Bottom line, is possession a reality of its own? Is it a psychiatric disorder? Could it be the delusions of the human mind? Could it be telepathy that is operating? When more than one person is involved, is this a form of folie a deux, trois, quatre, etc, a delusion shared by two or more?
Logically, I think about argumentum absurdum and argumentum ignoratum. The former is an argument that something could be trued is absurd and silly, so ridicule the idea. Get others to laugh at the idea and, ridicule alternatives these people may choose and give them the only option that you have not derided.
The latter is when you believe something is false and that it can not be proven true or that it is true and cannot be proven false.
This is the case when the paranormal is explored. It can not be scientifically proven as fact. The scientific method cannot replicate the same results without variation. Scientifically, each time you combine two molecules of hydrogen and one of oxygen, the result is water. This does not exist in the realms of the paranormal, psychology or religion.
Then, there is argumentum ad nauseum which is when an idea is believed to be accepted the more frequently it is heard.
Do I have the answers? No, but I have what I believe might be possible and am open to other ideas....
Allison, Ralph, Minds in Many Pieces, ISBN: 0-89256-097-5
www.collectmyflock/CollectMyFlock/Book/01--00_TOC_30_Years_Among_the_Dead_000.html This site has the full text of Wickland's book
www.dissociation.com/index/whoweare/
Ebon, Martin, The Devil's Bride, 1974, New York: Harper & Row Publishers. No ISBN
Fiore, Edith, The Unquiet Dead, ISBN: 0-345-35083-9
Guiley, Rosemary Ellen, The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits. ISBN: 0-8160-2846-X
Martin, Malachi, Hostage to the Devil. ISBN: 0-06-097103-7
Peck, M. Scott, People of the Lie, ISBN: 0-671-52816-5
