The idea that the mind and soul of a person can be possessed by some otherworldly spirit, emanating from God, a demon or another person, has tormented civilization since ancient times. The ancient Greeks, who worshiped gods in human form, believed that deities invade mortal lives on a daily basis, either by forcing them to act in a certain way, or by taking possession of their bodies and using them for their own purposes. Followers of Hinduism and Buddhism attribute all kinds of everyday troubles to gods and demons. African tribal religions teach that the obsession caused by the gods demonstrates the favor of the gods towards man and proves their omnipotence. The Bible tells us that during his earthly life Jesus Christ cast out “unclean spirits” and that after His crucifixion the Holy Spirit descended upon His disciples. Stories abouthow some demonic creatures take possession of people was extremely worried about the medieval clergy, and to this day they provide food for numerous books and films.
Early Christian theologians denied that possession by an unclean spirit, i.e. complete control over a person by any creature can be anything other than the machinations of the devil. The saints also suffered from torment from the side of the devil, but they never fell into his full power, and only sometimes experienced various obsessions, for example, when an unclean spirit exerted some influence on their consciousness. In saying that the possession of the Holy Spirit is a phenomenon of a completely different order, the church believed that possession from the devil exists to deceive fools.
Thus, anyone who either behaved in an unusual way, or expressed ideas that were very different from the generally accepted ones, was considered a person who was most likely possessed by the devil, calling him exponen. The one whom the devil finally possessed was called energumenus.
A woman possessed by demons gets rid of them with a seven-finger sign. Drawing from a 13th century English handwritten Bible.
The devil called people to himself in two ways: either directly penetrating into the consciousness and soul of a person, or with the help of a witch or a sorcerer, sending a demon on a person. The Church believes that the devil prefers to use evil people as his intermediaries. Witches send demons to unsuspecting victims using magic, special potions, amulets, or, more often, food. Especially often apples were used for this earlier, perhaps because they were always at hand, and, perhaps, because they were a symbol of the fall of man. The only salvation from such an obsession was exorcism (casting out of the devil), during which in the name of the Lord the devil and his minions were driven back to hell.
The Catholic Church, the only Christian church to have an official ritual of exorcism, believes that demon possession is indicated by four signs: clairvoyance, abnormal physical strength, blasphemy, and levitation.
Modern occultists, however, view obsession, or mania, as a frustrating, disorienting episode rather than the destruction of the soul by the devil. At the same time, the spirits, perhaps not knowing that they are dead, fall into the "snares" of mortals and need help to go to a more suitable sphere for them. In other cases, these creatures specially come to people in order to make contact with them in order to warn them about something or convey some message. As for the victim, such episodes are a shock for her. They often cause severe headaches, sleep disturbances, lead to the fact that people begin to see strange lights, hear strange noises and voices, feel the phenomena of poltergeist; they can even cause temporary insanity.
Apart from mediums, few people specifically seek to be possessed by any spirit. Mediums, believing that possession is a temporary state, during the sessions call on the spirits to speak through them. Spiritual possession also takes place in the phenomenon of channeling that is close to it. In this case, the spirits leave a person on command without a special ritual. A superficial fascination with automatic writing or an ouija for communication with spirits, according to some experts, is a rather risky undertaking, since it can bring unwanted spirits to the uninitiated beginner, and as a result, exorcisms have to be used to drive these creatures out.
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Martin stresses that obsession cannot happen without the consent of the victim, at least even subconsciously.
In psychiatry, patients suffering from multiple personalities suppress their hatred, which acts like a magnet for evil influences, which are sometimes perceived as external spirits or ghosts. Mania always speaks of some abnormal condition, and if the patient at the same time believes in the reality of influence from the spirits, he is not able to ignore the idea that he is possessed by a spirit. Severe physical or psychological trauma can lead to such a disorder that it opens a kind of "window" in consciousness, allowing the evil spirit to enter through it.
But aren't spirit possession and mania nothing more than a disorder of consciousness? Or, conversely, are mental illnesses - schizophrenia, paranoia, hysteria, obsessional states, and multiple personalities - actually the result of spirits in control of their unfortunate victims?
Spirits and multiple personality
In some cases of multiple personalities, psychiatrists have found that only exorcism - even the mere mention of the name of the Lord - removes one or more secondary personalities, and as a result, the patient can become one again.
James H. Hislop, who was the leader of the American Society for Psychical Research and studied the phenomenon of spirit possession, wrote in his book Contact with Another World (1919) that if people believe in telepathy, then they can invade another person from a distance. And if this is so, says Hislop, then it does not seem that evil or good spirits are the only creatures that are able to penetrate a person from the outside. Hislop also found that people who are diagnosed with hysteria, multiple personality, dementia praecox (early dementia), or some other mental disorder, show, what they themselves believe, unmistakable signs of invasion of their soul by some disembodied creatures. He urged physicians to take this into account in the process of healing such people.
Dr. M. Scot Peck, who describes himself as a "stubborn scientist," a Harvard graduate and psychiatrist practicing in Connecticut, said that two of his patients, in addition to severe symptoms of multiple personality, suffered from ghost possession. In both cases, Peck discovered, they were evil spirits actively destroying the minds of his patients.
In his 1983 book People of Lies, Peck described these patients, mentioning that they knew from the beginning that they were possessed by some kind of outsider; he also talked about how exorcism in both cases immediately cleared the way for spiritual healing of these people. As the demonic creatures left the patients, Peck noticed that the faces of these people completely changed and took the form of some kind of masks of absolute evil. One of the patients became like a snake, his body wriggled, and his eyes began to resemble those of a reptile; in addition, he constantly made frantic attempts to bite one of the people who expelled the evil spirit from him. Something terrible, ageless, burdened with evil, similar to the real Serpent, seemed to be in the room then. Peck writes that everyone in the room felt this presence. This feeling is gonewhen the exorcism is over.
Peck's work confirmed the research conducted by psychiatrist Dr. Ralph Ellison of California. He studied traditional psychiatry at UCLA School of Medicine and Stanford Medical Center. Ellison noted that many cases of multiple personalities are the result of being possessed by spirits, both harmless and demonic. In his rather controversial 1980 book Consciousness Made of Pieces, Allison talks about some of these patients and the unexplained paranormal events that take place around them. He also noticed that at least one of the personalities of each such patient - sometimes primary, but usually one of the secondary - has amazing psychic abilities.
Influence of Spiritualism
Spiritualism, a movement that originated in the middle of the 19th century and became a kind of religion, teaches about the eternal life of spirits - and the possibility of contacting them with the help of mediums, thus proving the real existence of these spirits. And although many people talked about communicating with the dead, only the famous tapping of the Focke sisters from Hydesville, New York proved the existence of spirits for many unbelievers and gave impetus to the organization of various spiritualistic meetings and seances. The temporary obsession of mediums with the alleged spirits of the dead, however, is different from demonic and spirit possession, which leads to the complete control of these beings over the person's personality and life.
European offshoot of spiritualism, founded by Alan Kardek. believes that some diseases are caused by spirits and that these diseases can be cured by psychic methods through contact with patron spirits. Kardek said that people with epilepsy, schizophrenia and multiple personality have all the signs that they are possessed by spirits, it does not matter if it is the spirits of other dead people or residual spirits of the past lives of the patients themselves. According to Kardek's theory, each human person has what he called "subsystems" of past lives, which a person inherits in each of his new incarnations. Sometimes these subsystems also dominate in real life, blocking reality and controlling the body for extended periods of time. Successful cure here depends not only on correct diagnosis and therapy,but also from establishing contact with spirits in order to understand the nature of their presence and then drive them out of the victim. Kardek's theory was very popular in France, but did not spread in the rest of Europe. Only in the Western Hemisphere, especially in Brazil, did it have groups of adherents.
Other medical practitioners, such as Karl Wikland and his wife Anna, and Titus Ball, have advanced similar views on ghost possession. They all believed that most diseases were caused by spirits, which, while not dangerous in themselves, upset the body; all these diseases require competent exorcism.
Spirit obsession in different parts of the world
In many non-Western cultures, connection with spirits and deities is seen as the basis of religious service. The obsession sent by a god demonstrates that the possessed person is worthy of attention and care from this god. Even small difficulties and obstacles require the direct active intervention of God in the affairs of people.
Despite the fact that the followers of Islam worship one god, Allah, they believe that the creators of evil deeds are the jinn or the spirits of the zara. Zaras, who are also called Saras, possessing their victims, as a rule, women, cause them weakness, disorder of marital relations, and violence. Zars leave a person only if they are appeased with gifts - clothes, food, drinks, jewelry, etc. - who give them to the victim, as well as if the injured woman is healed by men from her own family.
In India, the obsession with perfume permeates every facet of everyday life. And here, for the most part, women are obsessed, who attribute most of their personal problems to the penetration of evil spirits: menstruation, infertility, death of children, miscarriages, abuse from a husband or father, husband's unfaithfulness. The shamanistic exorcism technique used here includes burning cow dung, kneading crystal salt with your fingers, igniting pig secretions, hitting or pulling the victim's hair. And also the use of copper coins as sacrificial gifts to the gods, the recitation of prayers or mantras, the sacrifice of sweets and other gifts to the gods. Followers of traditional African religions hold similar views on the evil deeds of their gods. Something similar can be found among the Sinhalese Buddhists in Sri Lanka. Sinhalese exorcist healers believe that a specific demon causes each disease, although the conditions for these diseases are created by disorder in the home or work.
Most of the possessed women are of the lower classes. They are either humble workers or maids. Obsession leads to the fact that they begin to rise through the ranks. But the end to this obsession is the active coaxing of the gods by the victims and the promise of better behavior by family members or employers.
In the Caribbean, Latin America and other places where Africans were used as slaves, they worship the religions of their ancestors. Nowadays, these religions have transformed into the religions of Voodoo (Woaoip, Woosloo), Santeria, Candombl and Umbanda. Followers of these beliefs practice the obsession of the most faithful, which the gods send to them in order to achieve true unity with the gods and receive protection from them. Believers, accompanied by the singing of hymns and the frantic beating of drums that accompany their ceremonies, enable God to “saddle” himself, becoming his “horses” and attracting him with things that he loves: these are certain food, flowers, incense, spells. It happens that sometimes they even blaspheme and smoke big odorous cigars. By becoming possessed, adherents of these religions can withstand extreme cold or heat,dance for many hours without any fatigue, no pain from cuts and blows. They can even bite off the heads of live roosters used for sacrifice. Often the possessed make prophecies and pronounce sentences about local affairs. The words of the spirits are not always taken seriously, but all doubts about the omnipotence of the gods are contained here with the help of fear and awe. A believer in a state of possession is considered a deity, with all the ensuing attitude towards himself. However, when the obsession wears off, they stop paying attention to this person.but all doubts about the omnipotence of the gods are contained here by fear and awe. A believer in a state of possession is considered a deity, with all the ensuing attitude towards himself. However, when the obsession wears off, they stop paying attention to this person.but all doubts about the omnipotence of the gods are contained here by fear and awe. A believer in a state of possession is considered a deity, with all the ensuing attitude towards himself. However, when the obsession wears off, they stop paying attention to this person.
Possession of the Holy Spirit
The idea that in the presence of the Divine a person becomes possessed is common in Western cultures. The word "enthusiasm" originally meant being filled with the Holy Spirit, or the highest stage of oneness with God. After the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, on the first day of Pentecost (seven weeks after Easter according to the Jewish calendar) the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles. The book of Acts describes how flames appeared over their heads, and the apostles began to speak in tongues that they did not know before. The "gift of tongues" - glossolalia - and other forms of ecstatic union with God were very characteristic of early Christianity. However, in the Middle Ages, this practice began to be considered the work of the devil.
In modern Christianity, the Pentecostal movement has revived interest in ecstatic religious practice. This movement began on January 1, 1901 (the first day of the 20th century), when a group of believers from Bethel College in Topeka, Kansas were reported to have received the Holy Spirit. Members of Pentecostal congregations, when the spirit descends on them, can speak in different languages, engage in lengthy prayer vigils, heal, and even roll on the floor writhing in pain.