There are several kinds of "possession", in one respect the individual is manipulated by an entity. They are not really possessed as in the entity doesn't actually take control of the body. Its more like they are a puppet. The other way is that a person is partially possessed. In this respect they are still control of themselves, as in they are conscious of themselves, but they have spurts where they may loose consciousness or have desires that are not their own. It is possible that an entity can temporarily control the body. THen there is the full blown spirit possession - the individual has little no self-control and little or no self awareness. They are in the clutches of some entity entirely.
If your friend is being manipulated by or is partially possessed then that could explain is reaction to the cafka (cava root?). But possession is a powerful thing. If he were possessed he'd act like a totally different person, he'd be distant, cold, agressive, possibly violent, speak in tongues, prone to seizure like symptoms, display memories that were not his own. You might notice a fowl smell or bruising and pale, clamy skin. You might also notice paranormal phenomenon like your friend displays super-natural abilities like he knows things he shouldn't, objects move without being touched, things break, electrical devices fail and religious icons seem to get defaced.
Being plagued by shadow people can be the result of personal guilt, bad karma and the miss-use of magick. According to my mom (who's also a superstitious nut) they are watchers. They watch for the Gods and report back to them. They are sent when a person miss-uses magick or does something bad. Its sort of like a probation officer. What it means is that your friend has issues (these could manifestations he's made himself) and he needs to deal with them. Its not likely he is possessed but he might be in danger of incuring the wrath of some spirit or deity if he doesn't fix whatever it is he messed up.
Common causes for this kind of thing is summoning a spirit without properly releasing it, dabbling in magick one is not ready for, or otherwise using it to harm another person who may have done no wrong. Again they could also be manifestations of personal guilt too.
This post has been edited by Acid09: Jan 2 2008, 05:06 PM
--------------------
|