Spirit possession is a paranormal or supernatural event in which it is said that animas, demons, extraterrestrials, gods, spirits, or other disincarnate entities take control of a human body, resulting in noticeable changes in health and behaviour. The term can also describe a similar action of taking residence in an inanimate object, possibly giving it animation.
The concept of spiritual possession exists in many religions, including Christianity, Buddhism, Haitian Vodou, Wicca, and Southeast Asian and African traditions. Depending on the cultural context in which it is found, possession may be considered voluntary or involuntary and may be considered to have beneficial or detrimental effects.
Spirit possession is cross-culturally more common among women than men.
Read more about Spirit Possession: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Spiritism and Spiritualism, Wicca, Examples
Famous quotes containing the words spirit and/or possession:
“My solitaria
Are the meditations of a central mind.
I hear the motions of the spirit and the sound
Of what is secret becomes, for me, a voice
That is my own voice speaking in my ear.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)
“Say next to holiness is the will thereto,
And next to love is the desire for love,
The desire for its celestial ease in the heart,
Which nothing can frustrate, that most secure,
Unlike love in possession of that which was
To be possessed and is.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)