The Variety of Holy Spirit Possession

Summary

This article applies Emma Cohen's cross-cultural classification of spirit possession—executive and pathogenic types, rooted in cognitive evolution—to Holy Spirit possession in Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity. Analyzing ethnographic studies from Jamaica, Papua New Guinea, and Ghana, the author demonstrates the framework's utility. The analysis integrates Pentecostal ritual into broader anthropology of religion, explains patterned Holy Spirit behaviors across diverse cultures, and expands focus beyond initial Spirit baptism to the ongoing relationship central to Pentecostal religious experience.

Study at a glance

Abstract

This article seeks to extend Emma Cohen’s cross-cultural categorization of spirit possession to the phenomena of Holy Spirit possession in Pentecostal and Charismatic Christian communities. Cohen argues that cross-culturally recurring features of spirit possession can be explained by evolved patterns in human cognition, and identifies a typology of executive possession and pathogenic possession. I show the usefulness of Cohen’s categorization through an analysis of Holy Spirit possession phenomena as reported in ethnographic studies of Pentecostalism in Jamaica, Papua New Guinea, and Ghana. By doing so, this article accomplishes several things. First, it draws the study of Pentecostal ritual into the wider study of the anthropology of religion. Second, since Cohen’s categorization offers a cognitive explanation for recurring patterns of spirit possession, this article may help explain patterned behaviors and beliefs concerning the activity of the Holy Spirit even in very diverse cultural contexts. Finally, Cohen’s concepts of executive and pathogenic possession broaden the discussion of Holy Spirit possession beyond moments of the initial baptism in the Holy Spirit to the continual presence and relationship that many Pentecostals maintain as the central focus of their religious experience.