Compassionate Depossession

by Scott Silverston

Shamans are occasionally called upon for depossession healing.  While these cases are rare compared to most of my work, they do occur; and it is important for the healer to be prepared for what is involved.

Contrary to Hollywood dramatizations of exorcism, depossession can often be done gently and compassionately, and can be done effectively from a distance.

How to Prepare

The first order of business when approaching a depossession healing is to make sure that you feel strong, confident and full.  If you feel depleted, scared, or unsure; stop.  Wait until you are feeling stronger and fully prepared.  If you feel that it is above your skill level, refer it to someone else who can manage it effectively.   We all have our specialties and strengths; a dentist does not perform reconstructive knee surgery and if it is not in your wheel house, you are doing a service to both the client and yourself by referring to someone who has the necessary training and expertise to work effectively with the situation.

Once you have decided it is appropriate to proceed with the case, the next order of business is to gather all relevant information from the client or from one of the client’s family members.  Often in these cases it will be a family member that reaches out on behalf of the afflicted.   I look for signs of a sudden change in the behavior or personality of the client that seems to have come out of nowhere.

Things Your Client Might Say

Descriptions of the client “suddenly not acting at all like him/herself” since an event are common indicators of possession.  So are deep emotional upsets, spontaneous outbursts, and swings in behavior.

I will share a story from a distance healing I performed on a young man.  His mother contacted me and shared about what was happening with her son.  

This is an excerpt from the email I received:

Dear Scott,

I am reaching out as I need your guidance. I’ve been thinking about you as I’m trying to figure out how to best support my son.

Out of the blue, my son started to fall into this deep state of depression. His symptoms started without any known triggers or warnings and have progressively getting worse. He has been claiming feelings of blacking out and not remembering the events of the day. It’s almost like he’s not himself. He recently stated that he’s seeing things at night but couldn’t describe it.

The only strange event that I can recall around [the time this started] is that we stayed in a cabin and there was an abandoned building across from it…. I got a strange feeling from it of a spirit living there. When I had shared that, my husband mentioned he already tried to go in to the building but it was locked.. Oddly, my son thought it would be fun to try it and when he approached it and tried the door, it just opened up for him and he went in to explore it.

Since that time, things started to shift for him [in a negative way]. He’s broken everything off from his friends and girlfriend to isolate himself. For the last two months, things have been tumultuous in our house and thing seems heavier than normal.

Needless to say, the entire family was incredibly concerned for the young man.  Before the session, I verified that he had not encountered any physical beings in the building, and asked that he share with me his experiences over the past several months. 

This is an excerpt of what he shared:

The building has been a weird place to me.  Ever since that day that’s when I started developing more severe symptoms... I feel some being is holding me down the more I’ve experienced these symptoms…. I keep seeing other worldly beings and my paranoia with others is at an all-time high. I just feel lost.  I’ve been asking to go to a rehabilitation facility to protect myself from this, but I don’t feel comfortable sharing this to others of course because I sound crazy.

These are classic markings of possession.

The Healing Session

After I had gathered all the relevant information, I prepared myself for the session and began my distance healing.  In the journey I was indeed shown a wandering spirit that had been living in that abandoned building.  The spirit was angry, desperate and despondent.  When I made contact with it, I asked it to tell me its story.  He explained to me that he was a man who had lived on that land many years ago, in the mid-1800’s.  He told me his name was William and that his family had lived on that land for generations, but that the land was stolen from him at the conclusion of the United States Civil War.  He said that soldiers had come and taken the land from him.  He said that he protested and tried to maintain ownership of the land, but that the soldiers took it over with force.   He died shortly thereafter of injuries he sustained while defending his land and never found peace.  The injustice he suffered from the loss of his family’s land never healed, even after he died.  He remained trapped in the middle world, attached to the land in hopes that he would be able to reclaim it.

As I listened to his story, I held compassion for his plight and explained to him that he was dead so he couldn’t live on the land in the way he would like. I asked him why he had taken hold of this young man’s mind.  He repeated that he wanted justice and spoke again about how hurt and angry he was about losing his land.  He repeated that he wanted the land back and that this young man had no right to be there.  I explained to William that the young man was on a vacation with his family, that he was just walking around innocently for a weekend and that he made no claim on William’s land.   I explained that taking control of this young man was not helping anyone and that he needed to let go.  I reminded William that he was dead and explained to him that there was no way to locate any of descendants or to even know if any were living, and that even if we could, it would be neigh impossible to reclaim the land in their name. William began to understand that his actions were not helping achieve his goals.  I continued to negotiate with him and asked him what would help him to have peace.  What would allow him to let go.  Eventually, we came to the agreement that I would tell his story, because there were also many others who have suffered similar injustices, and that this would help him to have peace.  Once I promised him that I would tell his story, he felt safe to let go, and I escorted him through the portal into the upper world.

A Happy Ending

A few days after the completion of the session, I reached out to the family to see how they were doing. 

This is the feedback which I received:

THANK YOU for the healing session that you conducted. 

I listened to the recording right away and [my son] has listened to it as well. Since the session, we definitely notice a significant change in [my son] and in our household. I am so glad I reached out to you and trusted my instinct.  I’ve asked [my son] to follow through with the guidance of the spirits and we hope that in the coming months, he can heal fully. 

Depossession work can be both compassionate and effective.   It can often be done with grace such that all parties involved receive healing.

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