Spirit possession
Spirit possession is an unusual or an altered state of consciousness and associated behaviors which are purportedly caused by the control of a human body and its functions by spirits, ghosts, demons, angels, or gods.[1] The concept of spirit possession exists in many cultures and religions, including Buddhism, Christianity,[2] Haitian Vodou, Dominican 21 Divisions, Hinduism, Islam, Wicca, and Southeast Asian, African, and Native American traditions. 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 on the host.[3] The experience of spirit possession sometimes serves as evidence in support of belief in the existence of spirits, deities or demons.[4] In a 1969 study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, spirit-possession beliefs were found to exist in 74% of a sample of 488 societies in all parts of the world, with the highest numbers of believing societies in Pacific cultures and the lowest incidence among Native Americans of both North and South America.[1][5] As Pentecostal and Charismatic Christian churches move into both African and Oceanic areas, a merger of belief can take place, with demons becoming representative of the "old" indigenous religions, which Christian ministers attempt to exorcise.[6]
Not to be confused with Obsession (Spiritism) or Mediumship.Asian traditions[edit]
Yahwism[edit]
There are indications that trance-related practices might have played a role in the prophetic experiences of adherents of Yahwism. According to Martti Nissinen, Yahwist prophets may have received messages from the different gods and goddesses in the Yahwist Pantheon through a state of trance possession. This theory can be reconstructed from Sumerian Mythology, a similar theology to that of Yahwism, where the standard prophetic designations in the Akkadian language, muḫḫûm/muḫḫūtum (masc./fem., Old Babylonian) and maḫḫû/maḫḫūtu (masc./fem., Neo-Assyrian), are derived from the Akkadian verb maḫû "to become crazy, to go into a frenzy."[88] According to bible scholar Simon B. Parker, trance rituals may have occurred such as nudity or a less extreme alternative, a trance where the person to enter trance receives the god or spirit into their body.[89]
Further according to Nissinen, the Hebrew Bible, may contain evidence that trance-related practices may have been the origins of the Jewish traditions of prophetic messages.[88]
Nissinen also recorded that music was an essential part to these trance-ceremonies in the Ancient Near-East and so it can be reconstructed it could have been found in Yahwism.[88] Instruments such as the tambourine, harps, lyres, and flutes may have been utilized, as those were common instruments in Ancient Israel.[90] Along with music, incense may have also been used, either as an offering, or to be used as an entheogen, or possibly as both.
Exorcisms were also common. They can be reconstructed from both Medieval Jewish texts and texts from neighboring ancient cultures that practiced exorcisms. Exorcists acting almost like shamans would do rituals to exorcise one of a "demon" or evil spirit. According to Gina Konstantopoulos, a figure named an "Āshipu" acted as an exorcist in Mesopotamia and were trained in many fields of occultism, priesthood and herbalism.[91] As amulets (called teraphim) were also used in Yahwism to ward off evil spirits, it may also be reconstructed that there were people in Ancient Israel who acted as exorcists or shamans who would do specific rituals to ward off evil spirits. As mentioned previously, these may have included music, incense, prayers, and trance-rituals. According to Reimund Leicht, formulae was used ward off the evil, along with ritualistic sacrifices.[92]
Buddhism[edit]
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. Apart from these "nightmare shapes", the impersonation or incarnation of animals can in some circumstances also be highly beneficial, according to Michel Strickmann.[93]
Ch'i Chung-fu, a Chinese gynecologist writing early in the 13th century, 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.[93]
The Americas and Caribbean[edit]
Indo-Caribbean Shaktism[edit]
In Indo-Caribbean Madrasi Religion, a state of trance-possession known as "Sami Aduthal" in Tamil and as a "manifestation" in English occurs whence a devotee enters a trance state after praying. It is an essential part to Indo-Caribbean Shakti ceremonies, being accompanied by Tappu drumming, the singing of devotional songs, and the drumming of Udukai drums.
Ceremonies called Pujas often include the drumming of three to five tappu to invoke the deity to the space.[109] Then, the head pujari receives the God or Goddess into their body, acting as a medium. A mixture of water, turmeric powder, and neem leaves are poured onto the medium, as it is believed that the God's energy heats up the body while the water and turmeric with the neem leaves cools it down again.[110] Puja services are often held once a week.
Oceanic traditions[edit]
Melanesia[edit]
The Urapmin people of the New Guinea Highlands practice a form of group possession known as the "spirit disco" (Tok Pisin: spirit disko).[111] Men and women gather in church buildings, dancing in circles and jumping up and down while women sing Christian songs; this is called "pulling the [Holy] spirit" (Tok Pisin: pulim spirit, Urap: Sinik dagamin).[111][112] The songs' melodies are borrowed from traditional women's songs sung at drum dances (Urap: wat dalamin), and the lyrics are typically in Telefol or other Mountain Ok languages.[112] If successful, some dancers will "get the spirit" (Tok Pisin: kisim spirit), flailing wildly and careening about the dance floor.[111] After an hour or more, those possessed will collapse, the singing will end, and the spirit disco will end with a prayer and, if there is time, a Bible reading and sermon.[111] The body is believed to normally be "heavy" (ilum) with sin, and possession is the process of the Holy Spirit throwing the sins from one's body, making the person "light" (fong) again.[111] This is a completely new ritual for the Urapmin, who have no indigenous tradition of spirit-possession.[111]
Micronesia[edit]
The concept of spirit possession appears in Chuuk State, one of the four states of Federated States of Micronesia. Although Chuuk is an overwhelmingly Christian society, traditional beliefs in spirit possession by the dead still exist, usually held by women, and "events" are usually brought on by family conflicts. The supposed spirits, speaking through the women, typically admonish family members to treat each other better.[113]
Scientific views[edit]
Cultural anthropology[edit]
The works of Jean Rouch, Germaine Dieterlen, and Marcel Griaule have been extensively cited in research studies on possession in Western Africa that extended to Brazil and North America due to the slave trade.[118][119]
The anthropologist I.M. Lewis noted that women are more likely to be involved in spirit possession cults than men are, and postulated that such cults act as a means of compensation for their exclusion from other spheres within their respective cultures.[120]
Physical anthropology[edit]
Anthropologists Alice B. Kehoe and Dody H. Giletti argued that the reason that women are more commonly seen in Afro-Eurasian spirit possession cults is because of deficiencies in thiamine, tryptophan-niacin, calcium, and vitamin D. They argued that a combination of poverty and diet cause this problem, and that it is exacerbated by the strains of pregnancy and lactation. They postulated that the involuntary symptoms of these deficiencies affecting their nervous systems have been institutionalized as spirit possession.[121]