240. The third degree of obsession, viz., subjugation, is a constraint which paralyses the will of its victim, and makes him act in spite of himself, reducing him to a state of absolute bondage. Subjugation may be moral or corporeal. In the first case, the subjugated medium is often drawn on to do things which are foolish or reprehensible, but which he is deluded into regarding as wise and proper; it is a species of fascination, but one which is exercised on the will as well as on the mind. In the second case, the spirit acts on the material organs of his victim, provoking involuntary movements or acts; as is shown in the case of writing mediums, by an incessant desire to write, even at the most inopportune moments. We have seen a medium, thus enslaved, who, for want of a pen or a pencil, made movements with his linger, as though writing, wherever he happened to be, even in the streets, upon the doors and walls.

Corporeal subjugation sometimes goes still further, and forces its victims to do the most extravagant things. We knew a man, neither young nor handsome, who, under the influence of an obsession of this nature, was constrained, by an irresistible impulse, to throw himself on his knees before a young girl for whom he felt no admiration, and to make her an offer of marriage. At other times, he was forced by a violent pressure on his back and loins, to kneel down, in spite of his strenuous efforts to the contrary, and to kiss the ground, in public places, and in the presence of the crowd. This man passed for mad among his acquaintance; but, most certainly, he was not mad; for he was fully conscious of the absurdity of what he was thus made to do against his will, and suffered horribly in consequence. [1]

241. In former days, the term possession was employed to express the empire thus exercised over men by evil spirits, when their influence went the length of producing what appeared to be mental aberration. For us, possession would be synonymous with subjugation. If we do not adopt the term possession, it is for two reasons; first, because it implies a belief that there are beings created for evil, and perpetually doomed to evil, whereas there exist, in fact, only beings more or less advanced, all of whom can improve themselves: and, secondly, because the term possession implies the idea of a stranger-spirit taking possession of the victim's body, by a sort of cohabitation with the spirit of his victim, while, in fact, the obsessor's action is only one of constraint. The word subjugation expresses our thought perfectly. Therefore, as we hold that no one is possessed, in the common acceptation of the word, there exist for us, among the victims of evil spirits, only the three categories of the obsessed, the fascinated, and the subjugated.