The Science of Spirit Possession (second edition)

Can titles be predictive? When Terence Palmer named his book, The Science of Spirit Possession, he had no doubts. In his hands spirit possession has been transformed from a frightening curiosity into a developing science. It has become part of his own transformation from conference organiser to healer, to student of psychology, mysticism and psychic history. Palmer is now an authority on spirit possession and a developer and teacher of a new method of spirit release. This book, now in its second edition, began as a PhD thesis on F.W.H. Myers. As I write, Palmer is in the USA, teaching his method of spirit release to an enthusiastic gathering. His transformation continues, as does the subject of spirit possession, now a developing science.

Myers' brilliant studies take pride of place in the book, and Palmer has focused particularly on those phenomena, such as telepathy, which have special significance for the mechanism of possession. Other aspects of Myers' work, while less significant, are still discussed because they contribute to the larger picture.

In the Preface to this edition, Palmer makes several important points concerning the book's purpose:

1. "This is not a manual for student practitioners of spirit release therapy." 2. "The book is a study of the scientific framework that can accommodate spirit possession as a valid human experience, rather than as an outdated notion of supernatural beliefs." 3. "The ultimate objective of writing this book is to promote serious scientific work and experimentation in the alleviation of distress by the treatment of spirit attachment and possession disorders. It is therefore primarily for the research scientist and clinical practitioner with an interest in clinical trials and experiments that have yet to be conducted, in the difficult area of medicine and psychiatry."

The book is in three sections:

I. Possession and Exorcism, Methods and Theories. II. Myers' Conceptual Framework. III. Myers and Modern Science.

Clearly Myers' genius has been the guiding inspiration for Palmer's book. Sad to say, although both Myers and his chief co-worker, Edmund Gurney, died 120 years ago, no one has followed their lead by using mesmerism, the forerunner of suggestive hypnosis, as their main research tool, to explore experimentally the basis of spirit activity. Palmer's focus on the creative research of these early researchers is most welcome.

In Section I, Possession and Exorcism, Methods and Theories, Palmer introduces the history and phenomenology of spirit possession and makes it clear that, despite the prevailing scepticism, it is a very real phenomenon. Three well-authenticated cases of demonic possession illustrate extreme possibilities, but Palmer makes it clear that contemporary cases, which he finds in therapy, though milder, are common and often disabling. There is a great need for spirit attachment to be recognised, researched and correctly treated.

In Section II, Myers' Conceptual Framework, Palmer sets out Myers' view that psychological research should focus far more on subjective awareness. He discusses multiplicity of personality and the views of contemporaries, such as Pierre Janet, Carl Jung, William James, Morton Prince and Sigmund Freud, all of whom, except Freud, shared Myers' views. Ego states, were accepted then, as they are, in some quarters, today.

Palmer writes of Myers' interest in telepathic hypnosis, as studied and fully authenticated in France in the 1880s. This field cries out for revisiting. Had it not offered such a threat to materialist science, telepathic hypnosis would surely have been intensively re-explored. Palmer gives an aside on stage hypnotists who, he suggests, may in certain cases act as possessors of the volunteers. This is not just conjecture. Palmer has spoken to subjects whose observations support his views.

In a chapter on hallucinations Palmer constructs a table which shows Myers' and Gurney's carefully controlled experiments with hypnosis to study the transfer of taste between individuals. With some substances the results seem to have been highly significant. This work was done in a busy kitchen. Some will look on this as ridiculously amateurish. I see it as a laudable determination to enter untrodden ground with the intention of extending new thinking. These researchers financed their inspiration with their own time and money. It was the only way in those days and it gave a freedom which is lacking when we depend on committees to decide on what is ethically legitimate and deserving.

Chapter 9, Motor Automatism and the Mind-body Connection, gives examples of individuals with sudden unaccountable desires leading to unaccountable actions. With the numbers he encountered, Myers was not satisfied to dismiss them as coincidence. He asked, did these impulses originate in the sending or the receiving individual? To throw light on the question of foreign spiritual influences, he studied automatic writing to see whether or not it contained information which could not have been known to the writer.

This book is a feast for those who would explore the many fascinating questions which Palmer raises. For anyone who is interested in the concept of spirit possession, this book is strongly recommended. Psychiatrists and psychologists with an open mind on the matter would do well to read it. Therapists who require instruction on spirit release should also read William Baldwin's Spirit Releasement Therapy (1995)), I. Ireland-Frey's Freeing the Captives (1999) and Sue Allen's Spirit Release -- A Practical Handbook (2007).

I know of no other book on spirit possession which approaches this one in knowledge of the subject and in care and thoroughness of theoretical analysis. Terence Palmer is totally committed to his subject and is active in teaching new ways of spirit release. He demands and deserves our attention.