LITMIR.BIZ

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ability but he was undoubtedly a scoundrel as well. On one occasion he managed to persuade Dee that the spirits had instructed them to ‘hold their wives in common’, an arrangement that broke down within a matter of weeks when the less gullible wives began to get suspicious.

      Kelley also persuaded Dee to leave his position at court and concentrate on producing gold alchemically When this failed the Queen took pity on Dee and reinstated him as a rector of a small college, but he was never to regain his earlier prestige.

      DÉJÀ VU

      An expression of familiarity that is unexpected, déjà vu is the sensation of having been to a place or experienced a situation before. The French term for ‘already seen’ can apply to feelings, thoughts, places, dreams, meetings and living in general -whenever something familiar seemingly happens for the first time. The idea was first introduced to science in 1896 by F L Arnaud.

      Studies conducted on déjà vu suggest that it is a common experience, with more than half of those polled reporting instances of déjà vu. It also seems more common in children and women than men. The phenomenon is thought to be a psychological process where the unconscious mind is stimulated to recall past events of a similar nature that somehow get mixed up with the present event. Some feel that it is evidence for reincarnation, memories of past lives being pushed to the surface of the mind by familiar surroundings or people in the present. Some say it happens when one draws on the collective memories of mankind - see collective unconscious -while others believe it to be the result of out-of-body experiences during sleep, or other extra-sensory phenomena.

      DEMON/DAEMON

      To the ancient Greeks daemons, from the Greek word daimon meaning ‘divine power’, ‘fate’ or ‘god’, were intermediary spirits between the gods and humankind, rather like guardian spirits. They could be either good or evil. Good daemons were supportive and encouraging but evil daemons could lead people astray with bad counsel.

      The Christian Church labelled all such pagan spirits as evil, which is why daemons, better known to us today as demons, are traditionally associated with evil. For centuries demons have been blamed for a host of ills and misfortunes including demonic sexual molestation, where a demon masquerades as a man or woman to molest its victim. Many possession cases in the Middle Ages involved sexual molestation by demons, although this may have been more to do with repressed humans than supernatural activity. In many cultures and religions demons have been exorcised. In Catholicism cases of demonic possession - in which demons battle for a person’s soul - are dealt with by formal exorcism rites that date back to 1614.

      DEMONANCY

      Also called necyomancy A form of divination that calls on demons to reveal the truth of a matter or of future events. This is done by summoning spirits via an oracle or occult magic. Demons, however, are reputedly perverse, so the accuracy of any predictions made is thought to be unreliable. Moreover, some demons are believed to be hard to control and, if they are able to free themselves from the constraints put on them, they can take over the body and soul of the summoner.

      DEMONOLOGY

      The study of demons or malevolent spirits and their powers, attributes and derivations. Demons were thought to be extremely evil and extremely clever, masters in the art of persuasion. Humans had to be constantly on their guard against them. In 1580 philosopher Jean Bodin claimed that: It is certain that the devils have a profound knowledge of all things. No theologian can interpret the Holy Scriptures better than they can; no lawyer has a more detailed knowledge of testaments, contracts and actions; no physician or philosopher can better understand the composition of the human body, and the virtues of the heavens, the stars, birds and fishes, trees and herbs, metals and stones.

      The hierarchy of demons was much discussed among theological experts in the last centuries. According to Alphonse de Spina (1467) there were ten types of demon:

      

Fates that can change destiny.

      

Poltergeists that cause mischief.

      

Incubi and succubi - demons who stimulate lust and perversion.

      

Hordes—demons that bring conflict.

      

Familiars that assist witches.

      

Nightmares that disturb sleep.

      

Demons formed from human semen.

      

Disguised demons.

      

Demons that trouble the saintly.

      

Demons that instigate witchcraft.

      DEPOSSESSION

      Also known as spirit releasement. Depossession is practised all over the world and is the exorcism of human and non-human spirits, such as elemental spirits and demons thought to be attached to an individual and causing physical, mental and emotional distress.

      American psychologist Edith Fiore used depossession in her past-life therapy, believing that in regressing patients to past lives interference from attached spirits could be observed. According to Fiore, amongst about 70,000 cases 70 per cent were unaware that they were showing signs of spirit attachment, such as mood swings, chronic pains, illnesses and addictions.

      Most spirits are thought to be those of humans who have died but not left the earthly plane. They are believed to attach themselves to humans during moments of poor health and emotional weakness. Depossession is typically accomplished by persuading the spirits that they need to leave, and patients subsequently say they feel much better afterwards. Depossession was common practice at the height of the popularity of spiritualism, but the first medically trained person to approach mental illness as caused by spirit possession was the American physician and psychologist Carl Wickland.

      Wickland and his wife, Anna, a medium, attributed all sorts of mental illness to confused spirits trapped in the auras of living people. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the Wicklands depos-sessed a large number of their patients. They used a static electricity machine that transmitted low voltage electric shocks to the patient, causing the possessing spirit distress and forcing it into Anna’s body and then to leave. If the spirit resisted, Wickland called on spirit helpers to keep the spirit in a ‘dungeon’, out of the aura of Anna or the victim, until it stopped its selfish quest and departed.

      DERMOGRAPHY

      Skin

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