Bilu Dybbuk and Maggid

7/29/2019 Bilu Dybbuk and Maggid

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DYBBUK AND MAGGID:TWO CULTURAL ATTERNED

OFALTEREDCONSCIOUSNESSIN JUDAISM

byYORAMBILU

IntroductionFormanyyearsscholarsof Judaismwere reluctanto employ heanalytictoolsdistilled nanthropologyorstudying ewishculture.Onereason or thisreluctancewasthat heclassicalethnographicield,consisting f asmall-scaletribalsocietywith no written radition,did not appearpertinento the studyof the text-informed"greattradition" f Judaism.In addition, he notionof comparative esearch mplicitin most anthropologicaltudiesappeareddubious o manyscholarsof Judaism,who were alarmedby the sweeping,methodologically nfounded omparisonsvident n the treatment f biblicalmaterialby suchprecursors f modemanthropologys Robertson mithandFrazer.'Thismethodological onsiderationwas augmented y an emotional

unwillingnessoequate he"primitive"eligious ystemsof"savage"ocietieswithconceptsand ritualspertainingo theoldest monotheistic eligion.21. J. G. Frazer,Folklore in the Old TestamentLondon:Macmillan,1919); WilliamRobertsonSmith,Lectures on the Religion of the Semites(1889; reprinted., New York:MeridianBooks, 1927).2. HowardEilberg-Schwartz, heSavage in Judaism(Bloomington:ndianaUniversityPress, 1990); Harvey E. Goldberg,ed., Judaism Viewedrom Withinand from Without:Anthropological erspectives(Albany:StateUniversityof New YorkPress), 1987); idem,"Anthropologynd the Studyof Traditional ewishSociety,"AJSReview15(1990)):1-22.

AJSReview21/2(1996):341-366 341

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342 YORAMBILUOver the years a more benign ambiancefor cooperationand mutual

enrichment asbeencreatedby significantdevelopmentsn bothdisciplines.Inanthropology,hecomparativemelangeof nineteenth-centuryvolutionistswas refinedby in-depth nvestigationsn boundedcultural ettings.Sortingoutthe similaritiesanddifferencesbetween"others" nd "us"remained hetacitagendaof most(thoughdefinitelynotall)anthropologicalesearch, venwhen it focused,as it usuallydid, on one particular ulturalenvironment.Butthiscomparativeenturehasbecomemorecontextualized nddefensiblemethodologically.n addition, he settingsstudied,which in the formativeyearsof ethnographicieldworkwere limited o remote,preliterateocieties,weregradually roadenedo includecivilizationsboasting"greatraditions,"like BuddhismandIslam.The "text-context" ivisionthatseparated nthropologyrommost hu-manisticdisciplines, ncludingJudaic tudies,came to be blurred s leadinganthropologists eganto turn o thesedisciplines orinspiration ndguidingmodels. Whilethe emphasison contextremainedhe trademark f modemethnography,he metaphorof cultureas text gained prominence n theanthropologyof the 1970s. The practiceof subsuming he ethnographicenterpriseunder itles like "reading," translating,"deciphering,"nd "in-terpreting" ultural"scripts,""narratives,"nd "dramas"ucidly conveysthis textual-hermeneuticurn.3The new paradigmcontestedthe formerlydominantmechanisticandorganismicmetaphorsn anthropologynd madeits discoursemorecongenial o scholarsof Judaic tudies.A similar oweringof disciplinaryhresholdshas been notedin Judaicstudiesin the growingreadinessof scholars o move from text to context.One recent example is the attemptby scholars of Jewish mysticismtoaugmenthe dominant hilological-historicalesearch aradigm y analyzingthe phenomenological nd behavioral ayersof mysticalphenomena.4 hepresentessay seeks to contribute o this line of researchby examining hemysticalphenomena f dybbuk dibbuq) ndmaggid hrough nalytic ensescultivatedn psychologicalanthropology.

3. The most well known exponent of the culture-as-text paradigm is Clifford Geertz. Seehis now classic collection of essays, The Interpretationof Cultures (New York: Basic Books,1973); see also Goldberg, "Anthropology and the Study of Traditional Jewish Society," p. 5.4. Moshe Idel, Kabbalah: New Perspectives (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988);Yehuda Liebes, "New Directions in the Study of Kabbalah,"Pe'amim 50 (1992): 150-170(Heb.).



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DYBBUKANDMAGGID 343As an interdisciplinaryealm,the goal of psychologicalanthropologysto explorethe relationship etween ndividualandsociocultural henomenaby makingsystematicuse of psychological onceptsandmethods.5 hus, heinterfacebetweencollectiverepresentationse.g., ideologies,discourses, ndsymbols)andmental epresentationse.g., personal chemas,dispositions, nddesires) s a majorconcern o psychologicalanthropology.6n theindividuallevel, psychologicalanthropologistseekto elucidate heprocessesthroughwhichculturalmessagesaresubjectivelyvaluated nddifferentiallyncoded.Onthe collectivelevel, theyseek to discernconsistent roupdifferences ndto account for their origins,but at the same time they are also interested

in delineating he psychologicaland culturaluniversals hatunderlie hesedifferences.This dual perspective,seeking to illuminategroupdifferencesagainstthe backdropof humanuniversals, s characteristic f the presentstudy.Withoutunderestimatinghe Jewish-specificcontentsof the dybbukandmaggidphenomena,my aim is to ponderthem in the wider comparativecontext of alteredconsciousness,as representinghe two majorcategoriesemployedcross-culturallyo articulate ranceexperiences.CulturalPatternsofAlteredConsciousness

Altered tatesof consciousness reanatural ieldof study orpsychologi-cal anthropologists. mergingromapanhumansychophysiologicalmatrix,they manifest themselves in a multitudeof cultural orms and contexts.In contrastwith the aura of psychopathology ssociatedwith them in theWest,7 n most societies alteredstatesof consciousnessappearas socially5. Philip K. Bock, Continuities in Psychological Anthropology (San Francisco: Freeman,1980);ErikaBourguignon, sychologicalAnthropologyNewYork:Holt,Rinehart&Winston,1979).6. Roy D'Andrade and Claudia Strauss, eds., Human Motives and CulturalModels (Cam-bridge:CambridgeUniversityPress,1992);GananathObeyesekere,Medusas Hair (Chicago:Universityof ChicagoPress,1980);MelfordE. Spiro,CollectiveRepresentationndMentalRepresentationsn Religious MeaningSystems," n Cultureand HumanNature,ed. L. L.LangnessandBenjaminKilborneChicago:University f ChicagoPress,1985),pp. 161-184.7. JohnLeavitt,"AreTranceand PossessionDisorders?"TransculturalsychiatricRe-searchReview30 (1993):51-57; ColleanA. Ward, TheCross-Culturaltudyof AlteredStates

of Consciousness and Mental Health," in Altered States of Consciousness and Mental Health,ed. ColleanA. WardLondon:SagePublications, 989),pp. 15-35.



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344 YORAM ILU

endorsedandrituallyelaboratephenomena erving mportanteligiousandtherapeuticunctions.8According o ErikaBourguignon,woprincipal ypesof indigenouscategoriesare employedas explanatorymodels for trancephenomena crossthe globe.'Oneexplanatoryype, designated"possessiontrance,"attributesalteredstates of consciousnessto possession by spiritentities,while the other,"nonpossessionrance,"views them as resultingfromanencounterwith thespirit.This encountermayoccurby sendingone'ssoulon a spiritvoyageorbyhaving hespirits ometo visit.10tis against hisbifurcation f altered tatesof consciousnessproposedby BourguignonhatI wouldlike to evaluate he phenomena f dybbukandmaggid.But beforedetailingthe featuresof these Jewishvariantsof alteredconsciousness,acloserlookatpossession ranceandnonpossessionrance s in order.It would be erroneous o view the two formsof trancemerelyas ex-planatorymodels imposingdivergent heoriesof causationon a commoncoreof experiencesand behaviors.Rather,hey are culturaldiomsthroughwhichexperiences rearticulatedndbehaviors reconstructedo asto formculturallydivergentconfigurations."n this sense, the terms"possessiontrance" nd"nonpossessionrance" resomewhatunfortunate,s theyimplya separation etweennativetheory("possession") nd behavior "trance").Inaddition,a critiquemaybe launchedagainst heveryattempto subsumethe dazzlingdiversityof alteredstatesof consciousnessunder wo generalcategories.While possessiontranceandnonpossession rance akenote ofintraculturalnterpretive ystems of altered states of consciousness,theyare also the end-productof a cross-cultural ndeavorto distill regulari-ties anduniformities romhighly contextualized, ulturallyheterogeneousphenomena.12

8. ErikaBourguignon,d.,Religion,AlteredStatesof Consciousness,nd Social Change(Columbus:Ohio State UniversityPress, 1973); idem, Possession (CortaMadera,Calif.:Chandler& Sharp,1976).9. Bourguignon,d.,PsychologicalAnthropology,. 243.10. This divisionis roughlyparallel o possessionandshamanism. ee Luc De Heusch,WhyMarryHer?SocietyandSymbolic tructuresLondon:Cambridge niversityPress,1981),pp. 151-164.11. VincentCrapanzano,ntroductiono Case Studies n SpiritPossession,ed. VincentCrapanzanondVivianGarrisonNewYork:JohnWiley,1977),pp. 1-40.12. MichaelLambek,"FromDiseaseto Discourse:Remarks n the ConceptualizationfTrance ndSpiritPossession,"n Ward,AlteredStatesof Consciousness, p.36-61.



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DYBBUKANDMAGGID 345

Indeed,as broadapproximationsrgeneralizations,umping ogether heenormouslyicharray f trancephenomena, ossession ranceandnonposses-sion trancecannotserve as preciseconceptualools.Following hetwo-pathschemesuggestedby Bourguignonnevitably ntails omeoversimplification,giventhemalleability f trancephenomenand hepossibility fhybridorms.Therefore,n applyingBourguignon's ategorizationo the Jewishvariantsof alteredconsciousness,I would like to use it as a heuristicdevice in thecontextof a preliminaryxploration.Evenif tranceexperiencesare not socategorical, believethat hedivergent ature f the Jewishphenomena nderstudycanbe betterunderstoodhroughheprismof thetwo-pathmodel.

It is importanto notethatbothpossession rance ndnonpossessionrancemaybe positivelyor negativelydefined, n accordwith the moralqualitiesascribedto the spirit." "Positive"cases, steeped in ritualand religioussymbolism,arewillfully sought,as the encounterwiththe spirit s believedto contributeo the well-beingof the tranceror of others in his environs."Negative,"pontaneouslymerging ormsof altered tatesof consciousnessareoftenevaluatedas an affliction,andin consequence trictmeasuresaretakento disengage he tormented rancerromthe spirit(e.g., exorcism).Insomesocieties,wherespecialcultural venuesareavailableordomesticatingthe engagingspirit, involuntarydisruptive tatesmay be transformedntoecstatic,divinatory,rotherreligiouslybaseddissociativebehavior. tshouldbenotedalso that he two cultural ategories nderdiscussionmaynot involvealtered onsciousnessat all. Possession, orexample,maybe used toexplaina plethoraof humanconditions, romchronic llness to artistic nspiration,whichdo notnecessarilyentaila discernible hiftin consciousness.While possessiontranceandnonpossession rancecan be found in thesamesociety,as the case underdiscussionwill show,they seemto be in arelationship f structuralnversion.'4ndeed, he contrastsbetweenposses-sion tranceandnonpossession rance n termsof geographical istribution,societal and ecological variables,morphology continuity/discontinuitynconsciousness),modesof interaction,ender,andsymbolism eemto fashionthemintosharplydistinct ypesof experiences.Geographically, onpossession rance has been predominantn Northand SouthAmerica,while possessiontranceis positivelycorrelatedwith

13. I. M. Lewis,EcstaticReligion:Anthropologicaltudyof Spiritand ShamanismBalti-more:Penguin,1971).14. See De Heusch,WhyMarryHer,p. 152.



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348 YORAM ILUandidentityaretemporarilyradicated. heseoppositepatterns ppearo belinkedwith thesex-typeddistributionf possession ranceandnonpossessiontrance.

Havingdiscussed the majordifferencesbetweenpossessiontranceandnonpossession rance,20we turnnow to the Jewish variantsof the alteredstatesof consciousnessunderdiscussion.

DybbukandMaggid n JudaismThetermdybbukdibbuq)was used nJewishmystical ircles odesignatea spiritof a deadperson,anotorious inner n his lifetime, hat ooktemporarypossessionof ahumanbeing, usuallya female,by inhabiting erbody.21Thespiritannounced ispresencensidethevictim nvariousways.Afterstrikingher down and committingher to violent convulsions,the spirit'sstrangevoicecouldbe heard rom hemouthof thepossessed.His lewd and mmoralcharacterwas indicatedby the forbiddenacts of libidinal,aggressive,andreligiously ubversivebehaviorhat hepossessedwascompelled o commit.Giventhisrepugnant isplay, t is notsurprisinghatdybbukpossessionwasalwaysconceived as an afflictionor an illness and the possessingagentasa foreign,dangerousntruder hat had to be expelled.TheuniquelyJewish,culture-boundatureof thedybbukwasprominentlyxpressedn thepublicexorcisticritual.The exorcistwas alwaysa reveredrabbiwho confrontedthe spiritwith variousreligiously nformedmeasuresused in a fixed,gradedorder.Oftenthe exorcismwas performedn the synagogueandinvolved heactiveemployment f Jewishsacredparaphernaliay thecongregants.Duringthe highly structuredequenceof steps of the ritual,the spirit

was compelled o identifyhimself,to confesshis transgressionsuringhislifetimeand disclose the heavenlypenaltyinflictedon him in retribution,to specifyhis conditions or departure,o give his consent o leavethrougha minororgan (usuallyone of the big toes), andthen to depart or good.2220. See Bourguignon,PsychologicalAnthropology,p.233-269.21. Sincewithonlya few exceptions,hespiritsbelonged o malesinners, use masculinepronounsn discussing hem.Femininepronouns reusedto describehepossessed,giventhepredominancef females nthisgroup.22. See Bilu, "Tamingof the Deviants,"pp. 16-20; GedalyahNigal, DybbukTalesinJewishLiteratureJerusalem: ubinMass,1983) (Heb.).



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DYBBUKANDMAGGID 349

Judging romthe reported ases, successfulexpulsionof the spiritwas theoutcomeof most exorcisticrituals.Documented ases of dybbukpossessionappearn Jewishsourcesfromthemid-sixteenth entury o the firstdecadesof the twentieth entury.Onlymysticallyoriented ommunities,irstSephardicintheMediterraneanasin)and thenalso Ashkenazi in HasidicEasternEurope),were exposedto thephenomenon,and this selective distribution ttests to the strongmysticalbasisof thedybbukphenomenon.Themajorkabbalistic octrineunderlyingdybbukpossessionwas that of gilgul, or the transmigrationf souls,whichemerged n the twelfthcentury. n the late thirteenthentury he doctrineoftransmigration as expanded o include the entryof a spiritinto a livingpersonafterhe was born.Thisaddition,designatedbbur("impregnation"),paved the way for the appearance f dybbukpossession.Specifically, tcontended hatdybbukimwere spiritsof the wickedwho, in retributionortheir mortalsins, were doomed to remainin limbo, exposed to ruthlesspersecution,withoutevenbeingallowedto enterhell,wheretheirsinscouldbe eventuallyrepented.The inhabitation f humansgave these tormentedspiritsa temporary helter as well as an opportunityrealized hrough heintercession f theexorcist) o gainaccessto theworldof thedead.23Thedisappearancef thedybbuknthe firsthalf of the twentieth enturywasapparentlyelated o thedisintegrationf theJewish raditionalentersnEuropeand the MiddleEast dueto modernization,migration, ndphysicalextermination.In Jewishmysticismthe termmaggidwas used to indicatea celestialentity, usually an angel, who deliveredmystical secrets to a kabbalist.Unlikethe relativeuniformityof dybbukpossession episodes,the ways inwhichmaggidimrevealed hemselves o mysticswerequitevaried.Dreamsconstituted fertilegroundormaggidicvisitations, utno less commonwerewakefulapparitionsn which the kabbalist aw the heavenlymessengerorheardhis voice, orboth. Automatic peechand,to a lesserdegree,automaticwritingwerealso means of maggidicrevelation.Themaggidphenomenon ouldbe seen as one chaptern a long-lastingchain of propheticrevelations n Judaismwhich were relatedto diversecelestialpowers,fromRu ahHa-Qodeshandtheheavenlyvoice (bat-qol) oElijah he Prophetand the archangelMetatron.24istorically,evelationsof

23. GershomScholem, .v."Gilgul,"Encyclopaediaudaica 1971),vol. 7, cols. 573-577.24. JosephDan,s.v."Maggid," ncyclopaediaudaica(1971),vol. 11,cols. 699-701.



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350 YORAMILUmaggidim n mysticalcirclesspanneda two-hundred-yeareriod,fromthesixteenth o the eighteenth entury.Subsequently,he termcameto be usedmainlyas a designationor sermonists r preachers, articularlyn Hasidiccommunities,a meaningof maggidthat also datedback to the sixteenthcentury. nthisessay,however, henonrevelatoryesignation f maggidwillnotbe discussed,eventhough t is unlikely hat he twomeaningsof thetermwereentirelyunrelated.The figureof the maggidas an angelic messengerwas apparentlyrys-tallized n thefirstdecadesof the sixteenth enturyn thecircle of kabbalistsaroundRabbiJosephTaytazakn Salonica.25Fromhimmaggidicrevelationsspread o Safedin the Galilee,whichat that timewas emergingas a worldcenterof Jewishmysticism.Someof the mostrenownedmysticsof theera,RabbiSolomonAlkabets,Rabbi Moses Cordovero,and even Rabbi IsaacLuriaAshkenazi, heprominentounderof theLurianic chool of Kabbalah,areknown o have hadmaggidim,but thenatureof theirrevelations emainsvirtuallyunknown.The most famousmaggidof sixteenth-century afed, and perhapsofall times, was that of RabbiJosephKaro,one of the greatestfiguresofrabbinicJudaismand the authorof ShulhanArukh.26A talmudistby dayand a kabbalistby night,Karo eft a diary,MaggidMesharim, ecordinghemessagesfrom his heavenlymentor,who was none other hantheShekhinaembodiedin the anthropomorphizedigure of the Mishnah.Aside frominterpretationsf the Torahandmysticalsecrets,these messagesincludedpersonalcommunicationswhich moved fromagonizingchastisementandharshdemands or self-mortificationo aggrandizingraisesandpromisesofthegreatestachievements.Throughouthe first half of the seventeenthcentury,maggidimkeptappearingo mysticallyoriented abbis n ItalyandPoland,but thenumbergrew with the rise of the messianic movement of SabbataiSevi around1665--66,and the exuberanthopes for redemptionhat he stirred.ManyoftheSabbatean prophets,"ncludingNathanof Gaza, heprimemoverof the

25. According o various sourcesfromthe seventeenth entury,Seferha-Meshiv "TheBook of the Responding Entity]"), famousmysticalcompilation f maggidicrevelationsand the techniques o obtainthem,was writtenby Taytazak. ee MosheIdel, "Inquiriesnthe Doctrineof Sefer ha-Meshiv," efunot17 (1983): 185-266 (Heb.);GershomScholem,Kabbalah Jerusalem:Keter,1974),p. 67.26. R. J. Zwi Werblowsky,osephKaro:LawyerandMystic Philadelphia:ewishPubli-cationSociety,1977).



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DYBBUKANDMAGGID 351

movement,claimedto have hadmaggidicrevelations.Maggidimplayedanimportantole in Sabbatean roupsafterthe deathof SabbataiSevi. Amongother hings, heyserved o reconcile he shockedbelievers o theirMessiah'sconversion o Islam followedby his imprisonmentndexile, andthen to hispremature eath.A particularly usy periodof maggidicactivityoccurrednthereligiousacademyof RabbiAvrahamRevigoin Italy.AnotherSabbateancircle where maggidicrevelationswere prominentwas that of AvrahamKardozon Turkey.27Themaggidicepochwas sealed in the firsthalfof theeighteenth enturywith the mysticalrevelationsof Rabbi Moses HayyimLuzzatto n Padua,Italy.The secretMessianicgroup hat formedaround hisbrilliantkabbalistandwriterreceived ts inspirationromtherevelations f Luzzatto'smaggid.However,the social and religiousclimate in the post-Sabbateanra wasveryinauspiciousormaggidim.Luzzatto'smessianic ervorwasviewedbymanyof his contemporariess nurtured y hereticalSabbateanources.Hewas persecutedand excommunicated y the rabbinical uthorities nd wasforced to forsakehis mysticalstudies,not to mentionhis involvementwithhis maggid.28inceLuzzatto's ime,the steady low of prophetic evelationsreportedrom Hasidicand othermysticallyoriented ircleshasnot includedapparitionsf maggidim.

DybbukandMaggidas Culturally atternedAlteredStatesof ConsciousnessTheobviouscontrastsbetweendybbukandmaggidonly seem to accen-tuate heiraffinityand common emplate.Theyemerged---ormoreprecisely,appeared n writtensources--at the same time and in the same area:inthe firsthalf of the sixteenthcentury n the Sephardic ommunitiesof theMediterraneanasin.Moreover,he two phenomena eculiarly onvergednthe life historiesof someprominentmysticsof thatera.Thus,RabbiJosephKaro,whose heavenlymentorwas the most well known in the historyofmaggidim,was recentlyidentifiedas the exorcist in the firstdocumented

27. GershomScholem,SabbataiSevi (Princeton: rincetonUniversityPress, 1973),pp.645-647.28. Meir Benayahu,"TheMaggidof R. Moses HayyimLuzzatto,"Sefunot5 (1961);297-336 (Heb.).



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352 YORAMILUcase of dybbukexpulsion,whichtookplacein Safedin 1545.29In the samevein, RabbiShlomoAlkabets,Karo'sclose friend,who in a detailedepistledescribedhe impressivemanifestations f the latter'smaggid,andwho wasknownto have a maggidof his own,30was also the firstwitness to signoneof the earliestreportsof dybbukexorcism,dated1571.31t is interestingonote that the termdybbukwas firstemployed n the contextof a specificcase of controversialmaggid-likeprophetic evelations. t was RabbiJacobEmden,one of the fiercestopponentsof the Sabbateanmovement,whodescribed Sabbatean rophet,Zaddokof Grodno, s "an gnorant udeman.. who in all probabilitywas possessedby somedybbuk rom the foreign[demonic]beings, ikeall hisderangedriends."32notherSabbateanrophet,RabbiLeibProssnitz,who claimed o have enlistedSabbatai evi andRabbiIsaac Luriaas his maggidim,was compelledto admit,afterhavingbeeninterrogatedy the rabbinical uthorities,hat the sourceof his prophecieswas none otherthan a dybbuk n the guise of dog.33Thus,it appears hatat a time of dispute,the boundariesbetweenthese seemingly contrastingphenomena ould becomeblurred.Maggidicrevelationsandprophecies,asource of highly cherishedmysticalsecretsand spiritual nsightsfor thebeliever,could easily be defamedby opponentsand relabeledas negativepossessionby a demonora dybbuk.Scholarsof Jewishmysticismcould not fail to notice the parallelismbetweendybbukandmaggid.Scholem,who was not fondof psychologicalanalysisof mysticalphenomena, everthelesstated hat:

Froma psychologicalointof view,thesemaggidim ereproductsf theunconsciousevelof thepsyche, rystallizingn theconsciousevel of thekabbalists' indsntopsychic ntities.Maggidim,olyangels rthesoulsofdepartedaints,peakingither o thekabbalistrthroughismouth.. oftenhad heir ounterpartsnthe"otheride"nthedibbuks,emons r evil souls

29. MosheIdel,"JewishMagicfrom heEarlyRenaissance eriod o EarlyHasidism,"nReligion,Science,andMagic,ed. JacobNeusner,ErnestS. Frerichs, nd PaulV. M. Flesher(NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress,1989),p. 108.30. Werblowsky,osephKaro,pp. 19-21.31. Nigal,DybbukTales,p. 65.32. GershomScholem,Researches n SabbateanismTelAviv: Am Oved, 1991),p. 575(Heb.).

33. YehudaLiebes,"TheAuthor f the BookTsaddikYesodOlam-The Sabbatean rophetRabbiLeibProssnitz,"Da 'at2-3 (1978-79): 159-174 (Heb.)



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354 YORAMILUThe near-universal reponderance f females in possessiontrance is

echoedin the case of the dybbuk,as the ratio of females to malesamongthe possessed was approximately :1. One of the distinctivefeatures ofthe male possessed was their significantlyyounger age. In fact, most ofthe possessedmales were childrenand adolescents.Like otherpossessiontrance ases,dybbukpossessionexhibitedaninherent ensionbetweenactiveperformance,epletewithhypermotorndaggressivebehaviors, ndpassiveimageryemergingfrom the absolute oss of individuality nd controlvis-A-visthe spirit.Since dybbukpossessionhas never been transformedntoa positive,willfully soughtstate,it altogetheracked induction ituals.Yetthe spontaneously mergingfactorsunderlying he possessionattackscanbe identifiedas emotional ntensification r arousal.In terms of Ludwig'sclassificationof induction echniques,36hese factorsclearly belongto thecategoryof stimulationncrease, o typicalof possession rance tates.Whereasdybbukpossession appearsas a clear-cutcase of possessiontrance,the positionof the maggidas an alteredstateof consciousness smorecomplicatedandrequiresa thorough xamination. cholarsof Jewishmysticism,while emphasizinghe aforementionednvertedaffinitybetweendybbukandmaggid,tended o placethe contrastsbetween hemwithinthedomainof possessionby designatinghemaggidas positivepossession."Inwhatfollows,I proposea criticalexaminationf this viewby evaluating ar-iouscharacteristicsf maggidicrevelation gainstBourguignon's ichotomyof sociallypatterned ltered tatesof consciousness.A strong upportorviewingmaggidicrevelations spositivepossessioncomes fromthe main mysticalaccountsof these phenomena.A pertinentexample s the doctrineof prophetic evelationdevelopedby RabbiMosesCordovero, ne of themystical uminaries f sixteenth-centuryafed.

For heholyspiritanrestuponman.. and hiswas hecasewithallprophets... and heopposites thecaseof Saul,where"anevilspiritroubled im."Similarlymancanbe entered y anotheroul-a holyor an evilone-andsimilarly e have eendemons revilspirits ntering enand roublinghem.... Similarlyanangel mayentermanandspeakwithinhimwordsof wisdom,and his s whats generallyalledmaggid.3836. Ludwig,"AlteredStatesof Consciousness,"p. 12-14.37. Idel,"JewishMagic,"p. 107.38. Quoted n Werblowsky,osephKaro,p. 80.



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DYBBUKANDMAGGID 355The classification f mysticalassociationswithpositiveandnegativebeingsproposed yCordoveroestssolelyonthenotionofpossession.It is interestingthateven when he deals with the mysticalrevelationsof Elijahthe Prophet(gilluy Eliahu), which he describedas an internallygenerated nsight orillumination,Cordoverostill sticks to an intellectual-abstractersion ofpossession,apparentlywithout ranceat all:"Elijah ntering he intellectofman andteachinghimhiddenthings.""39t seems thatCordoverowas totallyengulfed n thepossessionidiom,which he employed o account ora widespectrum f prophetic evelations.It shouldbe emphasized,however, hatCordovero resented theory,orconceptualcheme, hatwasdesigned oaccount orempiricalacts propheticrevelations)butwas not identicalwiththem.True, hearticulatoryowerofexplanatorymodels like Cordovero'smayhavea significantbearingon thebehavioralevel. But in this case it is not at all clearwhetherCordovero'sesotericdoctrinestemmedfroma widespread olk-modelof maggidismorsubsequently ecome one.At anyrate,otherdoctrinal ccountsof maggidimheld by noted kabbalistswere not necessarily inked to possessionas theguidingidiom. Thus the maggidictheoryof RabbiHayyimVital, Luria'sgreat disciple and the promulgator f his teachings,asserts thatthe studyof the Law and dutifulperformance f the commandments y the mysticbringaboutthe creationof an angelwho revealshimself to his creatoranddisclosesmysticalsecretsto him. Vital's formulationeavesit entirelyopenwhetherwe aredealinghere with a nonpossessionranceexperience i.e., abounded ncounterwiththeangel)or with a possession rance.40 fwe movefromthe doctrinal-theoreticalevel to thephenomenological-behavioralne,thestrongest upportordefining hemaggidas a caseof positivepossessionis automatic peech,one of the mostcommonpathsof maggidicrevelation.ManyreferencesnMaggidMesharim,Karo'smysticaldiary,attest othe factthathismaggidrevealedhimselfthrough utomaticpeech(e.g.,"Behold hevoice of mybelovedknockethnmymouthand helyresoundedof itself').41Alkabets, n his famousepistle,testified hat"weheard hevoice speakingnthe mouthof thevirtuous."42utomatic peechwasquitecommonamong heSabbatean rophets.One of them,JosephBen-Surof Meknes in Morocco,

39. Ibid.,p. 81.40. Ibid.,p. 79.41. Ibid.,p. 260.42. Ibid.,p. 21.



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reportednamazementhat"Ido notknowwhospeakswithme,andIneithersee nor speakbutmy lips are speakingand I hearthe voice thatproceedsfromthem."43The importanceand centralplace of automaticspeech in propheticrevelationswasmanifestednvariousreligiouscommentariesnwhich twasargued hat Moses and the otherprophetsused thismethod o communicatewith heavenly forces.44Some kabbalists eft us vivid descriptionsof theexperienceof automatic peech.Consider, or example,the excitementofthe authorof Sha areySedeq("TheGatesof Justice"), mystical extof thethirteenth entury,afterhe had experiencedautomatic peech:"Andthen,some utterances ame out frommy heartand reachedmy lips, forcing hemto move.And I was worried est this was a senselessspirit,butthenI foundoutthatthetalkwas sagacious.And I came to the conclusion hatthiswas awise-heartedpirit."45Again,this self-testimonyapparentlyonstitutes trongevidence for thepresenceof thespeaking orcewithin hebodyof themystic.Itseems that heauthor'spersonalnotion of automatic peechis consistentwithCordovero'smaggid-as-possessionheory.A similar notion appears n the doctrineofprophetic evelation f Nathanof Gaza, heprominent abbateanrophet ndSabbatai evi'sharbinger:And henhe [theprophet] ees thespeech[sic]oftheprophecy n the form of lettersprotrudingn frontof him.... after hat,anangelis created from heseletters]and nhabits hebodyof the manwhosees thisvision. And[theangel]utters hroughhis [theprophet's]mouth heletters hathe had seen abovehim."46Note thatin this passagethe phenomenology f prophecyand its inter-pretationare confounded.The prophetic equence,according o NathanofGaza,beginswith a visual message,moretypicalof nonpossession rancethanof possessiontrance,and ends with automatic peech.The mediatinglink between these two sets of experienceis a theory of possession. Ibelieve that this separationbetweentheoryand subjectiverealityreflectsan epistemologicalgapwhich is crucial orunderstandinghe natureof themaggidas an altered tateof consciousness.Beforefurtherlaboratingn this

43. Scholem,SabbataiSevi,p. 897.44. Idel,"Inquiries,"p.220-221.45. Ibid.,p. 221.46. Scholem,SabbataiSevi,p. 206. Seeingthe speech s not a case of synesthesiafusionof sense modalities).The prophet s imagined o see in a three-dimensionalorm the lettersfromwhichthe wordsof theprophecy recomposed.



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gap(butin line with the argumenthatunfoldspresently),t shouldbe notedthatRabbiHayyimVital contends n his Sha arha-Gilgulim"TheGate ofTransmigrations")hat the spiritualvoice of the Divine cannotbe heardbytheprophetbecause t lacksmaterialdimensions.Hence,tobe communicatedit must be embodied n thecorporeal oice of theprophet.47Does the embodimentof the spiritualvoice in the humanvoice of theprophet mply a possessiontrancestate? Thephenomenology f automaticspeech, so lucidly demonstratedn the above-citedpassagefromSha areySedeq, eadsme to a negativeanswer.Thereflexiveawareness xpressedhereindicates hat the individualdentityof thekabbalistwas farfromabolishedin the courseof automatic peech.Inmanyof thereports,hetrancer's bilityto be attentive o the utteranceshat his own lips generatedandto processthemcorrectlywas taken for granted.Furthermore,he state of automatismdid not involve dissociationstrong enoughto obliterate he recollectionofthe messagesthusdelivered,as manymysticswereable to remember hemlong afterwards.Karo'sabilityto rememberhe messagesthatthe maggiddeliveredto him on Friday night, the preferred ime for revelations,wasparticularlympressive,since he could write themdown only manyhourslater,after heholy Sabbathhad ended.Thus, although maggidic revelations often involved automaticspeech-after all, this was the only way to hear the spiritualmessage ofthe Divine according o influentialkabbalists ike Vital-and although hephenomenon f automatic peechwas oftenexplainedn termsof possession,the boundaries etween he trancer ndhis divinementorwere notdissolved.The associationwith the maggidgenerallytook the form of an encounterin which the humanand spiritualparticipants ppeared s distinctentities.Karo'smaggiddemonstratedhis point by stating,"I am talkingto you asa man (would talk) to his friend."48f we add to this dimensionof clearlydemarcatednteractionduringrevelationthe persistenceof the cognitiveattributesf reflexivity, ttention, ndmemory,t seemsthatwe cannotescapethe conclusion hatphenomenologicallyhemaggid s closer ononpossessiontrance hanto possessiontrance.The associationof the maggidwith nonpossession rancegains furthersupportwhen we examine other forms of maggidicrevelation.Dreaming,a stateof alteredconsciousnesssharingmanyaffinitieswithnonpossession

47. Werblowsky, osephKaro,pp.78-79.48. Ibid.,p. 258.



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trance,constituteda fertile matrix for germinatingmaggidim.In fact, thecontextin which the termmaggidfirstemergedwas that of she'elat halom(dreamquery),amagical echniqueor nducingdream evelations.49Thewidevarietyof dreamrevelations ed Werblowskyo argue hat"allknownformsandkindsof mystical experiencecould be doubledon the dream evel."50Indeed,the phrase"dreaming r awake"appears n many descriptionsofmaggidicrevelation.That he dreamprecedes hewakingstate n thisphraseis indicativeof its perceptionas the "natural"ettingfor apparitions.n themystical extSeferha-Meshivmentioned bove, he dream'sprimacys statedquiteexplicitly:"[onecan askquestions]irst manytimes in thedream, henlater n wakingstate."5't is possiblethatmaggidicapparitionsn dreamsareunderrepresentedn the texts becausethedreaming ndwakingstatesaresooftenconfoundednmysticalexperiences, articularlyf thedream pparitionunderwentmassiverevisionafter hedreamer wakened.Thefact thatmanymaggidicvisitationsoccurredat night lends support o this conjecture. naddition,manyrevelations ook place in twilightstates, ust beforefallingasleep(hypnagogic tates)or,morefrequently,mmediately fterwakingup(hypnopompic tates).The first visitationof the maggid of Rabbi MosesHayyimLuzzattobelongedto the secondtype:"Andas I woke up, I hearda voice speaking." n anotherpassagehe statedthat"I do all these things(incantationsorsummoninghemaggid)whenI fall downandI see all of theholysoulsas if I amdreaming."52he Sabbateanrophet osephBen-Surwasfrequented y his maggid n a twilightstate,when he was "neither reamingnorawake."53 e reporteda clear-cutdissociativestate("allmy senses arein abeyance,andI do not know whetherI am in Heavenor on earth") f ahypnopompicnature "andhe wantsto open his eyes and he cannot,as iftheyarecoveredwithlead").54

As a privatehallucinatoryxperience,he dream s akinto nonpossessiontrance.Indeed,the two tracksof visual andauditory ense modalities hatweredominantnvisitationaldreamsprevailednwakingrevelations swell.Theonly difference s thatthe auditorymode,inferior o the visual modeindreamrevelations,was moredominantn wakefulness.The doubletrackof49. Idel,"Inquiries,". 222.50. Werblowsky, Joseph Karo, p. 41.51. Idel,"Inquiries,". 204.52. Scholem,SabbataiSevi,p. 897;Benayahu, Maggid f Luzzatto."53. Scholem, Sabbatai Sevi, 897.54. Ibid.



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sensemodalitiesnnondream evelationss evident nSeferha-Meshiv,whichwas designatedby Cordovero"a book speakingaccording o a maggid,"55while anothermystic,RabbiOvadiahHamon,calledit "thebook of visionsaccording o the maggid."56 gainstphrases n this text emphasizing ocaldiscourse e.g., "Youwill come at once to have a face-to-facedialoguewithme"),57otherexpressions tress thevisualmode(e.g., "Youwill see in youreye thefigureof theangelhimself')."5 eedlessto say,theauditory ndvisualtracksdidnot exclude each otherand could be integratednto one coherentsystem.59Seferha-Meshiv pecifiesan interestingechnique or summoningmag-gidimin which thevisualandauditoryrackswereseparated.Therevelationhere entaileda conjurerwho was able to see the summonedangel, anda naive scribe who was called upon to write down the maggid's spokencommunication ut could not see him.60Whetheror not the voice that thescribe was supposedto hear was in fact the conjurer's in the form ofautomatic peech)is left anopenquestion.The auditory ense modalitywas salientin the maggidicrevelationsofLuzzatto,who, like Karo, could not see his heavenlymentor.However,Luzzatto'smysticalexperienceapparentlywas not automatic peech,eventhoughhe explicitly statedthat "I could hear his voice speakingin mymouth."''61ased on the reportof one of Luzzatto'sstudents "Thisangelspeaksout of his mouth,thoughwe, his disciples,do not hearanything"),Werblowsky ogently concludesthat his was a case of endophasia innerspeech).62A strongemphasison the visual mode was typicalof Kardozo'smaggidicrevelations.Toa modemreader, is techniques ppearo have beenbasedon massivehypnotic uggestionsalmost antamountoguided magery)designedto bringhis disciples to see the maggidim.But in his mystical

55. Idel,"Inquiries," . 189.56. Ibid.57. Ibid.,p. 190.58. Ibid.59. Some mysticaltechniques or inducingprophecy ncludedan elaboratemultisensorysystemencompassing isual,auditory, lfactory,actile,andgustatory ensations.See MosheIdel, TheMystical Experience in AbrahamAbulafia (Jerusalem:Magnes Press, 1988), pp. 33-34(Heb.).60. Idel,"Inquiries,". 219.

61. Benayahu,"Maggidof Luzzatto."62. Werblowsky,osephKaro,p. 23.



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360 YORAM ILUcircle the lattercould also be heard. To conclude,the sensory-perceptual("hallucinatory")imension,so prominent n maggidicrevelationboth indreamsand nwakefulness, nceagainsituates hemaggid n thecategoryofnonpossessionrance.A differentkindof revelation,regardedby mostmysticsas superior omaggidism,was the revelation f Elijah gilluyEliahu).As mentioned efore,some mysticsbelieved thatElijahcouldimpingehimself on theintellectualfacultiesof a sage and createan experiencefelt as an abrupt nsight orinspiration.But the typical way in which he disclosedhimself was in hisfigure,either n a dreamsorin a wakingstate.Theideal revelation f Elijah,asdepictednKaro'sMaggidMesharim nd nSeferha-Meshiv,was aprivateencounter, ased on a clearlydemarcatednteraction,n whichElijahwouldrevealhimself to the mysticand talk to him "mouth o mouth."Cordoveroarguedthat before his earthlyvisitationsElijahincarnatedn his materialbody andappearedo his mortalcompanion"inhis body andsoul."63Thisnotion,whichhighlights henatureof Elijahas a distinct"embodied"ntityduring apparitions,makeshim, in fact, incapableof taking possessionofhumans.Likemaggidicrevelations,hen,gilluyEliahuappearso be firmlylinkedwithnonpossessionrance.Letus explorenow the induction echniques or summoningmaggidim.While these techniqueswere less rich and elaborate hanthose employedby mystics nvolved n ecstaticKabbalah,ike thethirteenth-centurypanishkabbalistRabbi AvrahamAbulafiaand his circle,64hey were based onstructuredmethodswhich hadto be meticulously ollowed.Thesemethodsincluded he ceremonial ecitationof appropriatecripturalerses,passagesfromthe Mishnah,or Divine Names(yihudim).Sometimes pecific ncanta-tions wereemployed o summon he angel duringsleep ("dream uery")orin wakefulness.65The seriouspreparationsequiredorconjuringhemaggidare evident n the case of Luzzatto,who "wascompelled o preparehimselffor threedays... by takingritualbathsand other hingsdesigned o appeasethemaggidicangelwhowas speaking o him."66Beyondthese techniques, eclusion,penance,andabstinencewere alsoused to establishan auspiciousbackgroundor summoningmaggidim.The

63. Ibid., p. 270.64. Idel, AbrahamAbulafia, pp. 15-42.65. Idel, "Inquiries,"pp. 201-218.66. Benayahu, "Maggid of Luzzatto,"p. 307.



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asceticpreparationsncluded leepdeprivation,asting,andself-mortification.FromAlkabets'sepistle, it comes out thatthe dramatic evelationsof themaggid of Karo duringthe vigil of Shavuot occurred n the context oftwo sleepless nights. Karo'smaggidpursued he notion of asceticismtothe extreme.He pushedKaroto ever-increasingelf-inflicted ufferingandcastigated imharshlyor the tiniestdeviation romhisSpartan emands.Theultimate ewardhe promisedKaroformaintaininghispenitential isciplinewasmartyrdomn the stake "Ishallmake heeworthy obe publiclyburnedin Palestine, o sanctifymyname n public"),ollowing heexemplarymodelof the messianicmartyrSolomonMolkho,who was burned n Mantua n1532.67Against hisascetic ifestyle,Werblowsky's sychodynamiceading fthemaggidas theproduct f Karo'sdemandinguperego ppearswell-taken.68The asceticpreparationsor summoningmaggidimmaybe psychologi-cally interpreted,hen,as stemming romthe unconsciousneed to appeasetormentingnternalized bjectscrystallized n a harshsuperego.Fromthenativemysticalperspective, hese activitieswere considered o be suitablemeansofpurifyinghe soulbeforemeetingwithdivine orces.Theperspectiveespoused nthisessayputsthemainemphasis nyetanotherevelof analysis,spanninghepsychophysiologicalndthepsychocultural:hepreparatoryn-ductionsmayhave createdphysicalandpsychological onditions onduciveto enteringa culturally ashionedstateof alteredconsciousness. t shouldbe notedthat even the apparition f Elijah,whichaccordingo Werblowsky"wasnotamenableo anymystico-magicaloercion,"''69as infactfacilitatedby lengthyfasts. Karo'sasceticallyorientedmaggid,who urgedhimto fastseven times for three consecutivedays each, in orderto see Elijah, onlyechoedan old tradition oingback to the talmudicera.70While the techniquesfor summoningmaggidimwere varied,most ofthem belong to the cluster of inductionmeans based on the reductionof stimulationand motoractivity.The abstinenceand seclusion,togetherwith the engrossment n nightlyprayersand incantations,were likely toincrease ensorydeprivation.naddition,helengthy astsmayhaveproducedhypoglycemia nddehydrationonducive o analtered tateof consciousness.

67. Werblowsky, osephKaro,p. 98.68. Ibid.,p. 285.69. Ibid.,p. 50.70. Louis Ginzberg,TheLegends of the Jews (Philadelphia:ewishPublicationSociety,1913),vol. 4, p. 215.



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362 YORAM ILUAll of these inductions retypicalof nonpossessionrance.Possession rance,as mentionedabove, is morelikely to be inducedby stimulationncrease,eitherexternalor internal.

Positive Possession Trance in JudaismIf maggidicrevelations renotinstancesof positivepossession rance,ashas been commonlyassumed,wherein Jewishmysticalcirclescan we findpositivelyevaluatedmanifestations f thistypeof dissociation?Afterreview-

ing manyhistoricalcases of prophetic evelation n Judaism, would liketo suggestthat the groupandindividual evelationsof entranced abbateanprophetsbore significantresemblanceso the behavioralmanifestations fpossession rance.The messianic fervor of 1666, the year of redemptionaccordingtoSabbataiSevi, gavebirth o a mass movementof prophetshatencompassedmen andwomen,childrenand adults.The ecstatictrance nto whichtheseprophetsenteredstartedwith a comatose state and continuedwith violentconvulsions, xcessivefoaming,and oudutterances f mystical ormulae. tis importanto note thatthesestateswere followedby amnesia:"Thereaftertheywouldrisewithout emembering hat heyhaddoneorsaid."7' histypeof collectiveprophecy ppears kin odybbukpossession ntermsof boththepopulationnvolved(which ncludedwomen,children, ndtheignorant) ndthebehaviors xhibitedcoma,convulsions,oaming,amnesia).As in thecaseof dybbukim,here too epilepsy ("fallingsickness")was used as a commonframeof reference. t is hard o determine he extentof femaleparticipationin Sabbatean rophecy,but in anycase the strongly elt presenceof womenstoodin sharpcontrast o the near-absence f femaleswithmaggidim.72The individualpropheticperformancesf Sabbateanmysticswere alsoquite similarto possessiontrance. In the propheciesof Nathanof Gaza,for example,hypermotorxcitationwas partof the induction o the trancestate.In one of the reportshe is describedas wobblinganddancingwildly

71. Scholem, Sabbatai Sevi, p. 420.72. I have beenable to locateonly one case of a womanwho hadmaggidicrevelations.This woman,La Francesa, ived in Safedat the beginningof the seventeenth entury,andamazed he town'ssages by herabilityto foretell he future.H. Z. Hirschberg, TheAuthorof DivreyYosef nd His AttitudeToward heDutyof Settling n Eretz srael,"n SeferShazar(Jerusalem:sraelExploration ociety,1971),pp. 132-137(Heb.).



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in the room while takinghis clothes off. Followinga particularlyreneticmovement,he collapsed nto a comatosestate so deepthat a physicianwascalledfor andannounced is death.Onlythen, o thesurprise f allattendant,was his voice heardfromunderneathhe sheet thatcoveredhim, utteringpraisesof SabbataiSevi.73AnotherSabbatean rophet,RabbiMosesSuriel,entereda trance n a stimulus-loadedetting.

And hey[adherentsf the Sabbatean ovement] eresittingwithhimandsingingongsofpraisesorSabbataievi,and heywereplayingheharp ndothermusical nstruments.nd n the midstof all that,RabbiMoseswouldstartdancingikea youngman,and n themiddle f thedancehewould alldownasif hehadcontracted,eavenorbid,hefalling ickness.After omeagitatione would ommencealking. nd heyputahandkerchiefnhisface... andhe woulddisclose ecrets... And woscribeswere itting thisside,quicklywriting own veryutteranceemade.74

Again,RabbiMosesSuriel'sprophetic ehavior orrespondsothebehavioralconfigurationfpossession.Themobilization f the two scribes owritedownhisrevelations t the moment heywere utteredmaybe takenasan indicationthatSurielwas unable o recallthem.Eventhough heassociationof Sabbatean cstaticprophecywithposses-siontrancestrikesme as quitesound, wo reservations reappropriateere.First,this association s solely basedon behavioralandphenomenologicalcriteria.We do not know whether Sabbateandoctrinehad any notion ofprophecy-as-possession.n any case, note thatmy analysisof maggidimasnonpossession rance s basedin parton the existenceof somediscrepancyorincongruence etweennativetheoryandbehavior.Second, some of the literatureon Sabbateanismwas writtenby anti-Sabbatean abbisafter the fall of the false Messiah. In these sourcesthe

explanationor the salvo of propheciesn 1666 is oftenpresentedn termsof possessionby evil spiritsordemons.Interestinglyne of theseopponents,RabbiJacobSasportas,uggested hreepossiblewaysof accountingortheseprophecies-psychological("their ustand desirearoused heirimagination

73. Scholem,SabbataiSevi,p. 423.74. Leib Ben Ozer,TheStoryof SabbataiSevi (Jerusalem: almanShazarCenter,1978),pp.59-60 (Heb.).



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364 YORAM ILUuntil they beheldvisions"),medical("fallingsickness"),and demonologi-cal ("possibly he spiritalso restedupon them accidentally, peakingandannouncing arious hings,as doesone who is possessedby a demon").7

SummaryndConclusionsDybbukand maggid were portrayedas representingwo contrastingpaths of culturallyshapedaltered states of consciousnesssimilar to theuniversaldivision of possessiontranceandnonpossessionrancesuggested

by Bourguignon.Even thoughsome mysticalaccountsof maggidimwerebasedonthepossession diom,andeventhough hephenomenonf automaticspeech apparentlyendssupporto thisassociation,most of the experientialattributesof maggidismwere akin to nonpossession rance.If one looksfor positive possessiontrance n Jewishmysticism, he ecstaticindividualand collective propheciesprevalent n the Sabbateanmovementoffer anappropriatexample.Let us summarize hedifferencesbetweendybbukandmaggid.Thedybbukwas anegativeand nvoluntaryossessionphenomenonin whichan evil spirit mposedhimself on the victim,usuallya woman ora child,andwas eventuallyexpelledafter a publicanddramatic xorcisticritual.During he possessionepisode,the alteredconsciousnesswas clearlymanifested n the realizationof the identityof the invadingspiritto theexclusionof thevictim'sself-identity. heepisodewasapparentlyrecipitatedby a strongemotionalarousaland was followedby total orpartialamnesia.Themaggidwas apositiveandwillfullysoughtencounterwithanangeloranother piritual ideexperiencedmostly by malemystics.Themaggidwassummoned y variousritual nductions haracterizedy sensorydeprivationand self-mortification,nd his presencewas experiencedas an interactionbasedon visual or auditory ense modalitiesor both.The experiencewastypicallyprivateand"internal,"nd thereforehad to be remembered. incethe associationwiththemaggidwasdesirable, nlike hecompelledpresenceof the dybbuk,we findsummoning ituals n the instanceof the former,asopposed o exorcisticrituals or the latter.The contrastsbetween the two Jewish variantsof alteredstates of con-sciousnesshighlight he different ocialpositionsandcultural valuations fthe typicaltrancers n the two pathsof alteredconsciousness-a mystically

75. Quoted in Scholem, Sabbatai Sevi, p. 423.



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twotypesof altered tatesof consciousness-huntingandgatheringocieties(associatedwithnonpossessionrance)andagriculturalocieties(associatedwith possessiontrance).Needless to say, this distinctiondoes not applytotraditional ewishsociety.Yet it is worthaskingwhether he socializationpressures owardcompliance,obedience,andconformityhatwere evidentin agriculturalocietieswerenot also the fate of the Jewish female victimsof dybbukim?And in this vein, is it not possibleto metaphoricallyondertheJewishmysticsashunters, elentlesslypropelled y theadventurous riveto find theirown pathto the Divine and to stalkmysticalsecrets?In thisindependent ursuitof esotericknowledge, he maggidservedas a kind ofa guardian piritor a spiritualally,a chaperonandguidein the dangerousorchardof mysticalenigmas,who helped to dispel doubt and insecurityamong he kabbalists nd suffused hemwith assurancen theircalling.

Hebrew niversityJerusalem,srael

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Bilu Dybbuk and Maggid