On Possession

Why? Anthropology & para/psychology of religion fascinate me as topics, since people fascinate me. Particularly the realm of belief and action known to outsiders as religion (various sections of my Good Reads site). But why posession? Spirits, posession, etc, have been aspects of human culture for millennia, far longer than the millimeter of the "modern" era that so many Jewish co-religionists feel obligated to accord with/ argue with. The idea of disembodied intelligence seizing control of ones body is a frightening notion, at least to "us" moderns. Possession is not solely a matter of the demonic, but I always found this a haunting quote;

"Clear cases [of possession] appear to be less common today than in the past. This may be due in part to the fact that persons tend to be receptive to what they believe - Freudians have a disproportionate number of Freudian dreams - and possession does not square with the modern scientific outlook [which, though only vaguely understood by the great number of people, is as widely embraced; realm of confusion thereby generated], but there is a supplementing possibility. With genocides and the use of nuclear weapons to mash entire countrysides [industrialism, the subconscious consequences of Technopoly], the demonic may now be so [efficiently, 'cost effectively'...] diffused on the terrestrial plan that it has no need, one almost says no time, to put in many 'personal appearances' in single individuals".Forgotten Truth , Huston Smith p.43

One could also suggest we've done such a smashing job of doing ourselves in, of doing The Adversary's work for him that he's already retired.