The Demonism of the Ages: Spirit Obsessions

About this book

A disturbed person speaks in another voice, and J. M. Peebles interprets the episode as the intrusion of a spirit. From such cases he builds a theory of obsession and its influence upon health and conduct.

The Demonism of the Ages collects accounts of supposed possession from Eastern and Western traditions, arguing within the Spiritualist framework of its period. Its conclusions should never substitute for modern mental health care, and its case reports require critical reading. The book records the powerful but hazardous habit of interpreting suffering through an invisible agent thought to be acting from outside the self.