The literature of the mediaeval
age is full of accounts of cases of obsession and permanent possession by
demons, evil spirits and other entities, and such cases are by no means rare in
our modem times.
In fact, there are many obsessed
people to be found in our lunatic asylums, even if they are not recognized as
such by modem academical science, which rejects the belief in the existence of
invisible intelligent entities; but every one who is under the dominion of a
fixed idea over which he has lost his power to control it, may be said to
represent a case of possession, for he is himself possessed by the products of
his thought; he has himself by his own imagination created the object which has
gained dominion over him and, as there is no such thing as a creation out of
nothing, he has himself attracted the elements for building that object, be it
consciously or unconsciously, from the invisible world.
Every case of “hypnotism” is a
case of obsession, and as there are people living who can by the power of their
will hypnotize and obsess others, so there are also invisible entities who may
do the same, be it consciously or by means of unconscious instinctive
attraction.
Really everybody who is
influenced by the will or thought, belief, opinion or doctrine of some one
else, is to that extent obsessed by it, and whether it is a temporary obsession
or becomes a permanent possession is a mere matter of degree. However, only
such cases are now called “obsession” in which the personality seems to have
become changed into another person, or when several personalities seem to exist
in one individual.
Modem books on psychology speak
about a “splitting of consciousness,” but it is not explained why and how such
a division occurs.
Many cases of obsession have come
to my personal knowledge, of which the following are some examples:
1. HALLUCINATIONS
In April, 1907, my friend, Mr.
A.G. in Dresden, committed suicide by drowning.
He was a virtuous and intelligent man, occupying himself a great deal
with reading philosophical and metaphysical literature. By some means he took
it into his head that he was persecuted by the Masonic fraternity and his fear
caused the unconscious action of his mind to create phantoms, which soon became
manifested as (to him) audible voices.
Hence forth he was continually
molested and annoyed by hearing insulting and offensive remarks about his
person which apparently came from persons in his surroundings.
He was sent to an insane asylum,
where he remained for several months, but could not be cured and, being driven
to despair, he put an end to his life.
Now as far as I am aware of it,
official medical science gives no reasonable explanations about such cases,
although it endows them with the high-sounding name of “hallucination of
hearing”; occult science teaches that the mind of man is the creator of thought
forms and that these forms are substantial, even if they are only subjective
and invisible, and that fear is a great agent in the production of such
imaginary but nevertheless actually existing forms.
These forms receive their life
and substance from the person who created them and constitute his false Egos,
which, when they are allowed to grow strong enough, overpower his reason and
judgment, and the best cure of this condition is the awakening of the true
self-consciousness, by means of which one realizes the presence of that higher
Self in whose light all the creations of ignorance disappear like mists in the
light of the rising sun.
(Observation: the harassment made
by these invisible voices may be due to the fact that the person created them
as Franz Hartmann points out, but most often that is because a harmful entity has
stuck to the aura of the person and since then this entity has been harassing the
person. But the harassment can be also caused by the own person's psychic
disorders that cause him schizophrenia. So, as you can see there are different possibilities
and therefore it is necessary to do all a research work before make a diagnostic.)
2. ASTRAL OBSESSION OR POSSESSION
Mademoiselle L., a young French
lady visiting Florence, was apparently obsessed by what seemed to be the spirit
of an actor who had recently died and who before his death was deeply enamored
of the celebrated actress, Sarah Bernhardt.
The young lady herself knew
nothing of Sarah Bernhardt, she had never seen her and cared nothing for her,
she even was greatly annoyed by the extravagant expression of admiration which
the actor who had taken possession of her body made regarding the object of his
love, and what seems most curious is the fact that this obsessing spirit did
not seem to understand that he was inhabiting the body of another person, but
imagined himself to be still alive and in his own physical form.
He gave his name and the address
of the place where he lived and where he still imagined himself to live and his
statements were found to be correct upon investigation. At last, after a great
deal of persuasion and argumentation, he began to realize his situation and
wept bitterly, but was finally comforted by the instruction which he received
from the friends of the lady and left her organism, to return no more.
The presumable explanation for
such cases is that the soul of a person who, during his life has not yet
arrived at true self-consciousness of his own higher nature, leads a sort of a
dream life when he enters the astral plane and blindly follows the law of
instinctive attraction.
Some of the elements in the mind
of that lady may have corresponded to elements existing in the mental sphere of
that actor and, as like attracts like if there is no resistance, the obsession
took place.
3. DEMONIACAL OBSESSION OR POSSESSION
Cases of demoniacal obsession
have occurred at all times and among all nations and are occurring at present.
Many atrocious crimes are taking place under the influence of such obsession
and the criminal is their victim. He may then be regarded as a diseased person,
whose misfortune is that he has at such a moment lost his power of
self-control.
An understanding of this law
would probably change the present mode of legal treatment of criminals.
Materialistic science knows nothing of such obsession and some of the would-be
wise deny the possibility of such things; because the existence of demons and
thought forms endowed with will and intelligence is beyond their grasp and
cannot be tangibly demonstrated in the laboratory of the universities.
Metaphysical science teaches the
existence of demoniacal powers and explains how a demon may grow in man. In a
well-known letter of an adept written to Mr. Sinnett it is said:
« Every thought of man
having attained a certain maturity attracts from the invisible world certain
elements corresponding to its own nature; thus creating a being with a will and
intelligence of its own and having an independent life for more or less time
according to the intensity of the desire which called it into existence. »
The seed of a tree, planted into
suitable ground, attracts from its surroundings the necessary elements for
growing into a corresponding tree and a thought germinating in the mind of a
person ultimately produces a living thought form; while such thought forms are
again attracted to other persons, in whose minds they find some element
corresponding to their own nature.
Hate, fear, jealousy, envy,
greed, etc., cause corresponding monsters to grow, and thus momentary obsession
(as in some cases of epilepsy) or even permanent possession by “evil spirits”
takes place and causes lasting insanity.
(Observation: here once again
Franz Hartmann has right, because one can create one's own demons if one
continuously nourishes negative thoughts, but usually the “demons” who
manipulate people to commit crimes are evil disembodied men who seek to satisfy
their perversities through persons who live on Earth.)
The fact that everybody peoples
his own subjective world by the products of his own imagination may be known to
every one who examines his own mental condition; but these products are visible
to those who are endowed with astral sight and therefore also perceptible to
animals, as the following case goes to show:
Professor S., well known as a
vivisectionist, who had to leave Florence owing to the indignation of the
people on account of his atrocious cruelties towards the animals which he
tortured, was also hated and feared by all the dogs.
Even the gentlest dogs grew
excited at his approach; they barked at him furiously and snapped at him and
had to be removed when he entered a room. It seems that his cruelty attracted
corresponding influences from the astral plane, and for all we know the astral
images of the murdered animals took perceptible forms in his mental sphere.
It is furthermore stated that
this Professor S. in his later years was subject to hallucinations; that he was
tortured by visions of his mutilated victims and hearing their pitiful cries.
That thought forms may become
very permanent is shown by the fact that murderers are sometimes driven to
despair and suicide by seeing the shape of the murdered person in their own
mental sphere.
It is also said that Lord Lytton
in old age saw the shapes of the heroes of his novels, which were the products
of his own fancy, and that they were to him living realities.
Such things may be called
“obsessions”; but they are harm less in comparison with demoniacal obsessions;
these having quite a different origin. Cases of this kind are caused by
entities inhabiting the astral world, whose orders may be as varied as the
combinations which may be invented by the imagination of man, representing all
possible instances of passions and mental qualities together with their
external expression in corresponding semi-animal forms.
Hysterical or sensitive persons
without much self control may apparently be obsessed by the “spirits” of
animals, dogs, cats, etc., and imitate their actions, barking, howling, mewing
and even undertaking gymnastic feats (climbing of walls), etc., of which they
are incapable in their normal condition.
Moreover, such usual obsessions
may show human intelligence, making use of the organs of speech of the obsessed
person.
In Japan, China, Korea and other
countries in the East, such a .demon is known by the name of “the Fox” (in
Japan “Kitsune”) and its obsessions
are exceedingly frequent. Professor E. v. Baelz, who lived
in Tokyo, gives a description of such a case in the Vienna Medical Weekly, of
which the following is an extract:
« The patient was for
four weeks treated at the university hospital at Tokyo. She was a strong
peasant woman of forty-seven years of age, of a wealthy family. Eight years before she entered the hospital
she was told that such a demon had been cast out from a certain person and that
he was seeking another habitation. (Compare Matthew 8:31)
It seems that her fear was
excited and that this made her open for the obsession.
At first the “fox took possession
of her chest and rising upwards to the head it began to talk through her, to
criticize her own thoughts, ridicule her ideas, use obscene, abusive and
blasphemous language and mix itself into her conversation with others, turning
her life into an actual hell. In vain
she applied for help to priests, missionaries and exorcisers, spending nearly
all her means on such experiments.”
One of these spells is described
as follows:
While she was telling us the
history of her case, she began to beat her left breast with her fist;
exclaiming:
-
“Oh, sir! Now he
begins to move again in my breast.”
Then suddenly a strange voice
began to speak through her mouth, saying:
-
“Yes, I am here, you
stupid goose, and do not think that you can prevent it. I know as much as these
doctors.”
In a short time the obsession
became complete and it was then only the demon who spoke through her. After ten
minutes the talk of the fox became less coherent and the woman was able to
reproach the intruder and to beg him to leave.
Such attacks took place six or
ten times a day and even oftener. The demon in his conversations showed an
intelligence and wit superior to that of the patient.
Whether she was ever cured is not
known. »
To give a reasonable explanation
of such occurrences is only possible if we admit the existence of intelligent
entities, demons or devils, inhabiting the invisible world, which however is
visible enough for those who have the power to see it, and the only rational
cure for it is that these spiritual influences are to be driven out by a
superior spiritual power and the organism of the patient made strong enough to
resist them.
If the obsessed person cannot
attain himself the intellectual and spiritual strength to cure himself, a cure
may be effected by the spiritual will of another; but persons having that
superior power are at the present day very rare and therefore in our insane
asylums and prisons for criminals many such incurable cases may be found.
This state will continue until
the practice of medicine is not based merely upon external research and
intellectual speculation, but becomes a divine art, and the most necessary
prerequisite of the true physician of the future will be — not
sanctimoniousness — but sanctity; spiritualization and the knowledge of the
occult powers hidden in the constitution of man.
(Occult Review, August 1907, vol.
6, p.101-106)
(For those who consider that this last advice given by Franz Hartmann
are pure "empty words," you must know that he was also a very
prestigious doctor graduated from the Munich University and he was very sought
in all parts of the world where he traveled, thus he is not only
talking as an esotericist but also as a physician.)
ANOTHER DEMONIACAL
POSSESSION CASE
In another article, Franz Hartmann again mentioned this subject and what
he wrote about it was the following:
Numerous cases of demoniacal
obsession and possession have come to my personal knowledge and our insane
asylums are full of them. I should, therefore, not be at a loss to cite cases
that have come under my personal observation, but I prefer to mention one which
has been stated to me by a friend. I chose this case on account of its
remarkable peculiarity.
The Marchese N. was an Italian
nobleman of means living in Paris. He was a very sober and quiet gentleman,
leading a retired life and occupying himself with reading books on mysticism, and
it is also said that he indulged in certain occult practices, such as staring
into a magic mirror and hypnotizing himself for the purpose of producing an
“exteriorization” of his astral body and developing clairvoyance.
This gentleman went to bed one evening
in apparently perfect health and woke up a raving maniac during the night. He broke the furniture and made such a noise
in the hotel where he lived as to disturb all the inhabitants.
He had to be held down by force
until the doctors came who put him into a strait-jacket and carried him to a
hospital. Upon the advice of his relatives he was taken back to Italy and put
into an insane asylum, where he occupied a cell and at intervals continued to
rave.
This state continued for several
months, when the Marchese became suddenly reasonable again. He ate and spoke
and acted like any other sane person, and no trace of insanity was noticeable about
him any more. Therefore, after a few weeks of observation he was permitted to
return to Paris, where he resumed his previous way of living.
Now the remarkable thing in this
matter is that after he had left the asylum his ghost was seen by many in the
cell which he had occupied, and one of his friends while on a visit to Paris told
him about this circumstance.
Thereupon Mr. N. became very
curious to see himself his own ghost. Against the advice of others he went to
Naples, visited the asylum, entered the cell and was at the next moment a raving
maniac again and remained so until he died.
~ * ~
The presumable explanation of this
case is, that this person, owing to a want of self-possession and self-control,
has created an “elemental being” within himself, constituting a second personality,
a creation of his mind.
Such “elementals” are the usual
products of some suppressed desire and grow by attracting corresponding elements
from the surrounding astral, mental and spiritual atmosphere.
Everything in the world, be it
visible or invisible, is the ultimate product of desire and imagination. A
person may be obsessed by his own thought or idea if he allows it to grow. Ideas are germs within the mind, comparable
to seeds in the soil, which grow by attracting to themselves from the ground
elements corresponding to their own nature.
All forms are representations of
corresponding ideas; they are, so to say, materialized spirits. If there were
no spirit of humanity in the world, there would be no men and women as its
representations. If that spirit or “class-soul” of which a horse or dog are
representatives were not in existence, there would be neither horses and dogs.
So it is with everything, demons
included. A devilish idea in the mind of man attracts to itself demoniacal
influences for its own growth, and the more it is hidden and suppressed, the
more will it grow, for every power grows by resistance.
Thus it may grow at the expense of
the vitality of its owner, until it becomes for the time being an apparently
self-existing entity, capable of becoming objective and of manifesting itself
in a form separate from its creator, as is shown by numerous instances known in
the history of spiritualism and in the history of the lives of the saints. The
account given above is an illustration of such possibilities.
(Occult Review, March 1907, vol. 5,
p.141-142)
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