The hard work of disobsession

Kardec thus defines the obsession:

Obsession is the persistent action that an evil Spirit exerts on an individual. It presents very different characters, from the simple moral influence without sensitive external marks to the complete disturbance of the organism and mental faculties. Obliterates all mediumistic faculties. In auditory and psychographic mediumship, it is translated by the obstinacy of a spirit in manifesting itself to the exclusion of others.

Obsession is almost always the fact of revenge exercised by a Spirit and that most often originates in the relationships that the obsessed person has had with that one in a previous existence. 

In cases of severe obsession, the obsessed person is surrounded and impregnated by a pernicious fluid that neutralizes the action of healthy fluids and repels them. It is from this fluid that it becomes necessary to disentangle oneself; now, a bad fluid cannot be repelled by another bad fluid. By an action identical to that of the healing medium, in the case of diseases, it is necessary to expel the bad fluid with the help of a better fluid. 

That's mechanical action, but that's not always enough. It is also, and above all, necessary to act on the intelligent being, to which it is necessary to have the right to speak with authority, and this authority is only given by moral superiority; the greater it is, the greater the authority.

Allan Kardec, The Genesis, 1868

Obsession occurs from spirit to spirit, even from incarnate to incarnate and has, at its root, always a lack of initial ability to fight against a pernicious influence. We see this in unhealthy couple relationships, when one exerts a pernicious dominion that is not fought for the other. When giving from Spirit to incarnate, at the origin, the incarnate's lack of ability to identify the pernicious influence on their own imperfections and passions (feelings) is identified, leading them, slowly and progressively, to enter different states. such as those of pleasure, restlessness, melancholy, etc. This means that, many times, the incarnate himself voluntarily accepts, although unconsciously, the influence that instigates him to cultivate imperfections or habits that please him.

There is also the less frequent possibility of having a self-obsession, where the individual himself is attached to certain thoughts or certain questions, without the participation of other Spirits. We will address each of these possibilities below.

It is important to say, first of all, that obsession needs to be fought, as soon as possible, by the will of the incarnate, in the first place. It turns out that, if the obsession is advanced, this desire can be obliterated, which is very common in cases identified as depressive. This is where it is necessary to have an intervention, from close people, who can help, with benevolent persistence, to lift this non-existent or erased will. For this reason, we believe it is important to highlight the state of subjugation and possession, defined as follows by Kardec:

Subjugation

It is a moral bond that paralyzes the will of the one who suffers it and that impels the person to the most unreasonable attitudes, often the most contrary to their own interest. [RE, Oct/1858]

Subjugation can be moral or corporal. In the first case, the subject is forced to make resolutions that are often absurd and compromising, which, by a kind of illusion, he judges to be sensible: it is a type of fascination. In the second case, the Spirit acts on the material organs and causes involuntary movements. It is translated, in the writing medium, by an incessant need to write, even at the least opportune moments. We saw some who, lacking a pen or pencil, pretended to write with their finger, wherever they were, even in the streets, on doors, on walls. [The Mediums' Book]

possession 

It was formerly called possession to the empire exercised by bad spirits, when their influence reached the aberration of the victim's faculties. Possession would be, for us, synonymous with subjugation. [The Mediums' Book]

In possession, instead of acting externally, the free Spirit replaces, so to speak, the incarnate Spirit; he makes the choice of domicile in his body without, however, this leaving him definitively, which cannot take place except with death. Possession is therefore always temporary and intermittent because a disembodied Spirit cannot definitively take the place and dignity of an incarnate Spirit, bearing in mind that the molecular union of the perispirit and the body can only operate at the moment of conception.

The Spirit, in the momentary possession of the body, uses it as its own; he speaks through his mouth, sees through his eyes, acts with his arms as if he had made his experience. It is no longer like in psychophonic mediumship, in which the incarnate Spirit speaks transmitting the thought of a disembodied Spirit. It is the latter himself who speaks and acts and if you have known him in life, you will recognize him by his language, his voice, by his gestures and even by the expression of his physiognomy.

Obsession is always an occurrence of a malefactor spirit. Possession can be the action of a good Spirit who wants to speak and, in order to make a greater impression on his listener, he borrows the body of an incarnate, who voluntarily lends him as if he were lending his garment.. This is done without no disturbance or discomfort, and during this time the Spirit is at liberty, as in the state of emancipation, and, more often than not, he stands beside his substitute to listen to him.

When the possessing spirit is bad, things happen differently. He does not borrow the body, but takes possession if the holder does not have the moral strength to resist him.. He does it out of malice towards the said, whom he tortures and martyrs in every way, until he wants to make him perish, either by strangulation, or by putting him on fire, or in other dangerous places. Using the limbs and organs of the unfortunate patient, he insults, defames, and mistreats those around him; he frees himself from such eccentricities and acts that have all the characteristics of raging madness. [The Genesis]

We thus see the extent of evil that can be reached with an unconfronted influence. We come to the important point: how to fight an obsession.

Fighting an obsession

Whether on your own initiative or with the help of someone, fighting an obsession must encompass everyone involved. When it comes to self-obsession, that will be the only target; the approach will be different when there is a relationship between some individuals and others. In the case of obsession from incarnate to incarnate, the work can be greatly helped by human psychology, but also by approaching the incarnate obsessor who, in turn, is almost always suffering from an obsession. Depending on the severity of this situation, from incarnate to incarnate, the interruption of influence, even by legal means, may be necessary.

The most frequent picture, however, is the obsession of imperfect spirits over incarnates. As we have seen, it almost always takes place out of revenge. Other times, it is simply due to the will that one or more imperfect spirits have to attract those whom they envy to the unhappiness they share. Another possibility that should matter a lot to the workers of the Spiritist Doctrine is that of the Spirits who, enemies of this science, do everything to hinder its propagation, creating true evil plans to attack it at its bases, as was the case involving Mr. Roustaing, at the time of Kardec, and Mr. Leymarie, who, after Kardec's death, gave in to the passions of fame and money and, thus, destroyed and distorted the paths previously traced by the patron of the Spiritist Doctrine, casting, on this, a great stain that only today begins to be erased.

The work to combat spiritual obsession, as we said, must address both sides of the relationship. On the side of the spirits, a good spiritist group, sufficiently instructed and careful, can be of great help, through the work of disobsession, which consists of trying to make the obsessing spirits understand the waste of time and the uselessness of doing what they do. For this, however, the group's workers need to offer what Kardec called moral ascendant, that is, they need to be honest and committed to the work of correcting their own imperfections, because, very commonly, the obsessing spirits will point to any trace of dishonesty or demagoguery, which is when you say one thing and do another. The obsessing spirit, for example, when invited to stop acting out of jealousy, may turn around and say: “who are you to tell me that, if you acted like that yesterday, with your wife?”. Of course, we don't expect the incarnates to be perfect, but it is necessary for them to be honest and committed. In this situation, the individual might reply, “Yes, I unfortunately gave in to this bad habit yesterday, but you must have seen that I suffered from its results. That's why, if you've been following me, you must have seen that I'm trying to beat you.”

During the mediumistic contact, the Spirit, who is often crazy in a fixed thought, suffers a kind of "shock", which does not consist of anything energetic, but rather, in the containment of his thoughts, during the perispiritual connection with the medium. Thus, it becomes easier to reason and reflect.

Working with an obsessor can demand persistence and care, for several reasons. sessions, which may involve evoking the Spirit involved. But it is also necessary to approach the incarnate, which needs to awaken, in itself, the will of wanting to get rid of that yoke. For this, it will be necessary to lead him to reason, too, so that, by reason, he makes that decision.

At Spiritist Magazine of October 1858, Kardec presents a case of this type, successful after all:

I used all my willpower to summon the good spirits through him; all my rhetoric to prove to him that he was a victim of detestable spirits; that what he wrote was senseless and profoundly immoral. For this charity work I joined a colleague, Mr. T… and little by little we got him to write sensible things. He took aversion to that bad temper, repelling it of his own accord each time he tried to manifest himself, and slowly the good spirits triumphed.”

To change his ideas, he followed the advice of the Spirits, to give himself to a rough job, that did not leave him time to listen to bad suggestions.

The effect on the Spirit was also positive:

Dillois himself ended up confessing himself defeated and expressed a desire to progress in a new existence. He confessed the evil he had tried to do and gave evidence of repentance. The fight was long and painful and offered the observer really curious features. Today Mr. F. feels free and happy. It's as if you've dropped a burden. He regained his joy and thanks us for the service we have given him.

It is interesting to note that, in this case presented, Kardec's work was even more active in relation to the incarnate, because, acquiring this active and benevolent will, he will offer the "moral ascendant" over these Spirits, who will stop disturbing him when they verify this force, in addition to acquiring the sympathy of good spirits.

Therefore, to be fully instructed in the Spiritist Doctrine, taking from it all the moral and rational consequences that drive us on the path of "intimate reform", work on our own thoughts and actions, fears and desires, so that, each day more, everything is under divine laws, it is the best way to stay free from obsessions, because, even if the obsessing Spirit is not convinced of the need to reform, it may no longer find an opening to influence the incarnate.

We recommend the in-depth and complementary reading of The Mediums' Book, part two, Chap. XXIII, where Kardec approaches the subject in length.