Dimitry Martynov, The Shade of Samuel Invoked by Saul
Reed Carlson, “Possession and Other Spirit Phenomena in Biblical Literature.”
Th.D. Dissertation, Harvard University, 2019.
For several generations, western ethnographers and cultural anthropologists have taken a special interest in Malagasy spirit possession practices—including those of the Sakalava people, an ethnic minority who live on the northern and western coasts of Madagascar.[1] Sakalava spirit possession is notable for its commonality across various aspects of society and the ways in which it continues to play a significant role in the daily life of many into the post-colonial era. Spirits called tromba—which are mostly (but not entirely) those of deceased ancestors—regularly possess appointed mediums who come from all walks of life, religions, and clans. Their presence is not usually announced explicitly but is expected in a variety of ritual and non-ritual settings. When present, tromba spirits tell stories from their own time periods, recall the names of their parents and offspring, and, occasionally, require tutelage on how and why the times have changed. Consequently, anthropologists have noted how spirit possession practices enable embodied methods for the Sakalava people to engage thoughtfully with history, to perform metacommentary on the current social and political climate, and to articulate notions of the moral self and its community. While spirit possession of a “demonic” or “oppressive” form, which demands exorcism (such as those prevalent in the western imagination) is not unheard of among the Sakalava, spirit possession is more often manifested in modes that are corporate, public, and intentionally cultivated. Indeed, when compared to other possession-practicing communities around the world and throughout history, these aspects of Malagasy spirit possession are not at all uncommon. Such a comparison suggests that many western paradigms for spirit possession are more culturally peculiar than was once realized and that scholarly investigation of these phenomena in biblical literature might begin with an interrogation of these prevalent ideas.
Spirit possession practices among the Malagasy is one of several phenomena discussed in my dissertation, “Possession and Other Spirit Phenomena in Biblical Literature.” In this project, I map spirit language, rituals, and myths in select texts from the Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Jewish literature using conceptual categories and frameworks incubated in the fields of ethnography and cultural anthropology. While spirit possession is more commonly associated with late Second Temple Jewish literature and the New Testament, I argue that possession is also depicted in this earlier literature, though rarely according to the typical western paradigm. Indeed, I suggest that one reason that many have been reluctant to identify spirit phenomena as such in ancient Israelite and early Jewish literature is because paradigms from early Christianity and/or popular culture have dictated too strictly what spirit possession can be.
Chapter one, “Unfamiliar Spirits,” positions this project at the intersection of two contemporary scholarly discussions in biblical studies that have often proceeded separately: studies on conceptions of “the self” and of “evil”. Further, it shows the effectiveness of my interdisciplinary method through analysis of a case study text, 1 Samuel 28. I show how ethnographic analysis of women mediums who host the spirits of deceased figures illuminates the literary presentation of the possession ritual in Saul’s visit to the medium at En-Dor.
Chapter two, “What are Spirit Phenomena?” engages the substantial discussions among cultural anthropologists and ethnographers regarding the utility of designations like “possession” and “trance.” I ultimately settle on “spirit phenomena” as the term most useful for the study of biblical texts, dividing it into three categories: 1) spirit-language, 2) descriptions of spirit rituals, and 3) myths about spirits.
Chapter three provides an overview of previous scholarship on spirit phenomena in both biblical studies and in the study of religion. Four trends are identified as in need of correction: 1) a tendency to subsume Israelite and early Jewish spirit phenomena into Christian categories, 2) an ideologically motivated separation of spirit phenomena from rational or systematic thought, 3) an impulse to characterize spirit phenomena as “fringe” to biblical literature either chronologically or culturally, and 4) a bias towards characterizing early Judaism as spiritually “dry” or anti-pneumatic.
Chapter four, “The Spirit and the Self,” demonstrates how spirit-language is a common mode for articulating notions of personhood in biblical literature—particularly in Psalms, Job, and poetry more generally. I discuss how the Hebrew word ruaḥ (most commonly translated as “wind”, “spirit”, or “breath”) is often treated as material-like and as a part of the body, though one that is susceptible to tampering from other “spirits” from outside. I label conceptions like these “animating spirits,” because they are conceived as innate to life, being imparted at birth and extracted at death.
Chapter five, “Possessing Spirits,” describes those spirit possession episodes in biblical literature that are temporally limited or imparted for a specific purpose. Utilizing anthropological accounts of spirits seen as pathogenic, I show how possession is portrayed in biblical literature not only in instances of empowered leadership (e.g. Gideon and Samson) but also in various types of spirit affliction, such as those endured by Saul and Job. This chapter also charts different models for the language of possession in Hebrew, including attention to special verbs (e.g. “fill,” “clothe,” “stir,” “seize”). In particular, I discuss the verb lĕhitnabē (sometimes translated as “prophetic frenzy”) and suggest “to play (the role of) prophet” as a better translation. Contra to previous scholarship, I nevertheless suggest that this understanding of the verb does not preclude the element of spirit possession. I also suggest that while ruaḥ with the preposition bĕ (“spirit in”) is most commonly used to designate the animating spirits discussed in chapter four, the use of ʿal (“spirit upon”) is more commonly used to describe a range of possession phenomena. In this, spirit language in the book of Ezekiel is a notable exception as it begins to merge these two conceptions, which leads into the final chapter.
Chapter six, “Demonizing the Self,” surveys biblical literature as well as several select examples from the Dead Sea Scrolls. I show how the animating and possessing modes of spirit phenomena are not mutually exclusive but rather exist on a spectrum. Psalm 51 is highlighted as one of the most candid descriptions of spirit possession in the Hebrew Bible. By requesting a “spirit organ transplant” the psalmist concisely combines elements of both the animating and possessing spirit models. I suggest that this kind of hybridization persists into Second Temple Jewish literature and can be detected in texts like the Hodayot and 4QBarkhi Nafshi as well as in the New Testament. Engaging with recent biblical scholarship on the Yetzer HaRa as well as with anthropological literature on cultures that practice individual possession, I show how these rituals can “other” or “demonize” negative or undesirable aspects of the self or community. Among other functions, these conceptions of spirits can suspend accusations of shame and provide rituals for policing or correcting aberrant social behavior. In the case of biblical literature, moral afflictions that are identified as spirits can be treated therapeutically by utilizing such strategies as apotropaic prayer and, in extreme cases, exorcism.
In addition to explicating spirit phenomena in biblical literature, this dissertation makes several other contributions to the field. First, not since Robert Wilson’s Prophecy and Society in Ancient Israel has biblical scholarship engaged at such length with social science approaches to studying spirit possession in the Hebrew Bible. Cultural anthropology and ethnography have progressed considerably since the late seventies and this dissertation provides a much needed update.[2] Second, some of the most prominent treatments of spirit phenomena in ancient Israelite and early Jewish literature treat this topic as a precursor to Christian conceptions of the Holy Spirit, thereby ignoring significant features of the literature that do not fall into line with Christian pneumatology. In contrast, this project seeks to explicate Jewish conceptions of spirit phenomena before Christian theology. Third, and more broadly, by positively comparing biblical texts with contemporary spirit possession practices around the world, my dissertation challenges colonial stereotypes of many non-Western religious practices as primitive or harmful. Addressing these attitudes publicly has become increasingly imperative, as they affect how the spiritual practices and beliefs of immigrants and refugees are welcomed and tolerated in westernized nations.
Reed Carlson is an Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies at United Lutheran Seminary. A monograph based on his dissertation is forthcoming with De Gruyter.
[1] The anthropological and ethnographic data on Malagasy spirit possession is vast. One of the more important works of the last twenty years is Michael Lambek, The Weight of the Past: Living with History in Mahajanga, Madagascar (New York: Palgrave Macmillan 2001).
[2] Robert R. Wilson, Prophecy and Society in Ancient Israel. (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1980). Not only have more sophisticated ethnographies of spirit possession become available (such as the example of the Sakalava discussed above), also the outsized influence of Ioan Lewis’ “instrumental approach” to understanding spirit possession has been helpfully contextualized and, in several aspects, corrected. See Ioan M. Lewis, Ecstatic Religion: A Study of Shamanism and Spirit Possession, 3d ed. (New York: Routledge, 2003); 1st ed. (London: Penguin, 1971) and, as just one example, the important critique from Janice Boddy, “Spirit Possession Revisited: Beyond Instrumentality,” Annual Review of Anthropology 23 (1994): 407-434.