“We sell Hell, so suffer well!”

Exploring ‘positive’ pathogenic possession

Abstract

For the diabolical and righteous alike, the Devil has spent an eternity corrupting Creation and tempting the world into eternal damnation. While terrifying tales are often told about the Dark Lord forcefully possessing the minds and bodies of unfortunate souls, little is known about those who willingly embrace pathogenic possession to achieve ‘positive’ outcomes in this life and the next. As such, this unholy ethnography explicates how several demonic acolytes use the Devil as a malevolent self-making ‘catalyst’, and in so doing, attempt to thrive in evil, while maintaining their personal agency. Although pathogenic possession is frequently linked to misfortune and malady, key findings show that a union with the Devil can be immorally liberating, empowering the wicked to proselytise profane cosmological views. Importantly, however, with little global demand for eternal damnation, this sacrilegious practice appears relatively unmarketable, and likely to remain at the periphery of more wholesome religious offerings.