what constitutes 'occult'?
how much is involvement?
what is so different about occult (vis a vis other religious activities)?
Does exorcism have to be done his way?
Liturgical methods?
Amulets?
Other magical methods?
Is it as widespread as he thinks?
Are his criticisms of traditional psychology valid?
What if drugs work?
Ipso facto proof of non-possession?
Failure of drugs prove possession?
How else might we interpret his own examples?
Can possession be inherited?
Biblical issues ("...unto the tenth generation" vs. "no longer shall it be a proverb...."
issue of fairness
Is demonic possession real?
Can we know if demons exist at all?
distinction between demons and ghosts
apprenticeship of shamans in indigenous traditions
insanity or possession from failure to control spirit contact
question of whether drugs would produce the same effect
sociological aspects of spirit contact (role in the community)
Psychological or physical interpretations of presumed possession
concept of the subconscious
id / ego / superego
developmental theories
anal / oral / genital
interpretation of dreams
dreams as conduit for communications from our subconscious
assuming he is right, how do we know it is always the same symbol system?
myths interpreted in same ways
Freud's view of possession
Jung
concept of collective unconscious
myths and symbols as conduits for communications from the c.u.
archetypes
Jung's approach to mythological dark divinities (demons, etc.)
the shadow
dangers of suppression
usually taken over by shadow
imbalance through over-compensation
goal of integration
acceptance allows control
examples:
racism, anger, hate of parents, etc.
anima/animus
anima (mythically = Lilith) for men
represents 'inner woman'
normal homosexual inclinations (in heterosexuals)
normal emotionalism
nurturing instincts
like the shadow, repression leads to being conquered by it
Jung would say this includes homosexuality, effeminate behavior, etc.
compensation for homosexual inclinations can lead to satyromania through over-empowerment of the animus
anima (also Lilith) for women (according to Jung)
Lamashtu aspect (baby killer)
smothers own children through excessive control
destroys own creative forces
Ishtar aspect (seductress)
seduces men, esp. married men, for the sake of the sense of power
anima/Lilith as seductress according to Black-Koluv
properly incorporated:
acceptance of physical self esp. in terms of physical sexuality.
uncontrolled:
nymphomania, insatiability
repressed:
empty or unsatisfactory sexuality within relationships
dependence on husband/s.o. for personal identity
The Devil in fiction
Goethe's Faust
Devil as 'Greek bearing gifts'
never gives quite, or just, what you expect
always collects payment due
parallel in Bradbury's Something Wicked
contrast to Devil and Daniel Webster genre.
Milton's Paradise Lost
Satan as noble
abstraction of evil
Russell's criticism: evil must be personalized (perceived in individual suffering). Generalization prevents us from seeing it for what it is.
God does not create evil, but evil is used by God to create even greater good
Lewis' Screwtape Letters
demons as ubiquitous purveyors of deception
banality of evil (Arndt)
contrast with the overtly evil demonic of The Exorcist
The Crucible
true evil doesn't come from without (Satan) but from within (society)
evil is created by societies misguided attempts to extricate evil