SPIRIT POSSESSION

Spirit possession

Part of a series of articles on the paranormal
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Superstition · Fallacy · Scientific method · Scientific evidence · Cognitive dissonance · Anomalistics · Falsifiability · Pseudoscience · Junk science · Urban legend · Fringe science · Protoscience · Argument from ignorance · Agnosticism · Uncertainty · Begging the question · Groupthink · Communal reinforcement · Bandwagon effect · Argumentum ad populum
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Spirit possession is a paranormal and/or supernatural event in which it is said that spirits, gods, demons, animas, extraterrestrials, or other disincarnate or extraterrestrial entities take control of a human body, resulting in noticeable changes in health and behaviour. The term can also describe a similar action of taking residence in an inanimate object, possibly giving it animation.

The concept of spiritual possession exists in many religions, including Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Haitian Voodoo, Wicca, and Southeast Asian and African traditions.[1] Depending on the cultural context in which it is found, possession may be considered voluntary or involuntary and may be considered to have beneficial or detrimental effects. Scientific materialists also have opinions about the nature of the phenomenon.

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