The perception of possession has changed drastically from the days of the witch hunts. Levack introduces the idea that possession was believed to be caused by a witch, and manifested specifically in nuns and children in large numbers. It's interesting to note that in the cases in Aixen-Province and Loudon, the culprit supposedly behind the nuns' possession was non other than the priest. Additionally, as Levack writes "according to demonological theory the Devil actually entered the body of the afflicted person rather than acting upon it externally".
Possession has become mainstream. Stories of exorcism have become box office hits. There are hundreds, if not thousands of scary movies out there that all deal with possession. Long gone are the days when we would cower in fear of the witch who could cause us to be possessed by the Devil. The "roles" in modern day possession have changed immensely. The witch has either disappeared completely, or been replaced by Satanists as is the case in the movies "Annabelle" and "Rosemary's Baby". No longer are large groups of people possessed, but rather one or two individuals, although usually not at the same time. The priest has gone from the evildoer to the much sought after savior as evidenced by the classic movie "The Exorcist". Perhaps most importantly, the role of the possessor has changed. Possession has been outsourced to demons, rather than being done by the Devil, I guess he's just too busy with other business. The idea of possession by demons holds true for all the popular possession movies released over the last 40 years. The one thing that doesn't seem to have changed is that women and children are still portrayed as the primary victims of possession.
Possession is no longer something we fear, because it's not something that is "real" to us. We see videos of supposed possession, and hear stories of people being possessed, but we don't really believe it's caused by a demonic entity. Science and modern medicine have given us ample ways of explaining symptoms of possession. People throwing up seemingly inedible objects such as bones, pins, or straw, is explained away by an eating disorder called Pica. Interestingly enough, Pica is most common among women and children. Schizophrenia explains why victims of possession might experience hallucinations, hear voices, or speak in "tongues". Unlike in the past, today possession is easily explained away.
Great post! I really find it interesting how we react to possession now days compared to how possession is seen back then. You're completely right, we no longer fear possession but actually LOVE watching it, in Hollywood movies that is. The priest in these movies is interesting too, you're right in saying that he is the sought after savior in the movies but in most movies now he doesn't actually fix the problems. This leads me to the question, why do we love possession so much? Why do we thrive over it?
ReplyDeleteLooking at sociological phenomenons today, such as the cheerleading incident in Buffalo, or the elementary school in Mexico where everyone gets violently ill, helps us understand how the group element still exists today. I do think that when Levack blames the priest, he probably is not giving enough role power to the female nuns in terms of agency and reacting to the environment, which might explain pica too (?Not sure). But we know that Schizophrenia occurs to both men and women, and is difficult to cure. Another point is that perhaps we think that possession is easily explained away--as we are isolated from it. But some quick googles reveal that we're not as isolated that we like to think. While a limited number of people believe in witches, over half of Americans believe "that the Devil is real." About half of those half believe that "people can be possessed by the Devil"--that's about 19%; 22% of Americans are uncertain. In 1995 there were 10 exorcists with official titles--but according to sociologist Michael Cuneo there are literally hundreds who perform a "bewildering display of exorcisms." The exorcisms might involve families, kind of like an intervention. Maybe we need to get out more!!!
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