Spirit obsession and possession Spirit obsession is a psychic phenomenon whereby a spirit supposedly enters a person’s mind and gradually alters that person’s personality. Once the personality has been completely taken over by the spirit, the person is said to be possessed by the spirit. A classic example of spirit obsession is the 1905 case of silversmith Frederick Thompson. After the death of Thompson’s friend R. Swain Gifford, an artist, Thompson suddenly found himself abandoning his regular work to take up painting, and the images he produced were nearly identical to, though less artistically accomplished than, Gifford’s paintings. For instance, he sketched a landscape of the same stand of trees, from the same vantage point, as Gifford had represented in an oil painting shortly before his death.

SEE ALSO:

• Demonic Possession

SOURCE:

The Greenhaven Encyclopedia of Paranormal Phenomena – written by Patricia D. Netzley © 2006 Gale, a part of Cengage Learning