A look at spirit possession

Anthony North: A major area of paranormal activity is possession. The phenomenon is said to involve the taking over of the mind by an ‘entity’ from outside the mind. During possession the whole persona of the individual disappears, leaving only the entity.The history of the paranormal is full of such incidences. But what is the reality of the phenomenon? Does a real ‘entity’ invade the mind, or can answers be found in the psychology of the experiencer? Or is the answer somewhere in between? Types of invasion: There are four main areas of possession. First of all we have demonic, where the person is said to be possessed by a supernatural demon. Another popular form of possession is reincarnation, where a ‘past life’ is said to take over the host.Spiritualism offers many cases of possession, with mediums contacting, and being taken over by, a spirit of a dead person. The practice has now advanced to Channelling, where a discarnate being takes over the person to impart spiritual philosophy.We can see that entities can seem to come from many areas of the supernatural, but does the subject suffer from too many ‘tags’? Can we better understand what is going on by ignoring the places entities are said to come from and see if they are ‘internal’ rather than external?

Known Mechanisms: There are three areas of mind/brain phenomena that could offer rudimentary answers to possession. In the phenomenon of Multiple Personality, it is believed that the mind can fragment to the point that different aspects of mind appear to be separate personalities.Another area is the Split Brain concept, where it is known that the left and right cerebral hemispheres of the brain can operate independently. The left brain is a logician, whilst the right is emotional, or artistic. We normally live through the left brain, but the right can take over, adding fantasy, as if another ‘personality’ is in residence.Finally, knowledge imparted through ‘entities’ can often be accurate and substantial. Here, cryptomnesia – the ability of the mind to remember obscure facts – can offer an answer to this knowledge.

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