“We are legion”: Possession myth as a lens for understanding cultural and psychological evolution.

Abstract

In most religious traditions, there exists the conception that human beings can lose their freedom of will to an invading consciousness. We argue that possession myths emerge from evolved mental architecture and reflect a constellation of deep-seated beliefs about cognition, consciousness, and mindϪbody dualism. We also consider why possession is almost always considered frightening and aversive, thus explaining why the horror genre, and audiovisual horror in particular, has embraced the trope of possession. We analyze how possession works in 2 examples: The Exorcist (Blatty & Friedkin, 1973) and Supernatural (Kripke et al., 2005(Kripke et al., -2020. Finally, we conclude by briefly discussing the possibility that possession mythology represents an interesting test case for examining the origins of culture in general. Culture, as others have also suggested, exists first as an outgrowth of human psychological faculties but can then come to exert top-down causal influence on those same faculties. Public Significance StatementThis study uses possession myth in popular culture as a lens for understanding the evolution of human psychology. Such myths may offer insight into not only how our mental architecture arose, but also how that architecture then feeds into the evolution of cultural traditions.

Clinical Interpretation of Jinn Possession and Cultural Formulation of Mental Illness

“…For example, Al-Adawi et al (2019) argue that jinn possession should be examined more in terms of its neuropsychological functioning. Such a call is also resonated in the research study by Boutwell et al (2021), who note that as per the medical, neuroscientific, neuropsychological, and cognitive disciplines; human consciousness; and personality are firmly instantiated in the brain. We do not know whether more advanced neuroimaging tests might produce more clinical results regarding organic causes of jinn possession.…”

“…In this respect, “belief in possession emerges from psychological mechanisms instantiated in the brain. Understanding these psychological mechanisms can help us understand the cultural notion of possession, including the expression of possession in contemporary horror media, and vice versa—understanding these cultural phenomena helps shed light on the underlying psychological mechanisms” (Boutwell et al, 2021, p. 4).…”

“…Although the article by Boutwell et al (2021) is not directly linked to Muslims and analyses demon possession in horror movies, it accurately describes the lack of emotional regulation in clients who claim to be possessed by jinn. In this regard, these authors give an example of a temper tantrum to understand this clinical phenomenon:We propose that this and other possession scenes are naturalistically underpinned by the phenomenology of emotion regulation.…”

“…Any viewer with a vibrant emotional life will be all too familiar with such impulses and their effortful suppression. In this way, possession horror manages to communicate what it might feel like to be possessed—to be assailed spiritually rather than physically—in a readily discernible manner (Boutwell et al, 2021, p. 5).…”