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The concept of spiritual possession exists in many religions, including Christianity, Buddhism, Haitian Vodou, Wicca, and Southeast Asian and African traditions.[1] Depending on the cultural context in which it is found, possession may be considered voluntary or involuntary and may be considered to have beneficial or detrimental effects. Scientific materialists[who?] also have opinions about the nature of the phenomenon.[vague]
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[edit] Buddhism
According to the Indian medical literature and Tantric Buddhist scriptures, most of the "seizers," or those that threaten the lives of young children, appear in animal form: cow, lion, fox, monkey, horse, dog, pig, cat, crow, pheasant, owl, and snake. But apart from these "nightmare shapes," the impersonation or incarnation of animals could in some circumstances also be highly beneficial, according to Michel Strickmann.[2]Ch'i Chung-fu, a Chinese gynecologist writing early in the thirteenth century, for example, wrote that in addition to five sorts of falling frenzy classified according to their causative factors, there were also four types of other frenzies distinguished by the sounds and movements given off by the victim during his seizure: cow, horse, pig, and dog frenzies.[2]
[edit] Taoism and other East-Asian religions
Certain sects of Taoism, Korean Shamanism, Shinto, some Japanese new religious movements, and other East-Asian religions feature spirit-possession. Some sects feature shamans who become possessed, or mediums who channel beings' supernatural power, or enchanters who imbue or foster spirits within objects, like samurai swords.[3][edit] African and African diasporic traditions
In Sudan and certain other East African cultures the Zār Cult conducts ethnomedical healing ceremonies involving possession typically of Muslim women by a Zār spirit.[4]In Haitian Vodou and related African diasporic traditions, one way that those who participate or practice can have a spiritual experience is by being possessed by the lwa (or Loa). When the lwa descends upon a practitioner, the practitioner's body is being used by the spirit, according to the tradition. Some spirits are believed to be able to give prophecies of upcoming events or situations pertaining to the possessed one, also called Chwal or the "Horse of the Spirit." Practitioners describe this as a beautiful but very tiring experience. Most people who are possessed by the spirit describe the onset as a feeling of blackness or energy flowing through their body as if they were being electrocuted. According to Vodou believers, when this occurs, it is a sign that a possession is about to take place.
The practitioner has no recollection of the possession and in fact when the possessing spirit leaves the body, the possessed one is tired and wonders what has happened during the possession. Not all practitioners have the ability to become possessed, but practitioners who do generally prefer not to make excessive use of it because it drains immense energy from them. It is said that only the lwa can choose who it wants to possess, for the spirit may have a mission that it can carry out spiritually. It is believed that those possessed by the lwa probably are at a very high spiritual level such that their soul is mature and at an advanced level.[citation needed]
It is also believed that there are those who feign possessions because they want attention or a feeling of importance, because those who are possessed carry a high importance in ceremony. Often, a chwal will undergo some form of trial or testing to make sure that the possession is indeed genuine. As an example, someone possessed by one of the Guédé spirits may be offered piment, a liqueur made by steeping twenty-one chili peppers in kleren, a potent alcoholic beverage. If the chwal consumes the piment without showing any evidence of pain or discomfort, the possession is regarded as genuine.[citation needed]
[edit] Balinese Sanghyang
The animist traditions of the island of Bali (Indonesia) include a practice called sanghyang, induction of voluntary possession trance states for specific purposes. Roughly similar to voluntary possession in Vaudon (Voodoo), sanghyang is a sacred state in which hyangs (deities) or helpful spirits temporarily inhabit the bodies of participants. The purpose of sanghyang is to cleanse people and places of evil influences and restore spiritual balance. Thus, it is often referred to as an exorcism ceremony.[edit] Wicca
Wiccans believe in voluntary possession by the Goddess, connected with the sacred ceremony of Drawing Down the Moon. The high priestess solicits the Goddess to possess her and speak through her.[5][edit] Islam
No verses in the Quran (Islamic Scripture) clearly support stories of demonic possession or ghosts/hauntings. Muslims are told to "seek refuge in Allah from the accursed devil" but the meaning of this prayer relates to the fear Muslims should have of the wrath of God, as the purpose of the devil/satan is to mislead humans and make them disobey God. It is also stated in the Quran that the devil/satan has no power of influence over those who God has guided.[edit] Judaism
Although forbidden in the Hebrew Bible, magic was widely practiced in the late Second Temple Period and well documented in the period following the destruction of the Temple into the 3rd, 4th and 5th centuries C.E.[6][7] In Jewish folklore, a Dybbuk is a disembodied spirit that wanders restlessly until it inhabits the body of a living person. The Baal Shem could expel the harmful dybbuk through exorcism.[8] Jewish magical papyri were inscriptions on amulets, ostraca and incantation bowls used in Jewish magical practices against shedim and other unclean spirits.[edit] Christianity
Roman Catholic doctrine states that angels are non-corporeal, spiritual beings[9] with intelligence and will.[10] Fallen angels, or demons, are able to "demonically possess" individuals without the victim's knowledge or consent, leaving them morally blameless.[11][edit] Spiritism and Spiritualism
 | This section does not cite any references or sources. (May 2011) |
[edit] Scientific materialism
Scientific materialists, skeptics, and empiricists have said that those who have experienced demonic possession have sometimes exhibited symptoms similar to those associated with mental illnesses such as psychosis, hysteria, mania, Tourette's syndrome, epilepsy, schizophrenia, or dissociative identity disorder.[12][13][14] Common features of possession include involuntary, uncensored behavior, and an extra-human, extra-social aspect to the individual's actions.[15]However, cultural context is critical for proper diagnosis of spirit, or demonic, possession as psychosis or spiritual. In western industrialized nations such as the United States, spirit possession is not normative, and therefore calls for caution in acceptance of this condition as actually caused by spirits. The DSM-IV-TR, in describing the differences between spirit possession and Dissociative Identity Disorder, identifies only the claim that the extra personality is an external spirit or entity, lacking that, there would be no difference between the two conditions.[16] Dissociative Identity Disorder in the United States is itself extremely rare. All forms of DID constitute only about 1% of the entire population. Of those, 98-99% are of the type of DID commonly recognized as the traditional form of Multiple Personality Disorder, rather than related to spirits.[17]
Those most susceptible to being possessed are people with weak boundaries and low self-esteem, pointing to dysfunctional ego involvement in manifestations of this phenomenon rather than actual outside entities.[18]
[edit] Examples
- Incidents
- Individuals
- Johann Blumhardt
- Clara Germana Cele
- George Lukins
- Robbie Mannheim
- Anneliese Michel
- Michael Taylor
- Watseka Wonder
[edit] See also
- Enthusiasm
- Automatic writing
- Baptism with the Holy Spirit
- Demonology
- Necromancy
- Spiritualist Church
- The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner
[edit] Notes
- ^ Mark 5:9, Luke 8:30
- ^ a b Michel Strickmann (2002), Chinese Magical Medicine, edited by Bernard Faure, Stanford University Press, p. 251.
- ^ Ed. Oxtoby & Amore, "World Religions: Eastern Traditions," 3rd Edition. Oxford University Press, 2010. p. 9, 256-319.
- ^ Janice Boddy, "Wombs and Alien Spirits: Women, Men and the Zar Cult in Northern Sudan (New Directions in Anthropological Writing) University of Wisconsin Press (30 November 1989)
- ^ Margo Adler, Drawing Down the Moon. Penguin, 1997.
- ^ Gideon Bohak Ancient Jewish magic: a history 2008
- ^ Clinton Wahlen Jesus and the impurity of spirits in the Synoptic Gospels 2004 p19 "The Jewish magical papyri and incantation bowls may also shed light on our investigation.79 However, the fact that all of these sources are generally dated from the third to fifth centuries and beyond requires us to exercise particular ..."
- ^ "Dybbuk", Encyclopædia Britannica Online, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/174964/dybbuk, retrieved 2009-06-10
- ^ Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 328.
- ^ Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 330.
- ^ p.33, An Exorcist Tells his Story by Gabriele Amorth translated by Nicoletta V. MacKenzie; Ignatius Press, San Francisco, 1999.
- ^ How Exorcism Works
- ^ J. Goodwin, S. Hill, R. Attias "Historical and folk techniques of exorcism: applications to the treatment of dissociative disorders"
- ^ Journal of Personality Assessment (abstract)
- ^ Michel Strickmann (2002), Chinese Magical Medicine, edited by Bernard Faure, Stanford University Press. p. 65.
- ^ DSM-IV-TR p.527
- ^ http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/dissociative-identity-disorder-multiple-personality-disorder?page=3, accessed 06/26/2011.
- ^ The Call of Spiritual Emergency: From Personal Crisis to Personal Transformation, Bragdon, Emma. Harper & Row Pub. 1990. p.44.
[edit] References
- Clarke, S. (2006): "What is spiritual possession", SSRF
- Heindel, Max, The Web of Destiny (Chapter I - Part III: "The Dweller on the Threshold"--Earth-Bound Spirits, Part IV: The "Sin Body"--Possession by Self-Made Demons—Elementals, Part V: Obsession of Man and of Animals), ISBN 0-911274-17-0, www
- Klimo, John (1987). Channeling: Investigations on Receiving Information from Paranormal Sources. St. Martins Press. ISBN 0-87477-431-4.
- Lang, Andrew (1900) Demoniacal Possession, The Making of Religion, (Chapter VII), Longmans, Green, and C°, London, New York and Bombay, 1900, pp. 128–146.
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