Spirit Possession and Exorcism: History, Psychology, and Neurobiology [2 volumes]

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This two-volume text reviews spirit possession throughout history, analyzes case studies from a cognitive neuroscience perspective, and examines rites for exorcism. From the beginning of civilization to the present day, and across all major religions and cultures, there have been documented cases of people seemingly overtaken by an unseen entity. The invading forcewhether good or badappears to replace the possessor's soul with the spirit's own persona, resulting in mystifying symptoms such as levitation or other supernatural feats, speaking in tongues, and even horrific and inexplicably accelerated physical distortion and deterioration. This is a two-volume chronological history and examination of spirit possession that addresses its phenomenological, psychological, and neurobiological aspects, and its effects on societies. Volume one reviews spirit possession from the upper Paleolithic era to modern times, while Volume two focuses on case studies and rites of exorcism.

Reviews

McNamara's work is recommended reading for psychologists, historians, and ministers. Spirit Possession and Exorcism is an insightful while controversial work that offers strong neurological evidence for a misunderstood aspect of human spirituality. * PsycCRITIQUES *

Author Bio

Patrick McNamara, PhD, is associate professor of neurology at Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA.