Instances of spiritual possession have been rampant throughout history. Many cultures and traditions have talked about it. In this blog, we will learn more about the historical observations of spirit possession. As you are aware by now we are a team of paranormal consultants and investigators in Chennai, India under the leadership of Mr Praveen Saanker.
Historical Observations of Spirit Possession
There have always been various viewpoints in different cultures regarding the nature of possessing spirits. In certain cases, people believed that they were the spirits of the deceased. While at other instances, the spirits had never been in human form but were instead servants of Satan, or even Satan himself.
Since the twentieth century, we ate of the viewpoint that the spirit of the dead is a cause for misery and suffering. With the advancement of science and technology, this has been fundamentally proven true. With biological causes or scientific explanations for everything, the religion aspect has taken a backseat. However, at earlier times, everything was because of spirit possession. Therefore, every religion and culture had its own set of methods for an exorcism.
Observations of Possession in Chinese Culture
Many cultures had very definite ideas about where spirit possession originated, and why they interfered with people’s lives. The Chinese have had a tradition of ancestor worship that goes back more than ten thousand years. In their view, a person goes through many cycles or lifetimes. One must stay on good terms with one’s ancestors because they continue to exist in another world-and, if angered or upset, can return to exert harm in this one.
Observations of Possession in Japanese Culture
The Japanese, too, have practised ancestor worship and believed in earthbound spirit possession. Perhaps this explains the popularity of the rapidly growing exorcistic cult Mahikari, which had four hundred thousand members throughout the world in 1970. Known as the True-Light Supra-Religion, it holds that possessing spirits cause more than eighty per cent of human ailments-physical as well as emotional. Their exorcisms are claimed to be able to restore the possessed person to health and well-being, and thousands are treated daily by these techniques.
Observations of Spirit Possession in Greeks and Romans
Even before Christianity was born, the ancient Greeks and Romans had their own set of beliefs when it came to spirits. They had a well-established notion about the dead and their effects on people. Below are some examples of Greeks and Romans on spirit possession.
Homer – “A sick man pining away is one upon whom an evil spirit has gazed”.
Plutarch – “Certain tyrannical demons require for their enjoyment some soul still incarnate; being unable to satisfy their passions in any other way, incite to sedition, lust, wars of conquest, and thus get what they lust for.”
Josephus – “Demons are the spirits of wicked men.”
Observation of Spirit Possession in Egyptian Culture
The ancient Egyptians also believed that the living were affected by the dead. It was especially true for the spirits of people who were mistreated or dishonoured after death. The ancient tombs are testimonies to their elaborate belief-system that life continues after death. Bodies were mummified so that they could be used again. Also, the inner organs were carefully preserved with herbs and concoctions in burial jars for the same purpose. The tombs were repositories of household articles, food, seeds, animals, and servants to continue their way of life.
Even something as bizarre as the wives being sealed alive was also carried out. Many were of the belief that in this way the wives will accompany the deceased on their journeys into the underworld. Many of my clients have had problems of claustrophobia which can be attributed to these reasons. Like being sealed or buried alive in a tomb. In the sessions will a paranormal investigator in Chennai, India, they recall their horrors. They remember watching with terror as the torches diminished. They also remember experiencing breathing becoming more strained before their deaths from suffocation.
Observation of Spirit Possession in Christianity
There are instances of spirit possession in Christianity as well. Many reports that even Jesus cast out spirits on many occasions. I found around twenty-six examples in the Bible of Jesus exorcising spirits. It must be noted that during the early Christian period, the ability to cast out spirits was viewed as a sign of true discipleship. Some examples and accounts from the holy scriptures are given below:
“Jesus preached and cast out devils” (Mark 1:39).
“A certain man which had devils a long time . . . Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. . . He that was possessed of the devils was healed” (Luke 8:27-33).
Another example of casting out spirit possession:
“Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit . . . And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child … Jesus rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him. And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead. But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.” (Mark 9:17-27).
“Jesus gave his twelve disciples power against unclean spirits, to cast them out.” (Matthew 10:1).
Observation of Spirit Possession in Hinduism
As per the Indian scholars, humans as having at least seven different “bodies” or “vehicles.” Paranormal investigator in Chennai, India, says that the lowest of the seven bodies is physical. The rest are nonphysical and invisible to ordinary human sight. These bodies correspond to different planes or levels of reality. Not only that, but each of these seven bodies is very fine – vibrating at a higher frequency that is lower than the ones below it.
The Indian theory of spirit possession in Hinduism is based on the writings of ancient scholars. As per the writing, there is an entire world which is the astral plane. It exists between the physical and the highest spiritual worlds. It is not a place, but rather an incalculable number of planes, subplanes, and divisions of subplanes. In addition, these planes and sub-planes rise in a gradually ascending scale, as a result of the increasing frequency of vibratory rate.
Paranormal investigators in India believes that the lower astral plane is the home of earthbound spirits. In the higher planes of the astral world reside the spiritually evolved entities that are known as guides, masters or teachers. We also call them spirit guides. It is believed that living human beings often “travel” in their astral bodies to the astral plane during sleep, in certain trance states, and deliberately, by willing a part of themselves to leave the physical body.
How Does Vedas Describe Death?
To understand spirit possession in Hinduism, we also need to look at how Vedas describes death. Vedas believes that death is sloughing off of the physical body. The individual continues, journeying into higher planes of existence, bringing along memories. After a stay in the astral world, the soul continues to rise to the mental plane, again leaving behind a corpse-the astral shell. Later, the individual goes to a still higher level of the astral plane, awaiting rebirth in a physical body.
“This recycling of the true essence of a person from one physical body to another and the doctrine of karma-the law of cause and effect-are essential for spiritual evolution, according to the Vedic system. It is through reincarnation that individuals can purify themselves in order to enter the highest plane and rejoin the Godhead.”
So where does spirit possession come in? As per the paranormal investigator in Chennai, India, important cycles of birth and death can be blocked if people are still obsessed with earthly desires. Especially if earthy desires keep them bound at the time of their deaths. In this case, they remain in and are trapped by the vibrations of the physical plane. Therefore, they reside in the lower astral level and areas as close to the earth plane as possible. By staying there, they make futile attempts to satisfy their addictions and desires. While in this lowly state, these earthbound entities cannot make any spiritual progress. They cannot be released from their lower vehicles and rise to higher states. And this is where evil spirit possession comes in.
Observations of Possession in South American Culture
South American culture also talks about spirit possession. We will discuss this through French writer Alan Kardec who has a profound catalytic effect of spiritualism. The mysticism is apparent through his books which were on the immortality of the soul. The book also talked about the nature of spirits and their relationships with men. He claimed his books were dictated to him by spirits of a higher degree, transmitted through mediums.
Mediums have a huge impact when it comes to spirit possession and South America. At one instance in Sao Paulo in 1985, I was lecturing at the First International Congress on Alternative Therapies. During my tour, I got an exclusive look into the Federation of Spiritism of Sao Paulo. It is an organization housed in a large school-like building. Thirty-five hundred mediums, coming from all walks of life-from illiterate servants to lawyers-treat fifteen thousand patients per week-without a fee!
The guide there told me that spirit possession and therapy is such a common thing in Sao Paulo that one out of five inhabitants there is a medium. There are twelve million people living in Sao Paulo! Sao Paulo is no exception; mediumship is rampant in all of Brazil. As a paranormal expert in Chennai, India, this information was quite fascinating for me.
Observations of Possession in British Culture
In 1982, Arthur Guirdham, M.D., a British psychiatrist, in 1982, reported his findings on spirit possession in a book. The book is called The Psychic Dimensions of Mental Health. The conclusions had their basis on his work of more than forty years. During those forty years, he became of the view that every form of severe mental illness can be attributed to some sort of spirit interference. Deeply committed to healing patients, he believed the usage of electroshock therapy can dislodge stubborn possessing spirits.
Adam Crabtree, a practising therapist and scholar of mesmerism, also works with spirit possession. In Multiple Man: Explorations in Possession and Multiple Personality, he describes his understanding of his patients’ conditions in terms of both possession by earthbound spirits as well as multiple aspects of people’s own personalities. His techniques are more of the persuasive type, as he does not use electroshock.
Observations of Possession in the United States
In the United States, Carl Wickland, M.D., an early Spiritualist psychiatrist, worked for thirty years with severely disturbed clients. He felt as if these clients were under the possession of earthbound entities. His wife, Anna-a trance medium-allowed the possessing spirits to speak through her vocal apparatus. Dr Wickland then conversed with them-in a two-way exchange-and convinced them of their condition. After educating them about the life waiting for them, he persuaded them to leave.
In 124, he published his book, Thirty Years Among the Dead. It was a classic in the field of therapy related to spirit possession. In it, he outlined his theory of mental illness which was a result of possessing spirits. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a Spiritualist scholar, had this to say of him and his book: “I have never met anyone who has such a wide experience of invisible. No one interested in obsession or the curing of insanity by psychic means should miss this book.”
To Wrap it Up
The examples above are enough to portray that people from all cultures around the globe believed in spirit possession. They were of the view that an earthbound entity can possess human beings. It was true for mediums and scholars alike. And everyone had their own way of finding a solution to the problem. Although this does not entirely prove the theory as a paranormal investigator in Chennai, India, I believe it is enough to have a debate. Like reincarnation, life after death, the soul, and many other concepts, spirit possession most probably cannot be proven.
For me, as a paranormal investigator in Chennai, India, working with many people with their own set of problems, I have realized that the issue of proof is not a priority. What matters are the results? Like we say, “To each his own.”
