Possessions?

[aftershocked]

I'm feeling a little curious about possessions:

Not the old exorcist, forced-leaving, demon-possession type deal- like those you find in Saneteria and other such traditions.

Does your particular path have a possession ritual? Do you do it in a group setting as a form of communication with your god(s)? What are your general views on it? Have you done it? What's it like

Eeh, sorry, I'm going on and on again.. I love asking questions of you people- so many interesting views!

[DarkSidhe]

As a form of communication with my god/dess? A ritual of Invocation, to merge with the divine? (Drawing Down the Moon?) Then yes. I wouldn't call it possession, as much as a merging. You invoke a deity, and draw them into yourself (if they accept, of course), becoming the divine incarnate. Is that what you are talking about?

[Faeawyn]

I often worried about the possibility of possession during Astral Travel....but as of yet, I haven't heard of any one have problems with it. The body seems to do a pretty good job of snapping you back when sensing danger.
I believe in the ability for a negative or positive energy to enter you and affect you. Especially if you're empathic.....
I'm not sure whether I believe in the ability of a being to enter you and take over completely. Has anyone ever read about "walk-ins"??

[aftershocked]

I was speaking in general about having some form of otherworldly being enter you.. and yes, DarkSidhe, that's what I was wondering.. I wasn't sure if anyone here had any experience with having a divine presence in you.

But I was also curious if anyone's tradition, coven, or whatnot had certain rituals for having your god(s) enter a priest or priestess to communicate with the group.. or if you'd ever been to one as a guest.

A group I'm looking at joining has such practices, and being solitary I had never been to one. It's not something I think would be alright to participate in if I wasn't in the group.. but I just wanted to see if others maybe had any opinions abou this sort of thing.
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Is this making sense? I'll give an example:
In their ritual, the priest/ess (who has trained and recieved the permission of the god/dess who is 'coming to visit') goes into a deep meditation, and literally leaves their body while the deity is there..allowing Them to relay messages, blessings, and teachings directly to the group through that person, with their voice and body.

[DarkSidhe]

I was speaking in general about having some form of otherworldly being enter you.. and yes, DarkSidhe, that's what I was wondering.. I wasn't sure if anyone here had any experience with having a divine presence in you.

But I was also curious if anyone's tradition, coven, or whatnot had certain rituals for having your god(s) enter a priest or priestess to communicate with the group.. or if you'd ever been to one as a guest.

A group I'm looking at joining has such practices, and being solitary I had never been to one. It's not something I think would be alright to participate in if I wasn't in the group.. but I just wanted to see if others maybe had any opinions abou this sort of thing.
-------------------------------------------------------

Is this making sense? I'll give an example:
In their ritual, the priest/ess (who has trained and recieved the permission of the god/dess who is 'coming to visit') goes into a deep meditation, and literally leaves their body while the deity is there..allowing Them to relay messages, blessings, and teachings directly to the group through that person, with their voice and body.

I'm a solitary myself, and having done it myself, I don't believe that it is a ritual that requires a coven to do so (seeing as that I have done it by myself). I also don't leave my body while the divine is within me, we become one. I believe it's also called Theurgy?

My wife and I have performed the Great Rite on Beltane, where we both invoke the aspects of the God and Goddess, and definitely not with others around...

I believe many covens practive invocation as a means for gaining insight and knowledge. But the insight and knowledge gained from invoking a deity is not a platform for directing others, instead it is a personal act. I would assume that a coven member could tell others of his/her experiences, but I think that if any divine being out there wanted to hand out messages, they would be well able to do so personally, and not through a "medium".

But I suppose that would also have to do with what Trad the group is from, and how they work. Me, personally, I'd rather communicate with my God/dess myself, and not through another. Why talk to the secretary, when the CEO has an open door policy? I've also heard where in some instances, a trance-like effect is used, or where the person who is recieving the aspect of the Goddess does not recall what happened; but I don't think that ever happened to me.

As for what it feels like, um, well, it's been different for me each time. I've requested this from several deities, and was turned down once (my fault...), each time for different reasons. I don't think that my ordinary mortal body can actually withstand the entire presence of the divine within me, and so I believe that a fraction of their power/consciousness was merged with mine to better fullfill the purpose of the intended invocation. And so even invoking the same deity twice has for me had different feelings.

To put more perspective, I'll give you one example that I recall very well. A few years ago, a group of friends of mine decided to start training martial arts together. One of my friends is heavy into Mui Tai, and I'm more into Tai Kwon Do. He kept doing one particular move, that I couldn't ever seem to block. I tried all sorts of things, and each week, would end up with his elbow in my face.
So I sat down, and decided to write out a plan to invoke Scathach, who taught Finn a bit of fighting. I am a male, and Scathach is female; so that was weird in a way, but also the way of the Irish, that the females taught the males, and vise versa, so it made perfect sense. She agreed and when her energy fused with mine, I just imagined the move that my friend did, and immediately came up with a counter-move, and then another, and then another. I was, to say the least, greatly elated. After thanking her, and practicing the moves that she had taught me, the following week, needless to say, I whooped his butt.

As far as what it actually felt like, it's hard to put to words.
I usually feel instantly energized, enthused, younger, more in control of my mind and body, and a lot of other feelings. I've never blacked out, or lost control of my mind or body while in this state. I think that a lot of what I've felt was due to what I expected, in a way. It's kind of like asking "how does it feel when you manipulate energy?"