TW: this post speaks on themes of sexual assault, misogyny, and other themes that are connected to the way we do this work.
Disclaimer: This work is not recommended for those under the age of 24. It is not recommended especially for minors. Though it is good to learn about healthy dynamics, intimate relationships with the Divine should not be happening while the frontal lobe is still in development.
There are few places that speak on the rewards and benefits of possessory work, if any. Westernized opinions tend to affiliate possession with demons inhabiting humans and priests attempting to expunge them from the bodies of innocent people. Even the pagans who have started this work through various means like oracular seidr rites or possessory rites have often taken to the issue that we have no control, no say, and no benefit from doing this kind of work to sway people from not using it as a power trip.
We allow ourselves no freedom to show people that we aren’t doing it in a selfish way. But while trying to make sure people don’t abuse this situation by fear-mongering and twisting it to suit the narrative of the people showing this, we end up abusing ourselves in the process.
I have explained the nuance of trance possession before but I haven’t actually broken down the ways in which it can be beneficial and what kinds of relationships can come out of doing this work.
Misconceptions around trance possession
Possession tends to be recognized as something you’re supposed to do formally in ritual and that it needs to be kept contained. Calling down the Gods is not your average activity and shouldn’t be done offhand but given the right environment, it can become something that is extremely healing and useful for all involved. It can be done in a casual environment that is then made sacred.
You can, in fact, do normal human things while also speaking to a Deity as long as the environment that the Deity is in is not superficial, imposing, or unclean. It can be done in a one-on-one environment without the guidance of dozens of people around. It can also happen in your living room, at a public park, or even at a dining table. Hospitality is warranted for Deities that are not already well known and it is always best to ask permission before doing anything with a Deity. Make sure they do not want that sort of formality, and if they do want it, make sure that it is kept in the way They request.
A Deity can be just as uncomfortable and unhappy as a human is. If the Deity is uncomfortable, They will make it apparent and will often not pause if They are not being heard. The Deity can also make the human deeply uncomfortable given the fact that they haven’t listened before or even if the Deity doesn’t actually know who the human is and doesn’t care to know them, either. I have been on both sides of being the medium as well as the human receiving criticism from a Deity and it has not been fun nor comfortable, though it is likely going to happen at some point during this work.
What is commonly known given the resources available regarding this practice is that this work is energetically depleting. However, if done correctly, and often, it does not need to be that way. In fact, it rarely ever is that way if you approach it in the way that you are building a muscle and a relationship with your body combined with the Divine instead of just going into it assuming it won’t work that way.
Benefits and gifts from the Divine
The benefit to doing this work is that if you are in a relationship with the Deity you are carrying, They can work to undo past trauma, inner conflict, and resolve negotiation of boundaries directly with the person who is working on carrying Them.
For the person experiencing the Deity within another human, this can also work to heal them given the experience of the Divine as a direct connection. It can resolve any conflict between the individual and the Deity and undo prior misunderstandings while introducing new concepts that possibly were never associated with the relationship before.
It is mostly a position of the Deity involved that being asked to come down would be a benefit to know Their people in the way that They can see them in a physical form, understand their way of life and create a better connection with the human involved. The Divine have several blind spots that can go unnoticed until Their presence is obvious. They can not typically see humans and cannot particularly understand them in the way we understand ourselves unless They are brought down to our realm physically.
Approaching trance possession as a sexual intimacy
The safest way to handle a Deity is to consider it as intimate as sex. You would not wish to jump into bed with the first Deity you meet and you certainly wouldn’t want to jump into bed with several all at once.
There are several misconceptions that a human being must suffer for the duration of the possession. This is, once again, almost exactly similar to how we view sex in the West. The framework often presented in the West is that a Deity is almost always given the power dynamic and structure of a male-gendered thing where it is dominant and the human is to be submissive and feminine. When out of balance, this kind of dynamic can greatly impede on the quality of relationships between the Divine and humans.
If humans are meant to submit to their Deity, of course there is going to be a struggle in understanding the development of a human and Deity relationship in a balanced way. This is why possessory work has always been considered “dangerous” and almost sinister-like even within the neo-pagan hemisphere where we think we are walking alongside the Gods in a more understanding way.
There is, however, a choice to go about creating this relationship in a sensitive and gentle way. Carrying a God is not supposed to be awful and it doesn’t have to be uncomfortable. It can cause an immense amount of healing for all sides of this process – the human carrying the Deity, the human witnessing the Deity, as well as the Deity Themselves. We do not have to assume that the Deity should take complete control away and the human must simply deal with it until they are given their body back.
There is a pattern here that is often missing in all Deity work, especially within the modern framework, and that is trust. We do not trust our Gods to have our best interests in mind. This is not a new concept, as Christians believe their Deity to be unknowable and so we must also assume the same for the pagan Deities. If They are unknowable and untouchable, then how are we supposed to begin to work on bridging the gap between us and Them? How are we supposed to “work” with Them if we don’t even know Them to begin with?
We should not assume the intentions of the Gods because unless They explicitly instruct you with hard evidence (which can be made possible, by the way, through doing possessory work), then we are not at all involved in creating this dynamic with Them. We should not assume They have our best interests in mind. However, it is possible to create relationships with Them that involve having the level of trust that They do, in fact, give a shit for our well-being, our standards of living, and how it is that we go about making Them a part of our world.
The best way to go about ensuring this is by approaching the Divine as one might approach another human you are wishing to be intimate with. This is easily done because the Divine often inspire feelings of passionate love within a human, regardless of whether this is actually the case. It is how the human perceives their feelings to be towards the Divine because passionate love is the best way for the human to be open to receiving Them.
This is why, for example, a lot of people feel that they are dating and even married to the Gods they choose to work with because of these inspired feelings of passion and devotion. It is why so many people feel an intimate level of desire for connection, regardless of the context surrounding the God and devotee relationship. A Deity might not see you as Their romantic partner, but They will still inspire that feeling and arousal within you because that is mostly how humans respond to the energy of the Divine.
That being said, arousal is what opens the human to the Divine to be within. It is supposed to be a pleasurable, warm sensation when a Deity places a portion of Themselves within a human. It is for the human to respond in a way that lures them into the submissive role within their consciousness to make more room for the Deity to be more prevalent within their functions. There isn’t supposed to be cause for panic, and it should happen gently enough that it isn’t like being plunged into the deep end of a pool.
It is not supposed to be forced or coerced, and the act of doing so can feel like an assault. This, unfortunately, happens all the time as I have witnessed it. I have witnessed people nearly fall to the ground after possessory experiences because the Deity involved have completely taken advantage of the human given the human’s lack of experience or knowledge in the way to go about it appropriately. It is not that the Deity doesn’t care for the human’s well-being, but They are more inclined to use it for Their benefit if it suits Their needs at the moment. I have seen Deities teach the mediums a lesson about their pride because they are too egotistical to believe that perhaps they shouldn’t be assuming this sort of thing is what the Deity involved is okay with.
However, if the human is armed with the knowledge of how to properly go about this sort of dynamic, the Deity would be more inclined to respect the human’s own boundaries given that the human actually knows what they are dealing with. This would be the purpose of creating this blog post.
How the environment around trance possession needs to change
Trance possessory work is a powerful, meaningful, and beautiful thing that often either goes under the radar or is taught in a way that goes about stressing the importance of how little humans actually get a say in the process. It is not all right that a human doesn’t know enough about it that I have seen “mentors” fall out of chairs, be harassed, and assume they know enough to carry a Deity so fully while they themselves are being taken advantage of.
It is not the Deity that suffers in this instance, but the human. It would be akin to being an assault victim but not being empowered enough to say what it is when it happens because you don’t feel you know enough about your boundaries, are insecure, or taken advantage of your lack of knowledge. It was prideful on the part of these “mentors” of mine to assume they know enough to keep doing it in ways that are explicitly harmful to witness as well as to encounter. They assume enough that they do not ask the Deity involved for anything to assist with the work they are doing. It is a controlling and cruel way of going about building this practice for a community without taking into consideration the level of intimacy that is shared.
They don’t talk about it, they don’t want to talk about it, and would sooner scare those involved into obeying the very problem that they have suffered the entire time within this practice.
It’s like the college girl who has a body count who says she is a feminist because she is sexually empowered enough to jump in bed with anyone but doesn’t take into consideration that she is doing it for show and not for her own empowerment.
Empowerment is when you are given a choice, a set of boundaries, and a kind of communication from which to respond appropriately to a situation. That does not all jump out the window the moment a Deity gets involved, but the Deity will allow it to happen if only to make a point.
Beneficial approaches and dynamics for this work
It is recommended that you work with one primary Deity from the beginning. You should not involve yourself with more than one Deity at a time because it can become a free-for-all. If the first Deity you have in mind isn’t going to be willing to give you something in return for your work, you would need to find a Deity who does. It may not be the first response to your offer, and it may never even come around because you may not be ready or be the kind of person a Deity would want to inhabit. It isn’t to say it could never happen, but there are disadvantages for Them to get involved with people.
It is recommended that vows and oaths are in place that would ensure that you get your side of the bargain. It is not inherently prideful, bigoted, or assuming to know that there are several pleasurable and advantageous sides to working for the Divine in this way. It is not a selfless act of sacrifice on the part of the community, and it is not egotistical to assume that you should need something out of it, as well. It is a choice in the matter in order to allow the usage of your body to be overtaken and that you will receive the same amount of pleasure and benefits as a Deity would upon entrance and exit.
This can be approached romantically, as well, as there is no more intimate way for a Deity to know who a human than by possessory work. Those who believe themselves to be married to multiple Deities would need to reconsider their position on it. Those who remain to believe that romantic relationships are not possible with the Divine. Indeed, it may not be “romance” in the way we view romance, but it can be if you argue that you also would need to be wooed into being made into a partner in this way.
You should never give something unless you are being given to in return. You should never give up control of your functions to anyone unless a rapport is built and understood.
The Deity should take care of your body in the way that you would want it to be taken care of. There will be boundaries crossed unless you speak of something you need. It will be assumed you don’t mind unless you say something. Most of the time, when beginning this kind of work, a Deity who is worth Their weight would not completely take over enough to warrant complete control over your decisions being made. They should know you well enough at this point to know what is comfortable even when there will likely be trial and error just like within any sexual dynamic.
Though it is difficult to believe that something as sinister-sounding as possession can be some of the most beneficial and healing practices, and though it is hard to believe that a Deity would care enough about a human to take care of them during the practice, it simply isn’t supposed to be akin to being an assault victim.
If done correctly, the experience of witnessing possession and being possessed is uniquely magical, empowering, and a clear example of how humans are meant to be in partnership with the Divine. We are not meant to be speaking about this as if it is dirty and dangerous – it can be if you are approaching it from the wrong angle with the Deity involved.
Just like sex, knowing how to be protected, when and where to do these sorts of things, and knowing what a safe experience looks and feels like can ensure that problems that would expose ourselves to deeply harmful and traumatic experiences do not continue to happen.
We can prevent mental illness, psychosis, and other issues that run rampant within our community by knowing how to be safe and prepared without fear mongering or edge-lording.
This kind of work has been growing over the past few years as I believe the Gods are wanting to get closer to humans. It is more important now than ever to speak about this sort of thing.
Please reach out if you’ve found yourself doing this kind of work. It is not common or popular and it can be deeply ostracizing. You can contact me by going to my contact page here. You can also find me elsewhere on the web by using these links here.
Don’t be afraid to reach out!
Devoured by Flame 