A Case of the Possession Type in India with Evidence of Paranormal Knowledge
Journal o[Scic.icwt~fic.Explorulion. Vol. 3, No. I, pp. 8 1 - 10 1, 1989 0892-33 10189 $3.00+.00 Pergamon Press plc. Printed in the USA. 01989 Society for Scientific Exploration A Case of the Possession Type in India With Evidence of Paranormal Knowledge Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry, University of Virginia, Charlottesvill~:VA 22908 Department of Clinical Psychology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore, India 5epartment of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry, Universily of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908 Abstract-A young married woman, Sumitra, in a village of northern India, apparently died and then revived. After a period of confusion she stated that she was one Shiva who had been murdered in another village. She gave enough details to permit verification of her statements, which corresponded to facts in the life of another young married woman called Shiva. Shiva had lived in a place about 100 km away, and she had died violently there-either by suicide or murder-about two months before Sumitra's apparent death and revival. Subsequently, Sumitra recognized 23 persons (in person or in photographs) known to Shiva. She also showed in several respects new behavior that accorded with Shiva's personality and attainments. For example, Shiva's family were Brahmins (high caste), whereas Sumitra's were Thakurs (second caste); after the change in her personality Sumitra showed Brahmin habits that were strange in her fam- ily. Extensive interviews with 53 informants satisfied the investigators that the families concerned had been, as they claimed, completely unknown to each other before the case developed and that Sumitra had had no normal knowledge of the people and events in Shiva's life.
[Show full text]