Possession and Obsession

 

Marco Milani

 

(Text published in the GEAE Bulletin nº 445 – October 2002)

 

Although naturally understandable to students of Spiritism, the following statements may seem strange to those who have not adequately delved into the subject: Possession is a possible phenomenon and this is not, invariably, an obsession.

This understanding requires a careful consultation of the Codification, as this is a subject that Kardec himself reviewed during his work and, faced with facts, developed the meaning that he had apparently established since 1857 in The Spirits' Book (SB). Only from 1863, in The Spiritist Review (SR), did the Codifier review the concept of possession, admitting its existence no longer as subjugation, but in its exact sense. About the verified case of Miss Julie (SR - Dec/1863), Kardec expressed himself as follows:

 

“We have said that there were no possessed (see SB-473, for example) in the ordinary sense of the word, but only subjugated. We return to this absolute assertion because now it is demonstrated to us that there can be true possession, that is, substitution, althought partial, of an errant Spirit to an incarnate one.”

 

Kardec, as a serious and responsible researcher, retook a concept that he initially considered already defined, but that was evidenced, through proven facts and rational scrutiny, with a different meaning. This is an example of the dynamism of the Doctrine, which can only occur when validated by reason and irrefutably demonstrated.

To better differentiate, we must conceptualize these terms as we find them in The Genesis (GEN - Chapter XIV - items 45 to 49):

 

a) Obsession is the persistent action that a bad Spirit exercises over an individual. It presents very different characters, from simple moral influence without noticiable external signs to complete disturbance of the organism and mental faculties.

 

b) Possession is the action that a Spirit exercises over an incarnated individual, temporarily replacing him in his own material body. This action is not permanent considering that the molecular union of the perispirit to the body occurs only at the moment of conception.

 

The difference in the communication process between psychophony and possession phenomena can also be evidenced. In the first, the communicating Spirit transmits his thoughts to the incarnated one and he is in charge of retransmitting according to his own resources; in the second case, it is the disembodied one who directly uses (possesses) the material body and transmits his message (the incarnated Spirit moves away but still remains attached to his physical envelope).

Clarifying objectively that possession can be promoted by a good Spirit, we find (GEN – Chap. XIV – item 48):

 

“Obsession is always the result of the action of an evil spirit. Possession can be deed of a good Spirit who wants to speak and, to make more impression on his listeners, borrows the body of an incarnated person, which voluntarily lends it to him as if lending a garment. This is done without any disturbance or discomfort and, during this time, the Spirit is free as in a state of emancipation and frequently remains at the side of his substitute to listen to him.”

 

Obviously, possession can also occur through an evil Spirit and in this case it caracterizes an obsessive process. This occurs when the victim does not have the moral strength to resist the aggression and is forced to temporarily move away from his body (note: it is important to emphasize once again that at these moments the victim remains connected to the body but without his control).

Considering the present moral level of humanity, it is not surprising that there are many more cases of obsessive possessions than those with edifying purposes.

Spiritism, once again, sheds light on evils still considered by the materialistic sciences as having a pathological cause. Without disregarding this possibility (organic abnormality) the Spiritist Doctrine makes us aware of other sources of human miseries, maintained by the moral fragility of beings. Intelligence and Love are the weapons to combat imbalances.

They usually refer to individual experiences (such as that of Miss Julie, mentioned earlier) but Kardec also reports occurrences of collective possession (see SR – 1862/63 – cases in Morzine and Tananarive).

Thus, contributing to the real understanding of this process, we must distinguish between the phenomena of possession and obsession. Possession can occur and can be good or bad; obsession is always bad. Therefore, not all possession is an obsession.