On the subject of exorcism, and partially why it doesn’t seem to work really well in this day and age, is for an exorcism to free the host it has to mirror the same process as the possession, sort of like deprogramming a brainwashing subject. At one point invoking the Catholic principles was pretty universal. The host would hear the challenge, the priests belief in the powers they were invoking, that the host believed in, and there was often the necessity of some physical trauma just as the possessing entity had used though stopping short of a lot of it. But basically sort of like a psychic antibiotic, irritating the host into rejection of the possessing entity.

So the host is involved in the battle, consciously? Ah, no. There is often a subconscious trigger sort of like the process of conditioning a zombie. Drug them with the powder, and convince them they are damned, and that they belong to the sorcerer. It sort of stays.

Is it making the possession too much trouble for the entity? Yes. Often the possessing entity will leave. It boosts their energy to a different phase incompatible with the possessing entity, or like the experiences people have in sensory deprivation as the host very much is in a state of sensory deprivation. It bypasses the sensory block.

A shock of sorts? Yes, and in fact it can induce a secondary possession sometimes.

I didn’t know the senses could be bypassed. They can and often are. It’s how extrasensory perception works. Things like cat scans often induce full blown sensory experiences. It seems to depend on degree of magnetic sensitivity, and most just experience a mild sense of weirdness or subdued flashes of light. These spirit encounters are high energy phenomenon and is part of why communications from a haunting are so rare. It’s draining, and usually by the time they get through they are royally pissed off, and so your brain warps the experience and makes it nightmare like. Makes the haunting entity “look” scary.

What about those who are possessed by animal spirit, like Shaman or others in Africa? It can happen, and it’s voluntary and temporary. It is basically a very deep channelling. It’s the basis of my own metaphysical practices in a way, and it’s usually based on a long standing concept of kinship. Like the Crow Indians, they weren’t being philosophical or figurative, they actually connected with nature like that. They had no sense of biology or genetics. When they spoke of being born of Grandmother Spider, they meant that spiritual connection. Flesh was an abstraction at best. It could be dismissed as mass hysteria, but in my experience the objects that appear in mass hysteria have much more impact than just a hallucination.

What about these ‘warding’ things like garlic and such in your house? Anything to all that? Well, garlic is bolstering to the human immune system, the sensory impact is grounding, and we are sensitive to many metals. Some of the reasoning behind the objects was off of course, but a mirror could force a sensory dissonance. As the possessing entity rejects the image, but the host recognizes and accepts it. At first the entity will say they see nothing, and the host will keep the mirror up.

I have heard that Voodoo possession can heal sometimes, but it is not voluntary is it? It is voluntary, but spontaneous, not planned. When the celebrants are gathered to commune with the Loa, the Loa have a lot of headway and can pick and choose. They are all dancing in an ecstatic state. And yes, channelling can produce effects like healing, so it isn’t necessarily evil.

But some people doesn’t choose the entity that will come to them? No, they don’t choose the entity. The Loa have preferences. Some only choose women, some choose only old men, but all of those gathered are there for that reason, if only to receive a vision from the Loa as they dance. It’s basically worship. It used to be people didn’t try to boss God around, the Voodoo congregation still don’t.

I hope I have shown that the idea of possession is both not scary and also not as weak as the movies show. There is a reality behind it, and the other stuff is mess.

Your thoughts are welcome. Be well friends.

Travis Saunders
Dragon Intuitive
~science,mysticism,spirituality~