Irrefutably, spiritual possession encompasses a rigorous history and exists as a near-universal phenomenon occurring in the majority of human cultures. The spectacle of possession happens to be one of the main factors in the earliest daily life of a Babylonian. All types of evil possessions from pestilent diseases, insanity, stirring up the passions, and an assortment of personal terrors in and out of the body, effects the ancients; at times called ‘the seizer.’ Early magical texts and incantations in the Assyrian tablets offer the first written accounts for the treatment of illnesses; namely, special gods and/or prayers to deities assist people to rid themselves of these overshadowing forces of possession.
Divine and Evil Possession
In contrast, upon the arrival of the outspoken philosophers, spiritual possession took on a new direction when the ancients began believing in order to know the divine truth of the gods, a person needs to become ‘possessed’ by the gods. This meant totally freeing the body by transcending to another state; accordingly, believing this ‘divine possession’ by the deities inspires ecstasy of the gods.
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His few good traits, like music and dance, occasionally gave the ancients a wish for his presence; yet, he could become a terrifying manifestation to have to deal with outside of this arena, for his demeanor often became reckless and disturbing. Pan’s overshadowing spirit perpetuates in various temples, caves, mountains, etc.; at the same time, he could frighten anyone troubling the god at particular times of the day. Inevitably, his enigmatic occurrence became the perfect deity to help integrate into ancient societies all the ‘weird specifics’ to create an ongoing spiritual, lustful presence that still possesses cultures into this
The Cross-Cultural Articulations of War Magic and Warrior Religion by D. S. Farrer, main purpose of this article is to provide a re-evaluated perspective of religion and magic, through the perspective of the practitioners and victims. Farrer uses examples that range from the following: “Chinese exorcists, Javanese spirit siblings, Sumatran black magic, Tamil Tiger suicide bombers, Chamorro spiritual re-enchantment, tantric Buddhist war magic, and Yanomami dark shamans” (1). Throughout the article, he uses these examples to address a few central themes. The central themes for war magic, range from “violence and healing, accomplished through ritual and performance, to unleash and/or control the power of gods, demons, ghosts and the dead” (Farrer 1).
In his book, Anderson (2006) proposes that there are mental illnesses out there that individuals are dealing with, that really has, the characteristics of demonic possession. One of the main and most severe mental illnesses is schizophrenia. A problem with secular psychiatry is that they dismiss the idea of demonic possession and categorize the
... burial places. Not only did it provide these individuals with an eternal essence, it was a demonstration of their wealth and taste. These burial practices are cultural dedications that engage with society. Though are not all the same, they provide the same type message. This message is in regard to the heavy presence of power at a certain time. The society of elites engages in the world, competes with each other and in this generates a sense of control. Creating tombs and spaces for themselves ensures them that their mark on the world lasts forever even when their body doesn’t. It is religious in that it provides space for someone who has died and ascended yet it is symbolic of the spirit where the individual can back to the high ether and be where the gods live.
A pantheist believes God is part of nature and souls are one with all things around them. This viewpoint is expressed early in the movie after Jake was rescued by his love interest Neytiri. In the scene, tiny glowing organisms begin to surround Jake whom Neytiri refers to as “Seeds of the sacred tree…very pure spirits” (Cameron & Cameron, 2009). The tree she refers to plays a very import role in their Pantheistic worldview, because it represents Eywa their deity, a goddess who makes up all living
My thesis, in brief, is that the painful "God is dead" period of history we are presently going through can best be understood as a necessary "transitional period"— the immediate consequence of mankind’s intellectual advance, in the preceding period, viz., the Modern or Age of Reason, beyond the Middle Ages, the Age of Belief. With the apotheosis of the development of the principle of subjectivity in Modern philosophy, i.e., with the attainmeUnprioritized— SDO meetingnt of "absolute knowing," or Reason’s "knowing of the absolute," humanity had outgrown its former manner of relating to substance, the divine: — its eyes opened, it could not go backwards but only forward. From the highest standpoint, it can be said that the movement of history is from the God "outside" to the God "inside"— an inversion process involving three distinct and necessary phases: Premodernity, Modernity, and Postmodernity, to be correlated with Thomas Aquinas, Hegel, and Nietzsche, respectively.
The experience of evil possession persists as well, and eventually, the boundaries between “divine” and “evil” possession plausibly blends together within societies. Through the centuries, this uncontrollable event of possession increasingly became far-reaching. The spiritual comprehension of what exactly a person happen to be dealing with, whether good or bad, ultimately, became acceptable by acquiring large amounts of alcohol, drugs and various sources of stimulators, (as today). This control of a person by a god or deity could easily manifest itself through Apollo, Dionysus/Bacchus, the mother goddess, Cybele, the Muses, Eros, the nymphs, and others known for their abilities to possess. At the same time, on a somewhat obscure level, evolves
Machen, Arthur. The Great God Pan and The Hill of Dreams. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 2006.
The sexual cult of Dionysus/ Bacchus created festivals for the people; supplying an unending rivalry for the underlying evil spiritual forces to use; these cults or festivals, (leading into orgies), evolved as an immense part of Pan’s creation. Mysteriously, this cult predates Greek civilization and its origination persists of unknown beginnings; dating longer than the Mycenaean culture early development that transpired on the mainland of Greece during 1600-1100 B.C.
Before the coming of Christianity, Islam and Judaïsm, animism was prevalent in West Africa. Indeed, most African ethnicities attributed spirits not only to human beings, but also to objects, trees, wood, animals and the like. Unlike Islam which allows no debate about the oneness of God, the pract...
In protohistoric times, the worshipers of the gods sought out mystic union with their deities by means of bodily mortification and ingestion of hallucinogenic drugs. These practices are spelled out both in the Rig Veda of India and the Chinese Book of Songs. In the Veda, Indra is worshiped in a ritual that includes large doses of soma. The Book of Songs, compiled by Confucius from the many texts of poetry and myth at his disposal, contains repeated accounts of trance and religious ekstasis. In the twenty-second chapter of St. John's Revelation, the Koine Greek term translated as sorcerers in the King James Bible is pharmakeusin Literally, this word denotes those who use drugs to achieve arcane effects. Since plants were the mainstay of medical science in those distant days, a secondary meaning might be applied: herbalists. Robin Fox, in his book Pagans and Christians, argues that the role of such figures as the Sybil of Cumae and the Delphic prophetess ...
Munn, Mark H. The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny in Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion. N.p.: Berkeley: University of Califronia, 2006. Print.
Ancient world literature and early civilization stories are mostly centered on human’s relationship with higher beings. Ancient civilizations were extremely religious, holding the belief that their very lives were in the hands of their almighty god or goddess. This holds true for both the people of biblical times as well as those of the epic era. However, their stories have some differences according to cultural variation but the main structure, ideas, and themes are generally found correlative. It is hard to believe that one work did not affect the others. The first great heroic epic poem of Gilgamesh and the Old Testament are parts of two cultures that are hundreds of years apart. Whereas Gilgamesh is a myth and the book of Genesis is the basis of many religions, they both have notably similar accounts of symbols, motifs, meaningful events according to the relationship between the divine and humans in literature.
The chthonian cult of the ancient Greeks consisted of epileptic outcasts and the Cloister of St. Valentine at Rufach (Upper Alsace) founded an isolation hospital for epileptics in 1486. The epileptics, considered possessed, were excused from oblation and Eucharist because they would desecrate the holy objects and would infect the common plate and cup [16]. Epilepsy was also included in the infectious diseases enumerated in the verse of the so-called Schola Salernitana, where it was named pedicon [37]. Berthold of Regensburg, attributed the infection of the ‘falling evil’, as epilepsy was commonly called during this period, to the contagious character of the patient’s evil breath. During this time epilepsy was not fully understood and people that had seizures were thought to be witches. Hippocrates began his discourse on the “sacred disease” by refuting the connection between epilepsy and the divine; he argued against the widespread beliefs of prophetic and mystical powers attributed persons with epilepsy and the disorder’s divine causation. However, Hippocrates attempt to dissociate epilepsy and religion was unsuccessful. Subsequent religious figures were asked to heal people with epilepsy (Diamantis, Magiorkinis, and Sidiropoulou
As human beings, we are designed to belive in something. Although the belief in a higher power or religion is diverse, many theologies share common themes. “The Epic of Gilgamesh” and the Hebrew book of “Genesis” are seemingly polar opposites. Christianity, demonstrated in Genesis, is monotheistic, and the Hebrews base their faith on their relationship with God. On the other hand, Sumerian philosophy, found in Gilgamesh, is polytheistic, and the Sumerian people base their theology on fear. Ancient polytheistic literature forms an archetypical pattern of the mortals trying desperately to please the gods. A mortal’s entire existence rests in the hands of the sometimes childish gods. In spite of this, these two stories
The myths which prove the contradictory behavior of the gods, acting as both benefactors and tormentors of man, can readily be explained when viewed in light of the prime directive for man, to worship the gods and not “overstep,” and the ensuing “Deus ex Mahina” which served to coerce man to fulfill his destiny as evidenced by the myths: “Pandora,” “Arachne, and “Odysseus.” Humankind and it’s range of vision over the gods beauty and power portrayed them to be benefactors but unseemingly it depicted their affliction towards humans.