be gateways but that there were others as well; that although innocent people could be affected by hexes or curses the most common way for people to become possessed was through occult practices such as the Ouija Board. Another form would be though addictions such as alcohol, drugs and pornography. (the resource is dated 2000)
Father Jeremy Davies, 65, exorcist for London’s Westminster Archdiocese is a former medical doctor and one of six priests who founded the
International Association of Exorcists along with the exorcist of Rome, Father Gabriele Amorth (the association had over 200 members at the end of 2000).
The Catholic Church stressed great caution concerning exorcism.
According to the 1984 document Ab Aliquot Annis (On The Current Norms Governing Exorcisms), by
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
, cites canon law, which states:
“
no one may licitly perform exorcisms on those who are possessed unless he has obtained particular and express permission from the local ordinary, and it decrees that this permission is to be granted by the ordinary only to priests who are outstanding in piety, knowledge, prudence, and integrity of life. Bishops are therefore strongly urged to enforce the observance of these prescriptions
”
(Canon 1172).
The cardinal further wrote:
“
It follows also from these same prescriptions that Christ’s faithful may not employ the formula of exorcism against Satan and the fallen angels which is excerpted from that formula made official by order of the Supreme Pontiff Leo XIII, and certainly may not use the entire text of that exorcism. Let all bishops take care to admonish the faithful about this matter whenever such instruction is required
.Finally, for the same reasons, bishops are asked to guard lest those who lack the required power attempt to lead assemblies in which prayers are employed to obtain liberation from demons, and in the course of which the demons are directly disturbed and an attempt is made to determine their identity. This applies even to cases which, although they do not involve true diabolical possession, nevertheless are seen in some way to manifest diabolical influence
“
(No. 2-3).
the conclusion of the brief document,
“
Of course, the enunciation of these norms should not stop the faithful of Christ from praying, as Jesus taught us, that they may be freed from evil. Moreover, pastors should take this opportunity to remember what the tradition of the Church teaches about the function properly assigned to the intercession of the most Blessed Virgin Mary, the Apostles and the saints, even in the spiritual battle of Christians against the evil spirits.
“
The basic purpose of this document is to greatly impress upon people that the Catholic Church does not just simply perform exorcism because it can. That all medical possibilities must first be exhausted before the church will consider performing an exorcism. Even then those responsible for making the decision must be convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt. Also it is emphatically stated that not just any priest performs an exorcism.
Possession from another view point
Demonic possession is held by many belief systems to be the control of an individual by malevolent preternatural forces/being/s. Many cultures and some religions contain some concept of demonic possession although the details vary considerably. The oldest references to possession are from the Sumerians, who attributed diseases of the body and mind to “sickness demons” called gidim/gid-dim. Priests who practiced exorcisms where called ashipu (sorcerer) as opposed to asu (physician) who applied bandages and salves.
In most African cultures there is a higher rate of possession by evil spirits in women than in men. These evil spirits usually require lavish gifts to alleviate the suffering of the afflicted/possessed person. That is why women are usually accused of faking cases of possession to receive things like the best cloths, jewelry and luxury foods from their families or spouse. Men are never accused of this.
The Shamanistic practice is also a means of possession and it was first applied to the ancient religion of the
Turks and Mongols, as well as those of the neighboring Tungusic and Samoyedic-speaking peoples. Shamanism is also (still) practiced by (some) Native American’s and Asian cultures; most places that practice today are Africa, Australasia and the Americas.
Shamanism is a practice that involves a practitioner reaching altered states of consciousness in order to encounter and interact with the spirit world.A shaman is a person regarded as having access to, and influence in, the world of
benevolent and malevolent spirits, who typically enters into a trance state during a ritual, and practices divination and healing. The word “shaman” originates from the
Evenk language
(Tungusic) of North Asia and was introduced to the west after Russian forces conquered the shamanistic
Khanate of Kazan in 1552. Shamans are normally “called” by dreams or signs which require lengthy training. However, shamanic powers may be “inherited”. Turner and colleagues mention a phenomenon called shamanistic initiatory crisis, a rite of passage for shamans-to-be, commonly involving physical illness and/or psychological crisis. The significant role of initiatory illnesses in the calling of a shaman.
He or she undergoes a type of sickness that pushes her or him to the brink of death. This happens for two reasons:
The shaman crosses over to the underworld. This happens so the shaman can venture to its depths to bring back vital information for the sick, and the tribe.
The shaman must become sick to understand sickness. When the shaman overcomes her or his own sickness s/he will hold the cure to heal all that suffer. This is the uncanny mark of the healer.
The basic idea is that the spirits choose a shaman, during the illness or depletion of mental state the shaman enters the spirit realm where s/he might remain for some time. Here the spirits puts him/ her through many trials and tests to prove that s/he is capable of the task. It is also at this time that the shaman is endowed with various abilities by the spirits, and obtains a spirit guide often in the form of an animal. It is the role of the shaman not only as a healer and leader in advice for their people but also to do battle with evil spirits in this realm or in the realm of the spirits as the shaman can see spirits where ever they may be.
Because of this, Shamanic cultures also believe in demon possession and shamans perform exorcisms. Diseases are often attributed to the presence of a
vengeful spirit (or loosely termed
demon) in the body of the patient. These spirits are more often the spectres of animals or people wronged by the bearer, the exorcism rites usually consisting of respectful offerings or sacrificial offerings.
Recent archaeological evidence suggests that the earliest known shamans—dating to the Upper Paleolithic
era in what is now the Czech Republic — were women.
In the Islamic/Arabic religious practices/ culture Jinn/Djinn may possess the body of a person. Djinn are spiritual creatures mentioned in the Qur’an and other islamic texts, who occupy the unseen world which exists in the universe of dimensions beyond the human one. Djinn, humans and angels make up the three creations of God who are able to act with wisdom and appropriate judgment. Djinn are created out of smokeless and scorching fire but are also physical in nature; in that they are capable of interacting with people and surroundings, thereby also being acted upon. Like human beings, the djinn can also be good, evil, or neutrally benevolent and hence have freewill like humans and unlike angels.
Jinn is a noun of the collective number in Arabic literally meaning “hidden from sight”, and deriving from the Arabic root
j-n-n (pronounced: jann/ junn جَنّ / جُنّ) meaning “to hide” or “be hidden”. Other words derived from this root are
majnūn ‘mad’ – ‘one whose intellect is hidden’, junūn
‘madness’, and janīn ‘embryo, fetus’ – ‘hidden inside the womb’. The word genie in English is derived from Latin
genius (the individual instance of a general divine nature that is present in every individual person, place, or thing), which meant a sort of tutelary or guardian spirit thought to be assigned to each person at their birth. English borrowed the French descendant of this word,
génie; its earliest written evidence in English, in 1655, is a plural spelled “genyes”.
Jinn is in the collective number, translated in English as plural (e.g., “several genies”);
jinnī is in the singulative number, used to refer to one individual, which is translated by the singular in English (e.g., “one genie”). Therefore, the word
jinn in English writing is treated as a plural.
Djinn pre-date the Islamic era, archaeologists in the study of ancient Middle Eastern cultures have found that the spirits made after the angels and before mankind are often referred to as a
jinni, especially when describing stone carvings or other forms of art found. Inscriptions found in North-western Arabia seem to indicate the worship of djinn, or at least their tributary status, hundreds of years before Islam. For instance, an inscription from Beth Fasi’el near
Palmyra pays tribute to the “
jinnaye“, the “good and rewarding gods”. For the ancient Semites, djinn were spirits of vanished ancient peoples who acted during the night and disappeared with the first light of dawn; they could make themselves invisible or change shape into animals at will; these spirits were commonly believed to be responsible for diseases and for the manias of some lunatics. Types of djinn include the ghul (night shade), the sila (shape shifters) and the effrit/ifrit.
It was believed that the djinn were spirits of fire, although sometimes associated with succubi, demons in the forms of beautiful women, who visited men by night to copulate with them until they were exhausted, drawing energy from this encounter just as a vampire is supposedly sustained by his victim’s blood.
In truth there are many things that can be said about Djinn:
Dividing Djinn –
1. Marid (Maa-rid) large and imposing, the marid (marida- plural) are considered to be the most powerful tribe of djinn as well as the most proud and arrogant, also known as “blue” djinn. Often portrayed as barrel-chested men with booming voices; originally sea-spirits, they are often associated with water, and thought to take sanctuary in the open ocean. They can be compelled into performing chores although they do have free will. Also have the ability to grant wishes to mortals, but that usually requires battle, imprisonment, rituals, or just a great deal of flattery.
2. Effrit/ifrit (eff-FREET) they are in a class of infernal Jinn noted for their strength, intelligence and cunning. An enormous winged creature of fire, either male or female, which lives underground and frequents ruins. Are thought to live in complex societies similar to those of humans. They generally marry one another, but they can also marry humans. While ordinary weapons and forces have no power over them, they are susceptible to magic, which humans can use to kill them or to capture and enslave them. An ifrit may be either a believer or an unbeliever, good or evil, but is most often depicted as evil, ruthless beings and difficult to control.
3. Ghoul / ghul shapeshifting demons that can assume the guise of animals, especially hyenas. They lure unwary travellers into the desert wastes to slay and devour them. These creatures also prey on young children, rob graves, drink blood, and eat the dead, taking on the form of the one they previously ate. They are strictly demonic and often portrayed as nocturnal. There are several types of ghul. The most feared is a female type (ghula) which has the ability to appear as a normal, mortal woman. According to lore, such a creature marries an unsuspecting man, who becomes her prey. In Persian lore the ghul has the legs of a donkey and the horns of a goat.
4. Sila/Si’lat (female djinn called Jinniyah) who are more tolerant of human society than other tribes of djinn, sila are most often portrayed as female. Thought to be extremely (most) intelligent and are able to mimic the human appearance with ease.
There are a number of minor djinn as well mentioned in the lore but most important of all is that djinn (in general) cannot be seen with the human eye.
In Guanche mythology from Tenerife in the Canary Islands, there existed the belief in beings that are similar to geniessuch as the
maxios or dioses paredros – ‘attendant gods’, domestic and nature spirits – and
tibicenas – evil genies, as well as the demon Guayota – aboriginal god of evil- that, like the Arabic
Iblīs, is sometimes identified with a genie.
Jewish demons, like their counterparts in other traditions, like to inhabit people or simply upend them from time to time. Not only are there many discussions of demons in rabbinic literature, but also, as a result of demonic activity, there are many spells/prayers directed against them, as where there are demons, there must be defenses and antidotes. Some demons are granted names; Ashmedai he is the king of demons in the Talmud. And there are endless discussions of their activities and depredations.
Exorcism reached a peak in the mystical community of 16th century Safed. The scholar J.H. Chajes translated several accounts of spirit possession in Safed. The most eminent scholars of the time, Isaac Luria, Shlomo Alkabetz, Joseph Karo, Hayyim Vital and others were involved in exorcisms. Some were possessed themselves, like Karo, whose Maggid Mishna took hold of him and dictated, but such possession could on occasion be benevolent. The point is that this was not restricted to a fringe or the untutored; the world was rife with spirits.
Jewish tradition has several terms to discuss demons of different sorts, and there are more stories about demons and demonic bedevilment than there seem to be about ghosts. Often times, the definitions for these terms will change from one source to another, causing overlap and confusion which sometimes even overlap into discussion about ghosts. The term
Mazzikin, for example, is used in some cases to talk about destructive spirits of the dead, but can also refer to destructive spirits created on the eve of the last day of creation in the biblical story of Genesis. The concept of destructive creatures created at the very end of the Six Days of Creation also finds expression in creatures known as
Shedim, which are also alternately called Lillin when they’re described as being the descendants of the mythological figure Lilith. These demons are described as “serpent-like” and are sometimes depicted with human forms with wings, as well. The stories often include descriptions of children being killed in their cradles or some kind of sexualized element, much like traditional succubi or incubi. Then there are
Ruhot, formless spirits described in some stories as creatures one could bind into a form to make them speak prophecy or perform a task for the binder.
Ghosts or spirits in Jewish folklore are broken down into a few different types. A dybbuk (Yiddish: דיבוק, from the Hebrew –
adhere or cling) is a malicious or malevolent possessing spirit believed to be the dislocated soul of a dead person. It supposedly leaves the host body once it has accomplished its goal, sometimes after being helped. Many stories or films misinterpret or misrepresent the myths of the dybbuk (see
The Unborn), simply it is a ghost that does not move on after death but stays to possess the body of a living person for malevolent purposes. Another type of possession is by the exact opposite of the dybbuk, known as an ibbur. The term is used for a spirit that nests or incubates inside a host in an attempt to help the host body along. It is considered a benevolent spirit, usually one which was particularly righteous or holy in their lifetime. These ghostly ride-alongs are said to stick around and possess a person so that they can help them achieve their goals in this life, acting as a wise helper to guide their host toward achieving success.
Benevolent “possession”
Spiritualism is -
A system of belief or religious practice based on supposed communication with the spirits of the dead, esp. through mediums.
The doctrine that the spirit exists as distinct from matter, or that spirit is the only reality.
Spiritualism postulates that the spirits of the dead residing in the “spirit world have both the inclination and the ability to communicate with the living
”. It developed and reached its peak in membership from the 1840’s to 1920’s. The religion flourished for half a
century without any canonical texts or any form of formal origination. Cohesion was attained through periodicals, tours by trance lecturers, camp meetings and the missionary activities of accomplished mediums.
Although various Spiritualist traditions have their own beliefs, knows as Principals, there are also shared concepts:
· A belief in spirit communication.
· A belief that the soul continues to exist after the death of the physical body
· Personal responsibility for life circumstances
· Even after death it is possible for the soul to learn and improve
· A belief in a God often referred to as “Infinite Intelligence”
· The natural world considered as an expression of said intelligence
·
No original sin (optimistic doctrine of human nature)
The belief is that the spirit world or afterlife is not a static place but a place in which the spirit evolves. Two basic beliefs – that communication with spirits is possible and that they exist on a higher plane – leads to a third belief that spirits can provide information and guidance on moral and ethical issues and even on God and the afterlife. Thus many members speak of spirit guides – specific spirits contacted and relied on for worldly and spiritual guidance.
Spiritualism was emerged in a Protestant Christian environment and shares many common features mostly in the form of Sunday services and singing of hymns yet there is a vast difference. Spiritualists do not believe that the works or faith of a short mortal existence can serve as a basis to assigning a soul to an eternity of heaven or hell. The Judeo-Christian Bible is not the single source from which they derive their knowledge of God and the afterlife; for them, personal contact with spirits does this.
For some of the Jewish faith spiritualism is strictly forbidden by the Old Testament but to those who are inclined toward it, trance mediumship is referred to as “prophecy”, a “vision”, or a “dream”.
It also deferrers from occult practices/movements such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden dawn and others or Wiccan Covens in that spirits are not contacted for “obtaining magickal ability”.
There is a great deal of information about the origins of Spiritualism and it would not be possible to include all of it here.
There have been some very well know names that have been connected to spiritualism and some who are very surprising to learn about; then there are those who became well known because of events that surrounded them. They used “rapping” to convince people that they were communicating with the dead.
The Fox Sisters
The Fox sisters, Margaret, Kate and Leah where some of these, the younger sisters Margaret (Maggie) and Kate where the ones surrounded by strange sounds while the older sister Leah managed their careers.
·
Wed. Nov. 14, 1849 – Corinthian Hall in Rochester, NY – the Fox sisters go public.
·
Thursday Nov. 15 – first committee of 5 men appointed by audience fail to discover source of sounds. All agreed the sounds were heard, but they entirely failed to discover any means by which it could be done.”
·
Friday Nov. 15 – second committee of 5 men, including a medical doctor, do thorough physical examinations and tie the girl’s ankles together and seat them high on a table above the floor, but still hear the sounds, and fail to suggest any physical source for the sounds.
·
Saturday Nov. 16 – 3rdcommittee, of ardent sceptics, appointed. The girls were bound and examined physically, then taken into a back room by a group of women and strip searched. Standing on pillows, with their ankles tied together, the sounds were still heard.
·
The failure of the 3rd committee to reveal a physical cause of the sounds led to a riot, led by an ardent Christian opponent of the rappings – he distributed fireworks to his friends, who lit them in the hall and then stormed the stage. The girls were rescued by the chief of police and escorted to safety.
Capron, NY Tribune:
“Over three days of the strictest scrutiny by means of intelligence, candor, and science, were the persons in whose presence these sounds are heard, acquitted of any fraud.”
1851 – three medical doctors (Aus1n Flint, Charles A. Lee, C.B. Coventry) proceed to examine the Fox sisters. Reasoning by way of exclusion, they:
‘agreed in advance that a spiritual explanation for the raps could not be considered until all possible physiological explanations had been excluded.’
Weisberg
-
“Without entering at this 1me into a very minute anatomical and physiological explanation… it is sufficient to state that… the large bone of the leg is moved laterally upon the lower surface of the thigh bone, giving rise, in fact, to partial lateral dislocation”
In other words, they concluded that the girls made the sounds by dislocating their knee joints. Evidence offered to support this explanation was how red Kate looked, (meaning she must be doing some kind of physical exertion), the failure of raps to occur when the girls were seated on sawdust filled pillows, and the feeling of “slight” motion in Kate’s knee during one of the raps. Set the stage for future “scientific” investigations – where mediums were bound, gagged, locked into boxes, stripped, and in one documented case, stripped and sewn into a sack that was nailed to the floor.
The Fox girls where proven to be committing fraud, to which they eventually admitted.
Cora Scott (Married name Cora Hatch 1840-1923)
·
One of the most famous Spiritualist mediums.
·
Begins trance mediumship at age of 12
·
Married 4 times – most famously, to mesmerist Benjamin Hatch
·
She continues the Fox sister pattern – young, female, pale.
“Mrs. Hatch, the Spiritualist, closed her lectures or experiments, on Wednesday evening, and met
with complete success. There was no failure in anything she attempted, no hesitation in answering any question upon any subject, and all answers were satisfactory to the persons submitting the questions. It only remains to know by what means she speaks and acts. To say that she does it of herself is to invest her with understanding, information, cultivation and taste, possessed by no person that we have ever seen or heard of, while it is obvious to everyone that she is not above ordinary intellects, and her years preclude the possibility of her being conversant with all the topics that come before her. First, it is noticeable that her use of language is most perfect. All that N. P. Willis said of her was proved here. The closest observation of the best scholars in town did not discover the misuse of a single word; and her utterance was as beautiful and perfect as the language…we are satisfied, and we believe that nine in ten at least of all who heard her were satisfied, that she was not in a natural state. We are driven to this conclusion, or we must admit, what appears to be more questionable, that mentally she is superior to any other person. If not in a normal condition, then by what influence does she speak? She claims it is a spiritual power. If she is not right, by what power is it? If we deny her affirmation, we feel bound to give some other explanation more rational and that explanation we have not. . . . the facts are as we have stated, and five hundred persons each evening were witnesses thereto, but by what influence they were so, we leave to each person to say for himself.”(N. P. Willis, The Newburyport(MA) Herald1857)
Cora’s eloquence was taken to be proof by many that she was channeling spirit entities – how else could a barley, teenage girl speak so eloquently of such advanced topics that she could not know about?
Cora is representative of a type of medium known as a “mental” medium (knowledge of things that could otherwise not be known), who engaged in public lectures under spirit influence, but who did not engage in (usually) the demonstrations of physical mediumship (physical manifestations) that were so often exposed as fraudulent.
Quite often when dealing with mediums most have read, if not experienced, that a substance can be found to be produced from the medium. Either from the mouth or ears (usually). This substance has been called ectoplasm. The word
ectoplasm, from the Greek ektos meaning “outside”, and plasma, meaning “something formed or molded”, is associated with the formation of entities, spirits are supposed to use the formation to drape over their none physical bodies or it is representative of the entity presence
, however since World War II reports of ectoplasmic phenomena have declined.
According to physical mediums, ectoplasm cannot occur in light conditions as the substance will disintegrate.
The physical researcher Gustav Geley, defined ectoplasm as being a “very variable substance in appearance, being sometimes vaporous, sometimes a plastic-like membrane with swelling or fringes, or a fine fabric-like tissue substance”. Arthur Conan Doyle described ectoplasm as “a viscous, gelatinous substance which appeared different from every known form of matter in that it could solidify and be used for material purposes”.
Although the term is widespread, the existence of ectoplasm is not accepted by science. Some tested substance purported to be ectoplasm was found to contain non-paranormal substances such as human skin. The sad truth is that the substance known as ectoplasm can be faked using various house hold items such as paper, cloth and egg white. Some “mediums” have also been known to develop means of swallowing and regurgitating textile products smoothed with potato starch. As a result there is no conclusive proof concerning ectoplasm.
This of course produces the following two questions in the rational mind.
What kinds of spirits might exist?
1. gods & goddesses
2. devils/demons
3. angels
4. ancestors
5. other human spirits (dead)
6. human spirits (living)
7. animal spirits
8. elementals
9. nature spirits
What motivations might they have to take possession?
-
1. to command behaviour
2. to give moral guidance
3. to teach/reveal knowledge
4. to heal
5. to affirm faith/prove their presence/existence
6. to punish
7. to cause sickness
8. to kill
9. to communicate/negotiate
10. to experience human senses
11. to breed?
Religious traditions generally incorporate several elements of the above mentioned motivations in “clusters,” and exclude others, according to broader understandings about the nature of the world, humans, animals, nature, supernatural forces, etc. also that which is accepted as true within the society or within any one religious system.
For those who believe in spirit possession and/or communication, the human body can be describe like being a car, the soul or possibly your personality would then be like the driver of the car. So it would then be possible to lend your “car” (body) to another (soul/personality) – either voluntarily, or involuntarily. But – not just any spirit can “borrow” your car – it has to be a spirit recognized within your cultural framework or religious beliefs
So possession or spirit possession/communication can further be likened to a language, more specifically the language you most commonly communicate in– languages have certain sounds in them, vowels and consonants, nouns and verbs which might be exclusive to that language while other languages have other sounds that are not
recognisable to you. The kind of spirits, and the kinds of motivations of how and why those spirits are understood to possess, are like vowels or consonants, like nouns and verbs, like specific vocabulary, within a given language. If you do not recognize a language you cannot speak that language therefore how a spirit possesses or which spirit possesses is exclusive to culture or religious belief. So also like vowel sounds, or vocabulary, spirit possession belief elements are taken for granted – they just ARE, they are not subject to conscious choice.
Now that we have that under our belts here’s a curve ball.
There are Three Main “types” or “ways” that spirits are understood to bridge the gap between their level of existence, and ours, frequently within religious contexts, these three forms of possession coexist, in various combinations
regardless of religious or cultural systems.
Full possession
The possessing spirit takes control of the body, the person may or may not be aware that this is happening. Bodily posture, intonation, behaviour, etc. change. It is an unequal power relationship as the possessing spirit is understood to have more power than the human host
.
Mediumship
The possessing spirit influences the human host; makes them hear things, feel things, etc. but the host remains in control of their own body and remains aware of their surroundings and possibly of the events as they occur. Bodily posture, intonation, behaviour, etc. may or may not change. Stigmata may occur. Somewhat more equal a power relationship – the spirit requests, the host complies.
Shamanic Possession
The shaman exerts an element of control over the spirit – through invocation, coercion, etc.
Bodily posture, intonation, behaviour, etc. may or may not change. Stigmata may occur.
Shaman frequently sends own soul to the spirit world, rather than opening self to the spirit in this world. An unequal power relationship – the shaman compels, bribes, blackmails, pays, etc. the spirits.
(Note: Stigmata, primarily associated with the Roman Catholic faith, is a term used to describe marks, sores, wounds or sensations of pain in locations corresponding to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus Christ. The term originates from the line at the end of
Saint Paul’s letter to the Galations : “I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.”
Stigmata is the plural of a Greek word which means a mark, tattoo or brand as might be used for identification on an animal or slave.)
Some things we need to understand is that
First,
we should be aware that not all people who are, or claim to be, possessed, are physically or mentally “sick.” They are not suffering from physical or mental illness. They are simply manifesting a state of consciousness, and interpreting that state of consciousness, in religiously meaningful contexts.
Second,
not all people who are, or claim to be, possessed, are “possessed” by the Christian concept of demons or the devil. Just as we generally find it difficult to believe in possession at all, we equally find it difficult to believe that if possession exists, it can be a helpful, benign force.
Third,
not all people who are or who claim to be possessed are frauds. Speaking in tongues, religious healing, and prophesy are all manifestations of altered states of consciousness, and like possession, are found cross culturally and commonly throughout the world.
-
Fourth,
there is in fact some scientific basis for believing in the legitimacy of possession experiences. Blood chemistry, brain maps, physiological changes, glossolalia pamerning, all point to the reality of the experience. If the explanation of the experience does not satisfy our skeptical natures, the experiences are nonetheless genuine, and their explanations at least have the virtue of coming from those who have the experience.
Fifth,
not everyone who does claim to be possessed by a “devil” or “demon” in the Christian concept or other views of possession by some spirit are actually possessed. There are many illnesses mental and physical that might appear to be possession by something else.
Although I have noted possession from various religious and cultural viewpoints I will be focusing on the Christian view as it is the most widely “advertised” form of possession in the
next following piece. (continued)
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