Defense Against the Dark

Abstract

Here we demonstrate that spirits are treated as active agents that can help or hurt humans in most cultures. We discuss prayers, magic, talismans, salt, and smudging as forms of spiritual protection. We also consider how various cultures maintain that unwanted spirit possession by the dead and/or demons is an empirical reality with direct physical manifestations (e.g., often indicated by a horrible odor, unusual speech including knowledge of foreign languages, foaming at the mouth, unpredictable rages, and even superhuman strength). As part of this discussion, we compare voluntary spirit possession (e.g., mediums, Pentecostal possession by the Holy Spirit), which is often associated with beneficial outcomes for those involved, and involuntary possession, which is generally associated with negative outcomes including social isolation and self-harm. The discussion includes analyses of the specific social and behavioral contexts of each type of possession. Case studies include Felicitas D. Goodman’s ethnographic work among the Pentecostals in Mexico, who are possessed in public rituals by the Holy Spirit, and I. M. Lewis’s discussion of spirit possession, especially among women, as a means of social resistance. Along with our anthropological examples we present a few American case studies presented by the late Roman Catholic priest, Malachi Martin, and the late psychiatrist M. Scott Peck. We compare and contrast these with case studies from Brazil, several Muslim nations/cultures, and elsewhere around the world. We discuss the common perception among Western researchers that spirit possession appears to be a human pathology associated with dissociative states, but note that voluntary possession by shamans and mediums is not associated with mental health issues. We also note that some psychiatrists argue that exorcisms can correspond to positive outcomes for their patients and even accept the possibility of legitimate spirit components in possession events. We conclude the chapter by further expanding the comparative model to include magical defense against bad luck, as well as the importance of the motives of spirits on their influences on humans.