Spiritual and Demonic Possession

In this post, I tread lightly.

The topic idea came to me while my daughter and I were watching a program on television. During one of the many commercial breaks, a movie preview came up which was completely inappropriate for children. Why do The Great Commercial People do that? I seriously want to kick their behinds or at the very least, make them get up in the middle of the night to calm a freaked out ‘tween. In this case, the preview was for a movie produced by Sam Raimi called The Possession. And supposedly, it’s based on a true story.

Now, I enjoy a good scare like anyone else. In fact, the novel I’m working on now is paranormal horror. However, once the line between “fact” and “fiction” is blurred, my enthusiasm wavers. My older daughter, who also loves a good scare, is begging to go see The Possession. My younger one, not so much. And me? Nope. No desire to see it or take my daughter to see it. We already sat through The Exorcist and I ended up having nightmares. I know of too many cultures that take this stuff seriously and have personally witnessed too many weird things via anthropology courses I’ve taken (thank you for the memories, Professor Crane).

For those of you living under a rock (and who have never seen The Exorcist) here’s a definition of the two kinds of possession:

Spirit Possession: a supernatural event in which spirits, gods, demons, animas, extraterrestrials, or other disincarnate or other entities take control of a human body or inanimate object. The concept exists in many religions, including Christianity, Buddhism, Voodoo, Wicca, and Southeast Asian and African traditions.

Demonic Possession: held by many belief systems to be the control of an individual by a malevolent supernatural being. Demonic possessions often include loss of memory, change in personality, convulsions and fainting. Other descriptions include sudden knowledge of foreign languages, changes in vocal intonation and facial structure, the sudden appearance of injuries (scratches, bite marks) or lesions, and superhuman strength.

There are people in many cultures, including our own, who believe that such things exist. As an anthropology student some years ago, I was able to witness an exorcism wherein the person possessed truly believed they were being taken over by a malevolent spirit. After the exorcism was over, they considered themselves “free” and went on to live a normal life. Odd? Yes. Interesting? Very. Kind of creepy in a “what if” kind of way?
Most definitely.

My thought is this; if the belief is there, then in fact it’s real. At least real to them. Did the possessed person's head spin around and did he vomit pea soup? No. Do I believe those things can happen? I've never witnessed anything of the sort so I would have to say at this point, no. Unless I personally witness something and cannot find a plausible explanation, I remain a skeptic. Do I think that the power of belief can change someone’s thought processes, actions and personality? Absolutely. If you believe in prayer or positive thinking, I would challenge that you believe in the same.

Science and religion are continuously at odds with such beliefs. In order to believe in demonic or spiritual possession, one must believe in demons and spirits. (Some cultures and religions use the term “malevolent spirits," others define these spirits as actual demons; fallen angels, the devil or Satan.) The medical field attributes beliefs of this nature to dissociative disorders, Tourette's syndrome, schizophrenia, sexual abuse, and/or group hysteria. The demons of science. Whichever you believe, possession in both forms is an interesting phenomena and one that continuously pops up in movies, literature, cultures and society.

Of interest:

Fascinating paper by Ralph B. Allison, M.D. on The Evolution of a Belief System Regarding Exorcism & Possession

The Exorcist was loosely inspired by the case of Robbie Mannheim.
Read more about that here: The Exorcism of Roland Doe

And for you brave souls who wish to see the movie preview of The Possession, here you go. Don't say I didn't warn you...
Based on a "true" story.
Read more about that here: The Dibbuk Box Story-The Haunted Jewish Winebox