Excerpt from “The Unquiet Dead” by Edith Fiore

Earthbound entities, either discarnate or incorporated, seem to remain exactly as they were moments before their deaths. It’s as though they have been “freeze-framed”; throughout their stay in the physical world they do not change or profit from anything they experience. They have all their previous attitudes, prejudices, addictions, skills, interests, fears and hang-ups. If their deaths involved physical pain, this continues unabated, even for decades! If they were anesthetized, or drugged by alcohol, prescription or illicit substances before they died, they feel “spacey” and “out of it” for as long as they are earthbound. Possessing entities who committed suicide continue to feel desolate regardless of what their hosts experience. They remain abjectly depressed.

DEGREE OF POSSESSION

The possession itself can range from nearly total, in which case the original inhabitant is almost completely replaced, to a very minor influence. Some of the factors that determine the extent of the possession are the intrinsic strength of the individual compared to that of the possessing spirit, and conditions that weaken the possessee, like stress, drug abuse, illness, etc.

The more the afflicted abdicate control of their consciousness, the greater the influence of their possessors. If the possessed drink, especially if they get drunk, they are unwittingly giving control to the entities. Blackouts are examples of total–though temporary–surrender of the consciousness. That is why others say, “He’s a completely different person when he’s drunk.” He is! His role had been reduced to zero during that time.

AGE WHEN POSSESSED

One of the most important factors in possession is when it occurs. A great many of my patients were possessed as very young children, especially following hospitalizations for such surgeries as tonsillectomies, or during severe illnesses. Picking up a spirit at that tender age and growing up with it “on board” made it nearly impossible for the people possessed to discern the boundaries of their own personalities from those of their possessors. I hear complaints like “I’ve always had a violent temper” and “My mother told me I had headaches even as a toddler.” When the possession occurred in the earliest years, the possessed later is often afraid to have the spirits leave, fearing that “there won’t be anything left” or “I won’t know who I am” or “I’ll be lonely!”

The possession weakens the child’s aura and creates a vulnerability to further possession. My findings indicate that if people are possessed early in life, by adulthood invariably they are multiply possessed–each entity additionally undermining the integrity and protection of the aura.

On the other hand, if the possession happens when the individuals are older, the “before and after” differences are more clearly differentiated. In these cases, patients make comments like “I’ve never been the same since the accident” or “I always was a happy child and popular in high school, then, three years ago, I started to withdraw and sank into these black moods.” Especially common are remarks like “That’s just not me,” “I would never do such a thing–but I did,” “My husband says I’m like two different people,” or “I think I have a multiple personality.”

In the majority of cases, there is a blending of the personalities and the onset of the possession is only vaguely perceived, if at all.

POSSESSION BY SPIRITS OF THE OPPOSITE SEX

When people are possessed by spirits of the opposite sex, their hormonal systems appear to be affected–always negatively.

Some cases of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) often cleared up immediately with a successful depossession. In many patients, one reason for a diminished sex drive was this type of possession.

Possession by spirits of the opposite sex often results in tension and distance between marital or relationship partners. Frequently the possessors dislike the spouses, or even hate them! Since the possessed accept these emotions as being their own, havoc ensues, wrecking relationships. In one of my ongoing cases, a female patient who is severely possessed by an extremely angry young male drug addict became increasingly hostile to her husband. Their relationship deteriorated to the point of separation and ultimately divorce, in spite of my advice to the contrary.

Entities of the opposite sex often are the cause of a great deal of confusion about sexual identity. Homosexuality, transsexuality and transvestism are the extreme results of this kind of possession.

Range of Effects

PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS

The very act of possession itself produces fatigue in the individual, sometimes exhaustion. All the possessed patients I have treated noticed a lessening of their energy level. Usually I hear “I’m exhausted by the time I get home from work,” “I go to bed at eight-thirty–but I used to be up until 11 p.m.” I conceptualize this draining of energy as a result of the possessing spirits having weak energy systems of their own. They are literally siphoning off their host’s energy. I explain it to patients as, “It’s like one battery taking care of the electrical needs of one and a half cars. The entity doesn’t have a body, so he doesn’t use as much as you, but his turmoil and thoughts require energy, so he draws off yours.”

Spirits seem to bring an imprint of their physical bodies exactly as they were at death. This affects the living organism of the possessees. According to esoteric theory, the spirits’ lower astral bodies interact with the etheric bodies of living people, resulting in a blend of the two. This creates a blueprint for the physical bodies and later manifestations of some of the former physical characteristics of the possessors.

Therefore, possession can result in physical symptoms of all kinds, among them, pains, most frequently headaches, including migraines; PMS with edema (water retention); cramping; lack of energy or exhaustion; insomnia; obesity with resultant hypertension; asthma and allergies, etc.

A female patient, Sally, suffered from severe hot flashes that had come on suddenly, even though her menopause had started several years before. She was troubled to the extent of having to change her nightgown and sheets several times every night because of profuse sweating. Even worse, she had to discontinue sleeping with her husband, as he generated too much additional heat. We discovered that she had recently picked up a menopausal spirit who, fortunately, when apprised of her true condition, left without hesitation. Sally was immediately freed of the symptoms, much to her husband’s delight!

Another female patient reported that her sciatica, from which she suffered for more than fifteen years, cleared up following a depossession. The identity of the possessing spirit wasn’t clarified, so we can only assume he or she was a person who had a sciatic condition.

A chronic neck pain and depression were eliminated completely when the spirit who had hanged himself in prison was taken into the spirit world by his loved ones. My patient felt comfortable, physically and emotionally, for the first time in years.

Some patients complained of feeling “stoned,” hungover, or drunk, for no logical reasons. It was only after successful depossessions that they realized who had been responsible–and they were finally freed of these symptoms.

Possession by a spirit who died as an elderly person often results in symptoms that are common with older people, like blurry vision, aches and pains, and general tiredness.

One woman in her twenties had sought medical help for several years for intense abdominal pain and feeling old and decrepit. She was not relieved of these problems until we did a depossession. Her possessor was the former owner of her home, who had died in my patient’s–and her bedroom, of cancer of the intestines at the age of seventy-seven.

As I cautioned earlier, it is imperative if you experience a physical problem to consult your family physician. Depossession should not be a substitute for good medical care!

MENTAL PROBLEMS

A great many mental problems result from intervention by spirits. The most prevalent is lack of concentration–“fuzzing out,” as one patient put it. Another said, “My mind takes little breaks–like skipping a spot for a while,” and “Parts shut off–Blanksville!” Memory problems, like forgetting something done or said, missing exits on the freeway, etc, are typical. In my practice I find occasional “forgetting” of therapy appointments often reflects the spirit’s resistance to depossession. This is especially evident when we have been working with recalcitrant entities.

The reason forgetting is a problem is that there are two or even more people inhabiting the same body, all “doing their own thing” from time to time. The possessing spirit may decide he wants ice cream, and the patient “comes to” with her hand on the freezer door and can’t remember why she’s opening it. This, of course, depends on how the two are interacting. If one takes over and the other phases out, then that kind of behavior is experienced. In other cases, the thoughts of the spirit’s mind are picked up and acted upon by the possessed with no break in consciousness.

Some patients remarked that they used to have aptitude in certain areas like math or spelling, and then were hopeless in them. An extreme example of how spirits interfered in mental functioning is the case of Tony. He nearly flunked out of college after a brilliant start.

EMOTIONAL PROBLEMS

Emotions are always affected when there is possession. Anxiety, fears and phobias were traceable in many cases to the possessors, even though patients initially assume responsibility for the reactions. I often heard such comments as “I always loved driving, but now when I approach the freeway, I go bananas!” Or “I’ve been looking forward to our session all week, but on the way over, I nearly fainted and hardly could restrain myself from walking out of the waiting room! This can’t be me!” A conversation with the fearful spirits revealed who the anxious ones really were.

Phobias frequently are related very logically to the actual circumstances of the former death experience, which the entities vividly remember. When the people they are possessing are in similar situations, all the original fears come back and the possessees, feeling it, assume it’s themselves reacting, not realizing they are possessed.

This was the case with a particularly sensitive patient, Lynn, a well-known psychic, who couldn’t understand what had happened to her. For seven years, immediately following an elective surgery, she had been unable to drive her car because of feelings of panic. If someone else were driving, she was free of anxiety, unless they drove on the nearby coastal highway, high above the water. This condition was extremely puzzling to her, since one of her former joys in life was racing cars.

Under hypnosis, she easily tuned in to a young female spirit who, suicidal over a broken romance, had impulsively plunged her car off the same highway. She was terrified as she fell to the ocean far below. Her body was taken to the same hospital that Lynn was in. The spirit, disliking the cold of the morgue, and feeling confused and scared, wandered to an upper floor and into Lynn’s room, where she possessed her.

Even when we had been trying to release a frightened entity from a patient who assumed he was possessed, he still found it difficult to experience the panic and disclaim it as not being his own. The more such a patient could believe it belonged to the entity, the better he could quickly bring it under control.

Depressions often were traced to despondent spirits who usually didn’t realize they were dead. As explained (in a prior chapter), some who committed suicide remained bound to the physical world because they were terrified of going to hell. Many continued to be so depressed that they didn’t see their spirit helpers and loved ones. Because they were still suicidal, they posed real threats to the very life of the possessed! Regressions to past lives showed that at times these distraught entities had driven their hosts to suicide.

DRUG AND ALCOHOL ADDICTIONS

Next to depression, the most devastating symptom of spirit possession is drug and alcohol abuse. Once addicted spirits gain entrance, they literally have a stranglehold on their victims. Their hosts then interpret the impulse to use drugs as entirely their own. Under the influence of the substance, they abdicate even more control over their lives. This permits the spirits–usually there are multiple possessions-to indulge to their hearts’ content. They don’t have to pay the price in broken relationships, destroyed health, lost jobs and even greater lowering of self-esteem and respect. The aura becomes very weakened from continued drug use, allowing easy possession by still others seeking a puppet, a pushover, or a “sitting duck,” as they have been described by their possessors.

Because the original personality is overwhelmed by the addicted spirits, therapy is very difficult-the entities certainly aren’t motivated to be helped! In their ignorance, they don’t want to give up a “good thing.” Fortunately, in exceptional cases I have been able to help some patients become freed from their enslavement–even in one or two sessions! Usually, however, it’s a long struggle in which the patient often succumbs and drops out of treatment.

This type of possession can be life-threatening–from a fatal overdose or car accident. Many of my patients have narrowly escaped death, as the following example illustrates.

Glen, a stockbroker in his mid-fifties, sought help because he had suffered from severe insomnia for twenty years. Further conversation revealed a serious drinking problem that had developed suddenly four years before. After a few sessions, we uncovered an alcoholic entity, John, who had possessed him during a hospitalization four years ago. He apparently left with his loved one after an uncomplicated depossession.

A few days later Glen called for an emergency appointment, urgently explaining to my secretary that he couldn’t wait for his next scheduled treatment.

As he walked into my office the next day, he looked terrible! After collapsing into the reclining chair, he blurted out, “I slept through the night for the first time in twenty years-the night of our appointment! But when I woke up in the morning, I felt sick! I could barely make it down to the kitchen to fix my coffee. My head was killing me! I couldn’t believe it! There on the counter was the vodka. An entire liter empty! It was unopened the night before. I must have drunk it all. There–next to it–was a whole quart of cottage cheese–eaten, not a spoonful left! I really panicked. It’s a wonder I wasn’t dead! Thank God, I ate the cottage cheese. And–you know–I don’t remember a thing.”

Glen continued, telling me that after that he had been confused and extremely depressed. He was terrified of seeing me again and immediately canceled his next appointment. Then he reflected and wondered if John had really left. He picked up the phone and asked to see me as soon as possible.

Under hypnosis, it became clear that John had not gone into the afterlife, but had just left Glen’s aura temporarily. As he put it, “I was found out and I felt closed in on.” He admitted the depossession had profoundly upset him. It didn’t take him long to slip back into Glen’s body.

“He was sleeping, but I wasn’t. All I wanted was a drink! I was in a panic! I walked down to the kitchen and drank the vodka. Then I thought, I could kill us! So I ate the cottage cheese.”

After reassuring John, another depossession was tried. This time I made sure he had a firm grip on his deceased wife’s hand and he finally left with her. It worked! Glen lost all desire for vodka from that point on.

SMOKING ADDICTION

Unlike drug abuse, nicotine addiction causes not as much weakening of the aura and no major distortion of consciousness. The effects are less destructive mentally emotionally, but they take their toll on the individual’s health. I’ve treated people who have complained of incipient emphysema or the threat of lung cancer, who have every reason to stop smoking, but can’t. The addicted entities don’t care a whit about the health their hosts. They figure they can find another “patsy” if the host dies. What a relief it is to patients when the depossessions have been successful. They immediately find not only no desire to smoke, but freedom from withdrawal symptoms.

WEIGHT AND OBESITY PROBLEMS

One of the most multi-determined problems that therapists (medical and psychological) deal with daily is overweight or obesity.

Obviously, possession is only one of the many causes of this growing national health concern.

I’ve had patients who have found entities at the root of their problems with weight control. Not only were the spirits responsible for the weight gain, but they were uninterested in dieting and–in fact–determined not to give up their pleasure in eating what they wanted. Sometimes our clues were clear because the weight gain occurred rapidly following a situation in which possession was especially possible: after surgery, the death of a loved one, etc.

Sylvia, a delightful woman in her forties, was overjoyed when her long-term, obsessive craving for sweets–the bane of her chronic weight struggle–left after our first session during which I had performed a generalized depossession. At the beginning of our second meeting, she explained, “I have no interest at all in sweets. I can’t believe it! You have no idea how it dominated my life. All I thought of was eating something sweet–and when I did, it didn’t satisfy me–I had to exert all the control I could muster up. And I was like that as long as I can remember! Now I don’t even think about it!” Spirits bring their cravings with them!

A craving for chocolate left with my patient’s deceased father-in-law who had been possessing her since his death. He was known to his family as a “chocoholic”!

Another patient reported that the morning she seriously committed herself to start a diet, a voice in her head said, “I’m not going to let you diet. Forget it! I’m in charge.” The possessing entity, which had dominated her for many years, departed only when convinced she could eat all she wanted in the spirit world. The compulsion to overeat vanished with her.

RELATIONSHIP PROBLEMS

Relationships really suffer as a result of possession because there is an unsuspected menage a tros–or more–involved. An unpleasant child may be harboring a vicious spirit whose values are different from those of the child’s family. A husband could be relating to a male spirit possessing his wife. Interplay of the spirits involved between mates or partners often results in erratic sexual attraction. Even employee-employer relationships may be disturbed for the same reason.

SEXUAL PROBLEMS

Since many spirits were old when they died, the people they possessed often experienced symptoms of aging, including a noticeable diminution of their sexual drive.

Sexual hang-ups are part of the repertory many entities bring with them. Their own problems and proclivities manifest themselves when the possessed engage in sex. At one extreme, their hosts may even be prevented from approaching their partners!

One of the causes of homosexuality is possession by spirits of the opposite sex. If the possession began before puberty, heterosexual development often was disrupted and the afflicted grew up believing they desired sexual partners of the same sex, when it was the entities who were determining their choices. Every homosexual patient I have done a depossession on has had at least one exceedingly dominating entity of the opposite sex who was determining the sexual preference. Often these patients told of feeling they were “trapped” in bodies of the wrong sex.

Some of these people were considering irreversible transsexual operations because of the spirit’s desperate attempt to make the possessee’s body as much like the deceased one as possible.

I have treated a number of transvestites, all with possessing spirits of the opposite sex. It was they who bought the clothes and dressed up to suit their fancy, much to the confusion and embarrassment of their victims.