Psycho-Cultural Case Study Of Obeyesekere

To every paranormal experience, there are two sides; the truth of the person who has experienced it and the truth of the event itself. Each experience comes with its own history of what had led to it, along with the significance behind it. Although there are strong cultural aspects to a spiritual experience, specifically spiritual possession, anthropologist Obeyesekere’s case study shows the importance of understanding the psychological causes as well, if not more. In his work, Obeyesekere (1975) used the case of twenty-nine-year-old, Somavati, as his example and focus of study to explain psycho-cultural exploration of spirit possession (44). In similarity, upon his visit to Ghana, anthropologist Grindal (1983) researched and experienced the …show more content…
The more important pretas to have possessed her is her own grandmother, who had passed away when Somavati was fourteen-years-old at the time (Obeyesekere 1975, 57). Culturally, a pretas are regarded as eternally damned souls in the Sinhalese society, thus by turning her seemingly pious grandmother into a preta, Somavati had damned her soul and denied her entrance into heaven (Obeyesekere 1975, 61). Her being under the possession is completely explainable as, despite, the grandmother being a loving person, the infantile rage for taking her away from her mother would always be strong, though not expressible or recognizable (Obeyesekere 1975, 57). During her possession, Somavati expressed multiple psychological problems through her behaviour; a number of oral rage which can be understood to be infantile rage for the deprivation of affection she felt from her parents, a general anger with masochistic qualities (Obeyesekere 1975, 54). Somavati was aware of the cultural belief in spirit possession, and was sure to have felt fear of it herself, but her possession was credited to the high level of anxiety from the years of suppressed of sex drive and aggression (Obeyesekere 1975, 53). In the end, through a Kapurla, an exorcist, Somavati was introduced to a metaphorical rebirth as one of the children of the priest, and Kapurla providing her with psychological paternity (Obeyesekere 1975, 87). Post exorcism, Somavati was living with full autonomy of herself with her parents, and find a way to ease the sexual tension through rituals (Obeyesekere 1975, 87). Through the Sinhalese cultural framework of rituals, she was able to find a solution to her psychological conflicts (Obeyesekere 1975,