Voodoo possession: A natural experiment in hypnosis

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Abstract
Naturally occurring states, such as spirit possession, bear an important relation to hypnosis and provide opportunities to observe trance-like behavior in a natural setting. Such behavior has a striking similarity to many of the classical phenomena of hypnosis and strongly suggests the possibility of an underlying hypnotic mechanism. This paper attempts to present Haitian Vodun possession in a form allowing comparison with familiar clinical and experimental hypnotic phenomena. For the individual, the subjective experience of an alteration of perception, memory, and identity is common to both the hypnotic and the trance state. Amnesia occurs in both also, although not invariably in hypnosis. While the role of the priest, or hungan, is not dissimilar from that of the hypnotist at many points during the ceremony, the group dynamics and psychology of the individual play a much larger part in Vodun possession than in a hypnotic setting. Presumably a hypnotic mechanism is again involved, equivalent to group hypnosis in this case. The basis for comparison extends well beyond such general considerations, however, and this paper is intended to supply descriptive data for exploring such comparisons.

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