81. PREFACE - Obsession is the persistent action which an inferior or bad Spirit exercises over an individual. It may present many varied characteristics, from a simple moral influence with no perceptible exterior signs, to a complete organic and mental perturbation. It may obstruct all mediumship faculties. In automatic-writing this may be shown by the insistence of one Spirit in communicating, to the exclusion of all other Spirits.
Bad Spirits encircle the Earth, due to the moral inferiority of its inhabitants. Their malevolent action forms part of the afflictions which face humanity. Obsessions, just as much as infirmities and all life's tribulations, must be considered as tests and atonements and accepted as such.
In the same manner that sicknesses are the result of our physical imperfections, which make the body accessible to pernicious exterior influences, obsession is always the result of moral imperfections, which allow the access of a bad Spirit. Physical causes pit themselves against physical forces; a moral cause must be opposed by a moral force. In order to prevent infirmities we fortify our bodies; to exempt ourselves from obsession it is necessary to fortify the soul, which means that the obsessed person must work for their own betterment, which is frequently sufficient to relieve them of the obsession without resorting to help from others. When an obsession degenerates into subjugation and possession, then the help of other people becomes indispensable, because not infrequently the patient loses their will-power and their free-will.
Obsession almost always manifest the vengeance that a Spirit desires, which is frequently rooted in the relationship they had with this person in a previous life (See chapter 10, item 6 and chapter 12, items 5 & 6).
In the case of a grave obsession, the person being obsessed is enveloped and impregnated by pernicious substances, so neutralizing the action of healthy fluids and repelling them. It is very important to free the person from these negative vaporous fluids. However, a bad fluid cannot be eliminated by other bad fluids. By a similar action to that exercised by a healer in the case of illness, it is necessary to expel the bad substances with the help of better ones, which in a certain way produces the effect of a reaction. This may be called a mechanical action, but it is not sufficient alone. It is also necessary and most important, to act upon this intelligent being by speaking with authority, which can only be achieved through moral superiority. The greater this is, the greater will be the authority.
This is not all however. In order to guarantee liberation from the obsessor it is also necessary to induce the perverse Spirit to renounce their bad designs, to awaken repentance in them and a desire to do good. This can be done through the means of skillfully directed instruction, given during special private meetings for this purpose, with the objective of offering moral education to this Spirit. Then it may be possible to have the double satisfaction of liberating an incarnate Spirit and converting a discarnate one at the same time.
This task is made easier when the obsessed person, understanding their situation, joins in with the prayers and adds their cooperation in the form of a desire to recuperate. The same does not happen when, being seduced by the obsessing Spirit, the person remains deluded as to the qualities of the entity who dominates them, even taking pleasure in the errors this Spirit induces them to commit. In this case, instead of helping, he repels all assistance offered. This is what happens in cases of fascination, which are infinitely more rebellious to treatment than even the most violent case of subjugation (See THE MEDIUMS' BOOK, chapter 23). In all cases of obsession, prayer is the most powerful means of help in the action against an obsessing Spirit.
