Re: possession

[okasha]

I have a question on which I'd like the opinion of our professional psychologists and any other actually knowledgeable persons. I'm posting it here rather than in Religion because I don't want to have to wade through crap by the Usual Suspects or someone fantasizing about his numerous "graduate degrees."

My preferred approach to literature is archetypal criticism, based mostly on the work of Northrop Frye, Joseph Campbell and a handful of less well-known scholars. I've also employed Jung's work on archetypes and his theory of the four-part personality: Self, persona, animus/anima and shadow.

Ideally the other three principal archetypes become integrated in and through the Self at around the age of thirty. When that process goes wrong, the Self can be taken over by one of the other three. Jung refers to this as inflation. Eg., a person with an inflated persona can become vain, narcissistic, grandiose or delusional about the extent of his/her influence or abilities.

Is it possible that persons who believe themselves possessed by a demon are in fact experiencing an inflated negative archetype--something out of the shadow portion of the personality where we park all those nasty little things we're afraid of or don't like about ourselves or don't want other people to know? And if that may be so, is it also possible to apply an archetype-based treatment with some degree of success that extends beyond the placebo effect? Is it possible that an exorcism might actually be therapeutic under those conditions?

[rug]

1. There's at least one forensic psychologist who's on the same page as you.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/evil-deeds/201102/exorcism-psychotherapy-clinical-psychologist-examines-so-called-demonic-posse

[okasha]

2. Thanks, rug.

I found several good articles following that link.

And a little light bulb came on. I reviewed the healing of the "Gadarene demoniac" at the beginning of Mark 5. He's associated with things that are considered unclean--and therefore associated with the shadow-- in Judaism: corpses, nakedness, pigs.

I know an Episcopal priest who is fond of saying that "Our Lady Saint Mary was the first liberation theologian." Perhaps her son was the first Jungian analyst.

[cbayer]

3. It's an interesting theory.

Do you remember Primal Therapy? Although rather bizarre and hard to clinically justify, there is something to be said for a therapeutic cathartic experience. An exorcism, whether one believes in actual external demons or not, could provide this for some people.

One way to look at this is that it is the person themselves that has an evil or destructive side, which seems to be what you are describing.

Although I have never witnessed an exorcism, I suspect that they may sometimes resemble certain kinds of psychotherapy. It's the literalness of the demonic part that makes it hard to accept.

I'm not as familiar as you with archetypal based treatment, but there are parallels here with other kinds of therapy.

As usual, every case is quite different from every other case. If those making the determination about who should and should not receive exorcism are trained to identify those that might benefit from a dramatic, cathartic experience (and not be harmed by it), then that would be a good thing.

Of course, everything I have said here can and probably will be twisted into me saying that I endorse exorcism, which I don't.

[okasha]

4. Fortunately, anyone who wants to twist your words here

will have to do it elsewhere.

The only way "possession" makes any sense to me is as the takeover of the personality by an unacceptable facet of itself. I remain extremely skeptical of the existence of discarnate, conscious evil beings and I believe that human evil can be explained in entirely human terms.

On the other hand, I think that human evil can leave behind an impression of itself on a place or object. That, I have personally experienced. For a case of that sort, a cleansing ritual is frequently effective.

[Htom Sirveaux]

5. Walter Wink might be worth checking out.

I need to learn more about him myself, but he was a Anabaptist theologian who (AFAIK) saw the same kind of thing happening, only with institutions rather than individuals.

[cbayer]

6. I have felt "possessed" by jealousy in the past.

I have also felt "possessed" by extreme sadness.

In both those cases it did feel that my personality had been taken over, and, of course, I recognize that it was all coming from within my own self. But I can see how one might feel that it was so foreign as to be coming from without.

When you call it a cleansing ritual, it becomes much more acceptable and something that I think a lot of people would endorse.

Even with a magical aspect, it can be a harmless act.

I once performed this on a house of mine on the advice of a voodoo mistress. For whatever reason, after following her advice exactly, some problems disappeared. Go figure.