Case 7. Diabolical Possession Scientifically Explained

Titius thinks that by means of modern science the phenomena which theologians hitherto have been accustomed to attribute to diabolical possession can be sufficiently explained. Thus, in a recent case in which a certain nun is said to have received wounds inflicted by a demon, Titius attributes the phenomenon to the imaginative power of the nun herself; the power of the same nun to distinguish between ordinary and blessed water, a consecrated and an unconsecrated host, the effect of exorcism, and even knowledge of languages hitherto wholly unknown, Titius attributes to emanations from the brains of bystanders who knew those languages. Caius recognizes that such things are signs of diabolical possession commonly admitted not only by theologians but by the Church in the Ritual; hence he would very much like to know whether the explanation of Titius can be admitted. Hence it is asked:

1. Is diabolical possession truly found, and by what signs can it be established?

2. Can the theory of telepathy, or thought-reading, be admitted?

3. What is to be said of the case?

1. Does diabolic possession exist and by what signs may it be known? Diabolic possession certainly exists, as we know from the pages of Holy Scripture, and very similar cases have been reported in all times down to the present day. While the Roman Ritual warns priests not to be too ready to believe that anyone is possessed by the devil, it gives the signs by which they may be able to distinguish cases of true possession: “First, let him not easily believe that anyone is possessed by a demon, but let him know well those signs by which one possessed is distinguished from those who labor either from black bile or from some disease. The signs of a possessing demon, however, are: to speak many words in an unknown language, or to understand one speaking; to disclose distant and hidden things; to show strength beyond the nature of one’s age or condition; and other things of this kind, which, when very many concur, are greater indications.” — De Exorcizandis Obsessis a Daemonio.

2. Can the theory of telepathy, or thought transference, be admitted ?

Telepathy is the name given to a theory according to which thought may be transmitted from mind to mind through the ether or through other than the ordinary channels of sense. Many claim that the possibility of telepathy has been demonstrated by experiment. Others, however, stoutly deny this. Thus Dr. J. Milne Bramwell writes: "After many years’ hypnotic work, and frequent opportunities of investigating the experiments of others, I have seen nothing, absolutely nothing, which might be fairly considered as affording even the slightest evidence for the existence of telepathy, or any of the so-called occult phenomena.”¹ Sir Oliver Lodge and others invoke the theory of the subliminal consciousness in order to explain the wonders of hypnotism and spiritism. Dr. Bramwell rejects this and other theories as inadequate to explain the facts, and then adds: “As William James truly says, these manifestations of the hidden self are immensely complex and fluctuating things, which we have hardly begun to understand, and concerning which sweeping generalization is sure to be premature.”¹

1 Hypnotism, p. 142.

1 Hypnotism, p. 420. 2d ed., 1906.

3. The case. Titius thinks that the phenomena which theologians attribute to diabolical possession may be explained by the help of modern science. Thus in a recent case where a nun was said to have been wounded by the devil, Titius explains the facts by the force of the imagination. Theologians who are worthy of the name ask first for conclusive evidence of such alleged facts. If the wounds or other phenomena are certainly existent, theologians look for a natural explanation first, and only attribute them to the devil when all possible natural causes have been shown to be inadmissible. The nun's wounds may easily have been caused by some more ordinary means than her imagination, or in some special case the explanation of Titius might be the true one. Titius attributes to telepathy the nun's power to distinguish holy from common water, a consecrated from a non-consecrated host, the effect which exorcism produces on her, and her knowledge of languages hitherto unknown by her altogether. In this Titius has gone farther than science warrants. Whether telepathy exists or not in the very modest sense of transferring from mind to mind without the intervention of the senses the number of a playing card, or a geometrical figure, is still doubtful. Even granting that telepathy in this sense is vera causa, the gap from this to the applications of Titius is too wide for science to leap. Caius therefore will reject the explanation of Titius as being unscientific; but at the same time he will bear in mind the caution of the Ritual, which does not say that any one or two phenomena are indubitable signs of diabolical possession, but that when “very many such signs concur, they are surer indications” of diabolical possession.