Positive and Negative Possession in the Television Series...

Possession is defined by many religions as the act by an outside force, either demonic or spiritual in nature, which takes physical control of an individuals body or an object. According to many religions and beliefs, humans, animals, places and objects alike are all susceptible to these supernatural forces. Possession can be ended in two different ways: through an exorcism as seen by the Catholic Church, or using an anti-possession symbol seen in voodoo, witchcraft, hoodoo, and shamanism. Possession is also seen, mainly in Christian beliefs as being unwanted, however there are other religions that allow and attract spirits for possession to take place such as spiritual healing mediums in Brazil (Greenfield). Anthropologists have†¦show more content†¦Janice Boddy is an anthropologist who did research regarding the beliefs of a small village of people in the Northern Sudan. She found that their central belief revolved around a supernatural spirit called a Djinn, which is bet ter known as a Zar Spirit in this village. This predominantly affects women who have fertility or marriage problems. This spirit is invisible with no physical form or barrier, and possesses the woman by hovering over her head or being somewhat close to her. In this legend there is a specific type of â€Å"Djin n† that one would usually refer to as harmful or playful. According to lore, this Zar Spirit is playful and there is no way to remove the possession by exorcism, but rather to accommodate the spirit by allowing it to play and indulge. This form of possession is what many anthropologists call a positive possession that results in healing an illness or condition. This results in what Boddy calls a cultural healing (Boddy 368-85), which is the result of making the womans possession public which lessens the negative stigma associated with being possessed because it is seen as something beyond her control. In the series Supernatural, the episodes depict a more negative aspec t of possession rather than aShow MoreRelatedEssay on The Harry Potter Controversy2662 Words   |  11 PagesThe Harry Potter Controversy The wildly popular Harry Potter book series by J. K. Rowling has caused controversy for many families over the past five years. These novels according to some critics are harmless, adventurous, childrens tales. Others choose to portray them as stories that inspire children to become involved in the occult and serious witchcraft. The Harry Potter novels chronicle the life of a young wizard whose wizard parents were killed by the evil Lord Voldermort. 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