possession

Politics a territory subject to a foreign state or to a sovereign prince

A Protestant priest in Mexico City prays over a man who believed he was possessed by a demon that caused him fits of anger and to spit blood and speak in tongues. AP/WideWorld Photos.

Possession

(religion, spiritualism, and occult)

Possession means to hold occupancy with or without rights of ownership. This exactly describes possession in the psychic sense. It is the possession of the physical body with—though frequently without—the permission of the owner. An entranced medium is possessed by a spirit but can curtail that possession when desired. One who is possessed by a negative spirit cannot get rid of it without external pressure in the shape of an exorcism.

Leslie Shepard makes an excellent point,

If no new knowledge is shown in the trance state there is no reason to ascribe the communication to an external intelligence. The character of the communicator alone does not furnish convincing proof. Secondary personalities are often hostile and antagonistic to the primary one, the cleavage might not be intellectual alone but also moral, therefore the difference between the normal self of the medium and the communicator does not necessarily clinch the case for possession. Supernormal knowledge which the medium could not have acquired, is an indispensable condition to prove the presence of an external spirit.

True negative possession is rare. There are, however, many cases that might be termed psychological possession, where the person believes him-or herself to be possessed and acts accordingly. Believing in that condition, the individual naturally believes also in exorcism so the performance of a Rite of Exorcism can then seem effective. The official exorcist for the city of Rome claims that he receives many long distance telephone calls from all over the world, from people believing themselves to be possessed. However, he says that he actually performs exorcisms “as rarely as possible.”

Sources:

Bletzer, June G.: The Encyclopedia Psychic Dictionary. Lithia Springs: New Leaf, 1998Fortune, Dion: Psychic Self Defence. London: Aquarian Press, 1988Lhermitte, J.: True and False Possession. New York: Hawthorne Books, 1986Shepard, Leslie A: Encyclopedia of Occultism & Parapsychology. New York: Avon Books, 1978Spence, Lewis: An Encyclopedia of the Occult. London: George Routledge & Sons, 1920

Possession

in civil law, the actual control of a thing. A distinction is made between an owner’s possession and a nonowner’s possession. An owner’s possession—in addition to use and disposal—is one of the legal faculties that is part of the content of the right of property, and it is always protected by the law. A nonowner’s possession may be legal or illegal. Legal possession is always based on some legal ground (legal title). This means that possession arose on the basis of a law, contract, or administrative act. In cases of legal possession by a person who is not the owner of the given thing, the thing has been transferred to him voluntarily by the owner himself (for instance, by contracts of bailment, lease, loan, and so forth). An illegal possessor is a person who stole a thing or appropriated a find. In civil law illegal possession is in turn subdivided into possession bona fide and possession mala fide. A possessor bona fide is a person who did not know and, under the circumstances of the case, could not know that his possession was unlawful; a possessor mala fide is a person who knew or should have known that his possession was unlawful. (He knew that he had acquired a thing from a person who had no right to sell it.) The distinction between possession bona fide and mala fide is very important in solving disputes about the recovery of a thing from another’s possession on the owner’s suit.

In Soviet law there is no separate legal institution of possession, which is an element of other legal institutions, including the right of ownership, lien, lease, and consignment. Titled possession is subject to separate protection: the possessor—like the owner—may file a suit for the recovery of the thing or for the removal of any violation of his rights. In specific cases the law provides for the protection of a possession bona fide even against the owner. For example, if a possessor bona fide acquired a thing through a contract of purchase and sale or exchange (that is, with compensation) from a person who had no authority to alienate the thing, but who had received it from its owner on lease, bailment, or other contracts, the owner has no right to demand the thing through the procedure of recovery.

In the civil law of bourgeois states there is a separate institution of possession. Several procedures for protecting possession have been established (in particular, court procedures—suits for the recovery of possession—and out of-court procedures—the right to self-help, which gives the possessor the possibility of protecting the possession by himself). The possession of movables and immovables is regulated and protected differently in the law of Great Britain and the USA. The majority of the bourgeois systems of law consider a lengthy possession grounds for the acquisition of the right to ownership (so-called acquisition by prescription). Soviet law does not provide for the acquisition of the right to ownership through prescription.

A. M. BELIAKOVA

Possession

a mental state in which the subject feels dominated by a hostile, insurmountable, usually irrational force, as in the practice of witchcraft. Possession can be a symptom of psychosis, for example, when it takes the form of delirium. It can also be a mental reaction of an individual or group of individuals to certain social influences, in which case a high degree of suggestibility and a lack of education are important factors. Possession in the sense of a mental reaction to social influences can take several basic forms.

Demoniac possession was widespread in the Middle Ages, especially among women, particularly those who experienced “sinful temptations.” These women—sometimes of their own free will but usually as a result of torture by the Inquisition— would confess to dealings with Satan. Spells used to be cast by chanting, symbolic gestures, or potions in order that the subject become possessed by such obsessive concerns as an all-consuming love or a wasting illness.

At the end of the 19th century, groups of persons in some areas of Siberia, Yakutia, and the Kolyma region developed a peculiar type of possession that took the form of a need to jump, swear, and mimic bystanders. This possession was compulsive; that is, it occurred against the will of the victims. It is called arctic hysteria (Russian merechen’e, or emirechenie) and has features in common with shamanism. Similar states, referred to as imu, or latah, in the foreign literature, have been described in the 20th century, for example, among South American Indians and among the inhabitants of the Sunda Archipelago. Imu usually affects women and is manifested by screams and indecent bodily movements.

According to modern research, the psychic roots of amok— an unprovoked attack of blind aggressiveness that resembles an epileptic seizure—are similar to those of other forms of possession. These underlying causes include shame, insult, or a dependence on hostile social forces.

REFERENCES

Tokarskii, A. A. Meriachenie i bolezn’ sudorozhnykh podergivanii, 2nd ed. Moscow, 1893.
Kannabikh, Iu. Istoriia psikhiatrii. Moscow, 1929. Chapter 5.
Mitskevich, S. I. Menerik i emiriachen ‘e:formy isterii v Kolymskom krae. Leningrad, 1929.
Pfeiffer, W. “Versenkungs und Trancezustände bei indonesischen Volksstämmen.” Nervenarzt, 1966, vol. 37, no. 1.
Westermeyer, J. “A Comparison of Amok and Other Homicide in Laos.” American Journal of Psychiatry, 1972, vol. 129, no. 6.

A. M. KHALETSKII

Possession

(dreams)

In ancient times, demonic possession was blamed for everything from bad behavior in young children to nightmares to full-blown multiple personality disorders. When a person manifested certain unpleasant personality traits, many ancient societies associated this with possession by devils, demons, or spirits. The possessed individual is in a nightmarish threshold state. Traditionally, the appropriate “therapy” was some form of exorcism directed at freeing the individual of the intruding entity.

In later times some believed that real creativity depended on a state of possession or “divine insanity,” which gave people access to the subconscious in a liminal state. When a person is able to readily enter a liminal state, he or she potentially has access to the more creative faculties of the brain. Those who can do this at will are usually highly charismatic people with thin barriers between their conscious and unconscious minds.

Possession

See also Enchantment.Gadareneswine Jesus sends demons from man to pigs. [N.T.: Matthew 8:28–32; Mark 5:1–13; Luke 8:26–33]Legionman controlled by devils; exorcised by Jesus. [N.T.: Mark 5:9; Luke 8:30]Reganyoung girl gruesomely infested with the devil. [Am. Lit.: The Exorcist]

possession

The ownership or control of information, as distinct from confidentiality. For example, if confidential information such as a user ID-password combination is in a sealed container and the container is stolen, the owner justifiably feels that there has been a breach of security even if the container remains closed (this is a breach of possession or control over the information). Possession is one of the six fundamental components of information security (see Parkerian Hexad).

possession

Related to possession: Demonic possession

Possession

The ownership, control, or occupancy of a thing, most frequently land or Personal Property, by a person.The U.S. Supreme Court has said that "there is no word more ambiguous in its meaning than possession" (National Safe Deposit Co. v. Stead, 232 U.S. 58, 34 S. Ct. 209, 58 L. Ed. 504 [1914]). Depending on how and when it is used, the term possession has a variety of possible meanings. As a result, possession, or lack of possession, is often the subject of controversy in civil cases involving real and personal property and criminal cases involving drugs and weapons—for example, whether a renter is entitled to possession of an apartment or whether a criminal suspect is in possession of stolen property.

The idea of possession is as old as the related concepts of private property and ownership. Our modern possession laws originated in the ancient Roman doctrines of possessio. English Natural Law inherited most of the Roman possession ideas, and later the British brought their law of possession to the American colonies. Following the War of Independence, state and federal courts continued to use and expand upon the historical notions of possession.

Possession versus Ownership

Although the two terms are often confused, possession is not the same as ownership. No legal rule states that "possession is nine-tenths of the law," but this phrase is often used to suggest that someone who possesses an object is most likely its owner. Likewise, people often speak of the things they own, such as clothes and dishes, as their possessions. However, the owner of an object may not always possess the object. For example, an owner of a car could lend it to someone else to drive. That driver would then possess the car. However, the owner does not give up ownership simply by lending the car to someone else.

The myriad distinctions between possession and ownership, and the many nuances of possession, are complicated even for attorneys and judges. To avoid confusion over exactly what is meant by possession, the word is frequently modified by adding a term describing the type of possession. For example, possession may be actual, adverse, conscious, constructive, exclusive, illegal, joint, legal, physical, sole, superficial, or any one of several other types. Many times these modifiers are combined, as in "joint constructive possession." All these different kinds of possession, however, originate from what the law calls "actual possession."

Actual Possession

"Actual possession is what most of us think of as possession—that is, having physical custody or control of an object" (United States v. Nenadich, 689 F.Supp. 285 [S.D. N.Y. 1988]). Actual possession, also sometimes called possession in fact, is used to describe immediate physical contact. For example, a person wearing a watch has actual possession of the watch. Likewise, if you have your wallet in your jacket pocket, you have actual possession of your wallet. This type of possession, however, is by necessity very limited. Frequently, a set of facts clearly indicate that an individual has possession of an object but that he or she has no physical contact with it. To properly deal with these situations, courts have broadened the scope of possession beyond actual possession.

Constructive Possession

Constructive possession is a legal theory used to extend possession to situations where a person has no hands-on custody of an object. Most courts say that constructive possession, also sometimes called "possession in law," exists where a person has knowledge of an object plus the ability to control the object, even if the person has no physical contact with it (United States v. Derose, 74 F.3d 1177 [11th Cir. 1996]). For example, people often keep important papers and other valuable items in a bank safety deposit box. Although they do not have actual physical custody of these items, they do have knowledge of the items and the ability to exercise control over them. Thus, under the doctrine of constructive possession, they are still considered in possession of the contents of their safety deposit box. Constructive possession is frequently used in cases involving criminal possession.

Criminal Possession

Both federal and state statutes make possession of many dangerous or undesirable items criminal. For example, the federal statute 26 U.S.C.A. § 5861 (1996) prohibits possession of certain firearms and other weapons. Likewise, the possession of other items considered harmful to the public, such as narcotics, Burglary tools, and stolen property, is also made criminal under various laws. Criminal possession, especially of drugs, has been a major source of controversy. Making possession a crime allows for arrests and convictions without proving the use or sale of a prohibited item.

Historically, actual possession was required for a criminal possession conviction. Beginning in the 1920s, however, courts began expanding criminal possession to include constructive possession. The federal Prohibition of intoxicating liquors spawned several cases involving criminal possession. In one of the first criminal cases to use constructive possession, the court found a defendant guilty of possessing illegal liquor in trunks in the actual possession of another person (People v. Vander Heide, 211 Mich. 1, 178 N.W. 78 [1920]). Subsequent cases, especially narcotics cases, have continued to expand the law of criminal possession.

Possession and Intent

In civil cases intent is rarely a part of possession. However, in criminal cases possession usually requires conscious possession. In other words, the person must be conscious of the fact that the item is illegal and that he or she possesses it. A person with possession of illegal drugs may avoid conviction if he or she believed the drugs were legal. Generally, to be guilty of criminal possession, a person must either know the item is illegal when it is received or must keep possession of the object after learning it is illegal.

Cross-references

Adverse Possession; Drugs and Narcotics.

possession

n. any article, object, asset or property which one owns, occupies, holds or has under control. "Constructive possession" involves property which is not immediately held, but which one has the right to hold and the means to get (such as a key to a storeroom or safe deposit box). "Criminal possession" is the holding of property which it is illegal to possess such as controlled narcotics, stolen goods or liquor by a juvenile. The old adage "possession is nine-tenths of the law" is a rule of force and not of law, since ownership requires the right to possess as well as actual or constructive possession. (See: possess)

possession

1 physical control or detention of a thing. 2 legal possession recognized and protected by law; inherent in this is animus possidendi, the intention to hold the thing against others. 3 one of the elements of ownership.

POSSESSION, intern. law. By possession is meant a country which is held by no other title than mere conquest.
2. In this sense Possession differs from a dependency, which belongs rightfully to the country which has dominion over it; and from colony, which is a country settled by citizens or subjects of the mother country. 3 Wash. C. C. R. 286.

POSSESSION, property. The detention or enjoyment of a thing which a man holds or exercises by himself or by another who keeps or exercises it in his name. By the possession of a thing, we always conceive the condition, in which not only one's own dealing with the thing is physically possible, but every other person's dealing with it is capable of being excluded. Thus, the seaman possesses his ship, but not the water in which it moves, although he makes each subserve his purpose.
2. In order to complete a possession two things are required. 1st. That there be an occupancy, apprehension, (q.v.) or taking. 2dly. That the taking be with an intent to possess (animus possidendi), hence persons who have no legal wills, as children and idiots, cannot possess or acquire possession. Poth. h. It.; Etienne, h.t. See Mer. R. 358; Abbott on Ship. 9, et seq. But an infant of sufficient understanding may lawfully acquire the possession of a thing.
3. Possession is natural or civil; natural, when a man detains a thing corporeal, as by occupying a house, cultivating grounds or retaining a movable in his custody; possession is civil, when a person ceases to reside in the house, or on the land which he occupied, or to detain the movable he possessed, but without intending to abandon the possession. See, as to possession of lands, 2 Bl. Com. 116; Hamm. Parties, 178; 1 McLean's R. 214, 265.
4. Possession is also actual or constructive; actual, when the thing is in the immediate occupancy of the party. 3 Dey. R. 34. Constructive, when a man claims to hold by virtue of some title, without having the actual Occupancy; as, when the owner of a lot of land, regularly laid out, is in possession of any part, he is considered constructively in possession of the whole. 11 Vern. R. 129. What removal of property or loss of possession will be sufficient to constitute larceny, vide 2 Chit. Cr. Law, 919; 19 Jurist, 14; Etienne, h.t. Civ. Code of Louis. 3391, et seq.
5. Possession, in the civil law, is divided into natural and civil. The same division is adopted by the Civil Code of Louisiana.
6. Natural possession is that by which a man detains a thing corporeal, as by occupying a house, cultivating ground, or retaining a movable in his possession. Natural possession is also defined to be the corporeal detention of a thing, which we possess as belonging to us, without any title to that possession, or with a title which is void. Civ. Code of Lo. art. 3391, 3393.
7. Possession is civil, when a person ceases to reside in a house or on the land which he occupied, or to detain the movable which he possessed, but without intending to abandon the possession. It is the detention of a thing, by virtue of a just title, and under the conviction of possessing as owner. Id. art. 3392, 3394.
8. Possession applies properly only to corporeal things, movables and immovables. The possession of incorporeal rights, such as servitudes and other rights of that nature, is only a quasi. possession, and is exercised by a species of possession of which these rights are susceptible. Id. art. 3395.
9. Possession may be enjoyed by the proprietor of the, thing, or by another for him; thus the proprietor of a house possesses it by his tenant or farmer.
10. To acquire possession of a property, two things are requisite. 1. The intention of possessing as owner. 2. The corporeal possession of the thing. Id. art. 3399.
11. Possession is lost with or without the consent of the possessor. It is lost with his consent, 1. When he transfers this possession to another with the intention to divest himself of it. 2. When he does some act, which manifests his intention of abandoning possession, as when a man throws into the street furniture or clothes, of which he no longer chooses to make use. Id. art. 3411. A possessor of an estate loses the possession against his consent. 1. When another expels him from it, whether by force in driving him away, or by usurping possession during his absence, and preventing him from reentering. 2. When the possessor of an estate allows it to be usurped, and held for a year, without, during that time, having done any act of possession, or interfered with the usurper's possession. Id. art. 3412.
12. As to the effects of the purchaser's taking possession, see Sugd. Vend. 8, 9; 3 P. Wms. 193; 1 Ves. Jr. 226; 12 Ves. Jr. 27; 11 Ves. Jr. 464. Vide, generally, 5 Harr. & John. 230, 263; 6 Har. & John. 336; 1 Har. & John. 18; 1 Greenl. R. 109; 2 Har. & McH. 60, 254, 260; 3 Bibb, R. 209 1 Har. & McH., 210; 4 Bibb, R. 412, 6 Cowen, R. 632; 9 Cowen, R. 241; 5 Wheat. R. 116, 124; Cowp. 217; Code Nap. art. 2228; Code of the Two Sicilies, art. 2134; Bavarian Code, B. 2, c. 4, n. 5; Prus. Code, art. 579; Domat, Lois Civ. liv. 3, t, 7, s. 1; Vin. Ab. h.t.; Wolff, Inst. Sec. 200, and the note in the French translation; 2 Greenl. Ev. Sec. 614, 615; Co. Litt. 57 a; Cro. El. 777; 5 Co. 13; 7 John. 1.

possession

pos·ses·sion

possession

pos•ses•sion

possession

possession

possession

possession

possess

possession

possession

in (one's) possession

possession is nine-tenths of the law

take possession (of something)

possession is nine points of the law

possession is nine parts of the law

*in someone's possession

Possession is nine-tenths of the law.

take possession (of something)

possession is nine points of the law

possession is nine points/tenths/parts of the ˈlaw

take posˈsession (of something)

possession is nine points of the law

possession is nine-tenths of the law

possession

possession

Possession

Possession

Possession

REFERENCES

Possession

Possession

possession

possession

Possession

Possession versus Ownership

Actual Possession

Constructive Possession

Criminal Possession

Possession and Intent

Further readings

Cross-references

possession

possession

possession

possession

possession

Synonyms for possession

noun ownership

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noun province

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noun property

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phrase take possession of

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Synonyms for possession

noun the fact of possessing or the legal right to possess something

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noun one's portable property

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noun something, as land and assets, legally possessed

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noun an area subject to rule by an outside power

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Synonyms for possession

noun the act of having and controlling property

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Related Words

noun anything owned or possessed

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noun being controlled by passion or the supernatural

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noun a mania restricted to one thing or idea

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noun a territory that is controlled by a ruling state

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noun the trait of resolutely controlling your own behavior

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