Being possessed by a foreign entity seems very tame in the stories where I have seen it. The event doesn't have the gravity that I feel it should, and the person usually goes back to living a normal life if they are freed. I always felt that being possessed should be taken more seriously as a traumatic experience that people dont just come away with unscathed. I came up with an idea that i believed accomplished that.
Demonic possession is done through a magical ritual which can bind a demon to a human being, allowing it to cross over from their reality into ours. In the process, the demon forcefully bypasses the barrier that separates the soul from the individual, completely taking them over. The victim is left fully aware of their situation, and is in constant pain while being possessed. The demon has access to its abilities in the host body (stength, speed, etc) but remains under the control of the caster. In a country where magic is commonplace, this is seen as a supernatural form of rape, the ultimate violation of a human soul. It is treated as one of the most evil acts an individual can commit on another person.
The victim was captured and subjected to this against their will, so people understand that. But while most will regard hIm as a victim, many would see him as corrupted and dangerous even after they are freed. They are forced to deal with the trauma of possession as well as being distrusted by others, even worse than murder.
I think this lends gravity to the situation and plays up the full horror aspect. Obviously it's a sensitive topic so I want to handle it in the right way. Im looking for feedback on this concept and want to know what people opinions are on it.
Being possessed by a foreign entity seems very tame in the stories where I have seen it. The event doesn't have the gravity that I feel it should, and the person usually goes back to living a normal life if they are freed. I always felt that being possessed should be taken more seriously as a traumatic experience that people dont just come away with unscathed. I came up with an idea that i believed accomplished that.
Demonic possession is done through a magical ritual which can bind a demon to a human being, allowing it to cross over from their reality into ours. In the process, the demon forcefully bypasses the barrier that separates the soul from the individual, completely taking them over. The victim is left fully aware of their situation, and is in constant pain while being possessed. The demon has access to its abilities in the host body (stength, speed, etc) but remains under the control of the caster. In a country where magic is commonplace, this is seen as a supernatural form of rape, the ultimate violation of a human soul. It is treated as one of the most evil acts an individual can commit on another person.
The victim was captured and subjected to this against their will, so people understand that. But while most will regard hIm as a victim, many would see him as corrupted and dangerous even after they are freed. They are forced to deal with the trauma of possession as well as being distrusted by others, even worse than murder.
I think this lends gravity to the situation and plays up the full horror aspect. Obviously it's a sensitive topic so I want to handle it in the right way. Im looking for feedback on this concept and want to know what people opinions are on it.
This is an intriguing idea that has been around for a long time. The incubus/succubus entities are demonic creatures who attempt sexual intercourse with sleeping victims. That is "spiritual rape" right there. And you're correct. It seems as if modern stories about the subject don't touch on the potential viciousness of the act.
This reminded me of a fascinating documentary I saw years ago where academics who'd studied alien abduction phenomena discussed their findings. They talked about how they wet from considering it might be a physical phenomenon with real UFOs hovering over houses and beaming people out of their beds, to becoming convinced that it was happening solely in the mind of the abductees. But they didn't dismiss it as psychosis because of certain things in common and the symptoms that manifested. Instead they supposed it was the modern progression of the incubus/succubus phenomenon(which was mentioned in an earlier reply). There were other examples of how these things got repackaged over time(possibly vampires). Far from relegating it to delusion or fantasy, they ended up taking it very seriously and posited that all these phenomena seem to be some form of inter dimensional possession that's been going on for a long time, very much with a spiritually violating angle like you said.
Now I don't know if I believe in any of that, but I was scared out of my wits after I watched it and I try to keep an open mind.
I'm just mentioning it in case it might be pertinent to what you're writing about. I'm not sure if I could find the documentary again as it's been about 5 years.
I would have thought that if these things were real (aliens, badly behaved demons, things that go bump in the night) that with all of our cams and the internet we would have a lot more evidence. It's too my never ending disappointment no one has posted any footage I can believe in. I'm not saying I haven't had my own weird experiences, but where's all of the other evidence?
Pretty much the conclusion they came to, which is why they went from thinking it was a physical phenomenon to a mental/spiritual one. If I can find it I will. No joy so far though.
There are three explanations for things that go bump in the night or possession.
1. Psychiatric - it's all in your head and up your meds.
2. Scientific - it's a naturally occurring phenomena that fits within the realm of known science.
3. Religious/Spiritual - the Devil did it.
Which one you choose comes down to your belief system. Although I really should pick a side, I don't want to. It's more fun to explore than to conclude. Also, it's impossible to prove so you might as well remain open minded.
Sounds about right. I try to stay firmly on the fence with these things until some evidence comes along that convinces me beyond reasonable doubt. I can't say it's happened yet with UFOs or the supernatural. But still, I keep an open mind because I'm sure there are things beyond this time and space that we don't yet understand. At the same time, I'm wary of the curses of magical thinking and snake oil salesmen, of which there is much.
I think this is an important question. For accounts of "real" possessions, I recommend Possession and Exorcism by Traugott K. Oesterreich, a book that influenced Blatty quite a bit, and Malachi Martin's terrifying Hostage to the Devil. The accounts in both of these books suggest that demons are not forced upon victims; rather the possessed people have in one way or another called upon the demons, or invited them.
I write about demons and possession in quite a few of my tales, and I confess I rarely write about it "realistically," just because I'm a horror writer and I want to make the demonic stuff as horrifying and lurid as possible. A pretty good novel about the sort of incubus (raping demon) you describe is Ray Russell's Incubus.
Totally with you on all of that. Of course, I forgot one which is the chakra model. It comes under spiritual, but has no religious foundation. Third eye and all that stuff.
Whoa - the pineal gland/DMT/ayahuasca. Don't get me started on that or this thread will get jacked. Funny you mention that though. I did wonder if abductees and such might have some kind of brain anomaly that results in waking dreams or hallucinations. Maybe DMT produced outside of the dream state. But this is all wild speculation of course!
Now we're going to get into astral travel and telepathy. They have case studies proving twins know things they can't know about the other person's life. There are other case studies of siblings naturally finding one another even though they live in different countries (unfortunately this is usually discovered after they married and had five kids). All of these things imply mind connection, or perhaps it's merely coincidence and the laws of probability.
Then we can start playing with the commonality of near death experiences, although scientists are busily debunking that by saying its to do with the how the brain dies. Such spoilsports!
It's like pulling on a thread that never ends, but it's the basis of some fantastic thinking and therefore fodder for authors.
Yes it's fascinating stuff and it is hard to remain objective cos I think we all secretly want to believe in magic. A thread that never ends is an excellent way of putting it. Yes, it's great stuff to write about as most people can't get enough of it and it's just fun to play with these grand ideas.
I always thought of possession of any sort as a form or rape, particularly mental rape, if the host's consciousness is aware and messed around with. It falls under the trope of body horror as well for me, since it's literally someone/something forcing its way in and taking control, which tends to have some nasty physical side-effects (see Constantine).
Rick Strassman, the guy who did the first clinical study on a psychedelic in the U.S. after like twenty years (on DMT), covered exactly this in his book. There were a lot of similarities between what his patients reported in their DMT experiences and the self-reported details of alien abductees.
Rick Strassman, the guy who did the first clinical study on a psychedelic in the U.S. after like twenty years (on DMT), covered exactly this in his book. There were a lot of similarities between what his patients reported in their DMT experiences and the self-reported details of alien abductees.
I remember seeing the Spirit Molecule documentary where they discussed this with him and some of the patients involved. Super interesting stuff. It's certainly a very strange experience and opens up all kinds of possibilities. The Amazonian indians say it's Pacha Mama and plant spirits. McKenna said it's self transforming machine elves. Maybe it's whatever people frame it as, but it still remains what it really is - an othe worldly interaction, or the effect of a drug on the brain. I'm totally on the fence.
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