Ghostly Possession | Are Seances Dangerous?

Seances are dangerous. Not usually because they attract real ghosts, but because they provide an opportunity for inner daemons to rise and paralyze those taking part in them. Though I write the bulk of these 'paranormal' articles with tongue firmly in cheek, I do have some experience in the realm. As a teenager, like so many teenagers, my friends and I would engage in seances. Later on I went on to get a degree in Religious Studies, in which I studied the mechanisms of religion and belief in the paranormal.

(Religious people don't often like to be associated with 'paranormal kooks', but quite frankly, I believe that, objectively speaking, the idea that there is some kind of spirit inside us that may be tied to the earth when our bodies die is more likely than the idea that an invisible sky king molded us out of clay, especially when one considers that we're clearly made of meat.) But I digress, digress like a pro.

I have participated in more seances than I can count. Some were fun, some were silly, some resulted in apparent psychic events, and still others resulted in what one might call 'harm' to the participants. Interestingly enough, although the seances I've done were fairly gender balanced, it seemed to be women who experience negative effects more than men. My personal view on the reason for this is that the women were likely more suggestible and perhaps even more plagued with inner issues than the males who participated.

So what happened? Did people's heads spin around? Did they begin chanting in foreign languages? Did the board burst into flames? No. In the most notable instance, the young woman in question simply became entirely unresponsive to any kind of stimulation (did not respond to people talking to her), could not be moved from the cross-legged position where she sat, and had tears running uncontrollably in her face as she sat in an apparent trance.

This state lasted for a few minutes and when she 'came to', it appeared that she was surprised to discover that she had been crying. What triggered this event? This, spontaneous catatonic state? It is impossible to say, however it seems unlikely that any genuine spiritual interference was at the root of this rather disturbing event. (Though it was not dramatic by conventional standards, seeing another human pass into a deep trance state spontaneously is quite odd, especially when the person in question appears to be in quite definite emotional distress.)

Be aware before indulging in seances that people battling emotional issues may very well have intense experiences and require real support. For this reason, seances are best not entered into lightly, or with people one does not know all that well.