Palmer offers scientific understanding of spirit possession & stresses need for further study
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
2nd Edition, © December 1, 2014
ISBN-10: 1443868108
ISBN-13: 978-1443868105
Hardcover, 375 pages
In The Science of Spirit Possession:
A 21st Century Approach to Mental Health,
author Terence James Palmer proposed that Spirit Release Therapy (SRT) is the
most effective way to treat people who are possessed by “earthbound spirits of
the deceased.”
In a follow-up thesis at http://www.examiner.com/review/book-review-the-science-of-spirit-possession-part-1-of-2
which I wrote about in January 2013, Palmer reviewed the Catholic
practice of exorcism during which a priest or other person of the cloth demands
in the name of God or Jesus that the offending entity leave the person who
appears to be possessed based on the Rituale Romanum of 1614. He noted that SRT
- “a soul-centered therapy” - offers a “more gentle approach” which is also
more effective without the need to impose a particular religious belief or
other philosophy on the patient.
Now in The Science of Spirit Possession (2nd Edition), Palmer offers a more in depth look at the beliefs
of various cultures around the world and how those beliefs affect the way in
which those who are deemed to be possessed are dealt with. He still stresses
the beliefs and methods of Myers but adds much more information from a variety
of other sources.
When it comes to understanding spirit
possession, Palmer stresses the importance of “personal subjective experience.”
For instance, psychologist and medical anthropologist Alberto Villoldo
personally experienced the healing practices of Amazon and Inca shamans for
some 25 years. Through shamanic journeying, Villoldo realized that those who
are possessed experience a “temporary absence of the victim’s soul,” which is
known in anthropology as ‘soul-loss.’”
There are many aspects to be considered
when attempting to come to some conclusions about the possibility of spirit
possession beginning with the issue of discernment as to whether he or she is dealing
with a true case of possession, schizophrenia or other such malady, or simply a
case of an overactive imagination.
This includes taking into account the cultural influences, personal
beliefs and even the expectations of the patient. It is also important to note
the same things in relation to the practitioner. As well, there is the matter
of eyewitness testimony, Palmer notes. Just like conflicting views of an
accident scene, the same thing can occur during an exorcism.
He also addresses the topic of telepathy
and the part it can play in possession cases. As well, he writes about a
spirit’s role in channeling in automatic writing and psychography. As well, he notes the importance of the
pineal gland and the possible use of neuro-imagingto actually
view the lit up impulses of the brain during such events.
Palmer addresses vital aspects of spirit
possession; part 2
In The Science of Spirit Possession (2nd Edition), www.cambridgescholars.com/download/sample/62013
Terence Palmer cites a few true cases of possession that involved dramatic
physical changes in the patient, which were indicative of a bona fide demonic
possession.
One is the case of Anna Ecklund from
Earling, Iowa (1928) with exorcist the Reverend Carl Vogel. Anna’s face became
so “twisted and distorted that no one would recognize its features. Her whole
body became so horribly disfigured that the appearance of her human shape
vanished.” Her body contorted in various ways and she vomited often.
Another is the case of Karen Kingston
(1974) a mentally challenged 13-year old from North Carolina, who appeared to
suffer from multiple personality disorder. Her father was “an alcoholic and at
the age of seven, she saw her mother murder her father with a butcher knife.
After witnessing this violent act, the child went into shock and never
recovered.”
During the exorcism, Kingston levitated
about five feet off the floor. Father John Tyson and Baptist Minister Reverend
Richard Sutter had been holding her down at the time to keep from anyone
getting hurt so when she levitated, they went with her. According to Robert
Pelton, who related the incident in his report of 1985, “Tyson just sat there
gasping. He looked rather ridiculous with his long legs dangling. Sutter looked
like a captive who had been shot and draped over a horse.”
“They made the demon in Karen write a
paragraph, which he did to the staff’s astonishment, for they knew that Karen
could not write.”
When Reverend Richard Rogers demanded that
the demon say its name, it replied, “Williams.” Then as he was expelled from
Karen he said, “Leave us alone. I’ll come but I will kill this b*tch first…”
When the demon left, there was a “bluish green cloud” that “enveloped her completely…”
Palmer then reviews the “First Law of
Thermodynamics” discovered by physicist James Prescott Joule (1818-1889). This
law states that “energy cannot be created or destroyed; rather the amount of
energy lost in a steady state process cannot be greater than the amount of
energy gained.” In layman’s terms, he states that when applied to “living
systems” (people), it means that the energy contained within them is
“transformed” into another form of energy when their bodies die. It is energies
such as these that can be instrumental in causing spirit possession,
particularly if the spirit of the deceased has its own issues that need to be
dealt with. Thus the need to treat the intruding spirit as well as the patient.
In his previous works, Palmer noted the
need for a “revised epistemology” when dealing with cases of possession. This
time around, he goes further into this concept. As in the past, he notes the
conflict faced by mainstream scientific thinkers who do not want to accept the
use of a treatment based on the belief that spirit (consciousness) survives
physical death and is able to interact with the living – physically, mentally
(via telepathy) and emotionally based on that spirit’s own beliefs.
“It has been my own experience that the
greatest difficulty in researching answers to questions of a spiritual nature
lies in the determination of modern science to treat the concept of Spirit as
taboo.”
In Chapter 15, Palmer presents a “Draft
Project Proposal: Auditory Hallucinations or Hearing Voices. “The first part of
this proposal,” he writes, “is to test the hypothesis that Spiritual mediums
are able to tell the difference between autogenic (self-created) hallucinations
and voices that are veridical (emanating from an external source) in patients diagnosed
with schizophrenia.” The objective, he adds, is to test the “efficacy of Remote
Spirit Release Therapy (RSRT), otherwise known as dis-obsession by Spiritist
healers.” While some practitioners already do this with varying degrees of
success, Palmer says there has never been “rigorous scientific testing.”
This book contains so much valuable
information for anyone who wishes to delve deeper into all aspects of the
possession phenomenon, how it has been and is now being treated and all that
this entails in various parts of the world. This is not a book that can be read
through quickly. One must take time to ensure that he or she understands all of
the various aspects that Palmer presents.
There is just so much information between
this book’s pages that it could not possibly be fully covered here. However,
anyone who deals with the issue of possession and wishes to effectively treat
his or her patients should definitely read it.
Terence Palmer has a degree in
Psychology from Canterbury Christ Church University and a Master’s degree in
the study of Mysticism and Religious Experience from Kent University. He has
been a hypnotherapist for 20 years and a spirit release practitioner for 12.
The University of Wales at Bangor awarded him a doctorate for his thesis on the
scientific conceptual framework and research methods of 19th century
researcher F.W.H. Myers. He is the first practitioner to be awarded a PhD on
the topic of Spirit Release Therapy in the UK. He is also a member of The
Society for Psychical Research and The Scientific and Medical Network. As well,
he is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine.
His newest book can now be
pre-ordered at Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Science-Spirit-Possession-Terence-Palmer/dp/1443868108
Sources:
The Exorcism of Anna Ecklund
http://trueghoststories.tumblr.com/post/92137090026/the-exorcism-of-anna-ecklund
Karen Kingston Exorcism
http://www.createspace.com/4132958
Exorcism by Lee E. Warren
http://www.plim.org/_fpclass/1Issue98/Exorcism.html
Anna Ecklund
http://trueghoststories.tumblr.com/post/92137090026/the-exorcism-of-anna-ecklund
Terence Palmer’s Web Site:
http://www.tjpalmer.org/
Terence Palmer on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dr-T-Palmer/336668526386740?fref=photo
Note: The Fifth British Congress on Medicine and
Spirituality www.medspiritcongress.org/ will be held in London, England in
October 2015
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