DEMON POSSESSION

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 49, 26 August 1922, Page 19

DEMON POSSESSION

AMONG THE MAORIS NOT SPIRITS, BUT MENTAL1 TROUBLE. ' Scientific psychology, as distinct from, all the one-sided and unscientific cult# existing under cover of the name "psychology," is satisfied with the adequacy of its lams ix> explain all genuine catw of mental phenomena, which .from time to time have been reported in all fullness and without bias. Such, was the "statement, of Dr. Fitt, Mi., Ph.D., of | the Auckland Training College, when addressing the clergy .in retreat at St. John's College, The speaker referred to several reiported cases of demon possession among the .Maoris, notified by Canon A. F. Williams, of JJ«pi«r-' The Auckland ."Church Gazette" took the matter up, contending that they could be scientifically explained, and were treated in /accordance with the principles of . psycho-analysis and suggestion.. . Canon ■ Williams, was . complimented on the accuracy of his description, but his explanation could not be WWItUENCE OF SPIBITUALIBM. Referring to the influence of spiritualism, he said one had only to note the number-of ewes of insanity, in which it was an important factor to gauge the harm done. Many people , under the influence, of its "messages" adopted a fatalistic view of life. There was a danger that the struggle, which was ..partly bound up with the ■uncertainty of the future, would be abandoned. Retrogression would then set in. "Man is made to feel that following the laws of. life—*jtternal and internal, physical, .moral, and ethical—he carries his destiny in his own.hands. This is, of course,' subject to all'the advantages and disadvantages of his ■ inheritance. Such a view is in full keeping with the doclarine of a beneficent Creator '.The actnal facts niToet have been1 noted' and reported with perfect accuracy," continued Dr Fitt. "The cases correspond in every detail (states th« "Auckland S&r") to the class of -disorder called ' psychosis. What was wrong "was the interpretation of the facts. In one particular case chosen for survey—-that of a Maori woman forty year* of age, reported from Waiapu— the influence of a Maori tohunga arid of a spiritualistic medium from Auckland was for moat of the complications caused by the idea of demon possession. This woman was brought to the timrgymtai by bar husband in the hope that they might be able to help her. ' She had-been afflicted since a child, and had been treated again and again by a tohunga. The Natives, and the woman also:, believed that she was possessed by demons, who every now and agsin seißed her and drove her oft to the bush away from her home. When on \ different occasions the clergyman would attempt to understand Eer trouble, she would usually go into a kind of trance, in which she would act and speak under the influence of different spirits."

The woman adopted the personality of .an "offspring of the serpent." On command some eight or nine of these uncanny spirits went from her. She also took on an English personality. When moat of these personalities were bidden in the name' of the Lord to leave her they did so, with the exception of an 'English identity. It was obstinate, and showed itself to be the cause of most of her trouble! "The dominance of the serpent symbol points to the sexual nature of the experiences," said Dr. Fitt. "But.; one should state, that not all psychosis are sexual, in basis. She dung most vigorously to the English-speaking, demon. After consenting-to give up resistance, an attempt was made to sidetrack." Canon WjUiams had reported, "Anyone who heard that laugh and the torrent of good English that for half an hour poured from the lips of that woman would surely be compelled to ' believe in the possibility of evil spirits. The woman can only apeak Tory little broken. English. The speaker refused to come' out." . ■ ■ . „• . ■ ; ■ v. "Now, one of the strangest characteristics of hypnotic and other tranoas is the remarkable tenacity "of memory for impressions wholly or nearly forgotten," declared Dr. Fitt. "This woman need be doing nothing more than repeat the English conversation of earlier years. No psychologist woul<? admit this as evidence for demon possession. The method of cure by the clergyman was not scientifically correct, yet he nevertheless got somewhere near the truth.". The religious appeal -had succeeded because the Maori woman had driven away the influence of her spirits or demons— in reality her own desire—by ■ placing -.'» much greater power above them, which she agreed to obey and follo-w. Final cure would not come by faith'alone, but through mental reconstruction, in which faith in a higher order of things would' undoubtedly assist. The clergy of the diocese who w«r» best acquainted with the Natives held much the same opinion as that ao ably stated by Dr. Fitt, declared the-BisJiop of Auckland (Dr. Averill), appealing to Archdeacon Hawkins, who signifiedl his assent.