In many ways the spiritual side of endogenic plurality comes before the psychological one, as historically situations resembling what we today call plurality were often attributed to spirits or possessing entities. While only a small amount of people experiencing these things may identify as plural if given the chance and these phenomena may diverge in various ways, they are similar enough (and intersect in some crucial areas) to warrant attention.
History is full of stories of beings and creatures that have the ability to talk to humans, take over a human host, and exert their will on other people. It is a common theme in mythology and legend, and is still present today in the thinking and beliefs of many societies. The Greeks had daemons, spirits that could be considered malevolent or benevolent figures (daemon, 1997). A few believed that each person had their personal daemon guiding them and giving them advice. Shamanism, sometimes defined as the practice of working with the spiritual world in order to help others, was and still is a widespread practice in various parts of the world. Depending on the culture, some shamans may go on trance journeys and even allow an animal or other being to possess them temporarily to gain their spiritual or mental attributes (Pierre Flor-Henry, 2017). Soul dualism is a concept that has been found in Eastern societies and often presumes humans are naturally born with two or more souls, which (depending on the culture) may feature in spiritual rituals or other important events. Each individual culture the world over has its own unique way of interpreting the phenomenon of spiritual or entity possession.
There are many cultures in which malignant entities who influence a person's thoughts or actions covertly are a very real threat that must be guarded against, and fear of possession or losing control is common. There are also cultures in which conversing with other beings, oftentimes spiritual entities, is a joyous and regular part of life, and in some cases those who can do so are assumed to have some sort of gift or special power. Most people in developed countries openly dismiss the idea of "other minds", or spirits existing and being able to take over other people, however even in these countries there are those few who claim to be able to talk to spirits and allow them to possess their bodies temporarily. In modern times mediumship (a more general and open practice) can be found all over the world, even in the Western world, and many mediums will channel spirits from other realms, in some cases even allowing them temporary control of their bodies (Pederzoli, 2021). On more than one occasion a spirit has become mildly (in)famous and written a book or two!
In cultures outside of the United States, trance and possession may be considered culturally permissible, and welcomed in certain environments. However, most of these activities are still categorized as dissociative in nature by psychology, and thus have been compared to Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and other conditions. Studies of trance activities have found that those who willingly and purposefully engage in trance states lack the distress and dissociation often seen in dissociative disorders like DID (Huges, 1992). Similar investigations of mediums found that while mediums do dissociate at higher levels than average, they don't dissociate enough for it to be distressing/reach pathological levels or cause serious dysfunction to their lives (Wahbeh, 2017). Although such activities are dissociative in nature and can be mistaken for DID at first glance, often times these experiences are pleasant and joyous, and don't cause much integral distress other than in the social realm, which is atypical for dissociative disorders (Delmonte et al, 2015). It appears as if an underlying factor for whether the experience will be positive or not has to do with whether the experience is trauma-based or not. While this may not be the only factor, it does seem to be significant in some cases.
This hints at other forms of non-pathological dissociation being possible, and indeed, the trance states may be comparable to the headmates found in endogenic plurality. As both originate from a source other than trauma and involve the experience of multiple identities they share some similarities, although experiences may differ from there. Many endogenics may see themselves as sharing a brain/body long-term and may be less likely to interact with their headmates outside the body as one would a spiritual entity. Endogenics may also interpret their headmates in different spiritual ways and may be less likely to feel their headmates have a de facto spiritual purpose, in comparison to mediums and other channelers of spiritual entities. Headmates may also be more rounded out and have a more defined personality than those seen in basic trace states. However, considering it is possible to allow (what is considered by psychology) another identity state to take over control outside of trauma, it is then likely possible for a set of identities to exist in a body in a configuration vaguely resembling DID or mediumistic experiences, but without any sort of traumatic background or pathological dissociation.
History supports the idea that multiple people coexisting inside one brain is something that can happen, and that it is at the very least a natural occurrence for many, possibly a spiritual one as well for some. While spiritual possession and endogenic plurality vary in some areas, it lends support to the idea that one can experience spiritual or identity displacement without trauma. It also supports several subjective claims made by endogenic systems, such as some headmates having spiritual origins or being able to switch at will. The concept likely would not be so prominent in mythology, folklore, and even spirituality today if it wasn't something that was part of the human condition in some way, shape or form.
History is full of stories of beings and creatures that have the ability to talk to humans, take over a human host, and exert their will on other people. It is a common theme in mythology and legend, and is still present today in the thinking and beliefs of many societies. The Greeks had daemons, spirits that could be considered malevolent or benevolent figures (daemon, 1997). A few believed that each person had their personal daemon guiding them and giving them advice. Shamanism, sometimes defined as the practice of working with the spiritual world in order to help others, was and still is a widespread practice in various parts of the world. Depending on the culture, some shamans may go on trance journeys and even allow an animal or other being to possess them temporarily to gain their spiritual or mental attributes (Pierre Flor-Henry, 2017). Soul dualism is a concept that has been found in Eastern societies and often presumes humans are naturally born with two or more souls, which (depending on the culture) may feature in spiritual rituals or other important events. Each individual culture the world over has its own unique way of interpreting the phenomenon of spiritual or entity possession.
There are many cultures in which malignant entities who influence a person's thoughts or actions covertly are a very real threat that must be guarded against, and fear of possession or losing control is common. There are also cultures in which conversing with other beings, oftentimes spiritual entities, is a joyous and regular part of life, and in some cases those who can do so are assumed to have some sort of gift or special power. Most people in developed countries openly dismiss the idea of "other minds", or spirits existing and being able to take over other people, however even in these countries there are those few who claim to be able to talk to spirits and allow them to possess their bodies temporarily. In modern times mediumship (a more general and open practice) can be found all over the world, even in the Western world, and many mediums will channel spirits from other realms, in some cases even allowing them temporary control of their bodies (Pederzoli, 2021). On more than one occasion a spirit has become mildly (in)famous and written a book or two!
In cultures outside of the United States, trance and possession may be considered culturally permissible, and welcomed in certain environments. However, most of these activities are still categorized as dissociative in nature by psychology, and thus have been compared to Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and other conditions. Studies of trance activities have found that those who willingly and purposefully engage in trance states lack the distress and dissociation often seen in dissociative disorders like DID (Huges, 1992). Similar investigations of mediums found that while mediums do dissociate at higher levels than average, they don't dissociate enough for it to be distressing/reach pathological levels or cause serious dysfunction to their lives (Wahbeh, 2017). Although such activities are dissociative in nature and can be mistaken for DID at first glance, often times these experiences are pleasant and joyous, and don't cause much integral distress other than in the social realm, which is atypical for dissociative disorders (Delmonte et al, 2015). It appears as if an underlying factor for whether the experience will be positive or not has to do with whether the experience is trauma-based or not. While this may not be the only factor, it does seem to be significant in some cases.
This hints at other forms of non-pathological dissociation being possible, and indeed, the trance states may be comparable to the headmates found in endogenic plurality. As both originate from a source other than trauma and involve the experience of multiple identities they share some similarities, although experiences may differ from there. Many endogenics may see themselves as sharing a brain/body long-term and may be less likely to interact with their headmates outside the body as one would a spiritual entity. Endogenics may also interpret their headmates in different spiritual ways and may be less likely to feel their headmates have a de facto spiritual purpose, in comparison to mediums and other channelers of spiritual entities. Headmates may also be more rounded out and have a more defined personality than those seen in basic trace states. However, considering it is possible to allow (what is considered by psychology) another identity state to take over control outside of trauma, it is then likely possible for a set of identities to exist in a body in a configuration vaguely resembling DID or mediumistic experiences, but without any sort of traumatic background or pathological dissociation.
History supports the idea that multiple people coexisting inside one brain is something that can happen, and that it is at the very least a natural occurrence for many, possibly a spiritual one as well for some. While spiritual possession and endogenic plurality vary in some areas, it lends support to the idea that one can experience spiritual or identity displacement without trauma. It also supports several subjective claims made by endogenic systems, such as some headmates having spiritual origins or being able to switch at will. The concept likely would not be so prominent in mythology, folklore, and even spirituality today if it wasn't something that was part of the human condition in some way, shape or form.
Sources:
Daemon. daemon | Facts, Information, and Mythology. (1997, March 3). https://pantheon.org/articles/d/daemon.html.
Hughes, D. J. (1992). Differences Between Trance Channeling and Multiple Personality Disorder on Structured Interview. The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 24(2), 181-192. Retrieved June 4, 2018, from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/5b3e/7513ad024d66af07cb9091ed0fba7fad2934.pdf.
Pederzoli, L., Tressoldi, P. & Wahbeh, H. Channeling: A Non-pathological Possession and Dissociative Identity Experience or Something Else?. Cult Med Psychiatry (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11013-021-09730-9
Pierre Flor-Henry, Yakov Shapiro & Corine Sombrun | Peter Walla (Reviewing Editor) (2017) Brain changes during a shamanic trance: Altered modes of consciousness, hemispheric laterality, and systemic psychobiology, Cogent Psychology, 4:1, DOI: 10.1080/23311908.2017.1313522
Delmonte, R., Lucchetti, G., Moreira-Almeida, A., & Farias, M. (2015). Can thedsm-5differentiate BETWEEN nonpathological possession and dissociative identity disorder? A case study from AN AFRO-BRAZILIAN RELIGION. Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 17(3), 322–337. https://doi.org/10.1080/15299732.2015.1103351
Wahbeh, H., & Radin, D. (2017). People reporting experiences of mediumship have higher dissociation symptom scores than non-mediums, but below thresholds for pathological dissociation. F1000Research, 6, 1416. https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.12019.3
Daemon. daemon | Facts, Information, and Mythology. (1997, March 3). https://pantheon.org/articles/d/daemon.html.
Hughes, D. J. (1992). Differences Between Trance Channeling and Multiple Personality Disorder on Structured Interview. The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 24(2), 181-192. Retrieved June 4, 2018, from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/5b3e/7513ad024d66af07cb9091ed0fba7fad2934.pdf.
Pederzoli, L., Tressoldi, P. & Wahbeh, H. Channeling: A Non-pathological Possession and Dissociative Identity Experience or Something Else?. Cult Med Psychiatry (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11013-021-09730-9
Pierre Flor-Henry, Yakov Shapiro & Corine Sombrun | Peter Walla (Reviewing Editor) (2017) Brain changes during a shamanic trance: Altered modes of consciousness, hemispheric laterality, and systemic psychobiology, Cogent Psychology, 4:1, DOI: 10.1080/23311908.2017.1313522
Delmonte, R., Lucchetti, G., Moreira-Almeida, A., & Farias, M. (2015). Can thedsm-5differentiate BETWEEN nonpathological possession and dissociative identity disorder? A case study from AN AFRO-BRAZILIAN RELIGION. Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 17(3), 322–337. https://doi.org/10.1080/15299732.2015.1103351
Wahbeh, H., & Radin, D. (2017). People reporting experiences of mediumship have higher dissociation symptom scores than non-mediums, but below thresholds for pathological dissociation. F1000Research, 6, 1416. https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.12019.3
