Entity Possession: Remembering an Old Teaching

By Richard Crutchfield

One evening last October I was rather violently jolted into fully realizing -- again -- what an important and urgently needed contribution dowsing could make to modern psychiatry and medicine, specifically in the areas of personality problems and behavioral modification. I was observing -- in extreme discomfort - an off-Broadway play at the Be Be Theater in Asheville called 4:48 Psychosis by the well-known playwright Sarah Kane. The Be Be is known in this area for low budget avant-garde experimental theater and dance performances. Indeed, in my view, this play is quite a daring experiment, for it examines via poetry and drama – and in vivid and horrifying detail- the slow and agonizing descent into suicidal madness of the author herself. It is also, without question, an indictment of the futile and ill-informed attempt of modern psychiatry and the pharmaceutical industry to deal effectively with this experience, other than to classify it with fancy professional jargon and push one drug after another on the patient in order to dull the symptoms rather than address the cause.

Aside from the shock of witnessing on stage the violent emotions and language of this unfortunate experience, there was the later shock of learning that this was the author's last play, that indeed she had killed herself. But then something also told me to dowse the cause – this after I had left the theater. As I suspected, there had been a possessing entity in the author's subconscious the whole time of her own “psychosis”, treatment and writing of the play. In fact, it had been there for upwards of two years and until the time of her death. And more, that it (a “she”) was still earth bound and hanging around, though I was not called to determine where or under what circumstances. (The author's spirit, I was relieved to discover, had successfully “made the transition”, however, and was in a place where she needed to be.) I then received permission to release the entity in question and proceeded to do so according to a simple Huna ritual I had learned from Vern Peterson and others and have always used.*

One might well ask here what entity possession has to do with suicide. I had learned years ago from some old masters such as Vern Peterson, Rev. Eugene Maury, Ed Jastram, etc., that suicide, if not multi-personality disorder, schizophrenia and possibly other psychoses, can often be caused merely by one or more entity possessions, a phenomenon not at all uncommon in a culture such as ours, in which there is little understanding of the energies around us and little adequate psychological or spiritual preparation for death. In the case of suicide, I learned early on that a possessing entity, which brings its own emotions, addictions, preferences, allergies, pains, etc., into the subconscious of the “host”, not only affects his or her moods, behavior, sleep patterns, energy and even personality, but can feel trapped enough in that subconscious that it can drive him or her into madness and suicide to get out.

This struggle, I realized after seeing 4:48 Psychosis, was precisely what I had been witnessing in art form, as represented brilliantly on stage by three actors: the deeply disturbed main character who is in deep “psychosis” and undergoing treatment, a second character who is a kind of rational alter ego of her and tries continuously to calm her and understand the situation, and a rather smug but puzzled and ineffective psychiatrist. Did the author herself realize that these two female dramatis personae might represent not just two psychological aspects of her personality in crisis, but two separate personalities: her own and that of a possessing intruder? I doubt it, but I find it very interesting that she had the intuition to present two conflicting versions of herself in her struggle against insanity, and perhaps not just to satisfy the need for dramatic tension. Or perhaps this dichotomy of points of view was the result of obviously brilliant directing as well, I don't know.

I find it quite astounding and shocking that a talented playwright -or even a director or producer- would tackle such a disturbing and negative subject, even if not realizing what is actually being portrayed , what the work really represents on a deeply spiritual level: the struggle in the author's subconscious between her own personality and that of a possessing entity feeling trapped. For the ordinary audience, even for an audience of psychiatrists, counselors or social workers, the atmosphere and mood that result is unrelentingly depressing and downright disturbing. For one familiar with possession, such as a dowser or shaman, however, the irony of the situation intensifies this tension so much more and is almost unbearable. This is because the answer to it all, what would relieve this violent suffering we are witnessing and prevent the suicide being contemplated before our very eyes (and which, unbeknown to us, will indeed be carried out in real life !) is simple and starkly obvious: an exorcism. Yet neither the psychiatrist character in the play, who indeed represents the whole medical community, nor the audience itself has a clue as to the cause or the remedy, in spite of the fact that the Catholic Church has known about possession and has practiced exorcism for centuries- not to speak of the entire community of world indigenous cultures throughout history.

I find this enormously tragic, not only in the artistic and real life context of the play, but in the larger context of suicide among our teenagers of today and especially among our soldiers in Iraq and Afganistan and those returning with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. If I am correct, some 30% of suicides among these military people is related to entity possession. After all, consider that the shock of seeing and participating in so much inhumanity and suffering cannot help but lower one's protective auric field (such as what happens when one is operated on and the body is in shock), and that in a war situation many people are dying, whether suddenly or in agonizing pain and terror. This means, to be frank, that many spirits are confused, disoriented, don't know where to go after separating from the body and need help. Unfortunately neither our chaplains nor our medical and PTSD counselors -or anyone else in our culture for that matter- know how to handle the tragic dilemma of departed but earth bound spirits, much less how to release the unhappy ones that attach themselves to the living, and thereby perhaps prevent the growing number of suicides we are hearing about in the military.

Speaking of PTSD – and a host of other psychological and physical problems our soldiers are returning with, such as Gulf War Syndrome- might not dowsing offer enormous benefits for diagnosis and healing? A subject for a more extensive examination perhaps. As for the growing problem of suicide, however, there should be no doubt as to its value in diagnosis and prevention. First, by allowing our medical, psychiatric and counseling people to simply identify the problem of possession. Then, instead of trying to alleviate the symptoms with drugs and counseling, they could eliminate outright the cause itself by using any one of a variety of known release ceremonies or rituals.

This, of course, would require a change of spiritual paradigm as radical for the military, the community of empirical science and even religion today, as that represented by dowsing and shamanic prayer. Yet such a ritual or prayer, when undertaken with humility, centeredness, trust and focused, earnest intent, can be most effective as a simple and straight forward request made anywhere at anytime, in silence or out loud, in private or in public. This includes all situations: the battlefield, a psychiatric ward, one's home or workplace, while traveling, etc., and most notably, whether in the company of the possessed person or from a great distance. In fact, no one even needs to know the request is being made or has to give his or her conscious permission for it. Permission instead is requested (through dowsing) of the person's High Self, which knows more about his or her Highest and Greatest Good than we do.

As with dowsing itself, the release prayer is very personal and depends on one's own belief system. Mine, for example, is as follows:

* “Divine Presence, I ask that you come to this entity (or entities; their number does not matter), reassure it (them), surround it with your Infinite Love, and take it gently and lovingly to its next highest level of development with my best wishes for happy journey and my blessings for a full and joyful life in its next dwelling place. Please make sure that it arrives there safe and sound and is greeted with great rejoicing and ceremony. Thank you.” (“So be it”, etc.). As a final step in the prayer one should do a blessing for the host's subconscious to sort of “clear the air”. Mine is an old Huna saying: “May the Rain of Heavenly Blessings fall abundantly upon (name of person) and fill her subconscious and all parts of her being with the Healing of Divine Presence. Mahalo (“thank you”).

(Whatever words work for you, use them. And, as R.I.P. says, don't forget gratitude.)

If this procedure seems disarmingly simple, it is. However, superficial or ineffective it is not. The possessing entity or entities, once released in such a trusting and well-intentioned manner, leaves immediately under the expert guidance requested and will never return. Dowsing after the fact should confirm this. However, the energies which the intruder brought with it into the subconscious of the host (such as the physical and psychological influences mentioned above) will take from 12 to 36 hours to dissipate, depending on how long the possession has been in effect. Sometimes amazing changes can be observed as this happens, often to the relief and amazement of the host and his/her family and friends – and, one should add, the disbelief or denial of the medical people.

Of course, as with all dowsing work, the results should be checked. One can ask, for example, a) what percentage of the problem has been correctly identified, and b) to what extent has it been resolved? Or more specifically, such questions as: 1.) Has the entity indeed departed under guidance as requested? 2.) Do energy traces or some form of influence of its presence remain in the subconscious? 3.) If so, how many, what are they, will they dissipate on their own or can they be removed? 4.) Are there other problems/ influences in the subconscious that make the subject vulnerable to possession in the first place (addictions, past life influences, negative programming, imprinting from trauma, low self esteem, shock to the physical body, etc. )? 5.) If so, can these be successfully treated and if so, by what means?

As indicated in question #4, there is far more to the business of dowsing and healing personality and behavioral problems (which the medical Establishment calls “psychological, even “chemical”) than has been discussed here in regards to Sarah Kane's play. Possession and its remedy exorcism (no matter what form it takes and in whatever cultural context) are only one phenomenon - and in my view by far the easiest to deal with - among a vast number of other spiritual ones well known from long experience by indigenous and non-western cultures throughout history, such as that of Buddhism. For example, regarding even entity possession itself, shamans (and dowsers) are well aware that it can occur as a “carry-over” from a previous life, as can codependency cords, curses and the like, and that all such phenomena can be removed in the present, along with the influences originating in this life, by using the same means: ritual and prayer, once they are detected by dowsing, shamanic journeying, psychic visioning, etc. Fortunately, such esoteric complications, I found, were not a reality with the author of 4:48 Psychosis. Hers was a straightforward case of possession, which in itself is intense enough.

Sometimes, in examining the causes and/or forms of a possession, all the bizarre possibilities (and symptoms) one can imagine (or be guided to consider) must be carefully explored before seeking permission for a remedy. This could include such far-out negative ones as portrayed in the film “The Exorcist”, for example, which are relatively uncommon but which have been well-documented over the centuries in the Vatican archives and elsewhere. Fortunately this possibility, as with most situations of entity possession I have examined, did not prove relevant in the above case in question. It lies in a different realm way beyond the paradigm of empirical science and most people's experience. It enjoys a special and deadly category all to itself, can be enormously complicated and requires very different spiritual treatment from that described here as relevant to the play.

Although some scenes in 4:48 Psychosis, because of the violence of emotions and language, seem to be right out of the dark and nightmarish The Exorcist, they most certainly are not in that category. Not that either the medical community (represented by the psychiatrist in the play ) or the audience could tell the difference – only dowsing can, and that's my point. Nevertheless, while this play, which has been aptly termed a “psychodrama” (in which actors play out the roles of the patient's life), is indeed what it seems: a desperate cry for help of a person deeply in crisis (would psychiatry use the word “soul”?), it is much more, it seems to me. As suggested earlier, when we view what transpires on stage (the dramatic conflict) in the context of what happened to the author after writing the work, and with the knowledge that what we are witnessing is actually an entity possession in process, the psychological and behavioral effects of which have already led inexorably to a real suicide, the effect on us is electrifying, unbearably ironic and perhaps more tragic than anything we have ever seen represented in art.

The ironic cross-breeding or art and life represented here might be fertile material for today's drama critics (For example, unlike the situation in 4:48 Psychosis, in Greek tragedy, as in Shakespearean, the protagonist and the audience are only too well aware of the gravity of the dilemma developing and and of what the consequences of the choices will be: an unavoidably fatal denouement). But here, for a ”dowsing” audience aware of the possession/suicide phenomenon, this confusion serves as a stark, powerful wake-up call to action. Why? Because we know the soul's anguished cry for help cannot and will not be answered - either on stage or in life, either in a military field hospital, counseling center, psychiatric ward, etc. or in art – the vanguard and crucible of the culture's values. Not unless, that is, we as dowsers use our creativity, spiritual connection and skills.

Entity possession is a fact, as are “ghost” hauntings (which are entities attached to a place rather than a person), and suicide resulting from it is serious business. And so, in my view, is our responsibility as healers aware of the problem. The play, in short, unintentionally shoved this truth in my face. Some times we need to be rudely awakened. Maybe that is one of art's main functions, especially where science fails to inform. I would add, that the 4:48 Psychosis affair discussed here, the situation it represents for us, might be an appropriate metaphor for the whole spiritual crisis our culture is faced with today – and perhaps our role in its resolution. Dowsing, it seems to me, is where art and life, science and spirit can best dialogue for the greater good.