Religious Demonology Signs of Possession

SIGNS OF POSSESSION

The Roman Ritual for Exorcism lists a number of signs of possession that the priest is to look for in order to separate mundane psychiatric cases from possession. One of these signs, or a few, may be present at any time. It is certainly not required that all of the signs be present in order to substantiate possession.

Possibly the most dramatic sign of possession made popular in the media is levitation. Levitation is very rare across possession cases. In Father Fortea's book he notes that an exorcist might see levitation once in two hundred cases of true possession. Levitation is not even mentioned as a sign of possession, possibly because it is so rare.

The signs of possession don't guarantee that a person is possessed and the absence of them also does not guarantee a person is not possessed.

The signs as defined in the 1950 version of the Roman Ritual are:

"Ability to speak with some facility in a strange tongue or to understand it when spoken by another."

"The faculty of divulging future and hidden events."

"Display of powers which are beyond the subject's age and natural condition."

and

"...various other indications..."

The most common signs in my limited experience are supernatural strength and supernatural knowledge. The reference to divulging future and hidden events probably doesn't refer to psychic information but to the demon revealing the sins and secrets of those present to shame and distract them. I doubt that making psychic predictions about the future would cause clergy to assume a person is possessed, though they would likely question where the information is coming from, and why.

It is important to investigate any purported sign of possession well. You may find a person picked up enough of a language to seem facile with it, or that they are simply a very gifted person for their age. Many times the signs of possession are very clear to everyone present and go well beyond the list provided in the Roman Ritual.

Please do not copy the material on this site, but link to this site instead.
All material Copyright Adam Blai, 2007


	SIGNS OF POSSESSION The Roman Ritual for Exorcism lists a number of signs of possession that the priest is to look for in order to separate mundane psychiatric cases from possession. One of these signs, or a few, may be present at any time. It is certainly not required that all of the signs be present in order to substantiate possession. Possibly the most dramatic sign of possession made popular in the media is levitation. Levitation is very rare across possession cases. In Father Fortea's book he notes that an exorcist might see levitation once in two hundred cases of true possession. Levitation is not even mentioned as a sign of possession, possibly because it is so rare. The signs of possession don't guarantee that a person is possessed and the absence of them also does not guarantee a person is not possessed. The signs as defined in the 1950 version of the Roman Ritual are: "Ability to speak with some facility in a strange tongue or to understand it when spoken by another." "The faculty of divulging future and hidden events." "Display of powers which are beyond the subject's age and natural condition." and "...various other indications..." The most common signs in my limited experience are supernatural strength and supernatural knowledge. The reference to divulging future and hidden events probably doesn't refer to psychic information but to the demon revealing the sins and secrets of those present to shame and distract them. I doubt that making psychic predictions about the future would cause clergy to assume a person is possessed, though they would likely question where the information is coming from, and why. It is important to investigate any purported sign of possession well. You may find a person picked up enough of a language to seem facile with it, or that they are simply a very gifted person for their age. Many times the signs of possession are very clear to everyone present and go well beyond the list provided in the Roman Ritual. Please do not copy the material on this site, but link to this site instead. All material Copyright Adam Blai, 2007