Download or read book Spirit Possession written by Éva Pócs and published by Central European University Press. This book was released on 2022-05-31 with total page 556 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Possession, a seemingly irrational phenomenon, has posed challenges to generations of scholars rooted in Western notions of body-soul dualism, self and personhood, and a whole set of presuppositions inherited from Christian models of possession that was “good” or “bad.” The authors of the essays in this book present a new and more promising approach. They conceive spirit possession as a form of communication, of expressivity, of culturally defined behavior that should be understood in the context of local, vernacular theories and empiric reflections. With the aim of reformulating the comparative anthropology of spirit possession, the editors have opened corridors between previously separate areas of research. Together, anthropologists and historians working on several historical periods and in different European, African, South American, and Asian cultural areas attempt to redefine the very concept of possession, freeing it from the Western notion of the self and more clearly delineating it from related matters such as witchcraft, devotion, or mysticism. The book also provides an overview of new research directions, including novel methods of participant observation and approaches to spirit possession as indigenous historiography

Download or read book The Science of Spirit Possession 2nd Edition written by Terence Palmer and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2014-11-10 with total page 375 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spirit possession, attachment, poltergeist activity and the negative impact of obsession, infestation and harassment on psychological health, together with the methods of dealing with it, are contemporary issues that demand serious scientific research and academic study. Essential reading for anyone who is presented with the problem of identifying and dealing with negative spirit influence, whether they are a health professional, a service user or a research scientist, this book presents a complementary approach that is built upon the theoretical concepts and experimental methods of Frederic Myers, together with modern research findings in quantum theory and neuro-imaging.

Download or read book Unfamiliar Selves in the Hebrew Bible written by Reed Carlson and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2022-01-19 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spirit possession is more commonly associated with late Second Temple Jewish literature and the New Testament than it is with the Hebrew Bible. In Unfamiliar Selves in the Hebrew Bible, however, Reed Carlson argues that possession is also depicted in this earlier literature, though rarely according to the typical western paradigm. This new approach utilizes theoretical models developed by cultural anthropologists and ethnographers of contemporary possession-practicing communities in the global south and its diasporas. Carlson demonstrates how possession in the Bible is a corporate and cultivated practice that can function as social commentary and as a means to model the moral self. The author treats a variety of spirit phenomena in the Hebrew Bible, including spirit language in the Psalms and Job, spirit empowerment in Judges and Samuel, and communal possession in the prophets. Carlson also surveys apotropaic texts and spirit myths in early Jewish literature—including the Dead Sea Scrolls. In this volume, two recent scholarly trends in biblical studies converge: investigations into notions of evil and of the self. The result is a synthesizing project, useful to biblical scholars and those of early Judaism and Christianity alike.

Download or read book Evil Spirits and Possession written by David L Bradnick and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2017-08-28 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Evil, Spirits, and Possession: An Emergentist Theology of the Demonic David Bradnick develops a multidisciplinary view of the demonic, using biblical-theological, social-scientific, and philosophical-scientific perspectives. Building upon the work of Pentecostal theologian Amos Yong, this book argues for a theology informed by emergence theory, whereby the demonic arises from evolutionary processes and exerts downward causal influence upon its constituent substrates. Consequently, evil does not result from conscious diabolic beings; rather it manifests as non-personal emergent forces that influence humans to initiate and execute nefarious activities. Emergentism provides an alternative to contemporary views, which tend to minimize or reject the reality of the demonic, and it retains the demonic as a viable theological category in the twenty-first century.

Download or read book Ecstatic Religion written by I. M. Lewis and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First Published in 2004. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Download or read book Having the Spirit of Christ written by Giovanni B. Bazzana and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2020-01-07 with total page 333 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A provocative reinterpretation of accounts of spirit possession and exorcism in early Christianity The earliest Christian writings are filled with stories of possession and exorcism, which were crucial for the activity of the historical Jesus and for the practice of the earliest groups of his followers. Most critical scholarship, however, regularly marginalizes these topics or discards them altogether in reconstructing early Christian history. This innovative book approaches the study of possession from a different methodological angle by using a comparative lens that includes contemporary ethnographies of possession cross-culturally. Possession, besides being a harmful event that should be exorcized, can also have a positive role in many cultures. Often it helps individuals and groups to reflect on and reshape their identity, to plan their moral actions, and to remember in a most vivid way their past. When read in light of these materials, these ancient documents reveal the religious, cultural, and social meaning that the experience of possession had for the early Christ groups.

Download or read book Spirit Possession and Exorcism written by Patrick McNamara Ph.D. and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2011-04-26 with total page 413 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This two-volume text reviews spirit possession throughout history, analyzes case studies from a cognitive neuroscience perspective, and examines rites for exorcism. From the beginning of civilization to the present day, and across all major religions and cultures, there have been documented cases of people seemingly overtaken by an unseen entity. The invading force—whether good or bad—appears to replace the possessor's soul with the spirit's own persona, resulting in mystifying symptoms such as levitation or other supernatural feats, speaking in tongues, and even horrific and inexplicably accelerated physical distortion and deterioration. This is a two-volume chronological history and examination of spirit possession that addresses its phenomenological, psychological, and neurobiological aspects, and its effects on societies. Volume one reviews spirit possession from the upper Paleolithic era to modern times, while Volume two focuses on case studies and rites of exorcism.

Download or read book Spirit Possession in Judaism written by Matt Goldish and published by Wayne State University Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 494 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This extraordinary collection of essays is the first to approach the phenomenon of spirit possession among Jews from a multidisciplinary perspective. What beliefs have Jews held about spirit possession? Have Jewish people believed themselves to be possessed by spirits? If so, what sorts of spirits were they? Have Jews' conceptions of possession been the same as those of their Christian and Muslim neighbors? These are some of the questions addressed in these thirteen essays, which together explore spirit possession in a wide range of temporal and geographic contexts. The phenomena known as spirit possession are both very widespread and very difficult to explain. The late Raphael Patai initiated study of spirit possession as found in the Jewish world in the post-Talmudic period by taking a folkloric and anthropological approach to the subject. Other scholars have opened up new avenues of inquiry through discussions of the topic in connection with Jewish mystical and magical traditions. The essays in this collection expand the variety of approaches to the subject, addressing Jewish possession phenomena from the points of view of religion, mysticism, literature, anthropology, psychology, history, and folklore. Scholarly views and popular traditions, benevolent spirits and malevolent shades, exorcism, social control, messianic implications, madness, literary structure, and a host of other topics are brought into the discussion of spirit possession in Jewish culture. This juxtaposition of approaches among the essays in this volume, some of which analyze the same texts in different ways, creates a broad foundation on which to contemplate the meaning of spirit possession.

Download or read book Phenomenon of Possession written by S. R. Patil and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is based on the extensive fieldwork conducted through out Karnataka. The study focuses on undertaking and analyzing the occurrence of Possession Phenomenon in our country and is based on the collection of information through personal interview with the possession cases and their family members, observations of the behaviour and practices in the healing centers, etc. In this study both the types Possession-Voluntary and Involuntary have been intensively studied. The study was based on the Diagnostic-Descriptive Research Design Respondents were selected who fulfilled selection criteria by visiting Traditional Healers, Shrines, and Faith healers who are popular in different parts as places/ persons, and claim to be dealing with this phenomenon effectively. The author has made sincere attempt to give scientific answer to the questions like- Why? When? Who? And How? This phenomenon / behaviour is manifested in our socirty. This book tries to clarify many misconceptions, which exists about this phenomenon. Further it throws light upon the limitations, which exist in the present health services and strongly recommend the need for providing holistic and integrated social and health services to overcome the manifestation of this phenomenon, which is in reality a preventable

Download or read book Psychiatry and Religion written by Dinesh Bhugra and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-09-03 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Psychiatry and Religion: Context, Consensus and Controversies works to eradicate the distinction between spiritual and psychological welfare and promote greater understanding of the relationship between the two. This book brings together chapters from fifteen mental health practitioners and pastoral workers to explore what their different philosophies have to offer the individuals in their care. As well as all the major world religions, the text also provides detailed information about newer religions and the significance of their belief systems for mental health management. The book examines the positive and negative effects that strict moral codes and religious rituals can produce and shows how awareness of these effects is crucial to the treatment of these patients. This classic edition of Psychiatry and Religion, with a new introduction from Dinesh Bhugra, will continue to provide an important resource to practicing and training psychiatrists.

Download or read book The Penguin Book of Exorcisms written by Joseph P. Laycock and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2020-09-08 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Haunting accounts of real-life exorcisms through the centuries and around the world, from ancient Egypt and the biblical Middle East to colonial America and twentieth-century South Africa A Penguin Classic Levitation. Feats of superhuman strength. Speaking in tongues. A hateful, glowing stare. The signs of spirit possession have been documented for thousands of years and across religions and cultures, even into our time: In 2019 the Vatican convened 250 priests from 50 countries for a weeklong seminar on exorcism. The Penguin Book of Exorcisms brings together the most astonishing accounts: Saint Anthony set upon by demons in the form of a lion, a bull, and a panther, who are no match for his devotion and prayer; the Prophet Muhammad casting an enemy of God out of a young boy; fox spirits in medieval China and Japan; a headless bear assaulting a woman in sixteenth-century England; the possession in the French town of Loudun of an entire convent of Ursuline nuns; a Zulu woman who floated to a height of five feet almost daily; a previously unpublished account of an exorcism in Earling, Iowa, in 1928--an important inspiration for the movie The Exorcist; poltergeist activity at a home in Maryland in 1949--the basis for William Peter Blatty's novel The Exorcist; a Filipina girl "bitten by devils"; and a rare example of a priest's letter requesting permission of a bishop to perform an exorcism--after witnessing a boy walk backward up a wall. Fifty-seven percent of Americans profess to believe in demonic possession; after reading this book, you may too.

Download or read book Spirit Possession and Communication in Religious and Cultural Contexts written by Caroline Blyth and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-11-29 with total page 179 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spirit Possession and Communication in Religious and Cultural Contexts explores the phenomenon of spirit possession, focusing on the religious and cultural functions it serves as a means of communication. Drawing on the multidisciplinary expertise of philosophers, anthropologists, historians, linguists, and scholars of religion and the Bible, the volume investigates the ways that spirit possession narratives, events, and rituals are often interwoven around communicative acts, both between spiritual and earthly realms and between members of a community. This book offers fresh insight into the enduring cultural and religious significance of spirit possession. It will be an important resource for scholars from a diverse range of disciplines, including religion, anthropology, history, linguistics, and philosophy.

Download or read book Demonic Possession and Lived Religion in Later Medieval Europe written by Sari Katajala-Peltomaa and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Covering Western Europe (c. 1240-1450) and drawing upon a rich body of sources, this volume analyses how lay people understood the phenomenon of demonic presence and possession and used it to identify and unravel problems in their lives.

Download or read book True or False Possesion written by Jean Lhermitte and published by Sophia Institute Press. This book was released on 2013-08-15 with total page 111 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Unhinged or unholy? Fiend or fraud? That’s what authorities had to decide about the French nun Marie-Thérèse Noblet (1889–1930). She suffered sudden diseases that were as quickly cured, chokings, night beatings, unclean visions of blasphemous scenes, violent shakes witnessed by onlookers, foul assaults from filthy beasts, including one she recalled as “full of terrible beauty with eyes full of hate.” Then there’s Sr. Jeanne of the Angels, the seventeenth-century prioress of her Ursuline convent, plagued by diabolical visits with an explicitly erotic element, which spread, epidemic-like, to the Ursuline sisters under her care, whose convulsive attacks and obscene contortions scandalized all who witnessed them. Were these sisters really demonic? Deranged? Or merely deceitful? That’s the first question exorcists must answer — the question addressed in these pages by the world-famous French neuropsychiatrist Jean Lhermitte. Genuine demonic possessions, admits Lhermitte, evade the explanations and exceed the competence of even the wisest physicians: they must be handled not in the clinic, but by the Church. At the same time, exorcisms will not help the symptoms of those who are mentally ill. So skilled physicians and trained clergy must press past the visions, the gibbering, the howlings and grindings of teeth, and the other frightening symptoms to discern whether they’re dealing with real possession, or only pathology, mental or physical. That’s the work Dr. Lhermitte undertakes in these pages. With sober clarity and reserve, he reviews the detailed clinical records of scores of cases that startled and alarmed our forefathers as well as the cases of many souls that he personally examined: unfortunate souls judged “possessed,” who manifested symptoms ranging from picturesque to loathsome and pitiful. By means of these cases, Lhermitte illuminates the criteria that the Church holds to be decisive signs of genuine possession ... and those that assure us that — despite filth and fits, shrieks and slobbering — in other cases the influence of the demon is sought in vain. Good priests and wise Catholic physicians know that, for the sake of their souls, those who are disturbed must never be hastily examined or casually judged. True or False Possession? will teach you, too, not to rush to judgment and show you when it’s time — right now! — to call the priest.

Download or read book Spirit Possession and Trance written by Bettina E. Schmidt and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2010-03-24 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spirit possession is a phenomenon that often elicits a response of fear, particular in those who are ignorant of its meaning and role within its particular religious and cultural traditions. Possession by divine beings (such as spirits or gods) is, however, a key practice in religions worldwide. It is therefore important to gain an understanding of this practice in its cultural context before trying to develop a wider theory about it. This fascinating book contains several case studies that present new interpretations of spirit possession worldwide. The authors show the diversity of possible interpretations and methodological approaches that provide a new insight into the understanding of possession and trance.

Download or read book Demonic Foes written by Richard Gallagher, M.D. and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2020-10-06 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The world’s leading psychiatric authority on demonic possession delves into the hidden world of exorcisms and his own transformation from cynic to believer over the course of his twenty-five-year career. Successful New York psychiatrist Richard Gallagher was skeptical yet intrigued when a hard-nosed, no-nonsense Catholic priest asked him to examine a woman for a possible exorcism. Meeting her, Gallagher was astonished. The woman’s behavior defied logic. In an instant, she could pinpoint a person’s secret weaknesses. She knew how individuals she’d never known had died, including Gallagher’s own mother, who passed away after a lengthy battle with ovarian cancer. She spoke fluently in multiple languages, including Latin—but only when she was in a trance. This was not psychosis, Gallagher concluded. It was, in his scientific estimation, what could only be describe as paranormal ability. The woman wasn’t mentally disturbed—she was possessed. This remarkable case was the first of many that Gallagher would encounter. Sought after today by leaders of all faiths—ministers, priests, rabbis and imams, Gallagher has spent a quarter-century studying demonic activity and exorcisms throughout history and has witnessed more cases than any other psychiatrist in the world today. In this eerie and enthralling book, Gallagher chronicles his most famous cases for the first time, including: A professional who claimed her spiritualist mother had “assigned” her a spirit who “turned on her.” A petite woman—”90 pounds soaking wet”—who threw a 200-pound Lutheran deacon across the room to the horror of onlookers in a church hall; And “Julia,” the so-called Satanic queen and self-described witch, who exhibited “the most harrowing” case, a “once-in-a-century” possession. Going beyond horror movies and novels, Demonic Foes takes you deep into this hidden world, sharing in full details of these true-life tales of demonic possession.

Download or read book Demons on the Couch written by Michael J. Sersch and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2019-01-03 with total page 195 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Belief in possession, including from demonic forces, has ancient roots and continues into the modern world, especially among certain communities. This has been shown in books, movies, places of worship, and in the therapy office. This book traces the global history of possession and looks at ways contemporary mental health professionals can help a person who believes themselves to be possessed. Written especially for clinicians, but interesting to a wide variety of readers, this book uses a variety of disciplines, including cultural studies, psychology, and personal experiences, to try and understand the phenomenon from as wide a perspective as possible, including interviews with exorcists from various backgrounds. Both believers and sceptics will find this to be a fascinating study of a controversial topic.