Goddess and Women: The Phenomenon of Possession

Abstract

This study explores the link between women, goddess-centered spirituality, and the social and psychological elements of possession-like religious experiences via field visits to Varanasi. The study focuses on how women's religious expression is influenced by cultural norms, gender inequity, social marginalization, and emotional discomfort. The study investigates how women interact with spirituality in various social circumstances via qualitative techniques including participation in ritual places, informal interviews, and observation. The results show that strong devotional and altered religious experiences are more common among women from disadvantaged and lower socioeconomic backgrounds. In patriarchal family arrangements, many of these women experience social repression, financial reliance, emotional distress, and restricted decision-making authority. Spirituality and goddess worship became significant sources of social recognition, emotional alleviation, and symbolic empowerment in these situations. The study also shows that religious settings give underprivileged women access to possibilities for communal engagement, emotional expression, and temporary power that might not be available in their daily life. Women use goddess rites, ceremonies, and devotional activities as socially acceptable venues to express their identities, resiliency, sorrow, and hope. Women's spiritual experiences and possession-related behaviours in Varanasi are greatly influenced by temple-centered devotional culture. The study makes the case that possession-related religious experiences should be seen as societal manifestations of inequity, emotional turmoil, and gendered marginalization rather than only as supernatural or pathological phenomena. In the end, the research advances our knowledge of how religion, gender, spirituality, and social power interact in modern Indian culture.