Editing Spirit possession (section)

===Yahwism===
There are indications that trance-related practices might have played a role in the prophetic experiences of adherents of [[Yahwism]]. According to [[Martti Nissinen]], Yahwist prophets may have received messages from the different gods and goddesses in the [[Canaanite Religion|Yahwist Pantheon]] through a state of trance possession. This theory can be reconstructed from [[Sumerian Mythology]], a similar theology to that of Yahwism, where the standard prophetic designations in the [[Akkadian language]], muḫḫûm/muḫḫūtum (masc./fem., Old Babylonian) and maḫḫû/maḫḫūtu (masc./fem., Neo-Assyrian), are derived from the Akkadian verb maḫû "to become crazy, to go into a frenzy."<ref name="nissinen">{{cite web |last1=Nissinen |first1=Martti |title='Prophecy and Ecstasy', Ancient Prophecy: Near Eastern, Biblical, and Greek Perspectives |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/25797/chapter/193398813#401699355 |website=Oxford |publisher=Oxford Academic |access-date=22 August 2023}}</ref> According to bible scholar Simon B. Parker, trance rituals may have occurred such as nudity or a less extreme alternative, a trance where the person to enter trance receives the god or spirit into their body.<ref name=":4">{{cite journal |last1=Parker |first1=Simon B. |title="Possession Trance and Prophecy in Pre-Exilic Israel." |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1517036 |journal=Vetus Testamentum |date=4 September 1978 |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=271–285 |publisher=Simon B. Parker|doi=10.1163/156853378X00518 |jstor=1517036 }}</ref>

Further according to Nissinen, the [[Hebrew Bible]], may contain evidence that trance-related practices may have been the origins of the Jewish traditions of [[Prophets in Judaism|prophetic messages]].<ref name="nissinen" /> However, these instances may have been limited, with trance instead being a way of confirming divine appointment to a leadership position.<ref name=":4" />

Nissinen also recorded that music was an essential part to these trance-ceremonies in the Ancient Near-East and so it can be reconstructed it could have been found in Yahwism.<ref name="nissinen" /> Instruments such as the tambourine, harps, lyres, and flutes may have been utilized, as those were common instruments in Ancient Israel.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Sounds of Music in Ancient Israel |url=https://www.jw.org/en/library/magazines/g201103/The-Sounds-of-Music-in-Ancient-Israel/ |website=Jehovah’s Witnesses}}</ref> Along with music, incense may have also been used, either as an offering,  or to be used as an [[entheogen]], or possibly as both.

[[Exorcisms]] were also common. They can be reconstructed from both Medieval Jewish texts and texts from neighboring ancient cultures that practiced exorcisms. Exorcists acting almost like shamans would do rituals to exorcise one of a "demon" or evil spirit. According to Gina Konstantopoulos, a figure named an "Āshipu" acted as an exorcist in Mesopotamia and were trained in many fields of occultism, priesthood and herbalism.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Konstantopoulos |first1=Gina |title=Demons and exorcism in ancient Mesopotamia |url=https://hcommons.org/deposits/objects/hc:33220/datastreams/CONTENT/content |publisher=Gina Konstantopoulos}}</ref> As amulets (called teraphim) were also used in Yahwism to ward off evil spirits, it may also be reconstructed that there were people in Ancient Israel who acted as exorcists or shamans who would do specific rituals to ward off evil spirits. As mentioned previously, these may have included music, incense, prayers, and trance-rituals. According to Reimund Leicht, formulae was used ward off the evil, along with ritualistic sacrifices.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Leicht |first1=Reimund |title=Mashbiaʿ Ani ʿAlekha: Types and Patterns of Ancient Jewish and Christian Exorcism Formulae |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40753414 |journal=Jewish Studies Quarterly |date=4 September 2023 |volume=13 |issue=4 |pages=319–343 |publisher=Reimund Leicht|doi=10.1628/094457006780130466 |jstor=40753414 }}</ref>