Deity/Spirit Possession: Where Do You Stand?

[Riothamus12]

I recently bought Drawing Down the Spirits... by Raven Kaldera and Kenaz Filan. Prior to this, I had never really thought about deity/spirit possessions before. I have been possessed by a deity before, but in regards to various pagan religions (from the African diaspora religions to the Neo-Pagan movement), I had never realized that the feelings on this are both strong and diverse.

So.

How do you feel about possession? Where does it fall in your religion? Do you think it exists? If so, why? Do you think that those who have claimed to be possessed are crackpots? If so, why?

 
Possession is most certainly a thing. I have heard from too many people who have experienced it and accounts thereof. I personally have never been possessed as far as I know, but I have experienced a serious surge before that put me into a trance. Spirit possession is something that I don't doubt but I do not think Deities ever directly possess people. The human body is too fragile to house the vastness of a Deity. However it does seem that one can be "possessed" by their power. It does seem one can become so attuned to them that something of their nature surges through them.

[Lionrhod]

It's kind of hard to argue against something when it's happened to you, so yes, I believe it exists. I've had it happen to me, and seen it in other people.

Voodoo 'gods' tend to find people who deny possession and take them for a ride. Others are maybe a little more polite most of the time.  

With that being said- there are people out there who are 'crackpots', or are just faking it.

Things like this are a little hinky when it comes to how you want to react. On the one hand, it's important to extend credibility to others-as you want them to extend it to you. Since you can't really see exactly what is going on in someone elses head, you can't really just say 'this guy is real' or 'this guy is fake'.

Overall, you should trust your own judgement on this one and take it as a case-by-case basis.

Well said and I agree.

"Drawing Down the Moon" is essentially a sort of possession. In my path we do more than a bit of channeling like this. I agree with those who say you should have someone there to help you stay safe and grounded.

I've also had one (and one only!) experience with possession by a spirit of the departed. He tried using my voice to speak and it was horribly uncomfortable. I tossed him out and said something to the effect of, "Oh no, buddy! You can stand over there and tell me what you want to say, but you're not using my body."

Since then I absolutely draw the line about what can use my body. Gods/goddesses and totems that I work with only, and only in a consecrated circle.

Yes, most of the possessions I've seen included subtle changes in the possessed persons face/body, and huge changes in their aura.

One particular Voodoo possession I witnessed was the result of a student having been given a loa (I believe that's the correct term) as a young child. (I don't think she even knew of it till then.) Another person had previously learned of it and triggered the possession in her hypnotically for rather "not nice" reasons. (Basically to prove his "vast power" IMO.) It took a few of us a long time to bring her down, ruined the class in progress and she was ranting and cackling hysterically throughout.

Was this a real possession or just a hypnotic suggestion altogether? It's my belief that it was the former. Said student did quite a bit of work to remove the loa afterward.